Anchor 06.25.10

Diocese of Fall River

The Anchor

F riday , June 25, 2010

Abortion increases risk of domestic violence

By Christine M. Williams Anchor Correspondent BOSTON — “I’m going to beat that baby out of you,” Jeremy Powell told his girlfriend who refused to have an abortion.

Powell, of New York, made good on that threat. He kicked and punched his girlfriend, causing her to miscarry. He pleaded guilty to felony abortion and second-degree assault for the attack in 2002.

That case is one of more than 100 outlined in Forced Abortion in America, a report put out by the Elliot Institute. First released more

than five years ago, the report was recently updated to include new trends and more cases.

Studies and reports continue to find a link between domestic violence and abortion. The Elliot report highlights women who were beaten or killed for refusing to abort and women who were violently coerced into aborting their children. The Elliot Institute, a ProLife organization based in Illinois, calls abortion the “unchoice.”

A study released last year found that couples who choose abortion Turn to page 13

Evangelization ‘summit’ eyed going to Mass, Faith Formation

B y D eacon James N. Dunbar

TAUNTON — Concerned that some students in their Faith Formation classes are not regularly attending Sunday Mass, pastors and directors of Religious Education in the Taunton Deanery gathered in February to hash out what might be done.

“It was a very interesting

and well-attended meeting,” reported Claire McManus, director of Faith Formation for the Fall River Diocese.

The gathering, held February 8 at Immaculate Conception Parish in North Easton, was attended by several pastors, DREs, and deacons.

“It stemmed from a January Turn to page 15

CLERICAL COMEDY — Author, humorist and frequent guest on Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report,” Father James Martin, S.J., kicked off the Summer Catholic Reflections series at Christ the King Parish in Mashpee with his presentation “Laughing with the Saints: Joy, Humor and Laughter in the Spiritual Life.” The first of three summer presentations, Father Martin’s talk drew a record crowd to the Cape Cod parish. Story on page 18. (Photo by Kenneth J. Souza)

dream weaver — Father Anthony Ciorra, director of the Fordham University Lay Ecclesial Ministry program, addresses a gathering of diocesan pastors and other ministry leaders at a program entitled “Dreams and Visions.” He discussed practical ways to evangelize in various ministries across the diocese. The event, sponsored by the diocesan Faith Formation and Pastoral Planning offices, took place at the Holiday Inn in Taunton. (Photo by Dave Jolivet)

Diocesan pastoral leaders meet to discuss and develop new skills

By Dave Jolivet, Editor TAUNTON — Two years ago the diocesan Faith Formation and Pastoral Planning offices collaborated on an initiative to help pastors and parish and diocesan leaders to develop and polish their leadership skills.

In 2008, their combined forces developed a program called “Dreams and Visions,” to aid pastors, pastoral staffs and pastoral council members lead planning and continuing catechesis through parish pastoral planning. Feedback from the event was very positive and that led to another joint effort

in 2009, a workshop entitled, “Nuts and Bolts,” which concentrated on implementing the ideas from the previous year’s gathering.

“Those who participated in the first two programs asked that we offer specific leadership training,” said Doug Rodrigues, director of the diocesan Office of Pastoral Planning. “Since this area of formation is a high priority for all of us, we invited those individuals to take part in our continuing series on leadership skills this year.”

The Diocesan Leadership Development program took place June 17 at the Holiday Inn in Taunton.

Rodrigues and Claire McManus, diocesan director of Faith Formation, invited all those who participate in any leadership roles in the diocese, including clergy. A crowd of approximately 200 enjoyed an evening of sharing information and ideas, listening to keynote speaker, Father Anthony Ciorra, director of the Fordham University Lay Ecclesial Ministry program, a question and answer session, and of course the chance to break bread together at the dinner table.

According to the invitation to the session, the “take-aways for Turn to page 18

Fathers Bousquet and Forgit ‘finish the race’ FALL RIVER — Father Roland Bousquet, 82, a retired priest of the Diocese of Fall River, whose last pastorate was at St. Theresa’s Parish in New Bedford, died June 13 at the Catholic Memorial Home.

Born in Fall River, the son of the late Ephraim and the late Lillian (Bourque) Bousquet, he attended Blessed Sacrament School and the former Prevost High School, all in Fall River, and graduated from La Salette Minor Seminary. He studied for the priesthood at the Seminaire de Philosophie, and the Grand

Seminaire de Montreal where he earned a licentiate in sacred theology. He was ordained a priest

on May 22, 1954 by Bishop James L. Connolly in St. Mary’s

Father Roland Bousquet

Father Ambrose Forgit, SS.CC.

Turn to page 19

News From the Vatican

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June 25, 2010

Respect for human dignity is obligatory, pope says VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Respect for human dignity and for human rights is an obligatory result of a natural moral law that everyone is capable of knowing and following, Pope Benedict XVI said.

“When natural law and the responsibility it implies are denied, the path toward ethical relativism opens dramatically, both on an individual level as well as on a political level,” leading to the threat of totalitarianism, the pope said June 16 at his weekly general audience.

The key to natural law, he said, is recognizing the dignity of each person and every human life.

Continuing a series of audience talks about important church figures from the Middle Ages, Pope Benedict spoke about St. Thomas Aquinas and his teaching on the relationship between faith and reason and on the relationship between grace and natural law.

In his theology, St. Thomas Aquinas taught that “faith consolidates, integrates and enlightens the patrimony of truth acquired by human reason,” and reason helps theology explain faith, he said.

St. Thomas wrote that despite

sin, human nature is not “completely corrupt,” and the gift of God’s grace, communicated through Christ, “heals, strengthens and helps nature pursue the desire innate in the heart of every man and every woman for happiness,” he said.

Grace helps Christians reach the heights of moral perfection, but reason is also essential because that is the faculty needed to discern how best to apply the virtues and the moral teaching of the Church, the pope said.

Human reason alone can recognize the requirements of natural moral law — “that which is good to do and that which is best to avoid in order to pursue the happiness that everyone seeks and which also requires taking responsibility for others, the search for the common good,” he said.

While grace helps people approach perfection, “according to St. Thomas, all people — believers and nonbelievers — are called to recognize the requirements of human nature expressed in natural law and to be inspired by it” when formulating their laws, Pope Benedict said.

Pope asks more prayers for priests, cites beatification of two laymen VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The benefits the Year For Priests brought for priests, for the Church and for the world cannot be measured, but they will be evident for years to come, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Speaking during his midday Angelus address June 13, two days after he formally closed the Year For Priests, he said the year’s events were a reminder that “the priesthood is a gift from the heart of Christ, a gift for the Church and for the world. Let us continuing to remember all priests in our prayers, thanking Christ for this great gift of his love and asking him to keep them in his grace as faithful friends and ministers.”

Archbishop Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, presided over the beatification June 12 of Manuel Lozano Garrido, a journalist who lived in Spain 1920-1971 and was paralyzed for the last 26 years of his life.

The second new blessed, Lojze Grozde, was a Slovenian killed in 1943 at the age of 20. A member of Catholic Action, he was interrogated by communist partisans, who found a Latin prayer book among his belongings. They suspected him of being a Fascist sympathizer and killed him.

Grozde was beatified in Celje, Slovenia, June 13 by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

extolling the Eucharist — Pope Benedict XVI addresses the Rome diocesan pastoral conference at the Basilica of St. John Lateran recently. The pope opened the three-day conference, which focused on finding ways to help Catholics understand the importance of the Sunday Eucharist and the essential role of charity in Catholic life. (CNS photo/Tony Gentile, Reuters)

Pontiff says Sunday Mass is essential to Catholic life, charity

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service ROME — Participation at Sunday Mass and reception of the Eucharist are central to the life of Catholics because they are a clear expression of belief in the sacrifice of Christ, they create community and motivate charity, Pope Benedict XVI said.

“In our day, people don’t love the word ‘sacrifice,’ which seems to belong to another age and another way of understanding life. However, when it is properly understood, it remains fundamental because it reveals how much God, in Christ, loves us,” the pope said June 15 in an address to the Rome diocesan pastoral conference.

With an evening speech at Rome’s Basilica of St. John

Lateran, the pope opened the diocese’s three-day conference, which focused on finding ways to help Catholics understand the importance of the Sunday Eucharist and the essential role of charity in Catholic life. Parishes, the priests’ council, lay groups and special ministries throughout the diocese held preparatory listening sessions and conferences to draw up recommendations for the 300 delegates attending the June gathering.

While the majority of Rome’s citizens are baptized Catholics, “faith can never be assumed because every generation needs to receive this gift through the proclamation of the Gospel and knowledge of the truth which Christ has revealed to us,” the pope said.

Even among practicing Catholics, he said, there is a lack of understanding about the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and about the fact that receiving Jesus in the Eucharist must lead people to witness to

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God’s love by being charitable.

“A eucharistic celebration that does not lead to encountering people where they live, work and suffer in order to bring them the love of God does not demonstrate its truth,” the pope said.

“Charity is able to generate an authentic and permanent change in society, acting in the hearts and minds of men,” he said.

Pope Benedict told the diocesan delegates the best way to teach people the truth about the Eucharist and about the charity that flows from it is to have prayerful, well-prepared Masses.

When Catholics receive Jesus in the Eucharist, they are no longer isolated individuals, but members of a community committed to one another and to bringing God’s love to the world, he said.

“The world and men and women do not need another social organization, but they need the Church,” which can unite them in Christ, the pope said.

OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER Vol. 54, No. 25

Member: Catholic Press Association, Catholic News Service

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

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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 kensouza@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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June 25, 2010

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The International Church Diocese of Fall River

OFFICIAL

His Excellency, the Most Reverend George W. Coleman, Bishop of Fall River, has announced the following appointments: Rev. Thomas E. Costa from Chaplain, Bishop Feehan High School, Attleboro, to Chaplain, Cape Cod Hospital, Hyannis.

Rev. David C. Frederici from Chaplain, Cape Cod Hospital, Hyannis, to Parochial Vicar, St. Elizabeth Seton Parish, N. Falmouth, and St. John the Evangelist Parish, Pocasset.

Rev. Jay Mello from Chaplain, Bishop Stang High School, N. Dartmouth, to Parochial Vicar, St. Patrick Parish, Falmouth.

Effective June 30, 2010 Rev. Jeffrey Cabral from Studies at Catholic University of America to the Diocesan Tribunal.

Effective July 1, 2010

Vatican foreign minister discusses Church-state relations in Cuba VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The whole question of a separation between church and state originated with Jesus, who told believers they must give to God what belonged to God and to Caesar what belonged to Caesar, the Vatican’s foreign minister told a gathering in Cuba.

Without the Gospel, the fundamental distinction between the religious and secular spheres “would not have entered into the history of humanity,” Archbishop Dominique Mamberti said June 16 in Havana, opening a weeklong series of conferences on Catholic social teaching.

Addressing Cuban government officials, members of the diplomatic corps, bishops and laity, Archbishop Mamberti said it was obvious that church-state relations have been different throughout history and across cultures.

But, he said, it is clear that secularism and the secular state are terms that often take on “a nuance of or the acceptance of an opposition to the Church or to Christianity.”

“In this regard, one cannot forget the fact that in the name of this concept (separation of church and state) decisions are sometimes

made or norms sometimes enacted that objectively damage the person and communal exercise of the fundamental right to religious freedom,” he said.

Although Cuba has a strong Catholic heritage, under communism the church has faced serious restrictions. Church-state relations have shown improvement in recent years, but only slowly.

The Vatican released the text of Archbishop Mamberti’s talk June 18.

A healthy form of church-state separation, he said, establishes an atmosphere of respect for the proper role of each and of cooperation in promoting the good of all citizens.

“Respect for the principle of secularity requires Catholics to recognize the just autonomy of the temporal reality” and to “avoid any type of confusion between the religious sphere and the political sphere,” he said.

But it also means that the state must not try to control religion, convince people to give up their faith or exclude believers from participating in public life, he said.

When the secular nature of the state is exaggerated, “paradoxically, the state becomes the state religion and it is no longer secular because secularism is its supreme value, its dominant ideology, a kind of religion, perhaps even with its own civil rites and liturgies,” Archbishop Mamberti said.

Basic moral values, the archbishop said, are not religious doctrines but are human values that anyone with a good heart and good will can recognize.

Still, “the presence of Christians in society is a leaven that keeps society’s attention tuned to the need to pursue the authentic common good,” he said.

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The Church in the U.S.

June 25, 2010

CCHD provides additional $300,000 to aid Gulf Coast oil spill victims ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (CNS) — Parishes and community organizations assisting people affected by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill will receive up to $300,000 from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development to combat the environmental disaster.

The grants are specifically designated for programs that provide a voice for fishermen and the communities affected by the spill. The funding is also targeted to allow local groups to coordinate with local communities and emergency responders to document damage to coastlines and advocate for the restoration of damaged wetlands.

Citing the pressing needs that have arisen since the oil began spewing from an uncapped well on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico April 20, members of the U.S. bishops’ subcommittee overseeing CCHD approved the additional funding outside of the anti-poverty program’s normal grant cycle.

Bishop Roger P. Morin of

Biloxi, Miss., said the grants will aid communities dealing with lost income and environmental degradation.

“The tragic oil spill has grave human, environmental and economic costs,” Bishop Morin said in a statement. “As a Church, we mourn the loss of life. We pray for those whose livelihoods are in jeopardy. Through these grants, the church also offers concrete support to the work that must be done to help these communities help themselves.”

Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond of New Orleans expressed appreciation for the new funds.

“By providing our fishing communities with funds to support their efforts to recover, the CCHD has enabled the Catholic Church to continue to be a sign of Christ’s compassion and hope to the fishing communities. This gift is indeed generous and will be used to provide hope and stability for these hard-working families affected by the disastrous oil spill,” Archbishop Aymond said in a statement.

father father — Deacon Gregory Rapisarda poses with his son, Father John Rapisarda, associate pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Baltimore. The deacon, a widower, was ordained to the priesthood June 12 at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore. (CNS photo/Owen Sweeney III, Catholic Review)

At ‘promptings of Holy Spirit,’ priest’s father answers priesthood call

By George P. Matysek Jr. Catholic News Service BALTIMORE — When Deacon Gregory Rapisarda’s wife of nearly four decades died of cancer in 2006, she left a note for her husband and four children.

“My love did not die,” Carol Rapisarda wrote, “only my body.

Support one another and live the life God meant you to live.”

Deacon Rapisarda took his wife’s words to heart and prayed that God would show him what he was meant to do with the rest of his life. God answered by sending what the deacon called “promptings of the Holy Spirit.”

Friends began suggesting that Deacon Rapisarda would make a good priest much like Father John Rapisarda, the deacon’s youngest son, who was ordained in 2008. Then, in May of that year, Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien of Baltimore asked to meet with the deacon.

“He looked at me and said, ‘Are you ready for the priesthood?’” Deacon Rapisarda remembered. “I said, ‘I’m afraid.’”

The more he thought about it, however, the more enthusiastic Deacon Rapisarda became.

It wasn’t mere coincidence that people were asking him to think about the priesthood. It just might be God’s call.

“When God’s ready to act, God acts,” the 62-year-old deacon said. “I put my condo up for sale and I moved into St. Mary’s Seminary in August of 2009. My heart was excited.”

Archbishop O’Brien ordained Deacon Rapisarda to the priesthood June 12. The ordination

made the Rapisardas the first father and son to share a priestly vocation in the history of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, and the first father-son priests since Jesuit Fathers Virgil and Samuel Barber served the then-Diocese of Baltimore in the early 19th century.

Father Gregory Rapisarda’s first Mass was celebrated June 13, his priest-son’s 33rd birthday.

“We’ve been very happy for him,” Father John Rapisarda said. “We wanted dad to know that we love him and we’re excited about this. At the same time, none of us had any pressure on him.”

Father Gregory Rapisarda said he was deeply moved by the prayers of the ordination ceremony, especially the litany of the saints.

“I felt the presence of all those saints who have gone before us including my wife,” he told The Catholic Review, newspaper of the Baltimore Archdiocese.

“That was really an uplifting, spiritual moment.”

Among the saints whose names were invoked was St. Thomas More, the patron saint of lawyers, whose image peered out from a side chapel on Father Gregory Rapisarda, who had a longtime practice as an elder care attorney.

“It was almost overwhelming,” echoed Father John Rapisarda. “It’s just an amazing thing to see the joy that dad has, the joy that the church has for dad and then receiving such an amazing man as a priest.”

The new Father Rapisarda,

who as a teen had spent a year in a seminary, has felt his wife’s presence throughout his journey. A Methodist who joined the Catholic Church, Carol Rapisarda had taken seminary courses with her husband as he was preparing for the diaconate.

“The opening prayer of a funeral says that our death does not destroy the bonds of friendship you have made on earth,” said Father Gregory Rapisarda.

“I certainly know I have her support because she supported me throughout her lifetime.”

Faith has always been the foundation of the Rapisarda household. The family prayed the rosary together, attended Mass and practiced Catholic devotions.

“Our prayer time was fun and respectful,” Deacon Rapisarda said. “Going to church wasn’t something we thought about in addition to family life; it was part of family life. I think that what’s borne fruit in our lives.”

Asked which of the two Father Rapisardas would celebrate sacraments for the family, the father and son looked at each other and laughed.

“We’ll do it by rock, paper, scissors,” Father Rapisarda the younger joked.

His father chimed in: “John gets baptisms and I get funerals.”

Father Rapisarda the elder noted that when his daughter, Joanna, gets married in September, he will walk her down the aisle and then concelebrate the Mass with his son.

“Then I’ll spend the rest of the day being a father,” he said.

June 25, 2010

The Church in the U.S.

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Eighty religious communities to be visited during apostolic visitation

the touch of christ — A woman reaches out to touch the monstrance holding the Body of Christ as Father Jack Durkin, pastor of St. Monica Church in Duluth, Ga., moves amid the crowd at a recent healing service in College Park, Ga., during the Atlanta Archdiocese’s Eucharistic Congress. (CNS photo/Michael Alexander, Georgia Bulletin)

Eucharist gives believers strength ‘to love one another,’ cardinal says

By Gretchen Keiser Catholic News Service COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — Jesus’ commandment to his followers to love one another as he loves them might be daunting, but he gave believers the gift of the Eucharist “so we can live this life of love,” said Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston.

“He loves us first. He loves us to the end. He loves us to the point of laying down his life for us. He loves us while we are still in sin,” the cardinal told attendees at the Atlanta Archdiocese’s eucharistic congress.

The Eucharist “strengthens us. It challenges us,” he said, and it comes to God’s people through the priesthood. “This wonderful gift (the priesthood) makes the Eucharist available everywhere for all times.”

“Many today find the teaching too hard to believe and simply stop coming,” said Cardinal O’Malley June 5.

However, “Jesus’ words and actions assure us he has left us a miracle of love in the Eucharist,” he said. “Our God loves us, and the Eucharist is a celebration of that saving love.”

At the same time, the Mass “reminds us of our need for repentance and conversion,” the cardinal added.

Cardinal O’Malley was the homilist at a morning Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament on the second day of the archdiocese’s 15th congress. The annual event is an exuberant, colorful gathering of Catholics who come to listen to speakers, pray in silence before the Blessed Sacrament, go to confession and enjoy a public celebration of their faith.

The theme of the congress — “To Sanctify the Christian People” — was chosen by Atlanta Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory from the prayer of priestly ordination. He chose it in honor of the Year for Priests, declared

by Pope Benedict XVI last June.

The special year ends June 19.

The congress opened June 4 with an evening Mass celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Luis R. Zarama of Atlanta and a healing service. The agenda included general sessions and workshop tracks in English, Spanish, French and, for the first time, Portuguese. A late-night session was held for young adults.

The diversity of the archdiocese’s faith communities was illustrated by banners that were part of the procession leading into the Benediction service June 5 inside the Georgia International Convention Center.

There were about 100 of them, carried by people from parishes in every part of north Georgia, from Catholic schools and lay groups, including Spanish Cursillo, nocturnal adoration societies, Knights of Columbus councils, Legion of Mary, lay associates of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit, Marriage Encounter, the Catholic charismatic renewal and Vietnamese, Korean, Hispanic, Filipino, Nigerian and Haitian Catholics.

During one of the general sessions at the congress, Archbishop J. Michael Miller of Vancouver, British Columbia, reflected on the Year for Priests. He said that through the observance, the pope had offered priests and laity an occasion to reinforce an awareness and knowledge of “the extraordinary gift of grace

an ordained minister represents for the church and the world.”

In recent discourses, the pope has spoken of why the priest’s role as sanctifier is so important, he continued.

“Every man and woman is called to holiness. The priest has a role to play as an instrument in fostering that holiness,” the archbishop said.

In growing in holiness, a person moves out of himself or goes beyond himself, the archbishop said. The transformation of a person’s inner being makes him the property of God. That person is set apart to love the world as God does, he said.

“An intimate friendship with God is the foundation of our holiness,” Archbishop Miller said.

About 73 priests came over the two days of the congress just to hear confessions of some of the estimated 20,000 to 30,000 people there. An adoration chapel where the Blessed Sacrament was placed throughout the day was always filled with 75 to 100 people silently praying.

“I come every year. I love it,” Hung Nguyen, a computer programmer, told The Georgia Bulletin, Atlanta’s archdiocesan newspaper. “I don’t look at how big or how successful it is. I look for the touch of God in people’s hearts.”

The eucharistic congress is needed “to revive the hearts of every people,” said Nguyen, president of the parish council at Our Lady of Vietnam Church in Riverdale.

“We come to worship him and adore him. We can see a big picture of God’s people. An event like this strengthens our faith, no doubt about it,” he said.

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Visits to religious communities of women will restart in mid-September after a three-month summer hiatus, reported the Office of Apostolic Visitation of Institutes of Women Religious in the United States.

Sister Kieran Foley, assistant for communications for the process, told Catholic News Service that 35 congregations were visited during the first round of visits that started April 11 and ended June 4.

Beginning again September 12 and running through December 17, the next round of visits will include another 40 to 50 congregations, said Sister Kieran, a member of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist.

“We’re trying to do about 25 percent of all religious congregations,” she said from the visitation’s office in Hamden, Conn.

“Between 80 and 100 will be the final total.”

A total of 341 religious congregations are the subjects of the visitation, ordered in 2009 by Cardinal Franc Rode, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregations for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

The study covers nearly all of the country’s 67,000 Sisters. Only those nuns who live in cloisters are exempt.

In a statement to CNS, Mother Mary Clare Millea, superior general of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the apostolic visitator charged by the Vatican with directing the comprehensive study, said the initial visits went well.

The visits, encompassing the third phase of the apostolic visitation, “gives every Sister the opportunity to share her hopes, joys and concerns,” said Mother Clare, who was in Rome in mid-June preparing for her order’s general chapter meeting.

“This is so valuable since the congregations are not just organizations but are made up of these living witnesses who each hold

and treasure the charism in their hearts and express it uniquely in their ministry,” she said.

In a video posted on the apostolic visitation’s website, Mother Clare Millea said the 74 visitors appreciated the “warm and welcoming spirit of hospitality” shown by the congregations during their visits, she said.

Mother Clare, a Connecticut native, also offered a breakdown of the 34 congregations visited: — thirteen had fewer than 100 members; — the largest congregations visited had several hundred members; — the congregations were spread across 18 states.

“They (the visitors) say the initial fears (of the congregations) usually are quickly dissipated and listening to the sisters’ stories, hopes and dreams has been a privileged experience for them as well,” she said in the video.

“Both visitors and the visited have spoken of the visitation as a special time of grace,” she added.

Sister Kieran said that congregations were selected in the hope of having a representative sample of religious communities involved in the study. The process will conclude in 2011 with a final report to Cardinal Rode. The report will not be made public or shared with the religious communities.

“They (the congregations selected) have different apostolates and growth patterns,” she said.

“There were older communities and newer communities. No particular orders were signaled.

Nothing was pre-planned.”

Overall, visitors in groups of two to five spread across the country during the first nine weeks of visits. The vast majority were women religious, Sister Kieran said, although some priests were among the visitors.

As each visit concluded, the team of visitors completed its report onsite before sending its findings to the apostolic visitation’s Connecticut headquarters, Sister Kieran explained.

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The Anchor The Catholic voice in the immigration debate

One of the most pressing problems for our nation to solve is illegal immigration. Recent legislation in Arizona has brought the many social, political and moral issues regarding illegal immigration to the forefront. The Catholic Church in the United States has been very involved in the questions over immigration, not only because of its immigrant history or because the vast majority of immigrants are Catholics, but most fundamentally because the Lord Jesus told us to welcome the immigrant and the stranger as we would him (Mt 25:35,43).

The Catholic Church’s powerful moral message in the immigration debate has occasionally been mischaracterized, sensationalized and oversimplified, sometimes even from within, as a blind support for immigrants without consideration of the security concerns involved or the relevant distinction between illegal and legal immigrants. The most noted example of this came when Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles, in response to the Arizona legislation, hyperbolically and unhelpfully said that those who supported such a “retrogressive, mean-spirited and useless anti-immigrant law” were “reverting to German Nazi and Russian Communist techniques.”

The Catholic Church’s authentic and articulated message — embodied in documents like “Strangers No Longer,” a joint pastoral letter from the Catholic bishops of the United States and Mexico (usccb.org/mrs/stranger.shtml) — was expressed by Cardinal Mahony’s soon-to-besuccessor, Archbishop Jose Gomez, who was installed as Coadjutor Archbishop of Los Angeles on May 26. Archbishop Gomez has a deep, personal understanding of immigration issues: He is an immigrant and an American citizen. He grew up in Monterrey, Mexico, but has spent most of his priesthood in the United States. His father was a Mexican doctor and his mother was raised in San Antonio. He has generations of family and friends on both sides of the border.

In a fascinating May 28 interview with the Catholic News Agency on the problems facing the Catholic Church in the United States, Archbishop Gomez was asked to comment on the immigration crisis. Insofar as he is preparing to take over the largest U.S. diocese — with a huge number of immigrants, legal and illegal — he is expected to take a leading role in the Church’s response on immigration issues. His comments are consequently highly noteworthy and are likely to provide a moral challenge to people on all sides of the immigration debate.

When asked what is Church’s role in the political debate over immigration, he replied that it is fundamentally to form consciences and create a proper tone: to help citizens recognize the responsibilities they have to immigrants and to assist immigrants to see the moral duties they have to our country, in a context in which society seeks to balance various goods to form just policy.

“The Church is not a political party or interest group. It is not the Church’s primary task to fight political battles or to be engaged in debates over specific policies. This task belongs to the laity,” Archbishop Gomez stressed. He said the Church’s interest is “part of our original religious identity as Catholics, as Christians. We must defend the immigrant if we are to be worthy of the name Catholic. For bishops and priests, our job as pastors is to help form our peoples’ consciences, especially those who work in the business community and in government … to work for reforms in a system that denies human dignity to so many.” The Church’s involvement is not unilateral, however. “While we forcefully defend the rights of immigrants, we must also remind them of their duties under Catholic social teaching. Chief among these duties is the obligation to respect the laws of their new country. We need to help ensure that these newcomers become true Americans while preserving their own distinctive identity and culture.”

He noted that the current tenor of the debate concerns him. “I’m not a politician. I’m a pastor of souls, and as a pastor, I believe the situation that’s developed today is bad for the souls of Americans. There is too much anger, too much resentment, too much fear, too much hate. It’s eating people up. In this volatile debate, the Church must be a voice of compassion, reason, and moral principle. The Church has an important role to play in promoting forgiveness and reconciliation on this issue. We must work so that justice and mercy, not anger and resentment, are the motives behind our response to illegal immigration.”

He noted that working for just solutions to the crisis is made more difficult by the fact that some citizens, including Catholics, see immigrants through racial lenses rather than as spiritual siblings. “Unfortunately anti-immigrant sentiment and anti-Hispanic bias is a problem today, even among our fellow Catholics. I don’t want to over-dramatize the situation, but we do need to be honest and recognize that racial prejudice is a driving factor behind a lot of our political conversation about immigration. In the bitter debates of recent years, I have been alarmed by the indifference of so many of our people to Catholic teaching and to the concrete demands of Christian charity. It is not only the racism, xenophobia, and scapegoating. These are signs of a more troubling reality: Many of our Catholic people no longer see the foreigners sojourning among them as brothers and sisters. To listen to the rhetoric in the U.S. and elsewhere it is as if the immigrant is not a person, but only a thief or a terrorist or a simple work-animal.”

He called everyone to remember Jesus’ life, words and moral summons. “We can never forget that Jesus himself and his family were migrants. They were forced into Egypt by the bad policies of a bad government. This was to show us Christ’s solidarity with refugees, displaced persons, and immigrants — in every time and in every place. We all know these words of Jesus: ‘For I was a stranger and you welcomed me . . . as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.’ We need to restore the truth that the love of God and the love of neighbor have been forever joined in the teaching — and in the person — of Jesus Christ.” We cannot truly love God, he implied, unless we truly love our immigrant neighbor.

With respect to particular immigration laws, he said they should not be “harsh and punitive … used to scare people, to invade their homes and work-sites, to break up families.” How does threatening and harming hard-working, family-oriented illegal immigrants strengthen our society? We need to be realistic about why immigrants are coming, he said. “The bottom line is that as long as workers can earn more in one hour in the U.S. than they can earn in a day or a week in Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America, they will continue to migrate to this country.”

He said that, at the same time, we also have to be “more sensitive” to the “legitimate fears” of opponents of immigration. “Millions of immigrants are here in blatant violation of U.S. law. This makes law-abiding Americans angry, and it should. We have to make sure that our laws are fair and understandable. At the same time, we have to insist that our laws be respected and enforced.

Those who violate our laws have to be punished. The question is how? What punishments are proper and just?”

He attempted to answer those pressing questions with practical suggestions. “I think, from a moral standpoint, we’re forced to conclude that deporting immigrants who break our laws is too severe a penalty. Now this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t enforce the laws. It means we need to find more suitable penalties. I would suggest that intensive, long-term community service would be a far more constructive solution than deportation. This would build communities rather than tear them apart, and it would serve to better integrate the immigrants into the social and moral fabric of America.”

Such a proposal for long-term community service may not satisfy everyone or resolve every issue concerning illegal immigration, but it would begin to create a pathway for those who come to our country to better themselves and their families to have an opportunity to better our nation as well, while treating them as brothers and collaborators rather than as criminals, terrorists or parasites.

June 25, 2010

Responding like the saints

The crises that the Church and the world face regard to their vocation to be icons of Christ in the are “crises of saints.” world, we should not be surprised that some priests This insight of St. Josemaria Escriva, the 35th fall into moral abysses. anniversary of whose birth into eternal life the The second thing St. Josemaria teaches is Church celebrates tomorrow, points to one of the the importance of genuine priestly fraternity as a most important lessons we can draw from eccle- means to help priests strive toward this holiness. In siastical history. There have unfortunately been preaching priest retreats and through his work in many scandals in the Church throughout the cen- the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, he reminded turies — from popes, bishops and priests living his brothers that they need each other, that Christ in open violation of chastity, to crusaders pillag- sends his ministers out not as loners but at least ing Orthodox cities and defiling their women, to two-by-two, and that Christ wants them to support vast sections of the baptized proudly conducting each other, not toward any goal, but to fulfill the themselves as if God didn’t exist and Jesus Christ mission that corresponds to their identity and callhad never come — but in response to each of these ing. One specific application of priestly fraternity situations of widespread infidelity, God has always he always stressed was the obligation priests have raised up saints to try to lead the Church back to its to give each other fraternal correction (Mt 18:15true identity and mission.

17). Priestly fraternity is not meant to be the courOver the past several months, as the Church has teous amiability of a cocktail party, but the genuine been facing anew the crisis of trust and credibility charity that is willing to risk displeasing a brother brought about by the double evil of the clerical sex- by raising questions about his wandering from a ual abuse of minors and the inadequate response of holy path — through lack of devotion, disobedishepherds to eliminating it, I have been meditat- ence, alcoholism, impure behavior, and so forth ing on the lessons the Church today should draw — before he veers off too far and does severe damfrom the saints God raised up in the past to guide age to himself and others. There was obviously a the Church to respond in a fully Catholic way to breakdown in this type of priestly fraternity that led scandals. to the crisis, and there’s still much work to be done It’s not enough for the Church in scandalous here with regard to priests’ and bishops’ holding situations to do all that common sense and secular each other accountable to their holy vocation on crisis management consultants would advocate. behalf of God for the good of his Church.

It’s not sufficient in this situation just to develop, The third — and perhaps most significant — implement and lesson we can follow new prodraw from St. tocols for the proJosemaria is tection of children about the imporand the handling tance of sincerof accusations, to ity. We all need do better psychoto think the truth, logical screening speak the truth of seminarians, and live the truth

By Father and to bind the and he sought to Roger J. Landry wounds of those form people to be who have suftruthful with God, fered at the hands with themselves of Church ministers. The Church has to get to and with others. The great battle between Christ the roots of the deeper crisis of faith and morals and the devil in human souls concerns the truth: that enabled such egregious sins of commission Christ is the truth who sets us free while the devil is and omission against children, against God, and “a liar and the father of lies” who seeks to enslave against the whole Church to happen — and to rem- us in a self-imposed prison cell of mendacity and edy them. deceit (Jn 8:32,44). St. Josemaria recognized we Over the course of the next several weeks, are all vulnerable; one of the virtues that helped the therefore, I’d like to focus on some of the lessons Apostles to remain faithful was that, “for all their the saints — the Church’s real “crisis” manage- evident and undeniable weaknesses,” they were ment team — teach us about how to address the “sincere, simple … transparent.” He encouraged predicament the Church confronts today. everyone to imitate those virtues by being “savI’d like to begin with St. Josemaria Escriva, agely sincere” in spiritual direction and confession, since his feast day tomorrow gives us the chance by relating first “what you would not like to be to learn from his example and invoke his interces- known,” and by living “in the presence of God in sion. I think there are three great lessons we can such a way that we never have to hide anything.” learn from what God called this heroic Spanish The clergy sex abuse crisis is replete with priest to do. multiple forms of insincerity. Priests with deThe first and most obvious thing we learn is mons often failed to acknowledge their evil inthat priests and all the faithful are called by God to clinations to themselves or others. They manipube holy in their day-to-day life. In 1928, by means lated the truth to molest the young and then lied of a mystical experience, God called St. Josemaria to them about their complicity in the act and the to found Opus Dei as a means to help all members eternal consequences of their telling others about of the Church, in whatever their state of life, to seek the abuse. Various chancery officials made promto holiness through sanctifying their daily duties. ises to the families of victims they didn’t keep He founded the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross and stonewalled on occasion to prevent the truth specifically to try to help diocesan clergy become from coming to light. In doing so, they injured the holy through sanctifying their priestly work; as a Church’s credibility as a truth-telling institution. diocesan priest and popular clergy retreat master, Sincerity — candidly to confess our sins, to own he noticed that the mere teaching of the faith, cel- up to responsibility, to tell the truth even when ebration of the sacraments, administration of the it hurts — remains one of the most urgent virChurch’s goods and pastoral care of Christ’s flock tues those in the Church need to bring about the would not of itself make priests holy. He tried Church’s recovery. to help priests achieve a genuine unity of life, in Every crisis is a crisis of saints. The only which all of their activities would be integrated fully adequate response to the clergy sex abuse within a life of prayer and loving interior moral crisis, St. Josemaria would insist, would be for adhesion to Christ. priests and faithful alike to recommit themOne of the most obvious failures in the recent selves to the holiness God intends. We need crisis has been this lack of a holy integration, as to pray for each other and seek concretely to many priest abusers gained reputations as eloquent help each other achieve a true unity of life. preachers, pious celebrants, charismatic youth We need to love each other enough to correct leaders, or charitable ministers to the marginalized each other when we see the other erring from while at the same time, in secret, they were living a the footsteps of the Lord. And like the Apostles double-life, devouring those entrusted to their care. we need to be savagely sincere, transparent and St. Josemaria forcefully taught what the Church simple with ourselves, with God, and with othhas always held: that priests, like all the faithful, are ers so that we may be set free in the truth and called to be holy, and that this holiness is to be lived live it. Let’s together ask St. Josemaria to help by a loving fidelity and total commitment in private us and the whole Church all along the path of and in public. When standards get downgraded the universal call to holiness erected on these for priests, expecting them no longer to be saints foundations. but merely to be good and likeable, when priests Father Landry is pastor of St. Anthony’s Parconcede themselves time “on” and time “off” with ish in New Bedford.

Putting Into the Deep

June 25, 2010

L

ord Acton, the man who famously quipped that “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” revealed his respect for John Henry Newman as an educator when he wrote, “I have often discussed with Newman the chances of a Catholic University in England. I have promised Newman land for buildings.”

It’s a pity this project didn’t get off the ground, because in the opinion of many, Newman knew what he was doing when it came to education.

J.M. Cameron once claimed, “Modern thinking on university education is a series of footnotes to Newman’s lectures and essays.” He went on to say Newman’s “Lectures on the Idea of a University” is “the most influential… book yet written on university education.” Premier American sociologist Robert A. Nisbet wrote, “Both the intellectual and the moral development of the individual student were ... aspects of the traditional academic community,” and this was “stated nowhere more eloquently than

by Newman in his Idea of the University....” A famous non-Catholic historian at Yale University, Jaroslav Pelikán, called Newman “the author of the most important book ever

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his Father’s Day I couldn’t send my father a card. That’s because he’s been dead since 2001.

Of course, I still pray for him and earnestly hope that he’s in heaven along with my younger sister Nellie Duncan Lide, who died a couple of years ago. But parents live on in their children and grandchildren, even children like me, now embarking on my sixtieth year. Sometimes we consciously imitate our parents; most of the time we instinctively resemble them willy-nilly; and occasionally we decide to go our own way.

But even then, we can’t help but pay them tribute.

My dad was always larger than life. He was known as “Big Jim.” He and my mom had 13 children, so I have the good fortune of having twelve wonderful and occasionally exasperating brothers and sisters. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for my parents. Fortunately, my dad had a wild, zany sense of humor. He also had an oversized appetite and body to match. These are qualities most of us inherited. I’ll let Nellie’s eulogy for him at his

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The greatest theorist of university life

written about the university.”

Latin the mother tongue of the Columbia University’s historian European “romance” languages of culture Jacques Barzun has (e.g., Spanish, Italian, French, called Newman “the greatest Romanian), but something like theorist of university life.”

65-75 percent of contemporary Why all the accolades? For English is Latin-based. The one thing, our idea of a “core Church has encouraged more curriculum,” as prior to profesuse of Latin in her (non-Eastsional specialization, is traceern) liturgies of late. Students able to Newman’s ideas.

He was all for people learning to ‘specialize,’ The Enduring if they felt so called. But Importance of he believed they should learn certain basics Cardinal Newman during undergraduate Dr. Peter J. Mango studies. (Newman may have thought two years would suffice.)

Yet Newman’s proposal for who study Latin apparently what undergraduate students excel in their SAT’s scores — should study may not sound far-and-away — vis-à-vis stuso familiar. While there’s not dents studying other languages. enough here to explain all his (Greek comes in second). ideas fully, we can say someBut SAT scores were not thing. For one thing, these stud- what Newman had in mind. ies would include Latin. There’s For Newman, instruction “of a Latin renaissance going on at whatever kind” is “a discipline the moment. As I write, variain accuracy of mind.” It’s not tions on the phrase “Latin-cengeared merely to passing a test. tered curriculum” draws a com- Learning the precisions of Latin bined 380,000 hits on Google. and classical Greek are a useful Wyoming Catholic College help for this. Few things speak has captured national attention to our video-gaming, soundfor its course in conversational bitten, generally A.D.D. society Latin. More and more schools like Newman’s insight here. ascribe to what they call a “clasWhen he heard people speak sical curriculum,” teaching of “‘freedom of conscience,’ Latin accordingly. Not only is or about ‘the Gospel,’ or any

other popular subject of the day,” Newman said, “Those household words may stand in a man’s mind for [something] very misty.” Things run the risk of becoming reduced to swirling images, passing feelings, and fleeting slogans that most of us just take for granted. For this reason the goal of true education, according to Newman, must be to seek “to remove the original dimness of the mind’s eye” in order “to strengthen and perfect its vision; to enable it to look out into the world right forward, steadily and truly; to give the mind clearness.”

For Catholic students in particular, moreover, Newman believed one should know the teaching and history of one’s own Church. For example, he wrote, they “should know who St. Justin Martyr was, and when he lived … something about the Benedictines, Dominicans, or Franciscans, [and] about the Crusades,” as well as to “be able to say what the Holy See has done for learning and science.”

Newman wrote that students “should also be invited to acquaint themselves with some general facts about the canon of

Holy Scripture, its history, the Jewish canon, St. Jerome, the Protestant Bible; again, about the languages of Scripture, the contents of its separate books, their authors, and their versions.”

None of this alone explains the long-term success of Newman’s ideas on education. To understand that, one should read “Idea of a University” for oneself. It has been called perhaps the single greatest piece of extended prose in the English language.

Latin sound too hard? Perhaps so for many. (It was for me). But it was Newman’s ability to express deep convictions so well in his own language — in writing as well as in speaking — that has exercised such a deep influence on education for so long. We can exhort all our young people to aspire to this.

After all, as we’ve all seen, how well we speak can change the world.

Dr. Mango, who wrote his doctoral dissertation on Cardinal Newman, teaches philosophy at the Thornwood Center for Higher Studies as well as at the Archdiocese of New York’s St. John Neumann Pre-Theology Program and Institute for Religious Studies. This is the fourth in a 10-part series.

A chip off the old block funeral continue the story: “If breaker. He always looked there’s one thing dad taught at things a little differently us, it’s an appreciation of than the rest of us.... He once food, especially when the food looked at a Christmas wish is free. list and asked who spelled one “He could be intimidatof the names backwards. The ing. He could also be rude, name? M-O-M. arrogant, charming, and “Those guys at the agency funny. In other words, he was really knew how to crack ’em.

French. He was from France.

“When we were kids, my His French heritage was important to him.

When my sister Lee Anne visited France years ago, she wrote home that there was a whole country of dads over there ... which

By Dwight Duncan explains why my sister Mimi eventually chose to settle in England and not France. dad took us every summer to “My dad was proud to Cape Hatteras, where he held be a Marine. He served in sort of a junior marine corps the Pacific in World War II training camp. My mother where he was specialized in wisely stayed home with that communications. He went year’s baby. He recently told to Georgetown University’s my sister Bernie that he was School of Foreign Service and glad he taught us adversity worked for 20 some years at during those summers, it made the National Security Agency. us tough. And let me tell you, As kids, none of us knew what when you’re five years old and he did for a living. His ocyou have to carry 20 gallons of cupation was always listed as water a mile or so, you become Research Analyst. As adults tough. Of course dad thought we figured out he was a code we had it easy, as he often told

Judge For Yourself

us he not only walked 12 miles to school every day as a child, but he also sold cantaloupes along the way.”

“My dad loved three women in his life. He was devoted to St. Elizabeth Anne Seton, St. Joan of Arc and of course my mother.

He loved my mother. He was really only happy when she was around. Especially in these later years, when he would sometimes grow scared, my mother’s calming presence would soothe him. It was not easy for mom, as my dad suffered from mental illness, and was perhaps not the most cooperative of people.

“But for all the difficulties, my parents shared a faith that kept them strong. I can’t tell you how many times I sat and listened to my parents say the rosary each night before bed.

My mother would start in her sweet voice, “‘Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus’; and my dad would continue ‘Holy Mary, Mo.......Amen.’ Dad didn’t like

to waste his breath.

“But though I always laughed, I also saw the beauty in their love of God. “This past week, when we brought dad home from the hospital, my mother would lead a rosary every night with whoever was around. My daughter Mary told me it was the most spiritual thing she had ever done. I was glad my kids could see faith in action, and the power of prayer.

“St. Elizabeth Anne Seton once wrote, ‘I must jog along the allotted path through all its windings and weariness until it brings me home where all tears shall be wiped away, and sorrow and sighing be heard no more. In the meanwhile, courage!’ My dad had tremendous courage and strength.

“I want to close by saying that family is a complicated, exhilarating, precious beast, and I’m glad I got to ride that beast with my dad — James Thomas Roger Ernest Duncan.

I love you dad.” Me too.

Dwight Duncan is a professor at Southern New England School of Law in North Dartmouth. He holds degrees in civil and canon law.

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n a minute”; “as soon as I finish…” etc.; how often have we used or received comments such as these in response to a request for an action, especially one that may be burdensome or may require a commitment on our part. “I really want to help, but a bit later would be better for me.”

We often do want to help or participate, but at our convenience.

A car dealer I encountered in Chicago realized the hesitance purchasers had in buying a car. So when they would go to leave, he’d ask them to take one of the coins he had made for his dealership. One side had the number “1” stamped on it with the words below the number saying “One Round To It.” On the reverse side was stamped the dealership’s name and the phrase, “Come and see us when you get around to it.”

He explained that we all throw papers away, but coins, even

June 25, 2010

The Anchor

Do you have a ‘round to it’ in your pocket? those with no monetary value, asks if the person is willing to often stay in a person’s pocket. get out of his comfort zone. Is At times we may find that, in he willing to put commitment some fashion, we are carrying behind his words? “Foxes have a “round to it” or two in our dens and the birds of the sky pockets. have nests, but the Son of Man In our first reading today, Elisha’s response to Elijah’s invitation Homily of the Week is, “Please, let me kiss Thirteenth Sunday my father and mother in Ordinary Time goodbye, and I will follow you.” “Please,

By Deacon can I have a ‘round to Richard J. Gundlach it’ coin? I’ll come back later and follow you.” has nowhere to rest his head.”

He then goes on to prepare A follower of Jesus may not quite a feast slaughtering 12 even have the creature comyoke of oxen, but, even though forts the animals do. He may it’s not an immediate response, have fewer of those comforts he does go on to follow Elijah. in order that one’s neighbor He cashes in his “round to it” can have any comfort at all. coin.

We aren’t told to whom Jesus In the Gospel, Jesus, as is is speaking, but his challenge often the case, has a challenge is one of commitment. When for us, in this case a two-part the going gets tough, will you challenge. First, in response to follow, or flee? The disciples an unsolicited “I will follow had seen Jesus feed the crowd, you wherever you go,” Jesus

and perform other miracles.

Jesus is asking how deep the person’s commitment is. Is it on the surface for the good times, the easy times? Jesus and the disciples are heading to Jerusalem and the triumphal entrance of Palm Sunday. They are also heading for Good Friday. He asks us to look into our hearts and ponder our commitment to follow or flee.

Secondly, not only is there to be commitment, there is immediacy in proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom. There is no allowance for delay as was the case with Elisha’s call to follow Elijah. Jesus would have shocked his hearers by saying “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Burying the dead was a solemn obligation and, from a human perspective, cer-

tainly a reason for delay. Jesus highlights the urgency instead.

We are to let nothing stand in our way. “Let me say farewell to my family at home.” Jesus again says “Don’t look back.”

Our call is to become committed activists in working to bring forth the kingdom of God. As with many things we are called on to do, we want to delay, to get everything in order before we move forward, to tie up all the loose ends.

Jesus looks at us, perhaps more kindly than we might think from the force of this Gospel passage, and says lovingly, “trust in me.” “I will lead you; I will provide for you; go forth in my strength and fear not.”

Our call, our challenge is not to appear before Jesus with our pockets bursting with valueless “round to its,” but with our deeds of loving service.

Deacon Gundlach serves at St. Mark’s Parish in Attleboro Falls.

Upcoming Daily Readings:Sat. June 26, Lam 2:2,10-14,18-19; Ps 74:1b-7,20-21; Mt 8:5-17. Sun. June 27, Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 1 Kgs 19:16b,1921; Ps 16:1-2,5,7-11; Gal 5:1,13-18; Lk 9:51-62. Mon. June 28, Am 2:6-10,13-16; Ps 50:16bc-23; Mt 8:18-22. Tues. June 29, Peter and Paul, Apostles, Act 12:1-11; Ps 34:2-9; 2 Tm 4:6-8,17-18; Mt 16:13-19. Wed. June 30, Am 5:14-15,21-24; Ps 50:7-13,16b-17; Mt 8:28-34. Thur. July 1, Am 7:10-17; Ps 19:8-11; Mt 9:1-8. Fri. July 2, Am 8:4-6,9-12; Ps 119:2,10, 20,30,40,131; Mt 9:9-13.

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n mid-May, Pope Benedict XVI made an apostolic pilgrimage to Portugal; half a million people attended the outdoor papal Mass at Fatima.

When the pope returned to Rome, 200,000 pilgrims jammed St. Peter’s Square for Benedict’s recitation of the Sunday Regina Coeli, demonstrating their support for a pontiff beset for months by criticism over abusive clergy and irresponsible bishops.

A week later, a 44-day exposition of the Shroud of Turin

Catholic revival in Europe? bells about a European crisis in the cathedral of that northern of civilizational morale since Italian city concluded. Over the course of six weeks, two million people braved long lines to spend a few brief moments before what many believe to be the burial clothes of Christ.

By George Weigel To vary Mark Twain: Have reports of Christianity’s death in Europe the publication of “The Cube been greatly exaggerated?

It’s a fair question, and as one and the Cathedral” in 2005, I’m obliged to try to answer it. who has been ringing the alarm The answer is: It’s too early to tell.

The vast flock of pilgrims at Fatima, the enthusiasm for the pope manifest on a sunny Roman spring day, the extraordinary numbers who came to see the Shroud — these are all encouraging signs. So is the intense piety that continues to be evident in Poland, most recently in the wake of the tragic deaths of so many national leaders in an April plane crash, while they were en route to the killing grounds of the Katyn forest. So, in an odd way, are the virulent attacks on the Church and the pope these past several months.

No one expends energy berating an institution deemed moribund and an 83-year-old man considered an irrelevance; the attacks themselves are evidence that Christian faith — and the Catholic Church — remain factors in European culture and European

The Catholic Difference

public life.

Moreover, if World Youth Day 2011, to be held in Madrid next August 1621, turns out a million or more young pilgrims, which seems possible, a challenge will have been laid down to the hyper-secularist Zapatero government in Spain and to Europe’s aging children of the 60s, who may tolerate Christianity as a personal lifestyle choice (if considering it an exceedingly odd one) but who also insist that 21st century European public life must be stripped of religiously-informed moral argument.

The game-changer in all this, however, will be when these mass public displays of Christian conviction and piety become culture-transforming, and thus capable of getting traction in the public square. And it’s not easy to see that happening in Europe anytime soon. European Catholicism has little of the infrastructure for cultural combat that has been built in the United States over the past few decades. For example: there is simply nothing in Europe like First Things and its stable of writers, whose essays and articles demand attention from public officials, academics, the general media, and other opinion merchants.

That’s not my idiosyncratic view as a longtime First Things

contributor and now the chairman of its board; that’s what my European friends and colleagues tell me.

Getting that kind of cultural traction requires hard work and resources. Above all, however, it requires a critical mass of radically converted Christian disciples, who have been through moments like Father Robert Barron of Chicago lived in Turin: “I have to admit that it was one of the most extraordinary religious experiences of my life.

The marks on the Shroud — including the blood stains — are clearly visible, which means that the brutal reality of the Passion is clearly visible. Staring at the Shroud, I was brought vividly back to that squalid little hill outside the city walls of Jerusalem in the year 30 where a young man was tortured to death. But then the face of the figure comes into focus: that strange, haunting, noble, peaceful face, which discloses, at the same time, the depth of human misery and the fullness of divine mercy. In the face of the crucified God, the full drama and poetry of Christian faith is on display, the Answer which is anything but an easy answer, the Word which surpasses the word of any philosopher….”

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

June 25, 2010

Let’s talk turtle

Wednesday 16 June 2010 — reverend was a bit of a literalist.

At home in Old Dighton VilHe had, I suspect, also skipped lage — 50th anniversary of the a few too many seminary premiere of Alfred Hitchcock’s classes. Biblical fundamentalism classic film “Psycho” combined with lack of comccording to an old account I recently read, a 19thcentury Scottish minister Reflections of a once delivered a stirring Parish Priest sermon warning his parishioners to prepare

By Father Tim for an invasion of talkGoldrick ing turtles. These may well prove to be an early prototype of the Ninja Turtles of cartoon fame. mon sense often proves dangerThe preacher’s text that day ous, especially if you stir in an was the Song of Songs 2:12, overactive imagination. The best “The voice of the turtle is heard remedy for ignorance is silence, in our land.” The Bible said but the reverend nevertheless it. He believed it. The good waxed eloquent on the subject of

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The Ship’s Log

the pending turtle invasion. The word “turtle,” in this case, is better translated “turtledoves,” not sea turtles. Oh, never mind.

The reverend announced that there are actually two biblical predictions in this short verse. “In our land,” according to him, means just that. Giant sea turtles (which can weigh more than a hundred pounds) will simultaneously drag themselves out of the oceans of the world. These leviathans will overrun our homes, farms and market places. It could be the “prequel” of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds,” but the predators will instead be turtles.

Once the invasion is under-

A field trip with Jesus

ing godly observations and ike most school chilvoicing spiritual connections dren, I learned to label for our children in the course the parts of a frog and then to of everyday life. We can also dissect one in science class. It do this more concretely by was a solid beginning to unplanning spiritual field trips derstanding frogs in particular based on Jesus’ parables. A and anatomy in general, but it perfect parable with which was by taking a net and scoopto begin is the parable of the ing frog, turtles, and anything Four Soils found in Matthew else that swam from on top of 13:1-23. lily pads that I really began to We begin our field trip understand the bigger picture preparation by praying for the of God’s creation and to fall in guidance of the Holy Spirit, love with it. In fact, in many school subjects, field trips were the key to making book learning really come to life for me.

For this reason I love to read in the Gospels of how Jesus, in the

By Heidi Bratton capacity of an extraordinary teacher, took the truths written in the Hebrew Scriptures and brought reading the chosen parable from the Bible, reading any them to life for his disciples biblical study guides we may amid the hills, lakes, and cities also have, and then selectof ancient Israel. In doing this ing an appropriate location in he made all of life a spiritual which to assemble with the field trip, just as Israelite parchildren. For the parable of the ents were instructed to do in Four Soils, it’s ideal to find a Deuteronomy 6:6-9. place where one can see each Who wouldn’t remember of the four soil types. This can a lesson about faith learned be as close to home as a dirt while cowering in a tippy boat walkway, a stone driveway, a during a furious storm, only patch of overgrown woods, and to have Jesus calm the fury by a grassy lawn. the power of his rebuke alone Once the children are (Matthew 8:23-27)? Who assembled, we, again, pray could forget a lesson about for the guidance of the Holy forgiveness learned while Spirit, and then read Matthew pressing around an adulterous 13:1-23 out loud. As we read woman, stone in hand, only to we encourage the children to have Jesus disarm her accusers interact with the soils; to look and save her life (John 7:53at them, plow them up, pluck 11)? the rocks and pull the weeds As parents we can and from them, pour water on should do as Jesus did and them, and so forth. After readmake family life a grand, ing the parable and playing spiritual field trip for our own with the soils we can have a young disciples. We can do picnic and discuss our experithis unceremoniously by mak-

Home Grown Faith

ences. Parents should encourage everyone to share their thoughts and monitor conversation to be sure that siblings get the hang of listening without criticizing. We should keep our Bibles open, referring back to the parable and Jesus’ stated meaning as we ask the following sorts of questions: “Have you ever gown a plant from a seed? What was the role of the soil in growing fruitful plants?

Who is the farmer in the parable? What does the seed represent? Jesus said the soil represented people; what kind of soil do you think you are? What could you do to improve your soil? Could you plow a hardened attitude? Pluck out rocks of resistance to understanding God’s Word? Pull up weeds of ungodly behaviors?

A fruitful conversation about peer pressure could develop from the observation that weeds have seeds that spread quickly from one soil type to another.

We can become the best of spiritual teachers for our children by remembering the power of school field trips and by taking Jesus’ cue and making Scriptural truth come alive not just in church, but where ever we go. By casually and purposefully making all of life a spiritual field trip we can help our children not only to understand the bigger picture of God’s creation, but also to fall in love with it and with him.

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

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

way, the second prediction will kick in. It will be shocking.

These sea creatures will be able to speak to us (probably in a heavy Scottish accent.) What the turtles will say, the minister left to our imagination — which is the worst thing he could have possibly done. This sorry excuse for a sermon proves once again the importance of accurate translations.

And now, dear readers, I will offer a prediction of my own.

The English-speaking churches of the Catholic world will soon have a new translation of the Roman Missal, otherwise known as the Sacramentary. That’s the big red book priests use to say Mass. It’s translated into the world’s languages from the Latin original (called typical.)

The Sacramentary contains not only what the priest prays aloud but also instructions on what to do and how to do it.

While there are specified instances during the Mass allowing for customization on the part of the presiding priest, the Mass itself remains fundamentally the same, no matter where in the world you happen to find yourself. This is one of the implications of the word “catholic.” We are all on the same page — or at least we should be.

In accord with the decrees of the Second Vatican Council, on April 3, 1969 His Holiness Pope Paul VI issued new a “typical” translation of the Missale Romanum. The Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship declared it official and promulgated it on Holy Thursday, March 26, 1970.

Following some minor tweaking, a revised first edition, prepared by the International Commission of English in the Liturgy, was approved on November 1, 1973. The American bishops mandated its use in the United States on November, 13 1973. Revisions of the revisions

to the First Typical Edition were made in 1975.

Then, in 1983, came the Second Typical Edition, the one still in use — but not for long.

The binding of my copy of the Roman Missal is breaking down. There have been modifications made since 1985 that are not included in the book. I have to go searching, for example, to find the feast days of more recently declared saints.

Some perceptive parishioners have offered to donate a new copy, but I have respectfully declined. There’s a Third Typical Edition soon to be issued in English. After the third edition is published, the Second Typical Edition will be history. These books are costly. I will make do with a little duct tape here and there until the American bishops mandate the use of the Third Typical Edition.

Pope John Paul II approved the third edition in 2000. It appeared in Latin in 2002.

Scholars and pastors worldwide have studied the text and made suggestions for improvement.

Pope Benedict XVI issued a corrected reprint. The Third Typical Edition of the Roman Missal in English translation is ready for promulgation. For more information, visit www.USCCB.org/ romanmissal.

There are no major changes in the Mass ritual. Instead, translators have attempted to be more faithful to the Latin text. For example, the response to the greeting “The Lord be with you” is more properly “And with your spirit,” not “And also with you.” Oops.

If you say all of this translation business is a waste of time and effort, you’re asking for trouble. Prepare to be attacked by giant talking turtles with heavy Scottish accents.

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

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Side by side, they always lend a hand

By Dave Jolivet, Editor

a night to relax — The Catholic Women’s Club of New Bedford recently held its annual Bishop’s Night at the Wamsutta Club.

From left: Father Karl C. Bissinger, secretary to the bishop; Bishop George W. Coleman; officers Lynne Kuczewski; Fern Ferreira; Miriam McCoy; Mary Mitchell; and Leonora Carreiro. Attendees enjoyed a dinner and listened to David Arruda on the keyboard.

“but we’re not one’s to say ‘Why me?’ We just deASSONET — Joyce and Robert Viveiros, pa- cide we have to deal with it and we move on. We rishioners of St. Bernard’s Parish, are a great ex- accept things. Life is a pilgrimage with its ups and ample of what it means to be Catholic and married. downs, but we love life.”

“God has given us a lot,” added Joyce, “and we “I could not recognize one without the other,” said their pastor Father Michael Racine. “When you want to give back. Show our appreciation.”

Joyce admits that she was the one who got the meet them, they are the most wonderful couple couple started with volunteering at St. Bernard’s, who love their faith and parish community.”

Bob and Joyce, as they’re more commonly but now it’s Bob who keeps the ball rolling. “Whencalled, have been St. Bernard’s parishioners for five ever Bob comes home, I do three things,” she said. years, since moving to the north end of Fall River. “I give him a kiss, I ask him what he brought to eat, But in that short span, the couple has already es- and I ask him what he volunteered us for now.”

Despite being in their 70s, the couple is very actablished a reputation for always being there when needed — whether as an usher at Mass, an extraor- tive. “I think we’re starting to feel our age though,” dinary minister of holy Communion, utilizing their said Joyce. “We recently helped out at a dinner, and skills as “masters of malassadas stretching,” or as when we got home I said to Bob, ‘We’ve got to cut down on these things.’ But that only lasts a day or premier pumpkin paddlers.

Bob at age 75 and Joyce, 73, are relatively new- two, then we’re ready to dive right in again. We just lyweds of 22 years, but as Father Racine puts it, enjoy people so much.”

Bob said Father Ra“They come as a team.” cine is an inspiration to Joyce and Bob have the couple. “Father Mike known each other since lives by a code,” he said. they were young. “I was “He learned it when he 14 and she was 12 when met Mother Teresa in we met,” Bob recalled.

New Bedford years ago.

“We would walk togethShe said four simple er, with friends, and our words that he lives by. parents were upset that ‘Be a good priest.’ And we were dating,” chimed he is, and that rubs off on Joyce. the parishioners.”

Time and circumBob and Joyce roustances split them up. tinely arrive for the 4 Joyce was later married p.m. Saturday vigil Mass and Bob joined the serat 3 p.m., to socialize, see vice. She lost her husband what needs to be done, when she was 37 and and “to try and say my chance had it that they rosary,” said Joyce. They met again, and eventually greet parishioners as they married 22 years ago. arrive and hand out bulThey’ve been inseparable letins. Well Bob does since. anyway. “I like to hug It wasn’t until they people,” said Joyce. “I’m moved to the north end a hugger.” of Fall River and became “If ever the Viveiroparishioners of St. Bernard’s that they felt the Anchor persons of the week — Bob and ses arrive past 3 p.m., I tell them ‘you’re late,’” calling to become active Joyce Viveiros. (Photo by Dave Jolivet) quipped Father Racine. in parish life.

The pastor is also most impressed by the couples’ “It took us about six months to settle in at St. Bernard’s,” Joyce told The Anchor, “but when we ability to sell pumpkins at the parish’s annual Fall did, we fell in love with the people and Father Tim Festival. “Bob and Joyce willingly spend three days Goldrick. I read in the bulletin there was a need manning the booth,” said Father Racine. “They do to help in the kitchen, and I told Bob, ‘I think we it because they love it, and they’re very good at it. should do it.’” Do it they did — and they haven’t They are the number one pumpkin salesmen.”

“I don’t know how we do it,” said Bob. “But when stopped since.

The couple is always ready to volunteer their we get in the booth, the crowds seem to swarm. It time. Bob joined the parish council of the Knights could be cold and wet, but we’re there with a smile of Columbus, a role he cherishes. Just recently, and people respond.” “We’re just a happy couple,” when a young soldier from Fall River was killed said Joyce.

Bob and Joyce are quick to heap praises on their in Afghanistan, it was Bob who took the liberty to send a card of condolence to the family on behalf of pastor and fellow parishioners. “These people are his brother Knights. “He takes his role as chancellor wonderful and work hard for the Church and the very seriously,” said Father Racine. “He reports on parish,” said Joyce.

There’s not doubt the Viveiroses can be included members who may be ill or on things the Knights in that description. may be able to do in the community.”

We’ll keep doing what we’re doing as long as “I haven’t joined any groups,” said Joyce. “But when someone needs help, I’m more than happy we’re able to do it,” said Bob. Their quaint apartment close to the Freetown to join in.”

After Bob had a battle with cancer, went through border is filled with photos of their beloved parents, a rigorous chemotherapy treatment, and is now do- their wedding photos, and pictures and statues of ing very well, Joyce said she keeps thanking God Christ and Mary. Except for the embroidered Yankees logo on the wall, their home is as welcoming for his great mercy and love.

“But there’s only so many times you can say as they are. “I’m the Yankee fan,” beamed Joyce. ‘thank you,’ she said. “There comes a time when “My dad was a Yankee fan.”

Bob and Joyce have been blessed with so much you have to show God that you are thankful and that’s why we have such a great love of helping out by the good Lord. And they haven’t been afraid to at St. Bernard’s. It’s our way of showing God how reciprocate those blessings. And St. Bernard’s Parmuch we love him, and how much we love our par- ish is the better for it.

To nominate a Person of the Week, send an ish, priest and fellow parishioners.”

“We’ve had our share of ailments,” added Bob, email to FatherRogerLandry@anchornews.org.

June 25, 2010

The Anchor

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The Anchor

June 25, 2010

Gingriches’ film on Pope John Paul II made as an ‘act of devotion’

By Denis Grasska Catholic News Service SAN DIEGO — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich seems to be everywhere these days.

Turn on the Fox News Channel and you’ll find the former Republican congressman providing analysis of current political events.

Stroll through the local bookstore and you’ll come across copies of his more than 20 books, including the recently released “To Save America: Stopping Obama’s Secular-Socialist Machine.”

On top of it all, he is considering a run for the presidency in 2012.

And in early June, Gingrich and his wife, Callista, were in Warsaw, Poland, and then Rome for the debut of their new documentary, “Nine Days That Changed the World.” It chronicles Pope John Paul II’s nine-day pilgrimage to Poland in 1979 and examines the event’s significant role in the fall of Soviet communism.

“If you look at most of the secular history of the period, they don’t cover the impact of the Church,” Gingrich said in a May 24 telephone interview with The Southern Cross, newspaper of the Diocese of San Diego.

The couple made the documentary “almost as an act of devotion,” Gingrich said.

He explained that the idea for the film came about while he and Callista were interviewing various Cold War icons for an earlier documentary on former President Ronald Reagan.

The couple planned to discuss the film and other religious-themed projects of theirs when they address the Mother of Life Conference in San Diego August 14.

The main theme of their speech will be the moral and religious implications of today’s court rulings on such issues as abortion.

Gingrich told The Southern Cross that he and his wife saw the conference “as an opportunity to reach out and talk with a number of people who had a deep concern about the future of America, who understood that life begins at conception, who are committed to reinserting values (into U.S. society).”

“We thought that it was really something that we had an obligation to do,” he added.

In their speech, Gingrich said he and his wife will focus on the God-given nature of freedom and how “no government can get between ... God and you as an in-

dividual.”

“I think it’s very important to recognize that we are in a situation where, today, we have secular judges imposing secular law in a way that has enormous moral and religious implications,” Gingrich said.

Newt and Callista Gingrich were married in 2000. A lifelong Catholic, Callista sings in the professional choir at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. Newt Gingrich entered the Catholic Church in late March 2009.

“I had been originally raised as a Lutheran and had become a Baptist,” he said, “but then over the last nine years, I had found myself more and more attracted to the Church.

“And I don’t think I made a decision to convert,” he continued. “I think I became a Catholic and then realized it one day.”

That momentous day arrived during Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the United States, April 15-20, 2008.

“There was something about that week and seeing him,” Gingrich said, “and I just decided ... that this was where I belong, this (was) the right thing for me.”

As for the upcoming Mother of Life Conference, he said he hoped participants will realize, with the leadership of the Knights of Columbus, Pro-Life supporters “have little reason to be afraid. The vast majority of Americans agree with us. It is actually a militant minority on the left that has been trying to change our country radically.”

He added that he hoped those who attend will leave the event “rededicated and recommitted to fighting for an America based on sound values.”

Presented by the San Diego chapter of the Knights of Columbus, the Mother of Life Conference will be held at San Diego State University’s Viejas Arena.

Speakers will include Jesuit Father Mitch Pacwa, a popular host on the EWTN network; Father Thomas J. Euteneuer, president of Human Life International; and Lila Rose, president of Live Action, a nonprofit organization that uses new media and investigative journalism to advance a culture of life.

Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, will celebrate the closing liturgy.

For more information on “Nine Days That Changed the World” or to order a copy of the DVD, visit www.gingrichproductions.com or www.ninedaysthatchangedtheworld.com.

third time’s a charm — Animated characters Lots-O’-Huggin’ Bear, Buzz Lightyear and Woody are pictured in a scene from the movie “Toy Story 3.” For a brief review of this film, see CNS Movie Capsules below. (CNS photo/Disney/Pixar)

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 A-Team” (Fox) Explosively noisy, stuntladen, cheesy and somehow engrossing film based on the TV series in the 1980s without that program’s self-mocking humor. Director Joe Carnahan, who also scripted along with Brian Bloom and Skip Woods, reinvents the story line as sort of a video game, with Liam Neeson, Quinton Jackson, Bradley Cooper, and Sharlto Copley playing four Army Rangers, all specialists in covert missions, framed in Iraq for a crime they didn’t commit, then escaping from prison to clear their names and seize the CIA operative who set them up. Some fleeting crass and crude language, most of it before the opening credits are over, a fleeting reference to premarital sex, and abundant explosions and gunfire.

The Catholic News Service classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

“Jonah Hex” (Warner Bros.)

The popular DC Comics series springs to life with a bang as the title character, a Civil

War soldier turned bounty hunter and drifter, seeks revenge on the man who killed his family and left him disfigured. Jonah Hex (Josh Brolin) chases his nemesis, Quentin Turnbull (John Malkovich), across the country to prevent him from blowing up Washington and restarting the Civil War. The body count along the way is enormous, and while it is always clear that the bad guys go to hell, it’s hard to condone Hex’s fanatical drive for revenge. Stylized if unbloody violence, including gunfights, brawls, and explosions; implied sexual activity; occult rituals; and some profanity. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

“Toy Story 3” (Disney/Pixar) A satisfying, action-packed conclusion to the “Toy Story”

trilogy that offers valuable lessons in the importance of family, friendship, and destiny. Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), and the rest of the “Roundup Gang” consider their options as their owner Andy (John Morris) heads to college and puts away his childish things.

Instead of being safely packed away in the attic, the toys wind up in a day care center filled with new toys and unruly kids. Lots-O’Huggin Bear (Ned Beatty) soon reveals he is not the benevolent toy leader he appears. Will the toys escape and make it back to Andy’s house, or does the recycling bin beckon? Both kids and their parents will find the answer happy, heartfelt and hope-filled. Mild cartoonish violence and scenes of peril.

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

Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6 Sunday, June 27 at 11:00 a.m.

Celebrant is Father Michael Racine, pastor of St. Bernard’s Parish in Assonet

Cardinal voices ‘grave concern’ over drug known to cause abortion WASHINGTON (CNS) — The head of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities expressed “grave concern” about a drug labeled as an emergency contraceptive and the Food and Drug Administration’s process for approving it.

He said it was misleading to call it a contraceptive, as it is also known to cause abortions.

In a June 17 letter to Dr. Margaret Hamburg, FDA commissioner, Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston criticized the advisory panel’s hearing that day on the drug. He said the hearing — held without broad public input or a full record on the drug’s safety “for women or their unborn children” — demonstrated a failure to understand the “new medical and moral issues” the drug presents.

The drug, ulipristal, is being marketed under the brand name ellaOne or ella, and would be available only by prescription.

The drug is said to prevent pregnancy five days after sex — two days longer than the morning-after pill known as Plan B, which is sold over-the-counter to women 17 and older.

The FDA’s advisory panel of 11 reproductive health experts voted unanimously for ulipristal’s approval and called it safe and effective. Although the FDA is not required to follow the panel’s advice, it often does.

The drug, manufactured by a French pharmaceutical company, is currently available in 22 European countries.

In his letter, Cardinal DiNardo raised concerns that the new drug is more similar to the drug RU-486 — which can cause abortions several weeks into pregnancy — than it is to other emergency contraceptives, which are believed to have an effect on a fertilized egg after implantation in the uterus.

“Millions of American women, even those willing to use a contraceptive to prevent fertilization in various circumstances, would personally never choose to have an abortion,” said Cardinal DiNardo. “They would be ill-served by a misleading campaign to present ulipristal simply as a ‘contraceptive.’”

RU-486, known generically as mifepristone, was approved by the FDA 10 years ago. It induces an abortion in the first seven weeks of pregnancy when used in conjunction with another drug, a prostaglandin.

The drug prevents the fertilized egg from clinging to the uterine wall, and the prostaglandin

13

The Anchor

June 25, 2010

is used 48 hours later to set off contractions that expel the embryo.

In a June 2 letter to the FDA, Donna Harrison, president of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, described ulipristal as “an abortifacient of the same type as mifepristone” and said its “approval as an emergency contraceptive raises serious health and ethical issues.”

The letter said the new drug had the potential to “destroy established pregnancies as well as prevent implantation.”

Plan B, approved by the FDA in 1999, prevents pregnancies with its high doses of a hormone that mimics progesterone. Although the drug works primarily by stopping ovaries from producing eggs, it can also prevent a fertilized egg from implanting in the womb.

Cardinal DiNardo noted that for many years, “Congress has acted to ensure that the federal government does not fund abortion and does not endanger or destroy the early human embryo even in the name of important medical research.”

He also said the current administration has similarly “voiced support for federal laws to ensure that no one is involved in abortion without his or her knowledge or consent.”

“Plans for approving a known abortion-causing drug as a ‘contraceptive’ for American women is not consistent with the stated policy of the administration on these matters,” he added.

The FDA is scheduled to make a decision on the drug by late July.

Abortion increases risk of domestic violence continued from page one

were 30 percent more likely to experience domestic violence in their relationship than those with no history of abortion. The findings were statistically significant, though the authors urged more study in an area that has received “very little research attention.”

Induced abortion and intimate relationship quality, published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Public Health, examined data from the Chicago Health and Social Life Survey. Hundreds of men and women, both married and single, from the Chicago area participated.

The study found that unintended pregnancy had “considerable potential to strain intimate relationships.” It can exacerbate violence or precede it. Participants were interviewed about yelling, threats and physical abuse.

“Even if a couple is in agreement regarding continuation vs. termination of the pregnancy, the resolution chosen may prove stressful to one or both individuals and have an adverse affect on the relationship,” the study said.

“If negative emotions associated with an abortion are not acknowledged or resolved, dysfunctional coping can carry over into relationships.”

Theresa Burke, a psychologist and founder of Rachel’s Vineyard Ministries, said abusive relationships are common for those who seek healing from abortion. Many who choose to abort their children feel shame and guilt. Some may believe they deserve mistreatment and unconsciously seek out an abusive relationship. They reexperience the powerlessness and abandonment they felt when they chose abortion. Living with constant trauma becomes an outlet for

their grief.

If a woman who wanted to keep her child has an abortion at the urging of the child’s father, her grief over the loss of her child can enrage the child’s father, triggering his own guilt. He may become abusive in an effort to keep her quiet.

Burke said that she discovered in post-abortion ministry that healing was causing marriage problems.

Women would heal from an abortion and go back to their relationship changed. “She would go back into the relationship unwilling to accept all the mistreatment, and the spouse didn’t care for that so much.

He couldn’t have control.”

She encourages couples healing from abortion to take that journey together. “Sometimes couples don’t even realize what’s keeping their hostility going.”

“Men think they’re coming to support their wives,” she said. “But very quickly they get engaged in the process.”

And when women see men express their own pain, they are comforted because they are able to see that men also care deeply.

Burke said that anyone hurting from an abortion should grieve and experience healing in their life. Rachael’s Vineyard offers 800 postabortion retreats in 30 countries.

She and her husband Kevin have also written books on the subject.

“I think abortion trauma really aggravates the war between the sexes,” she added. “So many wom-

en are coerced and manipulated into unwanted abortions by men who don’t want the responsibility for the children they created.”

Amy Sobie, spokeswoman for the Elliot Institute, agreed. “There’s all this talk that this is about women’s choice, this is about empowering women, and we’re seeing the exact opposite.”

Currently, abortion clinics in most states do not screen women for coercion. A new law recently passed in Nebraska would require them to, and Sobie hopes more states will pass similar laws.

“This is an added layer of protection,” she said. “If a woman is being forced or coerced into an abortion, the abortion practitioner should not just be doing an abortion, no questions asked, and maybe returning her to the same situation.”

The Elliot Institute’s report said that 64 percent of abortions involve coercion, and conflict over abortion can escalate to violence and even death. The leading cause of death among pregnant woman is homicide.

Burke said, “If you’re not willing to submit to an abortion, you could pay for it with your life.”

For more information on the Elliot Institute’s report, Forced Abortion in America, visit www. theunchoice.com. For information on Rachael’s Vineyard retreats and other resources, visit www.rachelsvineyard.org.

St. Lawrence Martyr Church 565 County St., New Bedford, MA Sat., 3 July 2010• 508-992-4251

7:50 am

Church Hall: Fatima Video Presentation.

9:00 am

Church: Procession of Our Lady. Angelus. Crowning Ceremony. Sung Litany of Loreto. The Five Joyful Mysteries.

10:00 am

Mass of Our Lady: Main Celebrant and Preacher: Fr. Marek Chmurski, Pastor; Consecration of Parish to Our Lady by Fr. Chmurski.

11:15 am

Lunch break (please bring bag lunch). Bookstore will be open.

12:15 pm

Exposition and Procession of the Blessed Sacrament.

12:40 pm

Sermon on Our Lady by Fr. Maximilian, FI. Silent Adoration.

1:20 pm

Meditations of the Passion of Our Lord.

1:45 pm

Break. Bookstore will be open.

2:00 pm

The Five Glorious Mysteries.

2:20 pm

Act of Consecration. Benediction.

2:50 pm

Enrollment in the Brown Scapular and Conferment of Miraculous Medal. Procession of Our Lady.

- Confessions available throughout the day - Finish approx 3:00 pm Wheelchair accessible SELECTION OF VENUES FOR 2010: Saturday, 7 Aug 2010 St. Patrick’s, Somerset, MA Saturday, 4, Sep 2010 St. Francis Xavier, Acushnet, MA Saturday, 2, Oct 2010 St. Margaret’s, Buzzards Bay, MA Saturday, 6 Nov 2010 Holy Cross, Easton, MA

The Catholic Response

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June 25, 2010

Bishops actually a step ahead in addressing scandal WASHINGTON, D.C. (Zenit.org) — The U.S. bishops’ conference was actively involved in addressing the problem of sexual abuse by clergy as early as the mid-1980s, according to a canon lawyer who provided an overview of the bishops’ experience.

Religious Sister of Mercy Sister Sharon Euart spoke of the prelates’ 30 years of interceding when she addressed participants at a one-day canon law conference May 25.

Sister Euart’s talk was on “Canon Law and Clergy Sexual Abuse Crisis: An Overview of the U.S. Experience.” She was the second canon lawyer to address the seminar, which was sponsored by the U.S. episcopal conference and the Canon Law Society of America. Sponsors explained the event was “held in response to media interest in clergy sexual abuse.” Videos and texts of the four speakers’ presentations, the questionsand-answers sessions, and a panel discussion are available online. ZENIT began this week to provide commentaries on the talks, considering on Monday an address on canon law and civil law.

Sister Euart began her talk by clarifying that “the Church’s canon law has made provision for sexual abuse of minors to be a grave offense since the

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Middle Ages. Sins against the sixth commandment with a minor were considered criminal acts. Condemnation of this kind of crime has always been firm and unequivocal.”

The most recent revision to the Code of Canon Law, released in 1983, reduced the number of ecclesiastical crimes and penalties, she said, but the “condemnation of the sexual abuse of minors by clergy was retained as a crime that was punishable by dismissal from the clerical state.”

Sister Euart went on to explain that precisely this punishment was the initial focus of the U.S. bishops’ efforts to work with the Holy See in addressing sexual abuse.

The ’83 code gives two options for imposing a dismissal from the clerical state, she illustrated: “1) voluntary petition by the priest in question for laicization or 2) penal dismissal from the clerical state by means of the judicial process — a collegiate tribunal of three qualified priestjudges.”

The U.S. bishops wanted and sought a more streamlined process, an “administrative process of dismissal from the clerical state” that put more of the decision-making process into the hands of the diocesan bishop. Sister Euart noted that

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they sought, in fact, a process that would enable them to “dismiss the priest based on pastoral necessity rather than as a penalty,” wherein the criteria for removal would be future protection of children.

However, she continued, from the canonical perspective, “due process protections for the priest” had to be ensured, and the Holy See and the U.S. bishops did not find a streamlined, administrative process that would duly protect the rights of all involved parties.

Meanwhile in 1987, the U.S. episcopal conference already offered dioceses five principles regarding sexual abuse. These were made public in 1992.

“At that time — early-1990s — the bishops publicly committed their pastoral energy to attempting to break the cycle of abuse,” Sister Euart said.

Furthermore, she added: “When discussions between representatives of the [U.S. bishops’ conference] and the Holy See failed to reach agreement on an administrative non-penal procedure, Pope John Paul II set up in 1993 a joint commission of representatives from the Holy See and the USCCB to study the judicial penal process and propose ways of streamlining it.

“The work of the joint commission resulted in the proposal of derogations of canon law, i.e., changes in specific laws, to provide a wider applicability of the penal process of dismissal in cases of sexual abuse of minors. The derogations were overwhelmingly approved by the bishops and then, with some modifications, promulgated by the Holy See in 1993.”

By the late 1990s, the canon lawyer affirmed, most U.S. dioceses already had certain systems in place for dealing with the sexual abuse issue — principles had been adopted, review boards established, and other measure implemented.

According to Sister Euart, “The remaining canonical issues were mainly ensuring that priests who were predators would not be returned to ministry and that these decisions would be upheld by the appropriate offices in Rome.

At that time, there seemed to be a lack of clarity over which Roman congregations had final authority in these matters, a situation that left many bishops frustrated in their attempts to discipline priest offenders.”

In 2001, a document from John Paul II clarified any doubts, affirming that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith “has exclusive Church authority and is to provide special procedural norms to declare or impose canonical sanctions in cases involving these canonical crimes.”

Included in the norms of the 2001 document, Sister Euart noted, are provisions reflecting the derogations approved for the U.S. by the Holy See in 1993, “effectively speaking, turning the provisions that were formerly only particular law for the United States into universal law applicable throughout the world.”

Hence, when the scandal hit U.S. headlines in 2002, there was already a long series of steps that had been taken to address the issue. More would come: U.S. cardinals and episcopal conference officials met with Vatican leaders in April 2002. From that meeting, Sister Euart recounted, it was decided that the U.S. bishops would create a series of standards and policies. This eventually took shape in the “Essential Norms for Diocesan/Eparchial Policies Dealing with Allegations of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests or Deacons,” approved by the Holy See that same year.

Sister Euart proposed certain observations as possible lessons from the bishops’ experience.

She suggested that public discussions about the matter as early as the mid-1980s would have been helpful, so that the “public was as aware of the bishops’ commitment to dealing with the problem as they were with the misconduct leading to the crisis.” Regardless, however, she emphasized the importance of accountability, saying that “bishops needed then, and continue to need today, to embrace the problem, accept their responsibility for their sometimes flawed solutions and ensure that future cases will be handled swiftly and effectively.”

A third observation dealt with the “cumbersome” canon law processes. Canon law, she maintained, was not the problem. “The problem was the bishops’ reluctance to utilize the then-existing provisions of canon law for removing priests from ministry. The canonical tools were there.

“That being said, however, the bishops’ application of the canonical procedures was hindered at times by the ex-

traordinary and cumbersome procedures and by the fact that few canonists had training and experience in canonical penal law.” In this regard, she praised workshops given in 2003 to train canon lawyers in the application of canonical penal procedures.

As Sister Euart and her colleagues took questions from seminar participants, the complexity of these issues again became apparent. A brief theological explanation of the eternal priesthood, versus a removal from the clerical state, was needed.

Other clarifications regarded the cumbersome nature of canon law, which led one member of the panel — Father John Beal — to compare it to any legal proceeding. He affirmed that canon law, like American law, is committed to due process for the accused.

He said that in any legal system, “If you are going to give the accused a fair trial you are going to commit yourself to some fairly cumbersome procedures.” As a case in point, he referenced the complexities of bringing to justice the perpetrators of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Another questioner referred to a “canon lawyer friend” seeking to defend two priests from sexual abuse allegations — priests the lawyer believes are innocent.

In this regard, Father Beal made the observation that “there was a time in the ‘bad old days’ when the word of the priest was always given more weight than the victim. The pendulum has swung in the other direction and now if an accusation is made that is not transparently false it has become incumbent upon the accused to prove his innocence.

There has been a considerable shift.”

He referred to National Football League player Ben Roethlisberger, accused of sexual assault in March, saying that “in the canonical process he would be out of the league at this point” since the amount of evidence found by the prosecutor and deemed insufficient for charges “would have been sufficient in a canonical trial on sexual abuse to convict him.”

The priest did not make a declaration about whether the pendulum has now swung into a “reasonable point,” saying that with only anecdotal evidence on the matter, it was a judgment best made by others with more evidence.

June 25, 2010

Evangelization ‘summit’ eyed going to Mass, Faith Formation continued from page one

meeting of priests of the Taunton Deanery, of which Father Jay T. Maddock, was dean, at which the issue arose of lack of attendance at Sunday Masses by families who had children attending Faith Formation classes,” McManus reported.

Father Maddock told The Anchor that “following the deanery meeting we thought it wise to open up the topic and so I sent out invitations for the February meeting.”

He said the principal issue was “because families are not coming to Mass and their children either; since the Eucharist is sum and substance of our faith; that families seem to give only an hour to the faith on weekends; the question arose: would it be better for them to spend that hour at Mass than just to drop off their children at Faith Formation classes and go home?”

The main question at the February meeting was whether to make Mass mandatory for the young people and to make their attendance at classes optional, McManus — who attended the gathering with Mercy Sister Frances Thomas, assistant director of Faith Formation — told The Anchor.

There were “many diverse opinions,” McManus stated.

“The Eucharist is indeed the source and summit of our Catholic faith, and the discussion arose as to how to hold people accountable, perhaps by taking attendance at Mass,” she added.

However, “it was not meant to downplay the great importance of the foundation of teachings about the faith” which are aimed at keeping the faith vibrant throughout a person’s lifetime, Father Mad-

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dock and McManus said.

She said “a lot of energy was spent getting to what attendees felt was at the root of the problem, and that was that the families themselves are not evangelized.”

Participants aired the opinion that there is a need to “change the hearts of the families who are the prime educators in the faith, as well as the opinion that without the assistance of the families, catechizing can’t make a difference.”

While no immediate plan was aimed at “bringing about a conversion of families,” it was understood that ongoing efforts are needed quickly before what speakers noted was “the loss of another generation of Catholic families.”

However, “we have really lost two generations of families, because we are finding it is the ‘baby boomers,’ the young grandparents of today, who generally are not committed to the practice of the faith,” McManus opined.

Another meeting on the issue is being planned, reported Father Henry S. Arruda, pastor of St. Anthony’s in Taunton, who also attended the February congregation.

“We all are facing the realization that attendance at Masses in our parishes is dropping,” he said.

“Part of that we find happening is that parents are dropping their children off at Religious Education classes on Sundays but they are going to Mass or not staying to attend Mass,” Father Arruda said.

He said that generally the parents are delivering their youngsters to the classes, “but forgetting about Mass,” he added.

This week in 50 years ago — Dominican Sister of Charity of the Presentation Mother Pierre Marie, superior of Saint Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, announced plans to open the first American novitiate of her order at 16 Elm Street in Dighton. The large house there would serve as the first headquarters with plans for additional construction at a later date.

25 years ago — The Taunton District Council of St. Vincent de Paul Society announced strong support of plans to expand the facilities at Marian Manor in Taunton. Members called for approval of the home’s application to increase its number of beds from 83 to 116.

“One of the ideas expressed to get people back to church, to attending Mass, was that the homilies might be directed to teaching the faith and that it would be the catechizing lesson for the week instead of the religious classes. That way the children and their family as well would be attending Mass together and getting catechizing at the same time.”

“I have to say that not everyone is on the same page when it comes to this, and so we need another meeting to firm up our ideas and advance our conclusions,” Father Arruda asserted.

Anna Lee Nystrom, who has been the director of Religious Education at St. Anthony’s for eight years, says today’s young parents “tell me they are too busy — with working to make a go in today’s economy, so they don’t have time to come to Mass. I don’t think everyone is greedy. But God has dropped way down, maybe to four or five, on their priority list.”

She related an old story that when her mother was a CCD teacher many years ago, a woman in pajamas dropped off a child for class, but protested on staying for Mass saying she was “too busy.”

“So it didn’t happen overnight. We did away with the holy days saying we were making it easier for people to attend Mass on Sundays. But it didn’t work,” she said. “And now we’re in that habit. I wish I knew how to bring them back to Church and Sunday Mass.”

Nystrom said that children in grades one through four regularly come to Mass and Faith Formation “because they are preparing for first holy Communion. We find their atten-

Diocesan history 10 years ago — Father David M. Andrade, pastor of the new Holy Trinity parish, said he’s “starting from scratch and the welcome mat is out,” for all at the new community of faith comprised of members of St. Jean the Baptist, St. Elizabeth’s, and St. William’s parishes.

One year ago — Father Karl C. Bissinger concluded his year-long Anchor series on the Pauline Year by saying, “I have grown in my appreciation and personal devotion to the Apostle Paul. I hope the same has happened to you, too. We have only scratched the surface.

May we continue to deepen our relationship with Paul through his writings.”

dance dropping in grades five and six; and then we have them again as they prepare for confirmation in grades seven and eight.”

Then the big “void” occurs.

“Although some stay as altar servers even into college, and a few remain active in the Youth Group and in the Holy Spirit Society, we don’t see most of them as adults after that.”

Karen Coughlin, who has been the director of Religious Education at Holy Family in East Taunton for four years, agrees that “sadly, most families are not attending Mass — and that’s not just here, but across the board throughout the nation.”

Faith Formation classes Sundays for grades one through six among the 467 in the parish’s program are held after the 9 a.m., Mass and before the 11:45 a.m., Mass. While the children are dropped off for the classes, they might not attend either Mass, she explained.

The young people also have the option of attending Religious Education classes on Monday or Wednesday But as for the ongoing catechizing format, “What is taught the students is the same topic as is being simultaneously taught to those in Adult Education classes also on Sundays. It means hopefully that in the car ride home, everyone has heard the same topic and can discuss it,” she said.

She too sees a time frame “void” in Faith Formation that occurs after confirmation as catering to the lapses seen in faith and spiritual commitment by young adults, “and that is what we need to address.”

She doesn’t believe taking attendance at Mass will ensure

greater attendance.

“Faith Formation is a lifetime issue. It should be ongoing until one leaves this earth,” she asserted. “We have to keep catechizing and then let God do his work.”

Gregory Bettencourt, director of Faith Formation at St. Nicholas of Myra Parish in North Dighton, said the wideranging proposals aired at the meeting “demonstrated how important it is to all of us to get our young people to attend Mass.”

But he feels “we need not only for them to attend Mass but also Faith Formation classes which encompass more than Religious Education because it includes all aspects of their lives whether as young people or as adults. But at this stage they face many distractions from faith issues.”

That many parents feel they have fulfilled their Catholic faith responsibilities by dropping the children off at classes — unmindful of Mass — vividly portrays how truths emphatically taught in continuing Faith Formation, such as Adult Education, are important throughout a Catholic’s lifetime, Bettencourt added.

One of the means he employs to get his grades eight and nine candidates for confirmation to Mass and class has them gathering for both, including a 5 p.m. Mass on Sundays.

“But they can also present a signed bulletin showing they’ve attended another weekend Mass when they come to class,” he explained.

Another method that can be utilized to put a focus on the Mass is by using a lectionarybased catechesis, Bettencourt noted.

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June 25, 2010

Sharing and Shearing — Pre-K through high school students of Our Lady Queen of Saints Catholic Home Education Co-op recently visited NRT Sheep Pasture in Easton. Students learned about farm animals, made and ate butter, milked a cow, fed the chickens, and from sheared sheep wool, they combed and spun wool into a bracelet. it measures up — Bishop Stang students Ryan Early and Justin Harding team up for a land survey lab during a recent math class at the North Dartmouth school.

Bishop Stang students surveying the grounds

a landmark visit — Dressed in their first Communion outfits, second-graders from SS. Peter and Paul School enjoyed a visit with retired religious Sisters residing at The Landmark in Fall River. The students attended Mass with the Sisters and held a May crowning at the assisted living facility’s chapel.

having a grand time — Recently, more than 400 grandparents of students from Bishop Feehan High School in Attleboro, participated in its sixth annual Grandparents Day. Grandparents of underclassmen met their grandchildren for breakfast and attended Feehan’s final liturgy of the year. Feehan graduates had their own Grandparents Day on June 1. From left, the Agostinis: Mary, grandson Joshua, and grandfather George; Mark Legare and grandmother Elizabeth Legare; and Eunice Alger with grandson Frances.

NORTH DARTMOUTH — Thomas Copps, a math teacher at Bishop Stang High School, took his lessons outside of the classroom, literally. At the beginning of June, a number of Copps’ math students performed a surveying lab around the Bishop Stang campus.

Copps began the project by explaining some of the work he performed from his days as a coastal and oceanographic engineer. Before coming to Bishop Stang, he frequently used survey data to understand coastal processes, or the movement of sand due to waves and currents, and to design shore protection and environmental restoration projects.

The students poured over 1961 design plans for the grounds of Bishop Stang, to find areas around campus where specific elevations are known. In what felt at times like a treasure search, the students found survey “monuments” and other features where the elevation of the land has been

carefully measured decades before. Once the students knew the elevation of the land at a given point, they used survey equipment to measure the land along a line called a “transect line” and measured from that point. They used a highly sophisticated level and tripod, as well as a surveyor’s staff and “chain.” The students found that, with practice, they could read the elevations though hundreds of feet away. One aspect of this project that fascinated the students was to plot the elevations across the athletic fields and find that the fields are not as flat as they seem.

This project brought everyday math lessons into new light for students of all learning levels.

The expensive and very delicate equipment used for the duration of the project was donated by J.P. Lanagan & Sons Corporation.

The students and Copps were grateful for the loan of the equipment and the opportunity the gear provided.

gridiron guru — Pope John Paul II High School in Hyannis announced the hiring of John J. Muldoon as head football coach and athletic director. Muldoon comes to the Lions with an impressive resume that includes coaching stints with Massachusetts Maritime Academy and St. Anselm College. He most recently served as offensive run game coach at Barnstable High School.

W

e hear of people doing amazing acts of courage. We stand in awe of their actions and admire them for their physical abilities. We even call them heroes. Yet these courageous people are humbled by their acts — it’s something greater than their own self-interest — and live with the hope that others would in turn do the same for them. Truth be told, however, such acts of courage are extraordinary — they don’t happen all the time.

It’s comforting to hear and read about such stories of physical courage. But the courage that we need most often in our world today is moral courage. In our overly psychoanalyzed society, sharing one’s secret fears with others takes courage. Challenging yourself to stick with a belief, especially when it isn’t the most popular, takes courage.

Standing up against the evils of society, like bigotry, prejudice and bullying takes courage. All

Moral courage

done better is, first of all, to adthese are acts of moral courage. mit your weakness, then become What moral value is there in a stronger by doing it better the friend who stands silent while next time around. The sacrament you are being mocked or perof reconciliation can help you secuted by others? What about do this. those who mock your faith?

Your parents are always Moral courage means facing them and challenging yourself to do what is right, regardless of the personal consequences.

Above all, to have moral courage is to forgive those who have hurt you. See courage

By Ozzie Pacheco being lived everyday.

Experience it and take part in it. Your parents do. challenged by moral courage.

Sometimes we look for the Sometimes they even question courage to change something if they raised you the best they about our lives and then conclude that it’s too late for that. Is could. They think of the times it really? True, you can’t change they’d enforce rules one day then ignore or change them the the past, but you can learn from next, or the times they made it — that’s courage. To admit to a wrong is to challenge yourself empty threats or ignored good behavior. All the while they not to do it again. To admit to struggled to be consistent, to something that could have been

Be Not Afraid

Webinar explores ways Church can respond to mentally ill young people WASHINGTON (CNS) — The best way Church ministry leaders can help a young person struggling with mental illness is not to try to save them but to work to put them in a position where they can save themselves, said panelists at a June 10 Webinar sponsored by the National Catholic Partnership on Disability.

Linea Johnson, a recent college graduate from Seattle who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and Robert McCarty, executive director of the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry in Washington, agreed that empowerment and communication are crucial in helping young people with mental illness find their way.

“The bottom-line resource is the relationship you have formed with this young person,” said McCarty, urging those who work with youths to practice “the ministry of wasting time” and to cultivate “the skill of creative loafing.”

Only that way will youth leaders find “opportunities to pick up what’s really going on in a young person’s life,” he said.

Moderated by Paul Myers, director of the University Health Center at the University of Portland and staff psychologist for the Northwest Catholic Counseling Center in Portland, Ore., the Webinar drew participants from more than 200 sites around the United States.

The interactive nature of the Webinar allowed participants to report back to the organizers on their own experiences in dealing

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Youth Pages

June 25, 2010

with youths and young adults experiencing problems that might be related to mental illness.

More than 80 percent of the participants said they knew a young person who admitted to abusing drugs and nearly threequarters said they knew someone who had contemplated suicide.

More than half said they knew a young person who admitted to cutting himself or herself, delinquency, eating disorders or early pregnancy.

Johnson also noted than the high school dropout rate for students with some form of mental illness was more than 50 percent.

“In middle school and high school, the thing that kids are most worried about is being different,” she said, adding that the onset of a mental illness “can lead very quickly to some destructive coping mechanisms.”

Johnson, who recently graduated with a degree in creative writing and English from the University of Seattle, said she joined in the Webinar to “let people know that people with a mental illness can move forward and be stable.”

She described herself as an “extreme perfectionist” in high school who became “extremely suicidal” in college but had been stable for the past three or four years.

The hourlong session offered an overview of the most common forms of mental illness, the symptoms of various disorders and the different life issues that can bring on a crisis.

But all three speakers stressed the importance of not making a premature diagnosis and of seeking a professional evaluation of the young person, in order to be sure that the behaviors exhibited are not just part of what Myers called “normal adolescent angst.”

“A label can cause a lot of emotional distress,” said Johnson.

McCarty said the principles of a caring response by church ministry leaders could be summarized by the acronym ROCK — resource, offering, compassion and knowledge.

“ROCKs need to listen twice as much as they talk,” he said.

“They need to express and receive honest emotion, but most importantly, they need to extend realistic hope in the midst of crisis.”

The message to young people with mental issue should be “healing can happen and I will walk with you through the healing process,” McCarty said.

Myers said Church ministry workers need to walk a fine line between offering confidentiality to the young person and “reserving the right to call someone else” if necessary to protect the young person’s well-being.

Ninety-two percent of the participants in Webinar said in response to a question that they had referred a young person to a mental health professional.

McCarty urged parish youth leaders to prepare themselves for that possibility by investigating resources available in their communities before they are needed.

follow through and become involved in your life. Learning from the mistakes of the past has helped them to learn to love you more deeply.

Diane Loomans, in her poem “If I Had My Child to Raise Over Again” says it best: “If I had my child to raise all over again, I’d build self esteem first, and the house later.

I’d fingerpaint more, and point the finger less.

I would do less correcting and more connecting.

I’d take my eyes off my watch, and watch with my eyes.

I would care to know less and know to care more.

I’d take more hikes and fly more kites.

I’d stop playing serious, and seriously play.

I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars.

I’d do more hugging and less tugging.

I’d see the oak tree in the acorn more often.

I would be firm less often, and affirm much more.

I’d model less about the love of power, And more about the power of love.”

Back in April I shared with you some thoughts on the battle for the mind. I repeat, no one can say that there is nothing in their life that they wouldn’t want to change. Allowing God to be included in your change is having courage. Allowing God to take control of your life is moral courage. Remember, there is a difference between physical and moral courage. It’s good to have both. But it’s best to be of good courage so you can strengthen your heart and hope in the Lord.

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

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

flower power — Kindergarten students from Holy Trinity Regional School in West Harwich collected and recycled bottles to purchase flowers to plant in the school yard. The children learned about the importance of recycling items for their future.

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The Anchor

Diocesan development leaders meet to discuss, develop new skills continued from page one

the program are two-fold: First, to reflect on leadership skills, as demonstrated in sacred Scripture and other sources, and how these demonstrate skills necessary for serving the Church; and second, to develop skills to identify and mentor new leaders in the various communities we serve. It is not simply a theological reflection, but also a session to develop practical skills for you to utilize.”

Father Ciorra gave a lively, anecdotal, often humorous, yet highly informative presentation that delighted and educated the big crowd.

It’s not often that someone who has spent nearly four hours in front of an audience, is so well received.

“I had folks come up to me after the program saying they could have listened to Father Ciorra speak for three more hours,” McManus told The Anchor. “The program was a tremendous success. You could feel the energy in the room. Father Ciorra is well-versed in the subject. He has great vision of Christian leadership. He explained that the laity is called by baptism to work hand-inhand with the ordained to evangelize this world.”

Father Ciorra broke the evening into two dynamics: A spirituality of leadership based on the vision of the Gospel; and the practice of ministry and leadership dealing with how to work together, collaboration and what does it mean, and practical examples of how to make new leadership methods happen.

“I believe mostly everyone walked away inspired by what they heard from Father and their peers,” added McManus. “Those who were there have discerned their role in their ministry. Now they have to go back and help others learn theirs.”

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Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish and St. John the Baptist Parish in New Bedford attended. “Father Ciorra is a great presenter,” he told The Anchor. “His presentation was filled with great content and lots of materials for us to think about.

“Of course none of us can use everything that was presented because each parish or ministry has its own chemistry. There is no ‘cookbook’ way of utilizing what was presented, but the content was very good and those who attended can extract what is practical for them. The attendees from Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St. John the Baptist truly enjoyed the whole event.”

Eric Queenan, a seminarian for the Diocese of Fall River, who recently completed a week of internship with the Office for Pastoral Planning, said “Father Ciorra was a very captivating speaker. He made us reflect on what we are doing in our own ministries and what we need to work on.”

Queenan said everyone there was coming from a different background with different concerns and sometimes being on the same page is difficult. “But the evening helped plant a seed to come up with new ways and approaches to different concerns. Father Ciorra preached humility and it hit home when he said ‘We are all feet washers.’”

Debbie Souza is the publicity director for the diocese’s Emmaus Retreat Program. “I was very interested in the program to learn what benefits I could take back to Emmaus and help us grow and thrive,” she told The Anchor. “I left there with a renewed passion for what I do. It was wonderful to focus on the positive aspects of the Church and not the negative.

“During the table exercises looking around I could see the excitement. It’s exciting to learn to share your faith with others, that unity of the Body of Christ together. No

matter what ministry we’re in we can bring the beauty of the sacraments to others, and evangelize one person at a time.”

Heather and Bart West, parishioners of Corpus Christi Parish in East Sandwich attended the session.

Heather is the parish coordinator of Youth Ministry and Bart is on the Stewardship Committee.

“It was an inspiring evening,” said Heather. “I was reminded of the greater spiritual calling of my job, as opposed to that of working in a secular job.”

Bart added, “It was great to see so many lay leaders from across the diocese there.”

The couple agreed the key to the success of what was taken away that evening would be clear follow up on the practical use of the tools and suggestions provided.

“I was so impressed with Father Ciorra’s calling our attention to the fact that there are others in our own ministries who are waiting to be called,” said Bennie Costa-Reedy, assistant director of Total Parish Faith Formation at St. Mary’s Parish in South Dartmouth. “Others are still searching and our job in leadership is to help them discern what their calling and talents are.

We are all called, and sometimes people need a personal invitation to come and join.

“Another great lesson I took away from the program was that our role as leaders is to be reconcilers, not judging others but welcoming them in. Not saying why they can’t do something, but asking ‘why not?’”

Costa-Reedy added that she was struck by the comment that “It’s not my Church, but our Church.”

The Church is the responsibility of the ordained and the laity, and according to most who attended, last week’s session in Taunton was a positive step in the right direction for that collaboration to continue to bear great fruit.

June 25, 2010

Jesuit author shares laughter, levity with Cape Cod parishes

By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff

MASHPEE — Four priests, a few nuns, and approximately 400 laypeople walk into a Cape Cod parish center.

No, it’s not the setup for an elaborate joke, although if there’s anyone who might find a way to turn it into a bit of self-deprecating humor, it’s Jesuit Father James Martin, author, humorist and theologian.

Father Martin set out to prove that religion can indeed be a laughing matter with his talk “Laughing With the Saints: Joy, Humor and Laughter in the Spiritual World,” the kickoff presentation in the 2010 Summer Catholic Reflection series co-sponsored by St. Anthony’s Parish, East Falmouth; Our Lady of Victory Parish, Centerville; and Christ the King Parish, Mashpee, which hosted the event.

“Joy, humor and laughter are underappreciated values and are desperately needed not only in our own personal spiritual lives, but in the life of the Catholic Church,” Father Martin said during his hour-long discussion, frequently peppered with jokes invariably involving Dominicans, Franciscans and Jesuits.

“Joy has a disreputable reputation in the Church, and that’s a tragedy because it has a distinguished history among the saints and the great spiritual masters.”

Citing examples such as St. Francis of Assisi, Pope John Paul II, and Mother Teresa — all of whom are often depicted as smiling — Father Martin said those who are close to God are brimming with joy.

“Think about the people you know in your lives who are truly holy,” Father Martin said. “Are they not joyful in Christ?”

While acknowledging there is a time to be prayerfully solemn and serious, there’s also a time and a need for laughter and levity, Father Martin said.

To make the point, he suggested that’s why it’s called “celebrating” the Mass.

“In many religious circles, joy, humor and laughter have been deemed as somewhat inappropriate,” Father Martin said. “Some people equate being religious with being deadly serious all the time.

Well, I’m here to say if you’re deadly serious, you’re probably seriously dead.”

Explaining how many of Jesus’ parables were, in fact, amusing stories and puns that no longer seem funny to contemporary audiences after being repeated so many times, Father Martin said humor tends to be very “culture-bound.”

“What was funny back in first century Palestine isn’t necessarily funny today,” he said. “Apparently the parables weren’t just clever stories, but were meant to be funny.

But we miss the humor today because we’re not familiar with that culture.”

As an example, Father Martin pointed to the Gospel account of Nathaniel’s first encounter with Christ, where he is sitting under a tree as Jesus walks by and two Apostles exclaim he is the Messiah from Nazareth. Nathaniel’s response is: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?”

Pausing a beat, Father Martin said: “That’s like saying ‘Can anything good come from Mashpee?’”

In response to Nathaniel’s obvious ribbing, Father Martin said Jesus invites him to become one of his disciples.

“Jesus appreciates a sense of humor and welcomes him into his community,” he said.

Author of several best-selling books, including his memoir “My Life With the Saints” and the latest, “The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything,” Father Martin also serves as Culture Editor for America magazine, and has been a commentator on CNN, Fox News and NPR. His frequent guest appearances on Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report” have even earned him the title of “The Colbert Report Chaplain” from host Stephen Colbert.

“I’ve read two of his books and I think he’s a breath of fresh air,” said Jack Driscoll of St. Patrick’s Parish in Falmouth. “I think this is more of what the Church needs right now: a good dose of humor, humility and theology.”

“Evangelizing through humor is a great idea,” agreed Susan Saia of St. Anthony’s Parish in East Falmouth. “I have this thing about smiling — just smiling at a person and giving them a kind word can make all the difference.”

“I think it’s obvious from his presentation that we can live our lives more fully if we can live them with joy and laughter,” said Father Mark R. Hession, pastor of Our Lady of Victory Parish in Centerville, and a personal friend of Father Martin.

“I think it’s safe to say that the 400 people here tonight who laughed through the presentation support his observation.”

“We’ve been to all the speaker series here and they’ve all been very diverse and interesting,” added Karen Chelotti, parishioner at Christ the King Parish.

Remaining topics in the 2010 Summer Catholic Reflections series will include Pheme Perkins, Ph.D., who will discuss “Parables and Today’s Church” on July 7 and Professor Ernest Collamati, who will discuss “How to Save the Catholic Church” on August 4.

Both presentations will take place at 7 p.m. in the Christ the King Parish Hall in Mashpee and are open to the public.

Fathers Bousquet and Forgit called home

Eucharistic Adoration in the Diocese

continued from page one

Cathedral in Fall River.

He served as an assistant at Notre Dame de Lourdes Parish in Fall River, St. Joseph’s in New Bedford, St. James in Taunton, and St. Louis de France in Swansea.

He was pastor at St. Roch’s in Fall River, St. Stephen’s in Attleboro, Our Lady of Grace in Westport, and finally at St. Theresa’s in New Bedford.

He retired from active ministry in 1999.

Father Bousquet was a member of the Diocesan Tribunal from 1961 to 1996.

His other diocesan assignment included directing the Pre-Cana program in New Bedford, chaplain at Taunton State Hospital, a member of the Board of Examiners for Clergy, and as a columnist for The Anchor.

He leaves a brother, Roger Bousquet; two sisters, Lauretta Dion and Therese Laferriere; and nieces and nephews.

His funeral Mass was celebrated June 17 at Notre Dame de Lourdes Church in Fall River, with Msgr. John A. Perry as principal celebrant.

Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Father Ambrose Forgit, 84, who served in many parishes in the Diocese of Fall River, died June 14 at the Tufts Medical Center in Boston after a brief illness.

Born in Thompson, Conn., the son of the late Arthur and the late Alice (Wellington) For-

In Your Prayers

Please pray for these priests during the coming weeks June 28 Rev. Thomas C. Gunning, Assistant, St. Lawrence, New Bedford, 1947 June 30 Rev. Simon Pease, SS.CC., Administrator, Sacred Hearts, Fairhaven, 1952 Rev. Alphonse M. Reniere, O.P., Dominican Priory, Fall River, 1961 July 1 Rev. Fernando A. Veiga, CM, Vincentian Mission House, Fall River, 1993 July 2 Rev. Gerard A. Boisvert, Assistant, St. Anthony, New Bedford, 1967 Rev. Maurice H. Lamontagne, Retired Pastor, Our Lady of Grace, Westport, 1996 Rev. James T. Donohue, CSC, 2006 July 3 Rev. Thomas P. Doherty, Pastor, St. Kilian, New Bedford, 1942 July 4 Rev. James A. Coyle, S.T.L., Pastor, Holy Name, Fall River, 1955 Rev. Pierre E. Lachance, OP, Rector, St. Anne’s Shrine, Fall River, 2006

19

The Anchor

June 25, 2010

git, he graduated from Leicester High School in Leicester, Mass., and served in the U.S. Air Force from 1943 to 1945 during which time he was awarded two Bronze Stars. He entered the novitiate of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts in 1949 and was ordained a priest in Jaffrey, N.H., in 1955.

During his 55 years of priestly service, he served in parishes in Texas. He ministered locally as a parochial vicar at several parishes on Cape Cod; as pastor of Our Lady of the Assumption Parish in New Bedford and St. Joseph’s in Fairhaven. He also served as sec-

retary and treasurer of the Congregation’s USA East Province.

Following retirement in 2002, he lived at the Damien Residence in Fairhaven. He served as chaplain at Our Lady’s Haven Nursing Home in Fairhaven until his death.

He leaves two brothers, Lester and Raymond Forgit; and nieces and nephews. He was also the brother of the late Arthur Forgit.

His funeral Mass was celebrated June 18 in St. Joseph’s Church in Fairhaven. Burial followed in the Sacred Hearts Community Cemetery there.

Around the Diocese 6/25

St. Vincent’s Home, Fall River, will host its second annual KickOff to Summer Celebration at the Battleship Massachusetts in Battleship Cove, Fall River, tonight from 6 to 10 p.m. The event will include a cocktail reception with music provided by the Compaq Big Band and a live auction hosted by Billy Costa of “The TV Diner.” For more information call 508-235-3228 or visit www.stvincentshome.org.

6/26

COURAGE, a welcoming support group for Catholics wounded by same-sex attraction who gather to seek God’s wisdom, mercy and love, will next meet tomorrow at 7 p.m. For location information call Father Richard Wilson at 508-992-9408.

6/27

The Cathedral Youth Choir will perform “Table for Five ... Thousand!” by Allen Pote and Tom Long Sunday at 3 p.m. at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Fall River. The musical tells the Gospel miracle of Jesus feeding so many with a few loaves and fishes, and lasts about 40 minutes. A free will offering will be accepted to benefit relief efforts in Haiti.

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 eucharistic adoration in the Adoration Chapel located at the (south) side entrance at 208 South Main Street, Sunday through Thursday from 6 a.m. to midnight, with overnight adoration on Friday and Saturday only.

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.

FALL RIVER — Good Shepherd Parish has eucharistic adoration every Friday following the 8 a.m. Mass until 6 p.m. in the Daily Mass Chapel. There is a bilingual Holy Hour in English and Portuguese from 5-6 p.m. Park behind the church and enter the back door of the connector between the church and the rectory.

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.

6/28

The Pro-Life Prayer Groups of Holy Trinity Parish and Holy Redeemer Parish will hold a holy hour June 28 at 1 p.m. at Holy Trinity Church, Route 28, West Harwich. The rosary will be followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

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.

7/3

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

A Day with Mary will be held at St. Lawrence Martyr Church, 565 County Street, New Bedford on July 3 beginning at 7:50 a.m. The day will include exposition and procession of the Blessed Sacrament and Mass of Our Lady with celebrant Father Marek Chmurski, pastor. For more information call 508-992-4251.

7/8

Our Lady of the Cape, 468 Stony Brook Road, Brewster, hosts its annual Summer Fair July 8, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. to benefit the parish. Jewelry, attic treasures, collectibles, crafts, books, toys, art work, baked goods, vintage linens and tools will be on sale. Refreshments available. For more information call 508-385-7867.

7/8

A Healing Mass with rosary and Benediction will be held at St. Anne’s Parish, Fall River, on July 8 beginning at 6 p.m. Rosary will precede the 6:30 p.m. Mass, to be followed by healing prayers and Benediction. For more information call 508-674-5651.

7/17

Plan to gather your family July 17 for a Family Rosary Conference at Holy Cross Family Ministries, 518 Washington Street, North Easton. It will include workshops for adults, teens and youth, a Mission Rosary, vigil Mass, reconciliation, and keynote speaker. For more information visit www.hcfm.org or call 800-299-7729.

8/14

“A Life in the Spirit Weekend” will be offered at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Parish (formerly St. Mary’s), 385 Central Avenue, Seekonk on the weekend of August 14-15. Sign-up deadline is August 4. For more information or to register call Rita Beaudet at 508-399-7519 or Janet Nerbonne at 508-944-2431.

8/16

Summer Vacation Bible School for kindergarten through grade five students will be held at Holy Cross Church, 225 Purchase Street, South Easton, August 16-20 from 9 a.m. to noon. Registration forms are available at the parish office or online at www.holycrosseaston.org. For more information call 508-238-2235.

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

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

Taunton — 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 — 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 (Rte. 28), holds perpetual eucharistic adoration.

We are a regional chapel serving all of the surrounding parishes. All from other parishes are invited to sign up to cover open hours. For open hours, or to sign up call 508-430-4716.

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

20

S

ometimes it comes from nowhere — that feeling that you’re older than you think.

I had that rush last week just sitting on my deck with Denise, Emilie and Igor. It was the first nice weekend of the summer and things were just dandy.

A few of the neighborhood kids popped over for a visit.

Actually it was to see Iggy, but I prefer to think they liked our company.

The conversation turned to TV programs and what kids

The Anchor

June 25, 2010

My cartoons have black lines on them watch nowadays. young guests, I realized that I must admit I hadn’t heard the cartoons of my youth were of half of what they watch, but already 40-plus years old. was thrilled to learn they still Suddenly my joints began to watch the old classics my offspring enjoyed and even Denise and I watched as young ’uns.

That’s when one of the lads quipped, “I didn’t know they had

By Dave Jolivet the technology for cartoons back then.”

Fighting off the urge to call the Acme Co. to order ache and I felt the urge to take some TNT to blow up my a nap. I was aging right before

My View From the Stands

my very eyes.

The young boys were telling us that now cartoons are computerized and don’t have to be drawn cel by cel as they were in the “old days.”

You can tell the new technotoons by the fact that there are no black lines around the characters.

Deep inside I was screaming “I like black lines around my cartoon characters,” but I didn’t want to throw a tantrum in front of my guests.

The conversation continued, but I was still stuck on the phrase, “I didn’t know they had the technology for cartoons back then.”

It was then that I turned to Emilie and blurted out a litany of examples of how you know you’re getting old — realizing you remember: — when Fred Flintstone was still a sophomore at Bedrock High School; — when the Jetsons still lived on Earth; — when SpongeBob came in a pack of four at the local Woolworth’s; — when Felix the Cat was still a kitten; — when Bullwinkle J. Moose was just a young bull cutting his antlers; — when the Muppets were still on a bolt of cloth at a fabric factory;

— when Howdy Doody was still a tree in a forest in northern Minnesota; — when Arthur was a member of the Knights of the Round Table; — when Fat Albert was still a 98-pound weakling; — when Bugs Bunny was eating strained carrots; — when Mickey Mouse was eating strained cheese; — when Popeye didn’t yet have tattoos; — when Heckle and Jeckle still hadn’t flown the nest; — and when Mr. Magoo could still see.

When my young guests bolted off with all the energy of a supernova, I slowly raised my creaking bones out of my chair and headed indoors. I made myself a cup of tea and played a DVD of the first season of Rocky and Bullwinkle. Once I made sure the characters had black lines around them, I drifted off to sleep — until supper time.

Since we spend a great deal of time on our deck in the summer, I know my little guests will make several more appearances before there’s a frost on the pumpkins.

I’m a bit worried about what other conversational topics will come up to widen the generational gap of which they made me keenly aware last week.

I could talk sports, but they wouldn’t know anyone preDerek Jeter.

I could talk music, but they just wouldn’t understand how Beatles is spelled with an “a.”

I could talk cars, but they’d never believe you could once give your vehicle a tune-up and change the oil yourself.

Maybe I’ll just keep quiet and listen to the tales of their youth. And while doing so, pretend to drift off. They’ll definitely fall for that one seeing my cartoons have black lines on them. Better yet, I’ll just let Igor entertain them.