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Diocese of Fall River, Mass.

F riday , November 21, 2014

Buzzards Bay parishioners celebrate 100 years of faithfulness

By Linda Andrade Rodrigues Anchor Correspondent

BUZZARDS BAY — For a century the parishioners of St. Margaret Church in Buzzards Bay and its mission church, St. Mary Star of the Sea in Onset, have kept the faith.

Last weekend they marked the culmination of a year-long centennial celebration, which coincided with the feast day of St. Margaret of Scotland, the virtuous medieval queen who is venerated for her devotion to God and her people.

“It’s a happy feeling that we are celebrating a hundred years,” said Franciscan Father Bruce Czapala, OFM, who

serves as pastor, assisted by fellow itinerant friar, Father Richard Donovan, OFM. “There are two worship sites, but we are one parish.”

Father Czapala said that the parishioners are a good example of Christian living.

“Oh my goodness, they are an absolutely wonderful family,” he said. “They are supportive, giving and participate in the activities. For me it’s a joy.”

Last Saturday at St. Margaret’s Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., celebrated the centennial Mass, which was concelebrated by five priests and a deacon.

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Anchor columnist Helen Flavin, center, recently committed to be an associate of the Sisters of Providence during a ceremony on the Sisters’ grounds in Indiana.

Anchor columnist becomes a Sisters of Providence associate

By Becky Aubut Anchor Staff

Bishop Edgar da Cunha shakes hands with parishioners at the end of St. Margaret’s recent centennial Mass. (Photo by Linda Andrade Rodrigues)

FALL RIVER — On November 8 at Church of the Immaculate Conception, on the grounds of the Mother House of the Sisters of Providence in Indiana, Fall River resident and Anchor columnist Helen Flavin joined with 21 other Providence candidate-associates with the Sisters of Providence in a commitment ceremony to pledge “to honor Divine Providence and further God’s loving plans through works of love, mercy and justice in service among God’s people.”

The Sisters of Providence is a congregation of nearly 350 women religious who have a motherhouse at St. Mary-

in-the-Woods in Indiana. The Sisters of Providence minister in 17 states, the District of Columbia and Asia, and the recent Providence candidate-associate commitment ceremony brought the total of Providence associates to more than 200 in the United States and Taiwan.

To become a Providence associate, candidates are paired with a Sister of Providence or Providence associate, and go through a year of study, prayer and reflection; for Flavin, her journey to becoming a Providence associate is the culmination of a lifelong journey of faith, and that her commitment to the Sisters “felt like I was coming home,” Turn to page 15

Diocesan faithful to be recognized at 46th annual Marian Medals ceremony FALL RIVER — Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha will award the Marian Medal to 79 laypersons from parishes throughout the Fall River Diocese at 3 p.m. on Sunday, November 23, in the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, 327 Second Street in Fall River.

First presented in 1968, the annual award recognizes members of diocesan parishes for their dedicated service to the Church.

Recipients are nominated for the award by their pastor.

The medals will be blessed and presented during a ceremony of mid-afternoon prayer and Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction.

Made of sterling silver, the Marian Medal is embossed with a Miraculous Medal on one side and the Fall River Diocesan coat-of-arms on the other.

The Marian Medal recipients for 2014 are listed below by deanery or area.

— Attleboro Deanery: Dolores Andrews, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, Seekonk; Robert Beaudet, Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Parish, Seekonk; Allen Falconer, St. Mary Parish, Norton; Anne Lonzo, St. Mark Parish, Attleboro Falls; Edward J. Romano, Sacred Turn to page 18

Second-graders at Our Lady of Lourdes School in Taunton recently picked a saint to research and then presented information to the entire school dressed as that saint for All Saints’ Day. Posing here with the student-saints are pastor, Father Thomas Costa, and teacher Mrs. Driscoll inside Annunciation of the Lord Church in Taunton. (Photo by Shalimar Albanese)

News From the Vatican

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November 21, 2014

Pope confirms he will visit Philadelphia in September

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis said he would attend the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia in September, making it the first confirmed stop on what is expected to be a more extensive papal visit to North America.

The pope made the announcement recently in a speech opening an interreligious conference on traditional Marriage.

“I would like to confirm that, God willing, in September 2015 I will go to Philadelphia for the eighth World Meeting of Families,” the pope said.

The announcement had been widely expected, since Pope Benedict XVI had said before his retirement that he hoped to attend the Philadelphia event.

Popes typically fulfill their predecessors’ publicly-known travel plans, as Pope Francis did in July 2013 when he attended World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro.

Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, who was in Rome for the families meeting, told Catholic News Service the announcement was “a surprise in the sense that it was announced so early; you know usually they don’t make these announcements — four months out is the typical and here we are 10 months away, and the Holy Father said he is coming to Philadelphia.”

“The Holy Father has said

that he’s going to be coming to Philadelphia for quite a few months,” he told Catholic News Service. “He’s been telling me that personally, but for him to announce it officially that he is coming so early is really quite an unusual thing, so it’s going to re-energize our efforts. There’s lot of enthusiasm already, but I think 90 percent of the enthusiasm’s based on the fact that the Holy Father will be with us, and now that he’s said that I expect that there will be even a double amount of enthusiasm and I’m very happy about that.”

Catholicphilly.com reported the archbishop noted that Pope Francis has focused “on the many challenges that families face today globally. His charisma, presence and voice will electrify the gathering.

“As I’ve said many times before, I believe that the presence of the Holy Father will bring all of us — Catholic and non-Catholic alike — together in tremendously powerful, unifying and healing ways. We look forward to Pope Francis’ arrival in Philadelphia next September, and we will welcome him joyfully with open arms and prayerful hearts.”

In August, Pope Francis told reporters accompanying him on the plane back from South Korea that he “would like” to go to Philadelphia.

The pope also noted that President Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress had invited him to Washington, D.C., and that the secretary-general of the United Nations had invited him to New York.

“Maybe the three cities together, no?” Pope Francis said, adding that he could also visit the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico on the same trip — “but it is not certain.”

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, told reporters that Pope Francis wanted to “guarantee organizers” that he would be present at the meeting in Philadelphia, “but he did not say anything about other possible stops or events during that trip. And for now I do not have anything to add in that regard.”

Although few details of the papal visit have made public, organizers for the families’ congress expect Pope Francis to arrive

September 25 for an afternoon public visit with civic officials.

That would begin his first trip as pope to the United States and the second papal visit to Philadelphia in a generation; St. Pope John Paul II visited the city in 1979. The visit will mark the fourth time a sitting pontiff has visited the U.S. During his visit, Pope Francis is expected to attend the Festival of Families September 26, a cultural celebration for hundreds of thousands of people along Philadelphia’s main cultural boulevard, the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

Donna Farrell, executive director for the 2015 World Meeting of Families and its chief planner, said although Philadelphia has hosted St. Pope John Paul’s visit, the city has “not had anything like this unique Festival of Families. It’s really going to be something special.”

Registration for the congress opened in mid-November. The

meeting will be a week-long series of talks, discussions and activities.

Pope Francis is expected to celebrate a public Mass for an estimated one million people on September 26 on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, in full view of the crowds arrayed from the museum down the Ben Franklin Parkway.

Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, welcomed the pope’s announcement.

“The presence of Pope Francis at the World Meeting of Families in our country will be a joyful moment for millions of Catholics and people of good will. Our great hope has been that the Holy Father would visit us next year to inspire our families in their mission of love. It is a blessing to hear the pope himself announce the much anticipated news,” Archbishop Kurtz said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Christians who believe they have their eyes fixed firmly on the Lord can, without meaning to, create an “ecclesiastical micro-climate” where the poor and others in need cannot enter, Pope Francis said.

In a homily at his morning Mass recently, Pope Francis commented on the day’s Gospel story from the Gospel of St. Luke about the blind man who hears Jesus passing by and shouts for help. People tell the man to be quiet and not disturb Jesus, but Jesus hears him and heals him.

During the Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae where he lives, the pope said the

crowds and even Jesus’ disciples wanted to keep the Lord “away from a periphery,” away from someone who could be a bother.

“This periphery could not reach the Lord because this circle — filled with good will, you know — closed the door,” the pope said, according to Vatican Radio. “This happens frequently with us believers. When we have found the Lord we create this ecclesiastical microclimate without even realizing it.”

Pope Francis said it is a temptation that afflicts all Catholics, not just priests and bishops.

“We’ve been looking at the Lord so long that we do not see what the

Lord needs: We don’t see the Lord Who is hungry, Who is thirsty, Who is in prison, who is in the hospital. That Lord on the margins.”

The formation of such a tight circle, he said, is bad for the Church, bad for the needy and bad for the individual Christians involved.

Thinking that “we are the elect, we are with the Lord” is, in effect, “to have forgotten or abandoned one’s first love,” he said. It is the love “we all felt when the Lord called us, saved us and said to us, ‘I love you.’”

According to the Vatican newspaper’s report on the homily, Pope Francis said it is like telling Jesus, “’Lord, this one stinks. Don’t let him come near.’ But Jesus’ response is clear: ‘And you are saying you didn’t stink when I kissed you?’”

Ignoring the needs of Jesus expressed in those who are suffering, he said, means “to forget the peripheries where we used to be, even if we are ashamed to admit it.”

Referring to the crowds in the Gospel story who give praise to God when Jesus heals the blind man, Pope Francis said they are like the simple, faithful Catholics who never receive any special recognition or place within the community.

They are members of the “marginalized Church” — the elderly, children, the sick and prisoners.

Pope Francis encouraged those at the Mass to pray that they would never form such a closed circle that keeps out “those who suffer, who ask for Salvation, faith and the Word of God.”

Pope: Don’t form ‘ecclesiastical micro-climate’ to keep out needy

November 21, 2014

The International Church

Philippines prepares for pope with messages on spirituality, crowds

MANILA, Philippines (CNS) — Philippine Church and government leaders are preparing the country for Pope Francis’ visit with Spiritual guidance for the faithful and precautions about crowd control.

Manila Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle announced details of the pope’s January 15-19 itinerary, which includes his arrival late January 15, after just over two days in Sri Lanka. The itinerary was released simultaneously at the Vatican.

“The pastoral visit of Pope Francis will surely bring much blessing to all of us,” said Cardinal Tagle, “especially to the poor, the survivors of calamities, both natural- and human-caused and the victims of different types of injustice.

The concern and solidarity of Jesus the Good Shepherd will be palpable in the person and presence of Pope Francis.”

On January 16, his first full day here, Pope Francis will spend time with families from all 86 dioceses of the Philippines. On that morning, he will take care of state visit obligations with a courtesy call to President Benigno Aquino and meetings with the diplomatic corps. He also will celebrate Mass for the priests and women and men religious at the Manila cathedral.

The following day, the pope will visit Tacloban and Palo, two central Philippine cities battered in November 2013 by Typhoon Haiyan, or Yolanda as it was known locally.

Archbishop John Du of Palo said in a statement read by a Church official, “The decision of Pope Francis to come to the Philippines and especially to visit the Archdiocese of Palo, to show solidarity with the victims of the Yolanda catastrophe, was very unexpected but is also very much welcome.”

Most of the 7,300 dead or missing from the typhoon came from Tacloban and surrounding towns, including Palo.

The pope will celebrate Mass on the Tacloban Airport grounds, then travel just south to Palo, where he will have lunch at the archbishop’s house with survivors of the typhoon and bless the Pope Francis Center for the Poor. He will

A Filipino typhoon victim sends a letter to Pope Francis November 3 in a rally seeking the help of the pontiff against the demolition of their bunkhouses two months before his visit to Leyte. One year after one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded crashed across the central Philippines, Church leaders in some of the worst-hit parts looked to Pope Francis’ brief January visit to Leyte Island with hope, and slight trepidation. (CNS photo/Dennis M. Sabangan, EPA)

celebrate Mass for priests, women and men religious as well as seminarians at Palo’s Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, whose roof was reduced to a mangled mess of metal during the storm.

Archbishop Du’s message also included the reminder that he expected hundreds of thousands to converge on the small town of Palo, while Manila would see the millions expected to turn out for the pope’s open air Mass at Rizal Park January 18.

In 1995, people in this overwhelmingly Catholic country lined Manila’s streets, making them virtually impassable to cars during St. John Paul II’s visit.

Marciano Paynor, former Philippine ambassador to Israel and Cyprus, represents the government on the planning committee. He said that in 1995, “We could not keep (the pope’s) schedule because the roads were blocked.”

Paynor also noted that although some typhoon survivors living along the papal motorcade route were being moved, plans to move them were in place well before the planning of the papal visit started.

In Tacloban, some 3,000 residents still live in so-called danger zones, places that were vulnerable to the 15-foot storm surges. One of those communities that is being urged to move into temporary housing is on the edge of the Tacloban Airport grounds. In Palo, a road-widening project requires

the survivors to be transferred to temporary housing.

Officials also said the government was taking great precautions with the pope’s security during his visit. They were mum on whether he would be traveling in an open vehicle and whether they had any information on any possible threats to the pope’s life.

Paquito Ochoa, presidential executive secretary, emphasized several times: “Let’s just not be too detailed on that. Precisely we want to make sure that the pope is safe. So it’s in the interest of this country that we keep it that way ... can we just defer discussions on details?”

Also November 14, the Philippine National Police announced it formed a security task force for the pope’s visit.

The pope’s speeches are all expected to be delivered in English. But Bishop Mylo Vergara of Pasig, a member of the bishops; commission on social communications, said Pope Francis could spontaneously switch to another language, including Italian or Spanish.

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November 21, 2014 The Church in the U.S. Agenda for family meeting stays positive, doesn’t shy away from issues

PHILADELPHIA (CNS) — A glance at the topics to be presented at next year’s World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, including premarital sex, homosexuality, infertility and celibacy, might give the impression that it’s all about sexuality and the Catholic Church’s teaching on it.

But Mary Beth Yount, a theology professor at Neumann University and director of content and programming for the World Meeting of Families, believes it is much more than that.

“It’s not all about sex,” she said. “We’re pulling in the larger context, not just human sexuality and not just family relationships.

This is for all people in all walks of life: Married, dating, single by choice, celibate.”

Organizers of the Sept. 22-25, 2015, meeting that is expected to draw some 12,000 individuals and families from around the world have posted the preliminary congress agenda online at www.worldmeeting2015.org, displaying the daily schedule of official congress events held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

The congress will examine “how best to be in human re-

lationship with God and each other,” Yount said. “What are the ways we can live fruitful lives?”

Sexuality, she said, “doesn’t just mean people having sex.

That is a fundamental expression that includes Married people, but it also means engaging the world in other ways. It’s a selfgiving love: Married people, people single by choice, and celibacy.”

The congress doesn’t shy away from topics such as divorce, interfaith marriage, dealing with disabilities and addictions in families, and the emotional pain caused by damaged relationships.

In developing content for the World Meeting of Families, Yount believes it is as important to acknowledge “the pain and brokenness of life” as to emphasize the positive message of Catholic teaching.

“We’re focusing on the positive, from the beginning,” she told CatholicPhilly.com, the Philadelphia Archdiocese’s news website. “Church teachings aren’t oppressive dictates. The focus is on the faith, (exploring) what is our ultimate relationship with God and its richness, and how do we live it out? How can we support each other to live

the lives we want to live, in our family, our parish and our wider church?”

Specific biographies of presenters and session descriptions were still being worked out.

But already the lineup presents an impressive array of speakers, many of whom are well-known advocates for the topics they will address over the four days of the congress.

The first keynote address of the congress will be “Living as the Image of God: Created for Joy and Love,” delivered September 22 by Father Robert Barron. The rector of the Chicago Archdiocese’s Mundelein Seminary and host of the landmark DVD series “Catholicism,” Father Barron is one of the most popular Catholic speakers in America today.

The next day will begin a pattern to be repeated in each of the following days -- two keynote sessions per day followed by a choice of 13 to 14 breakout sessions, each accommodating between 700 and 1,000 people.

Yount estimated that 75 percent of the breakout sessions will offer practical skills related to the keynote’s topic.

Each hourlong keynote talk,

translated for participants into at least four other languages, takes as its theme a portion of the World Meeting of Families’ preparatory catechesis, “Love is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive.”

The document was edited by Philadelphia resident Christopher Roberts and approved by the Pontifical Council for the Family at the Vatican. It presents Catholic teaching on the family and its vital role in society.

Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, OFM, Cap., will deliver the keynote talk the morning of September 23. His theme of “The Light of the Family in a Dark World” will draw from the catechism’s teaching of the family as a “school of love, justice, compassion, forgiveness, mutual respect, patience and humility in the midst of a world darkened by selfishness and conflict.”

At the same time in the convention center, Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez will speak on poverty and immigration issues in “Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor ...” and French author and theologian Yves Semen will speak on his specialty of the Theology of the Body and its intersection with politics and

economics in “Can Society Exist Without the Family?”

Meanwhile, a talk on the concerns of the family in the inner city will be delivered by the Rev. Terrence D. Griffith, pastor of First African Baptist Church of Philadelphia and president of the Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity.

He is among the 24 percent of speakers at the congress who are not from the Catholic tradition — including Protestant Christian, Mormon, Jewish and Muslim — but who nonetheless offer experience and expertise to the congress’ content, even if many speakers are not household names.

One of the keynotes September 24 — and many of the breakouts — will deal with the topic of sexuality, with such issues as the “hook-up” culture of premarital sex; a study of Blessed Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Humane Vitae (“On Human Life”); infertility; and homosexuality.

The World Meeting of Families wraps up September 25.

African Cardinal Robert Sarah of Guinea, president of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, will speak on “The Joy of the Gospel of Life.”

Cardinal O’Malley says Rome ‘urgently’ needs to look into Bishop Finn WASHINGTON (CNS) — In an interview with the CBS newsmagazine “60 Minutes” that aired November 16, Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, OFM, Cap., of Boston said the Vatican needs to “urgently” address the situation of Bishop Robert W. Finn of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri, who was convicted in 2012 on one misdemeanor count of failing to report suspected child abuse.

Bishop Finn is the highestranking U.S. Catholic official to face criminal charges related to the priest sex abuse scandal that erupted within the U.S. Church in 2002. In the Bishop Finn case, diocesan authorities who had been told in December 2010 of child pornography found on a priest’s computer did not tell civil authorities until six months afterward.

“It’s a question that the Holy See needs to address urgently,” Cardinal O’Malley said of the case, according to a transcript provided by CBS. He added, “There’s a recognition of that ... from Pope Francis.”

Cardinal O’Malley leads

the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, established last December by Pope Francis. The cardinal’s appointment to the Archdiocese of Boston, as well as to the Dioceses of West Palm Beach, Florida, and Fall River, Massachusetts, followed the outbreak of clerical sex abuse scandals in each of those dioceses. He is one of eight members of the members of the Council of Cardinals advising Pope Francis on the reform of the Roman Curia and governance of the church.

“We’re looking at how the Church could have protocols — how to respond when a bishop has not been responsible for the protection of children in his diocese,” Cardinal O’Malley told Norah O’Donnell of “60 Minutes.”

He agreed with O’Donnell’s assertion that under the Archdiocese of Boston’s protocols for child and youth protection, “Bishop Finn wouldn’t be able to teach Sunday school in Boston.”

In late September, Arch-

bishop Terrence Prendergast of Ottawa, Ontario, conducted an apostolic visitation to the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Mo., to interview Bishop Finn and others in the diocese about the bishop’s leadership.

In the “60 Minutes” interview, Cardinal O’Malley also called the Vatican’s investigation into the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and efforts to reform the organization “a disaster.”

An assessment by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith called for the reform to ensure LCWR’s fidelity to Catholic teaching in areas including abortion, euthanasia, women’s ordination and homosexuality.

Asked if he thought women should be in more positions of responsibility in the curia, Cardinal O’Malley replied, “Yes. I think there should be. And — hopefully, there will be.”

He offered no timetable as to when that could happen.

“I can’t tell you what time,” he laughed, “but — hopefully soon, you know.”

5 The Church in the U.S. Rio Grande Valley still aids dozens of Central American migrants daily November 21, 2014

BALTIMORE (CNS) — National attention may have turned away from the summer’s big story of tens of thousands of Central American children and families crossing the U.S. border, but the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, is still assisting dozens of people daily at respite centers it opened to help.

Bishop Daniel E. Flores told Catholic News Service in a recent interview that because the Catholic Church had social services infrastructure in place, the diocese was able to ramp up assistance when it became apparent early this year that vastly more immigrants were coming across the border and in need of basic things like food, clothing, diapers and baby formula.

“We had the infrastructure to flexibly respond” to the quickly developing crisis, Bishop Flores said. There was space at a parish not far from the bus station in McAllen, for example.

The situation also has led to some great examples of interfaith and ecumenical cooperation, Bishop Flores said, including a visit to the Catholic operations by leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention, who quickly joined in offering assistance, including volunteers, supplies and public statements of support for the efforts.

Social service providers had seen steady increases in the number of Central Americans arriving in the Rio Grande Valley, the bishop said. “We had a sense” that a crisis was developing, he said. “Mothers and children were fleeing conditions that were unconscionable.”

In June, President Barack Obama announced that federal agencies were scrambling to deal with tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors and families with young children from Central America who were crossing the U.S. border from Mexico, with most voluntarily turning themselves in to border agents.

By the end of the fiscal year September 30, agents had apprehended more than 68,541 unaccompanied minors and more than 68,445 families with young children, most from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras. The totals for each category for the previous fiscal year were 38,759 unaccompanied minors and14,855 families. The vast majority of those apprehensions occurred in the Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Sector, where Brownsville is lo-

cated.

As Bishop Flores explained, apprehended youths are moved into the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement in the Department of Homeland Security, which provides temporary housing and locates relatives or foster care situations while deportation proceedings continue. But parents traveling with their children, once processed by immigration authorities, are typically released to make their own way to their relatives around the U.S. as they await further legal proceedings.

Those are the people who come to Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley, he said.

Since the diocese opened its Respite Center in McAllen and a second one in Brownsville in June, more than 13,000 people have been assisted there, according to Brenda Nettles Riojas, director of diocesan relations.

As various measures been enacted in the Central American countries and in the U.S. to discourage such crossings, the numbers have declined. Nettles said the center in Brownsville closed in September, but 30 to 60 people a day still seek help in McAllen.

Bishop Flores said the centers have been getting volunteers and donations from throughout the country and even from Mexico. He told of volunteers arriving from out of state to spend their summer vacations packing supplies for the families.

A tradition of interfaith cooperation also helped, he said. So it was relatively easy to ensure that different churches didn’t duplicate

efforts and instead were able to fill gaps in necessary services, he said.

Bishop Flores participated in an interfaith prayer service September 30 that included various faiths that had sent volunteers.

Nettles said the centers were helped by more than 5,000 volunteers from July through October, for a total of more than 28,000 hours of work. The volunteers came from 25 states.

Among the ongoing needs for the families still being helped are backpacks, shoes

and winter clothing, Nettles said, as many of the families

will go from Texas to stay with relatives in northern states.

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November 21, 2014

Anchor Editorial

Giving Thanks

As we celebrate Thanksgiving next week, we here at The Anchor think it is important for us all to remember to Whom we are to be thankful and how it is that we are to give thanks.

Most Americans are conscious of the roots of the holiday — in the thanksgiving that the Pilgrims gave to God for having survived their first year in Plymouth, even though many of their fellow colonists had died over that year. They knew that good things and bad happen in this life and that they needed to be thankful for God’s presence everyday of their lives.

There is an expression which is often said in African-American and/or Protestant circles.

One person will say, “God is good.” And another person (or a whole congregation) will respond, “All the time.” Sometimes the “God is good” phrase is said in reaction to something which went well in the speaker’s life, while the response reminds the speaker that even when things are going terribly, God remains good. Heather Spring Gilion wrote a blog in the dancingonmyashes.com website (we need Andy Rooney back from the dead to analyze the names of websites) on Sept. 18, 2013 entitled, “Is God really good all the time?” She spoke about her experience of having her father (at age 49) die shortly after her wedding and then her husband and brother-in-law dying nine months later in a canoeing accident (sounds like she stole this from the Old Testament book of Ruth, but this was all too real for her).

Heather said that during the nine months between these two tragedies, “I could not reconcile my pain with His all-the-time good. I was broken. I was sad … I was prideful to think that He owed me a life of ease — of no hardships ... My response to my father’s death flushed out this belief: I knew better than God. He should’ve healed my father, for crying out loud! He messed up.” (She sounds a little like St. Martha after Lazarus’ death — “Lord, if You had been here my brother would not have died.”)

Heather’s husband, James, kept trying to get her to trust in God again, but then he and his brother-in-law died. “This was my breaking point with God. I was ready to once and for all denounce my faith … I didn’t like Him and didn’t want to have anything to do with a God like this. I remember standing alone on a hillside in Vermont. Well … not quite alone.

The Creator of the universe was there. I was broken and dealing with the kind of pain that makes me want to throw up even now. Today, 13 years later, I still struggle with putting words to this moment because something happened to me on that hillside. I stood before God feeling justified in all my accusations, but as mad as I was that He would let this happen, I could not deny that God was near and that He cared.”

Heather could say this because she had a foundation of faith below all of her hurt. This is not to say that people of faith cannot renounce God because of what they (or people about whom they care) have suffered. As Heather describes in her website, God is always reaching out to us, but often our bitterness or pain or other distractions keep us from “hearing” Him. The Pilgrims (although they had a faith which was very hostile to anything which smacked of Catholicism, in part due to the bad example of some of our fellow Catholics back then,

in part because of their difficulty understanding our doctrines) did have a faith in Christ which helped them to understand that the cross would be a part of their lives. They understood that God is good all the time and they wanted to thank Him for being good to them.

Pope Francis spoke of thanksgiving on a date we don’t normally associate with it — last Ash Wednesday. He said, “Awareness of the marvels that the Lord has wrought for our Salvation disposes our minds and hearts to an attitude of thanksgiving to God for all that He has given us, for all that He has accomplished for the good of His people and for the whole of humanity. This marks the beginning of our conversion: it is the grateful response to the stupendous mystery of God’s love. When we see the love that God has for us, we feel the desire to draw close to Him: this is conversion.” Heather and the Pilgrims had an understanding of this reality. Do we? Do we realize that the ultimate reason that the phrase “God is good” is true is because of the Salvation He has won for us? Does this realization move us to give thanks to God and to change our lives?

February 5 of this year the Holy Father spoke about the best way in which we can give thanks (a way which the Pilgrims did not understand). “Jesus’ gesture at the Last Supper is the ultimate thanksgiving to the Father for His love, for His mercy. ‘Thanksgiving’ in Greek is expressed as ‘Eucharist.’ And that is why the Sacrament is called the Eucharist: it is the supreme thanksgiving to the Father, Who so loved us that He gave us His Son out of love … [T]he Eucharistic celebration is much more than a simple banquet: it is exactly the memorial of Jesus’ Paschal sacrifice, the mystery at the center of Salvation. ‘Memorial’ does not simply mean a remembrance, a mere memory; it means that every time we celebrate this Sacrament we participate in the mystery of the Passion, death and Resurrection of Christ.

The Eucharist is the summit of God’s saving action: the Lord Jesus, by becoming bread broken for us, pours upon us all of His mercy and His love, so as to renew our hearts, our lives and our way of relating with Him and with the brethren. It is for this reason that commonly, when we approach this Sacrament, we speak of ‘receiving Communion,’ of ‘taking Communion’: this means that by the power of the Holy Spirit, participation in Holy Communion conforms us in a singular and profound way to Christ, giving us a foretaste already now of the full communion with the Father that characterizes the Heavenly banquet.”

The pope then said something which we can apply to our celebration next week: “We don’t ever thank Lord enough for the gift He has given us in the Eucharist! It is a very great gift and that is why it is so important to go to Mass on Sunday. Go to Mass not just to pray, but to receive Communion, the bread that is the Body of Jesus Who saves us, forgives us, unites us to the Father. It is a beautiful thing to do!”

Many parishes will have Mass next Wednesday night or Thursday morning for us to give thanks to God. Even if you cannot go then, please take the time when you do go this week to unite yourself to Christ’s thanksgiving in the Paschal Mystery, so as to grow in the belief that God is good all the time.

Pope Francis’ Angelus address of November 16 Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

The Gospel for this Sunday is the parable of the talents, taken from St. Matthew (Mt 25, 14-30).

It tells of a man who, before leaving for a trip, calls his servants and entrusted to them his fortune in talent, ancient coins of great value.

That master entrusts the first servant five talents, the second two, the third one. During the absence of the master, the three servants have

to make money from this heritage.

The first and second servant doubled each starting capital; the third, however, for fear of losing everything, burying the talent received in a hole. The return of the master, the first two receive praise and reward, while the third, which returns only the money received, is scolded and punished.

It’s clear the significance of this.

The man in the parable represents Jesus, we are the servants and the OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER

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talents are the assets that the Lord has entrusted to us. What is the heritage? His Word, the Eucharist, faith in our Heavenly Father, His forgiveness ... well, so many things, His most valuable assets. This is the heritage that He has entrusted to us. Not only to protect, but to grow!

While in common usage the term “talent” shows a distinct individual quality — such talent in music, sports, etc. — in the parable of the talents are the things of the Lord, that He has entrusted to us because we make them fruitful. The hole in the ground by the “wicked and lazy servant” (v. 26) indicates the fear of risk that captures the creativity and fruitfulness of love. We stop because of the fear of the risks of love.

Jesus does not ask us to retain His grace in the safe! Jesus does not ask this, but wants to use that for the benefit of others. All the properties that we have received are to be given to others, and so they multiply.

It is as if we say, “Here’s my mercy, my tenderness, my forgiveness, take them, and make wide use.” And we, what have we done? Who have

we “infected” with our faith? How many people have we encouraged with our hope? How much love have we shared with our neighbors?

These are questions that will make us good. Any environment, even the most distant and impractical, can become a place where talents to bear fruit. There are situations or places precluding Christian presence and witness. The testimony that Jesus asks of us is not closed, it is open up to us.

This parable urges us not to hide our faith and our belonging to Christ, not to bury the Word of the Gospel, but to circulate it in our life, in relationships, in concrete situations, as a force that undergirds, that purifies, renews. Likewise, the forgiveness that the Lord gives us, especially in the Sacrament of Reconciliation: Let’s not keep it closed in on ourselves, but let’s unleash its power, break down the walls that our selfishness has lifted up, that makes us take the first step to resume a blocked dialogue where there is no communication ... and so on. Develop these talents, these

gifts the Lord has given us, that are for others, to [help them] grow, bear fruit, thanks to our witness.

I think today would be a nice gesture for each one of you to take the Gospel home, the Gospel of St. Matthew, chapter 25, verses 14-30, and read this, and meditate a little on the talents, riches, all that God has given me Spiritual goods, God’s Word, how do they grow in others?

Or do I only guard them in a safe?

And also the Lord does not give all the same things in the same way: we know personally and entrust us what is right for us; but all in all there is something of the same: the same, immense confidence.

God trusts us, God has hope in us!

And this is the same for all. Don’t be fooled! Do not be fooled by fear, but reciprocate trust with confidence! The Virgin Mary embodies this attitude in the most beautiful and full way. She has received and accepted the higher gift, Jesus, and in turn has offered humanity a generous heart. We ask her to help us to be “good and faithful servants” to participate in “the joy of our Lord.”

November 21, 2014

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t’s a lesson I’ve never forgotten.

Several years ago I was talking to a friend of mine, a cloistered Dominican nun I’ve known from childhood, about some clergy days I had just finished preaching out west.

I described for her the litany of serious snags and obstacles that had arisen that had augured failure.

There were flight problems and I barely made my connection.

There were GPS problems in the rental car.

There was a scheduling change the vicar general didn’t tell me about, moving my first talk up by an hour. He phoned up to my room five minutes after the newly scheduled talk was supposed to begin informing me that the archbishop was telling jokes to occupy the attention of the priests!

Then, when I hastily tried to transfer my first talk from my laptop to the iPad from which I speak, there were connection problems I couldn’t fix, as each minute doubtless meant another episcopal punch line.

After running without notes across the campus to the conference room, I found the archbishop still at the podium trying to entertain more than 100 priestly collaborators.

Even in optimal conditions I would have been nervous because it was the first time

Anchor Columnist Praying for those praying for us I was doing extended clergy ahs, and so much poise and days for brother priests, most clarity. When I told him what of whom had far more priestly had happened prior to the talk experience. But I arrived and stated that the fact that it winded, sweating, embarwas not a complete cataclysm rassed, note-less, sick to my had to be miraculous, he said stomach, and prepared for with a smile, “Well, someone catastrophe. must have been praying for I didn’t even have a chance you!” to collect my breath as the When I recounted the archbishop told me that he had already introduced me in absentia. One of my Putting Into living heroes, he the Deep intimidatingly took a seat right in front

By Father of the podium as I Roger J. Landry prepared to give a 45-minute talk offthe-cuff. My goal was solely to survive without the story to my Dominican friend, archbishop’s ruing the day he she interjected, “You know, had ever imprudently invited the archbishop was right.” me.

She told me that the nuns The talk I delivered was of her cloistered monastery basically, I thought, an incohad all been praying for me herent disaster compared to with perpetual adoration and what I had wanted to say and perpetual Rosary leading up had written in the notes. I to and throughout the time of finished like a student passing the clergy days. in an exam with the hope only She then said that, as to have barely passed. nuns of the Order of PreachThe priests gave me warm ers, they always pray for me applause at the end and then whenever they know I’m launched into a vigorous traveling to preach and teach. question-and-answer period They place written notices on a in which they seemed to have prayer board outside their chaactually gotten something out pel so that all of them can pray of the talk. for the intentions confided to After it was all over, the them, and that they take this archbishop told me that he responsibility quite seriously. was stunned that I could speak “You’ll never know until for so long with no notes, no Heaven,” she told me, “how

much of the fruit you bear is due to our prayers for you.”

Since that conversation I’ve become much more aware that all of my priestly work, including writing columns like this, is assisted by the prayers of the nuns and so many who in this world I’ll never meet.

Today, November 21, is Pro Orantibus Day, the annual observance begun by Pope Pius XII in 1953 and expanded

by St. John Paul II in 1997, on which the whole Church prays in a special way “for those praying,” for all of those in convents, cloisters, monasteries and hermitages who intercede for us without ceasing before God. It’s held on the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who is the model of total dedication to a life of prayer and intercession in God’s service.

It’s a day on which we thank God for the contemplatives’ silent, hidden, generous and beautiful vocation.

It’s an occasion on which we recognize them, thank them, encourage them and commit to give them material support.

Contemplative life is a great and indispensable gift of God. All of us benefit Spiritually from the orantes’ prayers and sacrifices, even if many of those in the world are unaware

Pope says defending traditional Marriage is matter of ‘human ecology’

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis called for preserving the family as an institution based on Marriage between a man and a woman, which he said is not a political cause but a matter of “human ecology.”

“The complementarity of man and woman is at the root of Marriage and the family,” the pope said recently, opening a three-day interreligious conference on traditional Marriage. “Children have the right to grow up in a family with a father and mother capable of creating a suitable environment for the child’s development and emotional maturity.”

Pope Francis said that “Marriage and the family are in crisis.

We now live in a culture of the temporary, in which more and more people are simply giving up on Marriage as a public commitment. The revolution in mores and morals has often flown the flag of freedom, but in fact

it has brought Spiritual and material devastation to countless human beings, especially the poorest and most vulnerable.”

According to the pope, the “crisis in the family has produced an ecological crisis, for social environments, like natural environments, need protection. And although the human race has come to understand the need to address conditions that menace our natural environments, we have been slower — we have been slower in our culture, and also in our Catholic culture — to recognize that our fragile social environments are also at risk. It is therefore essential that we foster a new human ecology.”

Pope Francis voiced hope that young people would be “revolutionaries with the courage to seek true and lasting love, going against the current.” But he also warned against falling into the “trap of being swayed

by ideological concepts.”

“We cannot speak today of the conservative family or the progressive family,” he said.

“The family is the family.”

The pope also stressed that the complementarity between male and female does not necessarily entail stereotypical gender roles.

“Let us not confuse (complementarity) with the simplistic idea that all the roles and relations of the two sexes are fixed in a single, static pattern,” he said. “Complementarity will take many forms as each man and woman brings his or her distinctive contributions to their Marriage and to the education of their children.”

Pope Francis said Christians find the meaning of complementarity in St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, “where the Apostle tells us that the Spirit has endowed each of us with different gifts so that —

just as the human body’s members work together for the good of the whole — everyone’s gifts can work together for the benefit of each.”

“To reflect upon complementarity is nothing less than to ponder the dynamic harmonies at the heart of all creation,” the pope said.

7 of their intercession or naively think that their hidden life is being wasted.

They remind us — ensnared by the frenetic, noisy and provisional — that God is truly the “pearl of great price” and the “one thing necessary.” In a world that seeks to structure itself without God, their very existence helps us to recall that God is real, provident, and worth our all.

A year ago, Pope Francis said that Pro Orantibus Day is “an opportune occasion to thank the Lord for the gift of so many people who, in monasteries and hermitages, dedicate themselves to God in prayer and in silent work.”

He called us to “give thanks to the Lord for their witness of cloistered life” and summoned us not to “fail to provide Spiritual and material support to these our brothers and sisters, so that they may fulfill their important mission” as intercessors for the world.

Today, as every day, communities of contemplatives are before God constantly praying for us. Today we pray for them, thank them and thank God for them.

We’ll never know until Heaven how many of the graces we’ve received — and disasters we’ve averted — have taken place on account of their incessant prayers.

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

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s the Church calendar comes to a close, she appropriately concludes with the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.

The coming of Christ is described in today’s Gospel reading according to Matthew 25:31-46, “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit upon His glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before Him.” Jesus continues with a startling parable that has to do with the last judgment offered by Him, and how He identifies Himself with the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned.

At every Sunday Mass during Ordinary Time, we profess aloud from the Creed “He [ Jesus] will come again in glory to judge the living

November 21, 2014

Judged according to expressed love

and the dead.” So when will good and our lives are judged Jesus come again? according to our relationship The first Christians anwith God. In other words, ticipated Jesus’ coming to be everybody is judged by their close at hand (1 Thess 4:15). faith and how they acted as But specific dates and believers. times were never given. JeAnother way of looking at sus Himself cautioned curiosity about speculating when He would Homily of the Week return when He said, Thirty-fourth Sunday “It is not for you to in Ordinary Time know times or seasons which the FaBy Father ther has fixed by His Jason Brilhante own authority” (Acts 1:7) because Jesus can come again at any time. Jeit is God is the key note. Are sus, however, instructed us you tuned to the key note or to remain watchful until His not? second coming (Mt 25:13).

God is the measure by It may be harsh to the which our lives are judged. post-modern ear to hear that Jesus as the Incarnation of God is Judge because this the Second Person of the type of rhetoric is avoided.

Holy Trinity embodies the But throughout the Bible Divine judgment. For that we are reassured that God is reason Jesus is the measure Judge. What does this mean? by which our lives are deterWell, God is the ultimate mined.

As Jesus tells the parable we hear how we are judged.

We will not be judged according to our political allegiance, intellectual abilities, or our social status.

How will Jesus judge us?

We will be judged on our depth and quality of expressed love. “For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; a stranger and you welcomed Me; naked and you clothed Me; ill and you cared for Me; in prison and you visited Me” (Mt 2536).

Jesus makes the connection when the righteous say: “Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink?

When did we see You a stranger and welcome You, or naked and clothe You? When did we see You ill or

in prison, and visit You?” “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for Me” (Mt 37-40).

It is not love in the abstract that we will be judged by, but by the degree and quality of love expressed in act for that person who is hungry, abandoned, a refugee, that person who is not sufficiently clothed for the weather outside.

Today’s feast day anticipates what is to come: the second coming of Jesus Christ to judge the living and the dead.

The parable in Matthew 25 clearly shows us that we will be judged by the King of the Universe by our concretely-expressed love for our neighbor.

Father Jason Brilhante was ordained in June 2012 and is parochial vicar of St. Mary’s Parish in Mansfield.

Upcoming Daily Readings: Sat. Nov. 22, 3 Jn 5-8; Ps 112:1-6; Lk 18:1-8. Sun. Nov. 23, Thirty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Prv 31:10-13,19-20,3031; Ps 128:1-5; 1 Thes 5:1-6; Mt 25:14-30 or 25:14-15,19-21. Mon. Nov. 24, Rv 1:1-4;2:1-5; Ps 1:1-4,6; Lk 18:35-43. Tues. Nov. 25, Rv 3:1-6, 14-22; Ps 15:25; Lk 19:1-10. Wed. Nov. 26, Rv 4:1-11; Ps 150:1b-6; Lk 19:11-28. Thurs. Nov. 27, Rv 5:1-10; Ps 149:1b-6a,9b; Lk 19:41-44. Fri. Nov. 28, Rv 10:8-11; Ps 119:14,24,72,103,111,131; Lk 19:45-48.

“W

hen did we see You hungry and feed You? When did we see You a stranger and welcome You? When did we see You ill or in prison and visit You?” These familiar questions have become the clarion call to action that we call the Corporal Works of Mercy.

Every three years on the feast of Christ the King we listen to this familiar admonition in this well-known passage from the Gospel of Matthew in which Jesus describes the final judgment.

While we rush to fulfill the minimum requirements of sheepdom, avoiding the plight of the goats in this story, it might be wise to examine the root of the problem: many of us have really poor eyesight.

In a 2013 New York Times article, “The Perils of Perfection,” the author mused about Silicon Valley’s goal of making all human foibles obsolete. There are many techno-tools that can remove forgetfulness, alleviate boredom, and an app to “crowdsource every decision in your life.”

The most revealing of the tools, however, is the po-

Judgment

tential of Google Glass, the sition so that we allow our “overhyped ‘smart glasses’ hearts and eyes to become that can automatically snap those of Christ. The onus is photos of everything we see not on the recipient of our and store them for posterity.” mercy, whose countenance The potential for recording we hope shines with the every aspect of our life seems light of Christ so that we limitless, until one techno- don’t miss it this time. Jegeek thought of a way to make our life record more pleasant.

Futurist Ayesha The Great Khanna described “smart contact lensCommission es that could make homeless people disBy Claire McManus appear from view, ‘enhancing our basic sense’ and undoubtedly, sus was not compassionate making our lives so much because He saw Himself in more enjoyable.” others; He was compassionThis Orwellian future may ate because He saw the perseem preposterous, but the son as a person. Compassion desire to wear blinders has begins when one sees others been part of the human con- as who they are. dition forever. This brings us Corporal works of mercy right back to the final judg- require an encounter with ment: what is the sin that the uncomfortable. The will merit eternal damna- starving, thirsty, homeless, tion? Is it the failure to do, or cold, sick and imprisoned do the failure to see? The lesson not come in pretty packages. from the final judgment is Pope Francis has been warnnot to simply store up good ing us to “smell the sheep” deeds in the hope that we are since he first took the reins not sent off with all of the of the Church. In his book, goats.

“Pope Francis, Why He Our Salvation depends on Leads the Way He Leads,” a total remake of our dispo- Chris Lowney brings to

light the stories that helped the pope see through the “smart glasses” of Christ.

As rector of the Jesuit seminary in Buenos Aires, then Father Bergoglio wanted the young Jesuits to accept themselves for who they are, but that meant they also had to learn to accept others. The seminarians from Buenos Aires were not as accepting of the young men who joined the seminary from the rural and less cosmopolitan country of Ecuador.

One of the newly-arrived Ecuadorean seminarians proudly wore his Andean jacket, replete with figures of llamas woven throughout the fabric. When one of the seminarians made fun of him, Father Bergoglio made him wear his classmate’s jacket for a week: “The young Argentine Jesuit became a walking meditation for the whole community, a daily reminder to ponder that dignity involves acceptance of self for who one is, and character involves accepting others for who they are.”

The judgment that Jesus portrays in the story of the goats and the sheep is not a “got you” moment when the king reveals that all this time he was disguised as the lowly and we were tricked into not responding. The plaintive cry of the condemned, “When did I see you hungry?” is the foundation of a basic examination of conscience that helps to sharpen our vision.

Pope Francis asks: “Tell me, when you give alms, do you look the person in the eye? Do you touch the hand of the person you are giving them to or do you toss the coin at him or her?

Jesus did not ask that we eradicate all suffering in the world; but He did ask that we respond to the person we might have overlooked before.

At the final judgment we will be given the ultimate vision test: “I came into the world for judgment so that those who do not see, might see, and those who see may become blind” ( Jn 9:39).

Anchor columnist Claire McManus is the director of the Diocesan Off ice of Faith Formation.

November 21, 2014

Sunday 16 November 2014 — Homeport: Falmouth Harbor — 22nd anniversary of the universal “Catechism of the Catholic Church” heard Bishop Edgar da Cunha mention off-thecuff the importance he attaches to Church outreach to our young people. Amen to that.

There are some who have a natural gift for youth ministry.

They seem to relate effortlessly to young people. The most effective youth minister I know is now in her late 80s.

As for me, I never have had a particular charism for youth ministry. At 68, I am now middle-aged and even less effective relating to youth. Some may say that 68 is definitely not middle-aged. That would make the average life span 136 years. To this I reply in the jargon of today’s young people, “What-ever.”

Gifted or not, a parish priest is responsible for the pastoral care of souls of parishioners of all ages — and that includes youth.

Youth aren’t the Church of the future; they’re part of the Church now. This reality needs to be recognized.

Here’s what I’ve learned over the years. The pastoral care of young people requires

I

W

e often wonder how people make it through crisis and trials. How they manage to hold their heads up high, even when everything around them seems impossible? Yet day after day, year after year, there are so many individuals that do so and do so with joy. It is a joy that goes beyond simple comprehension, it is a joy that comes from a grateful heart; a heart that understands that each difficult step teaches and strengthens.

In Philippians 4:6-7, we are told: “Do not worry about anything. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” It is this belief, this message that so many take as a mantra to guide their lives. Taking each day as it comes, knowing that no matter what storm is raging around them, they are being cared for.

So many of us feel as if this joy is nearly impossible or at the very least fleeting, yet we know people who find joy no matter what life hands them. As I mentioned in my last article, “Rejoice Always,” it is learning to see the world

Anchor Columnists Priceless with which to touch the a priest to make sure the hearts of our young people is youth in his care are receiving the retreat format. By that, the best Religious Education I mean a time apart for the possible. This begins with purpose of deeper prayer and the staff person tasked with sharing, a day or a week of Religious Education. He or more intense immersion in she must be aware of current the Catholic Faith. trends in the field and able to We are fortunate to have incorporate them effectively into the curriculum.

The parish priest needs to see to it that the The Ship’s Log volunteer catechists Reflections of a receive the formation, Parish Priest support, and materials they need in the

By Father Tim classroom. And the Goldrick priest needs to see to it that the environment in which Religious Education in our diocese several types of classes are held are safe, clean, retreats for youth and young adults. I’m familiar with bright, and hospitable.

ECHO, Emmaus, Yes! and There’s more to religious the many retreats available in instruction, however, than the conveying of information. You our Catholic high schools and campus ministries. As a priest, may be able to recite passages I have a responsibility to enof scripture like a Jehovah Witness and rattle off Church courage and support this sort of youth formation. It’s where teachings like some monsithe “rubber meets the road,” as gnor with a Ph.D. in Church doctrine, but this only involves they say.

In fact, I was on an ECHO the intellect. There’s more to team at the beginning of Nothe faith than cold hard facts. vember. It happened to be a Faith is a matter of the heart. weekend for high school girls.

Our young people need not Father Frank Wallace jokingly only Religious Education but assured me when I returned also Faith Formation. home frazzled that I have now I’ve found that one of the decreased the time I will have most effective tools we have

to spend in purgatory. I’ve little in common with teenaged girls and I’m getting too old for this sort of thing, but I see it as part of my priestly responsibility nonetheless. In fact, my own Spirituality benefits from the experience.

As I see it, first comes Religious Education and then comes Spiritual formation. But there’s a third component to ministry among our young people. Youth and young adults can’t just stand there being pious. Young people have to roll up their sleeves and do something.

Having been educated and formed, they need to integrate into their lives some experience of ministry that appeals to them. They need to translate their faith into action. It’s essential.

Many parish Religious Education programs incorporate some sort of firsthand experience at ministry, especially as young people prepare for the Sacrament of Confirmation. This must never be mistaken for slave labor. It should involve more than just raking the leaves of an elderly homeowner or polishing the church candlesticks. Young

9 people need more than busy work. Young people need to see some tangible results for their efforts, even the slightest change. Some community service projects are more successful than others, but at least they are on the right track.

There are parishes that excel in this area. I think of parishes in our own dioceses that provide the opportunity for youth group missions to Honduras, Appalachia, and other places. It is a life-changing experience for the vast majority of those who participate.

Young people want to “save the world.” Let them. Even secular schools and colleges are tapping into this youthful energy.

Then there are those individual young people who go above and beyond the call of duty. Having had a taste of hands-on ministry, they crave more. I know of young adults who have spent a year in Ecuador, a summer in Ghana, and a month in Peru.

When it comes to youth ministry, the lived experience of mission is priceless. But, dude, what does this old man know about such things?

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

Living now what matters forever

through the glass that is half full, rest assured that Jesus sheds a new rather than the half empty one. It light on all that challenges us.

If we take a close look at the is realizing the blessings in all the Beatitudes (Mt 5:1-12), we come turmoil.

When we look to the New Tes- to understand how truly blessed tament, we see that Jesus came for we are, how it is in the adversity the broken, the hurting, and the and challenges, that we gain so marginalized. Jesus knew that these were the people who desperately needed to hear His Word. It was these individuals that He could reach, help and heal; whose hearts were longBy Rose Mary ing for truth, acceptance Saraiva and love. It was then, as it is now, that it is in the brokenness that healing can begin. much. As we prepare to enter into In allowing the healing grace the Advent season, a time when of God to be poured into our lives, the world is wishing everyone glad we allow joy to filter in as well. It is tidings, let us strive to find the this grace that reflects on the faces true happiness in our lives. Let us of the truly joy-filled people we embrace our brokenness and open encounter. It is through the holes our hearts to the healing, allowing in our hearts that the light of God God to infuse our lives with true can shine through for others to see. joy. So that we can become a true A light that leads others to the light in the darkness, so that othsame beautiful, wonderful healing ers may know what faith can bring and love that comes through Jesus. into their lives.

Pope Francis says it beautifully: We are reminded that “the people who sat in the darkness have seen “Long faces do not proclaim Jesus. a great light” (Mt 4:16), we too Joy alone and praise of God are the have seen a great light and can only way to advance the Gospel.”

In the Palm of His Hands

Richard Foster in his book “Celebration of Discipline” reminds us that “it is an occupational hazard of devout folk to become stuffy bores.”

Traveling back in time, we look at those people in the Bible that Jesus ministered; we see how they picked themselves up and spread the Good News of Jesus’ teaching and love. It was the Samaritan woman who led her townspeople to Christ. It was the blind and lame, who professed the healing power of Jesus.

It was the taxpayer, who forgiven and healed, went out and took care of those whom he had harmed and so many more. It was in their new found joy, in their knowledge that they were loved and accepted, that they proclaimed the goodness of God, through Jesus Christ.

It does not mean that joy-filled people are blinded to what surrounds them, au contraire; they have a keener awareness, and recognize the need to share their joy. In his book, “Under the Influence of Jesus,” Joe Paprocki states: “Kingdom dwellers are filled with

a deep and limitless joy, one that bears little resemblance to fleeting euphoria. This joy is pervasive, abiding gladness, an inner peace that flows from being secure in God’s love.” What a beautiful summation of what fills these people, something to aspire to ourselves. To quote Paprocki further, we are reminded that “before we invite someone to enter the Kingdom of God, we had better show some joy.”

Let our lives and deeds reflect the true joy of fully understanding and knowing that we are children of God, loved beyond measure.

By choosing to live joy-filled lives, we allow ourselves a small taste of heaven here on earth and to quote Deacon Bruce Bonneau (thanks for the perfect ending and title) “to live right now what matters forever.”

Anchor columnist Rose Mary Saraiva lives in Fall River and is a parishioner of St. Michael’s Parish, and she is the Events Coordinator and Bereavement Ministry for the diocesan Office of Faith Formation.

She is married with three children and two grandchildren. rsaraiva@ dfrcs.com.

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November 21, 2014

Since 1965, International Catholic Stewardship Council has hosted annual conferences in cities across North America. Hundreds of pastors, diocesan directors of stewardship and development, parish leaders, professional firms, Catholic associations and religious congregations from around the world come together each year for presentations, workshops, Liturgies and major addresses. Participants experience the Catholic vision of Christian stewardship as a way of life. Eight members, (at right) including, Sacred Hearts Father Sudhir Nayak, pastor of Our Lady of the Assumption Parish in New Bedford, attended the recent 2014 conference in Orlando, Fla. From left: Pedrina Senna, Jack Livramento, Mary Ann Rogers, Dorothy Lopes, Sister Marianna Sylvester, Jennie Antunes, Father Nayak, and Raimundo Tavares.

Visit us online at www.anchornews.org To advertise in The Anchor, contact Wayne Powers at 508-675-7151 or Email waynepowers@anchornews.org Visit the Diocese of Fall River website at fallriverdiocese.org The site includes links to parishes, diocesan offices and national sites.

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November 21, 2014

Lebanese patriarchs urge countries to work for regional peace

BEIRUT (CNS) — Lebanon’s Council of Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops called for the international community to work toward achieving peace in Syria and Iraq and for putting an end to terrorist organizations.

During their annual meeting November 10-15 at Bkerke, the patriarchal seat of the Maronite Catholic Church, north of Beirut, the prelates addressed pastoral, national and regional issues. Also high on the agenda was the role of the family and society, as a followup to the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family October 5-19 at the Vatican.

In its final statement, addressing the presidential vacuum that has plagued Lebanon for six months, the council said lawmakers “must assume their responsibilities and elect a president.”

Lebanon has been without a president since May when the term of Michel Suleiman ended, because legislators have failed to agree on a successor. Under Lebanon’s power-sharing system, the president must be a Maronite Catholic, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the speaker of the parliament a Shiite Muslim.

The council urged presidential candidates “to abandon their personal interests in favor of national ones.”

The patriarchs and bishops also called for the approval of a fair parliamentary electoral law “that would ensure just representation and guarantee the rights of all sects in accordance with the principles of coexistence in Lebanon.”

They denounced the “abuse” of

Lebanon’s lawmakers. Amid the presidential stalemate, parliament voted earlier in November to extend its term until June 2017.

“Lebanon can no longer persist in this state of fragmentation caused by the schemes of powerful politicians,” the prelates said.

The political fragmentation comes amid increasing instability in Lebanon, with sporadic clashes in the north between Islamic State-inspired militants and the

army.

The patriarchs and bishops called on officials “to rise above their disputes and support the army and all other security agencies in Lebanon.”

In his opening statement at the council’s meeting, Cardinal Bechara Rai, Maronite patriarch, said “the family is under threat in Lebanon” because of hardships related to economic, political and security issues in the country.

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November 21, 2014

Book provides poignant firstperson look at Alzheimer’s disease “On Pluto: Inside the Mind of Alzheimer’s” by Greg O’Brien.

Codfish Press (Brewster, Mass.)

187 pages, $15.95.

A book about a man’s agonizing descent into Alzheimer’s disease could easily be steeped in negativity.

Yet in “On Pluto,” Greg O’Brien has poignantly chronicled a tragedy happening. It’s sad and joyful; depressing and uplifting; tragic and touching. O’Brien clearly expresses his rage — often using the “Fword” — at the dripping away of his brain’s power and memory, but he still has enough left to recall the good things in his life.

Tucked into O’Brien’s narrative is a subtle, nonpolemical account of how faith nurtured in a large Irish-American Catholic family has helped three generations solidify to cope with the dementia in some of its members. “We’ve got your back,” the younger generation often tells the elders.

O’Brien was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s when he was 61 and wrote the book while his memory still functioned, even if in slow-motion.

He combines factual information about Alzheimer’s with his practical experiences of living with the disease.

“My brain was once a file cabinet, carefully arranged in categories, but at night as I sleep, it’s as if someone has ransacked the files, dumping everything unto a cluttered floor,” he writes.

Once, in horror, O’Brien finds himself driving his car not knowing where he is, only to eventually figure out that instead of heading to his current home in Connecticut, he was heading toward his boyhood home in Rye, N.Y. The book should be on the reading list of people with early-onset Alzheimer’s, their relatives and friends, and caregivers interested in an inside look as to what is going on inside a brain with decaying cells. But it also has value for a wider audience.

In the United States five million people have Alzheimer’s and the number is growing as there is no cure and longevity increases.

Much of the readability comes from O’Brien’s highly skilled descriptive writing, a craft he developed over decades as a journalist, nonfiction author and head of his own communications company. The “Pluto” of the title comes from a phrase he used as a journalist when going deep off-therecord with a news source. He would say: “We’re heading out to Pluto where no one can see you or hear what is said.”

When diagnosed, O’Brien was no stranger to Alzheimer’s.

His mother was already suffering from it and his maternal grandfather had it. In addition, his father was afflicted with a non-Alzheimer’s dementia. In paragraphs filled with pathos, O’Brien describes how he witnessed his mother’s brain completely succumb to Alzheimer’s while they were both sitting next to his father, bleeding in a wheelchair in an emergency room waiting to be attended.

Also in his mind though are touching anecdotes such as the first kiss shared with the woman who would become his wife while her overprotective brother was sleeping in another room.

But O’Brien can still look to the future with hope, the possibility that his mother is waiting on Pluto and beyond because memory isn’t all it’s cracked up to be: “While memory offers delineating context and perspective, it doesn’t define us.

Definition is found in the spirit, in the soul, but one must dig for it.”

Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth star in a scene from the movie “Before I Go To Sleep.” For a brief review of this film, see CNS Movie Capsules below. (CNS photo/Laurie Sparham, Clarius Entertainment)

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

“Beyond the Lights” (Relativity) Well-intended but problematic romance matching a burnedout rap star (Gugu Mbatha Raw) with the policeman assigned to protect her (Nate Parker) after he intervenes to prevent her suicide. Their relationship is opposed by her showbiz mom (Minnie Driver) and by the callous singer (real-life rapper Richard Colson Baker, aka Machine Gun Kelly) who is both her collaborator and her lover. A sadly realistic atmosphere of degraded sensuality pervades the musical performances in writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood’s film, though the story arc eventually finds the main character rebelling against this aspect of her career. Additionally, the script takes going to bed before strolling down the aisle for granted. Yet this drama does have its appealing aspects, including the positive mutual support that marks the central pair’s interaction. Brief semi-graphic premarital sexual activity, temporary cohabitation, partial nudity, much strongly suggestive behavior, at least one use of the F-word, considerable crude and crass language. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults.

The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

“Dumb and Dumber To” (Universal) Stupid is as stupid does in this broad comedy sequel reuniting a duo of nitwits ( Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels) 20 years after their adventures in the 1994 original.

Carrey’s character has spent the interval in a mental asylum pretending to be catatonic as a prolonged practical joke on his buddy.

But he snaps out of it on hearing that his friend needs a kidney donor. Together they set off in search of the most likely candidate, the grown daughter (Rachel Melvin) the sick man has only just discovered he has. While many of the gags in co-directors (and brothers) Peter and Bobby Farrelly’s lowbrow laffer are merely vulgar, a couple of scenes trigger such deep disgust that the whole can be endorsed for no one. Pervasive sexual and much scatological humor, some of it involving bestiality and other aberrations, brief irreverence, fleeting rear and partial nudity, at least one use each of profanity and the F-word, intermittent crude and crass language.

The Catholic News Service classification is O — morally offensive.

The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

“Before I Go to Sleep” (Clarius) The cherished amnesia plot gets dusted off for this thriller, which fans of the genre should enjoy, although it offers only one big twist. Writer-director Rowan Joffe’s adaptation of S.J. Watson’s novel recounts the story of an assault victim (Nicole Kidman) whose memory erases nightly.

As she works with a psychologist (Mark Strong) to recover her past, she recalls her own extramarital affair as well as the one her husband carried on with her best friend (Anne-Marie Duff).

Yet now her spouse (Colin Firth) seems so kindly and attentive.

Occasional physical violence, an adultery theme, fleeting rear nudity, a few instances of profanity and crude language. The Catholic News Service classification is AIII — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6 Sunday, November 23, 11:00 a.m.

Celebrant is Father Jay Mello, parochial administrator at St. Michael and St. Joseph parishes in Fall River

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November 21, 2014

T

Physician-assisted suicide and confronting our fears

he prospect of a very attractive, recentlymarried young woman with a terminal illness facing excruciating pain and suffering as she dies is enough to move anyone.

The life and death of 29-year-old Brittany Maynard recently captured enormous media attention when she declared she was moving to Oregon to commit suicide after having been informed by her doctors that she had an aggressive form of brain cancer and likely had only six months to live.

She brought her life to a close on November 1, a date she had selected ahead of time, by taking a lethal dose of barbiturates prescribed by her doctor.

In the public discussions that have ensued, some have ventured to argue that suicide under such desperate circumstances would, in fact, be justifiable. A recent on-line article from Time magazine observed that few fault those who were trapped on the top floors of the Twin Towers on 9/11 when they jumped to their deaths below as the flames surged around them.

Yet in the face of a termiSimilarly, the article sugnal medical diagnosis, it is gests that those who face the not reasonable to let our fears prospect of a difficult, paindictate our choices; instead it racked death from a terminal behooves us to confront and disease should be able to take resolve those fears without their own life through physiyielding to panic and without cian-assisted suicide without allowing unpleasant future fault or blame.

For those jumping out of the Twin Towers, Making Sense however, we recognize a horrific situation of Out of desperation, and even Bioethics the possibility of a kind of mental breakBy Father Tad down in those final Pacholczyk panic-stricken moments. Their agonizing scenarios to loom large in our choice to hurl themselves out imagination. of the building to their deaths Brittany Maynard not only below would be, objectively greatly feared a difficult death speaking, a suicidal act, and for herself, but also argued would not represent a morthat protecting her family ally good choice, but their moral culpability would almost from pain and suffering was an important consideration certainly be diminished, if not in her decision to carry out eliminated, by the harrowing physician-assisted suicide: circumstances in which they “I probably would have found themselves, driven by suffered in hospice care for raw terror more than by anyweeks or even months. And thing else. my family would have had Clearly, grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave to watch that. I did not want this nightmare scenario for fear of suffering can diminish my family.” Yet even with very the responsibility of the one noble intentions and a loving committing suicide.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/ EWTN News) — Following a media frenzy around Pope Francis’ request that the annulment process not be treated like a business, an official of the Apostolic See’s court of higher instance has explained that annulment procedures are already free in most cases.

He also blamed the media for providing a biased examination of the issues.

Msgr. Piero Amenta, a prelate auditor of the Roman Rota, stressed in a lengthy November 14 article in Italian at korazym.org that “ecclesiastical tribunals do not make business on wedding woes.”

The Roman Rota is a tribunal, usually at the appellate stage, which safeguards rights within the Church.

In a November 5 address to canonists participating in a course at the Roman Rota, Pope Francis said “It’s also needed to be very attentive that the procedures are not within the framework of business,” adding that he dismissed someone from a tribunal once who had said, “Give me $10,000 and I’ll take care of both processes: the civil

and the ecclesiastical.”

The pope added that “when you attach economic interests to Spiritual interests, it is not of God!” He also emphasized that justice and the Salvation of souls are inseparable, and that these are the center of the process.

When the secular media highlighted the pope’s comments and suggested he wants the nullity process to be free of charge, Msgr. Amenta called it “a superficial reading of the pope’s speech.”

“Pope Francis did not say that procedures for the eventual declaration of nullity must be free. In the end, he just said that we must be attentive that procedures do not take place in the framework of profits, and he added that ‘in the synod, some proposals have spoken about gratuity, we will see’; and this response cannot be defined as an affirmation,” Msgr. Amenta wrote.

Msgr. Amenta underscored that “it is not true that ecclesiastical tribunals make profits over wedding woes,” since “53 percent” of the pro-

concern for our family, we can unwittingly become overzealous in our desire to “protect” them from suffering.

Brittany’s desire to protect her family and friends from pain by committing suicide also led her to cross over critical moral boundaries such that she deprived her family and friends of the chance to love her through her sickness.

Suicide in any form runs contrary to our duty to love — to love ourselves and to love our neighbor — because it unjustly breaks important ties of solidarity we have with family, friends and others to whom we continue to have obligations. It is always violent to eliminate suffering by eliminating the sufferer. We effectively give up on the Creator and all He has created. We refuse the help of our neighbor, the love of a family member, or even the beauty of another sundrenched day to lighten our affliction.

Even as our lives wind down, we have a calling to be good stewards of the gift

of life. Hospice and palliative care, along with careful pain management, can lighten our burdens during the dying process. The mutual support of family and friends enables us, and them, to grow in unexpected ways.

By respecting and working through the dying process, we can encounter deep and unanticipated graces. We may recognize the need to ask for and receive forgiveness from others and from God. We may become aware of God’s presence and receive a strengthened faith. We gain peace in our dying days and hours by accepting our mortality and our situation, journeying down the road that still opens ahead of us, even as it becomes shorter, living it with the same tenacity and generosity we did when the road was yet longer.

Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D. earned his doctorate in neuroscience from Yale and did post-doctoral work at Harvard.

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

See www.ncbcenter.org.

they are prosecuted when denounced,” saying the pope’s dismissal of a tribunal official was just such an example.

The pope’s address, far from desiring an end to judicial procedures to assess if a Marriage is null, suggests that the processes must be maintained, and streamlined, the priest said.

“First, the necessity for processes remains,” Msgr.

Amenta wrote. “It is not a superf luous work in the Church. While some would like the idea of a Church without these structures, or without any structures whatsoever, the pope reaffirmed that the Salvation of souls is not found outside of justice, as those who oppose law and and pastoral care would suppose; such a dichotomy is wrong, because the Code of Canon Law is and must be a pastoral instrument.”

A second finding from the pope’s address, he stated, is “that the processes must be streamlined,” noting the commission, established August 27, which is studying a reform of the annulment process.

The commission will examine, he suggested, “the possibility of offering more jurisdictional structures, especially in those countries where distances are large and the tribunals deal with enormous areas, which do not favor the participation of the faithful except a a grave inconvenience.”

While acknowledging Pope Francis’ desire that economic and Spiritual interests not be attached to one another, Msgr. Amenta said that it is “undeniable that the Church itself needs the means, however modest, to pursue Spiritual interests,” and this is the reason why “the faithful are invited to give the offering they are able to, when they ask for religious services which require an expenditure of money,” citing the practice of giving stipends for such events as weddings and funerals.

“And I must say, according to my experience, that the faithful are very generous, when they can concretely see the benefits they have for themselves and their families.”

Roman Rota official clarifies, annulment process is no business cesses adjudicated at the Rota are free, and the “contribution to the expenses of the procedures is very low, about 525 Euros ‘una tantum’” — a onetime fee of $650.

The Rota’s prelate auditor also explained that the Italian bishops’ conference, for example, also has a defined payment structure for canon lawyers, who cannot be paid more than $3,610, or less than $1,870.

However, “the tribunals are always provided with courtappointed attorneys who are kept to follow the procedures for those who ask their assistance for economic reasons, without any other expense beyond the contribution to the procedure’s expenses.”

That “the Church’s tribunals are places where wrongdoing takes place is truly an urban legend,” Msgr. Amenta said, probably spread by “people who probably never stepped in a Church tribunal.”

He conceded that there are individual lawyers who do not respect the price ceiling, but added that “these are painful cases, and isolated ones;

14

November 21, 2014

Buzzards Bay parishioners celebrate 100 years continued from page one

It was the bishop’s first visit to the church alongside the Cape Cod Canal.

“But that is an understatement,” he told the congregation, laughing. “Everything is my first.”

A native of Brazil, Bishop da Cunha is the former auxiliary bishop of Newark, N.J., and was elevated to bishop of the Diocese of Fall River in September.

“My brothers and sisters, it’s a joy to be here to celebrate this special occasion, the centennial of the parish, and to give thanks for God’s blessings,” he said.

Two very special parishioners attended the Mass. Lifetime parishioner Mary Rose Viera will celebrate her 100th year in December. She also had the privilege of meeting Pope Francis at Easter. A descendant of St. Margaret of Scotland, parishioner Walter MacDonald is the saint’s 26th generational great-grandson.

In the Gospel reading, Jesus told His disciples the parable of the three servants and how they chose to use the gifts and

talents they had received.

In his homily, Bishop da Cunha said that each person in this world is born with a reservoir of talents and a specific set of opportunities.

“The purpose of our life is to uncover those talents and to eliminate the barriers that put limits on the full growth of those talents,” he said. “The important thing is not really the talent but what we do with the talent.”

The bishop pointed out that the congregation was celebrating their own faith because of the contribution of others.

“Being here for 100 years means many people who came before us invested their gifts and talents not only to build this building of bricks and mortar but to build a community of faith,” he said. “Now 100 years from now, nobody knows what life is going to be like, what the world will be like. But 100, 200 years from now we will still need God, still need the Church, still need the Sacraments, still need prayer, still need family, still need each

This week in 50 years ago — Bishop James L. Connolly announced the purchase of Round Hills Farm in South Dartmouth by the Society of Jesus of the New England Province. The property was purchased from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to be used as a retreat house for men of all ages.

25 years ago — The new Christ the King Parish in Mashpee was blessed and dedicated by Bishop Daniel A. Cronin. The parish was formed from the missions of St. Jude and Queen of All Saints, formerly attached to Our Lady of the Assumption Parish in Osterville.

other.

“For years to come your Church will be here because of your faith, because of your commitment to those who come after us,” he added. “So my dear brothers and sisters, my friends in Christ, I rejoice with all of you.

I’m glad to celebrate with all of you.”

Throughout the centennial year, the congregation came together, beginning in March with an International Kick-Off 100-year-old Mary Viera Rose, left, has been a parishioner of St. Margaret’s Parish in Buzzards Bay since its inception. (Photo by Brunch.

“The theme of that Linda Andrade Rodrigues) event was to celebrate the come together for a simple meal Last Saturday after Mass, diversity that is our parish,” said of bread and meatless soup af- the parishioners wrapped up Mary Ann Bostrom, chairman ter the Stations of the Cross,” the anniversary-year celebraof the Centennial Commitshe said. tions with a centennial dinner/ tee. “Families brought dishes In May they resumed ac- dance, featuring a traditional of their individual heritages to tivities with the Crowning of three-course meal followed by share.”

Mary at St. Mary’s Church on dancing at Bay Pointe Country Recipes and family stories Mother’s Day, followed by a Club in Onset. were collected, and they created coffee hour with home-baked What is today St. Margaa cookbook from that gatherbreakfast foods. ret’s Parish was originally part ing.

During June they offered a of Corpus Christi Parish in “We did not hold an event Friday Night Fish Fry, as well Sandwich. However, as the in April because of Lent and as a Ladies Tea, in observance Cape Cod population grew, adEaster, although the parish did of the 60th anniversary of the ditional parishes were needed; Women’s Guild. and in April 1911, St. MargaIn July the congregation ret’s had its beginnings with a gathered in the church parking Mass offered in the Buzzards lot for a flea market/yard sale, Bay home of Thomas Wallace, 10 years ago — Selected high school featuring vendors, a food court in the house which is now St. students across the Fall River diocese parand music; and they reunited Margaret’s Rectory. ticipated in a pilot education peer programonce again in August for a parSoon the Mass location was hosted by the Diocesan Office of AIDS ish picnic at St. Joseph Friary. shifted to Franklin Hall in Ministry.

Parishioners embarked on a Buzzards Bay, a historic buildsunset cruise of Cape Cod Ca- ing located behind the present One year ago — The Diocese of Fall nal in September. Each brought St. Margaret Church, then sucRiver’s five Catholic high schools were a plate to share with others on cessively to Bourne and Firecollectively named to the College Board’s board. The St. Vincent de Paul men’s halls.

2013 Advanced Placement District Honor Society also celebrated their For three years Buzzards Bay Roll. The honor was given to only 33 school 60th anniversary with a potluck Masses were offered by priests districts in Massachusetts and 477 nationwide. dinner. Admission was a do- from Corpus Christi; then in nation of non-perishable food 1914 Father Joseph Lyons, items for the needy. newly-named pastor at Corpus In October the congregation Christi, determined that Buzheld a Rosary rally, followed by zards Bay Catholics needed a spaghetti dinner. their own house of worship.

Sparked by a $5,000 donation, large for those days, from Margaret Hall, a summer visitor, money was collected and St. Margaret’s of Scotland, named for Hall, was dedicated July 4, 1915 by Bishop Daniel F. Feehan.

The new church remained a mission of Corpus Christi until 1946, when Bishop James E. Cassidy erected it as a parish in its own right, having as a mission St. Mary Star of the Sea Church, which had until then been served by St. Patrick’s Parish in Wareham.

Diocesan history

November 21, 2014

Anchor columnist becomes a Sisters of Providence associate

member expressed her thoughts about becoming a nun, and Flacontinued from page one vin’s reaction to the admission.

“I loved being with all the life and keep on going, and that said Flavin, “as opposed to just “I looked at her and my people in the group,” said Fla- eventually I would understand.” mind went back to my Yale discovering something.”

She could have done a sec- days. I was happy for her, but Flavin has spent a lifetime of vin, crediting one person in the “discovering” through her aca- group who made the biggest ond postdoctoral study at Yale, my thought went to my past,” demic studies. After graduat- impact on her Spiritual life. but instead Flavin came home said Flavin, an emotion that ing valedictorian from B.M.C. “One of the things about that to Fall River to attend her ailing showed on her face. When the Durfee High School in Fall group was the priest who was mother, and spent her mother’s young woman asked what was River, she earned a scholarship in charge of the group, Father final year by her side before her wrong, Flavin admitted to her mother passed away at age 62. that she had thought about beto Boston College and studied Carlton Jones.”

The pastor of a Dominican At that point, Flavin felt adrift: coming a nun and how the orchemistry, earning her college degree in 1984 at a time, she parish, Father Jones made it “After that, it was like, what am der had rejected her due to her said, when men dominated in a point to be there each week I going to do with my life?” she earning a Ph.D. for almost every meeting: “He said. the science world.

“She whipped out her cell She spent the next few years phone and said, ‘My order After applying to medical made it a top priority on his schools, she discovered that she schedule,” said Flavin. “We dabbling in the chemical and would never do that,’ and she had limited her options by only could show up and ask any- pharmaceutical industry while called her contact. I didn’t know thing, talk about anything; we teaching at night — an occu- what to say, but I figured their applying to a few schools.

“I didn’t get in the first time were challenged, and that’s pation she fell in love with in answer would be they didn’t around, so I was crushed,” said where it all began to come to- high school while being a lab want a Ph.D. either.” aide — and eventually found Flavin. “I started doing re- gether for me.”

Instead of getting her hopes Father Jones was the first herself as an adjunct faculty up, Flavin said to herself, “God, search as an undergraduate and fell in love with doing research” to encourage Flavin to write member, teaching at five or six this one is Yours.” so Flavin decided to stay in down her thoughts, an encour- colleges at once: “It was fun That order was the Sisters the chemistry department and agement that has opened addi- and challenging; each day was of Providence, and the answer earned her Ph.D. in 1993 in tional doors for Flavin, includ- a different day,” recalled Flavin. was mixed: Flavin was too old ing her becoming a columnist “I loved being with all the stu- now to become a nun, but she neurochemistry.

Even as a little girl, her for The Anchor. Father Jones dents.” could make the commitment to Flavin decided to become the order by becoming a ProviCatholic faith was strong. Her also saw an inner Spiritual light family attended weekly Mass in her, said Flavin, and thought a high school teacher, and a dence associate, and that’s how and Flavin said her mother maybe she had a religious call- former principal she worked Flavin came to be standing at “encouraged” her and her sib- ing and said she should reach for lit the writing flame again the front of the altar just a few lings to talk about their faith: out to a Dominican order and by asking teachers to write weeks ago — a path that God “When I was growing up, my explore the possibility of be- prayers. She eventually landed had intended for Flavin to fola teaching position at St. Marmom used to question us every coming a nun.

But instead of being wel- garet School, a Catholic middle once in a while to see if we understood about what was going comed with open arms, Flavin school in Rumford, R.I., where on, and I remember those chats was told through a letter from she is currently in her first year in a positive way,” recalled Fla- the order that because she had and feels the school “is the earned a Ph.D., and that those place God wanted me to be,” vin.

After earning her Ph.D., Fla- who have earned a Ph.D. have she said.

Flavin is also a friend and vin moved to Connecticut to a hard time with vows of obediattend Yale School of Medicine ence, the answer was “a thanks, caretaker of Sister Clare Duin New Haven for her postdoc- but no thanks,” said Flavin, mont, SS.CC., a retired nun toral studies. There she joined a who said that she couldn’t even who was living in an assistedCatholic young adult group in argue the point because just living home when Flavin went the area to meet people, though challenging the answer shows to attend Mass one snowy SunFlavin said that looking back, “I “you can’t follow directions, so day, only to find that the priest think God had other things in I just said, ‘God’s answer is no.’” hadn’t been able to make it in, Flavin was disappointed but a nun stepped in and decidmind because that’s where my Spirituality and interest really and felt that though God had ed to say a few words. Not only called her, she would be unable was Flavin touched by what the started to grow.”

The group would meet once a to live up to His call; “I felt like nun said, she was pleasantly week and did many activities that I had failed, in a sort of way,” surprised to find out that the included readings, discussions said Flavin, though she kept nun had a Ph.D. The final piece to fall into and a once-a-month service ac- faith and felt that God still had tivity that saw the group cook for something planned for her. “I place for Flavin’s faith journey just kept trying to live a good was when a younger faculty and serve a homeless shelter.

15 low all along.

“I think God was guiding me to a place — you know how they say all your experiences in life prepare you where you need to be right at this moment? I definitely feel God’s guidance taking me there,” said Flavin.

And though she feels like she has come home, she feels there is work still left to be done: “I felt like I was working in a tiny part of God’s vineyard, and I wanted to feel a part of something bigger, a part of something that was reaching God’s people throughout the world, and I wasn’t sure how to do that,” said Flavin.

“When I went through this, and now that I’ve become an associate — part of the process is at the end [of the ceremony], when you’ve received your cross, you’re standing at the altar and facing the congregation, the congregation and visitors rise and give you a blessing.

“As I was standing there, I was looking at everyone who was there and thinking [the order] is spread throughout the world, and I did feel like a part of something bigger. I felt that I had achieved and found exactly what I had hoped to find.”

16

Youth Pages

St. Francis Xavier School in Acushnet recently provided an opportunity during Vocation Awareness Week for students in grades five through eight to listen to Father Jay Mello, assistant vocation director in the Diocese of Fall River, who spoke with them about what it means to discern and live out the vocation that God is calling each of us to. Students in the lower grades were able to join in the theme of the week posing as a possible future priest or nun in a special photo booth (inset). The week culminated on the Saturday with a special Holy Hour for Vocations at the parish.

The Coyle and Cassidy (Taunton) student-run Food Pantry has been selected to receive a Harvard Pilgrim Community Spirit 9/11 Mini-Grant. This grant commemorates those Harvard Pilgrim members who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001.

First-grade students at St. James-St. John School in New Bedford, recently learned about healthy choices by making a delicious salad.

November 21, 2014

St. Mary-Sacred Heart School in North Attleboro, recently welcomed Bishop Edgar da Cunha, S.D.V. to come and bless the school’s new middle school building and lead students, faculty, families, and special guests in prayer. The bishop told the students he had heard of the school’s growth and expansion while watching a special feature that highlighted the school during the Channel 6 evening news shortly after his arrival in Fall River. He also encouraged the children to thank their parents for the many sacrifices they make to send them to a Catholic school.

Following the prayer service, the bishop and the middle school students processed to the new modular classroom building, where he blessed each room and met with the students and faculty. The bishop then visited the rest of the school either in their classrooms, in the playground or in the newly-expanded cafeteria.

First-graders at Espirito Santo School in Fall River received a visit from an array of animals provided by Bob of Animal Instincts of Fall River.

The students were able to hold, or pet many of the animals as seen here with an albino python.

Third-graders from Holy Name School in Fall River show off the carrots that they bagged themselves at Four Town Farm in Seekonk. The recent trip also included a trailer ride and a walk among the farm’s fields to learn about how plants grow.

Youth Pages Detachment from stuff — the true spirit of humility

November 21, 2014

W

hat do you think all these words have in common: fear, anger, jealousy, guilt, frustration, sadness, misery, possessiveness and materialistic?

These “could” all be used to describe the way we feel about our attachment to things. Not that having the things in life that make us happy is bad, but do you rely on them to obtain true happiness and joy?

What’s common about these words: focus, relief, freedom, acceptance, peace, love, truth, insight, wellness and forgiveness? These could all be used to describe how we feel when we detach ourselves from our attachments. We discover quickly that detachment does bring happiness. “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven” (Mt 5:3).

Choosing attachment to Jesus Christ is detaching ourselves from the things of the world. To be poor in Spirit does not mean that we see ourselves as the world sees us, but rather as the Lord sees us. We are hopeless apart from Him, but with Jesus, we realize we can do all things. When the Holy Spirit fills us, we realize that the values of this world are only cheap substitutes for what God has to offer us. When we are attached to the

things of the world, the things we think might not go away, we will receive make us happy, the world is saying “Do strength, encouragement and hope to your own thing. Be self-sufficient, selfdeal with them. This is when we must reliant. Be your own person.” Hmmm ... take ourselves off of the throne of our that doesn’t sound so bad, you might be own hearts and put Jesus there. Then we thinking. will find real happiness.

But, is that what God really wants of Imagine spending less time on your you? Or, rather, computer, isn’t it better to smart phone or depend on God playing video and the plan games. Now He has for your use that time life? God does to connect, or not expect you reconnect with

By Ozzie Pacheco to make it on your family your own apart and friends and from Him. create deeper “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; on relationships. Have you tried breaking your own intelligence do not rely” (Prov out of your routine and ended up 3:5). meeting someone or a group of people We all suffer for many reasons: our that you made an awesome connection mistakes, or someone else’s mistakes or with? New can be scary to some of us but injustices. So does that mean we should connection is something everyone wants. find happiness at any cost, even if it Give yourself the room to experience it. means that those we love will be hurt That’s detachment. That’s humility. by our actions? The world will tell us to It may go without being said that do that: Feel depressed? Go shopping! the emotional baggage many of us Feel guilty? Blame someone else! Feel carry around has a huge effect on our frustrated? Take it out on your friend! health. What happens to the mind has You see where this is leading? We must an effect on the body. When you release understand that though our hardships this energy and release the attachment

Be Not Afraid

The fifth-grade students at St. Mary’s School in Taunton held a Veterans’ Day prayer service. Invited guests included veterans past and present of the United States Army and the United States Marine Corps. Also included were representatives of the Raynham, Quincy, and Somerville Fire Departments, the Boston Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police. The students presented the Honor Table representing the missing family member who are serving our country. The students recited the poem, “In Flanders Field” by John D. McCrae. Following the prayer service, the students had the opportunity to thank their guests for the sacrifices they make everyday to insure our freedoms.

Second-grade students at St. Michael School in Fall River, with the help of teacher Amy Madeira, show they are very thankful for the military.

17

to stuff, you experience the emotional freedom you really want. That’s the experience you really desire. This is the place where you start to nurture your body because your mind is released from stuff.

But, what is the best result of detachment? It is love! I imagine that some families have argued over the stuff of loved ones who have passed away. Can you imagine the deeper connections and love that could be replaced if everyone practiced detachment of stuff? Or what about the father who spends too much time at the office away from his family because he’s attempting to create more stuff in their lives? The true spirit of humility is real love for one another.

So ask yourself what you’d be willing to detach yourself from, even if for only a short while. Share it with your family and tell them what your desired outcomes are. If you’re not sure where to begin, start with the Beatitudes — eight ways to be happy without attachment to any stuff. Imagine how cool that would be.

God bless!

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

Students at St. Mary’s School in Mansfield, honored local veterans with a flag ceremony on Veterans’ Day. Led by the school’s color guard, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and local Army veteran, David Santoro, students remembered those who have given their lives for our freedom. The ceremony concluded with one homework assignment by Principal Simpson, “Thank a Veteran.”

Eighth-graders led the St. Pius X School community in South Yarmouth, in a special prayer service recognizing and remembering our veterans. As part of the ceremony, they prayed for specific veterans connected to the school’s faculty, students, and families.

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November 21, 2014

Marian Medals to be awarded Sunday continued from page one

Heart Parish, North Attleboro; George Silva, St. Vincent de Paul Parish, Attleboro; Karen Smith, St. Mary Parish, North Attleboro; John Soares, St. John the Evangelist Parish, Attleboro; Lucille Stewart, St. Mary Parish, Mansfield; and Carolyn Teixeira, St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Parish, South Attleboro.

— Cape Cod and the Islands Deanery: Loretta Alves, St. Peter the Apostle Parish, Provincetown; Carmen Elyce Amadeo, Good Shepherd Parish, Martha’s Vineyard; Richard L. Corey, St. Anthony Parish, East Falmouth; Ellen Driscoll, St. Patrick Parish, Falmouth; Mary Fox, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, Wellfleet; Linda Gademan, Our Lady of the Assumption Parish, Osterville; Barbara Hadley, Corpus Christi Parish, East Sandwich; Elizabeth Jackson, Our Lady of the Cape Parish, Brewster; Robert Johnson, Holy Trinity Parish, West Harwich; William G. Kelley, Christ the King Parish, Mashpee; Joseph P. Kirby, St. Mary/Our Lady of the Isle Parish, Nantucket; Mary R. Love, St. Pius X Parish, South Yarmouth; Michael Manley, St. Margaret Parish, Buzzards Bay; Constance Murphy, St. John the Evangelist Parish, Pocasset; Bonnie Peterson, Our Lady of Victory Parish, Centerville; Harry Saucier, St. Francis Xavier Parish, Hyannis; Rosalina Soque, St. Elizabeth Seton Parish, North Falmouth; Joan M. Valicenti, St. Joan of Arc Parish, Orleans; and Patricia Vreeland, Holy Redeemer Parish, Chatham.

— Fall River Deanery: Lorraine Alves, Our Lady of Grace Parish, Westport; Lucille Bolduc, Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption Parish, Fall River; Daniel R. Boucher, St. George Parish, Westport; Linda Carpenter, St. Dominic Parish, Swansea; Ann Chauvin, St. Louis de France Parish, Swansea; Judith DaCosta, St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Fall River; Carol Gagne, St. Joseph Parish, Fall River; Joao Jesus, St. John of God Parish, Somerset; Pauline Jordan, St. Bernadette Parish, Fall River; Ann Marie Keshura, St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Swansea; Alice Levesque, Good Shepherd Parish, Fall River; Joana Mateus, Santo Christo Parish, Fall River; Albert Ouellette, St. Patrick Parish, Somerset; Susan Orzeck,

St. John the Baptist Parish, Westport; Russell Pichette, Holy Name Parish, Fall River; Mark Rego, Holy Trinity Parish, Fall River; Joseph Reidy, Jr., St. Thomas More Parish, Somerset; Michael Souza, St. Stanislaus Parish, Fall River; Lena Teixeira, St. Anne Parish, Fall River; and Robert Viveiros, St. Bernard Parish, Assonet.

— New Bedford Deanery: Sari S. Almeida, Holy Name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, New Bedford; Daniel Alves, St. John Neumann Parish, East Freetown; Stephen Barriteau, St. Anthony Parish, Mattapoisett; Margaret Boutiette, St. Patrick Parish, Wareham; Mario Braga, St. Mary Parish, New Bedford; Sally Clark, St. Mary Parish, South Dartmouth; Norma Colon, Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, New Bedford; Joao Ferreira, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, New Bedford; Joanna M. Hunt, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, New Bedford; Ann Langlois, St. Rita Parish, Marion; Hermano S. Medeiros, Immaculate Conception Parish, New Bedford; Jacqueline I. Medeiros, Our Lady of Fatima Parish, New Bedford; Cynthia L. Mello, St. Anthony of Padua Parish, New Bedford; Donald Mulcare, St. Mary Parish, Fairhaven; Mary Neves, St. Francis of Assisi Parish, New Bedford; Deborah Osuch, St. Joseph Parish, Fairhaven; William Perry, Our Lady of the Assumption Parish, New Bedford; Alfred W. Sylvia, Jr., St. Joseph-St. Therese Parish, New Bedford; Sandra Vigeant, St. Francis Xavier Parish, Acushnet; and Robert R. Zeida, St. Julie Billiart Parish, North Dartmouth.

— Taunton Deanery: Manuel Arruda, St. Anthony Parish, Taunton; Rosemary Bettencourt, St. Andrew the Apostle Parish, Taunton; Mary Botelho, Annunciation of the Lord Parish, Taunton; Barbara Curran, St. Mary Parish, Taunton; Jill Gurney, St. Nicholas of Myra Parish, North Dighton; Clarence Hassan, Holy Cross Parish, South Easton; Patricia Latimer, St. Ann Parish, Raynham; Maureen E. Papineau, Immaculate Conception Parish, North Easton; Mary Joyce Phillips, Holy Family Parish, East Taunton; and Doris Riendeau, St. Jude the Apostle Parish, Taunton.

2014 Marian Medal recipients First Name

Last Name

Dolores Andrews Robert Beaudet Allen Falconer Anne Lonzo Edward J. Romano George Silva Karen Smith John Soares Lucille Stewart Carolyn Teixeira Loretta Alves Carmen Elyce Amadeo Richard L. Corey Ellen Driscoll Mary Fox Linda Gademan Barbara Hadley Elizabeth Jackson Robert Johnson William G. Kelley Joseph P. Kirby Mary R. Love Michael Manley Constance Murphy Bonnie Peterson Harry Saucier Rosalina Soque Joan M. Valicenti Patricia Vreeland Lorraine Alves Lucille Bolduc Daniel R. Boucher Linda Carpenter Ann Chauvin Judy Sardinha DaCosta Carol Gagne Joao Jesus Pauline Jordan Ann Marie Keshura Alice Levesque Joana Mateus Albert Ouellette Susan Orzeck Russell Pichette Mark Rego Joseph Reidy Jr. Michael Souza Lena Teixeira Robert Viveiros Sari S. Almeida

Daniel Alves Stephen Barriteau Margaret Boutiette Mario Braga Sally Clark Norma Colon

Joao Ferreira Joanna M. Hunt Ann Langlois Hermano S. Medeiros Jacqueline I. Medeiros Cynthia L. Mello Donald Mulcare Mary Neves Deborah Osuch William Perry Alfred W. Sylvia Jr. Sandra Vigeant Robert R. Zeida Manuel Arruda Rosemary Bettencourt Mary Botelho Barbara Curran Jill Gurney Clarence Hassan Patricia Latimer Maureen E. Papineau Mary Joyce Phillips Doris Riendeau

Parish

City

Deanery

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Parish St. Mary’s Parish St. Mark’s Parish Sacred Heart Parish St. Vincent dePaul Parish St. Mary’s Parish St. John the Evangelist Parish St. Mary’s Parish St. Theresa of the Child Jesus Parish St. Peter Apostle Parish Good Shepherd Parish St. Anthony’s Parish St. Patrick’s Parish Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Our Lady of the Assumption Parish Corpus Christi Parish Our Lady of the Cape Parish Holy Trinity Parish Christ the King Parish St. Mary/Our Lady of the Isle Parish St. Pius X Parish St. Margaret’s Parish St. John the Evangelist Parish Our Lady of Victory Parish St. Francis Xavier Parish St. Elizabeth Seton Parish St. Joan of Arc Parish Holy Reedemer Parish Our Lady of Grace Parish St. Mary’s Cathedral Parish St. George’s Parish St. Dominic’s Parish St. Louis de France Parish St. Anthony of Padua Parish St. Joseph’s Parish St. John of God Parish St. Bernadette Parish St. Francis of Assisi Parish Good Shepherd Parish Santo Christo Parish St. Patrick’s Parish St. John Baptist Parish Holy Name Parish Holy Trinity Parish St. Thomas More Parish St. Stanislaus Parish St. Anne’s Parish St. Bernard’s Parish Holy Name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish St. John Neumann Parish St. Anthony’s Parish St. Patrick’s Parish St. Mary’s Parish St. Mary’s Parish Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. James Parish Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish St. Rita’s Parish Immaculate Conception Parish Our Lady of Fatima Parish St. Anthony of Padua Parish St. Mary’s Parish St. Francis Assisi Parish St. Joseph’s Parish Our Lady of the Assumption Parish St. Joseph-St. Therese Parish St. Francis Xavier Parish St. Julie Billart Parish St. Anthony’s Parish St. Andrew the Apostle Parish Annunciation of the Lord Parish St. Mary’s Parish St. Nicholas of Myra Holy Cross Parish St. Ann’s Parish Immaculate Conception Parish Holy Family Parish St. Jude the Apostle Parish

Seekonk Seekonk Norton Attleboro Falls North Attleboro Attleboro North Attleboro Attleboro Mansfield South Attleboro Provincetown Vineyard Haven East Falmouth Falmouth Provincetown Osterville East Sandwich Brewster West Harwich Mashpee Nantucket South Yarmouth Buzzards Bay Pocasset Centerville Hyannis North Falmouth Orleans Chatham Westport Fall River Westport Swansea Swansea Fall River Fall River Somerset Fall River Swansea Fall River Fall River Somerset Westport Fall River Fall River Somerset Fall River Fall River Assonet

Attleboro Attleboro Attleboro Attleboro Attleboro Attleboro Attleboro Attleboro Attleboro Attleboro Cape Cod Cape Cod Cape Cod Cape Cod Cape Cod Cape Cod Cape Cod Cape Cod Cape Cod Cape Cod Cape Cod Cape Cod Cape Cod Cape Cod Cape Cod Cape Cod Cape Cod Cape Cod Cape Cod Fall River Fall River Fall River Fall River Fall River Fall River Fall River Fall River Fall River Fall River Fall River Fall River Fall River Fall River Fall River Fall River Fall River Fall River Fall River Fall River

New Bedford East Freetown Mattapoisett Wareham New Bedford South Dartmouth

New Bedford New Bedford New Bedford New Bedford New Bedford New Bedford

New Bedford New Bedford New Bedford Marion New Bedford New Bedford New Bedford Fairhaven New Bedford Fairhaven New Bedford New Bedford Acushnet North Dartmouth Taunton Taunton Taunton Taunton North Dighton South Easton Raynham North Easton East Taunton Taunton

New Bedford New Bedford New Bedford New Bedford New Bedford New Bedford New Bedford New Bedford New Bedford New Bedford New Bedford New Bedford New Bedford New Bedford Taunton Taunton Taunton Taunton Taunton Taunton Taunton Taunton Taunton Taunton

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November 21, 2014

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

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

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

ATTLEBORO — There is a weekly Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration Thursdays from 5:30 to 6:30 pm at St. John the Evangelist Church on N. Main St. Brewster — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the La Salette Chapel in the lower level of Our Lady of the Cape Church, 468 Stony Brook Road, on First Fridays beginning at noon until 7:45 a.m. First Saturday, concluding with Benediction and concluding with Mass at 8 a.m. buzzards Bay — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Margaret Church, 141 Main Street, Monday through Saturday, from 6:30 to 8 a.m.; and every first Friday from noon to 8 a.m. on Saturday.

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

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

FAIRHAVEN — St. Mary’s Church, Main St., has Eucharistic Adoration every Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Chapel of Reconciliation, with Benediction at 11:30 a.m. Also, there is a First Friday Mass each month at 7 p.m., followed by a Holy Hour with Eucharistic Adoration. Refreshments follow.

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

FALL RIVER — St. Bernadette’s Church, 529 Eastern Ave., has continuous Eucharistic Adoration from 8 a.m. on Thursday until 8 a.m. on Saturday.

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

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

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

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

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

MASHPEE — Christ the King Parish, Route 151 and Job’s Fishing Road has 8:30 a.m. Mass every First Friday with special intentions for Respect Life, followed by 24 hours of Eucharistic Adoration in the Chapel, concluding with Benediction Saturday morning followed immediately by an 8:30 Mass.

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

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

NEW BEDFORD — St. Lawrence Martyr Parish, 565 County Street, holds Eucharistic Adoration in the side chapel from 7:30-11:45 a.m. ending with a simple Benediction NORTH DARTMOUTH — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Julie Billiart Church, 494 Slocum Road, every Tuesday from 7 to 8 p.m., ending with Benediction. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is available at this time.

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

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

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

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

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

Taunton — Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament takes place every First Friday at Annunciation of the Lord, 31 First Street. Exposition begins following the 8 a.m. Mass. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed, and Adoration will continue throughout the day. Confessions are heard from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. Rosary and Benediction begin at 6:30 p.m.

WAREHAM — Eucharistic Adoration at St. Patrick’s Church begins each Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. and ends on Friday night at midnight. Adoration is held in our Adoration Chapel in the lower Parish Hall. ~ PERPETUAL EUCHARISTIC ADORATION ~ East Sandwich — The Corpus Christi Parish Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 324 Quaker Meeting House Road, East Sandwich. Use the Chapel entrance on the side of the church.

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

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

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

Pope calls abortion, euthanasia, IVF sins ‘against God the Creator’

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis denounced a “false compassion” that would justify abortion, euthanasia, artificial reproduction technologies and medical research violating human dignity. And he urged medical doctors to “go against the current” and assert “conscientious objection” to such practices, which he called sins “against God the Creator.”

The pope made his remarks recently in a meeting with members of the Association of Italian Catholic Medical Doctors.

“The dominant thinking sometimes suggests a false

compassion, that which believes it is helpful to women to promote abortion; an act of dignity to provide euthanasia; a scientific breakthrough to produce a child and consider it to be a right, rather than a gift to welcome; or to use human lives as guinea pigs, presumably to save others,” Pope Francis said.

“We are living in a time of experimentation with life.

But a bad experiment. Making children rather than accepting them as a gift, as I said. Playing with life. Be careful, because this is a sin against the Creator: against God the Creator, Who cre-

Around the Diocese St. Pius X Parish will host its Christmas Fair on November 22 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the parish life center on Station Avenue in South Yarmouth. The Noël Café opens at 11 a.m. and there will be crafts, knitted items, baked goods, and other raffles.

St. Jude the Apostle Parish will be having its annual Penny Sale in the parish hall at 249 Whittenton Street in Taunton on November 22 at 6 p.m. — doors open at 5 p.m. In addition to three regular series, there will be specials, roll-ups, refreshments, a raffle on 15 turkey dinner baskets, and a money raffle with $500 as the first prize.

A Christmas Fair will be held at St. Elizabeth Seton Parish, Quaker Road in North Falmouth, on November 22 from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. featuring coffee and donuts and a luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. serving lobster rolls, clam chowder, turkey salad sandwiches and more. Visit the Country Store featuring Christmas decorations, antiques and collectibles, handmade items, baked goods, books and raffles.

Good Shepherd Parish, 1598 South Main Street in Fall River, will host its Annual Turkey Shoot on November 22 with the kitchen opening at 5 p.m. and drawings beginning at 6 p.m. There will be tables with turkeys, vegetables, potatoes and all the fixings — you could win to cook the perfect Thanksgiving dinner. The evening will also include a mini penny sale and a kitchen menu including linguiça, chow mein and meatball sandwiches. For more information visit www.gsfallriver.com or call 508678-7412.

A Country Christmas Bazaar, presented by Corpus Christi Parish, 324 Quaker Meetinghouse Road in Sandwich, will take place November 22 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Come and see the many wonderful handmade creations by our crafters, the aroma of our homemade baked treats, and enjoy a delicious lunch at our café, take a chance at our Noella raffle and our handmade quilt raffle, and stop by to see many of your favorite vendors. This spectacular event will be taking place at the parish center including classrooms.

The Women’s Guild of Holy Trinity Parish will sponsor a Fall Penny Sale inside the parish hall, corner of Stafford Road and Tucker Street in Fall River, on November 23 beginning at 1 p.m. Admission is $1 per person and there will be door prizes and food available.

St. Anthony of the Desert Parish, 300 North Eastern Avenue in Fall River, will hold its annual Food Festival and Craft Show on November 23 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Come and enjoy great Lebanese foods such as kibee, tabouli, stuffed grape leaves and more. Experience Lebanese pastries, mamoul, baklava, apricot cookies plus more homebaked treats. Shop the local crafters who come back every year with special gift items for the holidays. A special this year is a coat sale: there will be a limited amount of name-brand coats (irregulars) at great prices. So come by, enjoy a great lunch or take out, and do your holiday shopping at the same time.

Our Lady of Grace Parish, 569 Sanford Road in Westport, will host its 28th annual Christmas Bazaar inside the parish center on November 29 and 30 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. both days. The kitchen will be open both days and photos will be taken with Santa Claus beginning at 11 a.m. Christmas music will be provided by Pat Cordeiro and Judy Souza from noon to 2 p.m. and there will be more than 30 craft tables with free admission and free parking.

A Day with Mary will be held December 6 at St. John the Baptist Parish, 945 Main Road in Westport, from 7:50 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. It will include a video presentation, procession and crowning of the Blessed Mother with Mass and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. There is an opportunity for Reconciliation. A bookstore is available. Please bring a bag lunch. For more information call 508-996-8274.

Vendors are wanted for the ninth annual Holiday Craft and Vendor Fair to be held at St. Margaret Regional School on Main Street in Buzzards Bay. The fair will be held on December 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, contact Dawna Gauvin at 508-295-7879 or email dmsgauvin@gmail.com.

ated things this way,” the pope said.

Catholic moral teaching forbids abortion, euthanasia, the use artificial reproduction technologies such as in-vitro fertilization and research that involves the destruction of human embryos.

“Fidelity to the Gospel of Life and Respect for Life as a gift from God sometimes require choices that are courageous and go against the current, which in particular circumstances, may become points of conscientious objection,” Pope Francis said.

The pope said the Church opposes abortion and euthanasia not only as a matter of faith or philosophical principle but as a question of science.

“It is a scientific problem, because there is a human life there, and it is not lawful to do away with a human life to solve a problem,” he said. “In ancient and modern thought, the word ‘kill’ means the same thing.”

The pope urged doctors to practice true compassion as “good Samaritans, caring in a special way for the elderly, the infirm and the disabled.”

“There is no human life that is more Sacred than another,” he said, “just as there is no human life qualitatively more significant than another just by virtue of having greater resources, rights and economic and social opportunities.”

In Your Prayers Please pray for these priests during the coming weeks Nov. 21 1975, Rev. Stephen J. Downey, Retired Pastor, Holy Ghost, Attleboro 1994, Rev. James F. Kenney, Retired Pastor, Corpus Christi, Sandwich Nov. 23 1962, Rev. James E. Smith, Retired Chaplain, Bethlehem Home, Taunton 1984, Rev. Msgr. Christopher L. Broderick, Retired Founder, St. Pius X, South Yarmouth Nov. 24 1991, Msgr. Daniel F. Shalloo, Retired Pastor, Holy Name, Fall River Nov. 25 1946, Rev. Philias Jalbert, Pastor, Notre Dame de Lourdes, Fall River 1971, Rev. Dennis Spykers, SS.CC. Retired Pastor, our Lady of Lourdes, Wellfleet Nov. 26 1945, Rev. James R. Burns, P.R., Pastor, Sacred Heart, Fall River Nov. 27 1948, Rt. Rev. Patrick E. McGee, Pastor, St. Mary, North Attleboro

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November 21, 2014

U.S. bishops elect delegates to synod: Kurtz, Chaput, DiNardo, Gomez

BALTIMORE, Md. (CNA/ EWTN News) — Meeting in Baltimore for their annual fall meeting, the U.S. bishops have selected their choices for delegates to next year’s Synod on the Family, sources have confirmed to CNA. The delegates, in order of election, are: Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, president of the U.S. bishops’ conference; Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, who is hosting the 2015 World Meeting of Families; Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of GalvestonHouston, the bishops’ conference vice president; and Archbishop Jose

Gomez of Los Angeles, the highest-ranking Hispanic bishop in the country, who leads the nation’s largest diocese.

The two alternates elected are Archbishop-designate Blase Cupich, who will soon be installed in Chicago, and Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, who heads the U.S. bishops’ defense and promotion of Marriage subcommittee.

After being elected, the delegates’ names will be sent to the Vatican for approval.

If confirmed, the delegates will participate in the 2015 Synod on

the Family, a global meeting of bishops to be held next October in Rome. That synod will follow one that was previously completed this year, discussing a wide variety of matters related to Marriage and family across the globe.

Archbishop Kurtz was born in Mahanoy City, Pa. in 1946. He studied divinity and social work, and he was ordained a priest in 1972.

After serving as a diocesan priest with a focus on social services, diocesan administration, and parish ministry, he served as Bishop of Knoxville from 1999-2007. Since 2007, he has led the Archdiocese of Louisville.

He was elected president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in November 2013, after completing three years as the conference vice president. He had earlier served as chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage and Family Life.

The archbishop is also a member of the Board of Directors for the National Catholic Bioethics Center, on the Advisory Board to the Cause for Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s beatification, and was appointed earlier this year to the Holy

See’s Congregation for the Oriental Churches.

Archbishop Kurtz recently coauthored a booklet on the vocation of Christian parenthood and Christian parents’ relationship with their parish. The booklet focuses on a prayer called “The Blessing of the Child in the Womb,” which was drafted by the U.S. bishops’ conference.

Born in 1944 in Concordia, Kansas, Archbishop Chaput was ordained to the priesthood in 1970.

He was ordained Bishop of Rapid City, S.D., in 1988, and was appointed Archbishop of Denver by Pope John Paul II in 1997.

While in Denver, Archbishop Chaput launched the local St. John Vianney Seminary, which boasts one of the highest seminary enrollment rates in the country. He was also influential in the success of several Colorado-based organizations, including the nationwide missionary group Fellowship of Catholic University Students, the international women’s group Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women, and the Augustine Institute, a lay Catholic graduate school.

As member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Tribe, Archbishop

Chaput is the first Native American archbishop. He has served on several U.S. bishops’ committees involving Marriage and family, ProLife activities, immigration, and religious freedom. Earlier this year, Pope Francis appointed him to the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

The archbishop was chosen to lead Philadelphia in 2011. He is currently leading efforts to organize the highly-anticipated 2015 World Meeting of Families, which will take place next September in Philadelphia. The event is expected to draw one million participants from around the globe and is widely expected to bring Pope Francis to the United States.

Cardinal DiNardo was born in Steubenville, Ohio, in 1949. He studied philosophy and theology, and he was ordained a priest in 1977.

He became coadjutor bishop of Sioux City, Iowa, in 1997 and was named coadjutor bishop of Galveston-Houston in January 2004. He was elevated to the College of Cardinals in November 2007.

The cardinal was chosen vice president of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference in 2013. He previously served as the head of the bishops’ Pro-Life committee. In addition, he is a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture, the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, the Pontifical Council for the Economy Appointed in 2010 to shepherd the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Archbishop Gomez heads the largest U.S. diocese, with more than four million Catholics. He is the highest-ranking Hispanic bishop in the United States.

Born in Monterrey, Mexico in 1951, he holds degrees in accounting, philosophy and theology, and was ordained an Opus Dei priest in 1978. In 2001, he was ordained an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Denver, and in 2005, he was appointed Archbishop of San Antonio.

Archbishop Gomez has worked extensively in Hispanic ministry and played a key role in creating the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders. In 2005, he was named one of Time Magazine’s 25 most influential Hispanics in the United States, and in 2007 he was on a CNN’s list of “Notable Hispanics” in a web special celebrating “Hispanic Heritage Month.”

In 2008, Archbishop Gomez was appointed as a consultant to the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. He has served in various roles for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in areas including Cultural Diversity, Doctrine, and Hispanics and the Liturgy.