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Diocese of Fall River, Mass.

F riday , May 2, 2014

Diocesan priests share recollections of SS. John XXIII and John Paul II

By Dave Jolivet Anchor Editor

By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff

FALL RIVER — St. John XXIII will forever be best known for calling together the Second Vatican Council that he opened on Oct. 11, 1962 and that closed more than two years after his June 3, 1963 death.

Many in the diocese have few remembrances of him, but there was much more to the man born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, the fourth of 13 children in a family of sharecroppers in Sotto il Monte, Italy.

Like Pope Francis today, St. John XXIII was a pope who cared a great deal for the poor and marginalized, and advocated peace in a period in history when relations between the East and West were tenuous.

Prior to becoming the 260th Successor of St. Peter in 1958, this humble priest was already recognized for his compassion for his fellow man and his love for the Church.

According to a timeline of his life issued by Catholic News Service, he served as a medic and chap-

FALL RIVER — Elected by his brother cardinals on Oct. 16, 1978, he became the 263rd Successor of St. Peter.

His pontificate — one of the longest in the history of the Church — lasted nearly 27 years.

And for many of the younger priests now serving in the Fall River Diocese, he was the first — and for a long time the only — pope they knew as they grew up in the Church and began to discern a calling to the priesthood.

Now that the former Karol Józef Wojtyla has been canonized and will forever be known as St. John Paul II, some of those same priests took time recently to share with The Anchor how the Polish pontiff affected their faith.

“It is true that Pope John Paul II was the first and only pope that I knew as I was growing up,” said Father Jeff Cabral, judicial vicar of the diocesan Tribunal. “His papacy was important to my own faith life in terms of his commitment to youth. He challenged

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St. John XXIII and St. John Paul II were canonized on Divine Mercy Sunday. St. John XXIII is depicted in a painting from a museum in his Italian birthplace. St. John Paul II is shown in a composite featuring an image of him by Polish photographer Grzegorz Galazka. (CNS)

A priest raises the chalice as he celebrates Mass in honor of SS. John Paul II and John XXIII in the ski resort Kasprowy Wierch in Poland’s Tatra Mountains April 27. That day at the Vatican, Pope Francis canonized the two former popes. (CNS photo/Agencja Gazeta/Marek Podmokly, Reuters)

Pope Francis, with retired pope, canonizes SS. John and John Paul

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Canonizing two recent popes in the presence of his immediate predecessor, Pope Francis praised the new SS. John XXIII and John Paul II as men of courage and mercy, who responded to challenges of their time by modernizing the Catholic Church in fidelity to its ancient traditions.

“They were priests, bishops and popes of the 20th century,” the pope said April 27, in his homily during Mass in St. Peter’s Square. “They lived through the tragic events of that century, but they were not overwhelmed by them. For them, God was more powerful.”

“John XXIII and John Paul cooperated with the Holy Spirit in renewing and updating the

Church in keeping with her original features, those features which the saints have given her throughout the centuries,” he said.

Speaking before a crowd of half a million that included retired Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis praised St. John for his best-known accomplishment, calling the Second Vatican Council, which he said “showed an exquisite openness to the Holy Spirit.”

“He let himself be led, and he was for the Church a pastor, a servant-leader,” the pope said of St. John. “This was his great service to the Church. I like to think of him as the pope of openness to the Spirit.”

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Pro-Life organization calls on Mass. to close abortion clinics for ‘patently illegal’ activities

By Christine M. Willams Anchor Correspondent

ATTLEBORO — Five abortion clinics in Massachusetts, including Four Women Health Services in Attleboro, are violating state law — or, at least, advertising their willingness to do so. While Commonwealth law states that abortions after 18 weeks must be performed in hospitals, each of the five clinics’ websites advertise abortions up to 20 weeks or later.

Massachusetts law 130 CMR 433.455 (C)(2) states, “A second-

trimester abortion must be performed by a licensed and qualified physician only in a hospital licensed by the Department of Public Health to perform medical and surgical services; provided, however, that up to and including the 18th week of pregnancy, a second-trimester abortion may be performed in a clinic that meets the requirements of 130 CMR 433.455(C)(1) where the attending physician certifies in the medical record that, in his or her professional judgment, a non-

hospital setting is medically appropriate in the specific case.”

The websites of four clinics — Four Women, Merrimack Valley Women’s Health Services in Haverhill, Metro West Women’s Health Services in Natick and North Shore Women’s Center in Lynn — all say abortions will be performed up to 20 weeks. Women’s Health Services in Brookline advertises abortions up to 23 weeks.

Anne Fox, president of Massachusetts Citizens for Life, sent

a letter to the state executive office of Health and Human Services Secretary John Polanowicz on March 31 to alert him to the “patently illegal” conduct.

Fox urged Polanowicz to order the abortion providers to cease abortion services until they demonstrate that they are not performing abortions beyond the 18th week of pregnancy.

“Consider the outcry which would occur if a store advertised that it sells cigarettes to 10-yearolds,” she wrote. “These providers’

flagrant violations of MassHealth regulations pose an imminent threat to the safety and proper health care of their patients because the later in pregnancy an abortion occurs, the greater the patient’s medical risk.”

In an interview with The Anchor, Fox said that hospitals are better-equipped to care for those women who are at a greater risk for complications during the procedure.

She added that no one from Turn to page 18

News From the Vatican

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May 2, 2014

The Risen Jesus, not money or power, is the Source of life, pope says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Too often people are fixated on material things, money, power or status — none of which can give life and joy, Pope Francis said.

Christians need to examine their lives with the question the angel asked the women who went to the tomb to anoint the Body of the buried Jesus: “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” the pope said.

At a recent weekly general audience, Pope Francis had the tens of thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square repeat the angel’s Easter question three times.

Sometimes, the pope said, people act as if “a dead Jesus would be less of a bother than a living Jesus,” yet His victory over death is the source of Christian hope and the assurance that we, too, will live with Him. When “we close ourselves up in any kind of selfishness or self-satisfaction, when we let ourselves be seduced by earthly power and the things of this world, forgetting God and our neighbor; when we put our hopes in worldly vanity, money and success,” he said, that is the time people must ask themselves the angel’s question.

Although it did not rain during the pope’s audience, the sky was gray, and raindrops were falling earlier in the morning. To keep the sick and people with disabilities warm and dry, the Vatican had them wait in the Paul VI audience hall. Pope Francis went to the hall before the audience and spent more than half an hour greeting the people gathered there.

Talking to people in St. Peter’s Square about Easter and the joy that should mark the lives of all Christians, the pope said, “Too often we seek the living among things that

are dead, among things that cannot give life, among things that exist today and are gone tomorrow.”

Christians are called to fight “the temptation to keep looking back,” the pope said, and instead move toward the future.

“Yesterday is the tomb of Jesus and the tomb of the Church,” but Jesus is alive and so is His Body, the Church. He keeps it alive and moving forward.

When people feel like hiding after some kind of failure, when they feel unable to pray or feel alone or abandoned, even by God, when they feel “imprisoned by sin,” Pope Francis said, they need to ask themselves again why they are focused on the tomb of a dead man rather than on the life-giving victory of the Risen Lord.

“Look, brothers and sisters,” he said, “He is alive and is with us! Don’t go to those tombs that promise something, but in the end give nothing.”

Before concluding the audience, the pope spoke movingly and forcefully about a video message he said he received from Italian workers unemployed after the closure of a steel mill.

“It made me so sad,” the pope said. “Dear workers, dear brothers, on your faces there was such sadness and the worry of fathers who ask only for the right to work so they can live with dignity and care for, feed and educate their children.”

Pope Francis asked the factory owners to be creative and generous in finding ways “to reignite hope in the hearts of these brothers of ours and in the hearts of everyone who is unemployed because of waste and the economic crisis.”

“Please,” the pope said to business owners, “open your eyes and don’t just stand there with your arms crossed.”

Be sure to visit the Diocese of Fall River website at fallriverdiocese.org The site includes links to parishes, diocesan offices and national sites.

People wait outside while Pope Francis celebrates Mass at the Church of St. Ignatius in Rome recently. The Mass was in thanksgiving for the canonization of Brazilian St. José de Anchieta. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Pope’s homilies help Catholics fight the good fight, Jesuit says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis’ morning homilies represent a rallying cry and “road map” for today’s Christians in their daily journey to grow closer to God, said the Jesuit editor of a new collection of the homilies from the pope’s early morning Masses.

Each reflection the pope delivers in the chapel of his residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae, represents the pope unfurling “the map for the spiritual life and pastoral commitment” of the Church, Jesuit Father Antonio Spadaro wrote in the introduction of the collection published in Italian by the Rizzoli publishing house.

The papal rulebook, however, doesn’t offer guidance for a “cake walk,” but rather sets the strategy for what’s more like a boxing tournament “where different matches are fought: a round against ‘the Prince of this world,’” and others vying for power, the Spirit and the pastor fighting for his people, Father Spadaro wrote in the book.

“It’s a fight where people’s well-being is at play, their eternal well-being, Eternal Salvation,” the pope said in a homily October 11 last year.

The book compiles the Italian summaries and extended excerpts Vatican Radio has produced from the 186 morning homilies the pope delivered between Mar. 25, 2013, and Mar. 20, 2014.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman and general director of Vatican Radio, explained in the volume’s preface how the staff at the radio records and summarizes the pope’s homilies.

The morning Masses are normally held at 7 a.m. during the

workweek. The Masses are not open to the public, but they are attended by Vatican employees and guests, including parishioners of the Diocese of Rome, by invitation.

While the homilies are recorded in their entirety in audio and video, Pope Francis has explicitly requested his morning reflections not be broadcast in full and that complete transcripts not be distributed publicly.

Instead, journalists at the Vatican Radio Italian news desk write up a summary of the pope’s brief remarks interspersed with three or four audio clips and additional direct quotes from the pope. The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, offers its own summary and Vatican television produces a short news clip of the homily.

Father Lombardi wrote that he is part of the editorial process of drafting the daily report and gives final approval of the finished report when time permits.

“But generally it’s not necessary because the pope’s thinking is clear and the journalist knows how to do his job,” he wrote.

Father Spadaro explained in the book’s introduction some of the reasons behind the pope’s decision to not allow the publication of a full transcript of his morning homilies.

First of all, he wrote, the brief homily does not come from a prepared text. The pope uses no notes and has nothing but the Lectionary on the lectern in front of him.

Pope Francis delivers the homily in Italian, which, even though he grew up hearing it from his Italian relatives in Buenos Aires and knows it very well, it is not his mother tongue, he

wrote.

But more importantly, the priest wrote, the pope sees his daily homilies not as something to be “mediated” by technology and “broadcast” out into the ether. Rather the morning homily is part of a broader physical and oral relationship the pastor has with his parishioners — a celebration that is meant to be directly and immediately shared in person as a family, he wrote.

His morning reflections are not individual essays for a book of meditations, Father Spadaro wrote, but are an “encounter between a pastor and his people” where he speaks heart-to-heart to them, spontaneously and informally, but also forcefully. Any publication of a final “text” of the discourse “would blatantly turn it into something other than what the Holy Father intends to do,” he wrote, and risk making it seem like some sort of “official document.”

Despite the limited nature of the homily summaries, they still offer the public a clear path and understanding of Pope Francis’ pontificate, he wrote. The pope uses the daily readings from Mass to “show the way” and help people “put into practice” the Word of God. The Communications Department of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops is planning to release an English version of the pope’s morning homilies as part of their “Simple Wisdom of Pope Francis” series.

The homilies will be the series’ fourth book published in conjunction with the Vatican publishing house, Libreria Editrice Vaticana.

More information can be found at www.SimpleWisdomSeries.com.

The International Church

May 2, 2014

Catechists ‘pray on the run’ in ravaged South Sudan diocese

SEATTLE (CNS) — Two mass killings in South Sudan have taken place in a Catholic diocese whose leaders were forced to flee the conflict, leaving the Church’s work in the hands of lay workers who are often on the run from fighting.

“We are a diocese in diaspora.

My priests and I were forced out of our pastoral setting by a situation on the ground that is beyond our control,” Msgr. Roko Taban Mousa, apostolic administrator of Malakal, told Catholic News Service in a recent interview in Juba.

A handful of foreign Comboni missionaries remain in the town of Old Fangak, but Msgr.

Taban Mousa and 16 other priests in the diocese were forced out by fighting that began in December, when a political split within the ruling party quickly tore the country apart along ethnic lines. More than one million South Sudanese are internally displaced or living as refugees in neighboring countries.

Yet Msgr. Taban Mousa said the Church’s work continues because of a committed group of lay activists.

“Many of our catechists are on the run with the people in the bush. Some of them call me when they get to a place where there is a (phone) network, maybe under a tree or on a high place.

They ran from their villages because of the fighting, and they’re suffering with their people, with few possibilities of getting food for themselves and their children,” he said.

Msgr. Taban Mousa said the diocese, with almost a million Catholics spread over a huge swath of the country, has long had to wrestle with an inadequate

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to Malakal as soon as possible, but said it will take considerable investment to return things to normal.

“Today it’s just an empty mission with broken doors and windows. If we go back to the diocese, we will have to start from zero. We won’t even find a spoon left behind,” he said.

Two mass killings plagued the diocese in mid-April. In Bentiu, rebels killed more than 200 civilians and wounded more than 400 in mid-April, the U.N. reported April 21. On April 17, at least 58 civilians were killed and more than 100 injured when a pro-government militia attacked the U.N. base in Bor, where some 5,000 civilians had taken refuge. In each case, ethnic identity seemed to motivate who killed whom.

According to Father Edward Joseph Deng, the exiled parish priest of Bor, the Catholic community in South Sudan has been largely exempt from such ethnic hatred.

“Most of my parishioners Sister Ranjitha Maria Soosai, a member of the Daughters of Mary Immaculate, leads a group of children in Bor came from the North in singing inside a camp for internally displaced families at a U.N. base in Juba, South Sudan. The camp after the independence of the holds more than 20,000 Nuer who took refuge there in December 2013 after a political dispute within South. They had enjoyed good the country’s ruling party quickly fractured the young nation along ethnic and tribal lines. (CNS photo/ social interaction in the North, Paul Jeffrey) so in our parish it was normal for people of different tribes to dren and teach them the cate- few toilets, but we had nowhere to by rebels. Several people were meet together and pray togethchism and prepare them for First send the people, who felt safe and shot and killed in the cathedral er,” he said.

Msgr. Taban Mousa said such Communion and Confirmation. protected in the church,” he said. compound as well as inside the For weeks they held on, and nearby Christ the King Church. a spirit of tolerance could serve as Now they gather people to pray at times, Msgr. Taban Mousa Msgr. Taban Mousa fled to the a model for the entire country. on the run,” he said.

“We have to develop a sense Although the conflict began in had to shield the entrance with U.N. base at the edge of the city, Juba, the capital of South Sudan, his body to prevent armed com- from where he was evacuated by of nationalism, of belonging to the Republic of South Susome of the worst fighting took batants from entering the com- air to Juba. place in Malakal, where Msgr. pound.

Malakal was eventually re- dan although we come from “Although we were falling captured by the government and different tribes,” he said. “All Taban Mousa lived in the cathedral compound. Control of the from one hand to another, from remains under military control. tribes are created and blessed city changed hands several times the government to the rebels to For now, the monsignor lives at by God. If you say one tribe is as government troops and rebels the government, we were able to a seminary in Juba with several bad, that condemns the Crealternately pushed out the other be patient and to be clear in our of his priests. He wants to return ator Himself.” supply of priests and religious. As a result, the diocese trained more than 450 catechists.

“When they call me now, for security reasons I don’t ask them exactly where they are. But they tell me that on Sundays they are always trying to gather people and pray with them. It’s not like before, when they’d gather chil-

Fadi Kamal lights candles with his mother, Suheir Saliba, who is Catholic, on Easter morning, in St. George Greek Orthodox Church in Jifna, West Bank. Christian families in the Holy Land often have members of several different religious denominations. (CNS photo/ Debbie Hill)

side. Msgr. Taban Mousa stayed in the cathedral compound as it filled with more than 7,000 civilians fleeing the fighting.

“We remained in the cathedral, confined with the people in the compound, eating only rice because there was nothing to buy.

The market had been looted. It was a difficult time. There were

mission. It’s a sign of the Church’s neutrality that we stayed there no matter which group was in control. Our presence in the middle of the town was our testimony, a sign of great hope to the people,” he said.

On February 18, however, the fighting took a turn for the worse, and the compound was overrun

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The Church in the U.S.

May 2, 2014

Archbishop says pastoral visit to troops in Afghanistan ‘deeply moving’

Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the U.S. Military Services, washes the feet Holy Thursday of a U.S. soldier serving in Afghanistan at Shindand Air Base, located in Herat province.

Archbishop Broglio made his pastoral visit to Afghanistan April 1521. (CNS photo/courtesy of the Archdiocese for the U.S. Military Services)

WASHINGTON (CNS) — After returning from a Holy Week pastoral visit to U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the head of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services said it was “deeply moving” to spend time “with that portion of my flock which is serving the cause of peace and development” in that country.

“The visits to many military communities gave me an opportunity to fulfill my role as pastor,” Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio said in a recent statement.

It was the first trip to Afghanistan by any U.S. military archbishop.

His predecessor, thenArchbishop Edwin F. O’Brien, visited troops in Iraq in December 2003.

Archbishop Broglio went to Afghanistan April 1521 at the invitation of Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. of the U.S. Marine Corps, who is commander of the International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces Afghanistan.

According to a news release from the archdiocese, Archbishop Broglio visited with Catholic servicemen

and women still deployed at all eight major U.S. military bases in Afghanistan and in all four regions of the country, which has been at war now for more than 12 years.

He also spent time with each of the 13 Catholic military chaplains currently in the country, discussing the issues they face day in and day out, offering his blessings and “encouraging their courageous service,” the release said.

Among highlights of his visit, Archbishop Broglio Baptized four catechumens joining the Catholic Church at Easter; he Confirmed numerous Catholics on deployment. He also installed as lector U.S. Army Maj. Derick D. Bothern, a candidate for the permanent diaconate in the Diocese of Colorado Springs, Colo.

He celebrated two Good Friday Liturgies, one at Shindand Air Base in Herat province, the other in Kandahar.

He celebrated the Easter Vigil at Camp Bastion/ Leatherneck in Helmand province. On Easter he celebrated one Mass at headquarters in Kabul, and a second

Mass at the Italian Embassy, which houses the only permanent Catholic chapel in the country.

Archbishop Broglio met his Italian counterpart, Archbishop Santo Marciano, head of the military ordinariate for Italy.

The U.S. archbishop described as “deeply touching” his visit to an orphanage run by the Missionaries of Charity, the congregation founded

by Blessed Teresa of Kolkata.

The Sisters care for 11 “exceptional orphaned children,” he said.

The Washington-based U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services, which also has four auxiliary bishops, is responsible for the spiritual, pastoral and Sacramental care to those in the United States Armed Forces.

This includes more than 220 installations in 29 countries, patients in 153 Veterans Affairs medical centers, and federal employees serving outside the boundaries of the U.S. in 134 countries.

Numerically, the archdiocese is responsible for more than 1.8 million men, women and children.

Bishops invited to support 2014 March for Marriage

Washington D.C. (CNA/EWTN News) — Two U.S. bishops leading efforts to defend and promote Marriage offered their support for this year’s national March for Marriage and invited their fellow bishops to do the same.

“We are very grateful for this opportunity to express our support for the March for Marriage and to encourage participation in this event,” said Bishop Richard J. Malone of Buffalo and Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco.

In a recent letter, they encouraged their fellow U.S. bishops to promote the march in their respective dioceses.

Bishop Malone is the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, and Archbishop Cordileone chairs the Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage.

The 2014 March for Marriage will be held in Washington, D.C., on June 19, 2014. It is the second national demonstration to support the institu-

tion of Marriage existing as a unique union between a man and a woman.

The first March for Marriage was held Mar. 26, 2013, during the first day of arguments before the Supreme Court concerning the federal definition of Marriage and states’ ability to define Marriage.

In June 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government should accept the definitions of Marriage offered by each state rather than holding its own definition of Marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

The court also discarded a case defending a California amendment approved by voters to defend the definition of Marriage. The high court dismissed the case on procedural grounds, allowing a lower court’s ruling that the amendment was unconstitutional to stand.

The bishops said that this year’s march will be held days before the third annual Fortnight for Freedom, a two-week period of prayer, education and advocacy in support of religious

liberty at home and abroad.

The 2014 march, the bishops said, “will provide an ideal occasion for participants to celebrate and give public witness to the unique meaning of Marriage,” particularly “at a time when the religious liberties and conscience rights of those who promote and defend Marriage are increasingly threatened.”

“The March for Marriage will be an important means to promote and defend Marriage for the good of our culture, to pray for our federal and state governments, and to stand in solidarity with people of good will,” they added. “It also complements well the bishops’ Call to Prayer for Life, Marriage, and Religious Liberty.”

“This is a critical time for Marriage in our country, as Marriage amendments are being struck down by federal courts and appeals of these decisions are being made. We are deeply grateful for any support you can offer for this march,” they told their brother bishops.

May 2, 2014

The Church in the U.S.

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Students learn about poverty in mountaintop removal mining communities WASHINGTON (CNS) — The terms “poverty” and “America” did not seem to fit together for Philippine native Mar-Rex Lindawan, a nursing student at Mercy College of Health Sciences in Des Moines, Iowa.

A March visit to Appalachia changed her perspective.

What Lindawan found during a weeklong visit to West Virginia was that poverty is deeply entrenched in the communities she visited while participating in the Appalachian Community Health Survey Project with other college students.They surveyed the health of people living near mountaintop removal mining sites.

“It reminded me of poverty in the Philippines,” Lindawan told Catholic News Service after returning to Iowa.

“I was born in the Philippines and I know what poverty is. I thought, ‘I don’t understand how that could be. The U.S. is the land of milk and honey,’” she said.

Lindawan and fellow student Kathy Huffer also said they were surprised by the high incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, among middle-aged people living near mining activity.

“And they don’t even smoke,” Lindawan added.

They said they feared people were being exposed to particulates and dangerous chemicals related to mountaintop removal mining.

The practice involves setting off massive explosions that blow off the tops of mountains to expose coal seams. The explosions

also create dust that settles on homes, gardens and streams. Tests have revealed elevated levels of airborne particulate matter near the mining sites including metals, sulfur compounds, silica, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and some hydrocarbons. Some homeowners have reported well water that has been turned black with impurities.

Lindawan and Huffer were among four students from Catholic-run Mercy College who trekked to Appalachia during spring break to conduct the surveys. Now in its fourth year, the Appalachian Community Health Survey Project involves students from about 20 colleges and universities going door-to-door in rural communities and asking residents about their health. Some students visit families living near mountaintop removal mining operations while others interview families far from such mines.

The project is coordinated by two faith-based environmental organizations, Restoring Eden in La Center, Wash., and Christians for the Mountains in Dunmore, W.Va. Survey questions were compiled by Michael Hendryx, professor of applied health science at Indiana University. His research began in 2007 when he joined the West Virginia University faculty.

“What we’ve been finding in the research as a whole is that the people nearer mountaintop removal activity are at risk of a number of health problems compared to people who don’t live near

these mining sites,” said Hendryx, whose work has appeared in several peer-reviewed publications.

The findings are based on selfreported health problems. Hendryx said the data consistently show higher self-reported incidences of cancer, COPD, asthma and strokes among people living near mining sites than those in non-mining areas with similar demographics.

Results from surveys of residents in Boone and Raleigh counties in West Virginia in 2011 and Boyd County, Ky., in 2012 have been published. The 2013 results from Wise County, Va., were to be published soon. Allen Johnson, coordinator of Christians for the Mountains, asked that the specific 2014 survey location be kept confidential to avoid alerting the coal industry.

During the project’s first three years, more than 2,000 health surveys have been completed, providing researchers with a wide range of data, according to the project website.

Hendryx said the results have attracted the attention of policymakers and elected officials, but that because of the mining industry’s influence, little has been done to halt mountaintop removal mining.

“In parts of Appalachia, it’s (mining) the primary industry, and there’s a lot of political resistance to changing,” Hendryx said.

The National Mining Association and other industry groups have funded work aimed at discrediting Hendryx’s research and

Catholic education is everybody’s ‘task,’ cardinal says in NCEA keynote

PITTSBURGH (CNS) — Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington told Catholic educators in Pittsburgh for the National Catholic Educational Association’s annual convention that “education is the task of all of us.”

The recent convention and expo at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center drew more than 6,000 participants, including teachers, administrators, catechists, priests and professors.

Speaking on the New Evangelization in the opening day’s keynote, the cardinal highlighted the importance of the Catholic Church’s educational ministry and the need for Church leaders and educators to working together to ensure Catholic education will help future generations learn about the Gospel and encounter Jesus Christ.

“In our structured, organized Religious Education efforts, Christ’s voice is heard today and His Gospel announced,” he said.

In welcoming Cardinal Wuerl, the attendees were welcoming a local boy home.

A Pittsburgh native, he was bishop of Pittsburgh for 18 years before being named to head the Washington Archdiocese in 2006. He became a cardinal in November 2010.

As a boy, he attended St. Mary of the Mount Catholic School in the city’s Mount Washington neighborhood. After his ordination as a priest of the diocese in 1966, he was the pastor of St. Rosalie Parish in the Greenfield district. As Pittsburgh bishop, he reached thousands of Catholics via his TV program, “The Teaching of Christ.”

Cardinal Wuerl concel-

ebrated the convention’s opening Mass with Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik, who welcomed the congregation and noted the city is called the “City of Bridges.” In a letter of greeting in the program, the bishop also thanked the participants for being “a bridge of the Church in all its diversity and universality.”

Before officially opening the Exhibit Hall, NCEA’s executive vice president, Patrick Lofton, invited attendees to connect with NCEA and one another by engaging on Twitter and Facebook.

To commemorate the association’s 110th anniversary, the general session ended with a tribute video that took a look back over the decades. It had as its theme: “As we connect the past, present and future of Catholic education.”

similar findings by other researchers. The association referred an inquiry for comment to an April 2013 analysis of Hendryx’s findings from Exponent Inc., an engineering and scientific consulting firm with offices nationwide.

Exponent’s report, compiled by epidemiologists Dominik D. Alexander and Vanessa Perez, questioned the method Hendryx used to obtain health information.

The authors said that while the effect on health from mountaintop removal mining was important to understand, such an evaluation should use “rigorous scientific methodology” rather than depend solely on self-reporting of health issues by individuals. Their analysis also said there was no attempt to verify the illnesses residents reported.

Marti Doyle, associate professor of social sciences at Mercy College, joined the students for the March round of surveying.

She told CNS the project gives students the opportunity to be involved in community-based health services while being introduced to people living in situations far different than to what they have been accustomed.

“I think for the students a lot of the stereotypes went away. It was amazing to see the different culture,” Doyle said.

“We’d go to these houses and on the outside they’d look pretty rough. But you go inside, the homes were spotless. And every house had pictures of family. You just understood the pride and the love they had for family, and wanting more for their children and grandchildren,” she said.

The surveys were to continue through May. Four other Mercy College students planned to join the project at the end of April.

“What a unique opportunity to participate in a study that hopefully will be published and hopefully make a difference,” Huffer said.

Doyle said she hoped the data being collected would lead to a wider discussion on the practice of mountaintop removal mining.

“To me it’s important with this work being done is that this be an educated choice, that we understand the cost of this type of coal mining,” she said. “Not to judge whether it’s right or wrong, but to make an educated choice.”

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May 2, 2014

Anchor Editorial

‘Politicizing the Mass?’

Cardinal Séan O’Malley, OFM Cap., and the fellow bishops who accompanied him to the U.S./Mexico border last month were criticized recently on EWTN’s “The World Over” program by host Raymond Arroyo and guest George Weigel for supposedly “politicizing” the Mass there. Reviewing the homily (which can be read at http://www.usccb.org/about/migration-policy/ upload/Homily-April-1-2014-Border-Mass-Cardinal-Seán-OMalley.pdf ), the cardinal does not directly call for any legislative action (he and the other bishops did so in the press conference afterwards).

In his homily, our former bishop did say why they came to the border. First, in the midst of a reflection on Christ’s parable of the Good Samaritan, the cardinal drew a parallel between what happened to the robbery victim in that story and the present situation on the border. “We come to the desert today because it is the road to Jericho; it is traveled by many trying to reach the metropolis of Jerusalem. We come here today to be a neighbor and to find a neighbor in each of the suffering people who risk their lives and at times lose their lives in the desert. Pope Francis encourages us to go to the periphery to seek our neighbor in places of pain and darkness. We are here to discover our own identity as God’s children so that we can discover who our neighbor is, who is our brother and sister.”

In the “comments” section of some websites covering this news story, some of the writers objected to the cardinal’s pointing out of our need to recognize that even the undocumented are our neighbors (remember, Jesus told the parable in response to the question, “And who is my neighbor?”). They seemed to argue that Jesus would want us to love legal immigrants as ourselves, but not illegal ones.

A little later in the homily, Cardinal Séan gave another reason for being at the border. “Here in the desert of Arizona, we come to mourn the countless immigrants who risk their lives at the hands of the coyotes and the forces of nature to come to the United States. Every year 400 bodies are found here at the border, bodies of men, women and children seeking to enter the United States. Those are only the bodies that are found. As the border crossings become more difficult, people take greater risks and more are perishing.”

In other words, he came to pray for the repose of their souls and to implore

people to have more open hearts, so that more people would not have to die in such horrific ways.

Cardinal Séan also made reference to the Holy Father’s Mass on the Italian island of Lampedusa (which also could be attacked for supposedly being “political,” as could the Masses before the March for Life or other Masses in which we are praying for a change in public policy, such as St. John Paul II’s Masses in communist Poland). “At Lampedusa Pope Francis warned of the globalization of indifference. Pope Francis, speaking at the borders of Europe, not a desert, but a sea, said: ‘We have lost a sense of responsibility for our brothers and sisters. We have fallen into the hypocrisy of the priest and Levite whom Jesus described in the parable of the Good Samaritan: we see our brother half dead on the side of the road and perhaps we say to ourselves: “Poor soul” and then go our way. It is not our responsibility, and with that we feel reassured, assuaged. The culture of comfort, which makes us think only of ourselves, makes us insensitive to the cries of other people living in a soap bubble, indifference to others.’”

Outside of the Mass, the cardinal told John Allen of The Boston Globe, “We have to rescue this issue from politics. This isn’t about statistics or policy, it’s about people.”

When he got back to Boston, the cardinal wrote in his blog, “For years the government has been unable to come to an agreement because the whole process is held hostage to the politics of the issue. It is a complicated problem, and certainly there is no quick fix. However, it requires a rational conversation by people who are really concerned about the common good and concerned about respecting human rights. Hopefully, our presence at the border will encourage people in positions of power to work for immigration reform. We have to raise the consciousness of our Catholics, in general, of the need for comprehensive reform.”

May Cardinal Séan’s true and deep love of the Eucharist, in which he sees Christ present, and his humble love for his neighbors, whatever their station or status, be an inspiration to us and help us to live out the Mass, by how we pray it in church and how we live it out in our daily lives (including in our responsible politics).

Pope Francis’ address at the conclusion of the canonization Mass

This is the Holy Father’s address prior to the recitation of the Regina Coeli at the conclusion of the Canonization Mass of SS. John XXIII and John Paul II. Dear brothers and sisters, Before concluding this feast of faith I would like to greet and thank all of you!

I thank the cardinals and the numerous bishops and priests of every part of the world.

My gratitude goes out to official delegations from

many countries, who have come to pay homage to two pontiffs who contributed in a permanent way to the cause of the development of peoples and to peace. A special thanks to the Italian officials for their precious collaboration.

With great affection I greet the pilgrims of the Diocese of Bergamo and of Krakow! My dear friends, honor the memory of the two popes by faithfully following their teachings.

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I am grateful to all of those who with great generosity prepared these memorable days: the Diocese of Rome with Cardinal Vallini, the municipality of Rome with the Mayor Ignazio Marino, the law enforcement agencies and the various other organizations, associations and the numerous volunteers. Thank you everyone!

My greeting goes out to all the pilgrims here in St. Peter’s Square, on the nearby streets and in other places in Rome; and to those who are joining us by radio and television; and I thank the media directors and workers, who have given so many people the possibility of participating. A special greeting goes out to the sick and the elderly toward whom the new saints were especially close.

And now we turn in prayer to the Virgin Mary, whom St. John XXIII and Pope Francis greets the crowd after celebrating the canonization St. John Paul II loved like Mass for SS. John XXIII and John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square at the her true sons.

Vatican April 27. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

May 2, 2014

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Anchor Columnists Why was Pope John XXIII canonized last Sunday?

he most popular reason given in the extensive media coverage of his and John Paul II’s canonization was that John XXIII was the pope who called the Second Vatican Council. But even if one regards Vatican II as the most important ecclesial event since Pentecost, the act of boldly summoning an ecumenical council alone doesn’t suffice to render one holy. The vast majority of popes who convened councils are not in the hagiographical hall of fame.

Many others pronounced John XXIII a saint even before Pope Francis formally declared him one because he was so conspicuously and contagiously amiable, easygoing, funny, kind, and warm.

He was the “smiling pope” who told parents in his memorable “moonlight speech” to go home, hug their kids and say, “This is a hug from the pope.” Affability, however, is not a heroic virtue. If it were the main canonization criterion, the Liturgical calendar would be overcrowded!

Some proposed that John was deserving of sanctity because in their estimation he was not particularly or offensively Catholic. When John opened wide the windows of

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the Church to the modern spiritual diary, “I must always world, they implied, he bebe convinced of this great came patron saint of dissent- truth: Jesus wants from me ers, sexual revolutionaries, Li- not just mediocre but suturgical innovators, sanctuary preme virtue. He will not be wreck-o-vators, and agents of satisfied with me until I have changing any and all Church become, or at least have done teachings and traditions that my utmost, to become holy.” they found outdated or unA few years later, he noted, pleasant. Such an impression, “From the wonderful graces however, doesn’t even warrant that God has poured out into being labeled a caricature, be- my soul from my childhood cause caricatures are distorted until now, it is quite obvious impressions of reality rather than total inventions.

Putting Into The reason for his the Deep canonization was not because he called a council or was jolly or

By Father was the superstar of Roger J. Landry postmodern secularizing narratives. It’s because he perseveringly that God wants to make me strove to become a saint with entirely holy. I must always total dedication from his remain convinced of this. So youngest days.

I must be holy at all costs.

John XXIII’s “Journal The little, and very little it is, of a Soul,” the chronicle of that I have done up to this his interior life and retreat point has been but child’s resolutions from the age of play. Time is running out.”

14 until just before he died, Right before his priestly is one of the greatest spiritual ordination, he glimpsed that works of the 20th century.

God was calling him to be St. Reading it, one gets to know Angelo Roncalli, not a holohim from the inside, from gram of any other holy one. within his own relationship “The concept of holiness that with God and his struggle to I had formed and applied correspond to God’s graces. to myself was mistaken,” he At 16, he wrote in that wrote in his “Journal.” “The

method was wrong. From the saints I must take the substance, not the accidents, of their virtues. I must not be the dry, bloodless reproduction of a model, however perfect. God desires us to follow the examples of the saints by absorbing the vital sap of their virtues and turning it into our own lifeblood, adapting it to our own individual capacities and particular circumstances.”

After his papal election, he was still hard at work trying to convert the vital sap of the Sacraments and the saints into his own spiritual lifeblood. “Everyone calls me ‘Holy Father,’ and holy I must be and will be,” he penned in 1961. “I am indeed very far from attaining this holiness, although my desire and will to succeed in this are wholehearted and determined.”

The means he chose to pursue holiness he set out in the first entry of the “Journal,” when he was only 14.

It was to live by a “Rule of Life,” a set of spiritual practices that would help him grow in conformity to Christ.

This rule of life began with the “first and main principle”

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of choosing an “exemplary, prudent and learned” spiritual director. Then he listed a series of daily, weekly, yearly and “always” norms by which he would live. This wasn’t a wish list but, as he wrote in 1912, a catalogue of concrete resolutions about prayer and acts of virtue he committed whole-heartedly to keeping with “absolute fidelity” as his “lifeline.”

After his death, his former secretary said that John’s “Rules of Life” were truly rules for life. “He copied them out by hand, in minute writing, kept them always by him and constantly observed them, even when he was pope,” now 98-year-old Cardinal Loris Capovilla said.

They were the blueprint for John’s patient, obstinate growth in sanctity in correspondence to God’s grace.

His canonization provides an opportunity for all of us to read his “Journal” so that we may learn from him how to absorb the vital sap of his virtue and prayer and turn it into our own lifeblood.

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

Kalaupapa celebrates the fountain of youth

e walked through the doorway like the second coming of King Kamahameha with a young woman on his arm and I thought, “Oh my, he surely has discovered the fountain of youth!” Bugles blared and a host of voices sang out, “Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear John!

Happy birthday to you!” It was the eve of Palm Sunday and we had gathered at the home of Winnie Harada to celebrate the birthday of her neighbor and long-time friend, John Arruda.

John was celebrating his 90 years of youth with great gusto. Power to the Portuguese!

John was born and grew up on the beautiful island of Kauai. In 1945, after he had been diagnosed with Hansen’s disease, better known in those days as leprosy, John arrived here in Kalaupapa. By that time the settlement had been on the Kalaupapa side of this peninsula for 13 years as the Kalawao settlement had closed in 1932. So John experienced life here prior to the arrival of sulfone drugs in 1947. In 1957 John left Kalaupapa and returned to Kauai in order to care

for his mother and sister. However, as bursting forth on the plumeria trees is evidenced by his frequent visits here, representing the new life in nature John has a special fondness in his heart as, at the same time, they remind us for Kalaupapa Christians and for his that we have many friends new life in here. the Risen Holy week Christ. Soon is a special John Arruda time for all

By Father will skip onto Christians Patrick Killilea, SS.CC. a plane as he and for us returns to his here this home and his special time is garden on enhanced, if that is possible, by having Kauai. We will most certainly miss his our friends from outside the settlepresence amongst us but we are happy ment join us. So we rejoiced in having John with us for all of our Holy Week services and especially for our Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday Mass. John in his unique way is a link between what has been and what is today in Kalaupapa. I had the pleasure and the privilege of sitting next to him at the Easter Sunday noontime dinner at McVeigh Hall hosted by our good friend and benefactor, Edwin Lalepali, and his friends from our nearby Congregational Church.

The white and pink flowers are now

Moon Over Molokai

for him and we know that he will return to us again in the near future just as we believe that Christ Himself will return one day in glory. Long live Christ! Long live John Arruda!

Aloha.

Anchor columnist Father Killilea is pastor of St. Francis Parish in Kalaupapa, Hawaii.

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everal years ago it became evident to me that I needed prescription eyeglasses. For the better part of a decade, I had been denying my age. As my onceperfect eyes began to fail me, I found the simple tasks of reading, driving, and performing everyday chores becoming more frustrating. Yet, I still hesitated to make an appointment with an optometrist.

I was desperate to hold on to my youth. I viewed the prospect of wearing glasses as a life-changing moment that would bring me to the reality that time had caught up to me.

Finally, I gave in and the day arrived to pick up my eyeglasses. Traveling the highway home, I was still hesitant to wear the glasses.

Eventually, my hand reached over to where I had placed the glass case. Placing the glasses on my eyes while driving, I discovered an entirely new world. For the first time in years, I witnessed the beauty of nature. Colors jumped at me, green was green again, and the shading and shadows cast by the trees filled me

May 2, 2014

Eyeglasses

with awe and excitement. The ior for the Israeli people, were brightness of the sun envelthe hopes of the disciples. oped me and penetrated me They were caught in their like never before. Even the own despair and depression, colors of the road signs were and could not be bothered to clear and crisp, and I could look about and notice othread them perfectly. ers as they journeyed towards I felt a joy, an excitement, a newness of life that I had never Homily of the Week experienced before.

Third Sunday My world was differof Easter ent, changed forever in the flash of a moment.

By Deacon Reaching for my cell David Murphy phone, filled with a renewed beauty in my world, I needed to share this Emmaus. The Stranger unmoment with my wife. derstood their anger and their This experience transfrustration, as they revealed formed me and gave true life the high expectations they back to me, not only physihad of the Messiah. Yet Jesus cally for my eyes, but more is patient with these disciples importantly to my soul. The and He waits for them as He clarity of my new world, does for us. He knows that at given to me through human times we all set our hearts on ingenuity, was my Emmaus persons who frequently fail journey. Imagine then how us. Jesus gently guides them the disciples must have felt to confront their disillusionwhen the veil was removed ment. He realizes the disapfrom their eyes, and they realpointment that people can ized they had been traveling experience, when after trying with Jesus. Recall, the discisomething good in their lives, ples’ world had been shattered it seemingly ends in disaster. with the crucifixion of Jesus.

Jesus became the eyeglasses Dreams of a Messiah, a Savfor these two disciples. St.

Luke’s account of the Road to Emmaus tells us of the ability of Jesus to make sense of the complex issues of life. The disciples’ hopes and dreams had been destroyed. Yet, when Jesus talked with them, their inner vision of heart and soul opened again and the Good News became sharp, became clear. The meaning of life became clear and their obstructed vision which caused them darkness, now opened up as light. Luke shows us a Jesus Who is kind and courteous as He waits, not intruding on the disciples’ moment. Jesus allows the disciples, and all of us, to realize we need to discard our pride, and to open our eyes, so that we will have the clarity to invite Him to enter our lives.

It is amazing how Jesus gently allows all of us to understand how quickly our vision of Him can fade. If we are not vigilant, slowly throughout life we can fall from His grace. We will lose sight of His message and we will go blind to His Church.

Could this be what has

happened to so many of our brothers and sisters who have been Baptized in Christ?

Somehow, they need to be put on the road to Emmaus, so that they can discover how Jesus can correct their vision.

So that they can encounter a Jesus Who can do the impossible by restoring a clarity of life that has fallen dormant.

And with responsive hearts that are renewed and invigorated by truly meeting Jesus, they will beg Him to stay.

Jesus waits patiently for us as we scramble to get an eye exam, so that as a disciple of His we may live always in His world.

With new glasses, let us go out and share the great news of Jesus, just like the disciples did when their vision was restored in the breaking of the bread. Jesus’ message must be shared with others, because as disciples we live in a community of believers who all share a clear vision of inviting Jesus into their lives. Let’s all have our eyes checked.

Deacon Murphy was ordained last October and serves at St. Patrick’s Parish in Wareham.

Upcoming Daily Readings: Sat. May 3, 1 Cor 15:1-8; Ps 19:2-5; Jn 14:6-14. Sun. May 4, Third Sunday of Easter, Acts 2:14,22-33; Ps 16:1-2,5,7-11; 1 Pt 1:17-21; Lk 24:13-35. Mon. May 5, Acts 6:8-15; Ps 119:23-24,26-27,29-30; Jn 6:22-29. Tues. May 6, Acts 7:51—8:1a; Ps 31:3cd-4,6,7b,8a,17,21ab; Jn 6:30-35. Wed. May 7, Acts 8:1b-8; Ps 66:1-3a,4-7a; Jn 6:35-40. Thurs. May 8, Acts 8:26-40; Ps 66:8-9,16-17,20; Jn 6:44-51. Fri. May 9, Acts 9:1-20; Ps 117:1bc,2; Jn 6:52-59.

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ne of the striking things about the Easter and post-Easter narratives in the New Testament is that they are largely about incomprehension: which is to say that, in the canonical Gospels, the early Church admitted that it took some time for the first Christian believers to understand what had happened in the resurrection, and how what had happened changed everything. In “Roman Pilgrimage: The Station Churches” (Basic Books), I draw on insights from Anglican Biblical scholar N.T. Wright and Pope Benedict XVI to explore the first Christians’ unfolding comprehension of Easter and how it exploded their ideas of history and their place in history.

So, what changed after Easter?

The disciples’ understanding of history changed. The first Jesus community lived in expectation of the “last days,” even while Jesus walked among them in His public ministry; but they thought the “last days” involved a historyending cataclysm. After the resurrection, the disciples slowly

The difference Easter made began to grasp that the “last days” mained “present” to His brethren had already begun at Easter, even Sacramentally — in the Baptism they were to offer the whole as history continued. The “last days” were unfolding in time, and world, in the Eucharist they celebrated, and in their exercise of the entire texture of time was fraternal charity. changed because of that.

The disciples’ understanding of “resurrection” changed. The Risen Christ’s Resurrection was not like the resuscitation of Lazarus, nor did it involve the

By George Weigel decomposition of the corpse of the Jesus Who was crucified, Who The disciples’ understanding died, and Who was buried. The Risen Lord had a Body, but it is a of their responsibilities and their transformed Body, and the tomb future prospects changed. The unexpected and expectation-exwas empty.

The disciples’ understanding of ploding Resurrection of Jesus also revealed their own destinies. The how the Risen One was “preslife-transforming experience of ent” to His brethren changed. meeting the Risen Lord impelled For a certain period, the Risen the first disciples to mission, after Lord appeared to them in that transformed Body: in the garden the outpouring of the Spirit had given them the words to tell what and the Upper Room, on the they had seen and heard. And Emmaus Road and at the Sea knowing that what had hapof Galilee. But after that period pened in Jesus’ Resurrection was ended in what we know as the their destiny, too, they could, in Ascension, the Risen Lord re-

The Catholic Difference

the future, embrace martyrdom in witness to the truth of what God had done in Christ for the Salvation of the world.

The disciples’ understanding of worship and time changed.

The disciples of Jesus were all pious Jews for whom the Sabbath was a bottom-line reality of their religious identity.

Yet the early Church quickly established Sunday, not Saturday, as the “Lord’s Day,” because it was on Sunday, the “third day,” that Jesus had been raised from the dead. As Benedict XVI wrote in “Jesus of Nazareth — Holy Week,” “Only an event that marked souls indelibly could bring about such a profound realignment of the religious culture of the week.

[The] celebration of the Lord’s day, which was characteristic of the Christian community from the outset, is one of the most convincing proofs that something extraordinary happened that day — the discovery of the empty

tomb and the encounter with the Risen Lord.”

Living as we do on the far side of Easter, it is sometimes hard to grasp just how profoundly shattering an experience the first Easter season was for those who lived it. That is why we should be grateful to the Gospel writers, and the Church that accepted and confirmed their witness, for including in the New Testament the first disciples’ perplexity about just what had happened.

Encountering their confusion, we learn that Christ, raised from the dead, changes everything: time, history, prophecy, hope, the hereand-now, vocational responsibility and right worship all come into clearer focus through the encounter with the Risen Lord.

The unity of God’s self-revelation to Israel and in His Son is confirmed. The Church, witness to the truth of the resurrection, is born.

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

May 2, 2014

Wednesday 30 April 2014 — Homeport: Falmouth Harbor — Last day of Holy Humor Month had a lot of fun during Lent and Holy Week.

Fun is not something normal people associate with Lent.

Perhaps, dear readers, I’m not normal? Perish the thought.

It began on Ash Wednesday. Father Peter John and I decided to walk next-door to Betsy’s Diner for a little something to eat. We wanted a light lunch. Father Peter John decided on the macaroni and cheese. I got the clam chowder. “No soup for you!” the waitress blurted out. Then she sheepishly explained, “You see, Father, the chef puts a small strip of bacon in the kitchen soup pot. Of course, you can order it if you really want to,” she said.

Far be it from me to break the Lenten regulations. “No, no. I’ll just have the mac and cheese. Thank you.”

As we were leaving the diner, there behind the counter stood the owner, the entire wait staff, and the chef — all with broad smiles on their faces. “We hear our waitress saved you from sin, Father.” Then they broke

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ife can be quite demanding at times, it may often seem that we don’t have time for ourselves. Yet with all the busyness in our lives, we somehow are given what we need. I often joke that I don’t have a life, that I am so busy at times, and that I don’t know if I am coming or going. But yet in all the madness that sometimes is my life, there is a joy, an underlying happiness and true feeling of being blessed. As crazy and demanding as my life seems at times, I know I am doing what God needs me to do. I am where I need to be, and there is a comfort in knowing that I am not just spinning my wheels, but actually touching others through God’s touching me.

We are all asked to be God’s instruments here on earth, His means of bringing love and light into otherwise dark corners of this vast world. He fully understands what we are capable of, what gifts we possess and how we can best help our fellow man. But alas, God can only begin His work through us after we have said yes! Over the years I have had many experiences

Anchor Columnists Oh, joy

Town of Falmouth even if I into uncontrollable laughter wanted to. and ran off. Even on Ash Finally the Easter Triduum Wednesday I couldn’t remain arrived. At Morning Prayer straight-faced.

After lunch, it was back to on Holy Thursday, the sanctuary was stripped, the the church for the distributabernacle empty, and the tion of ashes. I’m never one bells silenced. As we sang the to skimp on religious signs ancient psalms, the steeple and symbols. None of these thumb prints for me. As I was copiously distributing the The Ship’s Log blessed ashes, I began Reflections of a to hear suppressed Parish Priest giggles percolating from the people in

By Father Tim my line. I realized Goldrick the generous cross of ashes was especially obtrusive on baldbells rang out. Wait a minheaded men. How am I to ute. I had forgotten to shut know where their foreheads off the darn bells. Oh well, end? better late than never. But we On the next Wednesday searched high and low and in Lent, I skipped Betsy’s just couldn’t find the key to and drove to the Dippin’ the bell control cabinet. The Doughnuts instead. At the problem of the lost key was service window I ordered solved when Father Peter coffee with a bacon, egg, and cheese wrap. Suddenly a voice John quickly picked the lock.

No, I didn’t ask where he blared over the loud-speaker. had learned this skill, but I “Father, did you forget this considered inquiring. is a Lenten Wednesday?

Then we had another probDon’t you want just egg and lem. The antique gold chalice cheese?” “That’s only on Ash Wednesday,” I answered, “not used only on special occasions was locked away in a safe. We every Wednesday of Lent!” I open that safe so infrequently couldn’t commit a sin in the

nobody could remember the combination off-hand. Again Father Peter John saved the day. He cracked the safe. OK, that’s it. I won’t ask the question because I really don’t want to know the answer.

In the afternoon of the Vigil of Easter, Father Peter John and I set up the floral displays with the help of the local florist and placed all the implements that would be required for the complicated rituals of the Easter Vigil. We were careful to set out our special aspergillum with which to sprinkle the assembly. It looks like a small broom with a short handle.

It was given to me by a priest who had brought it back from Eastern Europe.

Late in the afternoon, I went back into the church for final inspection. There I found a member of the parish group who call themselves the “Altar Angels.” They come when nobody is around to tidy up, dust, and polish. “Father, Father,” the elderly angel said excitedly. “Somebody left a little old broom behind and it’s just the right size

9 for me to sweep the floor.”

“How nice. Where is it now?”

I asked nonchalantly. “Oh, I put it back in the broom closet so I know where it is next time.” I didn’t have the heart to tell her it was our special aspergillum.

Our aspergillum was none the less for wear. That “old broom” splashed plenty of Holy Water on Easter Sunday. We didn’t miss a single person. I know because I asked the congregation. Nobody had more fun than the little children, who laughed, giggled, and chanted, “Do it again! Do it again!” It really was great fun. Come to think of it, I probably had more fun than the kids.

Joy is a sure sign of the presence of God. Part of our distinguishing characteristic as Catholics is the sheer joy of our faith. We can be solemn without being dour.

We can allow ourselves to be human as we stand before Divinity. I bet God laughs out loud when we take ourselves too seriously.

I bet God thinks it’s a hoot.

Enjoy!

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

Take up your torch

with God’s inviting me, encouraging me and nudging me forward into unchartered territory, willing me to do His bidding; to bring a glimpse of His mercy and love to those in need.

There have been days of resistance, of uncertainty and of unwillingness. Days when I feel as if too much is being asked of me, and still others where I am not sure where to even begin.

Yet somehow it all seems to work out, and trusting fully, gives me the strength and courage to persevere.

We have been listening to readings from the Acts of the Apostles at Sunday Mass, and I can think of no better example than the Apostles themselves. They watched the Man they believed in and trusted, a Man Whom they had come to know and love, die on the cross.

Jesus had given them a mission, and they firmly believed that He would be with them to see it through. They were afraid, they did not feel ready, and they knew that if they even begun the work they had promised

to do, they may not live to see tomorrow. Their reluctance was well-grounded; they after all had witnessed what had been done to Jesus because of His beliefs and teachings. But yet these men and women stayed together, formed a family, a bond and even though they did not know

In the Palm of His Hands

By Rose Mary Saraiva

what tomorrow would bring, waited and eventually with the Holy Spirit, gained the courage and strength they needed to begin the mission.

For most of us, the only persecution we may experience is the jesting of family and friends, questioning why we are so involved, or why we put our faith first. Asking us pointed questions about our beliefs and those of the Church, wondering why we stay firm in the midst of all the turmoil. Still others suffer

injustice and cruelty for their beliefs and yet continue to do the work of God regardless of the price they are asked to pay.

So why is it so difficult for us to give of ourselves, why do we find excuse after excuse to put off what we are being asked. It is our own fear and doubt — will anyone even listen, and are we truly worthy, can we really get the job done? There answers lie within our own hearts and the task at hand is not as impossible as we fear, we are simply asked to be witnesses, to live our lives in accordance to Jesus’ teachings, to be there for others, to find joy in even the simplest of things, and to know that we are loved beyond measure.

To truly be an instrument of God requires us to get to know Him fully, to understand His mercy and love, and to live our lives as Easter people, knowing that Jesus has opened the doors wide for us, showering us in His light and love. Our mission is to take up the torch and carry this light and love

everywhere we go. We can accomplish this each and every day, by simply reflecting God’s love and mercy in the simple gestures of our lives — a smile, an embrace, a touch, a kind word spoken to a stranger, or by simply allowing your inner light to shine brightly, to be hope to others and letting them know that they are important and loved and that each and every one of us does make a difference.

We are not asked to move mountains, we are asked to be bearers of light, to let hope kindle the hearts of the despairing, to be there when a friend is in need or to lend a hand to that stranger struggling with their heavy load. We can make a difference, all we have to do is say yes.

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

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May 2, 2014

Truly ‘top chef ’: Gospel shows Jesus knew how to cook, theologian says VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When Christians pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” it is a genuine plea reflecting their needs — needs that Jesus took seriously, even to the point of cooking for His disciples, says Father Giovanni Cesare Pagazzi, an Italian theologian.

His book “La Cucina del Risorto” (“The Cooking of the Risen One”) will not be published until July, but already has attracted considerable attention in Italy. A long extract was published in the February issue

of the monthly Rivista del Clero Italiano.

“The hunger of the starving and the thirst of those who are parched are the hunger and thirst of Jesus, and therefore criteria for the last judgment,” writes Father Pagazzi.

Editrice Missionaria Italiana, the book publisher, describes it as a “small evangelical guide” to the relationship between Christ and cooking based on the premise that “Jesus knew how to cook, practiced the culinary arts, and knew its secrets

and traditions.”

For Father Pagazzi, the term “buon pastore” — good shepherd — has a double meaning.

In Italian, “pasto” is a meal; a “pastore” or shepherd provides food. For Jesus, part of being the Good Shepherd is being “He Who nourishes.”

Father Pagazzi, 49, was born in Italy’s Lombard region and holds a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He has taught Christology since 1996 in seminaries in Lodi and Crema, and is currently a professor at the North Italian Theological Institute in Milan.

Jesus paid attention to the obvious, rather than the exceptional, Father Pagazzi explains.

“His eyes take in the everyday world, which is why He so often spoke in parables” and made so many references to food, the dinner table and banquets.

“A careful reading of the Gospel shows us not only Jesus’ liking for conviviality, but also His excellent knowledge of and production and preparation of food,” writes Father Pagazzi.

“He knew even the precise dose of yeast to be added to flour in making bread,” as demonstrated in Matthew 13:33.

Jesus Himself cooked, and “He understood the nutritional properties of bread and fish, but also how to exalt the potentialities of the pleasure this gives,” Father Pagazzi believes. To cook implies care and respect

for the guests at the dining table; Jesus’ guests would have understood that these were literal foretastes of the future prepared by God. Food and dining appear in numerous Gospel references: descriptions of wedding feasts; the wealthy man who waits upon his servants at table; the wise administrator who nourishes his workers, and — particularly — the miraculous multiplication of the loaves and the fishes. The miracle of feeding the multitude is so important in the Gospels that it appears six times: twice each in the Gospels of Mark and Matthew, and once each in the Gospels of Luke and John.

“We don’t know how Jesus prepared fish for His disciples, but with every probability He did,” Father Pagazzi writes; in fact, after the resurrection, Jesus meets the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. He is standing by a charcoal fire with fish on it.

“Come, have breakfast,” Jesus says to them in John 21:12, giving them bread and fish.

Jesus’ attitude toward food and cooking demonstrates that He “sees good in all things, including those things which accompany the life of every man from the beginning: hunger and food,” says Father Pagazzi.

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

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May 2, 2014

Four diocesan students win awards in national prayer contest

By Dave Jolivet Anchor Editor

EASTON — Four students in Catholic schools in the Diocese of Fall River were named winners in Family Rosary’s 19th annual “Try Prayer! It Works!” contest, a nationwide competition where students are asked to express their faith through art, poetry and prose.

Family Rosary is a part of Holy Cross Family Ministries headquartered in Easton.

This year, nearly 3,000 students across the country took part. Sean Hurteau, a thirdgrader at All Saints Catholic School in New Bedford, placed first in the grade three category. Fourth-grader Aiden Guay, also from All Saints Catholic, placed third in the grade four category. Fifth-grader Mary Skordas from St. Pius X School in South Yarmouth placed second, and fifth-grader Rachel Costello at St. Mary’s School in Mansfield, placed third in their grade’s classification.

Each of the students won for essays they submitted.

“This is a great year for Fall River,” Holy Cross Family Ministry mission director Beth Mahoney, told The Anchor. “I’m grateful for the schools that participated. I would like to see more schools and parishes in the diocese participate.”

The annual contest is open to children and teens from Catholic schools, parishes and other Catholic organizations.

This year’s theme was “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.”

“I hear from schools and parishes around the country how their students learn about the Rosary, about Jesus and Mary, and how this contest helps them with praying as a family,” added Mahoney.

“This is exciting to hear as our founder, Servant of God Holy Cross Father Patrick Peyton believed that ‘the family that prays together stays together.’”

Patricia Olejarz, the language arts teacher for grades three through five at All Saints Catholic School told The Anchor, “I asked Sean [Hurteau] when he feels closest to God and he told me that at night, when his brother goes down for his final snack, and he is alone in his room lying in bed, that is when he feels closest to God. He says he feels peaceful and calm and that’s when he says his prayers. When I asked Sean how it felt to win the contest he said, ‘I felt re-

ally happy and proud of myself because I have never won anything like this before. It was very enjoyable and it made my family happy also.’”

Speaking to Aiden Guay, Olejarz said he told her, “When he is in bed, he is alone and he can tell God his problems, concerns, and what he needs help with and he knows that God is listening. When I asked Aiden what this contest meant to him he said, ‘It meant a lot to me because there was competition from across the country and when I get older I would like to be a script or book writer. I also feel that this contest has brought me closer to God because I was able to express my feelings.’”

Cristina Castellano-McCumber, a fifth-grade teacher at St. Mary’s School in Mansfield told The Anchor, “All of my students were deeply inspired

by the Holy Spirit in the composition of their poems. Rachel speaks from the heart. She combined her personal experience, in-class lessons and requirements, and her faith, into a work of art.”

“When I won the contest, I felt happy, surprised and proud,” Rachel Costello told her teacher. “It means a lot to me to win the ‘Try Prayer! It Works!’ contest, because I love writing and hope to become an author when I grow up. So winning a contest combining two of my favorite things, religion and writing, was just amazing and means a lot to me.”

Anne B. Dailey, principal at St. Pius X School in South Yarmouth told The Anchor, “Incorporating prayer into the daily lives of our students is a part of everyday experience at St. Pius X School. Our mission

statement expresses our goal of developing young men and women who live ‘lives of faith, service, and integrity,’ leading a prayerful life that extends beyond school experience, enriches the lives of our students, and guides them as Christians and as citizens. Mary Skordas, from our grade five class, expresses her understanding of prayer as essential to our lives, and recognizes the different forms of prayer.”

Skordas herself perhaps summed it up best, “If you truly seek forgiveness, or you truly want to help someone, why don’t you try prayer. It works.”

Mahoney told The Anchor that the judges for the contest come from various areas.

“We have teachers from high schools, elementary schools, special education programs,

catechists, parish ministries, parents, and grandparents,” she said.

“We are grateful for the schools and parishes who participate,” she added. “I would like to see the contest increase.

The contest is a great activity for the students to express their faith.

“The young people who participate are inspiring, their insights are awesome and full of life. They are creative, and they have belief in God, trust in God, and an incredible understanding of Jesus.”

In addition to the “Try Prayer! It Works!” contest in the United States, separate competitions are conducted in Mexico, East Africa, West Africa, Bangladesh, Brazil, India, Ireland, France, Chile, Peru and the Philippines.

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S

May 2, 2014

The ‘Good Pope’s’ influence is alive and well in 2014

ome writing assignments are simply more fun than others, and for me that translates into something I don’t mind reading again.

As an editor, one of my pet peeves is to proofread my own work. More often than not, I simply don’t like what I wrote.

That goes all the way back to my college days when I would go back and polish an essay or thesis and shudder at what was on the pages before me.

Obviously my professors didn’t agree, thank God, because I earned my degree in four

My View From the Stands

By Dave Jolivet years with no blips on the radar screen.

This week provided me with one of those assignments that I dove into and came out grinning.

I asked Father Richard Wilson months ago if I could write a piece on the beloved Pope John XXIII’s canonization, using the angle of interviewing diocesan priests who served under this humble, joyful, holy man. In his own humble, joyful and holy way, my boss gave me the OK. I vaguely remember Pope John XXIII, especially when he died. It was just a few months before JFK’s assassination rocked the world. I was just a pup finishing up first grade, and we had a portrait of Pope John XXIII in each classroom at St. Anne’s School in Fall River.

I liked him. He looked like a big old huggable pépère to me, although I should say a nonno.

I had the delightful experience of interviewing the Shovelton Brothers from their home in Lady Lake, Fla. Fathers William, 92, and Gerald, 84, have never turned down a request from me and I always hang up the phone after speaking with them feeling better than before

our conversations.

I could detect in their voices the fondness with which they held the beloved pope. That’s something you can’t put on paper.

In Father Peter Graziano’s reply, you could sense the love and admiration he had for St. John XXIII. Msgr. Barry Wall, who is never at a loss for a story, was gracious as usual and chock full of anecdotes and thoughts about Good Pope John.

Msgr. Thomas Harrington, my golf partner, was equally eager to share opinions of St. John XXIII. He, also, is never at a loss for a good story.

In fact each of the five men I interviewed are human treasure chests of experiences and opinions about our Church and what it means to be a priest of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Each of these men exude joy, humility and holiness in their own way. There is no bitter edge to any of these fine priests.

Based on what they told me about the man, Pope John XXIII, it wasn’t hard to realize they each still had a part of St. John XXIII’s influence in their lives and in their souls.

Each of these men I could easily call pépère. One can’t interact with them, even for but a few moments, and not come away feeling better inside and out.

This week’s assignment was a joy for many reasons: the subject matter, St. John XXIII, a man and saint I want to get to know better; his students, men I already know and respect and enjoy; and the fact that after completing the feature, I am a better person for it.

I’d like to publicly thank these five wonderful priests and men for bringing alive for me the spirit and joy of St. John XXIII. Dave Jolivet can be contacted at davejolivet@anchornews.org.

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

Sky, Scout and Amber star in a scene from the movie “Bears.” For a brief review of this film, see CNS Movie Capsules below. (CNS photo/Disney)

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

“Bears” (Disneynature) This wildlife documentary about an Alaskan brown bear and her two cubs, directed by Alastair Fothergill and Keith Scholey, is an innocently voyeuristic treat for just about every age, a marvel of moments great and small captured in stunning cinematography. Viewers follow the trio as they emerge from the long winter’s hibernation in search of food. To survive, they must contend with the threats posed by rival bears and predatory wolves. Though the cutesy and cuddly quotient is off the charts, moments of ferocious fighting remind us that these are wild animals, not pets.

Such savage interaction may be a bit too intense at times for the youngest moviegoers.

Scenes of animal combat. The Catholic News Service classification is A-I — general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is G — general audiences. All ages admitted.

“Heaven Is for Real” (TriStar) After coming close to death

during an operation, a fouryear-old boy (Connor Corum) startles his Wesleyan minister father (Greg Kinnear) and choir-director mother (Kelly Reilly) by announcing that he visited Heaven and met Jesus — as well as two deceased family members. But his matter-of-fact statements about paradise stir controversy in his family’s small-town Nebraska community and, ironically, provoke a crisis of faith for his dad. Director and co-writer Randall Wallace’s adaptation of Todd Burpo’s best-selling account of his son Colton’s experienc-

es is substantial and moving, thanks in large part to the mature way in which it grapples with fundamental issues of religious belief and doubt.

A few scenes involving illness and a painful accident might not be suitable for the littlest moviegoers; an unspoken innuendo between husband and wife will sail well over their heads. The Catholic News Service classification is A-I — general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG — parental guidance suggested.

Some material may not be suitable for children.

Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6 Sunday, May 4, 11:00 a.m.

Celebrant is Father Rodney E. Thibault, pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in South Dartmouth

May 2, 2014

Diocesan priests remember papacy of St. John Paul II

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but also how to do it,” Father WilFather Cabral said St. John liams said.

Paul II should also be rememcontinued from page one Father Williams also cited the bered for his extensive travels and us to ‘be not afraid’ and to work for ily Parish in Taunton, remembers the former Yugoslavia. former pontiff ’s encyclical “Veri- attempts to embrace and evange“Any sense of self-pity quickly tatis Splendor” and his influen- lize all people. the New Evangelization. He made one particular meeting while he it very clear that young people are was studying abroad outside of dissolved seeing the great weari- tial Theology of the Body as key “He was such an effective pope not only the future of the Church, Rome with the University of Dal- ness in the pope, but I was also teachings that “have given the and leader for the Church because surprised to see eyes full of joy and Church the language and ideas he embraced so many different but are also its present.” las.

“I was born in 1975, so I obvi“I was very fortunate to shake welcome. I only spoke to him for a it needs to continue to effectively peoples at their level,” he said. “As ously have no recollection of either the Holy Father’s hand and at- second, mumbling, completely at a teach in the modern world.” a Pole, he was the first non-ItalPope Paul VI or Pope John Paul I,” tend a Mass in his private chapel,” loss for words, the traditional PolFor Father Thibault, he’ll al- ian pope in more than 450 years. said Father Rodney Thibault, pas- Father Cook said. “Afterwards we ish greeting for a priest: ‘May Jesus ways remember St. John Paul II’s He was open to all — Catholic tor of St. Mary’s Parish in South all got to meet him. I was with Christ be praised,’ but I think he remarkable sense of mercy. or non-Catholic, male or female, Dartmouth. “My first memory two friends of mine and we had knew what I had said because he “I would say that one of the young or old.” of Pope John Paul II I have as a no idea we would get the chance seemed to mouth the priest’s re- major hallmarks of his papacy was “He just radiated a love of young child was a picture my ma- to chat with him. I had brought sponse: ‘For ever and ever, amen.’ when he went to the jail where the Christ and joyfulness,” Father ternal grandparents had of him a crucifix I bought for my sister For that moment I felt like I was person who attempted to take his Cook added. “He also taught how hanging in their living room. I re- with me to have him bless when the only one in the room with him life was being held and forgave as a disciple of the Lord and as a member asking my grandmother we would be at the papal audi- and although the moment was him,” Father Thibault said. “That priest how to unite one’s suffering why she would keep his photo in ence later that morning. When I over in a heartbeat, seeing his love was the Gospel literally coming to Christ — whether it was when the house and she told me that found out we would be meeting for people even in the midst of his to life! Jesus’ instruction that we he was shot and later forgave Ali he was so important as he is the him, I got permission to grab the own suffering, a love that could forgive was played out in real time Agca, his intended assassin, or leader of the Church.” crucifix and when he came around only come from Jesus Christ, re- and his was the ultimate model of whether it was his last few years “As a young man growing up he blessed the crucifix and me. It ally touched my heart and pushed humility. I know that in my own of incredible physical suffering — thinking about the priesthood I was an incredible moment — es- me toward an openness to the will life, when I have difficulty forgiv- and yet persevering and teaching remember seeing images of Pope pecially at age 19 — and it had a of God that led me away from my ing someone who has wronged us the dignity of the sick and sufplans for law school and politics, me, I turn to that example.”

John Paul II and being inspired huge impact on me.” fering.” by him and how much he made When he initially left to study and towards the Altar of God.” Father Mello recalled how in- St. John Paul II: A different perspective me think about Christ and how for the priesthood in Rome in important He is in our lives, es- 1997, Father Thibault had high spirational Pope John Paul II was FALL RIVER — Like his fice to vest. I was delighted to see pecially as young people,” added hopes of getting to meet Pope during those years as he suffered younger brother priests, Msgr. that Father Ed Healey was also with Parkinson’s disease.

Father Jay Mello, parochial vicar John Paul II. Ronald A. Tosti, now retired, also present.

“When I was in seminary, fondly recalled a personal enat St. Mary’s Parish in Mansfield.

“Little did I know that in Oc“There was a group of BrazilFather Riley J. Williams, paro- tober of 1997, I would have the watching him get older and more counter with St. John Paul II in ian nuns who did the singing and chial vicar of St. John the Evange- privilege of kneeling in front of frail, I remember being inspired by October of 1995. we processed into the chapel. The list and St. Vincent de Paul par- the late pontiff to present the gifts his suffering and also his deter“It was my happy experience to Holy Father was kneeling at his ishes in Attleboro, remembered of bread and wine that we would mination,” he said. “I remember have seen Pope John Paul II on a priedieu in prayer. He vested and studying in Rome in 2005 and use at Mass when he declared (St. thinking how powerful it was to number of occasions, but one parthe Mass proceeded normally. seeing the pontiff just before his Theresa the Little Flower of Jesus) see the pope struggle to walk and ticular occasion was, for me, exThe Holy Father’s secretary had death. a doctor of the Church,” Father talk and yet, still inspire millions traordinary. Thanks to then-Bish- asked me whether I could read with his sheer presence.”

“I was there in St. Peter’s Thibault said. op Sean P. O’Malley, a request was Latin or not (probably because I Father Cabral will never forget Square on Easter Sunday, a week Father Thibault would later put into the Vatican offices that I looked like the oldest there). He before he died,” he said. “When introduce the Holy Father to his seeing St. John Paul II at World might concelebrate Mass with the then asked me to read the concelhe came to the window, he was parents in the pope’s private cha- Youth Day in Denver, Colo. in the Holy Father in his private chapel ebrant’s part. Just before the prefunable to speak, although he was pel during a Holy Week Mass cel- summer of 1993.

“I can recall being present for in the papal apartments. I was to ace, his secretary motioned that I visibly trying to do so. Receiving ebration in 1998 and it was there should approach the altar, facing his silent blessing that day, from a that Pope John Paul II first used the papal welcoming ceremony be in Rome with a group.

“We went to the Wednesday the back wall. Thinking that the man who had clearly given all he the chalice that Father Thibault at Mile High Stadium, and how audience and found Father Ed rest of the dozen priests assemthousands of us were literally had to Christ and His Church, still uses to this day.

Healey was there with his group bled would be on either side of has always been an inspiration to “His papacy certainly was a screaming at the top of our lungs and we realized that we were both the Holy Father, I was greatly surme.” part of my formation as a priest up as the helicopter which carried on the list of requests for the Paprised to find myself alone. What For Father Ron P. Floyd, who until ordination,” Father Thibault Pope John Paul II arrived,” he said. pal Mass.

We were to receive calls a wonderful and truly spiritual “As the Holy Father welcomed currently serves as chaplain at said. from the Holy Father’s office if experience. At the Sign of Peace, Pope John Paul II High School While in college, Father Floyd’s youth from the United States and this was to be a ‘go.’ the Holy Father turned and emin Hyannis, the newly-canonized renewed interest in the priesthood all over the world, he challenged “After a ‘Roman lunch’ I went braced me! It’s a wonder I didn’t Holy Father has always been an and Pope John Paul II led him to us by saying: ‘Jesus has called each back to my hotel room to get melt on the spot, but those who inspiration and a personal hero. enroll in a summer program of- one of you to Denver for a purpose: some rest.

This was our last full know me would not have been “As the son of a Polish immi- fered by the Catholic University of You must live these days in such a day in Rome and we were schedsurprised to see the tears coming grant, St. John Paul II was very Lublin, where Karol Wojtyla had way that, when the time comes to uled to leave the city early the next down my face. I was then privireturn home, each one of you will personally my pope growing up,” once been a professor. morning.

The window of opporleged to raise his chalice before he said. “He was a member of the “That program was a seminal have a clearer idea of what Christ tunity was dwindling fast.

About the ‘Great Amen.’ family, in the way that I am told moment in my discernment of the expects of you.’Those words struck 5 p.m. my phone rang.

I answered “After Mass we all went back Pius XII or John XXIII were for priesthood,” Father Floyd said. “At me, and remained with me, as I promptly and here’s the good to the Holy Father’s office for diCatholics in the ’50s and early the conclusion of the course, the was discerning my vocational call, part: the voice of the Sister speakvesting.

He then came into the ’60s.” monsignor who ran the program and my prayer, at the time, was to ing and, after identifying herself, room and greeted and spoke to In fact, as a young child Father arranged for a private encounter have a clearer idea of what Christ she asked: ‘Would you be availall of us individually, including expected of me. Three years later, I Floyd remembered being com- with Pope John Paul II.” able to celebrate Mass with the the religious and laity assembled. pared to the Polish pontiff.

Noting that at the time he had entered the seminary.”

Known for many accomplish- Holy Father at 7 a.m. tomorrow We were each given Rosaries. We “Hearing my vocation early recently broken his foot and was on, I would steal religious things “feeling a little sorry for myself,” ments during his papacy, includ- morning in his private chapel?’ I conversed in Italian and he remifrom around my house so that I Father Floyd was nevertheless ea- ing his fondness for youth and was not tempted to say: ‘Let me nisced about the late Cardinal Medeiros when he found out I the establishment of World Youth check my datebook!’ could set up a beautiful altar in my ger to meet the Holy Father.

“My guests were included in was from the Fall River Diocese. play room on which I could ‘play’ “By this time the John Paul of Day, Father Williams said St. Mass,” Father Floyd said. “As a re- my imagination — a man full of John Paul II should also be re- the invitation, so we rejoiced all He was in no hurry to end the sult of this, early on many of our vigor and youth — was long gone, membered for his devotion to the evening. We took a taxi and ap- audience. proached the papal apartment af“All in all it was an extraorfamily friends joked that I would replaced by the suffering pope Blessed Mother.

“From his frequent pilgrimages ter full security clearing and went dinary experience for me and be the next John Paul!” bent and stricken by Parkinson’s Having been blessed to see disease,” he said. “John Paul was to Marian shrines to his encour- up the elevator. The laity were as- a deeply spiritual one at that. I Pope John Paul II on several occa- suffering greatly and extremely agement of the praying of the Ro- sembled immediately in the rear had no doubt that I had celesions before his ordination, Father tired, having just that afternoon sary, he has not only shown that of the chapel and the clergy were brated Mass, conversed with and Kevin Cook, pastor of Holy Fam- returned from an historic trip to praying to Our Lady is important, ushered into the Holy Father’s of- touched a saint. What a gift!”

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May 2, 2014

The Canonizations of SS. John XXIII and John Paul II SS. John and John Paul canonized continued from page one

Pope Francis characterized St. John Paul as the “pope of the family,” a title he said the late pope himself had hoped to be remembered by. Pope Francis said he was sure St. John Paul was guiding the Church on its path to two upcoming synods of bishops on the family, to be held at the Vatican this October and in October 2015.

The pope invoked the help of the two new papal saints for the synods’ success, and he prayed, “May both of them teach us not to be scandalized by the wounds of Christ and to enter ever more deeply into the mystery of Divine mercy, which always hopes and always forgives, because it always loves.”

Pope Francis has said the agenda for the family synods will include Church teaching and practice on Marriage, areas he has said exemplify a particular need for mercy in the Church today.

The pope repeatedly mentioned mercy in his homily, which he delivered on Divine Mercy Sunday, an observance St. John Paul put on the Church’s universal calendar in 2000. The Polish pope died on the vigil of the feast in 2005 and was beatified on Divine Mercy Sunday in 2011.

In addition to Pope Emeritus Benedict, making only his third public appearance since he resigned in February 2013, Pope Francis’ concelebrants included some 150 cardinals and 700 bishops.

Pope Emeritus Benedict did not join the procession of bishops at the start of Mass, but arrived half an hour earlier, wearing white vestments and a bishop’s miter and walking with a cane; he sat in a section of the square designated for cardinals.

Pope Francis greeted his predecessor with an embrace at the start of the Mass, drawing applause from the crowd, and approached him again at the end.

During the canonization ceremony, which took place at the beginning of the Mass, devotees carried up relics of the new saints in matching silver reliquaries, which Pope Francis kissed before they were placed on a small table for veneration by the congregation.

St. John’s relic was a piece of the late pope’s skin, removed when his body was transferred to its present tomb in the main sanctuary of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Floribeth Mora Diaz, a Costa Rican woman whose recov-

ery from a brain aneurysm was recognized by the Church as a miracle attributable to the intercession of St. John Paul, brought up a silver reliquary containing some of the saint’s blood, taken from him for medical testing shortly before his death in 2005.

The Mass took place under cloudy skies with temperatures in the low 60s, and only a sprinkle of rain fell just before the 10 a.m. start of the Liturgy. Huge tapestries bearing portraits of the two saints hung from the facade of the basilica, and the square was decorated with 30,000 roses and other flowers donated by the nation of Ecuador.

The square and the broad Via della Conciliazione leading up to it were tightly packed with approximately half a million pilgrims, many of whom had been standing for hours before the start of Mass. Among the many national flags on display, the majority were from Poland, the native land of St. John Paul.

The Vatican estimated that 800,000 attended the ceremony in Rome, with overflow crowds watching on giant-screen TVs set up at various locations around the city. The 2011 beatification of Pope John Paul drew more than one million people, according to Italian police estimates at the time.

The Vatican said 93 countries sent official delegations to the Mass, and more than 30 of the delegations were led by a president or prime minister. The king and queen of Spain and the king and queen of Belgium were in attendance.

Pope Francis spent half an hour personally greeting the delegations following the Mass.

He then rode in his popemobile through the square and adjacent avenue, drawing cheers and applause from the crowds, for about 20 minutes until disappearing at the end of the street.

The canonizations of both popes came after extraordinary measures by their successors to expedite the process. Pope Benedict waived the usual fiveyear waiting period before the start of a sainthood cause for Pope John Paul shortly after his death, when he was mourned by crowds shouting “Santo subito!” (“A saint at once!”).

In the case of St. John, Pope Francis waived the usual requirement of a second miracle before a blessed can added to the Church’s canon of saints.

People assisting with the canonization of SS. John XXIII and John Paul II sleep outside the colonnade in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican in the early morning April 27. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

A woman holds up a reliquary containing pieces of the robes of SS. John Paul II and John XXIII during a Mass in their honor at the Buenos Aires cathedral April 27. That day at the Vatican, Pope Francis canonized the two popes. (CNS photo/Enrique Marcarian , Reuters)

Pope Francis gives back the relic of St. John Paul II to Floribeth Mora Diaz, accompanied by her husband Edwin, during the canonization Mass for SS. John XXIII and John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican April 27. Mora Diaz’s cure from an aneurysm in 2011 was the second miracle in the sainthood cause of St. John Paul. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

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May 2, 2014

The Canonizations of SS. John XXIII and John Paul II

The images of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II hang from the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. (CNA photo/Lauren Carter) Retired Pope Benedict XVI embraces Pope Francis before the canonization Mass for SS. John XXIII and John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican April 27. (CNS photo/ L’Osservatore Romano via Reuters)

A large crowd is seen as Pope Francis celebrated the canonization Mass for SS. John XXIII and John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican April 27. (CNS photo/Evandro Inetti, pool)

Pilgrims from Polish parishes in the Chicago area gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican in advance of the canonization of SS. John XXIII and John Paul II. (CNS photo/ Paul Haring)

Women pray in front of an image of St. John Paul II at a shrine named for the late pope in Washington April 27. That day Pope Francis canonized SS. John Paul and John XXIII at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Bob Roller)

People pray April 27 during a Mass in Mexico City’s metropolitan cathedral to celebrate the canonizations of SS. John XXIII and John Paul II at the Vatican. (CNS photo/ Edgard Garrido, Reuters)

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Youth Pages

Fifth-grade students at All Saints Catholic School in New Bedford proudly display their African drums and masks which were created in Social Studies class as part of the Diocesan Integrated Assessment. The Integrated Assessment, in which all third- through eighth-graders complete, allows students to demonstrate their knowledge of topics through mini projects which include four components: an essay, a technical visual representation, an artistic visual representation, and a personal connection assignment.

Pre-kindgergarten students at Our Lady of Lourdes School in Taunton enjoyed ice cream as a treat for reading 100 books.

Bishop Stang High School, North Dartmouth, had three teams that competed and one that took fifth (out of 47) teams in the Junior Achievement of Southern Massachusetts’ inaugural Titan Challenge. The competition was held in partnership with UMass Dartmouth, Bristol County Savings Bank and other local business partners. The challenge was held at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth along with local business executives and partners helping to facilitate and coach each of the teams. Along with Bishop Stang’s fifth place win, it also had a team place 19th and 30th. Pictured, from left, back row: Ben Leseault, Matt Clarendon, Nick Piva, and Brett Chouinard. Front: Savannah Ponte, Shannon Faris, Shauna Weckesser, Marc Rice, and Ben Chiron. With the students is Edna McKenna, left, Junior Achievement advisor and business teacher at Bishop Stang.

May 2, 2014

Kindergarten students at St. James-St. John School in New Bedford recently celebrated Minion Monday.

The pre-k students from St. John the Evangelist School in Attleboro recently collected socks, slippers, underwear and pajamas for New Hope. Shown with the students and their baskets are pre-k teachers Tammy O’Malley and Kim Cavanaugh along with Laura Hennessey Martens, New Hope vice president of Public Relations, Marketing and Development.

Middle school students from St. Joseph School in Fairhaven recently participated in mock interviews for their chosen career fields. As part of the Junior Finance Program, middle school students learn about financing a college education, requirements for careers they have interest in, mortgages, insurance, and balancing a checkbook. The program will culminate at the end of the year with the second annual CU 4 Reality Fair sponsored by Southern Mass Credit Union.

May 2, 2014

I

t’s the Easter season. It’s springtime — warmer days, longer days, sunnier days. The grass is greener, the flowers are blooming and the birds are singing. All these are signs of new life, signs of a new beginning, a renewed hope and a promise of a new life. After a long winter this is exactly what we’ve been waiting for. Isn’t it all very exciting?

God is creating something new in you — a bubbling spring of joy that splashes into the lives of all people you meet. This isn’t an ordinary, temporary kind of joy like a gift on your birthday. This is God’s joy that comes from the Holy Spirit living in you.

God’s joy is like the fizz in soda trapped inside the bottle and waiting to spill over and bless all those around you when it is released. Think of God’s joy also like your ambition — sometimes it can hardly be contained. This is

Youth Pages Be missionaries

At every visit the elderly are what I see in young people filled with much joy and gratiwhen they receive the Sacratude. So much so that this ment of Confirmation. They year some of them wanted to are so eager to get involved show a greater appreciation — and begin their Christian adult life in the Church. They want to be missionaries and the Church welcomes them as she welcomes you.

But, take it slowly, take it easy. Start with

By Ozzie Pacheco the small and simple things that matter most. These are most they attended the Stations of pleasing to God. Be patient. the Cross. They came on foot!

Only God knows what you They came in their wheelcan do best for others. You chairs. They came with their only need to let yourselves canes. They came! Nothing be His instrument. After all, was going to stop them from Confirmation is a beginning. seeing the young people who It’s a continuation of living a brought smiles to their faces Sacramental life. The youth all year long. That was the best group at my parish held a “Thank You” ever! Our youth Living Stations of the Cross on Palm Sunday. All year long were delighted — their hard work was rewarded, prayerthey have been visiting the fully! Their missionary work elderly at area nursing homes continues. and assisted-living facilities.

Be Not Afraid

17 For those of you already Confirmed in the faith, think back to your own Confirmation. What did it mean to you at that time? Is the joy and excitement of that celebration still alive in you today? Are you still living your Confirmation? I’ve experienced first-hand that young people who are involved share more freely, without fear, their personal feelings, social concerns and their faith. Being involved even makes participating at Mass more exciting because there is a greater appreciation for and understanding of the Eucharist. They understand community and that they are a part of it, living stones in communion with one another.

It’s like school; the more you’re involved in extra-curricular activities, for example, the more you appreciate your school, your education and the effort it takes to accomplish your goals.

The Sacrament of Confirmation is the beginning of your faith journey. It’s a new life for you in our Catholic Church. So, be excited and be ambitious, but be prudent.

Start off in small ways, but do them with the greatest of love.

The world seems cruel at times and you want to go out there and make things good again.

You want to reach out to others and help. Don’t do it alone!

Allow God to help you! He will give you His love, which is perfect, unlimited and always available. Ask God to love others through you and His Presence will bless not only you, but also all those around you.

Live your Confirmation! Go into the world and become a witness and disciple of Christ.

Begin today! Accept the renewed hope. Live the promise of a new life. Be missionaries as we are all called to be.

Happy Easter and God bless!

Anchor columnist Ozzie Pacheco is Faith Formation director at Santo Christo Parish, Fall River.

Send school and Religious Education news to: schools@anchornews.org

The third-grade girls from Holy Family-Holy Name School in New Bedford celebrated the resurrection with the Dance of the Butterfly, held during the Easter Experience. Pictured with the girls are Father Michael Racine, Father Robert Powell and Father Craig Pregana. (Photo courtesy of Terry Breton)

As is tradition, the two fourth-grade classes at St. Mary-Sacred Heart School in North Attleboro did their annual Tableau depiction of the 14 Stations of the Cross. Shown are the two classes surrounding Jesus on the cross.

At Holy Name School in Fall River students remembered to do acts of kindness as part of their Lenten services. Each cross represents a kind act a student performed.

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May 2, 2014

Diocesan priests remember papacy of St. John XXIII continued from page one

lain during World War I; was named as the head of the Italian offices for the Church’s Society of the Propagation of the Faith; and served as a delegate to Turkey and Greece working to improve relations with the Orthodox and Muslims. During World War II, then-Father Roncalli assisted many Jews in escaping the Nazi persecution by issuing “transit visas” from the apostolic delegation and coordinating rescue plans with other ambassadors.

As pope, besides initiating Vatican II, he issued the encyclicals “Mater et Magistra” (“Mother and Teacher”) pointing out the obligations of nations and individuals to bring about social justice; and “Pacem in Terris” (“Peace on Earth”) expressing that true peace must be built on pillars of “truth, justice, love and freedom.”

These encyclicals were issued in the midst of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. During his papacy, St. John XXIII also created the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity.

While most of the priests and lay faithful in the Fall River Diocese only experienced the papacies of Pope Paul VI and St. John Paul II, several were in seminary and were young priests during St. John XXIII’s reign.

When The Anchor contacted Fathers William and Gerald Shovelton, who are 92 and 84 respectively, at their Lady Lake, Fla. home, the brothers were more than happy to share thoughts about the beloved St. John XXIII. Father William Shovelton was ordained in 1946. “I remember St. John XXIII as a great man, very saintly, yet very approachable,” he told The Anchor. “Everyone felt comfortable around him.

He never thought of himself as saintly, but strove to encourage others to become saints. He was someone you could call friend.

He was always a saint to us, and I appreciate that he is thought highly enough by the Church to be named a saint.

“As a priest, even though I never met him, I considered him a friend and a confidant. It remains that way even to today.”

Father Gerald T. Shovelton was ordained in 1956, 10 years after his brother. “I was at Sacred Heart Parish on Martha’s Vineyard when Pope John XXIII was elected,” he told The Anchor. “We all had great hopes for this new pope, hopes for new things. He prepared the way for the Second Vatican Council, which he never did get to see implemented. But I remember it was he who got lay

in Washington, D.C., when John ization,” he added.

Ironically, St. John XXIII was XXIII was pope. beatified as Blessed John XXIII “Pope John XXIII came to the people involved in the Mass, and siastically to ‘Good Pope John.’ office the year that I graduated by then-Pope John Paul II in it was exciting and I was a part Early in 1959 Pope John made from college and entered Theo- 2000, the same man with whom his first appointment of a bishop of that. logical College in Washington,” he was canonized by Pope Fran“What also impressed me in New England, naming Msgr.

Msgr. Harrington told The Anchor. cis last Sunday. about the man was that he James J. Gerrard, vicar general “The day John XXIII died “He began using language about opened the doors of the Church and pastor of St. Lawrence Parish ‘throwing open the window and we decided to have an evening to everyone. He felt God came in New Bedford, Auxiliary Bishletting the fresh air of the Spirit’ Mass at Immaculate Conception for everybody, not just Catholics. op for the Diocese of Fall River.” into the Church. He cautioned Church in Taunton (I had been Noting just how Pope John He was instrumental in the ecuordained for a little more than a about ‘prophets of doom.’ menical movement that is so alive XXIII was beloved by many in“Our theology classes at Cath- year),” said Msgr. Wall. “With the today. He was so kind and gen- cluding non-Catholics, Msgr. olic University of America crack- news just spreading by word of tle. To me he was always a saint, Wall recalled, “When Pope John led with electricity as the debates mouth in a few hours, there was but now it is also decided by the XXIII died in June 1963 Bishop occurring in St. Peter’s Basilica no texting then, we had standing[ James L.] Connolly celebrated a Church.” resonated in the classrooms of room-only attendance. The same Retired Msgr. Barry W. Wall Mass for the pope in St. Mary’s Caldwell Hall [at Catholic Uni- saddened crowd turned out a few was in St. John’s Seminary in Cathedral, which was attended months later on the day of JFK’s versity of America].”

Brighton when Pope John XXIII by a significant delegation of ecuMsgr. Harrington was or- funeral, with a bit more notice.” was elected on Oct. 28, 1958, and menical leaders and non-Cath“John’s spirit accompanied me dained to the priesthood on May he was ordained a priest during olic clergy, a first for such occa30, 1964, nearly one year after St. through seminary training and St. John XXIII’s papacy, on Feb. sions.”

John XXIII’s death. “Pope John’s profoundly impacted my priestly Father Peter Graziano, a re2, 1962. pontificate had ended with his ministry,” Father Graziano told “I was more than mid-way tired diocesan priest, was ordeath just before I was ordained,” The Anchor. “Even in my 50th through my seminary course dained on May 25, 1963, just said Msgr. Harrington. “Still, his year of ministry, his spirit moves when Pope Pius XII died,” Msgr. nine days before St. John XXIII charism stamped the Church of me and will do so until the Good Wall told The Anchor. “When we died of cancer in June. that era in a truly unforgettable Lord calls me home and I meet “On Oct. 28, 1958, I was gocame to the chapel for Mass on face-to-face Papa Roncalli, ‘the manner.”

Oct. 9, 1959 the altar was being ing through Army basic training “I am thrilled with his canon- Good Pope John.’” prepared for the celebration of at Fort Dix, N.J., when I heard the Mass for the dead, for the the news that a new pope had just pope who had died during the been elected,” Father Graziano Group calls for closing of abortion clinics night. Since he was elected when told The Anchor. “His picture in continued from page one I was three years old he was the the newspapers caused a type of Polanowicz’s office has yet re- Hope Smith who died during an only pope I had known. The elec- culture shock. For some 19 years sponded to the letter. Julie Kaviar, abortion on Cape Cod in 2007. tion of the new pope, Cardinal we Catholics had been pastored the office’s deputy communica- The cause of death was cardiac Angelo Roncalli was announced by an austere ascetic Pope Pius tions director, told The Anchor that arrest while under anesthesia. in the dining room on Oct. 28, XII. Now we had a very outgoshe had not seen the letter and Despite being legally required ing, down-to-earth pope. The 1958. would work to track it down be- to have a second doctor present “The new pope took the name buzz was not unlike that we enfore the paper’s deadline. She did to monitor vital signs during an John which had not been chosen countered with the emergence of not respond to subsequent mes- abortion, the clinic did not have a for 600 years. This should have our current Pope Francis.” sages. second physician or any monitorFather Graziano said that prepared us for the unexpected Vanessa, a woman at Four ing equipment at all. from Pope John XXIII as when Pope John XXIII chose that Women who refused to give her MCFL is also working on pubon his first Christmas he vis- name because it was dear to Anlast name, denied that the clinic lic policy questions that should ited Rome’s Regina Coeli prison gelo Roncalli, being the name of acts illegally. “We have no com- appear on ballots in 40 state reprewhere he drew smiles from the his dad. That, Father Graziano ment at this time except to say sentative districts. If approved, the inmates and frowns from some of remarked, “said so very much that we do follow all Massachu- questions would instruct elected his entourage when he remarked about the man.” setts federal and state laws regard- officials in those districts that the Father Graziano told The Anhe wasn’t unfamiliar with prison ing abortions,” she said. electorate support abortion clinics since he had a cousin who was chor that Pope John XXIII inMCFL and other Pro-Life being licensed and inspected at jailed once. His optimism and fluenced him as a seminarian at groups say that abortion clinics least every two years. good humor and simplicity root- Catholic University of America in the state are not scrutinized as Darlene Howard, chairman of ed in his holiness of life immedi- in Washington, D.C., and as a much as other surgical centers. Of the board of directors for Abunately endeared him to all in much priest. “During those seminary greater concern is that the clinics dant Hope Pregnancy Resource the same fashion as our present years, John XXIII was a dynamic are often unlicensed and not in- Center in Attleboro, called the Holy Father, Pope Francis, and model for all of us in seminary,” spected regularly, they say. five clinics’ advertising of aborthe short-lived Pope John Paul I.” he said. “He showed us how to Fox said that such conditions tions up to 20 weeks “shameful.”

Msgr. Wall continued, saying act as future priests and how to be lead to abuses like the atroci“We have these laws in place that those labeling Pope John open to facing so many issues facties that occurred at the hands of to protect people. For them to just XXIII as “liberal” was “meaning- ing the Church as we interfaced Pennsylvania abortionist Kermit ignore it and blatantly advertise, less. Pope John was actually tra- with all segments of society.

Gosnell. He specialized in illegal you can only imagine what else “This so-called transitional ditional in his thinking and his late-term abortions. He killed they’re doing. That’s what’s scary piety. He was pastoral, that is he pope [Pope John XXIII, at age infants that had been born alive to me,” she said. was eager to present the Gospel 76, was the oldest pope elected in by severing their spinal cords. He Howard said that Abundant message to Catholics and non- more than 200 years] opened up also injured women in botched Hope is seeking a license to adCatholics alike in the most ef- true dialogue within the Church abortions. He was convicted of minister ultrasounds, a noninvafective way possible, hence the in a very catholic universal way. three counts of first-degree mur- sive procedure. The license is the renewal initiated by the Second His teaching on social matters der and one count of involuntary same one that abortion clinics Vatican Council which he con- in the document “Mater et Mamanslaughter. He is serving a life must obtain in order to perform gister,” is relevant even today. His voked.” sentence without the possibility of surgical abortions.

“Only a month into his pontif- plea for world peace in the letter parole.

“It’s very frustrating that where icate Pope John named new car- “Pacem in Terris,” calmed tensions Fox added that clinics make a we’re trying to save lives, we’re bedinals, among them Archbishop throughout the world.” lot of money and that they make ing scrutinized, and where they’re Retired Msgr. Thomas J. Cushing of Boston,” he contineven more when they cut corners. taking lives, there’s no accounting ued. “It was Cardinal Cushing Harrington was in seminary at She mentioned the case of Laura for their business at all,” she said. whom I first heard refer enthu- Catholic University of America

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May 2, 2014

Eucharistic Adoration in the Diocese Acushnet — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Francis Xavier Parish on Monday and Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Evening prayer and Benediction is held Monday through Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

ATTLEBORO — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the St. Joseph Adoration Chapel at Holy Ghost Church, 71 Linden Street, from 7 a.m. to 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, every first Friday after the 8 a.m. Mass and ending the following day before the 8 a.m. Mass.

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

EAST TAUNTON — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the chapel at Holy Family Parish Center, 438 Middleboro Avenue, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

On First Fridays, Eucharistic Adoration takes place at Holy Family Church, 370 Middleboro Avenue, from 8:30 a.m. until 7:45 p.m.

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

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

FALL RIVER — St. Bernadette’s Church, 529 Eastern Ave., has 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 every Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

NORTH DARTMOUTH — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Julie Billiart Church, 494 Slocum Road, every Tuesday from 7 to 8 p.m., ending with Benediction.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is available at this time.

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

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

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

SOUTH YARMOUTH — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Pius X Parish, 5 Barbara Street, on Thursdays from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., from March 13 to April 10. The Sacrament of Reconciliation will also be offered at this time.

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.

Noted blind priest Father Patrick Martin to lead mission at Swansea parish

SWANSEA — St. Francis of Assisi Parish, 530 Gardner’s Neck Road, will host noted mission and retreat director, Father Patrick Martin from May 10-13.

Father Martin has spent more than four decades giving retreats and missions, sharing his incredible life’s journey.

He has been blind since he was nine years old, at which time meningitis took not only his sight, but his memory of ever having seen. Father Martin told The Anchor, “It was God smiling and saying, ‘Wait until you see what I’m going to do with him.’”

He became a priest through a special indult by Pope Paul VI, and in the 1970s, began a ministry for the handicapped. In the ’90s he felt a calling to share his story in the mission and retreat setting.

Father Martin will preach at the Saturday vigil Mass at 4 p.m. on May 10; at the 8, 9:30, and 11 a.m. Masses on May 11; and at the 7 p.m. Masses on May 12 and 13. He will also be available for the Sacrament of Reconciliation following the 9 a.m. Masses on May 12 and 13.

All are encouraged to attend and hear Father Martin bring his powerful message allowing God to work with his disability to reach others. “Everyone has a disability,” he told The Anchor, “They’re different in different people.”

For more information contact St. Francis of Assisi Parish at 508-673-2808.

In Your Prayers Please pray for these priests during the coming weeks May 5 Rev. Leo M. Curry, Retired Pastor, St. Dominic, Swansea, 1973 Rev. Albert Rowley, SS.CC., In Residence, St. Francis Xavier, Acushnet, 1985 Rev. Raymond A. Robida, Catholic Memorial Home, Fall River, 2003 May 6 Rev. Thomas P. Elliott, Founder, St. Mary, Mansfield, 1905 Rev. Asdrubal Castelo Branco, Retired Pastor, Immaculate Conception, New Bedford, 1980 Rev. Ernest E. Blais, Pastor, Notre Dame de Lourdes, Fall River, 1994 May 7 Rev. Raymond P. Levell, S.J., Professor, Spring Hill College, Mobile, Ala., 1958 May 9 Rev. J.E. Theodule Giguere, Pastor, St. Anne, New Bedford, 1940 Rev. John P. Clarke, Pastor, St. Mary, Hebronville, 1941

Around the Diocese The Fall River Area Men’s First Friday Club will meet on May 2 in the Chapel of St. Mary’s Cathedral, 327 Second Street in Fall River. Following the 6 p.m. Mass celebrated by Father Karl Bissinger, a hot meal catered by White’s of Westport will be served in the school hall across the street. The guest speaker is writer, photographer, filmmaker and part-time disc jockey Kenneth J. Souza, now working full-time with The Anchor. The Mass is open to the public. Guest men interested in joining the dinner should contact Norman Valiquette at 508-672-8174 with any questions.

The annual gala and auction to benefit St. Pius X School will take place at Oyster Harbors Club in Osterville on May 2. The event will feature the Big Band Sound of Stage Door Canteen. Come enjoy dinner, dancing, raffles, silent and live auctions. The silent auction will kick off the evening at 6 p.m. and the live auction will take place at 8 p.m. Tickets and sponsorships are now available.

For more information visit www.spxsfriends.weebly.com or call 508 398-6112.

Music at St. Anthony’s Concert and Tea will be held at St. Anthony of Padua Church in New Bedford on May 4 beginning at 3 p.m. with the Spirit of St. Anthony Choir and the G20 Barbershop Chorus. A patriotic sing-along, with the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” to finish the concert, will be performed. Complimentary tea and cookies are served after the concert in the church hall. There will be free parking at the Whale’s Tooth (ferry parking lot) off of Route 18 in downtown New Bedford, and a trolley to take riders to and from the church. No tickets are needed, but there will be a donation collected to support the organ renovation fund.

On May 4 from 2 to 5 p.m., St. Anthony’s Parish in East Falmouth will host an Antique Roadshow. Expert antique appraisers will value your items, and you may have a “National Treasure.” A $10 donation per item/collection will benefit the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. St. Anthony’s kitchen will be open to serve a homemade supper menu.

For more information call 508-457-0085.

All are invited to join in prayer for “Building a New Culture of Life” on May 15 at 1 p.m. in St. Jude’s Chapel of Christ the King Parish in Mashpee. Prayers will consist of the four mysteries of the Rosary, with brief meditations on each.

Emmaus is a retreat program for men and women, ages 20-plus, who seek to grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ, regardless of their present level of faith and practice. The next Emmaus weekend will be at Cathedral Camp in East Freetown on May 30 through June 1. Contact Brittany Juszkiewicz at publicity@emmausretreats.com for more information and an application. The application deadline is May 9. For more information, visit www.emmausretreats.com.

Courage, a support group for people with same-sex attractions, will meet at Holy Family Parish Center, 438 Middleboro Avenue in East Taunton on Tuesday, June 3. For more information, please call Father Richard Wilson at 508-226-1115.

Divorced and separated individuals who need to meet or for support can contact the diocesan support system by calling facilitators Rob Menard at 508-965-2919 or Joanne Dupre at 508-965-9296. For related questions, call the Diocesan Office of Faith Formation at 508678-2828.

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May 2, 2014

New documentary takes viewers around globe to examine ‘what is family?’

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (CNS) — For decades, Focus on the Family, a global ministry based in Colorado Springs, has been an ally of the Catholic Church with its many outreaches to build stronger Christian families. The organization’s latest effort, “The Family Project,” is its most ambitious yet and will include a dozen feature-length documentaries with study guides.

The opening documentary of this project, “Irreplaceable,” will be screened at theaters across the country for one

night only May 6. and law professor Helen Alvare, A list of theaters is available former spokeswoman on Pro-Life at www.IrreplaceableTheMovie. issues for the U.S. bishops and com. The host, Tim Sisarich, travels the globe to answer the question: “What is Family?”

The film explores the desire to belong that each person has and how that longing is fulfilled in the family. Sisarich interviews a variety of experts and cultural commentators, including Eric Metaxas, author of several bestselling biographies, including ones on abolitionist William Wilberforce and anti-Nazi activist and minister Dietrich Bonhoeffer;

founder of “Women Speak for Themselves.”

Each commentator offers

their own insights into the factors that have contributed to the breakdown of the family.