05.06.11

Diocese of Fall River

The Anchor

F riday , May 6, 2011

Tragedy in Japan hits home for area family

By Dave Jolivet, Editor

NORTH ATTLEBORO — When a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami rattled Japan on March 11, the shock waves figuratively radiated across the world, even closely affecting a family of parishioners from St. Mary’s Parish in North Attleboro.

Sean Poirier spent several years studying and teaching in Japan, where he eventually met his wife Mayumi. After traveling from Japan to New York City, the couple settled down locally. They have four children,

all of whom were baptized at St. Mary’s Church, and three of them attend St. Mary’s School: Aya in grade six, Skyler in grade four, and Casey in first grade.

“They’re a great family,” said pastor Father David C. Costa.

“They’re active in the parish and it’s nice to be exposed to another culture through Mayumi.”

“I woke up that morning, and heard about the quake on the news,” Sean told The Anchor.

“Then Mayumi came running in to tell me. We didn’t know at first the magnitude of what had hapTurn to page 18

Cape parish prepares to celebrate golden anniversary

By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff

BREWSTER — It was a halfcentury ago that Bishop James L. Connolly decided to establish a new parish on Cape Cod to serve the towns of Brewster, Dennis and Harwich north of the midCape highway, better known as Route 6. Originally based out of the Immaculate Conception Chapel on Main Street, the new Our Lady of the Cape Parish was established on April 19, 1961 and

entrusted to the care of the Missionaries of La Salette.

To commemorate the parish’s golden anniversary, Bishop George W. Coleman will celebrate a special Mass at 11:30 a.m. on May 15, which will be followed by a reception in the parish center.

According to Father Bernard Baris, M.S., who has been pastor at Our Lady of the Cape for the past 13 years, a parish is not a Turn to page 18

blessed john paul ii — Almost as if being introduced by statues, a tapestry featuring an image of Pope John Paul II hangs from the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica during his Mass of beatification led

by Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican May 1. The late Pope John Paul moved a step closer to sainthood during the joyous ceremony that drew more than one million people. Stories on pages 14-15.

(CNS photo/Stefano Rellandini, Reuters)

Bishops, legislators call for teen sex advice site’s removal

By Christine M. Williams Anchor Correspondent

BOSTON — A state-funded website, www.

MariaTalks.com, caused an uproar last month because it downplays the serious nature of abortion and coaches minors on how to work around parental notification laws. Pro-Life and family advocates say, “Maria lies.”

Sixty-three state representatives have also voiced their disgust at the website’s content and urged Gov. Deval Patrick to take it down.

Massachusetts Family Institute, Massachusetts Citizens for Life, Catholic Citizenship and the four bishops of the Commonwealth have also called for the site’s removal. In an April 29 statement, the bishops said that a mere rewrite of the site’s content would be insufficient.

Maria Talks features seven fictional charac-

ters, lead by Maria whose cartoon image features dangly earrings, trendy clothing and a broad smile. She assures teens that if they do not feel comfortable talking with their parents about sex, “Don’t worry. We’re here to help.”

Maria tells readers that the right time to have sex is when they “feel ready.”

“It may seem overwhelming at first, but the bottom line is that the question of whether you’re ready to have sex or not can only be answered by you,” she advises.

The website has content about contraception, sexually-transmitted diseases, various sex acts, homosexuality, sexual violence and abortion, which Maria calls a “hot topic.” She then tells teens that she has a friend who had an abortion, acknowledges that it was a difficult decision but Turn to page 17

Catholic Charities Appeal donations make life-changing differences for area people

Our Lady of the Cape Church in Brewster

FALL RIVER — “We are in full swing here in the central office,” said Mike Donly, director of Development for the diocese who oversees the process during the Annual Catholic Charities Appeal that began on May 1. “This is our 70th anniversary and we certainly hope it is as successful as our history would seem to predict.

“There is tremendous need in our diocese and not just in the urban areas. The depressing economic conditions have hit every level of the social strata

extremely hard. It has left no one untouched. Everyone has experienced it themselves or through a family member or friend, or at least know one or more people who have lost their job, had their hours cut, may be in jeopardy of losing their home, and are also experiencing the anxiety and emotional stress that comes with these types of negative experiences. However, we have a wonderful history of generous parishioners and friends, more than 33,000 last Turn to page 18

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News From the Vatican

At Easter, pope prays for peace, freedom in world trouble spots

beating the heat — A young man with a Rosary tries to stay cool during Pope Benedict XVI’s general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican recently. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

On TV show pope answers questions about faith, suffering

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In an unprecedented TV appearance, Pope Benedict XVI answered questions posed by Christians and non-Christians about global conflicts, interreligious relations and human suffering.

One of the most moving questions came from a seven-year-old Japanese girl who lost friends in the recent earthquake and tsunami and who asked: “Why do I have to be so afraid? Why do children have to be so sad? I’m asking the pope, who speaks with God, to explain it to me.”

In his response, pre-recorded and broadcast on Italian state television Good Friday, April 22, the pope assured the girl that one day she would understand better that “this suffering was not empty, it wasn’t in vain, but behind it was a good plan, a plan of love. It is not chance.”

He said he had the same questions about why some people suffer so much while others live in ease.

“And we do not have the answers but we know that Jesus suffered as you do, an innocent, and that the true God who is revealed in Jesus is by your side,” he said.

“Be assured, we are with you, with all the Japanese children who are suffering. We want to help you with our prayers, with our actions, and you can be sure that God will help you,” he said.

The pope, seated at his desk in the Vatican, spoke in Italian as he responded one by one to the questions, which were posed on-screen by the people who submitted them.

An Italian mother appeared holding her comatose son, who has been in a vegetative state for two years, and asked whether his soul was still there. The pope responded: “Certainly his soul is still present in his body.” He compared it to the situation of a guitar with broken strings that can no longer play.

“I am also sure that this hidden soul feels your love deep down, even if unable to understand the details, or your words. He feels the presence of love,” he said. Those

May 6, 2011

who pass hours with a loved one in such circumstances engage in a true act of love, he said.

“I encourage you, therefore, to carry on, to know that you are giving a great service to humanity with this sign of faith, with this sign of respect for life, with this love for a wounded body and a suffering soul,” he said.

A Muslim woman in Ivory Coast, after blessing the pope in Arabic, lamented that the generally good relations between Christians and Muslims in the African country had been aggravated by the recent fighting there.

The pope responded that he had sent an emissary, Cardinal Peter Turkson, to try to mediate the conflict. He added that the Christian message was one of nonviolence, as exemplified by Jesus’ words and deeds.

“This is what shows us the true face of God, that violence never comes from God, never helps bring anything good, but is a destructive means and not the path to escape difficulties,” he said. Christ invites all sides to renounce violence “even if they feel they are right,” the pope said.

A question from Iraq asked what the Church can do to help Christians remain in the country, in the face of violence and discrimination.

The pope said their desire to leave was understandable, and that the solution lay in dialogue and the rebuilding of Iraq’s internal harmony.

“This is the problem, that the society is profoundly divided, torn, there is no longer the awareness that ‘In our diversity we are one people with a common history, where each has his place.’ This awareness needs to be rebuilt,” he said.

The TV program, “In His Image,” is a Catholic perspectives show that normally airs on Sundays. Its 80-minute special on Good Friday was originally supposed to include three questions for the pope, but the number was increased to seven because of the great number of questions submitted by viewers.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In an Easter blessing to the world, Pope Benedict XVI prayed that Christ’s resurrection may open paths of “freedom, justice and peace” for troubled populations of the Middle East and Africa.

The pope urged an end to violence in Libya and Ivory Coast, assistance to refugees flooding out of North Africa and consolation for the victims of the Japanese earthquake. He prayed for those persecuted for their Christian faith, and praised their courage.

He spoke from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica April 24 in his blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city of Rome and to the world), after celebrating Mass for nearly 100,000 people in St. Peter’s Square. Broadcast to many countries and live-streamed on the Internet, it was the last major event on the 84-year-old pontiff’s heavy Holy Week schedule.

Pope Benedict said the resurrection of Christ must not be viewed as “the fruit of speculation or mystical experience.” It happened in a precise moment and marked history forever, giving human events new strength, new hope and new meaning, he said.

“The entire cosmos is rejoicing today,” and every person open to God has reason to be glad, he said.

But the joy of Easter contrasts with “the cries and laments that arise from so many painful situations: deprivation, hunger, disease, war, violence,” the pope said.

He prayed that “the splendor of Christ reach the peoples of the Middle East, so that the light of peace and of human dignity may overcome the darkness of division, hate and violence.” In Libya, he said, diplomacy and dialogue need to take the place of armed fighting, and the suffering must have access to humanitarian aid.

The pope alluded to the civil unrest that has spread throughout northern Africa and the Middle East, encouraging all citizens there, especially young people, to work for a society where poverty is defeated and where “every political choice is inspired by respect for the human person.” The refugees who have fled the conflicts deserve a generous response by other populations, he added.

The pope said the many forms of suffering in “this wounded world” make the Easter message all the more meaningful.

“In our hearts there is joy and sorrow, on our faces there are smiles and tears. Such is our earthly reality. But Christ is risen, he is alive and he walks with us,” he said. He then offered Easter greetings in 65 languages, including Chinese, Hindi and Swahili.

The pope arrived at the Easter liturgy in an open jeep, riding through a crowd that overflowed the square into adjacent streets.

Many of the pilgrims were Poles who had already arrived in Rome for the May 1 beatification of Pope John Paul II. As clouds gave way to sunshine, the pope celebrated Mass on an altar surrounded by flower gardens of yellow narcissus, cream-colored roses and blue delphiniums — all donated and shipped to Rome by Dutch florists.

After the Gospel reading, an Orthodox choir sang a hymn of psalms of the Byzantine liturgical tradition, marking the fact that the Catholic and Orthodox celebration of Easter fell on the same day this year.

In a lengthy Easter vigil Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica the night before, the pope baptized and confirmed six adults from Albania, China, Peru, Russia, Singapore and Switzerland. He poured holy water from a golden shell over each catechumen’s head, and later accepted offertory gifts from the newly-baptized.

In a sermon, he analyzed why the Christian’s sense of environmental responsibility is directly connected to the core beliefs of the faith.

“We relate to God the creator, and so we have a responsibility for creation,” he said. “Only because God created everything can he give us life and direct our lives.”

The trajectory of salvation history, which reaches a summit with Christ’s resurrection, reaches all the way back to creation, he said. For the Christian, he said, the account of creation is not about the scientific process involved, but something deeper: it says that the source of everything is not pure chance, but “creative reason, love and freedom.”

The pope rejected an evolutionary account that excludes a divine purpose.

“It is not the case that the expanding universe, at a late stage,

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in some tiny corner of the cosmos, there evolved randomly some species of living being capable of reasoning and of trying to find rationality within creation, or to bring rationality into it,” he said.

“If man were merely a random product of evolution in some place on the margins of the universe, then life would make no sense,” he said.

“Reason is there at the beginning: creative, divine reason.”

The pope said Easter was a good time for Christians to remind themselves that the faith embraces everything about the human being, from his origins to his eternal destiny.

“Life in the Church’s faith involves more than a set of feelings and sentiments and perhaps moral obligations,” he said.

On Good Friday, the pope presided over a nighttime Way of the Cross liturgy at Rome’s Colosseum, where tradition holds that early Christians were put to death. Kneeling on a platform on a hillside facing the ancient amphitheater, the pope opened the ceremony with a prayer that drew attention to the constant struggle between good and evil in human history.

He appeared to refer to the priestly sex abuse scandal when he spoke of the “hour of darkness” when “an emptiness of meaning and values nullifies the work of education, and the disorder of the heart disfigures the innocence of the small and the weak.”

The meditations for the 14 Stations of the Cross were written this year by an Augustinian nun, Mother Maria Rita Piccione. The texts encouraged Christians to develop the ability to listen to the subtle voice of God that speaks through the human conscience, and not to ignore the needs of the poor and suffering in their midst.

In a closing talk, the pope said that reliving the drama of Christ’s crucifixion demonstrates that the cross is not a triumphal symbol but rather the sign of “God’s immense love” for humanity.

OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER Vol. 55, No. 18

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May 6, 2011

The International Church

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Vatican spokesman says bin Laden’s death cause for reflection

nowhere to go — Syrians carry their belongings as they arrive by foot to the Wadi Khaled area of northern Lebanon recently. Hundreds of women and children fleeing gunfire in a Syrian town near the border had crossed into Lebanon. (CNS photo/Omar Ibrahim, Reuters)

Holocaust survivor represents Israel at Pope John Paul’s beatification B y Cindy Wooden C atholic N ews Service

ROME — In an unusual move, the Israeli government sent an official delegate to the beatification of Pope John Paul II, choosing a government official who survived the Holocaust because he was entrusted to a Catholic family.

Yossi Peled told reporters, “Pope John Paul II is not just another pope for us,” but was responsible for establishing diplomatic relations with Israel and for promoting better relations between Catholics and Jews.

Mordechay Lewy, the Israeli ambassador to the Vatican, said that because the beatification is a religious ceremony and an internal matter of the Catholic Church, he did not expect rabbis to lead Jewish religious delegations at the Mass.

Peled, 70, told reporters that his parents, who were Polish Jews, went to Belgium thinking they and their family would be safe. Peled was born in Belgium and he said that when he was six months old, his parents became aware of the danger facing the Jews, so they entrusted their infant son to a Catholic family.

“I grew up as a happy Christian boy,” he said.

His parents, aunts and uncles all were taken to Auschwitz, he said, and only his mother survived.

Peled said he had not known he was Jewish until his mother returned to claim him when he was eight years old.

She had been part of Dr. Josef Mengele’s Block 10 medical experiment laboratory, Peled said. Because of her physical condition, she could not take care of her son, so she put him in a Jewish orphanage in Belgium. He and 300 other children moved together to Israel a year later.

Peled told reporters he had no idea whether his Catholic foster family had him baptized, but “I used to go to

church every Sunday. And I knew that before I go to bed, I have to cross myself. And I knew when I sat down at the table, we have to cross the bread.”

“Suddenly, all of this was forbidden” once his mother reclaimed him, he said. Learning he was Jewish and being told he mustn’t pray as a Christian anymore was difficult for a boy of eight years, he said.

“Every day I was waiting for dark and sitting in my bed, (so) I could pray to Jesus,” he said.

Peled said Pope John Paul II grew up in Poland in “the midst of an atmosphere of publicly sanctioned antiSemitism,” and yet managed to forge friendships with Jews and establish a new relationship between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people.

“His apology for the suffering of the Jewish people was nothing short of heroic,” he said.

“Indeed, there is probably no man more fitting to represent the true spirit of Christianity than Karol Jozef Wojtyla,” Peled said.

Rabbi Jack Bemporad, director of the New Jersey-based Center for Interreligious Understanding and a professor at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, told the Vatican newspaper that “the Jewish people have the highest opinion of and the highest respect for John Paul II.” “He was the first pope to enter a synagogue and to ask for forgiveness for past acts of anti-Judaism, using the Hebrew word ‘teshuvah,’ which means not only asking for pardon, but also the determination to move in a new direction,” the rabbi said.

In addition to establishing diplomatic relations with Israel, “everywhere he went in the world, he always met with the local Jewish community to establish ties of friendship and mutual understanding,” Rabbi Bemporad said. “No pope before him had ever done so much.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A Vatican spokesman said the killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, a man who sowed division and hatred and who caused “innumerable” deaths, should prompt serious reflection about one’s responsibility before God, not rejoicing.

The Vatican spokesman’s statement May 2 came the day after President Barack Obama announced that U.S. forces had killed bin Laden in an attack on his hideout in northwest Pakistan. In several U.S. cities, the news prompted street demonstrations and expressions of jubilation.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, released a brief written statement reacting to the news.

“Osama bin Laden, as we all know, bore the most serious responsibility for spreading divisions and hatred among populations, causing the deaths of innumerable people, and manipulating religions to this end,” Father Lombardi said.

“In the face of a man’s death, a Christian never rejoices, but reflects on the serious responsibilities of each person before God and before men, and hopes and works so that every event may be the occasion for the further growth of peace and not of hatred,” the spokesman said.

The Vatican missionary news agency, Fides, reported that Christian schools and other institutes were closed and churches put on guard in Pakistan’s main cities

out of fear of possible repercussions on the Christian minorities there. Pakistani Christians are often identified in extremist literature with the West and the United States.

Paul Bhatti, a government adviser for religious minorities in Pakistan, told Fides that “the situation is tense.”

“In fact, there are strong fears of reactions — senseless reactions — against the Christian minorities. The government is giving the maximum attention to prevention measures,” he said.

Father Mario Rodrigues, director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Pakistan, said after a meeting with government officials May 2: “They put us on alert, requesting the closure of our institutes and making available additional police personnel around the churches. The Christians of Pakistan are innocent victims in this and other situations. Any pretext is used to threaten them or launch an attack.”

Rodrigues said some experts predicted that bin Laden’s killing would weaken the Taliban and their ideologies, which could help diminish anti-Christian persecution in the long term. But he said radical Islamic groups were flourishing in Pakistan, and other extremist leaders could arise.

What is needed, he said, is a serious policy of interreligious tolerance at every level — cultural, social, political and legislative.

4

May 6, 2011 The Church in the U.S. Catholic couple blazes new trails in adult cardiac stem-cell research

By Maureen Pratt Catholic News Service

LOS ANGELES — Dr. Eduardo Marban, director of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles, and his wife Linda Marban, research manager for Cedars-Sinai’s Board of Governors Heart Stem Cell Center, are blazing a new trail in adult cardiac stem-cell research.

In a first-ever clinical trial, a small sample of a patient’s own heart tissue is used to grow specialized heart stem cells.

The stem cells are then injected back into the patient’s heart in an effort to repair and re-grow healthy muscle in a heart that has been injured by heart attack.

The trial could start a new era of treating heart disease, which is the number-one killer of men and women in the United States. If cardiac regeneration is possible, then people who suffer heart attacks might be able to achieve greater post-heartattack productivity and health and, for the most extreme cases, not require heart transplants.

The moral implications of the trial are also profound; no embryo is involved at any stage of the process.

“I come from a culture that’s Cedars-Sinai, he spent 25 years medals, crosses and varieties of deeply Catholic,” said Edu- at Johns Hopkins University prayer cards,” said Linda Marardo Marban, who came to the School of Medicine in Balti- ban. “One day, Eduardo’s mothUnited States from Cuba with more, where he served as chief er saw all those things, and we his parents when he was six of cardiology. His numerous had a wonderful chat. She was years old. “For me, that we discoveries include develop- a larger-than-life person and an could develop a treatment that ing some techniques used in his incredibly devout Catholic. I was not ethically problematic, current cardiac stem-cell work. admired Eduardo tremendously that was consistent professionally, but I with the Hippocratic am a strongly believing and didn’t like him at all.

Oath and the tenets of I thought, ‘there is practicing Catholic,” she said. But Catholicism, was very no way that that cold gratifying. We not only “When I believe in God the most is when fish could come from get a unique chance to I look at a chart of cell signaling. When this warm and wonderdo good, but we do it you see all those millions and billions ful woman.’” without trampling on Marban said of processes that we don’t even begin to he Eduardo anyone’s ethical prinwas “a lapsed Cathoreally understand, there is no way some lic at the time. When ciples.”

Linda Marban’s faith higher power didn’t generate that.”

Linda and I got together, also threads throughout she got me involved as her life as a scientist. an active, churchgoing “I am a strongly believing Linda Marban received her member in the Church again.” and practicing Catholic,” she doctorate in cardiac physiolIn 2007, the Marbans and said. “When I believe in God ogy from Case Western Reserve their then-two-year-old daughthe most is when I look at a University in Cleveland. Dur- ter, Cristina, attended an audichart of cell signaling. When ing her graduate studies, she ence at which Pope Benedict you see all those millions and learned of Eduardo Marban’s XVI reaffirmed his earlier enbillions of processes that we work. After earning her degree, couragement of research indon’t even begin to really un- she was hired by him as a post- volving adult stem cells. Linda derstand, there is no way some doctoral fellow at Johns Hop- Marban keeps in her purse a higher power didn’t generate kins.

Rosary that the pope blessed that.”

Catholicism drew them to- that day.

Eduardo Marban holds a gether personally.

“Prayer keeps me centered,” medical degree and doctorate “My desk at Johns Hopkins she said. “What I pray about from Yale. Before coming to was covered with religious most is to be a good and pro-

“I

ductive person and to use gifts I might have to make the world a better place.”

When the Marbans began their scientific journeys, the prevailing thought was that cardiac tissue could not be regenerated once it was damaged or destroyed by heart failure.

The current trial, with 24 patients enrolled at Cedars-Sinai and seven at Johns Hopkins, could result in a completely new way of thinking and, possibly, new treatments in several years.

“By the end of 2011, we’ll release the results of the trial,” said Eduardo Marban. “What we’re doing is still in clinical testing. We’re not ready for prime time yet, and we don’t want to raise false hopes. But we’re onto something. We’re very optimistic.”

“I believe very strongly that God has provided us with many gifts, one of which is coming to understand what can heal and what can make people better,” said Linda Marban. “These adult stem cells are a gift that we hope will lead to long and happy lives for those living with heart disease.”

Prayer breakfast speakers emphasize the legacy of Pope John Paul II

WASHINGTON (CNS) — During the April 27 National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, speakers paid tribute to Pope John Paul II and urged Catholic participants to continue his legacy of defending religious liberty and human dignity.

Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Conn., urged the audience of about 1,500 people, including politicians and Catholics from around the country, to take the message of Pope John Paul’s pontificate to heart and not let it be “a flash of light that fades.”

In order to continue the pope’s insistence on religious liberty, the bishop urged the crowd to remember the plight of persecuted Christians in the Middle East and ask government leaders to speak out for those “persecuted and killed for proclaiming the name of Christ.”

Closer to home, he spoke of a “subtle undermining of religious freedom in the United States,” referring to health care provisions that “call into question the faith” of taxpayers and health care providers opposed to abortions.

He said U.S. Catholic bishops are currently supporting three initiatives that protect the conscience rights of health care providers.

Too often, he said, religious freedom is viewed as a “carve-out” or a special grant by the state, instead of being recognized as an inalien-

able right. He said churches should be guaranteed more than just their right to worship when their role in serving the poor and those in need is so extensive.

When the Church is inhibited in “its ability to deliver” services, it is “neither just nor reasonable,” he said.

Bishop Lori, who wrote a pastoral letter last year on religious freedom and has faced state legislative battles on religious freedom issues, stressed that U.S. Catholics have much to learn from Pope John Paul, particularly how he “never compromised truth.”

“We too must proclaim the truth boldly,” he told the crowd who gave him a standing ovation.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich also addressed the prayer breakfast, highlighting Pope John Paul’s leadership and role in the downfall of Soviet communism, after a few minutes of a recent documentary he and his wife Callista produced about the pope was shown on a large screen.

The documentary, “Nine Days That Changed the World,” which was released last summer, chronicles the pontiff’s nine-day pilgrimage to Poland in 1979 and examines the significant role of that event.

The former Republican congressman, who is considering a run for the presidency, spoke of his conversion to Catholicism in 2009 and

admitted jokingly to the crowd that he hadn’t attended enough Knights of Columbus pancake breakfasts to properly address them.

He said he is “often asked when I chose to become Catholic,” but said it is “more truthful to say that over the course of several years I gradually became Catholic and then decided one day to accept the faith I had already come to embrace.”

One part of his conversion had to do with Pope Benedict XVI’s 2008 visit to Washington. When Gingrich saw the pope during the Mass at Nationals Park, he said he was “struck by the happiness and peacefulness” of the pope, which he said confirmed his own views about Catholicism. That night, he told a priest that he wanted to become Catholic.

Other speakers at the seventh annual breakfast included Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell, who spoke of his Catholic upbringing and of the need to follow Pope John Paul’s example of serving others.

Lila Rose, founder and president of the Pro-Life group Live Action, which currently focuses on investigating Planned Parenthood programs, spoke of her recent conversion to Catholicism as the “best decision” she ever made. She said the Pro-Life efforts of today’s young people reflect a desire to “build a culture of life” advocated

by Pope John Paul.

5 The Church in the U.S. Archbishop says Catholic homes play major role in fostering vocations May 6, 2011

WASHINGTON (CNS) — The theme of Pope Benedict XVI’s message for the upcoming World Day of Prayer for Vocations points to the important role Catholic home life plays in the promotion of vocations to the priesthood and religious life, said Archbishop Robert J. Carlson of St. Louis.

“The theme which the Holy Father chose places the burden on the local Church to reflect on how it develops a culture of vocations,” said the archbishop, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations. “We know that the vocation comes out of the home.”

The papal message for the day of prayer, which will be observed May 15, was released February 10 at the Vatican. The 2011 theme is “Proposing Vocations in the Local Church.”

“Every Christian community, every member of the Church needs consciously to feel responsibility for promoting vocations,” especially in an era when God’s voice “seems to be drowned out by ‘other voices’ and His invitation to follow Him by the gift of one’s own life may seem too difficult,” the pope said.

Pope Paul IV instituted the day of prayer in 1964 as a way for Catholics to focus on and pray for vocations.

In an interview with Catholic News Service while he was in Washington in March, Archbishop Carlson said the majority of newly-ordained priests said they were influenced by the parish in their discernment for the priesthood.

According to results of a survey of members of the 2011 ordination class, released April 25, 66 percent of the respondents said it was their parish priest who encouraged them. Forty-two percent identified their mothers as having a major influence on their decision.

The annual national survey is conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University for the USCCB’s Secretariat of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations.

CARA contacted ordinands by email, phone or fax to explain the survey; asked them to complete a brief survey online; and then followed up with respondents by email, phone or fax. This year, CARA reported that the response rate was 69 percent; 329 ordinands responded out of a total of 480 identified by theologates, houses of formation, religious institutes, and archdioceses and dioceses.

Survey results also showed that the average age of ordinands in the class of 2011 is 34. More

than nine in 10, or 94 percent, reported they had some type of fulltime work experience prior to entering the seminary, most often in education. On average, ordinands reported they were about 16 when they first considered becoming a priest.

Archbishop Carlson said parishes need to find a way to encourage the wider community to be more supportive of young men who choose a vocation to the priesthood, since many of them begin the discernment process at age 16.

Nine in 10 ordinands reported being encouraged to consider the priesthood by someone in their life. Of those responding ordi-

nands who reported that they were encouraged to consider the priesthood, two in three (66 percent) say they were encouraged by a parish priest.

The survey showed that 57 percent of ordinands in the class of 2011 said they were discouraged from pursuing a vocation by friends and classmates; 52 percent said they were discouraged by a parent or other family member.

“Most young people don’t understand what discernment is all about,” Archbishop Carlson told CNS while he was in Washington to attend bishops’ committee meetings. “They have not been taught from the pulpit or in the

religion classes how to discern.”

The archbishop said he was interested in the influence Catholic education had on vocations this year. Results showed that 47 percent of the ordinands surveyed went to a Catholic elementary school and were somewhat more likely to attend Catholic high school. Thirty-nine percent of them attended a Catholic university or college, compared to seven percent of all U.S. Catholic adults.

“We are going to make sure our Newman chaplains and our campus ministers are talking to young people about vocations,” the archbishop added.

For young men, parents and youth ministers who have ques-

tions on the discernment process, every diocese has a local website and vocation director’s office.

The USCCB also has a website www.ForYourVocation.org. According to the 2011 survey, the majority of young people turn to such websites for information first, said Archbishop Carlson.

The archbishop said he prays that those discerning the priesthood will have the courage to listen and respond to their vocation.

“We invite them to listen to what they are hearing deep within themselves as to how God might want them to live their life,” said the archbishop. “And then we give them the support so they can have the courage to say yes.”

6

The Anchor Defund Maria Talks

“What kind of person pays for a website that makes abortion seem cool?,” Boston Herald columnist Michael Graham asked in an April 21 article. “Who would use the Internet to target teen girls with the message that abortions are ‘easy,’ ‘common’ and no big deal? What sicko would spend money showing underage girls how to secretly get an abortion behind their parents’ backs?” He then answered his provocative queries: “That ‘sicko’ would be you.”

As our front page article this week describes, since 2008, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health has been giving $100,000 of taxpayer money annually to fund a website by the Aids Action Committee of Massachusetts called MariaTalks.com. The site has a fictional teenager named “Maria” who introduces herself as an 18-year-old who put together the site with friends to pass along the advice of her Aunt Lucia — “a doctor and she’s totally cool” — about “sexual health” and “making choices.” In addition to the information offered on the site, those with questions are urged to email “Maria” or call a highly official looking number, (877) MASEX-ED, to get answers and advice.

A quick perusal of the website shows the type of advice our tax dollars are underwriting. In the section on abortion, “Maria,” begins by undermining the credibility of those who might try to help a pregnant teen-ager properly form her conscience in accordance with the truth about the good. “Some believe it is wrong while others believe that it can be a good and responsible choice. While everyone is entitled to their [sic] opinion, it can sometimes be hard to get truthful information because some people may try to get you to think the same way they do.” After intimating that abortion is a “good and responsible choice” and suggesting that “some” — obviously not “Maria” and the Aids Action Committee! — might be obstructing a pregnant teen-ager’s getting truthful information and trying to get her to think “the same way they do,” “Maria” says that “what’s important is how you feel about it” — not whether it’s right or wrong — and describes how one of her friends had an abortion and “felt it was the best choice she could make for herself, her boyfriend, her family, and her future.” “Maria” apparently doesn’t have any friends who had an abortion and regretted it.

The misinformation continues in how “Maria” mentions what happens in an abortion: “The contents of the womb (uterus) are removed so that the uterus goes back to how it was before a woman got pregnant.” For someone who purports to want to give “truthful information,” perhaps “Maria” should relate how all of us were once vague “contents of the womb” as well. After indicating how common abortion is (if everybody’s doing it, it must be OK) and how safe it is (“My Aunt Lucia says that abortions are safe and effective,” although we know that it’s lethal for one of the participants), “Maria” gets to the most outrageous section of all.

In response to the question, “Can I get an abortion in Massachusetts if I’m under 18?” “Maria” responds: “I promise you the reality of getting an abortion is much easier than it sounds. It may be really hard for you to imagine talking to either your parents or a judge about getting an abortion, but there are people who can help you through it. … Young women do this all the time here in Massachusetts.” Once again, everyone’s doing it, so the frightened young girl has nothing to fear: there are people who will “help” her to eliminate the “contents” that are growing within her. Who are these putative Good Samaritans? The folks at Planned Parenthood, of course.

“If you are under 18 and have decided that abortion is right for you, you can call the Planned Parenthood Counseling and Referral Hotline.” As the debate in the nation’s capital is now describing, Planned Parenthood likewise receives our federal tax dollars to provide this “help.”

What does our money buy? “They can either help you talk to your parents, or if you decide that you can’t or don’t want to do that, they will provide you a free lawyer who will help you go to court and talk to a judge.” So if a girl doesn’t want to tell her parents that she’s pregnant and have a surgical abortion without their knowledge or consent — even though schools couldn’t give her an aspirin without her consent — a “free” lawyer, funded by our tax dollars, would assist her before the judge. Notice that “Maria” doesn’t say that Planned Parenthood would do the abortion for free, because Planned Parenthood wants its money and federal dough won’t pay directly for abortions. The “free” lawyer is provided so that Planned Parenthood may be able to make some money off of a vulnerable pregnant teen. “Maria” also suggests that the process is basically automatic: “These hearings are scheduled quickly, are kept completely confidential and so far, no minor who’s gone through this process has ever been denied access to an abortion by a judge.”

If the Aids Action Committee is actually providing “truthful information” here, then we have just discovered that the judicial bypass is nothing more than a mock court in which the judges apparently don’t “judge” facts of particular situations at all. Taxpayers should note that what’s taken out of our paychecks is also funding the salaries of these high-paid judicial rubber stamps.

There are many other objectionable areas to the site. It promotes self-masturbation as a “healthy, safe way to learn what feels good to you, in private” and describes with no ethical evaluation whatsoever masturbating others, oral sex and anal sex. It talks about why to have sex: “to feel closer to their partner, to take what may be the next step in their relationship and because it feels good” as well as when to have sex: “when you feel ready and safe.” It does talk about abstinence, only to say, “it is not a realistic option for everyone,” and warning that those who practice abstinence “then find themselves unprepared when they do decide to have sex.”

It’s important also to note the name of the site. Of all possible names, why “Maria”? It’s not because Maria is a very popular and generic name; Maria has now dropped to the 71st most popular female name in the United States. But it remains, nevertheless, both a very suggestive name that is predominantly found among those of Christian heritage. A look at the illustrations of “Maria” on the website shows a girl with a thoroughly Hispanic-American look. Is it much of a stretch to suggest that the Aids Action Network chose this name and ethnicity in order to gain credibility with a certain subsection of the culture whom they were targeting? Specifically those who come from immigrant Catholic or Pentecostal families that would “try to get [her] to think the same way they do” and who, rather than bringing them to end their grandchild’s or greatgrandchild’s life through abortion, would try to help her to choose life?

The four Massachusetts bishops last Friday released a statement, saying, “We strongly support and join with those in the public policy arena who urge the state to eliminate funding for the website and who are asking the state to assist in its removal.” They were clearly alluding to efforts by a bipartisan group of 63 state legislators — both Pro-Life and pro-choice — who sent a letter to Governor Deval Patrick on April 28 vigorously recommending that the governor “make immediate, substantive content changes to the website or to eliminate funding and assist in [its] removal from the Internet.” Governor Patrick has not yet acted on the letter.

Anchor readers are urged to buttress the bishops’ and legislators’ efforts by calling Governor Patrick’s office (888.870.7770) and urging him to eliminate funding for the website immediately.

No matter the economic struggles of the Commonwealth, taxpayers should never be paying for a website that promotes abortions and instructs underage girls how to obtain them without their parents’ knowledge and consent. As we mark Mother’s Day, we should rather be helping young girls to respond as a mother and woman should to a child in her womb — with love.

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May 6, 2011

The Mysteries of the Rosary

victory at Lepanto to the intercession of he month of May (in addition to the Blessed Mother though the Rosary, the month of October) has tradiwhich prevented the Islamic invasion of tionally been recognized by the Church Europe. as a month dedicated to the Blessed Pope Paul VI explained, “The liturgiVirgin Mary. Like October, it’s a month cal feasts dedicated to the Mother of in which Catholics are called to focus God and the Marian prayer, such as anew on one of the greatest of Marian the Rosary which is an “epitome of the devotions: praying the Rosary. whole Gospel,” express this devotion to I am pretty sure that everyone knows the Virgin Mary” (MC 42). Each of these what Rosary beads are and that many liturgical feasts of Mary invites us to repeople actually have them, but the quesflect upon the life of our Blessed Mother, tion is whether we actually use them to pray? Many today seem to have allowed who is the most perfect of all of Christ’s them to be stripped of their meaning and disciples.

The Rosary is a centuries-old way significance. There is a growing trend of praying. According to tradition, the to hang a Rosary from one’s rear-view mirror or around one’s neck as a piece of Rosary was given to St. Dominic in an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary jewelry rather than actually to pray the Rosary or to meditate upon the mysteries. around the year 1214. It seems however, that the history of the Rosary goes back Over the next few weeks, I will atto the early Middle Ages when lay Christempt to “put out in the deep” with the tians began praying 150 Our Fathers and Mysteries of the Rosary in the hope of 150 Hail Marys in imitation of the monks fostering greater awareness of this beauwho would pray all 150 psalms each day. tiful devotion and helping all of us to contemplate the Mysteries of the Rosary They would recite these prayers while counting knots that they had tied on a more deeply. cord. By the But before middle of the we get to the 11th century, Rosary itself, Putting Into beads began allow me first to be used. just a quick the Deep The word on the Rosary is one idea of devoBy Father of the tradition to Mary. tional paths Although Jay Mello of Chrisever a topic tian prayer of tension among Catholics and non-Catholics, “the directed to the contemplation of the face Church’s devotion to the Blessed Mother of Christ. Although obviously Marian in is intrinsic to Christian worship,” as Pope character (reciting the Hail Mary), the prayer is actually very Christ-centered Paul VI explained in “Marialis cultus” in the fact that the mysteries which are in 1974. “The Church rightly honors meditated upon are reflections on the life the Blessed Virgin with special devoof Christ. tion. From the most ancient times, Mary “Meditation on the Mysteries of the has been honored with the title Mother Rosary as a form of prayer engages of God to whose protection, faithful thought, imagination, emotion, and disciples of Christ Jesus have sought desire. This mobilization of our mental throughout the centuries” (CCC, 971).

“Devotion” to Mary, and all the saints faculties is necessary in order to deepen our convictions of faith, prompt the confor that matter, should not be confused version of our hearts, and strengthen our with “adoration,” which is essentially will to follow Christ. Meditation upon different, and given only to the Son of the Mysteries of the Rosary leads us to God, our Lord Jesus Christ, to God the Father and to God the Holy Spirit. When contemplation. This form of prayerful we “pray to Mary,” we are adhering with reflection is of great value to those seeking to deepen their relationship with our her to the plan of the Father, who sent Lord. But Christian prayer should always His Son to save all humanity. Like the go further, reaching to the knowledge of beloved disciple St. John, we welcome the love of the Lord Jesus and to union Jesus’ mother into our lives, for she has with Him” (cf. CCC 2708). become the “new Eve,” the mother of In his Apostolic Letter on the Rosary all the living. The prayer of the Church in 2002, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, Pope is sustained by the prayer of Mary and John Paul II explained, “The Rosary of united with it in hope (cf. LG 68-69). the Virgin Mary, which gradually took Mary first gave her consent of faith form in the second millennium under the at the Annunciation and maintained it guidance of the Spirit of God, is a prayer throughout her life without hesitation loved by countless saints and encoureven at the foot of the cross, where she aged by the Magisterium. Simple yet watched her only Son crucified. Ever since then, her motherhood has extended profound, it still remains, at the dawn of this third millennium, a prayer of great to the disciples of her Son “who still significance, destined to bring forth a journey on earth surrounded by dangers harvest of holiness.” and difficulties. Because of Mary’s sin“The Rosary blends easily into the gular cooperation with the action of the spiritual journey of the Christian life, Holy Spirit, the Church loves to pray in which, after 2,000 years, has lost none of communion with Mary, to magnify with her the great things the Lord has done for the freshness of its beginnings and feels drawn by the Spirit of God to ‘set out her” (CCC 2682). into the deep’ in order once more to proThroughout the centuries, many difclaim, and even cry out, before the world ferent titles have been attributed to our that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, ‘the Blessed Mother, including “Our Lady way, the truth and the life’” (RVM 1). of the Rosary” which is celebrated on Father Mello is a parochial vicar at October 7. The feast was established St. Patrick’s Parish in Falmouth.

by Pope Pius V in 1571, attributing the

May 6, 2011

Q: At what point in time during Mass it is considered too late for anyone coming into the Mass to receive Communion?

These days I see a lot of people who enter the Mass even as Communion is being given and they head straight to receive. Is this right? — E.M., Port Harcourt, Nigeria Q: My parish priest made a regulation that anyone who arrives in Mass after the Gospel is not allowed to take Communion. According to him, the reason is that Jesus is “the Word made flesh.” Therefore we must recognize Jesus in the Word before we recognize him in Holy Communion. Another priest, who is a professor of liturgy, has another opinion. He said that people who arrive late in Mass with a valid reason (for example, an unusual traffic jam, attending sick children, etc.) should not be denied Communion. Could you please give a clarification on this matter? — B.E., Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia A: Like most priests, I am loath to give a straight answer to questions such as these because, in a way, they are a catch-22.

“M

en need an image, single, colored and clear in outline, an image to be called up instantly in the imagination when what is Catholic is to be distinguished from what claims to be Christian or even what in one sense is Christian. Now I can scarcely remember a time when the image of Our Lady did not stand up in my mind. The instant I remembered the Catholic Church, I remembered her; when I tried to forget the Catholic Church, I tried to forget her; when I finally saw what was nobler than my fate, the freest and hardest of all my acts of freedom, it was in front of a gilded and very gaudy little image of her in the port of Brindisi, that I promised the thing that I would do, if I returned to my own land.” — “The Well and the Shadows.”

Gilbert Keith Chesterton’s theological role model, St. Thomas Aquinas, once wrote: nihil est in intellectu quod non prius in sensu (“nothing is in the intellect that is not first in the senses”). Recent mind science tells us that the “Dumb Ox” was correct; I believe our faith is designed to fit those primal, imaginative intuitions.

As some have noted, the faith is made for the human heart, but that means it is also meant for the imagination.

G.K. Chesterton’s contribution illustrates this through a recorded life of the heart and mind striving for the beatific vision. Please remember this point as we focus on his conversion, a change that to many seems not a point of

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The Anchor

Communion for late arrivals at Mass

arriving in a tardy manner.

It is true that before the SecIt is quite possible that some ond Vatican Council some moral theology manuals placed arrival members of the faithful could before the offertory as the divid- begin to see the Gospel as the ing line in deciding whether one cutoff moment and feel comfortable in habitually arriving for fulfilled the Sunday obligation the second reading, thus assurof assistance at Mass. But after ing that the Mass is “valid.” the liturgical reform, with its emphasis on the overall unity of the Mass, modern theologians shy away from such exactitude.

Mass begins with

By Father the entrance procession Edward McNamara and ends after the final dismissal and we should be there from beginning Although I prefer not to to end. Each part of the Mass hazard giving a precise cutoff relates and complements the moment, certainly someone who others in a single act of worship even though some parts, such as arrives after the consecration has not attended Mass, should not the consecration, are essential receive Communion, and if it is while others are merely impora Sunday, go to another Mass. tant.

Arriving on time is not just To say that there is a para question of obligation but of ticular moment before or after love and respect for Our Lord which we are either “out” or “safe,” so to speak, is to give the who has gathered us together to share His gifts, and who has wrong message and hint that, in some grace to communicate to the long run, some parts of the us in each part of the Mass.

Mass are really not all that imIt is also a sign of respect for portant. It may also give some less fervent souls a yardstick for the community with whom we

worship and who deserves our presence and the contribution of our prayers in each moment.

The Liturgy is essentially the worship of Christ’s body, the Church. Each assembly is called upon to represent and manifest the whole body but this can hardly happen if it forms itself in dribs and drabs after the celebration has begun.

Thus people who arrive late to Mass have to honestly ask themselves, Why? If they arrive late because of some justified reason or unforeseen event, such as blocked traffic due to an accident, they have acted in good conscience and are not strictly obliged to assist at a later Mass (although they would do well to do so if they arrive very late and it is possible for them).

Likewise for many elderly people, even getting to the church is an odyssey, and one must not burden their consciences by counting the minutes.

If people arrive late due to culpable negligence, and especially if they do so habitually, then they need to seriously

reflect on their attitudes, amend their ways, and if necessary seek the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

Depending on how late they arrive they should prefer to honor the Lord’s day by attending some other Mass, or, if this is not possible, at least remain in the church after Mass is over and dedicate some time to prayer and reflection on the readings of the day.

It is true that Communion may be received outside of Mass, so Mass is not an essential prerequisite for receiving Communion. This would not, however, justify arriving just in time for Communion at a weekday Mass, as all of the rites for receiving Communion outside of Mass include a Liturgy of the Word and one should attend the entire rite.

Father Edward McNamara is a Legionary of Christ and professor of Liturgy at Regina Apostolorum University in Rome. His column appears weekly at zenit.org. Send questions to liturgy@zenit.org. Put the word “Liturgy” in the subject field. Text should include initials, city and state.

transformation but merely an ocrect also confirms that children, currence. Unlike St. Paul, he was pre-language, think in images. not blinded and then saw. He was Before the happy accident of always seeing; he just spent many Gilbert’s becoming a journalist, he years understanding what it was went to school for the visual arts he saw.

We all like conversion stories. Conversion is inherently dramatic A Twitch and marks for those of Upon a Thread us “cradle Catholics” the truthfulness of our cultural atmosphere. Chesterton’s

By Jennifer PIerce conversion story is no exception — well, except that it is the story of a man who literally imagined his way and that early training infused his into faith. later vocation. The visual haunts Blessed with a prolific talent for his words, literally speaking the writing, he documented that imagi- language we spoke to ourselves nation in starkly visual terms. For before we could speak to anyone those of us reading with the grace else. As we see in this early, precoof hindsight, the writing leading up cious essay: to his conversion is marked with “In certain endless uplands, images of what would later come uplands like great flats gone dizzy, to pass — as if his faith was at slopes that seem to contradict the first a vision, a fever-dream, and idea that there is even such a thing then, after a period of processing, a as a level, and make us all reallogical eventuality. ize that we live on a planet with a The cardinal rule in creative sloping roof, you will come from writing (poetry, fiction, drama) is time to time upon whole valleys to “show” and not “tell.” Chesfilled with loose rocks and boulterton applied this principle in his ders, so big as to be like mountains fiction, but he also applied it to his broken loose. The whole might be non-fiction writing. He did this so an experimental creation shattered much that when people read him, and cast away. It is often difficult they have the feeling that they are to believe that such cosmic refuse discovering something that they can have come together except always knew but couldn’t put into by human means. The mildest words themselves. and most cockney imagination Why? conceives the place to be the scene The same mind science that of some war of giants.” tells us that Aquinas’ theory on the Chesterton was a journalist, a senses and the intellect is corcritic, a novelist, a dramatist, and a

poet — but there is one thing that unifies his work. It is all a beatific vision.

The word “beatify” has always sounded to me like “beauty” as a verb, an action toward which all of earth and Heaven strives. The “beatific vision” means looking at things from God’s eye, seeing everything as beautiful and making it beautiful in the same moment.

In the above passage, he is still two decades away from converting, but already he is striving for the beatific vision:

looking at creation, history, and men from Heaven’s point of view.

In fact, though it borders dangerously on the romantic heresy that preceded him, years and years before his conversion, Chesterton discovers repeatedly that the imagination is the vertex between man and God. In Chesterton’s version of the beatific vision, all of creation is grand fairy tale, a vast and expansive world of enchantment.

Jennifer Pierce is a parishioner of Corpus Christi in East Sandwich, where she lives with her husband Jim and three children.

Liturgical Q&A

Chesterton’s beatific vision

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May 6, 2011

The Anchor

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ur resurrection story for this third Sunday after Easter, focuses on two persons walking toward a sunset, filled with sorrow and disappointment. A third person joins them and enables them to make sense of the things they have just witnessed.

Their hopes and dreams were shattered. Their regret is heard in their words, “We were hoping that He was the One who was going to save Israel.” These are words of persons whose hopes were dead and buried.

When Jesus comes and talks with them, the meaning and purpose of all that had happened became clear and the darkness had become light. It is only through Jesus that despite the crucifixions in our lives we need not remain in our tombs forever.

We need to notice how Jesus drew them to Himself

Inviting Jesus into our lives

in order to get their ear and and they recognized Him, their hearts: He pretends to but He vanished from their be going further and they sight.” Jesus was the divine invite Him to join them for stranger in their midst. supper. There was something We are able to be with unique about this man. He the divine stranger at the doesn’t force himself upon eucharistic table, and also at them, rather He awaits their our dinner table; He is not invitation: “stay with us for it is nearly evening and the day Homily of the Week is almost over.”

God has given us Third Sunday the greatest of gifts, of Easter a free will, and we

By Father Thomas can use it to invite C. Lopes Christ to enter our lives or allow Him to pass on.

As the three shared their only our host in our parish meal, Luke tells how the church, He is also a guest in invited guest became known every home. We do live in a to them “in the breaking of Christ-filled world. bread.” It seemed to be at After Jesus had vanished, first glance an ordinary meal they continued their converin an ordinary house with sation, “Were not our hearts ordinary bread, and while burning within us while He being broken and shared they spoke to us on our way and recognize it is Jesus! “With opened the Scriptures to us?” that, their eyes were opened Jesus had rebuilt their hope.

Peter is attempting the same thing in his first speech after the Pentecost event.

“God raised this Jesus ... exalted at the right hand of God, He received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, and poured Him forth, as you see and hear.” What they see and hear is not drunkenness, but the Spirit working through Jesus’ disciples.

This same Spirit is working through these two renewed and joy-filled persons, who now need to share the good news! It was a seven-mile trek back to Jerusalem, they were unable to keep this experience for themselves. The message of Christ’s triumph over death and His continued presence among us had to be shared, with the result that it had become their own.

When they reached Jerusalem, they discover that Jesus had preceded them, the divine stranger was also in their midst. As these appearances continued this brought a cohesiveness to the people creating a common memory, enabling them to say to each other, “Do you remember?”

Each of us is one of a great fellowship of people who share a common experience and a common memory of the divine stranger.

When we gather for the Eucharist, it is there that we have the opportunity to hear God’s word and have it burn in our hearts; to have our eyes opened when the bread is blessed and broken; and to beg Him to stay with us in our villages and our homes.

Jesus is still the divine stranger in our midst.

Father Lopes is a retired priest of the Fall River Diocese.

Upcoming Daily Readings: Sat. May 7, Acts 6:1-7; Ps 33:1-2,4-5,18-19; Jn 6:16-21. Sun. May 8, 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 9, Acts 6:8-15; Ps 119:23-24,26-27; 29-30; Jn 6:22-29. Tues. May 10, Acts 7:51-8:1a; Ps 31:3cd-4,6-7b,8a,17,21ab; Jn 6:30-35. Wed. May 11, Acts 8:1b-8; Ps 66:1-3a,4-7a; Jn 6:35-40. Thur. May 12, Acts 8:26-40; Ps 66:8-9,16-17,20; Jn 6:44-51. Fri. May 13, Acts 9:1-20; Ps 117:1-2; Jn 6:52-59.

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Catholic social thought and the 2012 election

arring an international conflagration or another 9/11, the 2012 election is going to be fought on the question of America’s fiscal future: Will the United States get a grip now, and over the next several decades, on the costs associated with an aging society? Or will we spend-andborrow ourselves into virtual insolvency? Greece, Portugal, Spain, and other European countries have chosen the latter route, causing serious distress domestically and some disruption in the International economy. If the United States opts to go down the same road, the consequences will not only be grave at home; they will be far graver abroad, as American profligacy puts unbearable strains on the international financial and economic systems.

In 2011, the United States is like a patient who has been told that he or she has a

good, the market and a strong serious, advanced, but curlegal and cultural framework able disease: curable if certain to guide it, the responsibilities measures are taken. There is of individuals and the responlittle debate about the diagsibilities of government — are nosis, for everyone can read the demographic and budgetary realities; thus just about everyone, left, right, and center, agrees that we’ve got a major, but solvable, problem, the resolution of which

By George Weigel will determine whether our children and grandchildren thank us, or wonder why we a refreshing antidote to the didn’t have the wit and will to statist and Libertarian ideolofix what was wrong when we gies of the day. Few, if any, had the chance. The question comprehensive visions of the before the electorate in 2012 free and virtuous society are will be, what are the measures as balanced and supple, or as necessary to cure the disease? amenable to creative mixes of Catholic social thought public and private initiative, as ought to be helpful in sortCatholic social thought. ing this out. Its approach to Yet in the hands of some society and public policy — the individual and the common Catholics, Catholic social

The Catholic Difference

thought has been reduced to another argument for what Blessed John Paul II criticized, in the 1991 social encyclical Centesimus Annus, as the Social Assistance State — what Americans more familiarly call the Nanny State. In this view, virtually every problem on the 2012 agenda — from the solvency of Social Security and Medicare to federal budgetary discipline and debt reduction — can only be addressed by an increase in the government’s involvement in the economy, the society, the culture, and the lives of individuals. Such thinking betrays a sorry lack of imagination (not to mention a sorry lack of historical understanding, of the “been there, done that” school). It is also a crude caricature, and thus a betrayal, of Catholic social thought and the social doctrine of the popes from Leo XIII through Benedict XVI. Because this statist misreading of Catholic social thought often flies under the flag of “Justice for the Poor,” it’s important to underscore one crucial point as the 2012 debate unfolds, this year and next: Catholic social thought is about the empowerment of the poor.

It is not about failed polices of social assistance that treat poor people as problems to be solved rather than as people with potential to be unleashed. It is not about using public policy to create generation after generation of serfs on the state welfare plantation. Catholic social thought is about the empowerment of the poor, and its broad imagination allows it to think of that empowerment happening through private sector means, some public sector programs, and public/private partnerships where necessary. But contrary to the way some misrepresent it, Catholic social thought does not measure the rectitude of a society by the percentage of its GNP represented in governmental budgets.

One of the four core principles of Catholic social doctrine is the principle of subsidiarity, which teaches that decision-making should be left at the lowest possible level in society, commensurate with the common good. A lot of Catholics forgot about subsidiarity during the 2009 health care debate. That failure should not be repeated in 2011 and 2012.

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

May 6, 2011

The principle of NIMBY

1 May 2011 — Dighton — May Day uild low-income housing units? That’s terrific, but NIMBY. Feed the hungry? That’s admirable, but NIMBY. Establish a residence for addicts in recovery? That’s wonderful, but NIMBY. NIMBY, dear readers, is an acronym coined some 30 years ago for “Not in My Back Yard.” NIMBY can be the reaction one gets to just about any concept when neighbors conclude it may well be needed for the common good, but take it

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someplace else.

The principle of NIMBY can be validly applied when there are well-founded concerns for local

The Ship’s Log

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The Anchor

Reflections of a Parish Priest

By Father Tim Goldrick

safety, even though the greater community may benefit: a nuclear reactor, a nuclear waste dump, a chemical plant, a liquid gas

terminal, a landfill, an incinerator, a mobile telephone antenna, highvoltage power lines, an in-ground guided missile silo, etc. The neighborhood dangers of other proposed projects are more difficult to defend: a prison or jail, a desalination plant, a wind turbine, a golf course, an industrial park, an airport, a railway, a tall building, etc.

Other targets of the principle of NIMBY are just plain ridiculous: a mosque, a school, improved roads and highways, services to

Heart of a hearth

gesture. distinctive mark of the With her warmth she also woman is her “emotivknows how to manifest apity,” the emotional medium preciation for others, building through which she perceives them up. During courtship a and responds to reality. woman strives to make the God designed the woman man feel important and valued. with a wealth of emotions When the honeymoon stage when He fashioned her reprois over, there’s the danger ductive system with cyclical that she’ll transmit a cutting hormones. In the case of men, coldness in place of the earlier the amount of testosterone warmth. That can be hard to flowing through their veins is bear. more or less constant under orShe’s also inclined to be dinary circumstances. No wonsympathetic and feel empathy der they can be so stable and emotionally detached in many situations!

With women, on the other hand, no day in her monthly cycle has the same amount of estrogen and progesterone.

By Joan Kingsland With the flux of her cycle comes a wide range of emofor others. This is a precious tional colors. At one moment gift because everyone wants she’s irritable and moody; at to feel understood. Tenderness another she’s energetic and also comes naturally when it is chipper. It’s easy to conclude wrapped with sensitivity. that if a woman lets herself These are all ways to be directed by her emotions, manifest love. No human being she’ll be hard to live with. On ever tires of receiving love, for the contrary, if a woman stays loving and being loved go with attuned to her internal weather human dignity. she can choose to rise above Emotions are something her negative sentiments and that happen within us in channel her positive moods, response to a stimulus. They too. have to do with receiving At times it can be hard to what’s out there. So it’s thanks recognize such a high degree to their emotions that women of emotivity as a gift; but it is, have a special receptivity to or at least it can be. Thanks to others. As a result, they often her emotions a woman has a have a capacity to discern how number of outstanding qualianother is doing and what ties to offer humanity. another needs without that For one, she has innate person’s having to ask. The warmth. It’s hard for her to be notion of a woman’s sense of indifferent to her surroundings intuition is probably tied in because she interacts emotionhere: sometimes she can even ally with what she experiences. perceive in others what they’re In directing herself towards deliberately trying to conceal. others, she can make them There is great fulfillment feel welcome and accepted. when a woman is able to direct Perhaps the warmth comes the wealth of her emotivity through her smile, her percepand sensitivity towards others. tive gaze or simply a friendly

Feminine Gifts

Caring for infants draws out that warmth and makes her feel enriched. And though men may not be as expressive, they also appreciate receiving affection from the women in their family.

But the gift of woman’s emotivity is not limited to the family. It makes the women capable of connecting to the needs of others in the vast range of social milieus, from a workplace to a friendly gathering.

Sadly enough, we women often misdirect the treasure of our emotivity against our own selves. We’re particularly susceptible to imploding from interior negativity. We first judge ourselves harshly, then we wallow in a mire of bad feelings. This saps our strength, leaving us depressed, moody and closed off from others.

Self-giving acts as a safeguard. The trick here is to put our heart where we don’t immediately feel it. This is the worthy idea of sowing love so you can reap love. When we direct our keen sensitivity towards the needs of others the opposite of a vicious cycle occurs; spending our tenderness, warmth, empathy on others enkindles our hearts all the more, filling us with a sense of deep satisfaction.

A woman molds her emotivity through repeated acts of love until she forges virtues in her heart. Her person will be a warm haven in a society that can be so cold and indifferent.

Joan Kingsland, a consecrated woman of Regnum Christi, teaches theology at Mater Ecclesiae College in Greenville, R.I. She received a doctorate from the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family in Rome.

the needy.

During these days of the Easter season, we’re hearing in the Acts of the Apostles, St. Luke’s account of the development of the early Church. I am struck by the obvious. All the newly-formed churches were local. People heard the Gospel, they opened their hearts to the Holy Spirit, they formed a community of believers, they networked with other faithcommunities and they reached out to the general population.

This is still the way to plant and grow a Church.

Even we Catholics misunderstand the structure of our own Church, so it comes as no surprise that many Protestants do as well. The Church founded on the Apostles remains to this day a worldwide web of local churches in union with each other through the primary Church at Rome. Although there are now more than a billion of us Catholics in some 90 countries, we are not a multi-national corporation. We never have been. We are a corporation of spirit, mind and heart comprised of local churches. We receive Holy Communion at Mass because we are in holy communion with God and with each other.

When disaster struck in Japan, it was the local churches throughout the United States that responded so generously — even though less than one percent of the Japanese people are Christian, and less than that are Catholic.

The fund transfer was overseen

by Catholic Relief Services and rushed to Caritas Japan. The aide was distributed by the local Church to the local people.

We call the local Church the “diocese.” Dioceses are not franchises. They are complete and fully-formed Churches comprised of the bishop, his presbyterate, and baptized men and women.

All Catholic churches are local churches. The world is our backyard. Anything that happens anywhere in the world happens in our own backyard. No other institution in all of history can say this.

My scriptural and ecclesiological ponderings were today

affirmed in a most unusual place — the neighborhood garden center. On this first day of summer (old-style calendar) I’m chomping at the bit to see something — anything — growing. I stroll up and down the rows of the garden center and admire the millions of spouting seedlings. It is good for the soul.

A sign on the wall catches my attention. I suppose most people would rush by without taking the time to read what it has to say. I take the time. It is entitled “How to Build Community.” That’s what catches my eye.

The theme could be summarized as “grow where you are planted.” The suggestions are short, clear, and useful. First, turn off the computer/television/ radio/stereo and get out of the house. Talk to the neighbors.

Greet passers-by. Share what you have but do not need. Mediate conflict. Honor the elders.

Engage the children. Rescue a dog. (I really liked that one.)

Listen to the birds singing in the morning. Raise your shades and let the sun shine in. Play and laugh together. Hold pot-luck suppers. Sing and dance in the street (well, maybe that doesn’t work for me). Support neighborhood schools. Seek to understand. Pick up litter. Start a tradition. Plant and tend growing things. Fix something somebody else broke. Read stories aloud.

Provide young people with odd jobs. Ask questions. Seek help when you need it.

Heavens to Betsy! There it is posted on the wall in the garden center. My philosophy of living had been named out loud. I can hardly believe it.

This philosophy of life is also my spirituality. I am a priest of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

Our Church is universal but I’m here to say that all of our churches are local churches. All ministries are local ministries.

Our mission can be found right in our own backyard.

Father Goldrick is pastor of St. Nicholas of Myra Parish in North Dighton.

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The Anchor

May 6, 2011

An artist’s life patched together with faith

By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff

WEST HARWICH — When Virginia Pena’s son Paul died five years ago, some people who knew her thought she’d never be able to put the pieces of her life back together.

Instead of falling apart, however, she set about using her God-given talents for quilt-making to begin building a patchwork representing the Joyful and Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary. The task served not only as a welcomed diversion from her grief, but also a way to honor her faith and her son’s memory.

“We didn’t lose Paul, he’s still with us,” Pena said. “We’ve had our crosses to bear. They may have been heavy, but we’ve never had to drag our crosses because I’ve always had the feeling Someone was helping us along.”

The vibrant, beautiful quilt that resulted from her painstaking efforts is a testament to her resiliency and faith.

“All this happened at a time when I wanted to say ‘thank you,’” Pena said, adding that her devotion to the Blessed Mother and Padré Pio were key inspirations. “I’m a folk art or primitive artist; I just used what I had and that’s how it turned out.”

Pena’s quilt contains artistic renditions she created of each of the five Joyful and Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary that she said can be used for teaching or meditating.

“It’s not a quilt I’d put on a bed,”

she said. “I might hang it on the wall.

It may be the first Rosary quilt made by a Cape Verdean woman. I’ve been researching and haven’t found anyone else who’s done it.”

Pena categorized the quilt as “folk art” and said there wasn’t a set pattern or formula for making it.

“I just went

was another way of showing that you don’t always need beads to pray the Rosary. God gave us all 10 fingers — you can say a Rosary anywhere.”

When asked if she plans on making a “sequel” quilt representing the remaining Glorious and Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary, the lifelong parishioner at Holy Trinity

Anchor Person of the Week — Virginia Pena shares her Rosary quilt with students of Holy Trinity Parish Faith Formation program in West Harwich. with what I had and the inspiration of the moment,” Pena said. “My Rosary quilt is really a journey. I can take my Rosary and close my eyes and see every decade of the Rosary, because I’ve created it with fabric. For me it

Parish in West Harwich said: “if it’s meant to be. But I don’t want to plan it. I just want it to happen.”

Admitting she’s reluctant to boast about her accomplishments, Pena said she is active with the parish senior group and also visits shut-ins once a week.

“I don’t do anything for recognition,” she said. “I just like being in the background and helping the parish. I like being behind-the-scenes.”

Pena also tries to attend Mass daily, which is an important aspect of her faith.

“I try to go to Mass everyday because I need that grace,” she said.

“I’m not confident enough to think what I got yesterday can get me through today. My faith brings me to Mass everyday to make me realize I’m not in control. Jesus is in charge of my life and I just pray it goes well.”

Her pastor, Father Edward J. Healey, concurs that Pena doesn’t readily seek out the spotlight.

“She’s a deeply faithful woman who regularly attends Mass and uses her artistic talents to glorify God,” Father Healey said.

“I don’t take my talent for granted,” Pena added. “I know it’s a gift from God. I think

we all have talents. When I’m making a quilt — and I’ve done more than 80 — they are all journeys for me.”

For Pena, it’s all about that creative journey. When she’s finished a quilt or piece of artwork, she doesn’t even feel the need to keep it.

“It’s not about possessions,” she said. “I can part with it. And I think giving away what I’ve done is also a part of it. I just enjoy making it, when I’m alone and my thoughts just belong to God and me. I like it that way.”

Pena was recently asked to come in and share her Rosary quilt with students in the parish’s Faith Formation classes.

“It was a pleasure to share the quilt with them,” she said. “I have a lot of faith in the upcoming generation. I think the Church is working with the youth and supplying them with great information and education. Back in our day we didn’t speak, we just did what we were told. Now the kids are asking questions and are participating — they have a voice. I think it’s wonderful.”

Having raised four children and one foster child with her husband Jack, Pena is happy to know that younger Catholics are now stepping up to carry on the traditions of the Church.

“I just talked to my son and he said, ‘I wish you could be here with us next Good Friday,’” she said. “For him, it was a great experience watching his wife collecting, his youngest son serving Mass and his oldest son also collecting, and he stood over in the corner watching everything. It was a proud moment for him.”

As a woman “working on 84,” Pena said there is nothing more important to her during her golden years than her faith.

“You get married, you raise children, you go through life, and then you find yourself in a place where you’ve become aware of where you’re going, and the only thing you can trust in is God,” she said. “Everything else is part of the material world, but you can always trust in Jesus.”

Noting that she belongs to a wonderful parish with a wonderful pastor, Pena encouraged others to get involved with their own parishes.

“By getting involved you can become closer to Jesus than you can be to yourself,” she said. “I couldn’t have gone through this journey of life without my faith. That’s the bottom line. And I’ve got to make the most of the time I have left.”

To submit a Person of the Week nominee, send an email with information to fatherrogerlandry@anchornews.org.

May 6, 2011

Pope removes Australian bishop

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI has removed Australian Bishop William M. Morris of Toowoomba from office five years after he wrote a pastoral letter indicating he would be open to ordaining women and married men if Church rules changed to allow such a possibility.

In an open letter to Catholics in his diocese released May 1, Bishop Morris said the 2006 letter “has been misread and, I believe, deliberately misinterpreted” by a small group within the diocese.

In a brief statement May 2, the Vatican said, “The Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has relieved His Excellency Msgr. William M. Morris of the pastoral care of the Diocese of Toowoomba.”

The formulation indicated that Bishop Morris had not offered his letter of resignation.

The Vatican did not explain the pope’s decision, but in the past has made it clear that the Catholic Church considers it a matter of faith that Jesus chose only men to be his Apostles and, therefore, the Church is not free to ordain women. In addition, it has affirmed that while exceptional cases exist, celibacy is the norm for priests in the Latin rite.

In his open letter, Bishop Morris said misunderstandings about his pastoral letter on the diocese’s serious priest shortage led Pope Benedict to appoint U.S. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Denver to conduct an apostolic visitation of the Toowoomba Diocese.

“I have never seen the report prepared by the apostolic visitor,” Bishop Morris said, and “without due process it has been impossible to resolve these matters, denying me natural justice without any possibility of appropriate defense and advocacy on my behalf.”

The bishop said the fact that there would be no further hearing on the matter was confirmed by a letter he received from the pope, which stated: “Canon law does not make provision for a process regarding bishops, whom the successor of Peter nominates and may remove from office.”

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

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12

The Anchor

May 6, 2011

Vatican exhibit on Pope John Paul starts in St. Peter’s Square

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Vatican’s special exhibit hall wasn’t big enough to honor the life and ministry of Pope John Paul II, so the exhibit begins in St. Peter’s Square, said Barbara Jatta, curator of what is described as Pope Benedict XVI’s special tribute to his predecessor.

“The exhibit begins in the square, which for the first time ever for a beatification, is decorated with one large photograph of the pope with his pastoral staff as well as with photographs from each year of his pontificate,” Jatta told reporters.

In addition, she said, “the exhibit leads directly to the basilica where people can venerate the tomb of Pope John Paul II.” Visitors can enter the main exhibit, housed in the Carlo Magno Hall off of St. Peter’s Square, until July 24 for free.

The exhibit is a collaborative effort of the Vatican governor’s office and the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

The entrance to the Carlo Magno Hall is under a super-sized replica of the Book of the Gospels; a hidden motor flips the pages, evoking a memory of how the wind turned the pages of the Gospel placed on Pope John Paul’s coffin during his funeral in 2005.

The exhibit includes artifacts from the museum set up in his family home in Wadowice, Poland, like family photographs, a report card and the uniform he wore when he worked at the Solvay quarry and factory. Skis, boots and poles he used in the 1960s and a canoe from about the same time also are on display, along with prayer books and his black priest’s cassock.

The exhibit contains a letter from Pope Pius XII naming him auxiliary bishop of Krakow in 1958 and one from Pope Paul VI naming him a cardinal in 1967.

The section dealing with his 1978-2005 papacy includes the official medals from each year of his pontificate, a pair of his red shoes (which actually are more burgundy) and the mobile platform used to move him in processions after he could no longer walk.

Opening the exhibit, Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, head of the Vatican governor’s office, said the exhibit could give people only a small idea of who Pope John Paul II was.

“In particular, it isn’t possible to show the source from which he drew the strength and richness of his spirit,” although that was hinted at by the Book of the Gospels at the entrance and by the small replica of his private chapel at the other end of the Carlo Magno Hall, he said.

the life of a saint — Charlie Cox portrays Father Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, founder of Opus Dei, in a scene from the movie “There Be Dragons.” For a brief review of this film see CNS Movie Capsules below. (CNS photo/Motive)

CNS Movie Capsules NEW YORK (CNS) — The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed

by Catholic News Service.

“African Cats” (Disneynature) Actor Samuel L. Jackson narrates this impressive nature documentary charting the varied fortunes of a pride of lions and a clan of cheetahs living on the savannah in Kenya’s Masai Mara National Reserve. Splendid landscape footage and remarkably detailed animal close-ups provide the whole family with a top-quality cinematic safari. Directors Keith Scholey and Alastair Fothergill discreetly spare younger viewers the nitty-gritty of predatory behavior, though not the harsh Darwinian dynamic that ruthlessly eliminates the weak — however sympathetic.

The Catholic News Service classification is A-I — general patronage. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is G — general audiences. All ages admitted “Madea’s Big Happy Family” (Lionsgate) Tyler Perry — who wrote and directed this screen adaptation of his eponymous play — puts on the muumuu again as the always short-tempered Madea. Here, Madea’s appealingly gentle niece (Loretta Devine) learns she has terminal cancer and tries to gather her three adult children (Natalie Desselle Reid, Shannon Kane and Shad “Bow Wow” Moss) at her house to tell them the bad news. But the grown sib-

lings are all locked in dysfunctional relationships, while one — a recently released ex-con — is also dabbling once more in the drug dealing that landed him in jail. Worthy themes of mutual respect between spouses, deference to adults on the part of youngsters and familial unity are sometimes lost amid questionable comic characterizations and a flurry of slaps upside the head. Marijuana use, some adult humor, fleeting crass language, slapstick violence. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

“There Be Dragons” (Samuel Goldwyn) Generally powerful, partly fictionalized dramatization of passages in the life of St. Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer (1902-75), founder of Opus Dei, here intensely yet appealingly portrayed by Charlie Cox. As a fictitious Spanishborn reporter (Dougray Scott) investigates Escriva’s life, he discovers that his own father (Wes Bentley) — from whom he has long been estranged

— was the future spiritual leader’s childhood friend and seminary classmate. But, with the violent tumult of the Spanish Civil War looming, the two men took diametrically different paths — one toward the establishment of a movement dedicated to achieving personal sanctity through everyday work, the other toward a duplicitous role in the conflict engulfing their society.

While the striking portrait of an anything-but-plaster saint that forms the heart of writerdirector Roland Joffe’s hybrid tale grippingly conveys its subject’s struggle to discern his vocation and to live out the Christian message of peace, the impact of these biographical elements is blunted by the fictive framework, much of which never seems quite convincing. Probably acceptable for older teens. Occasionally bloody action violence, a few sexual references, a couple of crude and a half-dozen crass terms. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

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

Celebrant is Father David C. Deston Jr., parochial vicar at St. Pius X Parish in South Yarmouth

May 6, 2011

making a beautiful noise — Christian singer/songwriter Tatiana Cameron will share her heartfelt spiritual music at a concert at Corpus Christi Parish in East Sandwich on May 13.

By Becky Aubut Anchor Staff

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The Anchor

She ‘does believe’

EAST SANDWICH — When singer/songwriter Tatiana “Tajci” Cameron takes the stage at Corpus Christi Parish in Sandwich on May 13, those in attendance may be too caught up in her beautiful voice to be aware of the tremendous journey Cameron has undergone.

Born Tatjana Matejas in Zagreb, Croatia, Cameron grew up in what was then communist Yugoslavia, where her earliest memories were filled with music.

“I am one of those people for whom music had always been a part of my life. I come from a culture where music is part of everyday life, not just listening to the music but also participating. Family or friends would gather, or go to a park or coffee shop, and there was always someone with a guitar and we would all sing,” said Cameron.

She started singing at four years old, often accompanied by her father’s band, and began performing in festivals, kid television shows and singing jingles for the radio. As she continued to grow, she began to observe how her voice was affecting those around her.

“I noticed that people were reacting to my voice on an emotional level,” said Cameron. “I could make them happy or make them cry or laugh; it was a path that I was put on and a gift that I recognized when I was very little.”

The esteemed Croatian Music Conservatory recognized her talent, and helped foster an education that added classical training as well as theater to her

ever-growing repertoire.

“They have different levels, and they do eliminate you if you’re not serious at certain points,” said Cameron. “I was one of those people that they were watching; they wanted me. I was very talented and I was interested in music. For me, it was a very natural, logical path, although I did have to put in a lot of hours.”

Those long hours paid off when as a teen-ager, she segued into more adult music and pop and found herself competing on a televised Eurovision song contest.

“That was a big deal and only reserved for big stars,” recalled Cameron. “What happened to me was, I was one of those performers just emerging and my record company — I had just signed with this record company — picked me to perform because they felt I was the least threat to a guy they wanted to win. It was a surprise and shock to everybody when I won that night.”

Literally overnight her fame skyrocketed, said Cameron, to a point where everyone in the small country knew her name, and united a people that were experiencing his or her own turmoil.

“It had the whole country of then-Yugoslavia together in this,” she said. “There I was, a 19-year-old girl in a bright orange dress with a huge smile on my face with so much optimism and hope, that it was not possible that it would go unnoticed and not find a place in people’s hearts. We all needed it.

“I can’t explain it. There was no formula, and no one re-

peated it. Part of me likes to believe that something divine had something to do with it. I was not religious at all, not brought up in a religious environment and for the most part I didn’t believe in God.” As her career continued to flourish, dolls were made in her likeness, her face was splashed across the covers of European papers, and people would swarm to fill the seats of the performance venues — and yet through it all, something was missing, said Cameron.

“I found myself torn. Here I was, super-famous, people falling all over themselves for me, and yet I felt so powerless and lonely. At night, the fans would go home, my glamorous life would quiet down. I would close my eyes and think, ‘Now I have everything but I feel so incredibly lonely,’” said Cameron. “In all of that, I started searching. I basically started saying, ‘God, I hope you are somewhere out there and are real, and I’d like to know you and know you can fill that hole for me.’”

She was introduced to Christianity through a friend and when she turned 21, and the war came to her country, it was her faith that she turned to for guidance. During a performance to help promote peace, she sang a song in a chapel and the lyrics spoke to her.

“In that song I heard my calling, and heard God saying that if you leave what you have now, come with Me and I’ll show you a lot more. That’s when I decided to go back to studying musical theater,” said

Cameron, who left her fame behind to immigrate to New York City in 1992, a place she would call home for the next five years.

While traveling with a Franciscan priest from Croatia, praying for peace and helping perform and highlight the suffering of those ravaged by the war in her homeland, Cameron performed in a prison near Cape Cod, singing “Ave Maria.”

“That’s when I was encouraged to do spiritual music,” said Cameron. “Now I could share my journey and everything I had learned, and share music that wouldn’t just affect people on one level but a really deep level.”

She moved to Los Angeles, where she met her husband who worked in the film industry. Combining their talents to create something beautiful was the easy part, said Cameron; it has been finding an outlet to see that beauty blossom in a spiritual way that has been difficult.

“We’re stuck in this no structured place where you are free to use your own resources and be creative to find ways,” said Cameron. “It can be adventurous and challenging but fulfilling when it works.”

And she has been making it work, having performed in more than 800 concerts. Now the mother of three growing boys, Cameron says she and her family may not be living the highlife, but her voice is certainly bringing life to those needing it.

“In a concert you can feel that,” she said of the energy from the audience, “but put that in the context of a church and you know thousands of people have prayed, have brought their prayers, have been thankful, where miracles of healing have happened, of feeling God’s love and grace — and you are sitting in that place, and you

bring your heart, and allow the music to envelope you. That’s why I love music.”

Cameron will be returning to Croatia for a reunion concert, and the response from her February press conference announcing her return was incredibly positive, she said.

Many of those she is working with in her homeland were only young children when her fame peaked in her country, but they haven’t forgotten her.

“They’re taking that inspiration and letting it empower them. It’s really cool, everything that is happening right now,” said Cameron.

Yamaha Entertainment Group in Nashville just produced her first single, a partnership that Cameron hopes to continue to develop. She also has her own website, www.

IDoBelieve.com. Facebook is another way to follow her progress, but if you search on YouTube, the images of that smiling, exuberant young girl can be found with the click of a button.

“I get emails from people that give me goose bumps; I cry when I receive some of them.

That becomes my biggest motivator and reward,” said Cameron. “Stuff like that, it’s almost impossible to put into words where there are human moments where people show me and open up. I think in my own life, being involved in music, music allows the human heart and soul to let go without being watched or judged. You can do that as a collective, it’s permission to let go.”

Blessed John Paul II

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May 6, 2011

Small miracles happen at beatification celebrations, pilgrims say

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Blessed Pope John Paul II worked a number of miracles at his beatification, some pilgrims said.

Weather forecasts of a weekend of heavy rains turned into innocuous grey clouds April 30 and then sunny skies May 1.

“We prayed to John Paul that it wouldn’t rain,” said Josephine Faehrmann from Sydney, Australia, who was planning to sleep outside with her friends.

Also, mysterious benefactors with a special devotion to the Polish pope paid for a bus full of young people from Naples to attend the ceremonies “because John Paul II loved young people and we had to be here,” Rosa Giordano said.

Each of the more than one million people of every age, background and nationality attending the April 30 vigil in Circus Maximus and May 1 beatification in St. Peter’s Square had his or her own story of pilgrimage.

Danila Fabrizio, another member of the group that left Naples at 1 a.m. May 1 on the benefactor’s bus, said, “This is a sign of God’s providence that we’re here.”

The secret benefactors also supplied Rosaries, prayer cards and a poster of the new blessed “to hang up in the back window of the bus, but it wouldn’t stick because of the humidity,” said Danila Fabrizio.

Valeria Buonpastore from Charlotte, N.C., was on the bus from Naples and said she had been planning to watch the ceremony on television from her home. But then a friend told her there was a free bus

with two seats that had just opened up if she wanted to go.

“It’s really a miracle that I’m here,” she said.

Thibaut Cappe, 23, from Paris, who came with a group of 12 people, said they had nowhere to spend the night, but someone in Rome invited them to stay in his very nice apartment.

“It was awesome. We were very lucky. Many people slept in the street,” Cappe said. He

blocked in the same spot near a hospital by the river several blocks from the square since 6 p.m. April 30, said Carole Deverre. At 7:30 a.m. the next day they had still made no progress in getting closer to the square.

“We can’t see the (television) screen, there is no toilet.

It’s not very pleasant,” she said. “But we are very happy to be here and right now we are going to pray to not be

while a group from Derry, Ireland, said they were handing out chips, cookies and snacks from their overflowing supply in an open suitcase on the ground.

The celebrations of the late pope’s beatification began at 8 p.m. April 30 in the grassy field of Circus Maximus, which was once a Roman race track.

Some groups had set up small tents and laid down

papal relic — Polish Sister Tobiana Sobodka, left, who ran Pope John Paul II’s household, and French Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, whose cure from Parkinson’s disease was accepted as the miracle that paved the wave for his beatification, place a relic of the late pope near the altar during his beatification Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican May 1.

(CNS photo/Paul Haring)

said they got up at 3 a.m. and managed to get a spot halfway up Via della Conciliazione, the wide boulevard leading up to St. Peter’s Basilica.

Another group from Paris was not so lucky. They were

This week in 50 years ago — The final Mass was held at St. Casimir’s Mission Church in the north end of New Bedford in preparation for its demolition and the building of a brand new building on the same site. During construction, Masses were held inside the parish hall and the nearby Ashley School auditorium.

25 years ago — Bishop Daniel A. Cronin announced the appointment of Sister Mary Noel Blute, RSM, as episcopal representative for Religious in the FaIl River Diocese, succeeding Father Lucien Jusseaume who served in the post for 20 years.

disappointed,” she said as the group’s parish priest pulled out his Rosary to lead them in prayer.

But many came prepared and shared. One couple passed around a thermos of hot coffee

Diocesan history 10 years ago — Bishop Sean P. O’Malley, OFM Cap., accompanied by his secretary Father Richard D. Wilson and Father Craig A. Pregana, made a pastoral visit to the diocesan mission parish in Guaimaca, Honduras.

One year ago — The St. Michael School Choir from Fall River was asked to sing the American and Canadian national anthems at Fenway Park in Boston before the Red SoxToronto Blue Jays game that evening. Thirty youngsters, along with their director, Philip Pereira, proudly performed before citizens of the U.S., Canada, and Red Sox Nation.

blue tarps. Others sat on flattened cardboard boxes to protect themselves from the damp ground as they took part in three-and-a-half hours of prayer and reflection.

Volunteers wearing bright yellow vests with the words “Do not be afraid” handed out small boxed meals containing juice, an apple, baby carrots, a muffin and crackers. Others handed out candles to be lit at nightfall during the event.

Alice Arza, 16, from Pamplona, Spain, had a large U.S. flag wrapped around her shoulders. Her mother is American and “prays a lot to John Paul II,” she said.

Arza said her mom was ill and couldn’t come to the beatification, “so she told me to come here with the flag to show the United States loves the pope.”

When the vigil ended, about 100 people camped out in the damp, humid field cocooned inside gold Mylar blankets and sleeping bags. One young man sat wrapped in a blanket reading the Bible using the stage

floodlights as a reading lamp.

Huge numbers of people walked in procession from the field to the eight Roman churches that were to be open all night for prayer, Confession and eucharistic adoration.

At least 1,000 people packed into the Church of St. Bartholomew on Tiber Island, and three priests were busy in the atrium hearing confessions.

The Community of Sant’Egidio led night prayer, and its founder, Andrea Riccardi, said the secret of Blessed Pope John Paul’s courage and the motivation for all he did “was the search for Jesus, beginning with his own prayer early each morning and continuing throughout the day.”

Paolo Ciani, a spokesman for Sant’Egidio, said they were going to pray until 3 a.m., then close the church and head to the Vatican, sleeping on the street in order to get a place in the square when it opened.

By 12:30 a.m. thousands of people had camped out along buildings, on strips of grass and on sidewalks several blocks from the Vatican since all access roads to St. Peter’s Square were closed. Others were awake waiting or chatting with security personnel trying to strategize when they could get closer to the square.

Isabel Marin, one of three 16-year-old girls from Madrid, Spain, said they stayed on the street all night and even though she had a brand new air mattress, she didn’t have room to unroll it.

“We were like maybe 10 when he died. Our parents have told us a lot about him and told us this was a great opportunity to grow our faith,” Marin said.

“Pope John Paul was a wonderful pope. He was like us. My mom showed me a video where he was watching a clown and really laughing. And I saw another video where he moved his feet when the people were singing, following the beat.”

About two hours before Mass began, to aid with the flow of the crowds, loudspeakers broadcast announcements urging people not to block the roads by sitting down and instead to “Rise, Let Us Be on Our Way,” which was the title of the late pope’s book in 2004. “This is a celebration for everyone, not for a few,” the speaker said, encouraging everyone to keep moving toward the square.

May 6, 2011

Blessed John Paul II

local presence — U.S. Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston, center, arrives with other prelates for the beatification Mass of Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican May 1. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Pope Benedict beatifies Pope John Paul ‘because of his faith’

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — “John Paul II is blessed because of his faith — a strong, generous and apostolic faith,” Pope Benedict XVI said May 1 just minutes after formally beatifying his predecessor.

Italian police said that for the Mass more than one million people were gathered in and around the Vatican and in front of large video screens in several parts of the city.

Many in the crowd had personal stories about seeing Pope John Paul or even meeting him, and Pope Benedict ended his homily at the Mass sharing his own personal story.

“I would like to thank God for the gift of having worked for many years with Blessed Pope John Paul II,” he said.

As prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from 1982 until his election in 2005, Pope Benedict said he worked at the pope’s side “and came to revere him.”

“His example of prayer continually impressed and edified me: he remained deeply united to God even amid the many demands of his ministry,” the pope said.

“Today his name is added to the host of those whom he proclaimed saints and blesseds during the almost 27 years of his pontificate,” the pope said in his homily.

Pope John Paul during his pontificate beatified 1,338 people and canonized 482 — more than all of his predecessors combined. The beatification of Pope John Paul just six years and a month after his death in 2005 was the fastest beatification in

some 500 years.

Pope Benedict said that even at the moment of his death people “perceived the fragrance of his sanctity and in any number of ways God’s people showed their veneration for him. For this reason, with all due respect for the Church’s canonical norms, I wanted his cause of beatification to move forward with reasonable haste.”

After the Mass, Pope Benedict went into St. Peter’s Basilica and knelt in prayer for four minutes before Blessed John Paul’s casket, which was set in front of the main altar. After the pope left, the concelebrating cardinals filed up to the wooden casket, touching it lightly and kissing it.

Eventually, the Vatican opened the basilica to the general public and planned to keep it open either until the faithful stopped coming to pay their respects or until preparations had to be made for the official Mass of Thanksgiving for the beatification May 2.

Thousands of people spent a chilly, damp night camped out near the Vatican in an attempt to find a place in St. Peter’s Square when the gates were scheduled to open at 5:30 a.m. for the 10 a.m. Mass. The crowds were so large that police began letting people in at 2 a.m., according to news reports.

Thibaut Cappe, a 23-yearold from Paris, got up at 3 a.m. and managed to find a spot half way up the boulevard leading to St. Peter’s Square. He said Pope John Paul “is an example of simplicity in the way of being a Catholic. It’s not always easy to be a Catholic in our world. He was doing it in a way that was

understandable for everyone.”

Alongside the altar in front of St. Peter’s Basilica, priority seating was given to official delegations from more than 80 countries, the European Union and the Palestine Liberation Organization. The United States was represented by Miguel Diaz, the ambassador to the Vatican, and by his predecessors, Francis Rooney and Jim Nicholson.

King Albert and Queen Paola of Belgium led the list of royalty present and 16 heads of state attended, including Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.

Valeria Buonpastore, who is from Charlotte, N.C., said Pope John Paul “transcended nationalities. He was universal, that’s what made him so great. He was loved by people of other nations, religions. A lot of my Protestant friends loved him, too,” she said.

15

Also in the square was Sister Marie Clarice, a 30-year-old member of the Little Servants of the Sacred Heart from Madagascar.

She said she remembers when Pope John Paul came to Madagascar in 1989; she was only seven or eight, and the image that has remained is of a person who cared about the weak and powerless. “I remember the way he welcomed the poor. He embraced them, like this,” she said opening her arms in a wide hug.

Speaking briefly in Polish in his homily, Pope Benedict said of his predecessor: “By his witness of faith, love and apostolic courage, accompanied by great human charisma, this exemplary son of Poland helped believers throughout the world not to be afraid to be called Christian, to belong to the Church, to speak of the Gospel.

“In a word: he helped us not to fear the truth, because truth is the guarantee of liberty,” the pope said.

Pope Benedict read the formula of beatification at the beginning of the liturgy after Cardinal Agostino Vallini, papal vicar for Rome, petitioned the pope by saying, “I humbly ask Your Holiness to inscribe the venerable servant of God John Paul II, pope, among the number of blesseds.”

The pope responded by saying that after consulting many bishops and members of the faithful and after having the Congregation for Saints’ Causes study the matter, “the venerable servant of God, John Paul II, pope, henceforth will be called blessed” and his feast will be October 22, the anniversary of the inauguration of his pontificate in 1978.

The crowds burst into sustained applause, many people cried and brass players intoned a fanfare as soon as the pope finished reading the proclamation.

Polish Sister Tobiana Sobodka, who ran Pope John Paul’s household, and French Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, whose cure from Parkinson’s disease was accepted as the miracle that paved the way for his beatification, carried a relic to Pope Benedict and then to a stand near the altar. The relic was a clear glass vial of Pope John Paul’s blood held in a reliquary of silver olive branches.

Reading a brief biography of the late pope, Cardinal Vallini said he “had lived through the tragic experience of two dictatorships” — Nazism and communism — “survived an assassination attempt on May 13, 1981 and, in his later years, suffered grave physical hardship due to the progression of his illness.

However, his overwhelming optimism, based on his trust in divine providence, drove him to constantly look to the horizons of hope.”

In his homily, Pope Benedict also spoke of Pope John Paul’s suffering and his battle with Parkinson’s disease, which eventually crippled him.

“There was his witness in suffering: the Lord gradually stripped him of everything, yet he remained ever a ‘rock,’ as Christ desired. His profound humility, grounded in close union with Christ, enabled him to continue to lead the Church and to give the world a message which became all the more eloquent as his physical strength declined,” the pope said.

Pope Benedict also reminded the crowd of how devoted Pope John Paul was to Mary and to following her example of complete faith.

“Blessed are you, beloved Pope John Paul II, because you believed,” the pope prayed at the end of his homily. “Continue, we implore you, to sustain from heaven the faith of God’s people.”

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16

Youth Pages

May 6, 2011

the beat goes on — Fifth-graders at All Saints Catholic School in New Bedford recently had an integrated project that involved Music and Social Studies. The students had to research and design an African drum. The students have learned that in African cultures drums play an important part in their lives. The drums are used for everything from funerals to harvest/hunting celebrations. They also learned that drums play an integral part in African story-telling. In Music the students have been working on the percussion family with Mrs. Ferreira. The fifth-graders have discovered different kinds of drums as well as the different sounds each can make depending on the material and the shape. They have used their drums to learn about and practice rhythm and beat in music class as well.

Their cross to bear — Eighth-grade students from St. Joseph School in Fairhaven acted out a Live Stations of the Cross presentation, leading the school community in Lenten prayer. Here they portray the Fourth Station.

here’s to you — Alumni and volunteers from Our Lady of Lourdes School in Taunton were recently recognized with a breakfast at the school with their children.

Youth Pages

May 6, 2011

I

’m frustrated. I’m two days past deadline. A number of topics have come to mind for this article, but I haven’t been able to set anything down on paper that may be worth your time to read. It’s not as if there aren’t a number of possible topics. This week is rich with possibilities. On Sunday Pope John Paul II was beatified. This Sunday’s Gospel is the beautiful and poignant Emmaus story and it’s Mother’s Day! The young prince and his bride were united in marriage in a richly religious ceremony in England. And we spent last weekend with my daughter and future son-in-law celebrating their engagement.

What’s the connection? I don’t know. Wait a minute … maybe there is a connection. Yes! The connection may be two simple little words … I do!

Thirty-four years ago, my wife and I dated once and then she dumped me. We taught in the same building so we saw and ignored each other for nearly four years until she begged me to date her again. (Not totally true but that’s my story and I’m sticking with it!) When we started dating again, to keep the

I do, you know

folks in the building from talkoften today, they are sometimes ing about us being back together meaningless words in a ceragain, we kept our distance. emony but actually to do what When we did want to say some- we promise is the hard part and thing loving to each other while the part where the graces of the in front of others or where we Sacrament are needed. There is might be overheard, we develaction required here. There is a oped a little code phrase to say need to work at it everyday. It I love you. We’d just say “I do just doesn’t happen. you know.”

Mother’s Day brings those After we were married, I created a sign that hung on our house door that had that phrase printed on it. We would see it every time we entered or exited the house and it was

By Frank Lucca a constant reminder.

We’ve always used those words on every birthday card and corresponsame two little words to mind. dence since. You see, this little Mothers do also. Mothers cart phrase has come to mean much their children around to numermore than the simple “I Do” of ous activities. Moms sit up marriage. The I do you know with their child when they are that we speak of now is the total sick. Moms love. They just do. commitment to each other. Not They don’t just talk the words just the I do to the promise to … good mothers have to walk be true to each other in good those words in action. I’m sure times and in bad, in sickness nobody would argue with me and in health, and to love each that mothers are some of God’s other and honor each other all great doers. the days of our life but the I do I don’t think it would be too to carry out those promises. So much of a stretch to say that

Be Not Afraid

17 Blessed Pope John Paul II was a doer. He did all that he was called to do and he taught us so well how to live a life of self-giving, of doing, of action.

Which leads me to the perfect model of doing, the perfect doer, Jesus Christ.

What better example does God give us but His only Son? What better testimony to this call to doing than in Matthew’s Gospel where Jesus Himself says, “The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve.”

In this Sunday’s Gospel we see Jesus catching up with some of His disciples who are reminiscing about all that they had been through with Jesus through His life, ministry, and death.

Jesus then interpreted for them what referred to Him in all the Scriptures as they walked along but they still didn’t understand.

They invited Him to stay with them, “So He went in to stay with them. And it happened that, while He was with them at table, He took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes

were opened and they recognized Him, but He vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning (within us) while He spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?’”

How did the disciples come to recognize that it was really Jesus who had been teaching them?

They recognized Him not in what He said during that trip but in the in the action, the doing, in the breaking of the bread. I think that is meaningful. I think there is a lesson there. We are called to be doers, to be people of action.

Christ is our greatest example. So too, like the disciples on the road, we cannot experience the fullness of life in the Resurrection, if we are not willing to embrace the suffering of the cross and to be doers of the Word. Faith must be carried out in action and this action is an essential response to our faith.

Frank Lucca is a youth minister at St. Dominic’s Parish in Swansea. He is chair and director of the YES! Retreat and director of the Christian Leadership Institute (CLI). He is a husband and a father of two daughters.

lators need to know that they have your backing in their districts,” they said in an April 28 statement.

“Let those legislators who do not oppose the website know that you as a constituent object to this egregious misuse of your tax dollars,” they added.

A separate MCC statement, released the following day, added that a simple re-editing could not resolve the problems with Maria Talks. The bishops called for the site’s removal, citing its “demeaning and sexually explicit terminology” that mistakenly assumes that minors are “incapable of responding positively to challenging and uplifting appeals to better their nature.”

“The state should work together with all sectors of the community, not just those with a vested interest in offering teens contraception and abortion, to find solutions that respect the dignity of young people and their capacity to make good and wholesome choices,” they said.

State lawmaker Elizabeth A. Poirier (R-North Attleboro), one of the signers of the letter to the governor, told The Anchor said that the website makes her ashamed of “the arrogance and the gall” of the

government.

“I think many aspects of our government think they can parent better than parents can, and that’s absolutely not the case.

It’s not our role; we’re not supposed to be doing that. We are superseding parents’ morals and values and desire to raise their children in a certain way.

I just found it disgraceful,” she said.

If the governor does not intervene in removing the website, legislators will do whatever necessary to take it down, she added.

MCFL president Anne Fox, who also sent a letter to Gov. Patrick, told The Anchor that she wants to know how Maria Talks was ever approved.

“The investigation should find out who actually funded this, who chose the group and what did they feel were the qualifications of the group,” she said, noting that the Department of Public Health is a “big place.”

“It’s using tax money for things that very, very few people agree with — not done with any kind of public input as far as we can tell,” she added. “Also, it can’t be the only thing that’s happening.

There have to be other things that are being tax-funded that shouldn’t be.”

Bishops, legislators call for teen sex advice website’s removal continued from page one

says it was “the best choice” for her friend.

According to Maria, abortion is removing “the contents of the womb” and “more common than you may think.” She instructs minor girls on how to get a judicial bypass in order to circumvent parental notification laws and refers them to Planned Parenthood for further assistance.

The only time her advice on abortion takes a cautionary tone is when she advises teens to obtain an abortion quickly in order to maximize their options. By contrast, she warns girls that “being a parent is the toughest job you could ever have” and that going through with an adoption “can be pretty tough for some people, especially emotionally.”

Maria Talks is maintained by the AIDS Action Committee and funded by an annual $100,000 grant from the state Department of Public Health.

The site, launched in 2008, is meant to be an “online resource for teens that provides comprehensive, medically accurate and developmentally appropriate information about sexual health in a non-judgmental, easily-accessible format,” according to the committee’s own site.

“All of the content on

MariaTalks.com has been developed with input from public health and pediatric experts,” the committee’s site says.

The committee also contends that Maria Talks promotes parents as the primary source of information about sex for children and addresses issues that are “essential in safeguarding the general, sexual health of young people.”

“According to the 2009 Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey, 48 percent of high school students in Massachusetts (grades nine12) were sexually active, with 66 percent of all high school seniors reporting that they were sexually active. Only 43 percent of sexually active high school students, and 50 percent of sexually active high school seniors reported using a condom the last time they had sex,” the committee’s site says.

The Boston Herald, which broke the story last month, conducted an online poll, asking if the state should be funding Maria Talks. Eighty-five percent of respondents said, “No. It is biased and sugarcoats the realities of abortion.”

MFI started a site at MariaLies.com where they are collecting signatures from citizens opposed to MariaTalks. com.

In their April 28 letter to the governor, state representatives stated their “profound concern” about the site, saying it uses graphic and inappropriate language to describe various sexual activities. The site also describes abortion in an “insensitive manner,” they said.

“We would emphasize that this is not a debate over the pro-choice and Pro-Life position on the topic of abortion, as we represent a spectrum of viewpoints on that issue, but rather the necessity of funding this website in a time of scarce resources as well as the manner in which the website is constructed,” said the 30 Republicans and 33 Democrats.

The four bishops of the Commonwealth applauded the letter. Through their public policy arm, the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, they called upon the faithful to thank the legislators who signed the letter for their “courageous action.”

“The officials who signed the letter are standing strong in the face of tremendous pressure. This pressure is generated by the very same governmentsubsidized groups and their private allies that the website directs teen-agers to contact for abortions, contraception or related support. These legis-

18

The Anchor

May 6, 2011

CCA donations help change lives

Cape parish prepares for 50th anniversary celebration

year, responding to their “neighbors in need” and making certain they do all they can to lessen the suffering of those who turn to us for help.”

Donly added that it doesn’t take much more to motivate people to give to the Catholic Charities Appeal once they have heard some of the stories of individuals and families who have had lifechanging experiences as the result of the assistance they received from one or more of the agencies funded by the Annual Appeal.

One example is Christine, who following her incarceration in the Barnstable House of Correction entered the program at St. Clare’s House. “When I first came to this program from jail I didn’t love myself,” she said. “As a matter of fact I hated myself. Here they cared about me when I could not care about myself. I had been living on the street. I had a bag where I put my clothes and hid it in a bush or something. I had nothing.

If I didn’t come to this place when I did I don’t think I would be alive today. When I lost all my family and my kids and everybody I loved, I really wanted to change my life.

This program taught me to change my behaviors. God is closely in our lives here. And I never quite experienced that before. Thanks to this program I have a great job, I see my family on a regular basis, my two sons and my mom and my brother. They are starting to trust me again.”

Jannessa, the mother of four sons, one of whom is autistic, was a victim of domestic violence: “I remember making out a Christmas list with my children and my oldest son said the only thing he wanted was a home to live in for Christmas,” Jannessa recalled.

“We were living in a shelter. Living in a single room in a shelter with three sons, and my fourth child who is autistic wasn’t al-

collection of beautiful buildings; as such, the anniversary is more a celebration of the dedicated and devoted people of the parish.

“I am excited to mark this milestone,” Father Baris said. “The anniversary is really about the people of this parish. It’s a fantastic and faith-filled community and the people are extremely giving, no matter what the cause may be.”

Father Baris pointed to Our Lady of the Cape’s more than 20year support of St. Claire’s Parish in Haiti as one of the parish’s many charitable efforts.

“Parishioners and our friends have been most generous in supporting a food lunch program that feeds more than 3,000 students daily,” Father Baris said of their adopted sister parish. “Two schools, a high school, three chapels and a laboratory for St. Claire’s Clinic have been built through the generosity of our parishioners and friends.”

Although officially established in 1961, the history of Our Lady of the Cape Parish actually dates back to 1942, when the Missionaries of La Salette first began serving at the Immaculate Conception Chapel in East Brewster, originally a mission of Holy Trinity Parish in West Harwich.

While Masses at the fledgling parish were celebrated within the chapel, the growing community quickly outgrew the space and Bishop Connolly gave permission for the first pastor, Father Joseph A. Nolin, to purchase a

continued from page one

lowed in. This was certainly a bad situation. Catholic Social Services made his wish come true.

Now they have their own room that they make their own. They’re not the ‘shelter kids’ at school anymore.”

Alyssa, a 13-year-old participant in the Rainbows program for children who have experienced a loss due to death, separation or divorce said, “I would like to thank those who make donations to Catholic Charities to make the Rainbows program possible and it really helped me after I lost my grandmother and then my parents divorced. It’s great to know that people actually really care about you.”

Stories like these are common each year as the many agencies and apostolates funded by the annual Catholic Charities Appeal give detailed accounts of the literally thousands of individuals and families who have experienced the ministry and healing of these agencies. With this as a backdrop the Catholic Charities Appeal opened its 70th year last week with all 90 parishes of the diocese springing into action as they garnered the support of their parishioners for this crucial endeavor.

Pastors reminded parishioners once again that this is the one and only time during the year that the diocese asks its parishioners to come together to share what they have with those in need, by helping to fund the charitable works of its agencies and apostolates, and that a full 94 cents of every dollar donated last year went directly to fund these agencies and apostolates.

The Appeal runs through Tuesday, June 21. Donations may be sent to the Catholic Charities Appeal Office, P.O. Box 1470, Fall River, Mass. 02722; dropped off at any parish in the diocese; or made on the Appeal website: www.frdioc-catholiccharities.org

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30-acre parcel in West Brewster to construct a new church.

Ground-breaking ceremonies were held in December 1961 with the bulk of construction completed throughout the following year. Although the first official Mass in the new church was celebrated at midnight on Christmas Eve in 1962, the building wasn’t formally completed until the following March and then dedicated on July 14, 1963.

Father Nolin designed a statue of the parish’s patroness standing on Cape Cod, which was carved from linden wood. Barefoot, the Blessed Mother is depicted walking on the beaches of Cape Cod with hair and mantle blown by the wind. Father Nolin described Our Lady as “having one foot in Dennis, the other in Brewster, and a big toe in Harwich.”

The Immaculate Conception Chapel became a mission of the parish, a rectory was built in 1965 and a new parish center was added in 1988.

Soon after Father Baris was appointed pastor in July 1997, he undertook the restoration of Immaculate Conception Chapel, which had been expanded over the years. The east wing was added in 1923 and the west wing in 1969. After completing this project, he launched a study to expand or rebuild the main church, which no longer met the needs of the ever-growing parish.

On Oct. 11, 2002, the parish gathered with then-Bishop Seán

O’Malley, OFM, Cap., for the ground-breaking ceremony of the new church. On April 7, 2003, the first concrete was poured for the new foundations and on September 11 — the anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center in New York — the new steeple was raised and set in place.

The new Our Lady of the Cape Church was blessed and dedicated by Bishop George W. Coleman on May 2, 2004.

Part of the May 15 anniversary celebration will include Bishop Coleman’s blessing of six Russian icons located in the east nave of the church. The icons were purchased by Father Baris in Jerusalem and will be permanently installed in the church as part of a theme echoing the opening verses of St. John’s Gospel: “The Word made flesh … and lives with us.”

“I went to Israel in the fall and I spent a month in Jerusalem while on sabbatical,” Father Baris said. “I found these six Byzantine or Russian icons that were made in the 18th century.

We’re going to permanently display them in the church.”

According to Father Baris, the two top icons depict the Archangel Gabriel and Mary at the Annunciation, representing when Jesus became flesh through Mary. The bottom four icons represent the four Evangelists — Matthew, Mark, Luke and John — who collectively “gave us the Word that continues to feed us.”

Japanese tragedy hits home for local family continued from page one

pened, but Mayumi was glued to the TV for four days. We were very concerned for family and friends we have in Japan.”

The Poiriers eventually learned that those they know were far enough removed from the quake and tsunami damage as well as the nuclear disaster effects.

“Immediately we started to become involved in efforts here to raise money for the victims,” said Poirier. “We baked for bake sales, we bought from bake sales, we donated monies, anything we could do. We felt we needed to do things because we weren’t there to help. The Japanese people are respectful of each other, and it’s basically a large family.”

Poirier said it didn’t surprise him to see the Japanese people behaving so civilly during the long waits for food and water and the absence of looting and crime in the affected area.

“Japan is so densely populated that people pretty much live on top of each other,” he added.

“For thousands of years they

have learned to live in harmony with each other. It’s the social norm.”

The Poiriers have seen a large outpouring of support from the parishioners of St. Mary’s. “Right from the start, people called us, emailed us and dropped us a note to see if our family and friends were OK, and if they could do anything to help,” said Poirier.

“I literally received hundreds of contacts from parishioners. It made Mayumi feel like the community rallied around her. Not being from here, they made her feel like she was ‘one of ours.’”

Poirier realizes that as the media exposure wanes, muchneeded help and support follows suit. “Despite the fact that we don’t see much on the news anymore, there are still thousands of people without electricity and still living in shelters,” he said. “And there are some towns that are perfectly intact, but are uninhabitable because of the radiation threat from the nuclear reactor catastrophe. The level of suffering for the people of Japan

is still great. That’s why we have to keep the focus on the many who desperately need help.”

With that in mind, Poirier’s mother, State Representative Elizabeth Poirier from North Attleboro, has spearheaded a relief fund-raiser slated for May 15 from 3 to 6 p.m. at the North Attleboro Elks Club, 52 Bulfinch Street.

“Due to the connection I have [with the people of Japan,] I felt compelled to assist Japan,” said Rep. Poirier who is working in association with the Boston Consulate of Japan. “The sole purpose of the event is to raise funds to assist Japan in its recovery.”

The Japanese Consulate General, Takeshi Hikihara will speak, and two pre-eminent Japanese musicians, professors at Tufts University will perform. There will also be traditional Japanese craft demonstrations and sushi appetizers from local Japanese restaurants, as well as American foods.

For information, or for online registration, visit www. mafriendsofjapan.com

May 6, 2011

Deacon Drinkwater, member of the first diocesan deacon class

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Deacon Oscar Thomas Drinkwater, 76, of Myrtle Beach, S.C., passed away surrounded by family in his home April 15 of lung cancer.

Born July 16, 1934 in Bigelow, Ark., a son of the late Fred and Sarah (Presswood) Drinkwater, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, and retired as Constructionman First Class from the Navy Reserve and the Raytheon Company.

He was ordained a Permanent Deacon in the Catholic Church June 7, 1980 as part of the first class in the Diocese of Fall River where he served in various parishes throughout the diocese. He and his wife, Carol, retired to Myrtle Beach in December 1999.

Deacon Drinkwater served at St. Mary Our Lady of Ransom Catholic Church and St. Andrew Catholic Church in South Carolina.

His hobbies included hunting, fishing, camping, and boating with the Long Bay Power Squadron. He was a member of Knights of Columbus Council 7531 and charter member of Knights of Columbus Assembly 3166 in Conway. He mostly enjoyed spending quality time with family.

Married 53 years, he is survived by wife, Carol (Soucy) formerly of Hyannis; four children including Keith (Jane), Kevin (Wendy), Karen Smith (Dan) and Kelly O’Neil; 14 grandchildren; one greatgrandchild; five brothers, Evert, Paul, Anthony, Gene and Jerry; two sisters, Bonnie Hoyt and Beth Ostland; and several nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by brother Bert and sister Rose Martin.

A funeral Mass was celebrated April 20 at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Myrtle Beach, S.C., with full military honors rendered at Florence National Cemetery.

A Memorial Mass will be celebrated at Our Lady of Victory Parish in Centerville on May 21 at 9 a.m. Condolences may be sent to: Mrs. Carol Drinkwater, 6599 Breezewood Blvd., Myrtle Beach, S.C. 29588.

In Your Prayers Please pray for these priests during the coming weeks 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 May 12 Rev. John F. deValles, DSC, U.S. Army Chaplain, 1920 Rev. Herve Jalbert, Retired Pastor, Blessed Sacrament, Fall River, 1986 May 13 Rev. Msgr. Osias Boucher, USA Ret., Pastor, Blessed Sacrament, Fall River, 1955

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The Anchor Eucharistic Adoration in the Diocese

Acushnet — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Francis Xavier Parish on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Fridays 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Saturdays 8 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays end with Evening Prayer and Benediction at 6:30 p.m.; Saturdays end with Benediction at 2:45 p.m.

ATTLEBORO — St. Joseph Church holds eucharistic adoration in the Adoration Chapel located at the (south) side entrance at 208 South Main Street, Sunday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

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 following the 11 a.m. Mass until 7:45 a.m. on the First Saturday, concluding with Benediction and Mass. buzzards Bay — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Margaret Church, 141 Main Street, every first Friday after the 8 a.m. Mass and ending the following day before the 8 a.m. Mass.

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

East Sandwich — Eucharistic adoration takes place at the Corpus Christi Parish Adoration Chapel, 324 Quaker Meeting House Road, Monday through Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday, 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. Also, 24-hour eucharistic adoration takes place on the First Friday of every month with Benediction at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning.

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, following the 8 a.m. Mass until Benediction at 8 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 8:00 a.m. Mass until Rosary and Benediction at 6:30 p.m.

FALL RIVER — Notre Dame Church, 529 Eastern Ave., has eucharistic adoration on Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the chapel.

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 until 6 p.m. in the Daily Mass Chapel. There is a bilingual Holy Hour in English and Portuguese from 5-6 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.

HYANNIS — A Holy Hour with eucharistic adoration will take place each First Friday at St. Francis Xavier Church, 347 South Street, beginning immediately after the 12:10 p.m. Mass and ending with adoration at 4 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.

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.

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 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 5 p.m.; and every Friday from noon to 5 p.m., with Benediction at 5 p.m.

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

Taunton — Eucharistic adoration takes place every Tuesday at St. Anthony Church, 126 School Street, following the 8 a.m. Mass with prayers including the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for vocations, concluding at 6 p.m. with Chaplet of St. Anthony and Benediction. Recitation of the Rosary for peace is prayed Monday through Saturday at 7:30 a.m. prior to the 8 a.m. Mass.

WAREHAM — Adoration with opportunities for private and formal prayer is offered on the First Friday of each month from 8:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. at St. Patrick’s Church, High Street. The Prayer Schedule is as follows: 7:30 a.m. the Rosary; 8 a.m.

Mass; 8:30 a.m. exposition and Morning Prayer; 12 p.m. the Angelus; 3 p.m. Divine Mercy Chaplet; 5:30 p.m. Evening Prayer; 7 p.m. Sacrament of Confession; 8 p.m.

Benediction.

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

WOODS HOLE — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Joseph’s Church, 33 Millfield Street, year-round on weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. No adoration on Sundays, Wednesdays, and holidays. For information call 508-274-5435.

Around the Diocese 5/10

The Catholic Cancer Support Group will next meet on May 10 at Our Lady of Victory Parish, Centerville, beginning with Mass and Anointing of the Sick at 7 p.m. in the church, followed by a presentation in the parish center with Tricia Howard of Ed Roma Hair Design who will discuss wigs and extensions. For more information call Mary Lees at 508-771-1106 or email maryplees@comcast.net.

5/11

The Spring Mini-Retreat Series at St. Mary’s Parish in Fairhaven will present “Lighten Up — A Yard Sale for the Soul” on May 11 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Sacred Hearts Retreat Center, 226 Great Neck Road in Wareham. Join Peggy Patenaude to refocus what is truly essential in life and do some spiritual “spring cleaning.” For more information or to pre-register, call 508-548-9149 or email timeoutretreats@comcast.net.

5/12

The Divorced and Separated Support Group of the diocese will continue the second part of its series on “Marriage Breakdown” on May 12 beginning at 7 p.m. in the parish center of St. Julie Billiart Church, 494 Slocum Road, North Dartmouth. The evening will include a screening of the video “When Parents Break Up” to be followed by group discussion. For more information call 508-678-2828, 508-993-0589 or 508-673-2997.

5/13

The Couples’ Club of Holy Name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in New Bedford will sponsor a special trip to Foxwoods in Connecticut on May 13 and then an outing to Cathedral in the Pines in New Hampshire on July 22. For more information about either trip call 508-992-6297.

5/13

St. John the Evangelist School, 13 Hodges Street, Attleboro will present a full production of “Cabaret!” in the school gym on May 13 and 14 beginning at 7 p.m. each night. For tickets visit www. showtix4u.com or call 508-222-5062 for more information.

5/15

On May 15 from 6 to 8 p.m. guest speaker Marian Desrosiers, director of the Pro-Life Apostolate for the Fall River Diocese, will present “God As Our Origin and Destiny” at Corpus Christi Parish in East Sandwich. In her compelling presentation, Desrosiers will show how we can help rebuild a culture of life and love in these deeply troubled times. Dessert and coffee will be provided with discussion to follow. For more information or to RSVP call 508-833-8432.

5/13 6/4

A Healing Mass will be celebrated at St. Anne’s Church, 818 Middle Street, Fall River, on May 19 beginning with recitation of the Rosary at 6 p.m. and followed by Benediction and healing prayers.

Spend the day together as a family at the Family Rosary Retreat sponsored by Holy Cross Family Ministries to be held at Boston College High School, Dorchester on June 4 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The full day of activities will include workshops for all age groups, keynote speakers, eucharistic adoration, Mission Rosary and Vigil Mass. Families that register before Mother’s Day will receive a gift card to give to mom. For more information or to register call 508-283-4095 or 800-299-7729 or visit www.familyrosary.org/ conference.

20

I

The Anchor

May 6, 2011

Please give First Communion back to the kids

n sharp contrast to my feelings towards the month of April, I love the month of May. The reasons are many: It’s the month of our Blessed Mother; to me, it’s the official beginning of spring; the trees are in full bloom, as opposed to looking like they’re covered with big green insects; the Red Sox are usually (I repeat, usually) playing good ball; the home furnace is put to sleep until November, replaced by the heat emanating from the grill on our deck.

Another beautiful May sight is the bevy of First Communions taking place across this fair diocese. To me, there’s nothing more innocent and pure than watching a gaggle of cherub-like secondgraders receiving Jesus’ greatest gift to us for the first time.

I don’t like to ruffle people’s feathers, but like everything else in this crazy, mixed-up world in which we live, even this great event can become tainted and diminished.

More and more I find ing a saint. It should have been a First Communion Masses are great day ... but. becoming circus-like, rather Despite instructions to shut than exhibiting the joyous, off cell phones and electronic innocent celebration that it devices, there were some annoyshould be. ing sing-songy chimes in a few It should be noted that this pews. is not the fault of the pastor, the Religious Education coordinator, or the instructors.

In fact they should be commended for the way they prepare and exhibit the imporBy Dave Jolivet tance of this event in the little angels’ lives.

No, from what I see, the fault lies in the folks Probably thinking the Mass who have no clue what it was like a ball game, folks got means to worship in the house up an walked around as they of God, or what worship is for pleased during the Liturgy; that matter. some with a “Look at me” Last Sunday, Divine Mercy demeanor. Maybe it’s just Sunday, the day of the beatifica- me, but if I were invited to tion of the great John Paul II, I someone’s house for a meal, I attended, appropriately enough, wouldn’t just get up and take a First Communion celebration. a stroll around the house.

What better day than May Day, Standing, sitting, and the first day of the month of kneeling is always a challenge Mary, and the day Blessed JPII, for those who attend Mass who loved Jesus’ little children, once or twice a year, if that. came one step closer to becomNow there are some who

My View From the Stands

may take me to task and say, “At least they’re coming to Mass, and maybe they’ll come back again.” Maybe, but even those who come to Mass only on Christmas, Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, and Easter, have a certain reverence about them, and yes, maybe they will be inspired and feel a tugging to “Come back home.”

At celebrations like First Communion and Confirmation, many people are too “busy” to concentrate on the beauty of the Mass or of what the children are receiving.

But what bothered me most last weekend was the total inconsideration of the video photographer.

This individual planted himself and his camera directly in front of the kids for the entire Mass.

From my vantage point, I saw a good number of boys and girls who couldn’t see the altar from where they were sitting. That means, they couldn’t see the priest prepare God’s table for the upcoming feast; they couldn’t see the banquet table once it was set; and worst of all, they couldn’t see the actual consecration of the hosts they were about to receive. What they did see was the back of the videographer, who made no attempt to at least duck down.

There was absolutely no reason for the camera to be where it was ... there were plenty of areas to set up, even

in front of the parents, many of whom had no clue what was going on anyway.

In fact, one priest told me that when the videos, ordered by the parents, are ready, some don’t even come to get them.

He said he still has some videos that were ordered and paid for, from a First Communion that took place in 2007. That means “They would actually have to come to church to get them,” he lamented.

It should be noted to those who take offense to this column, that the Church is always open and welcoming to fallen-away Catholics and to those who want to get a sense of who we are. But that’s not a carte blanche to act anyway one chooses.

In fact Christ himself tells us of an invitation to a banquet in Matthew, “When the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless. Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

It’s one thing to accept an invitation. It’s another to treat it with the respect it deserves.

First Communion is all about Jesus’ little children receiving Him for the first time. Please people, give First Communion back to the kids.

Confirmation too, for that matter.