Anchor 04.02.10

Diocese of Fall River

The Anchor

F riday , April 2, 2010

Bishop Coleman’s 2010 Easter Message

Easter, 2010 Dear Friends in Christ, Today we rejoice with the whole Church, repeating the Easter refrain: Christ is risen, alleluia! We receive the message of the angel at the empty tomb: “He is not here; he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay” (Mt 28:6).

After the devastating events of Good Friday, which had shaken the disciples’ certainty about Jesus, this announcement restores their hope. It inspires our hope, too; and, we affirm this as the

foundation of our faith in the face of every difficulty.

We begin this faith at baptism, which we see as a sign of rebirth. In the waters of the font, we die with the Lord and rise again with him. By his passion and cross, Christ destroys sin and death, hatred and ignorance. By his resurrection, he restores to us health and life, grace, love, and peace. On Easter we renew our baptismal promises. In this way, we celebrate our participation in Christ’s victory over the forces of evil.

That victory does not remain in the historical past. Instead, the resurrection means that Christ is still alive. He never ceases to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom and the mercy of God the Father. He continues to heal us and free us from the powers of darkness. Through the Church

and the sacraments, he remains with us and is present to us. He shares his risen life with the people of every age. It takes root in us through baptism and is nourished by holy Communion.

Christ is our Paschal sacrifice, the Lamb without blemish who lives although he once was slain (cf. 1Cor 5:7b. Rev 5:6). He hands himself over for all men and women. He allows us to offer him on the altar as ordinary bread and wine that have become his Body and Blood.

When we worship and receive the Eucharist at Easter, we receive the very life of God. Out of love, he joins us to himself. In addition, when we receive the Risen Christ in holy Communion, he gathers the entire community as one in the bond of charity (cf. Sacramentum Caritatis 31). Through this sacrament, the Lord penetrates minds and hearts and transforms the entire world.

He takes up human suffering and pain, violations to the dignity of persons, neglected lives, and every injustice and sin; he associates these with himself and raises all of them up to the Father.

We recognize this same Jesus in the breaking of the bread today (cf. Lk 24:30-31,35). He reveals himself in the midst of our assembly at Mass. He now shows himself to us and meets us with the greeting he once spoke to his disciples in the Upper Room after the resurrection: “Peace be with you.” He returns from the dead in order to strengthen the faith of his brothers and sisters. He bestows on us the promised gift of the Spirit.

With prayerful wishes that you and your families experience the blessings, grace, and peace of the Risen Christ this Easter, I remain Sincerely yours in the Lord,

Bishop of Fall River

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The Anchor

April 2, 2010

Diocesan pastoral planning report to be released on Easter

By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff FALL RIVER — Noting that Bishop George W. Coleman “recognizes plainly that unfortunately we are seeing some significant changes in the demographics of the diocese and in what’s going on in our parishes — meaning we are seeing a decline,” diocesan director of Pastoral Planning Douglas M. Rodrigues announced that the third in a series of pastoral planning reports will be released throughout the Fall River Diocese on Easter Sunday.

The report, entitled “Build a Stronger Church,” follows on the heels of similar releases in 2004 and 2006, and will attempt to present a realistic snapshot of ongoing attendance numbers in the diocese’s various parishes and deaneries.

“Part of what this letter tries to do is just to let people know what’s been going on since the first two letters came out,” Rodrigues said. “There were several goals that were outlined in the 2006 letter and we’ve been able to meet four out of the five. We have a new Pastoral Planning office staff based on my hiring and the hiring of an associate director two years ago.”

The four-page report will be specific to each of the five deaneries in the diocese, will be translated into Portuguese and Spanish, and will include: — an introductory statement from Bishop Coleman; — an overview of the parishes within the deanery including data tables with parish vital statistics for the years 2000 and 2009; — a series of highlighted facts about each parish and deanery; — maps of each deanery showing exactly where each parish is located with approximate mileage differences; and — an overall summary of the diocesan-wide demographics, including the projected number of priests for the years 2015 and 2020.

Rodrigues said the parish data is based on several indicators: the number of registered households within a given parish, average weekend Mass attendance, Religious Education enrollment, and infant baptisms.

“The last page will offer a commentary — a snapshot of the diocese — which pretty much looks at demographics and again correlates the vital statistics data from the diocese,” he said.

“People want to know exactly The stained glass of the crucifixion on page one is from Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in New Bedford. (Photo by Kenneth J. Souza)

what’s going on in terms of numbers — what do our parishes look like, what does our diocese look like?” he added. “So I want people to come away with the idea that things have definitely changed and we need to start thinking as a whole group as how to best serve our needs into the future.”

Rodrigues said he suspects some people will find the numbers “sobering,” but they are indicative of an ongoing trend not only here in the Fall River Diocese, but throughout New England and elsewhere.

“This just isn’t happening here. It’s happening in dioceses throughout the northeast and in different parts of the country,” he said. “The New England Church, overall, is growing grayer and not as many people are participating in the life of the parish.”

While the tendency may be to panic and worry about how this might impact individual parishes or diocesan affiliates, Rodrigues said his office has already been proactive in conducting various “listening sessions” over the last two years throughout the diocese to get a sense for what needs to be done.

“We’ve met with hundreds of people — be they priests, deacons, laity, office directors, school administrators, lay leaders — in order for us to have some goals and a direction for our diocese,” he said. “This isn’t so much a master plan for any type of reorganization; it’s trying to focus all our efforts on that which is most central to the life of the Church.”

Rodrigues said the diocese, collectively, needs to remain focused on the goal of evangelization, of doing what Jesus asks of us.

“This is why dioceses and parishes were created in the first place,” he said. “What the Church does best is it responds to the circumstances going on within a society and it adjusts and makes changes, as necessary, so the mission and message of the Church holds true. We need to think about what’s going to sustain us — or more importantly, what’s going to best serve the mission that Jesus gave us — and how are we going to be sustained?

“But if we really are the Body of Christ and we really are one, we need to be looking at this all together.”

Understanding that some people “have a hard time dealing with change,” Rodrigues said he hopes these data will give everyone a true understanding of the significant changes in the diocese Turn to page 23

poorest of living conditions — Makeshift tents sit atop a mound a trash reaching 12 feet high in a poor section of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The tents are the only shelter for thousands in the parish of St. Jude in the capital city. With the rainy season upon them, shelter, food and water are still vital concerns for the survivors of the devastating January 12 earthquake. (Photo by Tom Kardish)

Worries mount as media exposure ebbs from Haitian disaster areas

By Dave Jolivet, Editor

percent of the homes and build- story of a mother who left her PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — ings in the parish were greatly child in a tent to perform an errand. She returned one hour Missionhurst Father Andrew damaged or destroyed.

Labatorio is a priest minister“On the night of the earth- later to find the child dead from ing to some of the poorest of quake, people camped on open the heat.

Father Labatorio and some this world’s poor in Haiti. Con- spaces, singing their praises, ditions in his parish of St. Jude their hymns of thanksgiving. of his parishioners have set up in the inner-city slums of Port- Some were chanting hymns of latrines to help with the unsaniau-Prince were deplorable pri- forgiveness,” said Father La- tary conditions prevalent across or to January 12’s devastating batorio. “I truly believe it is the area. Yet the smell of rotearthquake, and since, he and their faith that keeps them go- ting corpses buried in makeshift his parishioners have been liv- ing. They are a hopeful people graves in dumping grounds is a ing a constant Good Friday ex- because they have faith in God constant reminder of the terrible toll the earthquake has taken. perience of pain, suffering and who promises deliverance.”

“On the site of a proposed struggle.

Father Labatorio informed “Haiti is easily forgotten,” The Anchor that the refugee new parish clinic, above the ground the living are Father Labatorio told cried at the altar seeing the fa- trying to survive, while The Anchor in an email interview. “I have nomiliar faces. Their voices never underneath, the dead rest in peace,” he ticed lately that Haiti is faltered as they sang their praises to God may said. no longer in the world’s Calling his Haitian headlines. Media shifted for keeping them alive. Perhaps it is the brothers and sisters, its focus somewhere best Mass I ever celebrated in my life.” “resilient people,” Faelse, their job accomther Labatorio said they plished. Haiti continues to struggle to survive. This has camps are growing bigger and “always find a way to get with always been the case. Haiti will bigger everyday. And the worse it and look ahead.” He credits much of that to their Catholic always be a forgotten Eden.” case-scenarios are playing out.

A native of the Philippines, It is the beginning of the faith.

“There’s no doubt that Mass Father Labatorio was raised by rainy season in Haiti, and the a Baptist family, but attended only shelter most of the people and the sacraments not only Catholic school. He converted have are makeshift tents made give them comfort but give them to Catholicism after high school of sheets, and some live in their a reason to live,” he said. “Sunand traveled to Haiti in 2000 as cars. He told of episodes when day attendance in the parish has a missionary student intern and it has rained so heavily, “many doubled after the earthquake. I was ordained a priest in 2003. of the people were completely couldn’t forget the Sunday folHe and another priest began a soaked inside their tents. Some lowing the earthquake. People new parish foundation in a part evacuation camps suffered showed up in the church not in their usual Sunday best. Hair of the Haitian capital that the floods.”

United Nations once declared a The rain isn’t the only weath- was uncombed, clothes not “red zone,” meaning a place of er-related problem faced by the pressed, some wore the same great danger. poor parishioners of St. Jude. dress they slept with.

“I cried at the altar seeing Today, St. Jude’s Parish has “The heat nowadays is unbearapproximately 5,000 registered able,” he said. “People complain the familiar faces. Their voices members, and all of them lost that they cannot stay inside their never faltered as they sang their much, if not everything, in the tents during the daytime when praises to God for keeping them alive. Perhaps it is the best Mass 7.2-magnitude tremor shortly the sun is high.”

Turn to page 22 after the new year. Nearly 70 The mission priest relayed a

“I

The Anchor

April 2, 2010

40 Days for Life closes Lenten campaign

By Christine M. Williams Anchor Correspondent ATTLEBORO — Vigilers outside the Attleboro abortion clinic have received good news twice during the spring 40 Days for Life campaign. Two women scheduled for abortions saw the prayerful witness and changed their minds.

Ron Larose, one of the campaign’s co-coordinators, said, “We take these successes to heart and it is very motivational to us.”

“Our successes are mostly known only to God,” he added.

Larose said the campaign seeks — through peaceful vigil, prayer and fasting — to change hearts and minds so that there is no longer a need for abortion clinics in this country.

Nationwide, there have been more than 350 confirmed saves this spring. During the fall campaign, 212 communities participated, two abortion facilities closed their doors, nine clinic workers quit their jobs and 607 children were saved from abortion.

In a March 15 LifeNews.com opinion piece, David Bereit, national director of 40 Days for Life, recounted stories from across the nation about babies who were saved from abortion.

“Every day, I am humbled and amazed at what God is doing during this campaign,” he wrote. “Thank you for everything you’re doing to support this outreach of prayer and fasting for an end to abortion. It’s working — one life at a time.”

The first 40 Days for Life was conducted in College Station, Texas in 2004. Since then, participating communities have seen drops in the abortion rate and increased Pro-Life activity. The first nationally-coordinated 40 Days for Life was held in fall 2007. In Massachusetts, the campaign has been held in Attleboro, Methuen, Springfield and Worcester.

The Attleboro vigil began in fall 2008 outside the Four Women Health Services building, the only remaining abortion clinic in the Diocese of Fall River. Vigilers gather across the street at Angel Park, located between divided

The Anchor www.anchornews.org

state highway Route 118.

This spring was the fourth campaign in Attleboro, and every day from February 17 to March 28, Palm Sunday, someone stood vigil from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Leaders say the campaign continues to build and the momentum keeps growing. The first season 50 individuals were involved with the campaign.

Now there are more than 200 people on the group’s email list.

“We will continue to fight,” said Ron Larose. “We feel we are on the right track and will continue the campaign as long as it takes.”

While the community around the clinic has been largely supportive of the campaign, some have called the police department in an effort to disperse vigilers.

“As the campaigns continue, we are noticing an increase in tension between us and the local authorities,” he said. “We see that as a sign that our prayers and sacrifice are having an effect.”

The most recent campaign has been marked by cold and rain.

While this winter has not been as harsh as the last, there were days when some people were not able to stand outside the clinic because of the weather. On their website, the Attleboro organizers encouraged everyone who could not participate in person to spend that time in prayer or fasting.

“Prayer and fasting make up two of the three pillars of the campaign,” leaders said.

“The graces that flow from these actions are not diminished by time and location,” they added.

“We know they are the most efficacious way to effect change in the hearts and minds of our society today.”

Frances Rodrigues, a vigiler and mother of five daughters, said she has spoken to women who have had abortions, including a friend of one of her daughters.

“Killing a baby is just wrong,” she said. “Life starts at conception.”

Rodrigues, a parishioner at St. Anthony of Padua in New Bedford, added that when she has talked to these women, she seeks OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER Vol. 54, No. 13

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Published weekly except for two weeks in the summer and the week after Christmas by the Catholic Press of the Diocese of Fall River, 887 Highland Avenue, Fall River, MA 02720, Telephone 508-675-7151 — FAX 508-675-7048, email: theanchor@anchornews.org.

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Send address changes to P.O. Box 7, Fall River, MA, call or use email address

PUBLISHER - Most Reverend George W. Coleman EXECUTIVE EDITOR Father Roger J. Landry fatherrogerlandry@anchornews.org EDITOR David B. Jolivet davejolivet@anchornews.org NEWS EDITOR Deacon James N. Dunbar jimdunbar@anchornews.org OFFICE MANAGER Mary Chase m arychase@anchornews.org ADVERTISING Wayne R. Powers waynepowers@anchornews.org REPORTER Kenneth J. Souza k ensouza@anchornews.org Send Letters to the Editor to: fatherrogerlandry@anchornews.org PoStmaSters send address changes to The Anchor, P.O. Box 7, Fall River, MA 02722.

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to show compassion. “I tell them, ‘Peace be with you,’” she said.

Other participants took that same Christ-like approach outside the abortion clinic. They sought to give love and encouragement to the women traveling there. No graphic images were used at the prayer gatherings.

“We’re trying to save some babies. That’s all there is to it,” said Phil Grima, who has participated in all the Attleboro vigils.

“The Blessed Mother and the Holy Spirit are definitely working.”

For more information, visit www.40daysforlife.com/attleboro.

3 2010 Cathedral Holy Week Schedule

News From the Vatican

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April 2, 2010

Church announces beatification date for Italian Focolare teen VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Chiara Badano, an Italian who died of bone cancer just before her 19th birthday, will be beatified September 25 at a shrine outside of Rome, said the bishop of the diocese where she lived.

The beatification ceremony will be held at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Divine Love and will be presided over by Archbishop Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, said Bishop Pier Giorgio Micchiardi of Acqui.

A member of the Focolare Movement, Badano corresponded for years with Chiara Lubich, founder of the movement.

Born Oct. 29, 1971, in northern Italy, she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a bone malignancy, when she was 17. According to her biography, the diagnosis came after many painful examinations and operations. When she was given the news, she vowed to accept it as God’s will.

“If you want it, Jesus, so do I,” she was reported to have said

during a painful therapy session, adding that “embraced pain makes one free.”

She also reportedly declined to take the morphine doctors offered because, she said, “I want to share as much as possible the pain of Jesus on the cross.”

“I feel that God is asking me for something more, something greater,” she said, according to her official biography. “I could be confined to this bed for years, I don’t know. I’m only interested in God’s will, doing that well in the present moment: playing God’s game,” she said.

Badano, who was nicknamed “Luce” or “Light,” died Oct. 7, 1990. Her funeral was attended by hundreds of young members of the Focolare Movement from throughout northern Italy. Devotion to her has spread, so the rather isolated Diocese of Acqui asked that her beatification ceremony be celebrated in Rome to make it easier for more young people to attend, said Mariagrazia Magrini, the vice-postulator of her cause.

Pope slates Holy Thursday collection for rebuilding Haiti’s ruined seminary VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI has decided the collection taken up at his Holy Thursday evening Mass will be used to help rebuild Haiti’s major seminary in Port-au-Prince.

The seminary was reduced to rubble by the magnitude 7 quake that struck in mid-January.

Each year the pope chooses where to send the collection taken up during the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome.

Pope Benedict’s decision to use the collection from the Mass April 1 to support the rebuilding effort of the Catholic Church in

Haiti was announced by the Vatican March 22.

Each year the pope also asks a different person to write the meditations read during his Good Friday celebration of the Way of the Cross in Rome’s Colosseum.

According to Passionist Father Ciro Benedettini, vice director of the Vatican press office, the meditations for the April 2 service were written by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, former president of the Italian bishops’ conference and former vicar of Rome.

The Vatican also confirmed the pope would celebrate the usual slate of Holy Week and Easter liturgies.

listen while he plays — Father Miguel Angel Bulla plays a tambourine with other members of the Neocatechumenal Way from Poland as they sing and dance in St. Peter’s Square following Pope Benedict XVI Angelus prayer at the Vatican recently. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

A response to the New York Times

By Father Raymond J. de Souza The New York Times on March 25 accused Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, of intervening to prevent a priest, Father Lawrence Murphy, from facing penalties for cases of sexual abuse of minors.

The story is false. It is unsupported by its own documentation.

Indeed, it gives every indication of being part of a coordinated campaign against Pope Benedict, rather than responsible journalism.

Before addressing the false substance of the story, the following circumstances are worthy of note: — The New York Times story had two sources. First, lawyers who currently have a civil suit pending against the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. One of the lawyers, Jeffrey Anderson, also has cases in the United States Supreme Court pending against the Holy See. He has a direct financial interest in the matter being reported.

— The second source was Archbishop Rembert Weakland, retired archbishop of Milwaukee.

He is the most discredited and disgraced bishop in the United States, widely known for mishandling sexual-abuse cases during his ten-

ure, and guilty of using $450,000 of archdiocesan funds to pay hush money to a former homosexual lover who was blackmailing him. Archbishop Weakland had responsibility for the Father Murphy case between 1977 and 1998, when Father Murphy died.

He has long been embittered that his maladministration of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee earned him the disfavor of Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, long before it was revealed that he had used parishioners’ money to pay off his clandestine lover. He is prima facie not a reliable source.

— Laurie Goodstein, the author of the New York Times story, has a recent history with Archbishop Weakland. Last year, upon the release of the disgraced archbishop’s autobiography, she wrote an unusually sympathetic story that buried all the most serious allegations against him (New York Times, May 14, 2009).

— A demonstration took place in Rome on Friday, coinciding with the publication of the New York Times story. One might ask how American activists would happen to be in Rome distributing the very documents referred to that day in the New York Times.

The appearance here is one of a coordinated campaign, rather than disinterested reporting.

It’s possible that bad sources could still provide the truth. But compromised sources scream out for greater scrutiny. Instead of greater scrutiny of the original story, however, news editors the world over simply parroted the New York Times piece. Which leads us to the more fundamental problem: The story is not true, according to its own documentation.

The New York Times made available on its own website the supporting documentation for the story. In those documents, Cardinal Ratzinger himself does not take any of the decisions that allegedly frustrated the trial. Letters are addressed to him; responses come from his deputy. Even leaving that

aside, though, the gravamen of the charge — that Cardinal Ratzinger’s office impeded some investigation — is proven utterly false.

The documents show that the canonical trial or penal process against Father Murphy was never stopped by anyone. In fact, it was only abandoned days before Father Murphy died. Cardinal Ratzinger never took a decision in the case, according to the documents.

His deputy, Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone, suggested, given that Father Murphy was in failing health and a canonical trial is a complicated matter, that more expeditious means be used to remove him from all ministry.

To repeat: The charge that Cardinal Ratzinger did anything wrong is unsupported by the documentation on which the story was based. He does not appear in the record as taking any decision. His office, in the person of his deputy, Archbishop Bertone, agreed that there should be full canonical trial.

When it became apparent that Father Murphy was in failing health, Archbishop Bertone suggested more expeditious means of removing him from any ministry.

Furthermore, under canon law at the time, the principal responsibility for sexual-abuse cases lay with the local bishop. Archbishop Weakland had from 1977 onwards the responsibility of administering penalties to Father Murphy. He did nothing until 1996. It was at that point that Cardinal Ratzinger’s office became involved, and it subsequently did nothing to impede the local process.

The New York Times flatly got the story wrong, according to its own evidence. Readers may want to speculate on why.

Father DeSouza, a priest of the Archdiocese of Kingston, Ontario, is a regular columnist for Canada’s National Post and for the National Catholic Register. This article originally appeared March 27 on the website of the National Review Online (nationalreview.com) and is reprinted with permission.

The International Church Archbishop asks colleagues to take responsibility for abuse failures

April 2, 2010

DUBLIN, Ireland — Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin called on his episcopal colleagues be take responsibility for the Irish Catholic Church’s failures in dealing with child sexual abuse by priests.

“Without accountability for the past there will no healing and no trust for the future,” Archbishop Martin told reporters March 20 after Mass at St. Mary’s ProCathedral in Dublin after Pope Benedict XVI’s pastoral letter to Irish Catholics on the abuse crisis was released.

Archbishop Martin described the letter as “part of a strategy of a renewal of the Church.” Many people “felt it was much stronger than expected,” he said.

Asked why the pope did not make any reference to a Vatican role in the crisis in Ireland, Archbishop Martin said, the responsibility “very much” fell on the Irish Church.

“The Vatican had produced the norms of canon law and they weren’t respected in the management of these cases,” he said.

The pope’s letter was read in full during Masses March 20 and 21 in parishes across Ireland. Copies of the letter made available in some parishes were snapped up quickly by parishioners eager to see exactly what Pope Benedict had to say.

Reaction from abuse victims and their representative groups to the papal letter was mixed, with some expressing disappointment and others welcoming the initiative.

John Kelly of Irish Survivors

of Child Abuse Organization, which represents many of those abused in Church-run industrial schools for abandoned and orphaned children, said the letter represented a long-overdue apology from the pope.

“Victims desperately need closure for what happened to them.

We are fed up being victims and don’t want to remain victims,” Kelly said.

“This letter is a possible step to closure and we owe it to ourselves to study it and to give it a measured response,” he said.

“We are heartened by the pontiff’s open acceptance that the abusive behavior of priests and religious were criminal acts,” he added.

However, the One in Four group, which represents some of the people abused by Irish priests, responded to the letter with a “mixture of dismay and disappointment.”

Maeve Lewis, the group’s executive director, told Catholic News Service she was deeply disappointed by the letter “for passing up a glorious opportunity to address the core issue in the clerical sexual abuse scandal: the deliberate policy of the Catholic Church at the highest levels to protect sex offenders.”

At St. Mary Cathedral in Killarney, Ireland, March 21, a man attempted to attack Bishop William Murphy of Kerry as he read the pope’s letter during Mass, reported the IrishCentral website.

Cardinal Sean Brady of Armagh, Northern Ireland, said

after the letter was released “it is evident from the pastoral letter that Pope Benedict is deeply dismayed by what he refers to as ‘sinful and criminal acts and the way the Church authorities in Ireland dealt with them.’”

Cardinal Brady has been under pressure to resign since he admitted March 14 that he had been aware of allegations of abuse against a priest as early as 1975 and did not report them to police. Although Cardinal Brady has apologized for the error, he has resisted calls for his resignation saying instead that he wanted to stay on as a “wounded healer.”

Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, president of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, also welcomed the letter.

“From our experience in England and Wales, we have learned that the most important thing is to recognize and take to heart the profound damage done to children who have been abused. Putting the safeguarding of children and all vulnerable people at the center of the Church’s efforts is essential,” he said.

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life goes on — A bridesmaid and a boy accompanying the bride await her arrival for a wedding ceremony inside of a partially destroyed Catholic church in Port-au-Prince recently. (CNS Photo/Eduardo Munoz, Reuters)

Brazil bishops launch campaign to distribute a million Bibles to poor SAO PAULO, Brazil (CNS) — The bishops of Brazil launched a campaign to distribute one million Bibles to the country’s poorest Catholic families.

The effort calls for individual families to receive a kit containing a Bible, a Children’s Bible, a copy of the catechism book “I Believe” and a booklet to guide the reader through the Bible.

Sonia Minder, campaign coordinator, explained that the distribution will focus first in the Amazon and the northeast regions of the country, where the concentration of poor people is highest.

“Our target is to hand out the kits to those who are unable to afford to buy the book,” she said.

“We are also focusing on those people and families who have strayed from our religion.”

Parishes and community groups will determine who receives the kits. Their requests will funnel through local diocesan offices which will forward them to the bishops’ conference.

The Church is relying on private donations and partnerships with advertising agencies and transportation companies to promote and deliver the kits.

The Church in the U.S.

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April 2, 2010

Archbishop Dolan urges Catholics to put Mass at center of their Sunday

By Catholic News Service NEW YORK — Archbishop Timothy J. Dolan of New York urged Catholics to make Mass the center of their Sunday because the observance of the Lord’s day is essential for the Church, “the vibrancy of our faith” and the “clarity of our Catholic identity.”

The archbishop used his first pastoral since being named to head the New York Archdiocese a year ago to call Catholics to “keep the Lord’s day holy” and remind them that it is in receiving the Eucharist on Sunday that they sustain their faith.

“Anybody 50 or older can remember when faithful attendance at Sunday Mass was the norm for all Catholics,” Archbishop Dolan said. “To miss Sunday Eucharist, unless you were sick, was unheard of. To be a ‘practicing Catholic’ meant you were at Mass every Sunday. Over 75 percent of Catholics went to Mass every Sunday.

“That should still be the case.

Sadly, it is not. Now, the studies tell us, only one-third of us go weekly, perhaps even less in some areas of the archdiocese,” he said.

“If you want your faith to wither up and die, quit going to Sunday Mass. As the body will die without food, the soul will expire without nourishment. That sustenance comes at the Sunday Eucharist,” he added.

The archbishop released his pastoral on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17. He said it was a good occasion “to look at how we are living the Catholic faith that has been handed on to us by so many generations — for some, the faith can be traced all the way back to St. Patrick himself.”

Archbishop Dolan noted that

as head of the New York Archdiocese one of his joys is the close contact he has with the Jewish people, “our ‘elder brothers in the faith’ — to use the wonderful phrase of the Pope John Paul II.” “Catholics and Jews work, live and pray together in this city as they are able to do in very few other places around the world.

The welcome the Jewish people have given me here in New York has been a true blessing,” he said.

He said Catholics and Jews can learn much from each other, adding that one lesson the Jewish faith can teach Catholics is about “the importance of the Sabbath.”

“Observance of the Sabbath is now, and has been since time immemorial, a constitutive part of being a Jew. Even if many Jews today, like Catholics, no longer observe the Sabbath, it remains a distinctive mark of identity,” Archbishop Dolan said.

He quoted Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel of New York, whom the archbishop called “one of the great rabbi scholars of the 20th century.” The rabbi said: “There are few ideas in world of thought which contain so much spiritual power as the idea of the Sabbath.” He also said the Sabbath “is not an interlude, but the climax of living.”

So, asked Archbishop Dolan, “are we Catholics then living for Sunday?”

“I am afraid if you were to ask someone today whether he lives for Sunday, he might think that you are asking whether he is a football fan,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong. I grew up in a family where no sooner were we home from Mass on Sunday than my father was putting the beer in the cooler and looking forward

to the baseball game and a barbecue. But that was after we got home from Sunday Mass.”

“Do we Catholics think that Sunday is the ‘climax of living’?” he asked. “Do we look forward to Sunday as a day dedicated to the Lord which gives meaning and purpose to our whole week?

“Or have we become accustomed to a weekend mentality,” he continued, “wherein we sleep late, catch up on chores around the house, run errands, drive the kids to sports, do a little recreation and then fit Sunday Mass in between everything else, if at all?”

He noted that Pope John Paul II in his apostolic letter “Dies Domini” (“The Lord’s Day”) said that “when Sunday loses its fundamental meaning and becomes merely part of a ‘weekend,’ it can happen that people stay locked within a horizon so limited that they can no longer see the heavens.”

Archbishop Dolan acknowledged that some have jobs they must get to on Sunday and that many families are obliged to participate in children’s sports and other activities, but he suggested Catholics avoid “unnecessary work” and, when they can, plan activities in a way that would allow the family to go to Sunday Mass together.

He also suggested Catholics put aside their laptops, cell phones, computers and televisions on Sunday.

He said priests, especially in this Year for Priests, must lead Catholics to once again recapture “our sense of the Lord’s day.” He appealed to everyone in the archdiocese to “make Sunday Mass once again the heart of your week.”

seeking reform — Bishop John C. Wester of Salt Lake City blesses a girl during a special Mass for immigrants at St. Aloysius Catholic Church in Washington, D.C. After the service, Bishop Wester, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, was among the tens of thousands of people who took part in a national rally for immigration reform. (CNS photo/Nancy Wiechec)

Students join immigration rally, lobby for their futures WASHINGTON (CNS) — Sergio may only be 13, but he already understands well the connection between his chances of attending college in five years and his immigration status.

The eighth-grader from suburban Maryland moved from Colombia to the United States with his parents in 2001. He has never been back and is as Americanized as they come.

But unless something changes to enable him to become a legal U.S. resident, going to college will be unaffordable for his construction-worker father and housekeeper mother. Though the U.S. is the only country he has ever known, he lacks legal immigration status and many states now require proof of legal U.S. residency to obtain instate tuition or scholarships.

On March 21, Sergio’s parents, Diana and Luis, brought him and his sister, Luisianna, who is six and a U.S. citizen by birth, to the immigration rally and march at the National Mall. Luisianna carried a poster she and her mother made, depicting a happy family and the words “Don’t forget the DREAM Act,” “We are one family” and “Home, Sweet Home.”

Like many of the young people among the 200,000 at the rally, Sergio and his family were advocating for comprehensive immigration reform that includes provisions allowing students who were brought to this country as children to legalize their status, enabling them to continue their education at in-state tuition rates. The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, or the DREAM Act, has long been a separate piece of legislation that has failed to advance in Congress.

For this family, returning to Colombia is not a practical option, Luis said. “We came here for our son,” he explained. When they left Colombia years ago, the economy there was a shambles and drug warfare had made life too unsafe to

raise a family there, he said.

The drug warfare has eased, but the Colombian economy is little improved, Luis said.

So they joined the March for America on a warm spring day, joining others who were trying to make their cause understood in posters, banners and slogans on Tshirts.

“Who you calling illegal, Pilgrim?” “Change takes courage,” “Justice and integrity for all,” “Obama, we voted for you, reform immigration now,” “Reform, not raids,” “My faith, My vote,” “We are America” and “Friends keep promises,” were among some of the themes of signs and shirts.

Others quoted Christian and Jewish scriptures calling for believers to care for the stranger.

In Washington, Hugo, 21, said that although he was born in the United States, he wears an “Undocumented and Unafraid” T-shirt out of solidarity with other people who put themselves at risk of arrest and deportation by going public about their immigration status.

“Speaking, fund raising, helping people come out of the shadows” have been the Chicago group’s main activities, Hugo said. An important role for group members has been to serve as mentors to young people who don’t even know they’re in the country illegally until it comes time for them to get a driver’s license and they learn they don’t have the papers they need to apply, he said.

Lucero, a 17-year-old who came from Florida with her Catholic parish, said college appears to be off limits to her, even though her grades are among the highest in her school and she’s already received a scholarship. Her parents brought her to the U.S. from Mexico in 2000.

“I’ve got a 4.3 GPA and I can’t go to college,” she said. “I would like to become a teacher.” Friends in similar circumstances who have already graduated “are working in the fields or McDonald’s” instead of going to college, she said.

The Church in the U.S. Bishops urge vigilance to keep abortion funds from health reform

April 2, 2010

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Here is the text of a statement from the U.S. bishops on health reform signed into law March 23

by President Barack Obama. The statement, by Chicago Cardinal Francis E. George, president of the bishops, was approved by the Administrative Committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops: For nearly a century, the Catholic bishops of the United States have called for reform of our health care system so that all may have access to the care that recognizes and affirms their human dignity. Christian discipleship means “working to ensure that all people have access to what makes them fully human and fosters their human dignity” (“U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults” p. 454).

Included among those elements is the provision of necessary and appropriate health care.

For too long, this question has gone unaddressed in our country.

Often, while many had access to excellent medical treatment, millions of others including expectant mothers, struggling families

or those with serious medical or physical problems were left unable to afford the care they needed. As Catholic bishops, we have expressed our support for efforts to address this national and societal shortcoming.

We have spoken for the poorest and most defenseless among us.

Many elements of the health care reform measure signed into law by the president, address these concerns and so help to fulfill the duty that we have to each other for the common good. We are bishops, and therefore pastors and teachers. In that role, we applaud the effort to expand health care to all.

Nevertheless, for whatever good this law achieves or intends, we as Catholic bishops have opposed its passage because there is compelling evidence that it would expand the role of the federal government in funding and facilitating abortion and plans that cover abortion. The statute appropriates billions of dollars in new funding without explicitly prohibiting the use of these funds for abortion, and it provides fed-

eral subsidies for health plans covering elective abortions. Its failure to preserve the legal status quo that has regulated the government’s relation to abortion, as did the original bill adopted by the House of Representatives last November, could undermine what has been the law of our land for decades and threatens the consensus of the majority of Americans: that federal funds not be used for abortions or plans that cover abortions. Stranger still, the statute forces all those who choose federally subsidized plans that cover abortion to pay for other peoples’ abortions with their own funds. If this new law is intended to prevent people from being complicit in the abortions of others, it is at war with itself.

We share fully the admirable intention of President Obama expressed in his pending executive order, where he states, “It is necessary to establish an adequate enforcement mechanism to ensure that federal funds are not used for abortion services.”

However, the fact that an execu-

tive order is necessary to clarify the legislation points to deficiencies in the statute itself. We do not understand how an executive order, no matter how well intentioned, can substitute for statutory provisions.

The statute is also profoundly flawed because it has failed to include necessary language to provide essential conscience protections (both within and beyond the abortion context). As well, many immigrant workers and their families could be left worse off since they will not be allowed to purchase health coverage in the new exchanges to be created, even if they use their own money.

Many in Congress and the administration, as well as individuals and groups in the Catholic community, have repeatedly insisted that there is no federal funding for abortion in this statute and that strong conscience protection has been assured.

Analyses that are being published separately show this not to be the case, which is why we oppose it in its current form. We

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and many others will follow the government’s implementation of health care reform and will work to ensure that Congress and the administration live up to the claims that have contributed to its passage. We believe, finally, that new legislation to address its deficiencies will almost certainly be required.

As bishops, we wish to recognize the principled actions of the Pro-Life members of Congress from both parties, in the House and the Senate, who have worked courageously to create legislation that respects the principles outlined above. They have often been vilified and have worked against great odds.

As bishops of the Catholic Church, we speak in the name of the Church and for the Catholic faith itself. The Catholic faith is not a partisan agenda, and we take this opportunity to recommit ourselves to working for health care which truly and fully safeguards the life, dignity, conscience and health of all, from the child in the womb to those in their last days on earth.

Some of the major provisions of health care reform legislation

By Nancy Frazier O’Brien Catholic News Service WASHINGTON — Here are some of the major provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which is projected to cost $938 billion over 10 years. The bill passed the House March 21 and was signed into law March 23: Changes in 2010: — insurance companies will be barred from discriminating against children based on preexisting conditions; — parents will be able to keep young-adult children on their health insurance policies up to age 26; — senior citizens receiving Medicare will be eligible for free preventive care, such as cancer screenings; — people receiving Medicare Part D will receive an additional $250 if the cost of their prescription medications reaches the socalled “doughnut hole” coverage gap; — new health plans must cover preventive care and checkups for free. All plans will be subject to the requirement by 2018; — insurance companies will no longer be able to drop a person’s coverage when he or she becomes sick; — indoor tanning services will be subject to a 10 percent tax beginning July 1; — a temporary federal program will allow companies to offer health insurance coverage for

early retirees between the ages of 55 and 64; — employers, including nonprofit groups, with fewer than 25 employees will be eligible for government tax credits to subsidize health insurance for their employees; — uninsured Americans with a pre-existing condition will be able to purchase insurance in order to avoid medical bankruptcy.

Changes in 2011: — flexible spending accounts will be limited to $2,500 a year and over-the-counter medications not prescribed by a doctor will no longer be eligible for reimbursement; — chain restaurants and vending machines will be required to provide nutritional information for each item sold; — nonprofit hospitals will be required to perform a community needs assessment and implementation plan every three years and to widely publicize their financial assistance policies.

Changes in 2012: — Medicare payments will be reduced for preventable hospital readmissions; — an Independence at Home demonstration project will be created to allow high-need Medicare beneficiaries to receive treatment while remaining in their homes; — new annual fees will be imposed on the pharmaceutical industry.

Changes in 2013: — payroll taxes will increase

from 1.45 percent to 2.35 percent for individuals who make more than $200,000 and married couples filing jointly who make more than $250,000.

Changes by 2014: — all citizens and legal residents will be required to have health insurance coverage or face a tax penalty, with certain exemptions. Individuals and families making up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level ($88,000 for a family of four in 2010) will be eligible for federal tax credits on a sliding scale; — Medicaid will be expanded to include children, pregnant women, parents and adults under age 65 without dependent children if they earn less than 133 percent of the federal poverty level ($29,326 for a family of four in 2010). The federal government will pay 100 percent of the costs of the newly eligible in 2014 to 2016; — insurance companies will be barred from discriminating against adults based on pre-existing conditions, health status or gender; — all employers will be required to offer health insurance to their employees or face fines.

Tax credits to companies and nonprofit groups with 25 or fewer employees and average annual salaries under $50,000 would cover up to 50 percent of the insurance cost; — current federal funding levels for the State Children’s

Health Insurance Program will be extended through 2015; — new annual fees will be imposed on the health insurance sector; — state-based insurance “exchanges” will be established that will allow people under certain income levels to buy private health insurance with government tax credits. Only citizens and legal immigrants will be

allowed to purchase insurance through the exchanges; — the Medicare program for senior citizens will move from a fee-for-service reimbursement system for health care providers to a more comprehensive, quality-based system; — insurance companies will be prohibited from placing annual or lifetime caps on the dollar value of health coverage.

www.bathsplashshowroom.com

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April 2, 2010

The Anchor Recognizing and resisting the sifting

Today the whole Church somberly meditates on the Passion of the Lord Jesus. We focus anew on how the chief priests of the temple and others plotted to get him killed: how they put Jesus on a mock trial, suborning lies and intentionally taking statements he had made out of context to frame him not only for blasphemy, but for sedition. We see how they recruited and whipped into a frenzy a mob to choose the murderer Barabbas over him and to amplify their calls to have Jesus crucified. We witness how Pontius Pilate, even though he knew that the chief priests were framing a totally innocent man, washed his hands of the situation for personal and political expediency. And we see how many of the Roman soldiers, in their squalid spiritual state, took sadistic delight in torturing, mocking and crucifying a good man who had done nothing wrong. Today is a day in which we witness, in all its ugliness, the evil of which man is capable.

Jesus, however, had repeatedly warned his followers that what they did to him, they would also do to them (Lk 21:12-17). For that reason, on the night he was betrayed, Jesus turned to Simon Peter and said, “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed for you [in particular] that your faith may not fail; and when you have turned again, you will strengthen your brethren” (Lk 22:31). Jesus wanted Simon Peter in particular to know that the evil one would seek to shake the Church to its foundation not just through getting people to become unconscious collaborators in the crucifixion of the Son of God but through a deliberate attack on Peter.

This is why Christ prayed in particular for Peter, that his faith may not fail and that he might strengthen the faith of his brothers and sisters.

Satan’s game plan hasn’t changed. To sift the Church like wheat, he seeks to go after Peter and his successors, the living rock on whom the Church of Christ is constructed and the source and sign of unity in the Church. As Church history amply attests, if the papacy is weakened, the whole Church is weakened. Occasionally Satan has triumphed in debilitating the papacy through the personal moral weaknesses of popes. On other occasions, when he has failed to make the pope fall inwardly, he has sought to replay a page out of the playbook he used to bring an innocent man to crucifixion on Good Friday.

This is the largest context in which to view the recent campaign of attacks on Pope Benedict. Just as with the framing of Christ, it begins with some facts that are then totally taken out of context, to pretend as if the future pope were really guilty of something terrible. Next there is a summary verdict of adversarial experts long convinced a priori of the accused man’s guilt. Then the mob is roused to paroxyms, so that they will join the leaders in calling for the person’s head. Finally the clamors become so loud and the anger so strong that even those smart enough to recognize that the leaders are plotting to lynch an innocent man wash their hands of the situation lest the mob turn on them, too. All of it begins, however, exactly how the “father of lies” (Jn 8:44) always begins.

We print on page four of this edition a formidable article by Father Raymond de Souza about the coordinated campaign by the New York Times, an interested lawyer and a disgraced prelate to manufacture a story to make Pope Benedict appear more concerned with a priest who abused 200 deaf boys in Wisconsin decades ago than with justice for the boys themselves. Please study it, not just for the facts involved but for the method.

Those methodological observations will help you to decipher a similar campaign being waged by German publications, insinuating that the future Pope Benedict was personally involved in reassigning an abusive priest during his tenure as Archbishop of Munich-Freising.

Just as with the New York Times, the German publications first describe the despicable things that the priest in question did in another German diocese before coming to Munich, so that every reader begins with (totally justifiable) outrage. Next the publications make a weak and tendentious connection to Cardinal Ratzinger, establishing that the priest was given permission by the archbishop’s office to live in Munich while undergoing treatment.

Then the publications note that the same priest was given permission to return to duty in the Archdiocese of Munich where he abused again — which only adds to the righteous indignation — with the suggestion that Cardinal Ratzinger must have known all that we know now about the priest in question and callously enabled him to continue to use his collar to abuse children. The fact that the then-vicar general of the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising released a statement admitting he alone was totally responsible for the judgment calls in question did not matter. The fact that the time line shows that Cardinal Ratzinger was already in Rome for four years before the terrible decision was made to allow the priest to resume pastoral duties did not matter. The story line had already been chosen and they were determined to continue to portray the future pope as holding a smoking gun, the facts notwithstanding.

Why would the New York Times and other publications choose to engage in tabloid journalism of this sort, and many other news media just echo the same pseudo-historical fiction?

It’s much more than a desire to sensationalize in order to sell newspapers; if that’s all it was, there are many more well-documented scandals of politicians, famous athletes and Hollywood celebrities upon which to focus. It’s much more than a desire simply to try to attack a big name or institution, which is an historically-proven path toward Pulitzers.

It seems to be an attempt — conscious in some, unconscious in others — to destroy the Church’s moral credibility by trying to portray her leaders as scoundrels rather than saints, as hypocrites rather than heroes, as people evidently unworthy to be believed or followed.

Such an attack on the Church would weaken the ability of the Church to mount a potent defense against various editorial priorities that the Church will always vigorously oppose, like “reproductive rights,” or “marriage equality,” or various of the other euphemisms for particular evils secular elites desire. As George Weigel wrote in an op-ed earlier this week on First Things online, “The narrative that has been constructed is often less about the protection of the young (for whom the Catholic Church is, by empirical measure, the safest environment for young people in America today) than it is about taking the Church down — and, eventually, out, both financially and as a credible voice in the public debate over public policy. For if the Church is a global criminal conspiracy of sexual abusers and their protectors, then the Catholic Church has no claim to a place at the table of public moral argument.”

None of this is to imply that all criticism of Pope Benedict, of the Vatican, or of the Church hierarchy is illegitimate and part of an effort to impair the Church. Pope Benedict is not, nor ever has been, morally infallible and obviously could have made disastrous judgment calls. None, however, is in evidence. Likewise, the whole structure of the Vatican, and ultimately the pope, should be legitimately held responsible for the selection and supervision of bishops, several of whom failed in their elemental episcopal duty to protect Christ’s lambs from wolves. But there’s a world of difference between constructive criticism that seeks to help the Church become truer to the Gospel, and the destructive, even diabolical attacks that aim to damage or destroy the Church.

Satan continues to seek to sift the Church like wheat by attacking the successor of St. Peter. All Catholics should join Christ in praying for Pope Benedict, that his faith may not fail and that he may continue faithfully to fulfill his office of strengthening us all.

Our spiritual resurrection The saints are always given to us as models their soul. Basing himself on St. Paul’s words, of the Christian life. St. John Vianney is given “If you have been raised with Christ … seek not merely to priests as a patron and exemplar the things that are above, not the things of but to all the faithful as an icon of receptiv- earth” (Cor 3:1-2), he said: “To seek and to ity and response to God’s graces. That’s why find that which is above, we must not only it’s particularly instructive for all of us how arise from the grave of sin, by cleansing our he celebrated Easter, so that we may imitate hearts from every sin, but we must purify him in making the practical consequences of them…. When Christ arose from the grave he Easter come alive. left the burial sheets behind; so should we at For the Curé of Ars, the joy of Jesus’ resur- our spiritual resurrection leave in the graves rection came not from just from the fact that the fetters of our old habits; we must break Jesus rose from the dead but from the reality with the old life and walk in a new one; we that Jesus, risen from the dead, is still alive. In must put off the old man and put on the new his Easter homilies, he would exultantly and man, which is created in holiness and justice. repeatedly exclaim, “Jesus lives!” and pass on And so … we should be able to say of [hedothe joy of that fact and living relationship to nists], ‘He is risen, he is not here, he is no lonhis parishioners. ger in the tomb where he has so often sinned;’ The height of his joy was inversely pro- of the greedy, ‘The miser is risen, he lingers portioned to the depth of his Lenten sorrow no more with his treasures, which the rust and over the Lord’s sufferings. “We beheld him moth will eat away; he no longer kneels at the trodden upon like a worm,” he preached one altar of mammon; he has become the father Easter Sunday, with words that can move all of the poor’; of the drunkard, ‘He is risen’; of of us this Good Friday. “We saw him drag his the gambler, ‘He is not here. Behold the place rack to the place of execution; we heard the is empty where once he sat far into the night dull strokes of the hammer that fastened his playing and drinking, while his poor wife and hands and feet to the cross; we saw the cross hungry children suffered want at home.’ This lifted up with its precious burden; briefly, we is what ought and must be said of all sinners: were witnesses in spirit of the awful agonizing ‘They are risen, they are not here, the grave death of our Savof sin is empty, ior. … The only they are leading begotten Son of a new life. O the Father was then indeed we calumniated as shall all spend the poor Son of a blessed and the carpenter, happy Easter, the Messiah sent a day of gladBy Father from heaven ness, a day that Roger J. Landry was mocked as the Lord has the Galilean, his made.” words of charity C h r i s t ’s were branded as the work of hell. When he resurrection is also meant to have dramatic said that he had come to found a kingdom practical effects in those who are suffering. that was not of this world, he was denounced “If crosses and sufferings come upon us,” he as a seducer of the people, and an enemy of said, “let us, too, kneel in the garden of olCaesar. … It seemed as if his enemies were ives; let us drain the chalice of suffering to the really triumphant in victory when Jesus hung dregs on Golgotha, let us look up with courbleeding upon the cross. His enemies ap- age and holy zeal. Good Friday was followed peared sure of victory, when they said to the by a joyful Easter morning for the incarnate crucified Savior in derision, ‘If you are the God, and we, too, shall enjoy a day of rejoicMessiah, descend from the cross. You helped ing, for if we suffer with Christ we shall also others, now help yourself,’ and he made no be glorified with him. Our cross will be for us reply to these words, but bowed his head and Jacob’s ladder, upon which we shall ascend died. And still more, he was laid in a grave from earth to heaven, where there shall be no like an ordinary mortal, the grave itself be- more weeping, no more pain, but where etering guarded and sealed. … Everything was nal joy, eternal peace, and eternal rejoicing over and at an end; the world seemed to con- will reign.” quer.”

This assurance in particular for those “But dear brethren,” Father Vianney con- who are mourning the death of loved ones. tinued, stressing the adversative conjunction, Christ’s resurrection defeated death and re“our mourning is now turned into joy. The moved its sting, Father Vianney triumphantly seal of the grave is broken; he who reposed emphasized. “Now we may face death with there is living; he whom we saw die upon the confidence and say with Job: ‘I know that wood of the cross, as the outcast of mankind, my Redeemer lives, and that he will raise me he has proclaimed his divine dignity; neither up at the last day.’ Dry your tears, then, poor seal, nor grave, nor stone, nor lock could wife, weeping at the heavy loss of your chilwithstand him; he is risen! Jesus lives! … dren’s provider; weep not, poor husband, at Because he arose from the grave through his the early death of your wife; children, mourn own almighty power, because he has built up not the loss of your parents, who have left you again the temple of his body in three days, he orphans. My brethren, let us not weep and has proven the glory of his divinity and placed mourn for our beloved dead, like those who the seal of completeness upon the work of re- have no hope. We have a hope in the risen demption.”

Savior, that he will one day send his Angels The joy of the resurrection and the fact that to call us from our graves; we shall see one Jesus Christ is alive, Father Vianney stressed, another again; we shall rejoice, and our joy no should have several “practical” consequences man shall take from us!” in the way we live. “As Christ is risen, so we Finally, Christ’s resurrection also has pracmust arise and enter into a new life.” tical consequences for the whole Church, esHe started by saying that this new life must pecially when she is suffering, as we now are begin in the domestic Church. He called on with our Holy Father. “Our Church, too, will spouses and parents to renew themselves in arise from the grave of oppression,” Father this risen life at home, reflecting on whether John Vianney said. “Every century testifies they both live in union with the risen Lord that the deeper they dig her grave, the tighter Jesus and whether they pass on to their chil- they seal and close it, the more gloriously she dren, by word and example, how to keep their has arisen from the grave, and the more victocommunion with Jesus. He called on Chris- riously she has unfurled her flag. Her founder, tian children to appreciate the gift of a living who rose from the grave today, has said: ‘The mother and father, not to grieve them by dis- gates of hell shall never prevail against her.’ obedience or sin but to honor and please them And this founder proclaims this joyfully to by a virtuous life. He reminded them both that the redeemed world today.” they are among the principal catalysts or obJesus is alive! He has truly risen! And this stacles to each others’ Easter joy. changes everything. Alleluia!

Jesus’ resurrection must lead all of us, he Father Landry is pastor of St. Anthony of continued, to do a thorough housecleaning of Padua Parish in New Bedford.

Putting Into the Deep

April 2, 2010

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hirty-eight years ago along with three other men, I was ordained to the priesthood at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Fall River by Bishop Daniel A. Cronin. Thus began a priestly ministry that has been varied and exciting; a ministry in which the Lord continues to regularly broaden my horizons and stretch my imagination.

The parishes in the Attleboro Deanery where I was a parochial vicar in my younger days were vibrant with many young families and children in Religious Education. The Cursillo movement was very much alive in our diocese and many couples returned to the parish from the Cursillo experience enthusiastic about getting involved in parish ministries. They became the leaders in the parish and encouraged others to seek what they had found. Their spirit and their witness had a profound effect on my own spiritual growth.

Along with parish ministry

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The Anchor

Steward of the mysteries of God

I spent five years as a chaplain recipients, I realized that their at Bishop Feehan High School, faith inspired me. where I enjoyed working with Since leaving hospital minisa wonderful team of teachtry 17 years ago, I have had the ers dedicated to educating the privilege of pastoring parishes students by word and example in Somerset, Mansfield, and that they might mature spiritually, academically, athletically and Year For Priests socially.

Vocational Reflection The next decade of my life was devoted to hospital ministry in

By Father Fall River. Ministering full time with the George C. Bellenoit sick, their families, and those who care for them was a new now in South Yarmouth. As in and rewarding experience. previous assignments so also Two years of clinical pastoral in parish ministry it is a gift to education was my specialized be with and minister to people preparation for ministering in in the course of daily living. As the hospital environment. My people transition from infant to days were filled with pastotoddler, child, teen-ager, young ral visits that often included adult, adult, and senior citizen, celebrating the sacraments of God is working in their lives penance, Eucharist and anointvisibly and invisibly. Through ing of the sick. As I witnessed the gift of priesthood, I have the Lord touching the lives of been privileged to accompany

many people through life’s transitions. Many have been joyous and others have been painful for them and for me.

Upon reflection the hand of God has always been present guiding them and me. I continue to be inspired by people’s faith.

In the variety of ways that faith is evident; however, I wish to highlight one in particular: stewardship.

It is a way of life that I see people living and seek to live myself. It is a living out of the great Commandments of love of God and neighbor.

Stewardship is scripturally based and people who seek to live a stewardship way of life realize that all that they have are gifts from God. In gratitude for his gifts, they develop and share the gifts, giving a portion back to God. The variety of vibrant ministries present in the

parishes where I have ministered has enriched the people and the faith communities. They are there because people are truly appreciative of their gifts, develop and share them. They are living stewardship and are an inspiration to me. I attribute much of my spiritual growth to the example of the people I have been privileged to work with over the years.

As I reflect on the invitation to ministry which the Lord extended to me many years ago, I am grateful for having accepted his call. Serving the Lord and his people is a blessing and a privilege to which willingly I recommit myself daily.

In this Year For Priests, with the example of St. John Vianney as a patron, please pray for all in priestly ministry and for those who are contemplating accepting a call to ministry.

Father Bellenoit, ordained in 1972, is pastor of St. Pius X Parish in South Yarmouth.

Mormonism (continued): A new and another religion

DS headquarters is in Salt Lake City, Utah. At the top of the church hierarchy is the First Presidency, composed of the President (who is also prophet, seer, and revelator) and his two counselors, claiming powers that would have made St. Peter blush. The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles elects the President for life and acts under the direction of the First Presidency. Local LDS congregations are called wards and are headed by “bishops” who usually hold secular jobs; wards are grouped into stakes governed by stake presidents.

Children are baptized at age eight. From age twelve every Mormon male (including, since 1978, blacks) is eligible for membership in the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods; the former includes the office of deacon and is concerned with forming good Christians, while the latter is involved with officiating in the church.

Proxies are baptized on behalf of the dead, and families hope to go on living together and procreating in a celestial eternity. Sunday worship includes readings, prayer, teaching, and communion of blessed bread and water (Mormons abstain from alcohol). Beyond the ward, many Mormons engage in esoteric temple rites similar to early Masonic rituals.

A substantial number of Christians believe that Mormons are not Christians. One reason is that Latter-day Saints regard the Book of Mormon as God’s word, on a par with the Bible. It is the certain teaching of the Catholic

Church and most other churches place, or event that is unique to that divine revelation ended with the Book of Mormon has ever the death of the last apostle, even been proven to exist. While the if our understanding and applica- canonical gospels and other tion of God’s word did not. For voices testify to the Jesus of the roughly the first four Christian New Testament, the only voice centuries, debate persisted about testifying to the authenticity of what writings did or did not the Jesus of the Book of Mormon belong in the Bible. Christians is Joseph Smith. Then there are eventually came to agree that 27 the inconsistencies, too many to books form the New Testament. As to what constitutes the Old The Fullness Testament, disagreeof the Truth ment remains, with Protestants subscribing

By Father only to those books Thomas M. Kocik that for Jews now go under the name of the Hebrew Bible, while Catholics and Orthodox addition- catalog here, between the biblical ally admit certain Jewish texts Jesus and the Jesus of the Book that were written in Greek or of Mormon, and further discrepsurvived only in Greek translaancies between the Jesus of the tion. In those controversies, the Book of Mormon and the Jesus word used to describe the books of later Joseph Smith prophecies. that made it into the Bible was Which brings us to another “canon,” from the Greek word basic difference between Morfor “rule” or “measure.” In 1546 monism and traditional Christithe Council of Trent defined the anity: the nature of God. Several biblical canon, thereby excludtimes the Book of Mormon refers ing for Catholics the possibility to the Father, Son, and Holy that there could be any Scripture Ghost as “one God,” but Latterbeyond the Bible. Trent’s deciday Saints understand this to sion was based on the decrees of mean they are one in mind and previous councils and popes, and purpose rather than one indivislongstanding liturgical practice. ible being. For this reason, they The preceding historical note seldom use the word “Trinity,” illustrates that the determination but prefer the term “Godhead” of what is Scripture is grounded to refer to the three divine beings in Church’s living Tradition of who govern our universe. This is faith, even as the Tradition is tritheism, not Trinitarianism. itself grounded in Scripture. UnDrawing from Smith’s later like the Bible, the Book of Morteachings, Mormons believe that mon is not a product of the living the Father is an exalted man with faith of Israel and the Apostles. flesh and bones who attained For starters, not a single person, Godhood after his own death as

a human. The Son, prior to his embodied life on earth, was the Father’s firstborn spirit-child who created this world at his Father’s direction. The Holy Ghost is purely spiritual but looks like a man. Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary and atoned for the sins of mankind on the cross. At his resurrection he assumed an immortal, glorified body like that of the Father.

As a man, he gradually accumulated the divine nature; thus he is at the end of the progression along which we too can proceed by exercising Christian faith.

For the orthodox Christian tradition, the three divine Persons are neither separate deities nor parts of the Godhead, but one eternal God. Moreover, instead of becoming divine, Christ always was divine.

He voluntarily and humbly “emptied himself” of some of his divine prerogatives by becoming man; but this was merely an appearance, camouflaging the “fullness” of divinity (Phil 2:7-8; Col 1:19, 2:9). The Mormon belief that humans can progress

towards divinity is in some ways an undigested version of the great formula of the Church Fathers, “God became man that man might become god.” In short, to be saved is to be “divinized” in Christ by the Spirit; even so, the distinction between Creator and creature forever remains.

In sum, Mormonism radically departs from historic Christianity as defined by Scripture and the creeds of the ancient Church, but neither is it explicable apart from Christianity. Mormons use traditional Christian vocabulary but mean something very different.

For this reason, many Christians maintain that the LDS is not a Christian denomination. In 2001, the Vatican declared that Mormon baptisms are not valid.

Father Kocik is a parochial vicar at Santo Christo Parish in Fall River.

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n the four words of the title, our entire story is summarized. Through these four words we show that death, despair, and disobedience to God, namely sin, has been defeated. This wonderful Gospel is something that was unheard of to those who first heard this message. The Apostles and the women sought the Lord in the garden of death and were told, “Why seek the living among the dead?” They forgot the words of the prophets and God, for their God and our God is the God of the living, not the dead.

Written into the very creation of the cosmos, the Lord wrote this wonderful event into our lives. From the very first moments of the Earth, when the sun descended into the darkness of night, it rose again on the next day, so too does the Son rise on the third day. The Lord has shown us

The Anchor

April 2, 2010

The Lord is risen! throughout our history that the world to come.” We don’t even in our weakest moments, say these words together that we too shall rise, whether approximately 58 times a it is from the waters of the year because it sounds nice, Red Sea, returning from the but rather because we truly exiles, to the birth of the one believe that at the appointed who will show us that death will not be the last chapter of our Homily of the Week lives.

Easter When God became Sunday man he experienced all that we experience

By Father except for sin. He Peter J. Fournier experienced our joys and sorrows, laughing and crying, and death and resurrection. Yes, times we will rise from dead.

Christ rose from the dead and We believe that our life does so we too shall rise from the not end when our earthly body dead on that day yet to come. dies, that it continues, waitChrist’s rising from the dead ing in love of God, for that is not just a matter of our moment when we can truly Faith, but it is a matter of our love and worship our creator Hope. Every Sunday we pray in our glorified bodies, an act and end our creed stating: which will be the most human “We look for the resurrection act that we could ever hope to of the dead, and the life of accomplish.

The Lord is risen; these four words show the love of God: the love of a Father who was willing to allow the Son to die on a cross; the love of a Father who sent his Son as ransom; the love of a Father who through his Son, showed us our end. The resurrection of Jesus shows how much our God loves. It shows us that no matter the cross we carry in our life, no matter what difficulties arise in our daily life, no matter the struggles of sin, we know there in faith, hope and love, those things are not the end.

Rather new life, the glorified life, life eternal with our Father is the end.

The joy and love of the Easter season penetrates throughout time. It is not a joy that was only experienced by the followers of Jesus

2000 years ago or a love that only effects those who witness with their eyes the resurrection of Jesus. The love and joy is made manifest in our own life anytime we fully give of self to God. This is something that happens anytime we receive God’s love in the Eucharist, through the sacrament of reconciliation.

The love is made manifest to those in our lives when we utilize the grace and strength we have received during our baptism and confirmation and live the vocation the Lord has called us to live.

The Lord is risen. May the joy of the Resurrected Lord enter into our lives and allow us to dwell always in love of joy of God. Father Fournier was ordained in June of 2009.

He is currently assigned to St. Francis Xavier Parish in Hyannis.

Upcoming Daily Readings: Sat. Apr. 3, Holy Saturday Night: The Easter Vigil, (1) Gn 1:1-2:2 or 1:1,26-31a; Ps 104:1-2,5-6,10,12-14,24,35 or Ps 33:4-7,1213,20,22; (2) Gn 22:1-18 or 22:1-2,9a,10-13,15-18; Ps 16:5,8-11; (3) Ex 14:15-15:1; (Ps) Ex 15:1-6,17-18; (4) Is 54:5-14; Ps 30:2,4-6,11-12,13; (5) Is 55:1-11; (Ps) Is 12:2-3,4-6; (6) Bar 3:9-15, 32-4:4; Ps 19:8-11; (7) Ez 36:16-17a,18-28; Ps 42:3,5; 43:3-4;or, when baptism is celebrated, (Ps) Is 12:2-3,4bcd,5-6 or Ps 51:12-15,18-19; (8) Rom 6:3-11; Ps 118:1-2,16-17,22-23; (9) Lk 24:1-12. Sun. Apr. 4, Easter Sunday: The Resurrection of the Lord, Acts 10:34a,37-43; Ps 118:1-2,16-17, 22-23; Col 3:1-4 or 1 Cor 5:6b-8; Jn 20:1-9 or 41:Lk 24:1-12, or at an afternoon or evening Mass, 46:Lk 24:13-35. Mon. Apr. 5, Monday in the Octave of Easter, Acts 2:14,22-33; Ps 16:1-2a,5,7-11; Mt 28:8-15. Tues. Apr. 6, Tuesday in the Octave of Easter, Act 2:36-41; Ps 33:4-5, 18-20,22; Jn 20:11-18. Wed. Apr. 7, Wednesday in the Octave of Easter, Acts 3:1-10; Ps 105: 1-4,6-9; Lk 24:13-35. Thur. Apr. 8, Thursday in the Octave of Easter, Acts 3:11-26; Ps 8:2ab,5-9; Lk 24:35-48. Fri. Apr. 9, Friday in the Octave of Easter, Acts 4:1-12; Ps 118: 1-2,4,22-27a; Jn 21:1-14.

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Almsgiving, all $300 billion of it

lmsgiving, along with fasting and intensified prayer, is one of the three traditional Lenten practices enjoined on all Catholics by ancient tradition. So it might seem an odd moment to reflect briefly on just how much almsgiving Americans already do. But perhaps a review of some remarkable data will spur those who are already in the game to do better in our charitable giving — and encourage those who aren’t yet giving to do so.

A few months back, my friend Adam Meyerson, president of the Philanthropy Roundtable, gave a lecture on “The Generosity of America” at Michigan’s Hillsdale College (itself entirely supported by tuition and philanthropy, as it accepts no government money whatsoever). Adam began by noting that the media generally notice Americans’ charitable donations only in the wake of disasters; it was widely remarked, for example, that some $6 billion had been given to disaster relief in the immediate aftermath of

Hurricane Katrina. Yet, admirable as that giving was, Americans routinely give about $6 billion to charity every week, Meyerson noted: “Last year (2009), Americans gave $300 billion to charity. To put this into perspective, that is almost twice as much as we

The Catholic Difference

By George Weigel

spent on consumer electronics equipment — equipment including cell phones, iPods, and DVD players.

Americans gave three times as much to charity last year as we spent on gambling and ten times as much as we spent on professional sports.”

All of which makes us, Meyerson concluded, “the most charitable country in the world. There is no other country that comes close.” The interesting question is, why?

The first reason why has to do with American piety. Secularism may have made serious inroads into American high culture and American public life, but we are not yet Europe or Canada, and it tells in our giving: “Americans who attend church or synagogue or another form of worship once a week give three times as much to charity as a percentage of their income as do those who rarely attend religious services.” And while it is true that $100 billion of that annual $300 billion in charitable giving goes to religious institutions, two-thirds of it goes to other forms of charitable activity, usually secular in character. Moreover, Meyerson, noted, regular worshippers “also give more to secular charities than do those who never or rarely attend religious

services.” Secularism’s claims to a deeper compassion for those in need are put into serious question by this data.

Americans are also not — yet — infected with the European tendency to look toward government for the resolution of all their problems. As Meyerson put it, Americans “respect the freedom and the ability of individuals, and associations of individuals, to make a difference. Americans don’t wait for government or the local nobleman to solve our problems; we find solutions ourselves.” And we help support those who are finding those solutions through charitable giving.

The culture of philanthropy that has traditionally been a part of wealth-creation in America is another facet of this striking picture of generosity, from Andrew Carnegies’s libraries to James J. Hill’s donation of the Catholic seminary in St. Paul to the Gates Foundation’s work to eradicate malaria. That this extraordinary generosity — and its microcosmic counterparts in the giving that ordinary Americans do — is facilitated by tax laws that make charitable giving economically beneficial to the donors simply suggests that, for once, there’s a part of the tax code of which we can be proud.

This Lent, however, Catholics still have reason for some examination of conscience on their almsgiving.

We’re traditionally far behind our Protestant brethren in the percentage of our income we give back to God; and, one expects, we’re also a bit behind the curve on giving to secular charities, too. The “one-third, one-third, one-third rule” still applies in too many Catholic parishes: one-third of a parish’s families carry the bulk of the parish’s financial burden, one-third do a little, and one-third do nothing.

That can, and should, change, even in economically difficult times.

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

It’s a guy thing Friday 2 April 2010 — at home ber of 2009. St. Nicholas Knights of Columbus Council came into in Old Dighton Village — Good existence on Christmas Day. It is Friday only fitting. Ho, ho, ho. ost guys want to keep Since then, the men have been busy. They crave action. busy recruiting, organizing, and They need to roll up their sleeves and get down to business.

Guys say, “Don’t just stand there yakking, get to work.” Now, notice, Reflections of a please, that there are men Parish Priest in our worshipping assemblies.

By Father Tim I have found that an Goldrick excellent vehicle for activating men in the parish is the world’s largest lay organiza- identifying what needs to be done.

They are off to a good start, these tion, the Knights of Columbus. men called Knights. MassachuPastors, need something done? setts State headquarters of the K Call the Knights. of C were very helpful to the men.

Our own parish-based council Manny Ferreira was assigned of the Knights of Columbus was to work closely with us as our chartered by world headquarters D.D. (no, not Doctor of Divinity in New Haven, Conn., in Decem-

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The Ship’s Log

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The Anchor

April 2, 2010

but rather District Deputy.) Paul O’Sullivan, who is in charge of new council development statewide, made frequent trips to the Town of Dighton. Paul Langford was assigned as our insurance agent and has been busy meeting with men individually (including yours truly). Present “High Exulted Grand Puba,” Bill Donovan himself, was here twice and attended our major initiation ceremony, held at St. Margaret’s School in Buzzards Bay. Past State Deputies Jim Sawyer and Vinnie Rumasuglia visited here as well.

These are the big guns. With help like this, organizing a new council is a piece of cake.

I heartily recommend that my brother priests who do not yet

Got resolve?

precious our two-year-old is. icture this: You have But then Miss Precious morphs been chosen as a finalinto Ms. Precocious teen, and ist on the reality TV show, between mouthfuls of pizza America’s Top Chef. You’re not asks something like, “Hey, Dad, exactly sure how this happened; we’re Catholic, right? Well, Dr. I mean, you did send in that Harrington down the street said video of yourself preparing an Catholics don’t believe in birth incredible chicken cordon bleu control? Is he right?” a year ago, but however it hapWell, dad, forget having a pened, a camera crew will be 10-minute warning. Do you, on your doorstep in exactly 10 right now, know what the minutes. At that time you will Church actually teaches? If so, be expected to plate up a meal can you summarize it in a threethat is worthy of the honor of being America’s Top Chef. With the cameras rolling, a panel of the nation’s most acclaimed (and highly critical) chefs will be judging your cuisine

By Heidi Bratton and rating your culinary abilities.

But here’s the problem: you haven’t even second, teen-friendly sound boiled water since preparing that bite? And, if after listening to cordon bleu video. Your kitchen you — big if — Ms. Precocious is somewhere under a mound of squints her eyes and asks how dirty dishes, and there’s nothing you know this, how will you in your pantry but a slim box of back yourself up? mac and cheese, and a can of OK, parents reading this, tuna. Oh, wait. Make that a can remain calm. This was only a of tuna-flavored cat food.

To be crowned America’s Top simulation exercise to illustrate why, with regard to the effective Chef is an honor you’ve wanted sharing of our faith, St. Peter all your life. You just knew that instructs us in the New Testaone day someone would recment to “always be prepared to ognize your culinary brilliance, give an answer to everyone who but to give a demonstration of asks us to give the reason for it today? In 10 minutes? Panic the hope that we have” (1 Peter sets in. You beg the producer 3:15). We must always be prefor even one hour; OK, just 45 pared because we never know minutes, to get prepared. No when our number will be called. dice. It’s now or never.

Fortunately, if we fail to become There are times when beAmerica’s Top Chef, life goes ing a Catholic parent stirs up on. Unfortunately, if we fail to feelings like these, feelings of adequately teach our child the unprepared panic. We want to be Catholic faith, it may comprobrilliant parents. We’re egotistimise their eternal life. cally sure that we actually are Perhaps you are like me and brilliant parents because of how

Home Grown Faith

were convicted by the verse from St. Peter of your need to become a better-prepared Catholic parent by learning more about your faith, but you are also just too busy to wedge even one more thing into your calendar. If this is the case, then here are a few bite-size ways to get ongoing adult faith formation into your life anyway. Forget reading “Cooking Light” in the doctor’s office and bring The Anchor instead. Skip night school classes in wok cookery, and join a church support group instead. Turn off the morning news and read the Bible. You’ll be amazed at how these little actions add up.

You see, finding time and opportunities for faith formation is not the real problem. The real problem is finding the resolve to replace all that stuff that seems so very worldly-urgent with that which we know to be so much more heavenly-important.

When I have more excuses than resolve in this area, I have found that the only thing to do is to pray. Seriously, I just pray. I pray a two-second prayer every day that the Holy Spirit would replace my sloth with resolve, and my sense of what is urgent with what is important, until I am once again convicted that, yes, I am willing to do the work needed to stay prepared for the honor of being a Top Catholic Parent for my children. So, how about you? Parenthood is calling. Got resolve?

Heidi is an author, photographer, and full-time mother.

She and her husband raise their six children in Falmouth. homegrownfaith@gmail.com.

have a parish-based Knights of Columbus Council consider the possibility. All you have to do is tell the Knights what to do and where to go (in a good sense.)

This business of merging parishes can be very stressful on a parish priest. Sometimes, you don’t know where to turn. I lived for two years in a rectory that was a step away from becoming a condemned building. When I just couldn’t take it anymore, I turned to the Knights. I told the men I needed to move into my other rectory. The men rallied to the cause.

One Knight worked evenings and Saturdays to get the place in shape. He and his cousin painted every wall on both floors of my new (1927) place. They used white paint throughout so it would be brighter and more cost-effective by using the same color. Nothing was wasted. The men saved the parish hundreds of dollars.

Then the Knights helped me move. One night, following a Council business meeting, a caravan of vehicles wended its way down Route 138. It looked like a presidential motorcade. Now I live in an adequate rectory. What a gift.

Then I asked the Knights to help me prepare for sale two of the six buildings owned by the parish. The men were there in a heartbeat. One Saturday morning, all the accumulated junk went into a dumpster. Whatever was recyclable was set aside. I was amazed at how quickly the work was accomplished. Thanks to the Knights, with the help of a few good women, the place was tidied up for showing by a real estate agent. The buildings will bring a much better price on the market

and the parish will benefit.

Then I asked the Knights to help provide some seed money for our parish’s new community outreach initiative. The opportunity to create such a department had come up unexpectedly. It had not been foreseen in the budget.

The Knights stepped up to the plate yet again. They decided to organize a “February Craft Fair,” under the leadership of Pete Foley. The guys first admitted they were clueless in the matter of arts and crafts. They wisely decided to seek the assistance of the Women’s Guild. Jill Gurney, who holds a black belt in craft fairs, came to their assistance. It’s inspiring for a pastor to see parish organizations cooperating among themselves.

When all was said and done, the event exceeded expectations.

The men cut a check to the parish outreach effort. This is what happens when men of faith know what needs to be done. They do it.

Two men, both local Jehovah Witnesses, were just at my door. Jehovah Witnesses pop up every year with the daffodils.

“Do you know why Jesus died?” they asked. Duh. The men had no idea that this was a rectory.

We have a sign, but I haven’t yet gotten around to hanging it.

“We’re impressed. We can see, sir, that you know your Bible,” the Witnesses observed. I certainly hope so.

Jehovah Witnesses embrace a mission. Then they get out there and pound the tar. Heads up, you guys over at Kingdom Hall. Here come the Knights of Columbus.

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

30 Budlong Road, Cranston, R.I. • 401-942-4800

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The Anchor

April 2, 2010

New Bedford parishioner views Pro-Life stance as ‘common sense’

By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff

NEW BEDFORD — It was a typical 8:30 a.m. Sunday Mass at St. Anthony of Padua Parish. It was taking place on the first Sunday in October, traditionally Respect Life Sunday.

The pastor, Father Roger J. Landry, had just delivered a homily about the dangers of the proposed Freedom of Choice Act and the poignant sermon was still swirling around in her head when 16-yearold lector Cassandra Borges got up to recite the Prayers of the Faithful.

“There were several Pro-Life intentions that day for pregnant women, the conversion of those who support abortion, or for those who have had abortions,” Father Landry said. “Even though Cassandra is normally very poised — a result of her being a gifted actress and singer — her sensitivity to what abortion really is could not be hidden. She cried through the first intention, but during the second just couldn’t continue and she broke down.”

Even though he had to finish the prayers for her, Father Landry said Borges’ reaction was one of the most moving things he’s ever seen.

“Her witness to the type of tears we should shed at the tragedy of abortion was worth at least a hundred Pro-Life homilies,” he said.

Borges’ involuntary display of

emotion was also one reason for her two days before 9/11 happened, so “I love them. I was very young being selected as this year’s recipi- that whole week my mom was just when they died, but just thinking about how God took them away ent of the John Cardinal O’Connor a wreck.”

Despite the loss, Borges said from us, it really has brought us Youth Award, the annual honor closer to our faith.” presented by the diocesan Her mother Ann and Pro-Life Office to acknowlfather Eduardo have since edge individuals who work added sister Carina and tirelessly for the rights of the brother Christian to their unborn and all life. family.

“I really didn’t think I was “I know people someworthy of the award,” Borges times can’t understand why said. “But my parents told me things like this happen,” no one ever really deserves Borges said. “But my brothanything God gives them — ers are our guardian angels when you get it, you just take watching over our entire it in and use it.” family. They help me out A faithful Catholic and and keep us all together.” active parishioner at St. AnAlthough given her thony’s, Borges has always family’s various parochial been a staunch Pro-Life adduties, Borges admitted vocate. She has routinely it’s difficult to find all the participated in the 40 Days members of her family even For Life campaign and other sitting together in the same Pro-Life activities. Her sensipew during Mass. tivity to the issue stems from “Sometimes during the premature death of her Mass, I’m serving as a two younger brothers. lector, my dad is singing “I remember the Mass clearly and I remember dur- Anchor person of the week — Cassan- in the choir, and my sister ing the homily thinking about dra Borges, center, with her sister Carina and and brother are altar servmy two brothers who passed brother Christian. (Photo by Kenneth J. Souza) ers — so we’re never sitting together in a pew,” she said. away from kidney failure,” “We’re always involved in she said.

Her first brother, Nathan, died at the tragedies somehow brought her something.”

In addition to her role as lector, only three months of age; and then family together and strengthened Borges also volunteers with the partheir faith.

Andrew after only a day.

“Whenever abortion comes to ish food pantry and soup kitchen, “My mom never even got to hold Andrew,” Borges said. “He died mind, I think about them,” she said. sings with the choir, teaches third-

grade Religious Education classes, and is an active member of the newly-formed parish youth group.

“We just started it up again and even though we don’t have many members, I would rather have a small group of dedicated, faithful people,” she said. “We do a lot of fun activities — we go bowling, we go skating — but we also have eucharistic adoration and have speakers come in and talk about Pro-Life issues. I really think it helps bring young people back to the Church.

That’s how I got some of my friends to come to Mass.”

Having lost two siblings, Borges looks to her surviving brother and sister as sources of inspiration and support on a daily basis. And it’s one of the reasons why she can’t fathom anyone wanting to intentionally discard a life and why she remains a strong Pro-Life supporter.

“People don’t even appreciate life,” she said. “You’d think it would just be common sense — that’s how I think of it. I pray for people to realize that it’s not a matter of [scientific experimentation]: it’s life. I think that’s why I’m so sensitive to the issue and why it affects me.”

To nominate a Person of the Week, send an email message to FatherRogerLandry@ anchornews.org.

April 2, 2010

The Anchor

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The Anchor

April 2, 2010

‘20/20’ to air show on miracles tonight NEW YORK — ABC News’ show ‘20/20’ will air a one-hour show tonight at 10 p.m., featuring purported miracles.

Among the segments will be one featuring Jose Amaral of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in New Bedford. Amaral says he was healed of a debilitating condition through the intercession of John Paul II. The hour-long show, hosted by

Elizabeth Vargas, will also focus on St. Damien of Molokai and delve into the possible canonization of Servant of God Father Emil J. Kapaun, an Army chaplain who was a prisoner of war during the Korean War, and the miracle through his intercession claimed by a young man in Kansas.

Consult local listings for channels on which the program will air.

Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6

ready for takeoff — A character named Hiccup, voiced by Jay Baruchel, is seen in the animated movie “How to Train Your Dragon.” For a brief review of this movie, see CNS Movie Capsules below. (CNS photo/Dreamworks)

Easter Sunday, April 4 One-hour special at 11:30 a.m.

Celebrant is Bishop George W. Coleman, Bishop of the Diocese of Fall River

CNS Movie Capsules NEW YORK (CNS) — The following are capsule reviews of movies recently reviewed by the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“The Bounty Hunter” (Columbia/Relativity) Forgettable, frequently meanspirited mix of romantic comedy and crime story begins with a former police officer-turned-bounty hunter (Gerard Butler) delightedly arresting his journalist exwife (Jennifer Aniston) after she fails to appear for a court hearing, but the two quickly become entangled in a case of police corruption that leaves them dodging bullets and, far less successfully, a renewed hail of arrows from cupid’s bow. Any potentially heartwarming elements in director Andy Tennant’s predictable tale of rekindling romance get lost amid the frenetic shuffle as the rival protagonists use a Taser stun gun on one another as well as tackle and handcuff each other. Some action violence, scenes of torture, brief rear nudity, several sexual jokes and references, about eight uses of profanity, a bit of rough and much crude language. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L — limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

“Diary of a Wimpy Kid” (Fox) Mostly likeable, though lightweight coming-of-age comedy about the travails of a first-year middle school student (Zachary Gordon) whose ill-conceived efforts to gain popularity and status in his new environment — frequently, though unintentionally sabotaged by the carefree nerdiness of his long-standing best friend (Robert Capron) — instead see him slipping lower and lower in the lunchroom and recess pecking order, while his home life is made miserable by the petty bullying of his cocky older brother (Devon Bostick).

Director Thor Freudenthal’s adaptation of Jeff Kinney’s bestselling 2007 novel in cartoon format offers lessons about loyalty, self-sacrificing friendship and gaining genuine acceptance by being true to yourself; but the proceedings sometimes veer into mildly off-color humor, and the script makes it clear — albeit in a restrained way — that one of the hierarchical divisions separating the students is based on the rate of pubescent physical development. Brief images of a scantily clad woman, a few instances of mildly gross and scatological humor, a couple of vaguely sexual jokes, at least one crass term.

The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II — adults and adolescents.

The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

“How to Train Your Dragon” (DreamWorks) Robust animated fantasy about a teenaged Viking (voiced by Jay Baruchel) who goes against his own people by befriending and domesticating the creatures his society has been battling for 300 years. Directors Chris Sanders

and Dean DeBlois have fashioned an engaging boy’s own action-adventure, based on Cressida Cowell’s book, with impressive 3-D visuals and a constructive pacifist message. While not overly taxing on brain cells or the imagination, it constitutes an aboveaverage family-oriented ride, keeping in mind younger children may be frightened at times.

Much relatively intense fantasy action, some harsh descriptions of Viking-dragon mayhem, two instances of potty language, two mildly off-color references to body parts. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

“Our Family Wedding” (Fox Searchlight) Scattershot comedy, prone to physical gags, about the culture clash between two families when a Latina (America Ferrera) marries an African-American (Lance Gross). Director Rick Famuyiwa, who co-wrote along with Wayne Conley and Malcolm Spellman, leaves no stereotype untouched in this wildly uneven combination of “Father of the Bride” and “Abie’s Irish Rose,” but mostly manages to stay within tasteful boundaries. A fleeting instance of crass language and the implication of a premarital relationship. Probably acceptable for mature teens. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III — adults.

The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned.

Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

April 2, 2010

The Anchor

religious gathering — Bishop George W. Coleman recently attended the annual meeting at the Family Life Center in North Dartmouth, with the major superiors and representatives of the religious communities serving in the Diocese of Fall River. The guest speaker was Holy Union Sister Eleanor McNally, left, a native of Fall River. Sister McNally taught at schools in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts. She also served in Cameroon, West Africa and in South Vietnam where she was director of an Orphanage Improvement Program covering 120 orphanages with 20,000 children. She was evacuated from South Vietnam in April 1975 when North Vietnamese troops surrounded Saigon. Upon her arrival back in the U.S., she was recruited by the Archdiocese of New York to open a Vietnamese Resettlement Program for refugees to assist them in finding housing, employment and adapting to the U.S. culture. From 1975-78, she served as personnel and ministry director for the Fall River Province of the Holy Union Sisters. Sister McNally also served in Tanzania, East Africa, where she was involved with working with refugees following the 1994 Rwandan genocide. She is currently involved in networking for the Holy Union Sisters on the issue of Traffiking in Persons. Sister McNally approached Bristol County District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter, appealing for a task force to deal with this outrageous crime. He agreed and Sister McNally is working closely with director Karen McLaughlin moving in that direction. With Sister McNally and Bishop Coleman is Brother of Christian Instruction Jerome Lessard, the congregation’s new provincial.

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The Anchor

April 2, 2010

In your eyes ...

here he is. Just glance to the right of this column, and you’ll find one of my greatest heroes — JPII. It’s difficult to fathom that he left us five years ago today.

I’m the type of person who likes to keep “favorites” lists — my favorite sports teams, any one from New England; my favorites foods, anything that’s bad for me; my favorite music, classic rock; and people.

One may think, being the sports-crazed fan that I am, that most of my favorite peeps would be sports stars, but that’s not the case. There are a few I’d like to

My View From the Stands

By Dave Jolivet meet — Bobby Orr, Bill Russell, Tedy Brushci, and I did meet Ted Williams.

But there are so many others who rank high on my list of heroes, with my parents, my wife, and my four offspring at the top of that list.

There are other historical figures I would love to have met — first and foremost Jesus Christ (hopefully someday, though).

There’s also Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Anwar Sadat, Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha, and Servant of God, chaplain Father Emil J. Kapaun.

But aside from Christ and my family, my most favorite person of all time is JPII.

Never being fortunate enough to travel to the Vatican, I didn’t get to see him in person. When he came to Boston in 1978, my wife and I couldn’t go see him because our first-born was just a pup of two months. The weather was nasty that day, a driving rain storm. Now, I’ve sat through rain and snow storms at Patriots’ games, but not with an infant, so that was out of the question.

I watched JPII span the globe during his 27-year rein as shepherd of the Church. I loved watching him interact with young and old alike. His wit was sharp and he always had a twinkle in his eyes — a twinkle of life that he so cherished. I loved those eyes.

JPII loved his flock beyond measure.

The dignity he displayed during his last years and final days will forever be etched in my heart and soul.

I miss JPII a great deal. I think of him often. I have one of my favorite photos of him on my desk at The Anchor — a photo of him emerging from a teepee in Native American vestments during a 1987 visit to Fort Simpson in the Northwest Territories, Canada.

Like a chameleon, JPII could become one with his surroundings, whether in the U.S., Africa, Asia, South American, or any of the thousands of places he visited. He was one of us. Always.

JPII was one of my favorite people of all time, and when he died five years ago today, he took a piece of me with him.

one final wave to his people — Pope John Paul II blesses pilgrims from the window of his Vatican apartment March 30, 2005 in what would be his final public appearance. The pope died April 2, 2005. (CNS photo/Alessia Giuliani, Catholic Press Photo)

Recalling a period of grace at Pope John Paul II’s death VATICAN CITY — The Church is preparing to mark the fifth anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II, an event that stirred intense emotion, expressions of faith and worldwide attention in April 2005.

At the Vatican, a Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI offered an occasion to look back and remember a pontificate that has not, and could not, be forgotten.

Pope John Paul shaped the policies and charted the directions for the Church in the 21st century, and his German successor has very much stuck to the same course.

The next big event commemorating Pope John Paul is expected to be his beatification, which could occur as early as next fall. But in hundreds of other ways, from the documents he wrote to the vocations he inspired, his legacy lives on daily in his Church.

From the beginning, Pope Benedict made clear that he would carry out his papal ministry under the banner of continuity.

Pope Benedict celebrated a memorial Mass for Pope John Paul March 29, because the April 2 anniversary of his death falls today, Good Friday. The liturgy was in St.

Peter’s Basilica, not the much larger square outside, and there’s been no Vatican effort to turn this into a mega-event for the mass media.

That doesn’t mean the huge crowds and the global interest of five years ago have been forgotten, however. Pope John Paul’s final days are recalled by many as a time of special grace.

The late pope made his final public appearance March 30, 2005, when he was recovering from a tracheotomy to relieve breathing problems. He blessed pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square and tried in vain to speak to them. After a few minutes, aides wheeled him from view and drew the curtains of his apartment window for the last time.

Those who witnessed the scene sensed it was a farewell, and an incredibly poignant one. The Vatican later described it as “the last public ‘station’ of his painful Via Crucis.”

The next day, the pope suffered septic shock and heart failure. He was treated immediately with antibiotics and respiratory equipment, but his condition deteriorated. Vatican officials later said it was the pope himself who decided to be treated at the Vatican instead of be-

ing taken to the hospital again.

An Italian cardinal who visited the dying pope described the scene in the papal bedroom: Assisted by several doctors and his personal staff, the pontiff lay serenely on a bed in the middle of his room, comforted by cushions, occasionally opening his eyes in greeting to the handful of visitors allowed inside.

Outside, in St. Peter’s Square, the first groups of faithful — many of them young people — assembled to pray and sing songs beneath the pope’s window. Some 48 hours later, the vigil had grown to include nearly 100,000 people.

On the afternoon of April 2, according to his aides, the pope murmured in Polish, “Let me go to the house of the Father.” They were his last words. Six hours later, at 9:37 p.m., Pope John Paul died.

The announcement was made to the vast crowd in St. Peter’s Square shortly before 10 p.m., at the close of a candlelit prayer service. Many in the crowd wept. Then, after a long wave of applause, the square was enveloped in silent prayer. The bells of St. Peter’s Basilica tolled a death knell.

Eventually, more than two million mourners came to view the pope’s body as it was laid out in St. Peter’s Basilica. They came from every continent. Some waited in line as long as 12 hours, and many took photos on their cell phones when they approached the papal bier. That broke with tradition, but it seemed fitting.

The unprecedented global media coverage hit a peak at Pope John Paul’s funeral, presided over

by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the dean of the College of Cardinals and soon to be the next pope.

In his homily at the funeral Mass, Cardinal Ratzinger drew long applause when he imagined Pope John Paul standing at the “window of the Father’s house” and blessing the crowd below. Even after five years, many Catholics keep that image in their hearts.

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The Anchor

April 2, 2010

Jesus’ visible work

f the image of the Shroud tened. But in the case of the imis not a painting and it is age of the man of the Shroud, not a natural event, then what the backside anatomy is what caused this image? you would expect to see from Let us look at the image in an upright man. the context of Jesus’ time on Moreover, there are shadows earth. In the Gospel of John, Je- on the Shroud face and torso sus’ first work (sign) was turnthat are consistent with light ing water to wine at the wedcoming from above, just as one ding of Cana. “Jesus did this, would see in an upright person. the first of his signs in Cana of Furthermore, the image of Galilee and revealed his glory; the man’s hair falls to his shouland his disciples believed in ders and his feet do not touch him” (John 2:11). During his the ground. time on earth Jesus explained In summary, this is the image the purpose of these works: of a man who is lifted up as if “If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. But if I do them, The Shroud even though you do not of Turin believe me, believe the works, so that you may

By Gilbert R. know and understand Lavoie, M.D. that the Father is in me and I am in the Father” (John 10:37-38).

This Shroud image, not suspended in midair. No one made by human hands, is one can explain how or why, but in of these works. It is the only the context of Jesus’ time it is visible work that remains from understood: The image of the Jesus’ life on earth. lifted man of the Shroud is the Why do we know that this signature of Jesus Christ. Why? is the image of Jesus and that Because he predicted not only this is one of his works? The his crucifixion but his resurrecforensic study of the blood tion when he said: “And I, when marks tell us that the body of a I am lifted up from the earth, man was taken from a crucified will draw all people to myself” position and was placed on his (John 12:32). (Lavoie, 1998). back (supine) on one end of this Now, let us look at the blood long cloth. Because of these marks in the same context — blood marks, it has always been that of Jesus’ time on earth. assumed that the image is that John tells us that Jesus was of a man lying supine in burial. buried “according to the burial But that assumption is wrong. custom of the Jews” (John Rather, the image is an 19:40). Until now most have entirely separate event from the believed that the body of Jesus blood marks: The image is that was washed prior to burial in of a man in the upright posithat it was and still is the Jewtion. We know this for several ish burial custom. There is an reasons. exception to the rule of washFirst, if I took you into a ing, however. If a person dies a morgue and turned over the violent death and blood flows body of a dead man, you would at the time of death, the body see that the entire anatomy of is not washed and the blood is the backside is very much flatleft on the body, which is then

simply wrapped in a sheet and buried.

The Jewish concern is with the blood that flows at the time of death, for it is “life-blood.”

And what is “life-blood”? The Jews have qualitatively defined it as the blood that flows at the moment of death. They have also quantitatively defined life-blood. It has to at least be a quarter of a log, the contents of an egg and a half a small cup of wine. The Jewish understanding at the time of Jesus and today is that life-blood is the blood of atonement. At the Last Supper (our Mass), Jesus’ disciples, being Jews, instinctively knew that he was offering them his life-blood: “… this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for the many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:2728). Therefore, the blood on the Shroud is much more than blood from the wounds of a crucified man: It is the lifeblood of Jesus, the blood that has made atonement for the sin of the world (Lavoie, 1981).

“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

As it was for Jesus’ disciples, you are now all witnesses to the mercy, steadfast love and faithfulness of our God. Pass it on.

Gilbert R. Lavoie, M.D., MPH, has for the past 30 years been doing a medical and scriptural study of the Shroud of Turin. He has published many articles, written two books, and participated in many international conferences. His video, “Unlocking the Secrets of the Shroud,” has been shown on EWTN for many years. He lives in Boston with his wife. This is the final installment in a four-part Lenten series.

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The Anchor

April 2, 2010

St. Francis Xavier Prep receives large bequest from generous benefactor

By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff HYANNIS — Although she went about her life in quiet, unassuming ways and didn’t like to draw attention to herself, Kathleen Roche Maddison’s legacy will certainly leave a lasting impact on the students of St. Francis Xavier Preparatory School.

One of her final acts of generosity has now come to fruition in the form of a $250,000 bequest that will be used to provide financial aid to worthy students at the regional Catholic middle school in Hyannis, which serves students from Bourne to Provincetown.

The generous bequest — one

of the largest ever bestowed on a diocesan Catholic school — will allow the nearly 15-year-old school to extend its financial aid outreach and complement the funds already awarded through the diocesan St. Mary’s Fund scholarship program.

“We will have much greater flexibility,” said headmaster Robert H. Deburro. “Her clear desire was to assist with financial aid to deserving students who otherwise would not be able to afford a St. Francis Xavier Prep education. The money went into the school’s endowment fund which is earmarked for future financial aid.”

Future financial aid awards

from the school endowment will also be made in Maddison’s name and Deburro hopes as the school continues to grow, this type of planned giving will set a precedent.

A devout and faithful Catholic and active member of St. Francis Xavier Parish, Maddison had been a staunch supporter of the school since its inception.

“She helped Father Edward J. Byington when the school was founded by participating in fund-raising efforts and she continued that care even after Father Byington left the parish,” Deburro said. “When the school was established, Father Byington created a gift shop that

would help support the school, and Maddison was a regular volunteer at that gift shop. She greeted people warmly and loved to see the students in their uniforms. She had a genuine affection for Catholic education and a genuine affection for this parish.”

Echoing these sentiments, Maddison’s longtime friend and caretaker Jean Haggerty of Sandwich noted that her “faith and respect for education were the most important things to her.”

Haggerty said Maddison was always “very quiet” about whatever she was doing — be it working at the parish gift shop, serving as an extraordinary min-

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ister of holy Communion, being a pioneer who helped young Irish students find housing and summer work back in the 1970s, or heading up the parish women’s guild as its president.

Maddison, who passed away last June at the age of 82, will always be remembered as an active parishioner and driving force at St. Francis Xavier Parish.

“She did so much for so many and never sought praise or credit,” Haggerty said, although in 1988 her good deeds were recognized with the Marian Medal, the highest honor given to laity in the Fall River Diocese.

“She was a very special woman, very humble and devoted to her parish,” Haggerty said. “She also left a very generous bequest to St. Francis Xavier Church and was one of the parish’s most dedicated collectors of Catholic Charities.”

Born in Kilnock, County Mayo, Ireland, Nov. 22, 1918, Kathleen Roche immigrated to Peabody in 1940 at the age of 22.

She married Arthur Maddison, who worked for the U.S. Postal Service under President John F. Kennedy. The childless couple would later retire to Cape Cod in 1970 where they joined St. Francis Xavier Parish.

“I didn’t know her — I arrived here in June 2008 and she was already in a nursing home — but I know she was very active in the parish,” said Father Daniel W. Lacroix, pastor of St. Francis Xavier Parish.

Calling her bequest “a wonderful gift for the community,” Father Lacroix said it’s something that is truly appreciated, especially in these tough economic times.

“It will ensure that Catholic education is affordable to parents who truly want to avail their children of a Catholic education,” he said.

Maddison was involved with many parish organizations including serving seven years as president of the St. Francis Xavier Women’s Guild and as president of the Catholic Women’s Club. She was also one of the founders of the Irish American Club of Cape Cod and a member of the Retired Federal Employees’ Association.

According to Haggerty, she even raised money to bring clean water to third-world countries and visited people in nursing homes.

“She was a wonderful friend to everyone, but her primary focus was her faith, her Church and education for young people,” Haggerty said.

April 2, 2010

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The Anchor

Our readers respond Needs of poor not forgotten Father Landry’s recent articles on St. John Vianney have been very good. The Curé d’Ars’ message of charity resounds the great message of charity from our Lord to those in need. As a director of the St. Vincent de Paul Conference in our area, I know we rely heavily on works of the heart. With the grace of God, we often get blessings to help our constituents. All too often people forget the needs of the poor, even on occasion priests and religious as well. It is good that The Anchor, through articles like Father Landry’s, reminds all Catholics of the high spiritual values of the works of mercy. Thank you.

Romeo Lafond Marstons Mills The bishop and the sacrament of confirmation I applaud Bishop George W. Coleman for each year going to visit our diocesan mission in Honduras and for all his leadership and support for helping our spiritual siblings in Guaimaca grow in faith (March 19 edition). I’m happy to belong to a diocese that takes the universal mission of the Church seriously, even in the midst of a time of fewer priests available in our own diocese.

I also think that it’s great that Bishop Coleman will travel almost 4,000 miles to administer the sacrament of confirmation to all the prepared candidates, young and old, throughout the mission.

It does bring me to wonder, though, that if the bishop is commendably able to make the sacrifice to travel so far to celebrate the sacrament of confirmation each year for the members of the mission of Guaimaca, why there is a policy to have priest representatives rather than the bishop himself celebrate the majority of confirmation ceremonies within our diocese each year. It’s a much shorter distance from Fall River even to Provincetown than from Fall River to Guaimaca.

The Catechism teaches us that the only reason why the sacrament of confirmation isn’t given to babies at baptism is so that the children are able to be confirmed by the bishop himself. Yet the majority of the kids in our diocese are confirmed not by the bishop but by priest representatives. I’ve asked some priests why this is and they tell me that it’s been done this way for as long as they can remember. I would politely suggest that maybe it’s time to revisit the reasons for that policy.

It would be a great blessing

for the confirmation candidates in our diocese, young and old, to have the same privilege each year that those in the Diocesan Mission in Honduras have: to be sealed with the Holy Spirit by the bishop himself. Maybe having the chance to meet a successor of the Apostles might help some of them, who might be tempted to give up the practice of the faith after confirmation, to remain more faithful to the gifts of the Holy Spirit they receive.

B.F. Flynn Fall River Another look at priestly celibacy The March 12 edition of The Anchor is a treasure of concepts this time around. The problem comes, however, in using “standard talking points” which can cut both ways. In response to the article on priestly celibacy, I’d say that celibacy in the priesthood has been debated for more than two millennia starting with Matt. 19:12 saying that Christ “commends” celibacy but adds “he who can accept it, ought to accept it.” That’s hardly justifies a universal discipline, as most Protestant, Eastern Orthodox and Muslim faiths have discerned. Even Pope Siricius, in passing his edict in 386, said that priests and deacons were “forbidden to have conjugal intercourse with their wives” — that’s wives as in married (cf.

Catholic Encyclopedia). Let’s face the fact that it is a hierarchal choice regardless of how noble the ideal, and noble it is, though I suspect it to be equally about aura, power, tradition, and finances in its motivation.

Anita Mathews Dennis Executive Editor responds: The Pope Siricius comment in fact shows the importance of priestly celibacy. The practice in the early Church was that married men could be ordained priests, but they were expected to be strictly continent after ordination for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. In Mt 19, Jesus refers to celibacy as a “gift,” which it is, not only to the man called to be ordained but also to the Church that man is called to serve with an undivided heart.

Its importance is only growing as our culture continues to enslave itself to notions of sexuality apart from God. Facing the healthcare bill consequences It is too little too late. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops now seems puzzled and

disappointed by the betrayal of Obama and the “Catholic” politicians — Democrats all: Pelosi, Kerry, Kirk, Sebelius, the late Ted Kennedy — who defaulted on their promises that abortion not be included in the health care bill.

While those of us in the ProLife movement could recite Gospel and verse where Obama stood with his promises to Planned Parenthood, NARAL, and other pro-abortion groups to install the Freedom of Choice Act, to deny the Hyde Amendment, to eliminate the Mexico City Policy, for example, where were the bishops instructing their pastors to educate their parishioners regarding Obama’s liberal, leftist policies? Instead, 53 percent of Catholics (many Democrats first) voted for this man, who we knew to be the most anti-life candidate. It angers me that we in the Pro-Life movement were silenced for fear of mixing our politics with our religion and thus seeming to abandon our core moral principles.

Now the consequences: a drastic increase in the number of abortions and a testing of the conscience clause (will Catholic hospitals close rather than perform or refer for abortions?).

Will the ban on partial-birth abortion be rescinded?

Remember it was Health and Human Services czar Kathleen Sebelius who supported Tiller, the chief partial-birth abortionist, and it is she who will be making many of these decisions.

Where was the hierarchy, except for a few, courageous bishops in this fight? They fled from the real issue and placed their belief in the phantom promises of politicians who have now revealed who they really are.

Now we must pay the price.

God help us. God help those unborn babies who will never have a chance for health care.

God help America for what is to come. We have been duped from within.

Doris Toohill Orleans Letters are welcome but the editor reserves the right to condense or edit for clarity if deemed necessary. Letters should be typed, no longer than 100 words and should include name, address, and telephone number. Letters do not necessarily reflect the editorial views of The Anchor.

Letters should be sent to: The Anchor, Letters to the Editor, P.O. Box 7, Fall River, MA 02722-0007, or emailed to fatherrogerlandry@ anchornews.org.

Happy Easter from

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Youth Pages

April 2, 2010

help for haiti — A Coyle & Cassidy High School junior religion class, under the direction of its teacher, Carol Sypko, initiated a school-wide fund-raiser to benefit those suffering in Haiti. The students held an initial collection day the week of the earthquake, followed by bake sales, T-shirt sales, and a “dress down” day. They surprised Dr. Jeremiah Lowney, founder of the Haitian Health Foundation, with a check for $10,000 when he attended the Human Awareness Day at the Taunton school recently and was recognized as an outstanding alumnus. President Mary Pat Tranter also presented Lowney with the “Enter to Learn, Leave to Serve” award.

Pictured are Lowney with Sypko and the students integral to the fund-raising efforts. step in time — On St. Patrick’s Day during a break at a basketball tournament at St. John the Evangelist School in Attleboro, a local Irish step dancing group performed for those in attendance. Clog and soft shoe were included in the dancing. Shown is group member and sixth-grade St. John’s student, Michelle Sheehan performing a Slip Jig.

WORDS OF LIFE — Winners of the annual diocesan Pro-Life Apostolate’s Essay Contest posed alongside Bishop George W. Coleman at the annual Pro-Life Mass at St. Julie Billiart Parish, North Dartmouth, recently. They include, from left, high school division second-place winner Ryan Post, Bishop Feehan High School, Attleboro; junior division second-place winner Aubrey Daugherty-Costa, Taunton Catholic Middle School; and high school division first-place winner Erin Cournoyer, Bishop Stang High School, North Dartmouth. Not pictured: junior division first-place winner Gabriel Sylvia, St. Joseph School, Fairhaven. (Photo by Kenneth J. Souza)

in study mode — Pope John Paul II High School staff members Lora Kelley and Beth Astone collaborate on a section the Hyannis school’s accreditation self-study.

April 2, 2010

O

ur confirmation retreat began with the following prayer: “God’s gift of salvation is one of pure love. He desires humanity to join him in heaven, but he cannot force us to accept his gift of love. Upon creating humans, God gave us the gift of free will so that we could freely return his infinite love with love. Thus God could only attribute the salvation of Christ’s passion (his crucifixion and resurrection) to those who freely returned his love in faith and hope.

Human experience shows that people often have a tendency to draw toward evil and selfish passions. This misplaced love for the things of our natural world is a result of the original sin of mankind and the continuing temptation of Satan. In order to help humanity choose God over selfishness and temporal happiness, the crucifixion of Jesus brought forth a new gift: the gift of grace. Grace is the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call.

“The Church teaches us that grace moves us to participate in the life of God and moves us to begin and sustain a relationship with our creator. Grace not only assists us in living the Christian life through purification of our hearts, it literally changes our souls by infusing divine life to heal the wounds of sin. Grace is the work of the Holy Spirit, and grace is what initially moves our hearts to conversion

Youth Pages Your grace is enough

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and repentance. May God’s grace always disciples of Christ challenged their own go before us, keeping us ever intent upon parents, in witness to the Church, to keep good works.” the spirit of their retreat alive by attending For three days this past month, 43 Mass every week, where they can receive young men and women from my parthis awesome gift of grace, regularly. I ish, preparing to receive the sacrament saw an overwhelming response from their of confirmation, lived and breathed this parents and pray that this gift of grace, gift of grace. They encountered Christ in this fire of love, will persevere in their the sacrament of reconciliation; they felt lives. I look forward to a Communion Christ’s preswhere all of ence in the Euthem are prescharist; and now ent. I pray with they walk with great expectaChrist on mistions for this sion to evangeChurch, today, lize all people. to continue to

By Ozzie Pacheco The gift of grace be hope and will help them strength for the to say “Yes” to Church tomorGod and do his will: to love God above row. God’s grace will be their help. all things and to love our neighbor as Chris Tomlin, in his song “Your Grace ourselves. They know the task ahead Is Enough,” sings, “Great is your faithof them is a difficult one, but they also fulness, O God; You wrestle with the believe that Christ accompanies them. sinner’s heart; You lead us by still waters They now understand how absolutely in to mercy and nothing can keep us necessary God’s grace is for them, both to apart: Your grace is enough for me.” On begin a good work and to persevere until this Good Friday, spend a moment in the it is accomplished. Without grace I can do presence of a crucifix, pray and remember nothing (Jn 15:5), but I can do all things that Christ’s death, unconditionally acin you, when your grace strengthens me cepted, was to give you hope; the hope to (Ph 4:13). live each day knowing that God’s grace, This gift of grace has strengthened although underserved, is always there for many of these young people. There is a the taking, but you must be aware of it. fire burning in their hearts. These young Listen for his voice, for it’s usually not

Be Not Afraid

coming from where you expect it. See him clearly with the eyes of your heart, lest you miss him altogether.

I share with you this poem (author unknown) that helps me to be aware of the gift of grace in my life.

Happy Easter.

Walk in Awareness The little child whispered, “God, speak to me!”

And the meadowlark sang.

But the child did not hear.

So, the child yelled, “God, speak to me!”

And the thunder rolled across the sky.

But the child did not listen.

The child looked around and said, “God, let me see you.”

And a star shone brightly.

But the child did not notice.

And the child shouted, “God, show me a miracle!”

And a life was born.

But the child did not know.

So the child cried out in despair, “Touch me, God, and let me know you are here!”

Whereupon God reached down and touched the child.

But the child brushed the butterfly away.

And the child walked away unknowingly.

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

Life is fulfilling only if lived with love, pope tells youth B y Carol Glatz C atholic N ews Service VATICAN CITY — A fulfilling life is one lived with love, Pope Benedict XVI told a group of international young people.

Because God is love and he created mankind in his image, “we recognize the core identity of the person and the human vocation to love,” he said in a written message March 24.

“People are made for love; their lives are fully realized only if they are lived in love,” he said.

The pope’s message was read to participants gathered for the 10th International Youth Forum March 24-28 in Rocca di Papa, south of Rome. Approximately 250 young people from nearly 90 countries gathered to discuss the theme, “Learning to Love.”

The pope urged young people to “try with all their heart to discover their vocation to love. This is the key to one’s whole existence.”

He said people can find the strength to work daily toward that goal through Scripture and the sacraments of reconciliation and the Eucharist.

The vocations of priesthood and of marriage are two ways young people can dedicate their lives to love, he said.

“Called by God to give themselves completely to him with an indivisible heart, people consecrated in celibacy are also an eloquent sign of God’s love for the world and of the vocation to love God above everything else,” the

pope said.

Marriage is another way that the faithful can demonstrate Christ’s love, said the pope.

At a time when marriage is often seen as a contract that can be broken, it is of vital importance that people understand that “true love is a faithful and definitive gift of oneself,” he said.

Lifelong fidelity is not only possible, he said, it is the way to experience an ever-greater love.

Three delegates from the United States were attending the forum: Rachel Palmer, a mother of two from the diocese of Superior, Wis.; Jennifer Delvaux, a youth minister from the diocese of Lansing, Mich.; and Darius Villalobos from the archdiocese of Chicago.

Delvaux told Catholic News Service that the presence of young people from all over the world is a sign of “hope for what young people can accomplish in the world.”

During the conference, she said, people from different countries were to talk about different concepts of Christian love and the kind of relationships that apply to young people.

The discussions will “make an impact over time if (young people) hold to these ideas” of Christian love, she said.

The forum’s events closed with a Palm Sunday Mass presided over by Pope Benedict in St. Peter’s Square March 28, the day the Vatican and most dioceses around the world will be marking World Youth Day.

living inside the box — Students from Bishop Stang High School in North Dartmouth recently participated in the school’s fifth annual “Cardboard Tent City” event, which is part of the Faith in Action Together project. This year 196 students spent a night in cardboard box homes, around trash barrel fires to keep warm to raise awareness of the plight of the homeless, locally and across the globe, and to raise funds through pledges to be given to Catholic Social Services, who in turn will distribute the monies to local food pantries and homeless shelters in the greater New Bedford and Fall River areas. This year, in honor of the school’s 50th anniversary, a portion of the funds raised will be given to Sister of Notre Dame de Namur Janelle Sevier, a graduate of Stang, for her ministry in Haiti. This year the students raised nearly $12,000.

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

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unyielding faith — Missionhurst Father Andrew Labatorio, center, officiates at a service remembering the victims of the January 12 earthquake that rocked Haiti. At the makeshift church located in one of the poorest sections of Port-au-Prince, parishioners of St. Jude Parish also prayed for the survivors and the hopes for recovery. (Photos courtesy of John Primeau)

Struggles mount in Haiti as media exposure wanes continued from page two

I ever celebrated in my life.”

Father Labatorio reported going to Port-au-Prince Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot’s funeral. The archbishop was killed in the earthquake. “The funeral service was very moving,” said Father Labatorio. “In front of the ruins of the cathedral, thousands of people and close to a hundred clergy, most standing in the sun, prayed for our country.

What was more painful was the remains of the choir members trapped at the door. Their bodies hadn’t been recovered and could be seen at the side door of the cathedral.”

The parishioners of St. Jude celebrated a funeral Mass for deceased members of the parish.

“After the Mass,” said the pastor, “we proceeded to the construction site of the new church and offered candles to the victims at the site of the future altar.”

Heartbreaking scenes are all around, but Father Labatorio does see Jesus there as well.

“If it is not with Jesus’ love and compassion, things could have been worse now,” he said. “Everything may turn to dust in Haiti, but never the manifestation of God’s love and compassion in the heart of every Haitian.”

The Haitian people are very afraid that as time passes and the media no longer reports of their struggles, they will be forgotten by the rest of the world. Father Labatorio said the road to recovery will be long and difficult.

He said of his parishioners, “Contrary to reports of tons of food aid, there are very few food lines available. In the parish, many smaller evacuation camps are not getting help at all.”

The obvious needs for the parishioners in the inner-city parish are food and water. “But as long as people stay in tents, the needs will just keep increasing,” he said. “Proper tents and stronger quality tarpaulins are desperately needed as people seem to be living in camps for many

more months to come.

“There are still thousands and thousands of people waiting for help and attention.”

Schools are scheduled to open in Haiti after Easter, but Father Labatorio doubts that will happen. “The government advises schools to reopen under tents,” he said. “But most school grounds are used as evacuation camps. Others have no grounds at all to use as temporary classrooms.”

When Father Labatorio made the decision to serve the poor of Haiti in 2000, he knew the task would be a difficult one — serving a parish in one of the most treacherous sections of Port-au-Prince. When the giant quake hit in January, it magnified the troubles his parishioners deal with on a daily basis.

“The struggle to live is a given inheritance of every newly born in Haiti,” he told The Anchor.

“Their courage amidst misery is encouraging. I came here to

April 2, 2010 Haiti full of dreams, but I end up being blessed instead. Hope never gives up in Haiti.”

“I consider myself blessed to be in Haiti and be accepted by the Haitian people,” he continued. “Yet, seeing the reality around me I couldn’t help but wonder why such a poor nation has to suffer more. There are times when I feel so helpless and angry at so many things. I draw my courage from the people I closely work with in the parish.

They are the most caring people I know.”

When asked what he hoped the faithful of the Diocese of Fall River could do for his people, Father Labatorio said, “We cannot afford to lose the attention of the world at this time.

The road to recovery will be very long and a difficult one.

The more people talk about Haiti is helpful and beneficial to this hopeful recovery. I pray that the Fall River Diocese will become a committed channel to keep Haiti alive in the consciousness of the American people.”

Should anyone wish to do-

nate to Father Labatorio and his parishioners, they are asked to send a check to Father Bernard Baris, MS, pastor of Our Lady of the Cape Parish in Brewster, who has special permission from Bishop George W. Coleman, to accept donations for Haitian relief. Father Baris and his parish have for years been supporters of the Haitian people, long before the January 12 earthquake.

Father Baris told The Anchor he will be heading to Haiti on April 6 to offer assistance.

He said members of the Diocese of Fall River could send donations to his parish, made payable to Our Lady of the Cape Parish, with “Father Andrew” listed in the memo section.

Checks can be sent to Our Lady of the Cape Parish, 468 Stoney Brook Road, Brewster, MA 02631-3252.

Father Baris said his staff will be sure to wire the monies to the proper channels in Haiti.

Father Baris also said that he will report on his trip to Haiti in a future Anchor edition.

Christ still at the center of their lives — Father Andrew Labatorio carries a monstrance through the tattered streets of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, during a recent procession. Despite squalid conditions and a lack of vital supplies, Father Labatorio’s parishioners have maintained a strong faith in God and the hope he will deliver them from misery.

Diocesan pastoral planning report to come out on Easter continued from page two

over the last few years and the trend suggesting more to come.

“Even if we had our seminaries full and enough priests to serve all our parishes, we still need to look at how we are allocating our priests, how we are allocating our parish buildings, and things of that nature,” Rodrigues said. “I know it’s a very, very difficult thing for people when we have to look at churches closing and reorganizations. But you know what? It’s not the end of the world, because it’s part of our tradition. Abraham was told to travel thousands of miles. Moses was told to bring his people into a new land. The early Apostles went far outside of their home areas. It’s part of who we are as human beings and part of who we are as Catholics.”

In reviewing data from other dioceses, Rodrigues said the Fall River Diocese is unique in having such a high number of churches concentrated within a given area and it’s something to which we’ve grown accustomed.

“In New Bedford, for example, within a two-and-a-half-mile radius within the center of the city, 14 churches exist,” he said. “Isn’t that amazing? That’s staggering.

In Your Prayers Please pray for these priests during the coming weeks April 6 Rev. Philip Lariscy, O.S.A. Founder of the New Bedford Mission, 1824 Rev. Edward J. Mongan. Retired Pastor, St. Mary, North Attleboro, 1920 Rev. Msgr. John A. Chippendale, Retired Pastor, St. Patrick, Wareham, 1977 Rev. Lorenzo Morais, Retired Pastor, St. George, Westport, 1980 Rev. Msgr. William D. Thomson, Retired Pastor, St. Francis Xavier, Hyannis, 1987 Rev. Gerald E. Conmy, CSC, Associate Pastor, St. Ann, DeBary, Fla., 1994 Rev. Msgr. Francis J. Gilligan, P.A. STD, Archdiocese of St. Paul, 1997 Rev. Lucien Jusseaume, Chaplain, Our Lady’s Haven, Fairhaven, Retired Pastor, St. Roch, Fall River, 2001 April 7 Rev. James A. Dury, Retired Pastor, Corpus Christi, Sandwich, 1976 Rev. Alvin Matthews, OFM, Retired, Our Lady’s Chapel, New Bedford, 1988 April 9 Rev. Cornelius McSweeney, Retired Pastor, Immaculate Conception, Fall River, 1919 Rev. Edward F. Dowling, Pastor, Immaculate Conception, Fall River, 1965 April 10 Rev. John P. Doyle, Pastor, St. William, Fall River, 1944 April 11 Rev. John F. Downey, Pastor, Corpus Christi, Sandwich, 1914

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April 2, 2010

In Fall River, within a one-andthree-quarter-mile radius of the city center, 15 churches exist.

I’ve shared this with colleagues from other dioceses, and they are stunned.”

It’s no coincidence that this latest pastoral planning report is being released on Easter Sunday, either. Members of the diocesan Presbyteral Council specifically chose Easter for a reason.

“Just as the Gospel of Jesus’ passion and death is a sobering moment, the story doesn’t end there — it ends with a resurrection,” Rodrigues said. “And with

Bishop Coleman looking at these goals and this vision, he’s concentrating on what is most crucial — the faith life of our people. We always have to keep that mission ahead of us. It’s appropriate that this information is being released on Easter Sunday. This is our own experience of Jesus’ paschal mystery.”

After its release Easter Sunday, should you wish to receive a copy of the pastoral planning report, please contact your parish priest, or log onto the diocesan webpage at http://www.fallriverdiocese.org.

Around the Diocese 4/8

St. Joseph-St. Therese Parish and the Men of the Sacred Hearts are sponsoring a Marty Rotella Concert of contemporary Christian music and inspiration on April 8 at 7 p.m. in St. Joseph-St. Therese Church Hall, 51 Duncan Street, New Bedford. Food will be served and the kitchen will open after 5:30 p.m. For more information call 508-995-5235 or 508-951-3302.

4/9

The Lazarus Ministry of Our Lady of the Cape Parish, Brewster, is offering a six-week bereavement program called “Come Walk With Me” on Fridays beginning April 9 and running through May 14. Each session begins at 6:30 p.m. and ends at 8 p.m. The program will be held in the parish center on Stony Brook Road, Brewster. The program is open to all faiths, but pre-registration is required. Call 508-3853252 or 508-896-4218 to register or for more information.

4/11

The annual Holy Hour for Vocations, co-sponsored by the Diocesan Vocations Office and the Fall River Diocesan Council of Catholic Women will be held on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 11 at 3 p.m. at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Fall River, this year featuring the John Paul II World Youth Day monstrance, with Bishop George W. Coleman presiding. The holy hour will include eucharistic adoration, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, a homily, and benediction. All are invited.

4/11

The Falmouth Knights of Columbus, Council No. 813, will present the icon of Divine Mercy at St. Patrick’s Parish, Main Street, Falmouth, on April 11 at 3 p.m. A description of one of the newest saints, St. Faustina, will follow and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy will be led. Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament will complete the service and all are welcome to attend. For more information call 508-540-1808.

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

ATTLEBORO — St. Joseph Church holds perpetual eucharistic adoration in the Adoration Chapel located at the (south) side entrance at 208 South Main Street. For open hours, or to sign up, call Liesse at 401-864-8539.

Brewster — Eucharistic adoration takes place in the La Salette Chapel in the lower level of Our Lady of the Cape Church, 468 Stony Brook Road, on First Fridays following the 11 a.m. Mass until 7:45 a.m. on the First Saturday of the month, concluding with Benediction and Mass.

Buzzards Bay — Eucharistic adoration takes place at St. Margaret Church, 141 Main Street, every first Friday after the 8 a.m. Mass and ending the following day before the 8 a.m. Mass.

EAST TAUNTON — Eucharistic adoration takes place First Fridays at Holy Family Church, 370 Middleboro Avenue, following the 8:30 a.m. Mass until Benediction at 8 p.m.

FAIRHAVEN — St. Mary’s Church, Main St., has a First Friday Mass each month at 7 p.m., followed by a Holy Hour with eucharistic adoration. Refreshments follow.

FALL RIVER — St. Anthony of the Desert Church, 300 North Eastern Avenue, has eucharistic adoration Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and on the first Sunday of the month from noon to 4 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.

HYANNIS — A Holy Hour with eucharistic adoration will take place each First Friday at St. Francis Xavier Church, 21 Cross Street, beginning at 4 p.m.

MASHPEE — Christ the King Parish, Route 151 and Job’s Fishing Road has 8:30 a.m.

Mass every First Friday with special intentions for Respect Life, followed by 24 hours of eucharistic adoration in the Chapel, concluding with Benediction Saturday morning followed immediately by an 8:30 Mass.

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

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

SEEKONK ­— Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish has eucharistic adoration seven days a week, 24 hours a day in the chapel at 984 Taunton Avenue. For information call 508336-5549.

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

4/11

OSTERVILLE — Eucharistic adoration takes place at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, 76 Wianno Avenue on First Fridays following the 8 a.m. Mass until Benediction at 5 p.m. The Divine Mercy Chaplet is prayed at 4:45 p.m.; on the third Friday of the month from 1 p.m. to Benediction at 5 p.m.; and for the Year For Priests, the second Thursday of the month from 1 p.m. to Benediction at 5 p.m.

4/11

Taunton — Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament takes place every First Friday at Annunciation of the Lord Church, 31 First Street, immediately following the 8 a.m.

Mass and continues throughout the day. Confessions are heard from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m., concluding with recitation of the rosary and Benediction at 6:30 p.m.

A Divine Mercy celebration will take place at St. Mary’s Parish, 330 Pratt Street, Mansfield on April 11 from 3-4 p.m., with Mass following at 5 p.m.

The Novena to Divine Mercy will begin on Good Friday, April 2, after the Stations of the Cross and will continue each day at 3 p.m. (except on April 3-4).

Holy Trinity Parish, Route 28, West Harwich, will host a Divine Mercy celebration April 11 beginning at 2:45 p.m. The Novena of Divine Mercy begins on Good Friday, April 2, and should be said individually through Easter Sunday to give precedence to the Triduum in all parishes. Beginning Easter Monday, the Divine Mercy Holy Hour will be sung at 7 p.m. each night through Easter Saturday. For more information, call 508-430-0014.

4/11

A Mass of the Anointing of the Sick will be held April 11 at 2 p.m. at St. Patrick’s Parish, Wareham. All parishioners who feel they would benefit from receiving the sacrament or those who would like to join in and pray for the sick are invited to attend. For more information call Sister Catherine at 508-295-0799.

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

WAREHAM — Eucharistic Adoration is canceled on the first Friday of April due to the observance of Good Friday, adorers are encouraged to spend an hour with the Lord on Thursday night at St. Patrick’s Church from 8:30, following the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, until midnight. Benediction will be held at 11:50 p.m.

Beginning in May, adoration with opportunities for private and formal prayer is offered on the First Friday of each month from 8:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. The Prayer Schedule is as follows: 7:30 a.m. the rosary; 8 a.m. Mass; 8:30 a.m. exposition and Morning Prayer; 12 p.m. the Angelus; 3 p.m. Divine Mercy Chaplet; 5:30 p.m. Evening Prayer; 7 p.m. sacrament of confession; 8 p.m. Benediction.

WEST HARWICH — Our Lady of Life Perpetual Adoration Chapel at Holy Trinity Parish, 246 Main Street, holds perpetual eucharistic adoration. For open hours, or to sign up call 508-430-4716.

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

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St. Francis Xavier Parish, Acushnet

Wishing You a Happy and Holy Easter

April 2, 2010

Cardinal says Shroud of Turin encourages prayer VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Shroud of Turin, which will go on display in April, offers Christians a complete understanding of the suffering Christ went through on the cross, said an Italian cardinal.

Pilgrims who visit Turin, Italy, to see the shroud will have a chance to “meditate and contemplate the extraordinary, tragic and mysterious suffering” seen in the shadowy image on the cloth “that we believe corresponds with the suffering of Christ,” Cardinal Severino Poletto of Turin said at a March 25 press conference at the Vatican.

The shroud, which many Christians believe is the burial cloth of Jesus Christ, will be on display at the Cathedral of Turin April 10May 23. Pope Benedict XVI will visit Turin to see the shroud and celebrate Mass May 2. It will be the first display, or ostentation, of the shroud in 10 years, and the first since it underwent restoration in 2002. In presenting the final details of the event, Cardinal Poletto said that while “there is not mathematical certainty that it is the cloth that was wrapped around our Lord,” it was “absolutely impossible that it was manufactured.”

He said that in the image of the man on the centuries-old linen, “we are able to see all the details of the passion of Christ, just as it is told in the Gospel.” Those details include images “of all the particulars,” the cardinal said, including “the crown of thorns, the flagellation, wounds from spears, nails, blood.”