Diocese of Fall River
The Anchor
F riday , August 21, 2009
Health care debate brings focus to end of life issues
By Deacon James N. Dunbar
FALL RIVER — One of the more contentious parts of the nation’s health care discussion has been about end of life issues. Over last weekend, President Obama and leading Democratic members of Congress announced that they were no longer going to push for coverage for doctors to have discussions, called by critics “death panels,” with patients about their end of life decisions. The attention on the matter got many seniors and those who care for them thinking about how best to approach such decisions. For Catholics, the Church has provided clear guidance about how those decisions should be made. Adult adult Catholics usually relegate the final arrangements for their wake and funeral to someone else, they take for granted they themselves will be making whatever life-and-death medical decisions are needed when the time comes. The “monkey wrench” un-
expectedly tossed into the mix comes when, for one reason or another, one becomes incapacitated through accident or illness, and is no longer able or competent to make his or her own medical decisions. As Christians, we believe our physical life is sacred but that our ultimate goal is everlasting life with God. We are called to accept death as a part of the human condition. Death need not be avoided at all costs. Suffering too is a fact of human life, and has special significance for the Christian as an opportunity to share in Christ’s redemptive suffering. Nevertheless, there is nothing wrong in trying to relieve someone’s suffering as long as it does not interfere with other moral and religious duties. Catholics facing difficult health dilemmas should be made aware that there are morally appropriate, life-affirming legal options available to them endorsed by the Church. Turn to page 18
HOG WILD FOR ST. VINCENT’S — Riders participate in the fourth annual Motorcycle Run and Raffle to benefit St. Vincent’s Home in Fall River. More than 200 bikes took part in the 50-mile trek August 16.
TRI-CORNER TRINITY — From left, Fall River Bishop George W. Coleman; Bishop Emeritus Daniel Riley of Worcester and Chaplain of the Massachusetts State Council Knights of Columbus; and Auxiliary Bishop Robert Francis Hennessey of the Boston Archdiocese wear the tri-corner hats worn by all representatives of the Massachusetts Knights of Columbus. The three were attending the recent Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus in Phoenix, Ariz. (Photo courtesy of Paul O’Sullivan)
Even the unborn are feeling effects of current economic woes By Dave Jolivet, Editor
TAUNTON — The economic downturn and standstill in this country affects most people, but none more so than the poor or those with marginal incomes. Add to that an unexpected pregnancy and circumstances can become quite dire for some women. Kay Poirier, director of Birthright of Taunton, told The Anchor that she has seen an increase in the amount of contact her office has received from individuals who are feeling the effects of the poor economy. “Many of the clients who call
are from immigrant families who are definitely feeling the crunch,” she said. “The beauty of it is that many are Catholic or other Christian denominations who don’t want to consider abortion as an option, but who do want our guidance and help.” Poirier said the Taunton Birthright office, which is in its 36th year, handles from 400500 clients per year and that “most of those either keep the babies, or put them up for adoption.” Abortion comes in a distant third. “Our clients, 75 percent of
which are Brazilian, Haitian, Cape Verdean, and Peruvian, value the life of their unborn child, even though things are quite difficult for them.” Poirier said the main objective for her and her staff is to empower the women to let them know what they can do in their difficult situation — anything from referring them to agencies that can help them make ends meet to adoption agencies. “We let them know that abortion is forever,” said Poirier, “and we always refer to a baby as a baby. In fact, whenever we Turn to page 18
cese have established formal groups of volunteer parishioners who have taken on the ministry of reaching out to those in their time of greatest need. While so-called parish bereavement committees come in all types and sizes, they all share the common goal of helping fellow parishioners cope with the death of a loved one while serving as a liaison between the grieving family and the ever-
busier parish priest. “We contact people on a oneon-one basis and help take some of the workload off the parish priest,” said David Bisbee, a member of the bereavement committee at St. Pius X Parish in South Yarmouth. “We tell them we are not taking the place of the parish priest, rather our committee is working for him.” Bisbee explained how his parTurn to page 15
Parish bereavement groups help families cope with grief and loss
By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff
FALL RIVER — Dealing with the loss of a family member is always a difficult situation. But the additional burden of having to plan and organize a wake, funeral Mass and burial service only makes the grieving process even more confusing and painful. Thankfully, many parishes throughout the Fall River Dio-
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News From the Vatican
August 21, 2009
God awaits people willing to bring Christ into the world, pope says By Catholic News Service
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy — Respecting human freedom, God waits for Christians, especially priests, to say “yes” to his desire to bring Christ to the world, Pope Benedict XVI said. During his weekly general audience August 12, the pope continued his new series of talks about the Year for Priests and connected the topic to the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. An estimated 4,000 people gathered in the courtyard of the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo and in the square outside the villa to participate in the audience. Pope Benedict said there is a special connection between priests and Mary that comes from the mystery of the Incarnation. “When God decided to become man in his Son, he needed the freely given ‘yes’ of one of his creatures. God never acts against our freedom. Something truly extraordinary occurred: God made himself dependent on the freedom, on the ‘yes’ of one of his creatures,” he said. The pope said, “The ‘yes’ of Mary was the door through
which God could enter the world and become human. So Mary was truly, deeply involved in the mystery of the Incarnation and our salvation.” Pope Benedict also said that before dying Jesus saw his mother and his “beloved disciple” at the foot of the cross. The disciple obviously was someone special, but he also was a symbol of all those who follow Jesus and, particularly, of priests, he said. When the Gospel says that the disciple, presumably St. John, took Mary into his home, it means that he took her into his life and she became part of his very existence, the pope said. In the same way, priests are called to make Mary a part of their lives, he added. Mary’s special relationship with priests is based on the fact that they are similar to Jesus in giving their lives for the salvation of others and because, like Mary, “they are committed to the mission of proclaiming, witnessing to and giving Christ to the world,” Pope Benedict said. Entrusting his mother to his disciples, Jesus gave all of them — but especially priests — the person who was most precious to him, the pope said.
Pope calls Nazis extreme example of trying to take the place of God
By Catholic News Service
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy — The Nazi death camps were places of extreme evil, the result of the Nazis claiming the power to decide what is good and what is bad and who should live and who should die, said Pope Benedict XVI. The German-born pope spoke about the Nazis, freedom and evil during his Sunday Angelus address August 9 at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo. Reflecting on the lives of saints whose feast days are celebrated in early August, the pope highlighted two who were martyred in Nazi death camps: St. Edith Stein and St. Maximilian Kolbe. “These saints are witnesses of that charity that loves to the end and does not keep tally of the evil received, but combats it with good,” the pope said. They are models for all Christians, especially priests, demonstrating “the evangelical heroism that pushes us, without fear of anything, to give our lives for the salvation of souls,” he said. Pope Benedict said, “The
Nazi concentration camps, like all death camps, can be considered extreme symbols of evil, of the hell that opens on earth when man forgets God and takes his place, usurping the right to decide what is good and what is bad, to give life and death.” The pope said that while the Nazi death machine was an extreme example of what happens when people think they can play God “this sad phenomenon is not limited to the concentration camps.” “There are philosophies and ideologies, but increasingly also ways of thinking and acting, that exalt freedom as the only principle for human beings,” making them think they are gods and the final judges of what is good and bad, he said. Opposing that way of thinking and behaving, the pope said, there are the saints, who practice the Gospel of charity, showing the world “the real face of God, who is love, and at the same time the authentic face of the human person, created in the divine image and likeness.”
STANDING ROOM ONLY — Pope Benedict XVI is greeted by the crowd as he leads his weekly general audience at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, recently. (CNS photo/Alessia Pierdomenico, Reuters)
Vatican official: Iraq’s Christian community at risk of disappearing
By John Thavis Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY — A leading Vatican official called for greater protection of Iraq’s beleaguered Christian minority, saying the disappearance of Christianity from the country would be an enormous religious and cultural loss for everyone. Archbishop Fernando Filoni, who served as the Vatican’s nuncio to Iraq from 2001 to 2006, said it was important that Iraqi Christians stem the widespread emigration of their community. That can only happen if they are given a sound basis for hope in the future, he said. “The authorities must do everything they can so that Christians are a respected and integral part of the life of the country, even if they are a minority,” Archbishop Filoni said in an interview August 11 with the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano. The Iraqi government meets regularly with church leaders and in theory is committed to protecting Christians, but “this also has to be translated into concrete facts,” he said. The archbishop pointed to the recent restitution of three Church-run schools as an important step in the right direction. The schools, two in Baghdad and one in Kirkuk, will be run by Chaldean Catholic nuns, who managed them before they were nationalized under Saddam Hussein. “This seems to be an important signal that offers hope and indicates appreciation for the contribution Christians can give to the future of the Iraqi nation,” he said. “Even today, many Muslims remain grateful for the education they received in the Christian schools,” he said. Archbishop Filoni said that
despite continuing hardships Christians in Iraq should seize on these opportunities and make the most of them. “Isn’t this the moment to begin to have a little more trust and optimism, and not allow fear alone to prevail? I think it’s time to give more space to hope. If that is lost, there’s no doubt the Christian presence would quickly disappear, and that wouldn’t help anyone,” he said. If Iraqi Christians continue to emigrate, it won’t take long before they’ll lose their language, culture and identity — and it will be lost forever, he said. The archbishop was realistic about the challenging day-to-day situation in Iraq today. He pointed to repeated bombings and other attacks, water and electrical shortages, high unemployment and a struggling educational system. “One leaves the house and doesn’t know if he’ll come back. There is always the risk of explosions,” he said. Under these circumstances, it’s normal for Christian parents to wonder what kind of life Iraq will offer their children, he said. At the same time, he added, Christians also need to ask themselves whether they want their religious community to survive in Iraq.
The Anchor
Archbishop Filoni, who now serves as assistant secretary of state at the Vatican, was the only head of a diplomatic mission to remain in Baghdad throughout the U.S.-led military invasion and for several years afterward. He said he came to feel “almost as an Iraqi” during his mission there. He said Iraq’s Islamic community was appreciative of the Vatican’s presence during the war. He recalled that when a car bomb exploded near the apostolic nunciature in 2006 about 30 Muslim volunteer workers showed up the next day to help repair the damage. The archbishop, who wrote a book about the history of the church in Iraq, also noted that Christian emigration from Iraq has occurred several times over the last century, provoked by three great crises. The first wave of emigration came with the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the persecution of many thousands of Christians; the second was during the Kurdish uprising of the 1960s, which disrupted life in northern Iraq; and the third was the series of events that included the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Western sanctions against Iraq, and the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER Vol. 53, No. 31
Member: Catholic Press Association, Catholic News Service
Published weekly except for two weeks in the summer and the week after Christmas by the Catholic Press of the Diocese of Fall River, 887 Highland Avenue, Fall River, MA 02720, Telephone 508-675-7151 — FAX 508-675-7048, email: theanchor@anchornews.org. Subscription price by mail, postpaid $14.00 per year. Send address changes to P.O. Box 7, Fall River, MA, call or use email address
PUBLISHER - Most Reverend George W. Coleman EXECUTIVE EDITOR Father Roger J. Landry fatherrogerlandry@anchornews.org EDITOR David B. Jolivet davejolivet@anchornews.org NEWS EDITOR Deacon James N. Dunbar jimdunbar@anchornews.org OFFICE MANAGER Mary Chase m arychase@anchornews.org ADVERTISING Wayne R. Powers waynepowers@anchornews.org REPORTER Kenneth J. Souza kensouza@anchornews.org Send Letters to the Editor to: fatherrogerlandry@anchornews.org
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August 21, 2009
The International Church
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Taiwanese Church rushes relief aid to typhoon victims
B y Catholic N ews Service
ONE OF THE FEW — Father Mirek Jordanek, a Czech army chaplain, celebrates Mass for soldiers of the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division at Forward Operating Base Shank in Afghanistan recently. There are just six priests for 17,000 U.S. soldiers in eastern Afghanistan. (CNS photo/Jessica Weinstein)
Lone priest shepherds tiny Catholic Afghanistan flock
By Jessica Weinstein Catholic News Service
KABUL, Afghanistan — In the midst of the escalating war in Afghanistan, there is a place of peace for Kabul’s tiny Catholic population. Inside the Italian Embassy compound visitors will find a small white building marked simply with a cross. Its guardian is the shepherd of Kabul, Barnabite Father Giuseppe Moretti. A warm 70-year-old Italian with graying hair and a sharp sense of humor, Father Moretti is the only priest ministering to Catholics in Afghanistan, considered a mission territory by the Church. “Our presence is the presence of the master’s seed,” he said in an interview with Catholic News Service. Father Moretti first arrived in Afghanistan in 1977, two years before an invasion by the former Soviet Union touched off a generation of fighting. When the war between the Soviets and the Afghan Muslim fighters known as mujahedeen ended in 1982, it was quickly followed by a civil war that raged throughout the 1990s. In 1994, the embassy was attacked and Father Moretti was shot. He survived, but he left the country. After American forces drove the Taliban, a Sunni Muslim fundamentalist religious and political movement, from Kabul in 2001, Pope John Paul II asked Father Moretti to return. “It was my duty as shepherd to stay with my flock,” he said. According to the Vatican, there are just 250 Catholics in Afghanistan; the number does not include those serving in the military. Father Moretti said about 150 people regularly attend Mass inside the embassy. All are members of the international community.
At a July 22 evening Mass, 10 nuns from three different orders took part in worship and received Communion. Sister Chantal de Jesus, a member of the Sisters of Jesus in France, came to Afghanistan in 1955, bringing a team of nurses to the hospital in Kabul. “They treat us quite well here,” she said. “They know us as Christians. We’re well-accepted, even wearing the cross,” said Sister Martina, a member of the Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by Blessed Mother Teresa. Sister Martina’s order is one of the most recent to arrive, beginning its ministry in 2007. Because of its work with mentally handicapped children and widows, the order’s accreditation was approved quickly by the Afghan government. The need in Kabul is great. According to the United Nations World Food Program, more than two-thirds of the population lives in poverty. Many are widows,” said Sister Martina in a thick Irish brogue. “They live in terrible conditions and the landlord throws them out during the winter. Many have five to eight children. “We help with rent and food distribution,” she added. But the Catholic presence is limited to aid workers. Afghanistan is explicitly Muslim. Preaching Christianity is strictly forbidden. “Our presence here is the presence of the mustard seed,” Father Moretti said. “Our testimony is the silent testimony of our life and our works.” But Father Moretti lamented that many Catholics among the international community in Kabul do not attend Mass. Even the Muslims notice, he said.
“The Afghan people are believers, and they respect a lot people who profess another religion, not only in word, but in action,” he said. Father Moretti recalled how much it spoke to the Afghan workers at the embassy when Catholics started trickling into Mass after the Taliban fell. “For two years, the Mass on Sunday was empty,” he said, “and I remember our Afghan workers said to me, ‘Father, they are unbelievers.’” “Now, when they saw the church full of people, with joy they said, ‘Father, there are so many people and they are happy.’ This is the feeling of the Afghan people about religion,” Father Moretti said. “We hope. Our dream is peace, real peace, and if there is peace, there is democracy. Democracy in Afghanistan is a hard journey,” he said.
KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan — Catholic officials in Taiwan have rushed relief aid to typhoon victims in the south of the island, including Catholics in a village badly hit by a similar storm four years ago. The Taiwan Catholic Mission Foundation and Caritas Taiwan distributed relief aid and collected donations from local Catholics to aid victims. The Asian church news agency UCA News reported that Bishop Peter Liu Chengchung of Kaohsiung set up a relief command center in Pingtung County, where at least four townships were affected. “We never know what God’s plan is and why Taiwan has to suffer miserably. We can only pray for Christ’s mercy,” he said in his appeal for aid August 11. “This is the moment for the church to show the spirit of the Gospel,” not only by assisting victims, but also by “showing we are the instrument of God by bringing them the love of Christ,” the bishop said. Typhoon Morakot, the most powerful storm to hit Taiwan in the past 50 years, slammed into the island’s eastern and southern regions August 8. The government’s emergency operation center said the storm had killed more than 65 people and injured 45. Sixty-one people reportedly were still missing. These figures could increase, since media reports say that more than 100 people from one village in Kaohsiung County were still feared buried under a mudslide that engulfed
their homes. Auxiliary Bishop John Baptist Tseng Chien-tsi of Hualien and other Catholics visited villagers at the eastern Taiwan mission station of Chialan — where two-thirds of the ethnic Paiwan people are Catholic — to console them and pray with them. Villagers were evacuated to a school and a community center on high ground when the storm approached. There were no fatalities, said Father John Hung, who serves the mission. Half the houses were washed away in flash floods, according to local sources. Many bridges and roads in the surrounding areas also were washed away or damaged. Father Hung said Morakot left the Paiwan Catholics heavily traumatized. “They are still recovering from the destruction wreaked by Typhoon Haitang in 2005,” he said. Now that their homes have been destroyed again, he said, some Catholics are resorting to praying to traditional deities. “I can feel their pain when they cry out,” Father Hung said. “I dare not offer empty words as it does not help them. I can only listen to them and stand by them.” The church in the village, built 50 years ago, was destroyed by Haitang. It had not been rebuilt because a decision on its location had not yet been made, Father Hung said. “Perhaps it is fortunate that we have not begun to construct the church, since the whole place is now flooded,” he said.
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The Church in the U.S.
August 21, 2009
Cardinal criticizes abortion provisions in health reform bill
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Although amendments to a House health care reform bill made some “helpful improvements” in protecting life and conscience, some “unacceptable features” remain that must be removed, the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Pro-Life committee told House members August 11. Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, who heads the bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, said the health reform bill approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee July 31 would make a “radical change” in U.S. abortion policy by making abortion a mandated benefit in the public health insurance plan that would compete with private insurers and by allowing the expanded use of federal funds to pay for abortions. He said the committee “created a legal fiction, a paper separation between federal funding and abortion” through which those in the public plan and in private insurance plans that cover abortion would pay an out-of-pocket premium of at least $1 a month to cover abortions beyond those eligible for federal funds under the Hyde amendment. The Hyde amendment, enacted into law in various forms since 1976, prohibits federal funding of abortions except in cases of rape, incest and danger to the mother’s life. Cardinal Rigali said the separation of funds in the reform bill “is an illusion” because “funds paid into these plans are fungible, and federal taxpayer funds will subsidize the operating budget and provider networks that expand access to abortion.” In addition, he said, “those constrained by economic necessity or other factors to purchase the ‘public plan’ will be forced by the federal government to pay directly
and specifically for abortion coverage ... even if they find abortion morally abhorrent.” The cardinal had praise, however, for amendments to the bill that stipulate that health reform legislation will not pre-empt certain state laws regulating abortion and will not affect existing federal conscience protections on abortion. He also thanked the committee for approving an amendment “prohibiting governmental bodies that receive federal funds under this act from discriminating against providers and insurers who decline involvement in abortion.” Cardinal Rigali’s comments came in an August 11 letter to each House member. He urged that attention be paid to the priorities and concerns for health reform outlined in an earlier letter from Bishop William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, N.Y., chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development. The U.S. bishops “have long supported health care reform that respects human life and dignity from conception to natural death; provides access to quality health care for all, with a special concern for immigrants and the poor; preserves pluralism, with respect for rights of conscience; and restrains costs while sharing them equitably,” Cardinal Rigali said, reiterating points from Bishop Murphy’s letter. “Much-needed reform must not become a vehicle for promoting an ‘abortion rights’ agenda or reversing long-standing policies against federal funding and mandated coverage of abortion,” the cardinal said. “In this sense we urge you to make this legislation ‘abortion-neutral’ by preserving long-standing federal policies that prevent government promotion of abortion and respect conscience rights.”
HARDY SOULS — Pilgrims brave rain and 90-degree temperatures recently during a two-day, 33-mile trek through Chicago from the city’s St. Michael Church in Chicago to the Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Merrillville, Ind. More than 6,000 people participated in the 22nd annual pilgrimage, a centuries-old tradition brought to the U.S. by Polish immigrants. (CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Catholic New World)
DEVOTED TO OUR LADY — Elisa Najera, Miss Mexico 2008, gives a reflection on the first Luminous Mystery during a rosary at the Knights of Columbus first International Marian Congress in Glendale, Ariz., recently. Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson described the congress, featuring lectures by Guadalupe experts, art exhibits and public prayer, as a “gathering to discuss the history, meaning and continued relevance of Our Lady’s message.” (CNS photo)
Head of Knights says Our Lady of Guadalupe can inspire, unite people
B y Andrew Junker C atholic N ews Service
PHOENIX — Mary’s appearance to St. Juan Diego near what is today Mexico City was “an event that served as a pivotal moment in the history of faith for an entire hemisphere,” Supreme Knight Carl Anderson said. “It also serves as a continuing source of inspiration and unity for all who live in the Americas today,” he said in an address at the Knights’ first International Marian Congress honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe. He cautioned the audience, made up mainly of Knights and their families, against viewing Our Lady of Guadalupe and her miraculous appearance to St. Juan Diego as merely a historical relic. The August 6-8 congress, an event that will be held annually, featured lectures by Guadalupe experts, art exhibits and public prayer. It followed the Knights’ 127th supreme convention, held August 4-6. Anderson described the event as a “gathering to discuss the history, meaning and continued relevance of (Mary’s) message.” Before Mary appeared to Juan Diego — an indigenous peasant — the Spaniards’ efforts at evangelization had
stalled in Mexico. In the decade after Our Lady of Guadalupe’s appearance, millions of indigenous people converted to the faith. “We do well to place our confidence in the Virgin of Guadalupe, for if she could heal the divide between Aztec and Spaniard in 1531, certainly she can heal the rifts on our continent today,” the supreme knight said. “In short, her message is for everyone,” he said. “If we listen to the loving message of Our Lady of Guadalupe, we will find a message that transcends border, races or cultural differences, and, instead, unites all of us as children of the mother of the civilization of love.” Phoenix Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted said that Our Lady of Guadalupe is so important because of what Catholics can learn from her. “She teaches us how to hear, to hold and to herald the good news of Jesus Christ,” he said. “She’s the patroness of the unborn; she’s the patroness and mother of all immigrants; and, in a special way, she’s the patroness of evangelization.” Later, Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Conn., who is the Knights’ supreme chaplain, led a Marian meditation for the hundreds of attendees.
But much of the two-anda-half-day conference focused on academic subjects, such as the symbolic message embedded into Juan Diego’s “tilma,” or cloak; when she appeared to St. Juan Diego, she left her image on the cloak. Other talks explored the role Our Lady of Guadalupe played in the history and culture of the Americas. At the same time, Bishop Olmsted cautioned the Knights against approaching this image of Mary — or religious faith in general — from a purely intellectual position. Rather, they should learn from the fact that Mary chose not to appear to the powerful, but to a poor, humble man, he said. “Knowledge of God is his gift to the childlike, to those with humility and faith,” the bishop said. “The wise and learned of this world can come to know God, and he desires that they do so, but that can happen only when and if they do so not primarily due to their own intelligence.” After the Marian congress, the Knights hosted a festival at Jobing.com Arena in suburban Glendale that featured testimonials; a public multilanguage rosary; and music from around the world. Approximately 17,000 people attended the festival.
August 21, 2009
The Church in the U.S.
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New study shows state of vocations to religious communities in U.S.
WASHINGTON (CNS) — U.S. Catholic religious communities are attracting more ethnically and culturally diverse members now than in previous generations, according to an in-depth survey released August 11. The “Study of Recent Vocations to Religious Life” also showed that most U.S. religious communities report diminishing numbers with aging populations, but at the same time indicated those who are choosing religious life today are passionate about it and some orders are cultivating vocations from the millennial generation. With less than 10 percent of women religious and 25 percent of men religious under the age of 60, it’s imperative that U.S. religious communities figure out effective methods of recruitment, said Mercy Sister Mary Bendyna, executive director of the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate and principal author of the study. The study — conducted by CARA, a Georgetown Universitybased research center, on behalf of the National Religious Vocation
Conference, based in Chicago — surveyed 4,000 men and women who are in formation or newly vowed members. “Clearly the numbers are diminishing and will be diminishing more in the coming years,” Sister Mary told Catholic News Service. “We’re aging, and it will impact us more in the coming years, because many of our members in their 60s and 70s are still active in ministries, but that won’t be the case in another decade or two.” The study was conducted to find the best methods for religious institutes to attract and retain new members, said Holy Cross Brother Paul Bednarczyk, executive director of the National Religious Vocation Conference, a professional association of religious vocation directors. “The Internet, DVDs and other media are much more important to this generation, than for those who were connecting to the religious communities in the 1990s,” Brother Paul told CNS. “Religious communities definitely have to be present on the web to connect with their
Kansas bishops decry end of state program for pregnant women in need TOPEKA, Kan. (CNS) — The Catholic bishops of Kansas told Gov. Mark Parkinson that his administration’s decision to end state funding in 2010 for a program that helps women facing crisis pregnancies “will have grave repercussions for some of the most vulnerable among us.” “We implore you to consider the true costs of ending this important program,” they wrote in a July 31 letter to Parkinson. “The state cannot afford to turn its back on women seeking help in choosing life.” Called the Senator Stan Clark Pregnancy Maintenance Initiative, the program “provides women facing crisis pregnancies with a wide array of support services, including counseling on alternatives to abortion,” the bishops said in their letter. “Its absence will send a disturbing message about our priorities as a state,” they said, “especially when taken in concert with your recent veto of a budget amendment restricting public funding for Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider.” The Legislature had approved more than $345,000 to fund it for 2010, a smaller amount than the bishops had hoped for, they said. However, until the program was cut, the bishops said they were confident that even that amount would help the women who needed it. “Because of this program, there are children alive today who otherwise, as victims of abortion, would not be among us,” they said. More than half of the pregnant women served by the program live
at or below the federal poverty level, the bishops noted. The Kansas Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the Kansas bishops, told Catholic News Service August 13 that it had received no reply yet from the governor. The same day in an e-mail to CNS, Beth Martino, who is Parkinson’s press secretary and communications director, said the budget cuts the governor made for most Kansas agencies “were simply target dollar amounts.” “In most cases, the governor did not identify specific programs or initiatives that he recommended for reductions,” she said, adding that Parkinson “trusts cabinet officials to make their reductions based on the priorities for their agencies.” Martino said the governor also “understands that agencies often have difficult decisions to make when the state budget is extremely limited.” In their letter the Catholic bishops said they recognized that Kansas, like the entire country, is facing economic hardships. “We are fully aware of the dire fiscal circumstances currently confronting the state. We have recognized for some time that, in order for the state’s budget to be balanced, painful cuts were inevitable,” the bishops said. They said they fully expected the program for pregnant women in need “to face its fair share of budget cuts” for the 2010 fiscal year, but eliminating it altogether “has very large consequences for women in Kansas,” despite the “relatively small amount of funding” used for it.
target groups.” Another encouraging sign is that 43 percent of those surveyed are under the age of 30, meaning U.S. religious communities are reaching the millennial generation, Brother Paul said. “It confirms that younger people are rethinking entering religious life,” he said. CARA mailed surveys to a total of 976 entities in spring 2008 and then conducted extensive followup by mail, email, telephone and fax throughout summer and fall 2008 to achieve a high response rate. CARA received completed responses from 591 religious institutes for a response rate of 60 percent. The study was designed to identify and understand the characteristics, attitudes and experiences of the men and women who are entering religious life today as well as the characteristics and practices of the religious institutes that are successfully attracting new candidates and retaining new members, the summary said. Though about 94 percent of members of U.S. religious communities who have made their final profession are white, a growing number of those in formation come from non-Caucasian backgrounds, according to the study. Approximately 21 percent of those in initial formation are His-
panic/Latino, 14 percent are Asian/ Pacific Islander, and six percent are African/African-American. About 58 percent are Caucasian/white. Currently, about 75 percent of professed men in U.S. religious communities and more than 91 percent of women religious are 60 or older, the study said.
A majority of both men and women religious under the age of 60 are in their 50s. Though 88 percent of U.S. religious institutes reported having vocation directors, only 46 percent said those men or women spend more than half their time fostering vocation recruitment.
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The Anchor Champion of the dignity of all God’s children
Last Friday in Hyannis the Church celebrated the funeral of a truly remarkable, faithful and strong Catholic woman who was the personification of the Good Samaritan toward those with special needs. Eunice Kennedy Shriver said to others countless times that one person could make a difference, and her life is a testimony to how much of a difference one person can make. Her efforts revolutionized the way we view and treat those with special needs, ameliorated the lives of literally millions of her “special friends,” and inspired millions more to imitate her in recognizing not merely their potential but in helping them to achieve it. The occasion of her death, like the passing of anyone great, is an opportunity for all of us to examine our attitudes and actions on the basis of hers and rededicate ourselves to carrying the torch she lit ablaze and held aloft. It’s also important for us as a culture to do this, for while in many respects we have come a long way since that time in which, as Eunice Kennedy Shriver wrote in 1964, “the birth of a retarded child implied some kind of social stigma, something to be hidden and ashamed of,” and those with mental handicaps were “shut away, child and adult, in squalid institutions to waste their lives, staring blankly at the emptiness around them,” we are, at least in one very concrete way, regressing. The scientific research into the various causes of mental retardation — much of which was promoted, started and funded by the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation that Shriver helped to run for decades — is now being used against, rather than in favor of, those with special needs. The most notable example of this involves those with Down’s Syndrome, who were so dear to Shriver. The scientific research into Down’s Syndrome led to the discovery that it is caused by the presence of a third 21st chromosome. That knowledge, however, rather than being put exclusively to finding a cure, has been developed into tests to assay the presence of Down’s Syndrome in a child in the womb. While such knowledge could be used to help a couple prepare to welcome a child with special needs, it is being used mainly for destruction. Recent scientific surveys have shown that more than 90 percent of parents who receive a diagnosis that their unborn boy or girl has Down’s choose to abort. This is a far cry from Shriver’s advice to couples in 1964 about how they should react when they find out that a child is mentally-handicapped: “Be proud of him as a member of the family. Give him love, love, love.” That was, of course, the way she related to her sister Rosemary. She described in a 1962 article, which disclosed Rosemary’s mild mental retardation to the general public, how not only Rosemary responded to that love but how others in similar circumstances do as well. “They have feelings and emotions, hopes and affections, personal dreams and sufferings,” she would write. “The retarded should not be shunned and ridiculed, treated as outcasts. They should and must be helped. We of the bright, real world must reach out our hands into the shadows, not with the trembling emotion but with sure-footed, level-headed assistance.” She got specific about what that assistance can do. “In this era of atom-splitting and wonder drugs and technological advances, it is still widely assumed that the future for the mentally retarded is hopeless.” She strived to show, rather, that it was full of hope. “The truth is that 75 to 85 percent of the retarded are capable of becoming useful citizens with the help of special education and rehabilitation. Another 10 to 20 percent can learn to make small contributions, not involving book learning, such as mowing a lawn or washing dishes.” The achievements of the millions who have competed in Special Olympics — which surpass the athletic abilities of the vast majority of people without special needs — are a witness to this hope. She saw that hope in her sister as well as in all her special friends. All of us are called to share and advance that vision. That vision is totally contrary to one that kills in the womb those diagnosed with special needs. Shriver expressed her horror in a 1962 article that parents were committing retarded infants to institutions right after they were born and publishing obituaries in the local papers to spread the belief that they were dead. How much worse is the practice when parents do not merely treat the child as dead but bring about its demise. For that reason, it’s totally unsurprising that Eunice Kennedy Shriver, not just in her private opinions, but in her public actions was always unambiguously Pro-Life. She recognized the dignity of every child and how the only worthy response to a child, even one with mental handicaps, is “love, love, love.” Staunch Pro-Life commitment did not make most of her obituaries or the numerous tributes made to her by world leaders and celebrities from the across the nation and globe. It seemed to be something that many of the notables attending her exequies seemed too embarrassed to admit — as if, to them, it was a little scandalous. They praised her for all she did to defend and advance the dignity of those born with special needs, but totally ignored what she did to protect and promote the dignity of those yet to be born with or without special needs. Their selective reticence, however, may have come from the fact that, in her presence, they may have been a little ashamed at their own lack of consistency, principle, and courage. Eunice Kennedy Shriver had the integrity and the pluck to remain publicly Pro-Life even when, sadly, her Democratic party, several of the members of her family, many of those in her social circle and even some misguided fellow Catholics did not. Among the many things she did to advance the Pro-Life cause, she hosted receptions in her home to honor Pro-Life stalwarts, like Mary Cunningham Agee of the Nurturing Network. With her husband, Robert Sargent Shriver, she provided crucial advice and encouragement to the founders of Feminists for Life, an organization from which Kennedy Shriver received the Remarkable Pro-Life Woman award in 1998. When the National Abortion Rights Action League published an advertisement manipulating her brother John F. Kennedy’s words in favor of their abortion advocacy, she published a letter in The New York Times in which she not only defended her brother but the U.S. bishops’ Pro-Life work, describing why it was not at all a violation of the principle of the separation of Church. In 1992, she was one of several prominent Democrats to sign a letter to The New York Times protesting the pro-abortion plank in the Democratic party platform. She was a supporter of Democrats for Life for America, the Susan B. Anthony List and Feminists for Life. In a tribute, Cardinal Sean O’Malley praised her for being “preeminently Pro-Life, against abortion and there to protect and underscore the dignity of every person. This, of course, manifested itself in her love for children with disabilities, … which like the l’Arche movement in Canada was born out of the Church’s teachings on the dignity of every human person as a treasure made in the image and likeness of God and of our obligation to care for each other and to recognize the gift in each person. Certainly, what Eunice Shriver did made a positive impact in so many ways and was a very strong witness of her Catholic faith … which was a very important part of what motivated her and … was certainly the soil out of which grew her passion and dedication to the less fortunate and those who are challenged by disabilities and mental retardation.” She was indeed “a woman of ardent faith and generous public service,” as Pope Benedict said through our papal nuncio. May all of us pick up the torch of her ardent faith, selfless service and “love, love, love” of all those, born and unborn, who were her’s and remain the Lord’s special friends.
August 21, 2009
Pastoral courage and charity
Last week we focused in general on the Vianney’s words and actions were decisive. heroic prayer, penance and preaching St. John The two taverns located across from the church Vianney engaged in to bring about the total con- soon closed, followed in short succession by version of his parish. Like any good shepherd, the other two. Seven other bars that tried to take he fought with ferocity whatever wolves could their place all failed before getting established. harm his flock. His love for God and for them One tavern owner came to plead with him that led him to have a holy hatred for the sins that closing his bar would mean his financial ruin. would kill their souls and separate them from Vianney kindly gave him the money he needed God. to close his bar and pay his bills. Eventually the The two main institutions against which he former owner became a model Christian. railed — the taverns and the dances — might One of the most noticeable and quantifiable seem to many today to be relatively innocu- good effects of the closing of the taverns was ous. After all, we face much larger problems: that pauperism was totally eliminated among instead of taverns, we are confronting a wide- Ars residents. That’s because St. John Vianney spread drug culture that many justify; rather had extirpated the main cause of poverty that than dances, we face ubiquitous pornography, had existed before his arrival. “sexting,” “friends with benefits,” and culturalThe pastor of Ars was equally as resolute in ly-supported promiscuity. For these reasons, we trying to do away with the dances. These vogues can be tempted to think that St. John Vianney were not tame and innocent social gatherings was fighting against the equivalent of chewing for young adults, but more like neo-pagan bacgum in schools. But that would be a huge mis- chanal revivals where the combination of liquor take. and lust led often to their becoming drunken The Curé of Ars was laboring to eradicate orgies. These dances had earned such a reputathe roots of the same sinful tendencies that tion that young adults from all the surrounding have grown into the much larger, problematic villages would come to Ars and “dance” until and ominous trees we confront today. One sunrise near the grove of walnut trees behind the of the reasons church. why we’re facVianney was ing much larger no prude, but problems is behe was shocked cause there have to see so many not been enough young people pastors, parents, put themselves teachers and culin a situation By Father tural leaders with prone to so many Roger J. Landry the courage and sins of the heart love to do what and of the flesh. Vianney did. He was even That’s why it’s important and urgent for us to more shocked to see so many parents look the re-examine what the patron saint of priests ac- other way when the souls of their children were complished, so that we can learn from him the in danger. He again first took to educating their types of things that God calls us to do today. consciences from the pulpit, candidly reminded When St. John Vianney arrived in Ars in them of their responsibilities and the eternal 1818, there were four taverns in a village of 230. consequences, for them and for their children, The per capita equivalent for a city like Fall Riv- of neglecting them. “Mothers may indeed say: er or New Bedford today would be about 1,600 ‘Oh, I keep an eye on my daughters.’ You keep bars. There was, obviously, a lot of drinking an eye on their dress but you cannot keep guard going on. The men would show up after work, over their heart,” he said, as a keen observer of discuss the news or local gossip, and generally human psychology. He then used language that spend what was in their pockets drinking well they could not forget or ignore: “Go, you wickpast intoxication. The taverns would also open ed parents, go down to hell where the wrath of on Sunday morning to give the men someplace God awaits you, because of your conduct when else to go when their wives went to church. For you gave free scope to your children; go, it will Vianney, the taverns were not just “potential” not be long before they join you, seeing that you occasions of sin but a real cause for the evil that have shown them the way so well…. Then you corrupted most of the men of his village. will see whether your pastor was right in forbidHe preached about it with stark language ding those hellish amusements.” borrowed from the early desert father, St. John He used other means as well. He built a chaClimacus: “The tavern is the devil’s workshop, pel in his parish church to St. John the Baptist, the school where hell retails its dogmas, the above the arch of which he wrote a somewhat place where souls are sold, families are de- humorous reminder of the terribly serious evil stroyed, health deteriorates, quarrels begin and the sin of lust can occasion: “His head was the murders are committed.” He would continue price of a dance.” He would routinely try to inwith tears: “Christ wept over Jerusalem…. I tercept the fiddlers who were coming to accomweep over you. How can I help weeping, my pany the vogues and pay them double to leave brethren? Hell exists. It is not my invention. the village without playing. He would refuse God has told us. And you pay no heed. You do to absolve young people unless they promised all that is necessary to be sent to it. Do you think never to return to a dance, since those who wish then that God does not see you? He sees you, to avoid sin must be resolved to flee from the my children, as I see you. … Hell exists. I beg occasions. While the dances were occurring, you: think of hell. Do you think that your Curé he formed groups of the devout to come to the will let you be cast into hell to burn there for- church to pray in intercession and reparation as ever and ever?” well as organized simultaneous activities for He lamented that the drunkards had young people so that they would have some“degrad[ed] themselves below the lowest of thing else, and good, to do together. beasts.” Because the patrons had indeed become It took him 25 years totally to eliminate the addicts both of the lifestyle and of the booze, dances in Ars, but his perseverance paid off, the pastor went after those who were profiting and the fruits were real. Not only did Ars avoid from their weakness: the tavern owners who, much of the centrifugal destruction of lust that although they liked to style themselves “busi- other villages experienced, but his young people nessmen,” were little more than the equivalent were also equipped to seek the abiding happiof today’s drug dealers. He shamed them, say- ness that comes from a life of grace. ing that they “steal the bread of a poor woman St. John Vianney had the pastoral charity, and her children by selling wine to drunkards courage and endurance to do what it took to who spend on Sunday what they have earned fight against sin and make sanctity possible for during the week.” He described in no uncertain his people. Let’s together ask him to intercede terms how they would be damned unless they for all priests and those entrusted with the care stopped trying to make money by inducing oth- of souls today, that they might love their people ers to sin. He also refused absolution to their in the same way. patrons unless they promised not to return to the Father Landry is pastor of St. Anthony’s site of sin. Parish in New Bedford.
Putting Into the Deep
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On a journey to the new and eternal Jerusalem
confess to being somewhat surprised to be asked to contribute to this series. After all, as I write this, I have been a priest for a whole two-and-a-half weeks. I could write at length about ministry as a deacon, but one thing I’ve learned in the last couple of weeks is that priesthood is a whole different ballgame. Priesthood has been for me a rather surreal experience so far. I was in preparation mode for close to 10 years. In that time at the seminary and in my pastoral placements, I longed to be able to minister as a priest and to celebrate the sacraments for God’s people at home in Massachusetts. So much time is spent in preparation, in and out of the classroom, in and out of the chapel, that there was a rather high degree of tension inside me. The next thing I know I was lying on the floor of St. Mary’s Cathedral. In all the
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ow that we’ve considered the immediate causes, distinctive doctrines, and early splintering of the Protestant Reformation, we’re ready to traverse the landscape of contemporary Protestantism, examining in turn each of its chief branches and their denominational offshoots. But before we begin exploring the worlds within the world of Protestantism, let’s note some of the characteristics of present-day Protestantism, taken as a whole. It is not an insult but a simple observation that Protestantism has never achieved the unity of a single Church. Such unity, in any meaningful sense of the word, is absolutely excluded by the Reformation principle of “Scripture alone,” inasmuch as this is taken to mean Scripture divorced from the authoritative Tradition of the community of faith, past and present. Following Luther’s break with Rome, sola Scriptura quickly devolved into the principle of private interpretation of Scripture: each one is free to decide for himself what constitutes true, “biblical” Christianity. To be fair, there are Protestants who hold, as Catholics do, that individual ideas of what the Bible means must be liable to discussion and assessment by the wider fellowship. But since there is not in Protestantism a Magisterium, or teaching authority, comparable to that of the Catholic Church, and since no Protestant church even claims to be the Church of
stole slung around my neck ordinations I had served as a rather than over my left shoulseminarian, I wondered what der. As I stood with my new was going through the minds brothers, I was charged and of the ordinandi as they lie excited to celebrate Mass for there on the floor. I always resolved to ask, but never did. the first time after my ordination. It almost didn’t seem Well, going through my mind wasn’t the singing of the Litany of the Year For Priests Saints chanted by the Vocational Reflection choir and the congregation, but rather a sudden realization By Father that this was it, that it was really happenDavid C. Deston ing. I wasn’t scared. What did hit home, real as I walked down the though, was the gravity of main aisle and began incenswhat God, Mother Church, ing the altar. and I were conspiring to do. In truth, everything except I was excited, to be sure, but the Eucharistic Prayer was humbled that with all my failings and faults, I would be a bit of a blur. I remember chosen to bring God’s grace to snippets here and there. I know my godson proclaimed his people. the Word like a pro. I know Twenty-four hours later, I the choir did a fantastic job. I was standing in the vestibule of St. Thomas More Church in know Father Correia’s homily was excellent and moved me Somerset. It felt odd wearin a profound way. I know the ing a chasuble and having the
thanks I expressed before the final blessing were as heartfelt as I could force human language to be. The Eucharistic Prayer, though, was the center. As soon as the Sanctus was over, time slowed way down. It was as though brakes had been applied to the universe. As I spoke the words, a great wave of expectation flowed over me. As I held Our Lord up for all to see and worship, I was struck. It’s at this point that language isn’t good enough. There are no words for what is in my heart. The closest I can get is to say that I knew what just happened and I knew that my creator used me, his creation, to do it. There have been other firsts since then, notably my first confession, my first anointing, and the first day at my first assignment. About hearing my first confession,
Present-day Protestantism
“Broad Church” is rationalistic Christ, any attempt to decide a doctrinal controversy, determine and makes no definite statement of doctrine. a point of liturgy, or enact a In trying to sort out the besingle detail of church discipline wildering varieties of Protestantresults in further division, such that the differences among Prot- ism, it is somewhat helpful to classify the denominations acestants are often as great and as cording to their form of church basic as their differences with governance, or polity. Some Catholics. are congregational, others are Some examples are illustrapresbyterian, and still others are tive. Although the Protestant episcopal. Each of these polities churches generally recognize two sacraments only – baptism and the Eucharist, or “Lord’s Supper” The Fullness – they are divided over of the Truth whether these function as channels of grace or By Father mere symbols of grace; Thomas M. Kocik those which take the latter view prefer to speak of “ordinances” is defended as representing that rather than “sacraments.” Some of the Church in either the New churches practice infant bapTestament or the early Church. tism, while others reject it as In a congregational polity, unscriptural. Some come close each local congregation is auto a Catholic understanding of tonomous and operates through the Eucharist; others reject the democratic processes. It hires concept of the Real Presence. and fires its ministers, elects its These differences are found, own officers, holds title to all not only among members of the property, and perhaps formudifferent denominations, but lates its own statement of faith. also among the members of one and the same Church. Anglican- Denominations that are congregational in polity, besides the ism, which regards itself as a Congregationalists themselves, via media between Protestantare the Baptists, Disciples of ism and Catholicism, contains Christ, the United Church of three distinct and competing parties: the “High Church” party Christ, and many Holiness and Pentecostal groups. accepts almost every doctrine Churches organized with a of the Catholic Church except presbyterian polity are governed the primacy and infallibility of by a group of elected elders, or the pope; the “Low Church” “presbyters” (from the Greek is thoroughly Protestant in its presbyteros, elder), and in most teachings and practices; the
cases espouse either classic or modified Calvinism. The larger Church supervises the individual congregations through presbyteries or associations of churches in a given area. Clerical and lay presbyters cast equal votes, and no individual holds an ecclesiastical office superior to another. In addition to the uppercase Presbyterians, the various Reformed Churches of Europe are presbyterian in polity. The episcopal form polity, which is that of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, is hierarchical in structure, with the chief authority over the local church (a diocese or its equivalent) resting in a bishop (Greek episkopos, overseer). The clergy who serve within the local church depend on the bishop for the legitimate exercise of their ministry. Anglicanism and its American branch, the Episcopal Church, as well as most Lutheran and Methodist churches, maintain an episcopal polity, although in most cases the bishops are elected rather than appointed as in the Catholic Church. As I say, viewing Protestant Christianity from the perspective of church organization is only partially useful. Many newer Presbyterian communities have an episcopal type of constitution, with the office of bishop, and appointed consistories instead of elected synods, while
I’ll say nothing other than this: I was amazed that Jesus used me, a sinner, to forgive someone else’s sins. Before my first anointing, I felt like a schoolboy on his first day until I walked into that room and brought the sacraments of God’s healing to one of the suffering. My first day at my assignment was one of new beginnings. As I moved my things into the rectory, I was excited for the blessings and challenges that lay ahead. So here I sit, reflecting on my 18-day-old priesthood. I know that with an open heart, I can be a source of blessing for God’s people and, likewise, they for me, and that they and I, together with God, can help each other reach the new and eternal Jerusalem. Father Deston was ordained June 13, 2009. He is currently a parochial vicar at St. Pius X Parish in South Yarmouth.
some Baptist churches are moving away from a congregational polity toward presbyterian-type models. In this and other respects, denominational identity no longer serves. Another general observation is that Protestants, while not denying that the Church is the body of Christ, tend to emphasize God’s saving work in individuals, whereas Catholics take a more communal view of salvation, seeing the Church as the instrument in and through which Christ, the “one Mediator between God and men” (1 Tim 2:5), ordinarily exercises his divine power in the world. Consequently, in the Catholic understanding, grace is mediated to the individual believer through the sacraments (five of which depend on the ministerial priesthood), the saints, and even Scripture. Protestants, on the other hand, especially those who identify themselves as “evangelicals,” regard all these secondary mediators (except for the Bible) as “getting in the way” between God and the Christian. Next, we’ll conclude our preliminary observations and make some necessary clarifications. Then we’ll begin to look at the individual Protestant denominations whose churches gently jostle one another along the streets of the typical American town: Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist, and so on. Father Kocik is a parochial vicar at Santo Christo Parish in Fall River.
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he readings for this Sunday are challenging us to reflect on whom are we to serve. Whenever we come to mass on Saturday evening or Sunday morning it is possible we find ourselves in a quandary because of problems at work, difficulties with the children, frustration with so many demands on us for one thing or another. Going to mass on the weekend can seem to be an additional problem rather than an affirming respite from our hectic lives. So it should, since we are commanded to keep holy the Sabbath. (“Be still and know that I am God”). When Joshua called the tribes of Israel together, he did not beat around the bush. He confronted them with the challenge, “Decide today whom you will serve?” “Do you want to
The Anchor
Decisions
serve the God of our fathers mit; this could be self-servor other gods, according to ing and a form of escapism. the desires of your fantaServing God means having sies?” Well, the fact that we some order in our lives. go to church makes it easy St. Paul speaks about to answer where we stand right order in conjunction on any particular weekend, with the social order of his however, this is not always day. The terms Paul uses the case. Just like in the may seem contradictory to times of Joshua, some of us are in denial about havHomily of the Week ing to attend mass. Twenty-first Sunday Therefore, we need in Ordinary Time to think about this question, especially By Deacon when we are faced Bob Lemay with critical decisions that may be life changing. us today; however, the conThe question, “Am I cept requires us to be loyal. serving God or am I serving Right order requires us to be myself?”, will perhaps give loyal to ourselves and to our us something to think about relationships. We are loyal during those quiet times. to ourselves when we refuse Serving God does not mean to abuse our minds, bodies to leave family, job and all or our gifts and talents. We the responsibilities behind are loyal in our relationto go off and become a herships when we care for
August 21, 2009
others. We are loyal to our families when we are open to forgiving. We are loyal to God when we not only listen to the word of God but act on it. The question “Whom will you serve?” is the challenge confronting us not only today, but every day. Each time we come to mass we rededicate our relationship with God and with neighbor as professed at our Baptism. We are who we are by what we say and what we do. Whom will you serve? God? Self? Money? Country? Culture? Many persons have broken away from the Church because of the endless quantity of choices in our lives. Peter’s words make a lot of sense when we need to make controversial deci-
sions. “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” During this Year For Priests, we can turn to a quotation from the Cure D’Ars, St. John Vianney. “God made all the days of the week. He might have kept them all, but he has given you six and has reserved to himself only the seventh.” “Choose this day whom you will serve.” Will you serve God or will you serve the culture? The Decision is ours to grow in his love, peace and joy. Deacon Lemay was ordained in November 1982. He is the pastoral assistant at the Parish of Christ the King in Mashpee and the assistant director of the Rite of Christian Initiation of the Diocese of Fall River.
Upcoming Daily Readings: Sat. Aug. 22, Coronation of Our Lady, Ru 2:1-3,8-11: 4:13-17; Ps 128:1-5; Mt 23:1-12. Sun. Aug. 23, Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jos 24:1-2a,1517,18b; Ps 34:2-3,16-23; Eph 5:21-32 or 5:2a,25-32; Jn 6:60-69. Mon. Aug. 24, feast of St. Bartholmew Apostle, Rv 21:9b-14; Ps 145:10-13b,17-18; Jn 1:45-51. Tues. Aug. 25, 1 Thes 2;1-8; Ps 139:1-3,4-6; Mt 23:23-26. Wed. Aug. 26, 1 Thes 2:9-13; Ps 139:7-12; Mt 23:27-32. Thur. Aug. 27, 1Thes 3:7-13; Ps 90:3-4, 12-14,17; Mt 24:42-51. Fri. Aug. 28, 1 Thes 4:1-8; Ps 97:1-2,5-6,10-12; Mt 25:1-13.
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bout two-thirds of the way through Brad Gooch’s highly acclaimed new book, Flannery: A Life of Flannery O’Connor, I got the gnawing feeling that something was missing—even as I admired Gooch’s storytelling about a brilliant writer of fiction who had once said, “... there won’t be any biographies of me because … lives spent between the house and the chicken yard do not make exciting copy.” That sense of the real absence hung with me until the end, at which point I looked into the index for The Habit Of Being (the collection of Flannery O’Connor’s let-
Flannery O’Connor’s wingless chickens
ters published in 1979), which little. True, Gooch argues that contains page after page of critics who think Flannery her most effective apologetics O’Connor was a terrific writer on behalf of Catholicism. It despite her Catholicism are wasn’t there. off base. But he does seem Gooch certainly knows to me to miss the passion of The Habit of Being, for he O’Connor’s belief, as well as mines O’Connor’s correthe keen theological insight of spondence to paint interesting portraits of her friendships with, among others, Betty Hester (known in Habit as “A”) and Maryat Lee. But of By George Weigel O’Connor’s efforts to explain Catholicism and its unique optic on reality and contemporary this self-described “hillbilly culture, he gives us very Thomist.” For Flannery O’Connor, Catholicism was a way of seeing the world straighton, without sentimentality. “There is nothing harder or less sentimental than Christian realism,” she once wrote, for at the heart of Christianity is God’s merciful love, the unsentimental but cleansing love of the father who restores to his wayward, prodigal son the dignity of his sonship. Christian realism taught that good and evil are objective realities, not “opinions.” Thus Christian realism applied to fiction required a painstaking description of both good and evil, especially as they interact in typically messy human lives.
The Catholic Difference
This approach to the short story and the novel did not go down well everywhere. Flannery O’Connor understood why. Once, responding to a “moronic” New Yorker review of her now-famous story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” she wrote Betty Hester that the review neatly demonstrated how “the moral sense has been bred out of certain sections of the population, like the wings have been bred off certain chickens to produce more white meat on them. This is a generation of wingless chickens, which I suppose is what Nietzsche meant when he said God was dead.” Modern culture’s insecure grasp on good and evil created a situation, O’Connor believed, in which people couldn’t get a grip on the truly horrible, which is sin and its effects in our lives. As she wrote to Betty Hester, “When I see [my] stories described as horror stories I am always amused because the reviewer always has hold of the wrong horror.” And the reviewer usually got “hold of the wrong horror” because the reviewer was the product of a culture in which “evil” had been psychologized away and the Evil One was, at best, a medieval
fiction. Flannery O’Connor’s relentless, faith-driven unsentimentality extended to the Church as well as to the world: “I think that the Church is the only thing that is going to make the terrible world we are coming to endurable; the only thing that makes the Church endurable is that it is somehow the body of Christ and on this we are fed. It seems to be a fact that you have to suffer as much from the Church as for it...” And this, mind you, was written in 1955—to certain Catholic minds, the high water mark of Catholic life in these United States. One can only imagine what Flannery O’Connor would say today. O’Connor’s fiction is not to everyone’s taste. But her letters, and essays like “The Church and the Fiction Writer” and “The Catholic Novelist in the Protestant South” (both available in the Library of America edition of her collected works), display her talents as an apologist of honesty and genius. Gooch’s Flannery would have been a better book had he grappled with that facet of a remarkable life and a singular talent. George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.
Priests who paint
dear readers, I am not referring Saturday 15 August 2009 — to Father Guido Sarduccci, at home on Three Mile River the chain-smoking “priest” — Assumption of the Blessed with the tinted glasses from Virgin Mary into Heaven TV’s “Saturday Night Live.” here is a connection Instead, our Guido joined the between faith and art. This is evidenced in most world Dominicans. He took the name religions. It is especially the case in the Eastern Churches. Icon “writing” involves prayer Reflections of a and fasting, my friend Parish Priest Nicholas, a Russian Orthodox priest-monk, By Father Tim explained to me. He Goldrick said that an icon painter never signs the work “Brother John.” Brother John because it is not his work, but was an artist who approached God’s. The iconographer must his painting with prayer, fasthumbly recognize the origin of ing, and humility — so much the artistic charism. so that he was nicknamed Throughout the history of the Catholic Church, there have “Brother Angel.” We know him as Blessed Fra Angelico, the been priests who paint. I think of a certain Father Guido. No, early Italian Renaissance Mas-
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August 21, 2009
Being present
our childhood memories for aving just celebrated those early encounters — our 25th wedding anfirst holy Communion, conniversary, I can now rejoice fession and the priests who in the same number of years oversaw our CCD programs. as a Catholic, for I was There are the parish suppers, received into the Church a the feast day festivities and week before the ceremony. the graduation events. Then What that also offers me is there are the priests who a compressed view of the made hospital visits with sacraments and the generous our loved ones, the men who priests who made themselves consoled us in our grief and available on my behalf. those who said the funeral While God was certainly Masses. intricately involved in my Not all encounters go life since conception, I can perfectly — there are often see his hand specifically in hard feelings or differences the men who have “put on Christ.” From a parish “inquiry class” to Pre-Cana, from reconciliation to conditional baptism, from the Newman Center on my colBy Genevieve Kineke lege campus to the military chaplain who witnessed our vows, of opinion. There are wellI was introduced to a wide range of priests in a short pe- meaning gestures that go awry and the expectations riod of time. Despite dispathat cannot be met. What rate ages and personalities, must be realized is that these they all served holy Mother men have tried. They go Church in the capacity to from joy to joy, from tragwhich they were called. edy to tragedy — not living Praise be to God, they each the normal swells of family said yes. life but rather at the emoThe most important thing tional edges of a fallen world that we can do for priests in grasping at eternity. It cannot this year dedicated to them be easy. is to pray for them. As we Surely the graces are there reflect on the priesthood — but each priest relies on in the coming months, we our prayers for his ability should take the time to recall to respond appropriately to the great number of men in holy orders who have accom- the demands of the flock entrusted to his care. During panied us on our pilgrimage the Rite of Ordination, the of faith. bishop calls the candidates We may not know the who have been formed to name of the priest who serve the people through baptized us, but we can rack
The Feminine Genius
ter. Fra Angelico is the patron saint of Catholic artists. When it comes to priests who paint, Fra Angelico stands at the head of the line. Has the tradition of the priest-artist died out? Not at all. In this, the Year For Priests, here are some of the priest-artists I know personally. One is Father Joe Viveiros, Pastor of St. Dominic Parish in Swansea. I first met Joe at St. Mary Seminary in Baltimore, Md., back in 1970. We were both seminarians of the Diocese of Fall River. As for Joe’s painting style, he prefers watercolor landscapes. He also is skilled at restoring Church statuary. During Lent, Joe turns to the Ukrainian-style folk art of the Easter egg. He
holy orders. Their response is to stand and announce that they are present. They are present; that is the essence. Just as Samuel presented himself to Eli, the candidate presents himself to his bishop — each recognizing his fundamental unworthiness and that the call is from on high, beyond them both and not to be ignored. Subsequently, the good priest makes himself present to the faithful over the years of his service, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, for better or worse, til death do they part. We must respond to that faithful presence by lifting these priests up before the throne of God. Take the time to recall all of those fine men who have served so generously over the years. In your kindness, remember those who may not have been as generous as they could have been. Forgive them, pray for their intentions, and remember that we often failed them along the way ourselves. Recalling Moses’ frustrations in the wilderness, we know that shepherding souls cannot be an easy task, but in the end, it is Christ that matters. Ultimately, without the priest, he cannot be present — and then where would we be? Mrs. Kineke is the author of “The Authentic Catholic Woman” (Servant Books). She can be found online at www.feminine-genius.com.
produces baskets of them. Easter eggs remind me of my friend, Father Al Croce. After formal art training, he went on to become an engineer and later a Holy Cross priest. Al, now 91 years old, has a studio in Dartmouth filled with ostrich, emu, swan, goose, duck, bantam, even parakeet eggshells. For 40 years, he has been ornamenting Fabergestyle eggs. Then there’s Father Stan Kolasa, director of the Sacred Hearts Retreat Center in Wareham. I’ve known Stan for 30 years, but never knew he was a priest-artist until recently. He is also a Scripture scholar, a theologian, and a psychologist. He has been painting since childhood, but has never taken a formal lesson. He reads books on painting techniques. Stan’s art covers a wide variety of subjects. I especially like his flower close-ups. They remind me of the work of Georgia O’Keefe. Stan’s “Bird of Paradise” painting hangs in my living room. I first met Father John Giuliani in Hyannis in 2003. A Benedictine monk living at “The Grange,” a small monastic community in West Redding, Conn., he holds masters degrees in classical studies, theology and American studies. He studied art at the Pratt Institute and icon painting in the Russian Orthodox style. He now paints icons using Native American tribal symbolism. Of Father Giuliani’s work, one art critic says it is meant to “celebrate the soul of the Native American as the original spiritual presence on this continent, thus rendering his images with another dimension of the Christian faith.” On the feast of St. John Vianney, while standing in line
with 30 other priests at Notre Dame Church in Fall River, waiting for Mass to begin, I was chatting with the priest in front of me. Turns out, he was Father Ken Gumbert, the Dominican who is in residence there. Primarily Ken’s medium is film. His most recent fulllength documentary premiered this month at the Rhode Island International Film Festival. He is assistant professor of Film Studies in Theater Arts at Providence College. He is also a painter and a sculptor. He began painting while in California, in what the French call en plein aire or outside in the open air. This is not to be confused with al fresco and certainly not au natural. The idea is to find perfect light and quickly paint the impression of what you are seeing. In an hour, it will be a different scene, for light is always changing. Indoors, Ken paints in watercolors. Looking out his third-floor studio window, he sees the rooftops of the homes in the Flint section of Fall River. This is what he paints. He likes buildings as subjects. An artist goes inside of self to get outside of self and thereby participates in God’s continuing act of creation. For a nanosecond, an artist glimpses a bit of what God sees from heaven. No human can represent what he or she sees from that window into heaven. Never ask an artist what a painting means. He or she doesn’t know. What it means is what you see in it. I’m going down to Ocean State Job Lot and buy a paintby-number kit. For only $1.98, perhaps I, too, can become a mystical artist. Father Goldrick is pastor of St. Nicholas of Myra Parish in North Dighton.
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All you have to do is ask B y Michael Pare A nchor Correspondent
DARTMOUTH — Isabel Medeiros is asked about her husband Joe’s deep commitment to St. Julie Billiart Parish. For her it is simple. One day someone asked Joe for help. That’s all it took. With Joe Medeiros, all you have to do is ask. That someone was St. Julie’s priest back in the 1980s, Father Stephen Avila. Because Joe and Isabel Medeiros had a son who was an altar server, Father Avila asked Medeiros if he’d be willing to organize a cookout as a way to thank the servers for their efforts. The cookout that day was a rousing success. And since that day there have been many more cookouts, malassadas breakfasts, and the annual Septemberfest, all to benefit St. Julie Billiart Parish. “Always ask,” said Isabel Medeiros. “We learned the importance of that. If Joe hadn’t been asked to do that one thing, we may not have been set on this course.” The course to which Isabel Medeiros refers ANCHOR PERSON OF is a deep devotion to deiros. St. Julie’s, and really, to their faith. Joe and Isabel are both Dartmouth natives. They have been married for 36 years. The couple has two children, Stephen and Melissa, and a pair of grandsons. To them, there is nothing more important than faith and family. And they recognize that the two are very much intertwined. Medeiros worked for the United States Postal Service for several years before going into the seafood distributing business with Isabel’s brother and father. The business prospered and when it was sold in 1992, Medeiros was able to enjoy semi-retirement. Medeiros didn’t sit home. He kept busy by working at a funeral home, and more recently, as a bus driver. All along he helped to raise the family with Isabel and, it seemed, he drew closer and closer to his faith. When he was younger, said Medeiros, he dutifully received his sacraments, following the basic tenets of the Catholic faith. It wasn’t until years later, with a reduced workload and in possession of that precious commodity of time, that Medeiros became open to a deeper understanding of and commitment to his Catholic faith. Doors began to open. Like the Cursillo that Isabel encouraged him to attend at La Salette in Attleboro in 1990. Medeiros was not enthused at first. But Isabel was persistent, as was a priest friend. And so he relented. It turned out to be a powerful experience. Isabel Medeiros said, “It came at a perfect time for us.” Her husband had left a secure job with the post office. Starting a family business was a leap of faith in itself. But it worked out. And at the same time, there was that renewed
commitment to his faith. “It was as if a switch was turned on inside me,” said Medeiros. “I kind of did it, the Cursillo, for Isabel. But it blew me away. I realized how fortunate I’d been. And it made me realize that you have to do things for other people who may not be as fortunate.” Over the years, St. Julie Billiart Parish has greatly benefited from the realization by Medeiros that he needed to give back. And so he has given of his time and talents to the parish and the faith that has given him so much. “He is a pillar of the parish,” said Father Gregory A. Mathias, pastor of St. Julie’s. “He has taken a real interest in the wellbeing and the upkeep of the parish. He has helped us to maintain the beauty of the parish.” Medeiros played an important role when St. Julie Billiart expanded in 1991. And among the many parish committees on which he serves, he has been an integral member of the finance committee. In that role he has helped oversee numerous projects including repairs, landscaping, THE WEEK — Joe Me- and a new parking lot. “It’s difficult these days for a pastor to cover all the bases,” said Father Mathias. “You really need the help. I know it’s helped me as a pastor to be able to put more into the pastoral side of things.” Father Mathias points out that there is a spiritual dimension to the work that goes on behind the scenes at a parish. To be so committed to one’s parish, he said, is truly a demonstration of one’s faith. Medeiros is a “behind the scenes kind of guy.” “I like to do the grunt work,” he said. “It’s all about people coming together as one.” That Cursillo experience of 20 years ago took deep roots within Medeiros. As a result, he truly lives his faith. For years now, Joe and Isabel, along with their good friends and fellow parishioners, Jose and Rose Frias, have helped with the Giving Tree initiative during the holiday season. At first, they used their own cars, transporting donated items of clothing and toys from St. Julie’s to Catholic Social Services in Fall River. Then they split the cost of renting a U-Haul for three weekends each December. Now, Joe and Jose drive the CSC truck during what has become a beautiful tradition for everyone involved. “We look forward to it,” he said. Their faith, their church, keeps them busy. “It’s busy, but it’s all good things,” said Isabel Medeiros. “Joe has a hard time saying no.” All you have to do is ask. To nominate a Person of the Week, send an email message to FatherRogerLandry@ AnchorNews.org.
August 21, 2009
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Family Theater wins another Catholic Academy award
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Family Theater Productions’ Manifest Mysteries drama “Assumptions” has won a prestigious 2009 Gabriel Award in the “Television — Religious — National Release” category from the Catholic Academy for Communication Arts Professionals. For 44 years, the Gabriel Awards have recognized outstanding artistic achievement in programs that respect and uplift the human spirit. These awards are sought by major TV and radio networks and independent broadcasters and producers throughout the U.S. and Canada. This is the 15th Gabriel Award that Family Theater Productions, a Catholic production ministry and a member of Holy Cross Family Ministries, Easton, has won. It was founded in 1947 by Servant of God Father Patrick Peyton, CSC, a Holy Cross priest, Catholic media pioneer and now a sainthood candidate. Holy Cross Family Ministries furthers the vision of Father Peyton in 17 countries. Family Theater Productions’ Voz Latina Radio Spanish language programs have won 12 Gabriel Awards and 3 Gabriel Certificates of Merit, while two other TV programs have earned Gabriels — documentaries “Bernardin,” on the late cardinal of Chicago, and “God, Country, Notre Dame: the Story of Father Ted Hesburgh, CSC,” the university’s president emeritus. The 10 Manifest Mysteries dramas connect the mysteries of the rosary directly to the dramatic experiences of fictional teen protagonists. In “Assumptions,” a teen-age girl, Mary (Ryanne Plaisance), discovers that her mother is pregnant and also has cancer. Mary must find the faith to cope with the tough decisions ahead. This story relates to the Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven. “Assumptions” had its screening premiere with “Finding Mary,” another Manifest Mystery drama, in March 2008. The two programs have been aired by several Catholic TV systems and networks in the United States and Canada. “These dramas are the result of many people sharing their talent, passion and faith. These films are short stories like the Gospel parables of Jesus that shed the light of grace on the human condition. I wish to congratulate the trio of leaders Monica Castagnasso, Tony Sands and Elli Bazini and all the others who collaborated with them so effectively,” said Holy Cross Father Willy Raymond, CSC, national director of Family Theater Productions and executive producer of “Assumptions.” Family Theater Productions staff members led the production team. Castagnasso, director of the radio department, was the films’ producer; Sands, administrator, who has a cinematic degree from USC, directed and co-wrote the script; and Bazini, sound engineer and music composer, fulfilled those roles for this film. The Catholic Academy for Communication Arts Professionals, of which Family Theater Productions is a member, is the U.S. affiliate of SIGNIS, The World Catholic Association for Communication, and a Vatican-approved organization for communication professionals serving the Catholic Church. It brings together diocesan communication directors as well as radio, television, cinema, video, media education, Internet, and new technology professionals. During the past 62 years, Family Theater Productions
has produced more than 900 television and radio programs — dramas, documentaries as well as variety and interview programs — that have featured hundreds of Hollywood stars and have had more than 10,000 broadcasts. Other member ministries of Holy Cross Family Ministries are Family Rosary USA, which Father Peyton founded in
1942 in Albany, N.Y., Family Rosary International with offices in 16 countries, and the Father Peyton Family Institute in Easton, and Lima, Peru. The DVD of “Assumptions” and/or “Finding Mary” can be found online at www.hcfmstore.org or by calling call 1-800-299-7729.
LIGHTS, CAMERA ... — Family Theater Productions’ Tony Sands, right, directs a scene of the award-winning drama “Assumptions” in Blessed Sacrament Church, Hollywood. (Photo courtesy of Family Theater Productions)
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August 21, 2009
Plight of Europe’s ‘secret Sisters’ depicted in new documentary By Carmen Blanco Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON — Women religious in Central and Eastern Europe who kept their faith alive clandestinely for more than 40 years during communist rule, undeterred by threats of torture, exile and imprisonment, will be featured in a TV documentary produced by three nuns. The documentary focuses on the plight of Eastern-rite and Latin-rite Catholic nuns, many of whom are now in their 80s and 90s. Through extensive interviews with the “Sister survivors,” viewers are brought stories of courage, hope and fidelity during a time of political and religious repression. “We asked ourselves the question, ‘Who is saving and recording these stories?’” Sister Margaret Nacke told Catholic News Service during a phone interview. Sister Mary Savoie added, “We were told the accounts couldn’t be preserved in archives. There were no records about what was happening. We thought, ‘This will be a lost history.’” Sisters Margaret and Mary, members of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia, Kan., have been collecting oral histories and researching the experiences of East European sisters for nearly six years. Their findings form the basis of their documentary, “Interrupted Lives: Catholic Sisters Under European Communism,” a project that grew out of their larger project titled “Sister Survivors of European Communism.” The one-hour documentary “Interrupted Lives” will be released to ABC-TV stations and affiliates September 13. Broadcast is at the discretion of the local station. The Sisters, who also are the executive producers of the documentary, volunteered in Romania after the fall of Soviet communism and worked in curriculum development. While in Romania, they heard testimonies from the women religious describing their experience during communist times. “Last October, the film crew took two Romanian sisters, Sister Clare and Sister Josefa, who both worked in Bucharest, back
to Jilava Prison, where they were sentenced during Soviet rule. The prison is still functioning today,” Sister Margaret told CNS. Sister Clare, a member of the Congregation of Jesus, worked in the nunciature in Bucharest before she was arrested on the accusation she was a Vatican spy. She spent 14 years in prison where she endured beatings and torture. Sister Josefa, of the Religious of the Assumption order, worked as an administrator in a Bucharest hospital when she was arrested for allowing a priest to say Mass in her office. She was sentenced to six years in prison and given amnesty, then was rearrested and sent to a re-education camp for two years of forced labor. “Sister Clare spent some time at the Jilava Prison with Sister Josefa,” Sister Mary told CNS. “On the way to the prison, they picked wildflowers. When they arrived at the prison, they went into an empty prison cell, which is still in use, and laid flowers on the window sill and prayed in Romanian for the forgiveness of all that had happened there.” From the 1940s until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the Catholic Church and other religions were suppressed and driven underground. Church property was seized and destroyed, catechetical teaching was banned and members of the religious community were urged to either renounce their faith and relinquish their vows or face imprisonment, exile or forced work on farms or in factories. The documentary was funded in part by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Catholic Communication Campaign and the Collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe, which is part of the USCCB’s Committee on National Collections. A total of $185,000 was donated for the sisters’ documentary project. Franciscan Sister Judy Zielinski, writer and producer for NewGroup Media, assisted with the documentary. She has written and produced documentaries both domestically and internationally, including two public TV broadcasts set in the Holy Land and the NBCdistributed documentary, “Jesus Decoded.”
TIME STANDS STILL — Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana star in a scene from the movie “The Time Traveler’s Wife.” For a brief review of this film, see CNS Movie Capsules below. (CNS photo/New Line)
CNS Movie Capsules NEW YORK (CNS) — The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “District 9” (TriStar) Exceedingly violent yet powerful science fiction parable in which, two decades after the arrival in South Africa of an unwelcome race of humansized but insect-shaped aliens, a bureaucrat (Sharlto Copley) for a multinational corporation charged with relocating them from the titular ghetto to a concentration camp finds his condescending attitude transformed when a chemical accident turns him into a fugitive from the system he previously served. Propelled by Copley’s intense performance, director and co-writer Neill Blomkamp’s unflinchingly harsh feature debut employs a mock documentary format to create an incisive study of prejudice and societal indifference. Considerable gory violence, including brief torture, pervasive rough and some crude language, and a few sexual references. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L — limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
“G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” (Paramount/Spyglass) Futuristic combat fantasy in which two soldier buddies (Channing Tatum and Marlon Wayans) join an elite international force (led by Dennis Quaid) to thwart an evil arms dealer (Christopher Eccleston) bent on world domination. Special effects are expensive and the lives of the extras are cheap in director Stephen Sommers’ slick but uninvolving action excursion, developed from a line of Hasbro toys. Pervasive action violence, brief gore, at least two uses of profanity and about a dozen crude or crass terms. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting 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. “The Time Traveler’s Wife” (Warner Bros.) A librarian (Eric Bana) afflicted with a genetic disorder that causes him to disappear from the present and travel — involuntarily and randomly — through time pursues romance with an artist (Rachel McAdams) who has known him since childhood, when he befriended her during visits from his fu-
ture. At its core the enjoyable tale of a lifelong committed relationship, director Robert Schwentke’s adaptation of novelist Audrey Niffenegger’s 2003 best-seller features persuasive central performances that divert attention from the logical loose ends, though not from some behavior that would be objectionable in less far-fetched circumstances. Brief nongraphic premarital sexual activity, rear nudity, a sterilization theme, a few uses of profanity, and some crude and crass language. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting 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.
Movies Online Can’t remember how a recent film was classified by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops? Want to know whether to let the kids go see it? You can look up film reviews on the Catholic News Service website. Visit catholicnews.com and click on “Movies,” under the “News Item” menu.
Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6 Sunday, August 23 at 11:00 a.m.
Celebrant is Father Jeffrey Cabral, is currently enrolled in graduate studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
The Anchor
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The Anchor
August 21, 2009
news briefs
US religious freedom watchdog adds India to its watch list WASHINGTON (CNS) — Increasing violence against religious minorities, particularly Christians, and the government’s inadequate response to that violence in 2008 prompted the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom to add India to its 2009 watch list of countries where conditions of religious freedom require close monitoring. The announcement was made Aug. 12, although the commission’s annual report was released in May. Earlier, the commission requested a visit to India to discuss religious freedom conditions with government officials, religious leaders and activists, but the Indian government did not issue visas to the U.S. delegation. Indian officials also failed to offer an alternative date to meet, as requested by the commission. Leonard Leo, chairman of the commission, told Catholic News Service Aug. 13 that commission members were encouraged by Indians’ “democratic society and their growing relations with the U.S., but there are serious problems that require attention, and they can’t choose to stick their heads in the sand rather than have constructive discussions about the situation in Orissa,” the state in eastern India where the violence occurred. Vatican nuncio fears more anti-Christian violence in Pakistan VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The blasphemy law in Pakistan, often used by Muslim extremists to foment violence, hangs like “the sword of Damocles” over Christians and members of other minority religions, a Vatican official said. Archbishop Adolfo Yllana, the Vatican’s apostolic nuncio in Pakistan, said he feared that worsening tensions between the Muslim majority and Christians could lead to additional violence. He was meeting in midAugust with top Pakistani officials to discuss the tense interreligious situation. Archbishop Yllana made the comments in an interview August 12 with the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, following an attack on a Christian community August 1 that left eight people dead. A mob of Muslims set fire to Christian homes after a false rumor spread that a Quran, the sacred book of Islam, had been desecrated. Pakistan’s blasphemy law severely punishes vaguely defined insults to the prophet Mohammed or the Quran. “In practice, the law against blasphemy has become an easy instrument to accuse Christians of any type of illegality. It’s enough, for example, that a Christian doesn’t pay a debt for him to be accused of blasphemy — and from there, it’s a short step to violence,” Archbishop Yllana said. Italian researchers develop heart-repair method with adult stem cells VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Italian researchers have developed a method to repair a damaged heart using adult stem cells, and said it confirmed that the adult cells were more therapeutically useful than embryonic stem cells. “The adult stem cell is already prepared to differentiate in the tissue we want to repair. And it is certainly more productive, less wasteful and less dangerous — beyond the ethical aspects — to work with adult stem cells instead of embryonic stem cells,” said Settimio Grimaldi, an expert at the Institute of Neurobiology and Molecular Medicine in Rome, which carried out the research. Grimaldi spoke August 15 to Vatican Radio, which hailed the published results as an important advance in stem-cell therapy. The Italian team developed a new method of isolating cardiac stem cells, cultivating them and injecting them in such a way that they replace damaged tissue; after testing on animals, the researchers hope to apply the method on humans in about three years. Grimaldi said the method should be able to help people who have suffered heart attacks lead a fairly normal life, including work and sports activities. Pope prays for victims of typhoons, earthquakes CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI offered his prayers for the peoples of the Philippines, Taiwan, China and Japan facing the death and destruction of recent typhoons and earthquakes. “I want to demonstrate my spiritual closeness to all those who find themselves in situations of serious difficulty and I ask everyone to pray for them and for those who lost their lives,” the pope said August 12 at the end of his weekly general audience. “I hope the relief of solidarity and the help of material aid will not be lacking,” he told pilgrims gathered in the courtyard of the papal villa at Castel Gandolfo. Typhoon Morakat struck the Philippines August 5, leaving 22 people dead. Three days later it had moved to Taiwan where the heavy rains triggered mudslides and 66 people died. The storm moved onto mainland China and was blamed for the deaths of six people. Thousands in all three countries were left homeless. In Japan, an earthquake of magnitude 6.9 struck August 9, Typhoon Etau hit the following day, and another quake, this one of magnitude 6.5, struck August 11.
Challenges in religious life should prompt recommitment, speakers say
ST. LOUIS (CNS) — Challenges faced by men’s religious orders — including the impact of the clergy sex abuse scandals and decline in vocations — should inspire a renewed commitment to proclaim the Gospel message, said speakers at an annual conference. Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States, told more than 130 superiors of men religious August 6 that the Church should not be “a prisoner of the sex scandals” nor should it be “a prisoner of the crisis of religious life.” He urged participants at the annual assembly of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men in St. Louis August 5-8, to return to their roots, noting that early religious communities in the United States had “a leading role in the growth of the Church in this country” through their work in education and caring for those in need. Archbishop Sambi noted that the theme chosen for this year’s gathering, “Called to Proclaim the Gospel,” and the meeting’s timing, coming at the close of the Pauline year and at the opening of the Year for Priests, “is needed by the church in the United States just as rain is needed in the desert.” He said he is “deeply convinced that the values and witness of religious life are extremely important for the renewal of the Church.” Pointing out the challenges faced by today’s priests, the archbishop called the clergy abuse scandal “a horrible experience which has deprived all of us of credibility before our faithful and before society.” He also noted that some of today’s religious communities have “abandoned their founding charisms, and they are going straight to their extinction,” while others say they “have invented a new way of being religious but that ‘new way’ does not have its roots in the Gospel.” “To go out from the prison of sex scandals and out of the crisis of religious life, we must go back to the word of God,” he said. “We have been made religious, priests and bishops, not for sex scandals but to proclaim the Gospel of the Lord and to witness it,” he continued. “And where it is needed to take care of the sex scandals and the crisis of religious life, there, with greater determination, it is needed to announce the Gospel.” Redemptorist Father Thomas Picton, outgoing CMSM president, also spoke of the challenges today’s religious are facing and stressed that the difficulties should ultimately lead to spiritual growth.
In an August 7 keynote address, he said: “Religious life is facing some dark struggles: anxiety about dwindling numbers, shrinking financial resources, scapegoating and rejection by society and even by members of the Church itself, instability, graying of our members, smaller numbers of vocations, lawsuits, allegations of sexual abuse.” He stressed that “in a time of uncertainty and diminishment, religious leaders must make sure that their institutes continue to look outward while searching inward to understand their founding vision. They must not become preoccupied only with survival but continue to be bold and daring in their commitment to serving those most in need.” In the opening prayer service, Benedictine Abbot Jerome Kodell of Subiaco Abbey in Arkansas, urged the religious superiors to recognize they have a special role in proclaiming the Gospel message. In other presentations during the conference, John Allen, a senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter weekly newspaper, spoke about changing roles in ministry; Father Ronald
Witherup, superior general of the Sulpicians, presented a biblical reflection on the renewal of religious life; and Rocco Palmo, writer of the Catholic blog “Whispers in the Loggia,” discussed modern ways to spread the Gospel message. More than 80 religious superiors attended a workshop held prior to the assembly that focused on the growing Hispanic presence in the U.S. Catholic Church. At the assembly’s concluding liturgy, Sacred Heart Father Thomas Cassidy, major superior of the U.S. province of the Priests of the Sacred Heart in Hales Corners, Wis., was installed as the new CMSM president. Participants also elected four new at-large members of the national board of directors: Father Arturo Aguilar, regional superior of the Missionary Society of St. Columban in the United States; Father Justin A. Biase, minister provincial of the Conventual Franciscan Immaculate Conception Province; Brother Hugh O’Neill, provincial leader for the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers in North America; and Benedictine Abbot Lawrence R. Staszysen of St. Gregory Abbey in Shawnee, Okla.
BELOVED BISHOP — Women hold an image of slain Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero during a march to celebrate what would have been his 92nd birthday in San Salvador, El Salvador, August 15.The event marked the beginning of activities to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the archbishop’s death. He was assassinated March 24, 1980, while celebrating Mass in the chapel of San Salvador’s Hospital of Divine Providence. (CNS photo/Luis Galdamez, Reuters)
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August 21, 2009
Vatican paper says Allied governments did little to stop the Holocaust By John Thavis Catholic News Service
ugee Board that was credited with saving tens of thousands of VATICAN CITY — In a Jewish lives. But for 18 months lengthy article, the Vatican before then, despite increasnewspaper said the U.S. and ingly alarming reports, U.S. British governments had de- officials “dodged their grim tailed information about the responsibility, procrastinated Nazi plan to exterminate Eu- when concrete rescue schemes ropean Jews during World War were placed before them, and II, but failed to act for many even suppressed information months and even suppressed about atrocities,” Morgenthau reports about the extent of the wrote. Holocaust. The Vatican newspaper arThe newspaper, L’Osservatore ticle also cited a series of State Romano, contrasted Allied inac- Department orders apparently tion with the quiet efforts under- aimed at preventing reports on taken by Pope Pius XII to save as Nazi atrocities from reaching the many Jews as possible through public, which clandestine asorgenthau de- would have insistance. scribed this creased pressure The article, on the adminpublished Au- message as “a satanic istration for acgust 13, re- combination of Brit- tion. viewed histori- ish chill and diplomatic When the cal information double talk, cold and U.S. government in support of an correct and adding up was finally conargument frevinced to begin quently made by to a sentence of death.” some efforts to Vatican experts: rescue and reloWhile critics have focused on cate European Jews, the British Pope Pius’ supposed “silence” government stalled, the article on the Holocaust, little attention said. It cited a British Foreign has been given to documented Office cable that warned of “the evidence that the U.S. and Brit- difficulties of disposing of any ish governments ignored or considerable number of Jews minimized reports of extermi- should they be rescued from nation plans. enemy occupied territory” and The article quotes heavily advised against allocating any from the diary of Henry Mor- funds for the project. genthau Jr., U.S. secretary of Morgenthau described this the treasury during the war, message as “a satanic combinawho said that as early as August tion of British chill and diplo1942 administration officials matic double talk, cold and cor“knew that the Nazis were plan- rect and adding up to a sentence ning to exterminate all the Jews of death.” of Europe.” The Vatican newspaper said Morgenthau cited a telegram that, while all this was going on, dated Aug. 24, 1942, and passed in Nazi-occupied Rome Pope on to the State Department, that Pius was carrying out “the only relayed a report of Hitler’s plan plausible and practical form of to kill between 3.5 million and defense of the Jews and other four million Jews, possibly us- persecuted people” — hiding ing cyanide poison. The Vatican them in various Church-run innewspaper reproduced a copy stitutions. In the end, although of the telegram. more than 2,000 Jews were deEventually, in early 1944, ported from Rome and killed, U.S. President Franklin D. about 10,000 Jews of Rome Roosevelt set up the War Ref- were saved, it said.
M
THE CHURCH UNIVERSAL — A cross is seen inside a church during Mass for the feast of the Assumption in Baghdad, Iraq, August 15. (CNS photo/Mohammed Ameen, Reuters)
Pope says Mary’s assumption is sign of hope for all Christians
CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) — The assumption of Mary is a sign of hope for all Christians that through baptism and by faithfully following Christ they will have eternal life, Pope Benedict XVI said. “In the Virgin assumed into heaven we contemplate the coronation of her faith, of that journey of faith that she indicates for the Church and for each of us; she, who at every moment welcomed the word of God, has been assumed in heaven,” the pope said. Pope Benedict, his right arm still in a cast, celebrated Mass for the feast of the Assumption in the tiny parish Church of St. Thomas of Villanova, just across the square from the papal villa at Castel Gandolfo. A woman, shouting in German, interrupted the liturgy and was led outside by Vatican security, who later described her as being overcome by religious emotion. The pope also recited the Angelus prayer at noon August 15 and 16 with visitors gathered in the courtyard of
EasternTelevision
the papal villa. In both Angelus addresses he continued reflecting on Mary’s life and her assumption into heaven. In his Mass homily, the pope said that even in moments of “darkness and suffering,” Mary continued to follow God’s plan of love, placing her life totally in his hands. For Mary and for every Christian, he said, “all of life is an ascent, all of life is meditation, obedience, trust and hope, even amid the darkness.” Pope Benedict said life involves struggles between good and evil and is like “a voyage on often stormy seas; Mary is the star that guides us toward her son Jesus, the sun that rises over the darkness of history.” Mary’s life and her assumption “gives us the hope we need: the hope that we can win, that God has won and that, through baptism, we have entered into this victory,” the pope said. In his Angelus address after the Mass, the pope tied the feast to the Year for Priests and asked the world’s priests to teach their faithful about Mary, using as their model St. John Vianney, the patron saint
of parish priests. The pope said the saint repeatedly consecrated his parish to Mary, entrusting each parishioner to her care. St. John Vianney also recommended “especially that mothers do the same with their children,” the pope said. Welcoming visitors to the papal villa August 16, the pope looked at the connection between Mary and the Sunday Gospel reading in which Jesus said “I am the bread come down from heaven.” Jesus was able to become human and give himself for the nourishment and salvation of all people because Mary said “yes” to God’s plan that Jesus be born of a human mother, the pope said. “It is a kind of exchange in which God always takes the initiative but, in a certain sense, one that needs Mary in order to prepare the material for his sacrifice: the body and blood to be offered on the cross as the instrument of eternal life and, in the sacrament of the Eucharist, as spiritual food and drink,” he said. God also needs every man and woman to welcome him so that Christ can live in the world, Pope Benedict said. “And if we say ‘yes’ like Mary, or rather to the extent that we give our ‘yes,’ that which happened in that marvelous exchange also will happen with us: We will be assumed into the divinity of the One who assumed our humanity,” the pope said.
August 21, 2009
Parish bereavement groups help families cope with loss, grief continued from page one
ish committee actually has three major objectives, or phases. The first involves meeting with family members of the deceased to help them prepare the funeral Mass, assisting with selecting appropriate readings and music. The next phase includes a group of people who will assist with organizing a collation — or light meal — to be held immediately after the Mass and burial in the parish hall. Finally, there is a third group that participates in regular follow-up meetings on a monthly basis to provide ongoing support and counseling for people as they go through the grieving process. “It’s a way to provide socialization for people who have something in common and it’s open to anyone who’s experienced a recent loss,” Bisbee said. “It helps make the family feel a little more connected to the parish, especially if the person
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who died was an active member of the parish family,” agreed Mary Dupuis, who’s been involved with the consolation committee at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Attleboro for the past 10 years. “When someone in the parish dies, we contact the family members and make an appointment to bring them a booklet that lists the funeral Mass readings, a suggested song selection, and ask if there’s anything else we can do,” Dupuis said. “We can even do errands for them if they need it. But mostly we’re involved with planning the funeral Mass, to help them make the reading choices and guide them through the process.” Unlike the sacraments of first Communion, confirmation and holy matrimony — all of which involve some degree of planning and preparation — most people are caught off guard when the unexpected death of a loved one
occurs. Established parish bereavement or consolation committees can help bridge that gap and provide the guidance and support the grieving families need most. “Most families have no idea about how to go about planning a funeral,” Bisbee said. “I try to explain to them what’s going to happen and why: where the body goes when they come in, where they will sit, the placing of the pall and what it means. I tell them there are several options that people have in a funeral Mass and I explain that they’re not taking anything away from the Mass by not having any of these options. A person has to do whatever they feel comfortable with.” Dupuis said that while her committee doesn’t get involved with the after-funeral meals or follow-up meetings, she knows just being there for the family is an important part of their min-
istry. “We actually find that we get a lot out of it by going and just sitting with the people,” she said. “It’s probably more rewarding for us because we’re not grieving at the time. We don’t put on breakfasts or luncheons after the funeral Mass — I know other parishes do that — but the family is certainly welcome to use the parish hall.” Conversely, the longstanding bereavement committee at St. John Neumann Parish in East Freetown doesn’t get involved at all with planning the Mass liturgy, according to member and parish secretary Jacqueline Mathieu, rather they exist solely to help coordinate the post-funeral luncheon. “When the family members return from the cemetery after the funeral, we have a lunch for them in the parish hall,” Mathieu said. “We don’t plan the funeral Mass, the pastor usually does that. Even if the family needs someone to housesit or make other arrangements for them, we can do that as well.” Mathieu said those parishes without an existing bereavement committee would do well to seek out volunteers willing to take the time to help their fellow parishioners through this difficult time. “I think it’s a very good ministry,” she said, “and it’s part of our corporal works of mercy — what we’re supposed to be doing for others.”
Father Marek Tuptynski, pastor of St. Patrick’s Parish in Somerset, said he was grateful for the work his own bereavement committee has done and said it is something from which all parishes might very well benefit. “The committee is obviously very helpful in assisting and enriching our parish families when they are in grief,” Father Tuptynski said. “They help maintain the communication between the parish priest and the family, provide counseling as needed, and they also help out with arranging the funeral liturgy.” “I think all parishes should have a committee like this in place,” Dupuis agreed. “I know there’s a certain stigma around the whole death thing, so it may sometimes be difficult to get members, but once they get involved and see what it’s like, they’ll see how fulfilling it is and how much the family appreciates it.” “As our parishes grow in numbers, this is one area in which people can help and feel that they’re doing something for their parish,” Bisbee added. “In doing this for some time, I’ve been happy with it.” “The family members are always very grateful,” Dupuis said. “We’ve received notes from them afterwards saying they really do appreciate having someone there for them because it can be confusing and there is so much to do.”
My Father’s House P.O. Box 22, 39 North Moodus Rd. Moodus, CT 06469 . 860-873-1581 Website: www.myfathershouse.com Email: sbsheldon@sbcglobal.net
September 28 - October 6
9-DAY PILGRIMAGE TO IRELAND visit “ANNE, A LAY APOSTLE.” Contact Mary Alice at (860) 873-8767 for more information. FRI. AUG. 28 7:30PM till SUN. AUG. 30 1:30PM
RETREAT with FR. MITCH PACWA, S.J. from EWTN, “Jesus His Church & His Ministry” See website for details. Reserve early! Call 860-973-1906 to register.
SUN. SEPT. 13 EUCHARIST, MARY & EVANGELIZATION - 9AM - 3 PM “The Pillars of Our Faith” with Father Groeschel. Call (860) 873-1906 for more information.
BEING LAID TO REST — Family members carry the casket of Eunice Kennedy Shriver following her funeral Mass at St. Francis Xavier Church in Hyannis, August 14. Eunice Shriver, who founded the Special Olympics and was a member of one of the most prominent American Catholic political families of the 20th century, died August 11 at age 88 in a hospital on Cape Cod. (CNS photo)
* EVERY 1ST SUNDAY Catholic 12-STEP Healing Program with Fr. Bill (after the 1:30 Mass) & his team. Each Meeting will include teaching, 3:00-4:30 PM sharing & prayers for Healing; open to everyone (not just AA). WEEKLY HOLY SPIRIT BREAKFAST with Mass * EVERY THURSDAY at 11:30 and continuing the study of St. Paul with the 10:00 AM - 2 PM encyclicals of Pope Benedict XVI includes lunch. * EVERY 1ST MONTHLY DISCIPLESHIP/PATRICIAN THURSDAY Meeting - MEN & WOMEN. Why not join us this 7:00-9:00 PM month? * EVERY 2ND ST. MONICA’S PRAYER GROUP to pray for our THURSDAY children, family, and loved ones before the 7:30-8:30 PM Blessed Sacrament. * EVERY 3RD HEALING MASS with Fr. Bill McCarthy and THURSDAY team, see our Website for exact date and 6:30 PM further details. * EVERY 4TH PRAYER CENACLE with OUR LADY, QUEEN OF TUESDAY the HOME — using the book of Our Lady’s Message 7:00 PM of Mercy to the World. Check out our website at www.myfathershouse.com for upcoming Parish Missions
Call us to have your family reunion here. Lodging & meals available.
Youth Pages
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August 21, 2009
Feehan announces new VP of academic affairs
WHAT RAIN? — Students, families, and friends of St. Joseph School in Fairhaven recently enjoyed a night with the Pawtucket Red Sox at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, R.I. The event, coordinated by the school’s Parent/Teacher Organization, was a family fun night — despite the rain. The outing also raised funds for future PTO events.
ATTLEBORO — Bishop Feehan High School announced Ann Perry, a Feehan graduate of the Class of 1983 and Feehan science teacher for nine years, as its new vice principal of academic affairs. Perry has a bachelor of arts degree in mathematics from Boston University and a masters of education from UMassAmherst. With more than 20 years experience as an educator, and as a Feehan graduate, Perry has a strong appreciation for the mission of Bishop Feehan and will continue to advance its ideals of sanctity, scholarship, and sportsmanship.
Online classes expand choices for Catholic school students By Jordan Gamble Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON — With small enrollments and tight budgets, some Catholic high schools struggle to provide classes outside the core curriculum. This was a problem at St. Peter-Marian Junior-Senior High School in Worcester, until it delved into online courses. Virtual High School, www.govhs.org, is a nonprofit company with headquarters in Maynard, that collaborates with more than 575 public and private schools each semester to supplement standard classes with online learning. St. Peter-Marian, a school with fewer than 850 students in grades seven through 12, joined Virtual High School in 2004. Twenty-five students take the online classes each semester. Dawn Van Riper, the school’s technology director, said joining the program was a way to offer students more classes. Van Riper serves as coordinator for the online program, overseeing class assignments and helping students with technological difficulties. The program has seen an increase in membership in the past year because of the struggling economy, Carol Arnold, the organization’s spokeswoman, told Catholic News Service. “If only three kids are interested in AP (Advanced Placement) statistics, it doesn’t make sense for a school, resource-
wise, to offer that particular course,” she said. “It’s a great way for schools who are facing budget cuts to bridge the gap.” The 25 “virtual students” at St. PeterMarian could be taking 25 different classes if their interests were that diverse. Virtual High School offers 200 full-semester classes such as calculus, Irish literature, genetics and the Vietnam War. The specialized classes are attractive to students who have their eye on certain careers or who just want to learn more about a certain subject.
John Rotondo, took a Virtual High School course in screenwriting in 2006 as a senior at Union Catholic High School in Scotch Plains, N.J. “It was good one-on-one work when we wrote any of our assignments. Anyone in the class was able to read and give constructive criticism, and the instructor was able to give detailed analysis of our work,” he told CNS. He said the communication skills have transferred well to his college classes in the Tisch School of the Arts at New York
CYBER SCHOOLING — Virtual High School, www.govhs.org, is a nonprofit company with headquarters in Maynard, that collaborates with more than 575 public and private schools each semester to supplement standard classes with online learning. (CNS photo/Bob Roller)
University where he continues to study screenwriting. With students logging in from several time zones, there are no set meeting times, only deadlines for assignments and tests. St. Peter-Marian and Union Catholic set aside class periods for students to focus on their online classes. In exchange for 25 online classroom “seats,” each school has a teacher devote one class period to teaching an online course. Teachers post assignments and lessons online, and students from around the world participate in discussions and even group projects. A single class could have students from three or four countries and every region of the U.S., Arnold said. Christine McCoid, an assistant principal at Union Catholic High School, said the online classes have been an easy adjustment for students and teachers. “It has stretched us into thinking about the benefits of this learning environment,” she explained. McCoid said teachers are already accustomed to using laptops in their classes but now they are venturing online for discussions and quizzes in a format similar to the Virtual High School. She said the online classes expand traditional teaching and help prepare students for the technologically advanced world, but they do not replace brick and mortar schools. “I don’t see it taking over the face-toface instruction,” she said.
Youth Pages
August 21, 2009
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Nuns, priests urged to reach out to young people to promote vocations By Peter Finney Catholic News Service
NEW ORLEANS (CNS) — U.S. communities of women and men religious need to reach out to young Catholics to let them know about religious life and those communities also should have a full-time vocations director, said a Mercy sister involved in a new major study of vocations. “What’s happening now, particularly with those who are younger is that a lot of them haven’t had direct experience with men and women religious through the school or parish” where they grew up, said Sister Mary Bendyna. The nun is executive director of the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate and principal author of the “Study of Recent Vocations to Religious Life,” released Aug. 11. It was conducted by CARA, a research center based at Georgetown University in Washington, on behalf of the
National Religious Vocation ence of Women Religious in life,” she said. “In many cases, “I do think people are ready Conference, a professional as- New Orleans. to have conversations around they still are wearing the habit. sociation of religious vocation communal living, Catholic They also talked about it in Those factors do make a differdirectors based in Chicago. identity, and prayer and spirituan interview with the Clarion ence.” The study surveyed 4,000 Herald, newspaper of the New ality,” he added. Young people seem to be men and women who are in for- Orleans Archdiocese. Another purpose of the study seeking communities that promation or newly vowed memwas “to identify some best pracThe fact that the study mote eucharistic adoration, daibers. tices for vocation promotion,” showed a marked decrease ly Mass and the Liturgy of the It showed that religious in new vocations to religious Hours, or Divine Office. he said. “First of all, there has communities of men and wom- life among women and a pro“It’s not that older religious got to be a commitment to voen report diminishing don’t do that, but they cation ministry. There’s a high numbers with aging particular attraction for some is may put less emphasis correlation of a community atpopulations. But it also “community life,” she said. “In on that,” Sister Mary tracting and retaining members showed that orders are when it has a full-time vocation said. attracting more ethni- the past, there was more attraction to A particular attrac- director.” cally and culturally di- go into religious life to do a particular tion for some is “comAnother important factor is verse members; those ministry, such as a teacher or a nurse. munity life,” she said. “personal contact with comchoosing religious life That’s still important, but it is not pri- “In the past, there was munity members,” he said, today are passionate more attraction to go through mission trips, discernabout it; and some or- mary. They are looking for real spiritual into religious life to do ment retreats and “come and ders are cultivating vo- and communal life.” a particular ministry, see” weekends, all of which put cations from the millensuch as a teacher or a young people in contact with nial generation. nurse. That’s still im- religious. Sister Mary and Holy Cross nounced aging of the overall portant, but it is not primary. In congregations with a comBrother Paul Bednarczyk, ex- population of women religious They are looking for real spiri- mitment to build a culture of ecutive director of the National was not surprising and con- tual and communal life.” vocations, promoting vocations Religious Vocation Conference, firmed what a lot of those com“They’re looking to a com- was the “corporate responsibildiscussed the study in a session munities’ leaders already knew, munity for support in order to ity” of the entire community, during the Aug. 11-14 assem- said Sister Mary. deepen their commitment to not just the duty of the vocably of the Leadership Confer“We knew we were old, but that ministry as well as deepen tions director, he said. Asked if he is worried about we are older than we thought,” their Catholic faith,” Brother the future of religious life, she said. “That presents some Paul said. Brother Paul replied: “We’ve He said that he thinks the challenges because a lot of been around for 2,000 years communities don’t have anyone new study has “simply brought and we have faced worse criinto the public forum what peoin formation.” she said. “They should come up ses. Religious life will surSeventy-five percent of men ple have been saying in private with goals for the year,” such as and “a little over 90 percent conversation.” vive.” reading more or getting more in- of women religious are age 60 volved in activities. and over. These are finally proShe suggested parents help fessed people,” she said. The Anchor is always their children develop and mainAt the same time the study pleased to run news and tain a positive attitude about showed that 43 percent of the photos about our diocschool and encourage them to men and women in formation take appropriately challenging are under the age of 30. esan youth. If schools classes. She said parents should “That in itself is encouragor parish Religious Edkeep up with their children’s ac- ing,” said Brother Paul. ucation programs have ademic progress and help them “Younger people are renewsworthy stories and to make their own assessments looking and rethinking the posof how they could improve. photos they would like sibility of a religious vocation,” DeSalvo said parents should he continued. “Given the deto share with our readers, help their children “take owner- mographics, that does produce send them to: schools@ ship of their education.” generational challenges with anchornews.org Of course, learning doesn’t an aging population. How do just happen in the classroom. you attract and retain younger Educational experiences can members? But it is clear that happen anywhere and be fun the people who are coming to and informational, according to religious life find great joy in Heather Weiss, director of the this life.” Harvard Family Research ProjThe finding that there is a lot ect. of diversity among newer vo“Parents provide a strong in- cations, with the Latino, Asian fluence and help children make and Pacific Islander communichoices on how to spend out-of- ties represented, was especially school time,” she said, advising encouraging, said Sister Mary parents to think about productive and Brother Paul. ways children can spend their The communities of women free time and how to provide in- religious that have attracted the house intellectual stimulation. most vocations appear to be the The St. Augustine Catholic ones considered “more tradiurged parents and students to tional in religious life,” added give themselves plenty of time Sister Mary. on school mornings to have a “There is a pattern that those healthy breakfast and empha- who are getting new members, sized the importance of taking particularly higher numbers, a few minutes, even at the door are the more traditional in rebefore leaving the house, to say ligious life with more common a prayer for the day. prayer and common community
A
Catholic educators stress importance of time management, organization
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (CNS) — Today’s educators are not only teaching the basic subjects but providing lessons in time management and organization. And as some educators see it, parents should pay close attention to how well their children are picking up these life skills. Mary DeSalvo, vice principal for academics and student services at Bishop Kenny High School in Jacksonville, recommends that parents meet weekly with their children to go over school schedules and catch potential problems early. Students also need a dedicated place to study, she told the St. Augustine Catholic, a magazine published by the Diocese of St. Augustine. She recommends that students do their homework at the kitchen table where parents can be available to answer questions. School routines can change with each semester and its corresponding extracurricular activities, so she advises that parents think about school routines in terms of semesters to stay on top of a busy family schedule. In high school, the focus changes, she said. “Students need to come in with the mindset that we are working for college and preparing for life,” DeSalvo said. “It doesn’t matter if they are high achievers or low achievers,”
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The Anchor
Health care debate brings focus to end of life issues continued from page one
One such option, for Catholics and others, can be a health care proxy. According to guidelines published by Massachusetts Citizens for Life, most states allow one to appoint, in a legally, signed document, someone as his or her health agent to make health care decisions for them in the event he or she loses the ability to decide for themselves. The proxy only becomes effective when and if one becomes incapacitated. One can revoke the proxy or the appointment of the agent at any time while competent. A health care proxy can be a morally and legally acceptable means of protecting one’s wishes and faith beliefs and “best interests” when faced with serious illness or a debilitating condition. According the National Catholic Bioethics Center website, “A good proxy should be very familiar with the moral convictions and wishes of the patient. When there is no advance directive from the patient, the proxy must act on the oral instruction that has been given. No agent is bound to carry out actions that conflict with morality and the faith, such as euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide. A Catholic hospital, in any case, will not follow a directive that conflicts with Church teaching (U.S. Bishops Ethical and Religious Directives, No. 24). “The patient and the proxy may also consider the expense the treatment may impose on the family and the community at large” (ERD No. 57). As a member of the chaplaincy team at a Rhode Island hospital, I find members of faithfilled Catholic families involved with the sick, the suffering, the incompetent, the disabled and the dying understand the underlying wisdom of always to care, never to kill. There are no blurred lines between the gift of the right to life and euthanasia, or between a dignified and natural death and assisted suicide. But families aren’t often aware of the moral complexities such as when medical treatments’ life-sustaining provisions can be refused or withheld; whether it involves what Church teaching refers to as “ordinary” or “extraordinary means” for sustaining life. “Ordinary” means must always be used. This is any treatment or procedure, which provides some benefit to the patient without excessive burden or hardship.
“Extraordinary” means are optional. These are measures that present an excessive burden. Advances in medical technology, court rulings and societal trends are bringing with them a number of choices most people had never before considered. Unfortunately, those who advocate euthanasia have capitalized on the confusion, ambivalence and fear, which people feel regarding serious illness, death, and the use of modern, life-prolonging technologies. Recently, a plan that would provide end-of-life advice to patients and their families is being dropped by the U.S. Senate health care negotiators after “critics” charged it would lead to the formation of federal “death panels.” It illustrates the intense passions in the health care debate. Language in the current U.S. House legislation permits Medicare to pay doctors for voluntarily counseling on end-of-life issues including making a close relative or friend a health care proxy, hospice care, and about medications for chronic pain. While the formally delegated proxy or surrogate is to follow the sick person’s wishes, he or she would be wise to weigh advice sought from a priest or other spiritual advisor, a health care advisor, as well as the patient’s own doctor to make a morally correct health care decision, the MCFL suggests. No health care agent may be authorized to deny personal services, which every patient can rightfully expect, such as appropriate food, water, bed rest, room temperature and hygiene. The patient’s condition, however, may affect the moral obligation of providing food and water when being administered artificially, such as through a feeding tube. While medically-administered food and water pose unique questions, especially for patients who are permanently unconscious, decisions about these should be guided by a presumption in favor of their use, the MCFL notes. Taking such timely action is what essentially differentiates the functions of a health care proxy from the document known as a “Living Will,” no longer considered a morally prudent option by the Church. The making of a living will presupposes we know what kind of medical treatments we will want to use or avoid in the future. It speaks about treatments before we even know the dis-
ease; it turns a future option into a present decision. Not every medical treatment is always obligatory. But to figure out which treatments are obligatory, morally speaking, and which are only optional, one must know the medical facts of the case. These are then examined in the light of the moral principles involved. But to try to make that decision in advance is to act without all the necessary information. Moreover, the MCFL maintains that to make that decision legally binding by means of a formal document is really putting the cart before the horse. It is not morally justified. Living wills are unnecessary and dangerous. From another point of view, living wills are unnecessary because they propose to give rights, which patients and doctors already possess. People already have the right to make informed consent decisions telling their family and physicians how they want to be treated if and when they can no longer make decisions for themselves. Doctors are already free to withhold or withdraw useless procedures in terminal cases that provide no benefit to the patient. Some people fear that medical technology will be used to torture them in their final days. But it is more likely that the medical heroics people fear are the very treatments that will make possible a more comfortable, less painful death. If the living will indicates one does not want “to be kept alive by medications” or “artificial means,” it would rule out being given aspirins as medicine or drinking through a straw as artificial means. People, in other words, can construe meanings for these words, which the signer of the document never intended. The intent of the health care proxy law is to allow adults to delegate their God-given, legally recognized right to make health care decisions to a designated and trusted agent. The law does not intend to encourage or discourage any particular health care treatment. Nor does it legalize or promote euthanasia, suicide or assisted suicide, the MCFL guidelines point out. The National Catholic Bioethics Center website offers a “A Catholic Guide to Endof-Life Decisions,” which offers an explanation of Church teaching on advance directives, euthanasia, and physician assisted suicide. To obtain a copy, visit ncbcenter.org.
August 21, 2009
Economy affects even the unborn continued from page one
perform a pregnancy test and it returns positive, we give them a small knitted cap for the baby, telling them ‘This is your first baby gift.’ We make the life within them tangible.” Poirier added that she is very encouraged that despite the increase in the number of clients who are seeking assistance, most of them value the baby as a life worth keeping. “There has been a definite increase in the amount of contacts from ‘abortion-minded’ clients,” said Teresa Larkin, president of A Woman’s Concern, headquartered in Boston, “and many of them cite the economy as a reason.” A Women’s Concern is a Christian mission to women in pregnancy distress, especially those considering abortion due to lack of information and support. They have six Massachusetts locations including two in the Fall River Diocese: Fall River and Hyannis. “More women are calling saying abortion is their only option and my counselors say that many cite the economy. In fact even more couples, some married, are seeking abortion information because they can’t make ends meet.” Larkin told The Anchor many clients have still chosen life for their unborn child. “They are struggling a great deal financially, but still chose to keep their babies. But the resources we refer them to are running low on the amount of help they can give, again directly related to the economy. Many are going without the simple necessities.” She said they try to get further help from area churches to compensate for the dwindling resources. While some do choose life, Larkin said, “More are choosing abortion as an option than we’ve seen in the past.” Elaine Abdow is the coordinator of Adoption by Choice, an agency of the Diocese of Fall River’s Catholic Social Services. Abdow told The Anchor, “The economy has definitely affected this office, on both sides of the coin.” As far as women seeking information and guidance about putting their babies up for adoption, Abdow said many women who call want what is best for their child, “but they don’t want to raise that child in poverty, so they question the adoption process. Due to the current economics we’ve seen an increase in those type of calls. They want to keep their babies, but they know it will be a great struggle. We’re referring
more and more women to other agencies to assist them with housing or baby clothes and things like that.” Abdow also said she’s finding more couples who are considering adoption of a domestic newborn putting things “on hold.” With employment issues cloudy at best for some, Abdow said, “They’re hesitant to adopt a child and then find out they’ve been laid off. “I have to give them credit though. Many can’t have children and have waited a while to adopt and now they’re afraid they won’t be able to properly provide for the child, so they’re delaying the process for a while.” Marian Desrosiers, director of the Fall River Diocese’s Pro-Life Apostolate, and one of the counselors on the office’s Project Rachel line, said, “We really haven’t seen the effects of the poor economy yet. We usually hear from women and men seven to 12 years later. But I do anticipate that we’ll feel that effect in an increase in the number of calls we’ll get years from now.” Desrosiers said that she has, however, seen an increase in the amount of calls requesting abortions. “It’s by accident really,” she said. “The way our Project Rachel is listed in the phone book is as ‘abortion alternatives.’ Callers mistakenly think that we offer abortions as the alternative. “I think, as a direct relationship to the poor economy, we’re getting more of those calls. However, when they do call we’re able to ask them if they know what an abortion entails and we speak about post abortion stories. A few hang up, but most stay on the line, and we do make referrals to adoption agencies.” Throughout the history of this country, it’s always the poor and marginal who are more acutely affected by economic failures. The new millennium is no exception. Poor families, immigrants, single mothers, and children are often the innocent victims and bear the brunt of poverty, hunger and homelessness. And the most vulnerable of all human beings, the unborn, are affected by this plague even before life outside the womb begins. Because of dollars and cents, or lack thereof, many don’t receive the proper prenatal nutrition and care needed for a healthy delivery — and some, out of desperation, may never see the light of day.
August 21, 2009
Around the Diocese 8/22
Courage, a welcoming support group for Catholics wounded by same-sex attraction who gather to seek God’s wisdom, mercy and love, will meet tomorrow at 7 p.m. For location information, please call Father Richard Wilson at 508-992-9408.
8/23
Maria C. Rocha will return to St. George Church, 12 Highland Ave., Westport, for an annual healing service Sunday at 2 p.m. The sacrament of the sick will also be administered. All are welcome and the church is handicap accessible.
8/24
A Holy Hour will be held August 24 at 1 p.m. at Holy Trinity Church, Route 28, West Harwich. The rosary will be followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. The Holy Hour is sponsored by the Pro-Life Prayer Groups of Holy Trinity Church and Holy Redeemer Church.
9/12
Come celebrate the parish of St. Mark’s annual fair on September 12 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the parish grounds on Stanley Street in Attleboro Falls. The day will include a wide variety of activities, music and food including hot dogs, hamburgers, chowder and clam cakes, pizza and meatball grinders, and pastries and ice cream sundaes. St. Mark’s Fair is a traditional “end of summer” ritual, so come join in on the fun.
9/19
Benedictine Sister Paula Hagen, founder of the MOMS Ministry, will lead a mini retreat September 19 beginning at 8 a.m. at St. Pius X Parish Life Center, 5 Barbara Street, South Yarmouth. All women, spiritual friends and companions are welcome to join Sister Hagen for a morning of prayer and reflection. For more information call Tricia Mullaney at 508362-1583 or email Beth Davis at beth_gdb@comcast.net.
9/20
Our Lady of Purgatory Church, 11 Franklin St., New Bedford, will host an annual Homecoming Maharajan and Heritage Festival September 20 beginning with a Maronite Catholic Mass at 11 a.m. at the Horseneck Holy Ghost Grounds, Dartmouth. For tickets or more information, email mahrajan2009olop@yahoo.com or call 617-803-4087.
9/24
The Diocesan Health Facilities will be hosting its Second Annual Golf Classic September 24 at LeBaron Hills Country Club, Lakeville. All proceeds from the event will benefit Diocesan Health Facilities, a non-profit skilled nursing and rehabilitative health care system sponsored by the Fall River Diocese. For more information call 508-679-8154.
9/26
The Fall River District Council of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul will host the second annual Friends of the Poor Walk September 26 at Bristol Community College, 777 Elsbree Street, Fall River. Registration for the walk begins at 8:30 a.m. with the walk starting at 10 a.m. Rain date will be the following Saturday, October 3, same time. To sign up as a walker, corporate sponsor, or volunteer, see one of your parish St. Vincent de Paul members or visit www.svdpfriendsofthepoorwalk.org. Eucharistic Adoration in the Diocese: ACUSHNET — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Francis Xavier Parish on Mondays 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 end with Evening Prayer and Benediction at 6:30 p.m.; Saturdays end with Benediction at 2:45 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 of the month, 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. EASTON — Eucharistic adoration in honor of the feast of the Immaculate Conception will take place in the chapel at the Father Peyton Center, 518 Washington Street, on August 14, beginning with the rosary at 9 a.m. until 11:45 a.m., followed by noon Mass. To sign up for a half-hour interval or for more information, contact Holy Cross Family Ministries at 508-238-4095. EAST TAUNTON — Eucharistic adoration takes place First Fridays at Holy Family Church, 370 Middleboro Avenue, following the 8:30 a.m. Mass until Benediction at 8 p.m. FAIRHAVEN — St. Mary’s Church, Main St., has a First Friday Mass each month at 7 p.m., followed by a Holy Hour with eucharistic adoration. Refreshments follow. 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. OSTERVILLE — Eucharistic adoration takes place at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, 76 Wianno Avenue on First Fridays following the 8 a.m. Mass until Benediction at 5 p.m. The Divine Mercy Chaplet is prayed at 4:45 p.m.; on the third Friday of the month from 1 p.m. to Benediction at 5 p.m.; and for the Year For Priests, the second Thursday of the month from 1 p.m. to Benediction at 5 p.m. TAUNTON — Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament takes place every First Friday at Annunciation of the Lord Church, 31 First Street, immediately following the 8 a.m. Mass and continues throughout the day. Confessions are heard from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m., concluding with recitation of the rosary and Benediction at 6:30 p.m. 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. WEST HARWICH — Our Lady of Life Perpetual Adoration Chapel at Holy Trinity Parish, 246 Main Street, holds perpetual eucharistic adoration. 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.
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The Anchor
Cardinal says deacons must know Scripture, serve poor
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Catholic Church increasingly relies on the ministry of permanent deacons, who must be experts in preaching the word of God and in outreach to the poor, said the prefect of the Congregation for Clergy. As with any ministry, the impact of a permanent deacon’s work depends on his own holiness, his love for Scriptures and his daily concern for the poor, said Cardinal Claudio Hummes in a letter marking the feast of St. Lawrence August 10. “From a good disciple a good missionary is born,” the cardinal said in his letter to the church’s 36,000 permanent deacons, about 16,500 of whom minister in the United States and Canada. Preaching the Gospel, he said, “requires of ordained ministers a constant struggle to study it and carry it out, at the same time as one proclaims it to others.” A deacon needs to base his preaching on his private meditation and prayerful reading of the Bible as well as on theological education in Scripture studies, he said. Cardinal Hummes said that from the time of the earliest Christian communities deacons were called to spearhead the church’s ministry to the poor, and the poor still must be the deacon’s priority today. “We must love the poor in a preferential way, as Jesus Christ;
In Your Prayers Please pray for these priests during the coming weeks Aug. 24 1884, Rev. Peter J.B. Bedard, Founder, Notre Dame de Lourdes, Fall River 1962, Very Rev. James F. Gilchrist, CPM VG., Vicar General of the Congregation of the Fathers of Mercy 1987, Rev. Msgr. James E. Gleason, Retired Pastor, St. Patrick, Falmouth
Aug. 25 1974, Rev. Joseph F. Hanna, C.S.C, Founder, Holy Cross, South Easton 2002, Rev. Thomas E. Lawton, C.S.C. Aug. 27 1960, Rt. Rev. Francisco C. Bettencourt, Pastor, Santo Christo, Fall River 1978, Rev. Msgr. Hugh A. Gallagher, P. A. Retired Pastor, St. James, New Bedford 2008, Rev. James E. Tobin, C.S.C., Missionary and Teacher Aug. 29 1921, Rev. Joseph DeVillandre, D.D., Founder, Sacred Heart, North Attleboro 1975, Msgr. William H. Harrington, Retired Pastor, Holy Name, Fall River Aug. 30 2008, Rev. Frederick J. Meyers, SS.CC., Retired Missionary
to be united with them, to work toward constructing a just, fraternal and peaceful society,” the cardinal said. “Deacons must identify themselves in a very special way with charity. The poor are part of your daily ambience and the object of your untiring concern,” he said. “One could not understand a deacon who did not personally
involve himself in charity and solidarity toward the poor, who again today are multiplying in number. In addition to offering deacons his thanks and blessing, Cardinal Hummes also sent his greetings to the wives and children of the many married deacons and thanked them for supporting the ministry of their husbands and fathers.
20
I
The Anchor
It’s not always bad news
n last week’s episode, I mentioned how watching ESPN was like watching the evening news — with the refreshing exception of a pierogi taking out Teddy Roosevelt with a cross-body block. I think I just like saying that. Anyway, the news/sports
hasn’t been all bad recently, and I thought it would be nice to share some feel-good sports stories for a change. How good was it to see our old friend Jerry Remy in the booth for an inning with his side-kick Don Orsillo and fillin Dennis Eckersley?
It was very heartening to hear of Jerry’s fight with cancer, a resulting infection, and battling the nasty illness of depression. The emotional Remy is an inspiration for many who battle this debilitating foe, often without anyone else knowing or without
August 21, 2009 seeking the needed help. And grab the Tiger by the tail at nothing could top the ovation last week’s PGA Championthe RemDawg received when ship in Chaska, Minn., to his live image appeared on the become the first Asia-born JumboTron in centerfield. player to win a major golf His insights and comic tournament. banter are very much missed, Yang’s calm demeanor, and all of Red Sox Nation infectious smile, and humility wishes him a complete recovwere breaths of fresh air in the ery — mostly from the heart, sports world, where arrogance and partly for selfish reasons and selfishness reign supreme. ... we want him back in the I hope we get to see a lot broadcast booth. But kudos go more of Yang in tournaments out to Eck for doing a whale to come. of a job filling in. And speaking of the links, Speaking of sights for sore last Sunday I nailed my first eyes, how about Tom Brady par in a couple of years and standing in the pocket and narrowly missed several firing two touchdown passes others while out for a relaxin the Patriots’ pre-season opener. This was the first live action on the gridiron for By Dave Jolivet Tom Terrific since that sickening September afternoon last year ing round of golf with a dear when Brady’s knee twisted friend. like Gumby’s, only without I was in a zone. My drives bending back. went straight and far; my irons There was no hesitation in reached the green; and my his delivery, no fear waiting putts didn’t sail 30 feet past for a receiver to break free, the cup ... until the last couple and no unusual painful side of holes when I actually started effects the next day. With the to think about my swing. Big Sox in a tailspin right now, mistake. After a nice afternoon we’re going to need the Pats of threes, fours and fives on to keep our spirits up. my card, I finished up the day Nothing was more heartwith a pair of sevens. I must warming than the presence of learn to stop thinking. a group of Special Olympians Add to that the fact that at Eunice Shriver’s funeral at after several years of having St. Francis of Xavier Church to pick up the tab at Dunkin’ in Hyannis last week. Donuts after each round, this Shriver was key in openfriend had to dig into his waling up a whole new world for let for my Coffee Coolatta. I children and adults with a don’t want to mention who the variety of physical and mental victim was, but he’s a beloved challenges. To see the pride retired monsignor who can on the faces of the contingent also wail on the sax. In fact I representing the thousands could swear I heard a couple who have benefited from of sour notes emanate from Shriver’s hard work and dedi- him as he paid for my treat. cation was the sports highlight It’s not like winning a million of the year. dollars, but I have to say the I’m a big Tiger Woods fan, post-game treat taste much but I truly enjoyed watching better when it’s on the house. the South Korean, Y.E. Yang, Good sports stuff.
My View From the Stands