The Catholic Spirit - June 7, 2012

Newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis Standing up for religious freedom

2 June 7, 2012

The Catholic Spirit News with a Catholic heart

Helping homeless men reach ‘Higher Ground’

3 TheCatholicSpirit.com

Faith builds strong families, pope says

New priest, proud parents

He plans to attend next family gathering in Philadelphia

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service

As Pope Benedict XVI closed the World Meeting of Families in Italy’s capital of finance and fashion, he opened the possibility of his heading to the United States when he named the Archdiocese of Philadelphia the next venue U.S. family of the world dines with gathering.

“God willing,” pope in he said, he Milan would attend in — Page 10 2015 as he greeted Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia and “the Catholics of that great city,” saying he looked forward to meeting U.S. Catholics and other families from around the world there.

The surprise announcement came as the 85-year-old pope wrapped up the May 30-June 3 world meeting, which gathers every three years to celebrate and help families live out their Christian values.

About 1 million people from 153 countries braved dawn wake-up calls, shouldered supply-laden backpacks and prodded along sleepy kids to descend on Milan’s Bresso Park June 3 to take part in the event’s closing Mass.

Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit

Father Ben Little greets his parents, Robert and Donna Marie, after his ordination Mass May 26 at the Cathedral of St. Paul. Also ordained priests that day by Archbishop John Nienstedt were Father Evan Koop and Father Nick VanDenBroeke. Read more about the ordination Mass on page 5.

Supporting high ideals In his homily, the pope called for church unity, emphasized marriage PLEASE TURN TO POPE ON PAGE 10

Life is a highway What is God calling me to do? Turn to pages 11-18 for The Catholic Spirit’s special section on vocations and careers to read about the discernment process as well as stories and reflections from people around the archdiocese.

Help for navigating vocation, career curves Page 11

‘In love with God’: Sister reflects on life of service Page 12

Office ‘doorkeeper’ focuses on hospitality Page 13

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JUNE 7, 2012 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Observing a ‘Fortnight for Freedom’

That They May All Be One Archbishop John C. Nienstedt

Truly historic challenges are being leveled against religious liberty in the United States

I was asked last year to be a member of the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Freedom for the United States bishops’ conference. I have been pleased to serve in this capacity.

The purpose of our committee is to respond to the truly historic challenges being leveled against the religious liberty of Catholic colleges, hospitals and charities by the current federal Department of Health and Human Services.

In its interpretation of the Affordable Care Act legislation passed a year ago by Congress, HHS has now ruled that even private employers who adamantly oppose contraception and abortion must provide to their employees health insurance plans that cover government-approved forms of birth control, including abortifacients and sterilization.

Definition too narrow In a stunning declaration, HHS has also narrowly defined a religious employer (and thus an employer who is exempt from the mandate), as one who hires employees only from its own faith community and offers services only to people who are official members.

Hence, while we believe our parishes are (probably) covered under the definition of a “religious institution,” our Catholic Charities, hospitals and colleges are not. In other words, they will be compelled, by the force of the state, to support and sub-

The Catholic Spirit The Catholic Spirit’s mission is to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. It seeks to inform, educate, evangelize and foster a spirit of community within the Catholic Church by disseminating news in a professional manner and serving as a forum for discussion of contemporary issues.

Vol. 17 — No. 11 MOST REVEREND JOHN C. NIENSTEDT Publisher BOB ZYSKOWSKI Associate publisher

JOE TOWALSKI Editor

Materials credited to CNS copyrighted by Catholic News Service. All other materials copyrighted by Catholic Spirit Publishing Company.

Subscriptions: $29.95 per year Senior 1-year: $24.95 To subscribe: (651) 291-4444 Display Advertising: (651) 291-4444 Classified advertising: (651) 290-1631

Coming up ■ What: Vigil Mass with Archbishop John Nienstedt and Bishop Lee Piché celebrating patronal feast day of archdiocese — the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul — and commemorating the Fortnight for Freedom initiative.

■ When: 5:15 p.m., June 28 ■ Where: Cathedral of St. Paul

sidize practices morally abhorrent to their foundational principles.

The historic struggle against the abhorrent HHS mandate is ultimately not about contraception. Neither is it about health care, nor the rights of women. It is about the intrusion of the state into the fundamental rights of conscience and the right of religious bodies to govern and guide their own institutions. Such an intrusion should greatly alarm all citizens, not simply believers.

On April 12, 2012, the USCCB’s ad hoc committee for Religious Freedom published a document, entitled, “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty: A Statement on Religious Liberty.” This can be found at: WWW.USCCB.ORG/ISSUESAND-ACTION/RELIGIOUS-LIBERTY/OUR-FIRSTMOST-CHERISHED-LIBERTY.CFM. I recommend that you read and study this document.

USPS #093-580

The members of the committee did not want to impose a new program of activities on our already busy pastors and parish staffs. Rather, the idea was to use the eight feasts/holidays that occur during this period to coordinate homilies and prayer services around the themes of religious liberty and the freedom of conscience.

Those feasts/holidays are: ■ June 22: SS. John Fisher and Thomas More, martyrs; ■ June 23: The Vigil of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist; ■ June 24: The Nativity of St. John the Baptist; ■ June 28: St. Irenaeus, bishop and martyr; ■ June 29: SS. Peter and Paul, apostles and martyrs, which also happens to be our patronal feast day as an archdiocese; ■ June 30: The First Martyrs of Rome; PLEASE TURN TO PARISHES ON PAGE 8

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In “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty,” the bishops suggested the idea of sponsoring a “Fortnight for Freedom,” which would be a two-week period from June 21 until July 4 in which a schedule of prayer, fasting and catechesis could be observed to raise awareness of the present threats to religious freedom and conscience protection.

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Appointments New postings announced for priests, deacons in archdiocese Archbishop John Nienstedt has approved appointments, granted faculties, announced retirements and granted a sabbatical for priests and deacons in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

OFFICIAL His Excellency, the Most Rev. John C. Nienstedt, has announced the following appointments in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Effective May 5, 2012 Rev. Mr. James Peterson, ordained to the transitional diaconate and granted the faculties of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Rev. Mr. Andrew Stueve, ordained to the transitional diaconate and granted the faculties of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Rev. Mr. Brian Park, ordained to the transitional diaconate and granted the faculties of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Rev. Mr. Andrew Jaspers, ordained to the transitional diaconate and granted the faculties of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Rev. Mr. John Drees, ordained to the transitional diaconate and granted the faculties of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Rev. Mr. Andrew Brinkman, ordained to the transitional diaconate and granted the faculties of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Rev. Mr. Joah Ellis, ordained to the transitional diaconate and granted the faculties of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Rev. Mr. Luke Marquard, ordained to the transitional diaconate and granted the faculties of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Rev. Mr. Leonard Andrie, ordained to the transitional diaconate and granted the faculties of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Effective May 7, 2012 Rev. Ralph Talbot, appointed parochial administrator of the Church of the Sacred Heart of Rush City, Minnesota. This appointment will remain in effect until July 1, 2012, and is in addition to Father Talbot’s assignment as pastor of the Church of Saint Mary of the Lake, of White Bear, Minnesota.

Deacon John Weiland, appointed to exercise the ministry of a permanent deacon at the Church of Saint Bonaventure of Bloomington, Minnesota, ad nutum episcopi. This is a transfer from his assignment at the PLEASE TURN TO APPOINTMENTS ON PAGE 26

Correction The location for the Nationwide Rally for Religious Freedom Friday, June 8 was incorrect in the May 24 issue. The correct location is: the U.S. Courthouse, 300 S. Fourth St., Minneapolis.

“My heart has no desire to stay where doubts arise and fears dismay; though some may dwell where those abound, my prayer, my aim, is higher ground.”

Johnson Oatman, Jr.

Local JUNE 7, 2012

News from around the archdiocese

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

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Higher Ground housing sparks hope for homeless men

By Pat Norby The Catholic Spirit

If there was ever a perfect time to use the phrase “Let there be light,” it will be at the dedication ceremony at 4:30 p.m.

June 7 for Higher Ground, Catholic Charities’ new $18 million center for homeless men.

The center at 165 Glenwood Ave. in Minneapolis is not only flooded with natural light from 294 windows, but the services it will provide beginning June 11 will bring the light of hope to the men who will fill the space.

When John Petroskas, tenant services coordinator at Higher Ground, gave a media tour prior to the public ceremony, he was beaming with the possibilities for the men he has been serving for the past seven years at 1000 Currie Ave., just a few blocks away from the new building.

“The one thing that’s exciting for me is the transparency — people can see out and people can see in,” said Petroskas, as he noted the views of the Farmers Market on one side and of downtown and the Greenway Biking Trail on the other side.

“It’s almost like physically inviting people into the world.”

The current shelter on Currie is dark, hemmed in by a parking garage, a vacant lot and other buildings, including the Salvation Army.

Clients inspire provider “Our campus here allows for people to move on,” Petroskas said. “I’m inspired by the resilience and dignity of the men I’ve been privileged to work with during my time at Catholic Charities. Their struggles and their successes motivate me to continue doing this work.”

One success story, among the many he has witnessed, was a client that slept under

Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit

Left, John Petroskas stands in one of the supportive housing units in Higher Ground, where he is the tenant services coordinator.

Above, a sun-filled lounge area will provide a space for tenants to create community and for Higher Ground staff to work with the men who are living in the new building.

a bridge that Petroskas drove past on his way to work each day.

“Whenever I pass under it, I look up at the spot where he used to sleep and I think about how great it was when he finally moved into an apartment,” he said. “He has continued his recovery from mental illness, drug addiction and isolation — and today he’s stable enough that he can give back to the community by volunteering and being a great neighbor in the senior high-rise where he now lives.”

During the dedication ceremony, Archbishop John Nienstedt will present a check for $100,000 — in honor of former CEO

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Paul Martodam and his 35 years of service to the work of Catholic Charities — to support the construction of Higher Ground. That contribution goes above and beyond the $1.4 million the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis provides to support Catholic Charities’ work of serving the poor.

“I congratulate Tim Marx [current CEO] and his staff for their tireless efforts to respond, in such a positive way, to the scourge of homelessness,” said Archbishop Nienstedt, who is chair of the organization’s board. “Our dedication ceremony on June 7 offers great hope for the poor

in our midst.”

In addition to the archbishop, a host of other dignitaries will attend the ceremony, which begins with tours from 3 to 4 p.m. and a reception from 4 to 6 p.m. for invited guests. Major funding was provided by the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, $12.7 million; Community Housing and Development, $926,000; Hennepin County, $2.1 million; Minneapolis’ Metropolitan Council, $284,000; and $2.3 million raised

by Catholic Charities from many foundations, corporations and individuals.

PLEASE TURN TO SHELTER ON PAGE 27

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THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • JUNE 7, 2012

Retreat, prayer pull couple through dark times of marriage

By Dave Hrbacek

“Marriage is a

The Catholic Spirit

While living in a basement apartment with newborn twins, Trent and Cheryl Carlson knew their marriage was in trouble.

Both from Maple Lake, they had dated on and off since their senior year in high school. When they finally tied the knot, they got pregnant right away and she had to go on bed rest at just four months.

That meant quitting her full-time job and having to rely on his income, which was too low to afford living in a house.

So, they moved in with his parents.

A host of tensions built up to the point that divorce seemed imminent.

“Just a lot of fighting; it was very stressful,” Cheryl said. “We were just not getting along.”

The last straw came when Trent announced he planned to get a vasectomy, as a way to alleviate future problems.

But, to Cheryl, that news meant there would be no future for them as a married couple.

“I told him, ‘Go get the vasectomy because I’m not going to be married to you much longer,’” Cheryl said. “I really meant it. I really seriously never dreamed that we would be married [long term].”

A better path But, thanks to a Marriage Encounter weekend in 1999, they stayed together.

Eventually, in 2000, Trent had a vasectomy reversal, which led to having three more children to go with their first-born twins, Tyler and Grant, both 17. On June 24, they will celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary.

They have the kind of success story that their friend, Jean Stolpestad, the new director of the Archdiocesan Office of Marriage, Family and Life, wants to celebrate

sacrament and when you abide by the teachings of the Catholic Church and God’s laws, God blesses you.

”

The Carlsons

at Saturday’s annual Archdiocesan Marriage Day at the Cathedral of St. Paul.

The event includes Mass at 10 a.m. celebrated by Bishop Lee Piché, followed by a reception. Couples celebrating silver and golden anniversaries will be honored, along with those who have been married for more than 50 years.

For the Carlsons, who belong to St. Henry in Monticello, it looked like their marriage might not even make it past year five. Though both came from Catholic families, only Cheryl was serious about deepening her faith in those days.

“I was a long ways from where Cheryl was,” Trent said. “It was a real struggle.

She was light years ahead of me in her faith, and diving into it.”

The more Cheryl pushed Trent to move ahead spiritually, the more he pulled back.

Finally, he agreed to attend a Marriage Encounter weekend in Hinckley at the invitation of friends.

“We both did a lot of crying,” Cheryl said. “It was so healing, it was so good.

That weekend saved our marriage. It totally turned the course of our marriage. It brought us much closer [together].”

■ When: 10 a.m. Mass, June 9, followed by reception. Mass includes renewal of vows and honoring of couples celebrating silver and golden anniversaries, and those married more than 50 years ■ Where: Cathedral of St. Paul ■ More info: For information, call (651) 291-4488, or visit WWW.ARCHSPM.ORG. Sponsored by the archdiocesan Office of Marriage, Family and Life.

Yet, there still was lots of work to do in their relationship. Mainly, the vasectomy needed to be addressed. It was a thorn that, in Cheryl’s mind, needed to be removed. So, she decided to do something about it.

“I was doing some intense praying like I have never done before,” Cheryl said. “I was going to Mass every day, I was praying the 54-day novena to the Blessed Mother.

It’s a life-changing prayer.

“And, in that 54-day novena, I got my prayer answered. He didn’t know I was

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God is faithful They also can’t imagine a life together without God at the center. It is that realization that prompted Cheryl to offer simple wisdom and advice to young, newly married couples.

“Marriage is a sacrament and when you abide by the teachings of the Catholic Church and God’s laws, God blesses you,” she said. “Don’t make the mistake that we made of having a vasectomy because it does not do anything for your marriage.”

But, Stolpestad, whose job it now is to help couples understand the benefits of practicing NFP, knows that it is hard to resist the pull of an easy-sounding solution.

“Challenges and difficulty are a part of life we can count on,” she said. “When we experience extended suffering, when we are emotional and find zero support from those around us, it is easy to make a wrong decision, a decision that ends up dashing all that we hope for and desire.

“But, don’t despair. Even when we choose poorly and all seems lost, God is faithful. Love is always possible. He wants us to be happy. Trust God. He’s got a plan.”

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doing it. We were laying in bed one night and he said, ‘I regret having this vasectomy.’”

Soon afterward, they flew down to Texas to see Dr. Cary Leverett, who specializes in vasectomy reversals and makes them affordable. It cost $2,000, which worked in their budget.

Not long after returning home, they started practicing natural family planning.

Their new openness to life led to three more children — Jordan, 10; Jonah, 7; and Rose, 3.

“We can’t imagine life without these three reversal babies,” Cheryl said.

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JUNE 7, 2012 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

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Three men ordained priests on ‘joyous day’ at cathedral

By Sara Kovach The Catholic Spirit

Tears welled up in Allison Koop’s eyes as she reflected on what it was like to see her brother ordained a priest.

“The most joyful moment of the day was when I saw him receive his vestments, it brought tears of joy to my eyes,” Koop said of Father Evan Koop.

Allison Koop, who lives in Minneapolis, was among the crowd of friends, family members, priests and well-wishers who filled the Cathedral of St. Paul May 26 for the Mass during which Archbishop John Nienstedt ordained three men to the priesthood.

Along with Father Koop, the others who professed their vows to serve God, the Catholic Church and the people of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis were Father Ben Little and Father Nick VanDenBroeke.

Enjoying a light moment at the end of the priest ordination Mass May 26 at the Cathedral of St. Paul are the newly ordained priests, from left: Fathers Evan Koop, Ben Little and Nick VanDenBroeke

Shepherding the flock

In his homily during the Mass, Archbishop Nienstedt urged the men as they started their priestly vocation to grow from a filial (friendship) relationship with Christ to an agape (union) relationship with Christ.

“Caring for the spiritual and sacramental needs of the faithful entrusted to your parish . . . will help you grow from the wholesome and satisfying friendship you now have into that deeply, sacrificing agape love, which Christ desired for Peter, which in fact he desires for you,” Archbishop Nienstedt said.

The Rite of Ordination began as the then-deacons came before Archbishop Nienstedt, who announced that they had been chosen for the order of priesthood.

Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit

Msgr. Aloysius Callaghan, rector of the St. Paul Seminary, presented the men and attested that they were prepared and approved for ordination. Each candidate told the bishop he came willingly and faithfully to the priesthood and then each man promised his obedience to the authority of the church.

The three men then prostrated themselves on the floor before the altar as the Litany of Saints was chanted.

Archbishop Nienstedt ordained each man by laying his hands on their heads

and praying silently, invoking the Holy Spirit upon each. The many concelebrating priests who were in attendance then laid hands on the heads of the ordinands, signifying their sharing in one priesthood.

“I enjoyed the brotherhood of the priests, I had never seen that before,” said Lois Hidding, one of many attending from Father VanDenBroeke’s home parish, Guardian Angels in Chaska.

The newly ordained priests were vested by brother priests with the stole and chasuble — outward signs of the priestly

office.

The three priests then once again knelt before the archbishop as he anointed their palms. Following the presentation of the gifts by family members, each man was presented with a paten and chalice. After the rite of ordination was complete, each of the priests concelebrating the Mass greeted the new priests with a sign of peace in the form of a warm embrace.

They then joined Archbishop Nienstedt in celebrating the Liturgy of the Eucharist for the first time.

‘Couldn’t be more proud’

Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit

Archbishop John Nienstedt addresses Deacons Evan Koop, left, Ben Little and Nick VanDenBroeke during his homily at the priest ordination Mass.

After Communion, the new priests gave their first blessings to the archbishop. The priests then dispersed to various areas in the cathedral, where they offered blessings to their families, friends and well-wishers.

In a touching moment, Father Little’s mother, Donna Marie Little, stood back and looked on with a gentle smile, as her son caressed the head of his sister Katie Little.

“A most joyous day, couldn’t be more proud,” Donna Little said.

Katie Little then said, “It felt it took forever to get here, but now we are so happy that it was finally today.”

Standing just to the left of Father VanDenBroeke, in front of the side chapel of St. Joseph, where a throng of people waited for his blessing, Julie VanDenBroeke expressed her happiness at being there for her son.

“It’s such a great gift for the priesthood and for my son,” VanDenBroeke said.

Julia Harrison was among a large group of parishioners from St. Rita in Cottage Grove, who came to the cathedral in support of Father Koop.

“Father Koop is the first priest from St. Rita’s, so it is an inspiration to me to see such dedication he has for the church,” Harrison said.

Cecilia Piché, a St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony and mother of Bishop Lee Piché, spoke fondly of Father Little, who she came to know while he was a deacon there for the summer “Today was a culmination of many years of preparation, but as I saw him today, he had that ‘priestly glow’ about him that made me smile,” Piché said.

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THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • JUNE 7, 2012

Celebrate rural life at June 24 Mass, picnic in Le Sueur

By Sara Kovach The Catholic Spirit

Don and Judy Pfarr’s only worry about hosting this year’s Rural Life Sunday celebration at their farm in Le Sueur is the weather.

“If we have the weather, it’ll be an easy, fun day,” Don said.

The Mass and activities will be held outside at their legendary family pond. The 40-acre lot where Pfarr’s Pond is located was purchased after Don and Judy were married in 1962 and now is a popular area for neighborhood celebrations and school reunions.

The two are members of St. Anne in Le Sueur.

Judy remembers years ago taking the entire family camping every weekend at the pond.

“The neighborhood, everyone came.

The kids would swim all day long,” Judy said.

The June 24 archdiocesan-sponsored event begins with Mass at 2 p.m. with Bishop Lee Piché as celebrant.

After Mass, activWhat: Mass with ities such as horse Bishop Lee Piché rides and a petting and picnic zoo organized by the local 4-H group When: 2 p.m., will be available for Sunday, June 24 families who atWhere: Pfarr’s tend. For safety reaPond 38276 sons, swimming 320th St., will not be allowed.

Le Sueur Judy said famiIn case of rain: lies can also choose Mass will be at to take a horseSt. Anne in Le drawn wagon ride Sueur, 211 N. 3rd from the parking St. area to the pond.

“We thought with people parking out there, they can get a ride and enjoy the countryside a little bit,” she said.

Father George Grafsky, pastor at St. Anne, had to pull some strings to make it possible for the Pfarrs to host since their farm is located in the Diocese of New Ulm, but he said he could not have chosen a better family for it.

“I asked the parishioners at St. Anne’s where we could host this event and everyone said Pfarr farm. They are such wonderful and joyous people,” Father Grafsky said.

The 2,000-acre Pfarr farm has been in the family for more than 100 years. Don’s

Rural Life Sunday

“As the trees start

greening and the grass and crops start growing, everything is a different shade of green. I love it.

”

JUDY PFARR Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit

Judy and Don Pfarr of St. Anne in Le Sueur are hoping for good weather as they prepare to host Rural Life Sunday at their farm June 24.

Directions: Go south on Highway 169 to County Road 8. Go west on County Road 8. Immediately turn north on County Road 18 and go about 8.5 miles.

parents, Bill and Susan, started the farm and later passed it down to their four sons who each received a section.

“So his [Don’s] brothers were all in one area here,” Judy said.

Both Don and Judy said the farm was a wonderful place to raise a family. All four of their children — Larry, Doug, Barb and Brenda — shared the chores when they were home, whether that was working in

the field with their father or milking the cows in the milking parlor.

Don said, “It keeps you busy” when describing balancing farm work with family life.

Keeping the faith Over the years, the farm changed to the point where the Pfarrs now no longer milk but just breed and sell Holstein heifers.

They also grow, along with their son Doug, soybeans, corn and alfalfa. And, with change comes strong faith.

“I think you better believe something; of course, things have changed a lot. I mean with my folks, no matter what it was we went to church,” Don said.

He further explained faith as “a part of who they are” and that it is difficult to imagine the farm continuing to flourish today without it.

“In your crop, you just hope and pray that you have just enough to feed the livestock, so we would have just enough to get us through,” Judy said.

The Pfarrs want families attending the event to understand and appreciate the beauty of rural life and to see where their food grows.

“As the trees start greening and the grass and crops start growing, everything is a different shade of green,” Judy said. “I love it.”

Thank You to our sponsors for making this event possible!

PRESENTING SPONSOR

Archbishop John C. Nienstedt

Emcee Tom Hauser KSTP-TV

Archbishop John C. Nienstedt will present the “Leading With Faith� Awards at a noon luncheon banquet on Wed., August 15, 2012, Rauenhorst Hall, Coeur de Catherine building, St. Catherine University, 2004 Randolph Ave., St. Paul.

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Economic Justice for All We cannot separate what we believe from how we act in the marketplace and the broader community, for this is where we make our primary contribution to the pursuit of economic justice.

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THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • JUNE 7, 2012

Birth mothers retreat is July 14 Organizer says Holy Spirit prompted first one in 2008

By Pat Norby The Catholic Spirit

Lack of information about her birth families nearly killed Gretchen Traylor, 66.

Following a routine hip replacement in 2003, Traylor was given blood thinners to prevent death from blood clots. Little did she know that her birth father’s family carries a genetic marker for a namebrand blood thinner that causes severe What: Retreat bleeding. for birth “Although the tests mothers indicated that my When: July 14 blood level was fine, I was, in fact, bleeding Where: St. to death internally Peter in into the surgical Mendota wound without Heights knowing it,” she said.

For The doctor sent her information or home with her husregistration, band, who later in$15, call (651) sisted on taking her 291-4488 or back to the hospital visit WWW. because she looked so ARCHSPM.ORG. pale.

Two days and two units of blood later, she recovered. That event thrust her into a long-time legislative effort to obtain original birth certificates for adopted adults over the age of 19. It also pushed her to volunteer at a crisis pregnancy center, where she handed out a variety of information to women who were involved in the adoption triad — birth mothers, adoptive parents and adoptees.

“I wondered why we had nothing, as a religious institution, to offer these people who had chosen life, when there are any number of things for women who are post-abortive,” Traylor said. “There was nothing for anyone who had relinquished a child to adoption. In all my experience with birth mothers, I learned that so much of the suffering that post-abortive women go through, many post-relinquishment women do, too, especially if the adoption was closed.”

Don’t miss

Forgetting was not an option Back in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, many women, like Traylor’s own birth mother, were told to go home and forget about it.

“They made this incredible choice when so many of them had other options. Then they were shuffled off to suffer in shame

and silence for decades,” she said. “The stories I heard from these women about how they were treated by the churches, their parents, society and the agencies, you would have thought they were axe murderers. Here they were choosing life for their children . . . and they were treated as pariahs.”

After thinking about the issue and contacting several Catholic agencies to find a way to help them, Traylor got an answer — or a command — during daily prayer.

“I heard the Holy Spirit in my head say, ‘You have to call the archbishop,’” said Traylor, a member of St. Gerard in Brooklyn Center.

“I said, ‘I’m not going to call the archbishop, why would I do that, I’m not a birth mother.’ We argued about it a few minutes,” she said with a laugh.

“Finally, I heard, ‘They can’t do it, they are too wounded. Get up and call the archbishop.’ So I did.”

That call led to a meeting with Kathy Laird, then director of the Office of Marriage, Family and Life, who worked with Traylor, two birth mothers and Catholic Charities to plan the first retreat day for birth mothers in 2008.

Fourth annual retreat day The fifth annual Day of Recognition and Honoring for Birth Mothers will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, July 14, at St. Peter, 1405 Hwy. 3 in Mendota.

“We typically get 30 to 40 women each year,” Traylor said. They travel from as far as Hawaii, Colorado and Arizona because — to her knowledge — it is the only retreat for birth mothers in the nation.

The day includes testimonies from birth mothers, a speaker on grief and loss, time for participants to share their stories with each other and an opportunity for the sacrament of reconciliation.

Sharon Wilson, Respect Life coordinator in the Marriage, Family and Life Office, said that promotion of the retreat was passed along to her office because “it falls in with respect for life.”

The retreat is open to all women who are birth mothers. They also may bring a companion. Sometimes a younger birth mother will bring her mother with her, Wilson said.

The retreat “celebrates life and the sacrifice these women have made,” while it offers healing and resources for those who may be having some difficulties with their life and the decision they made, she said.

Obituaries Msgr. Gregory Schaffer, longtime pastor of San Lucas mission, dies at 78 St. Paul native Msgr. Gregory Schaffer, a priest of the Diocese of New Ulm and pastor for 48 years of the diocese’s mission parish of San Lucas Toliman in Guatemala, died May 24 at Cerenity Care Center Marian of St. Paul, after a long battle with lymphoma/cancer. He was 78. His nephew, Father Gregory Schaffer, is a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis MSGR. SCHAFFER who serves at the archdiocesan mission in Venezuela.

Msgr. Schaffer achieved national and international recognition for his work on behalf of the San Lucas mission. He led numerous efforts to improve the health, education, living conditions, employment prospects and spiritual welfare of its people. He also traveled to speak to churches and other organizations to raise awareness of the mission and raise funds for its operations.

Msgr. Schaffer was born on Jan. 29, 1934, in St. Paul to John Conrad and Ann Catherine (Regan) Schaffer. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of New Ulm on Feb. 21, 1960, at the Church of St. Mary in Sleepy Eye by Bishop Alphonse J. Schladweiler.

Following ordination he was assigned as associate pastor of the Church of the Holy Redeemer in Marshall. On July 16, 1963, Bishop Schladweiler appointed him as diocesan missionary to San Lucas. During his time there, Msgr.

Schaffer spearheaded many projects, including the construction of a medical and dental clinic, elementary schools for more than 600 students, a library, extensive sustainable housing and a women’s center.

Numerous projects and awards He also undertook various land projects and coffee exportation. Thanks to his efforts, the mission sells “Juan-Ana” Coffee (HTTP://WWW.JUANANACOFFEE.COM) via the Internet and in some grocery stores.

For his devotion to the people of San

Lucas and his commitment to help them rise above poverty, Msgr. Schaffer was recognized with numerous awards.

In 2007 the Guatemalan government bestowed on him their highest honor, the prestigious “Order of the Quetzal.”

Other awards he received include an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Loyola University in Chicago; an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of San Francisco; the Anonymous Heroes Working for Peace Through Development award from the Guatemalan consulate of the United Nations, Bancafe and several local entities in Guatemala; the Diocese of New Ulm’s Diocesan Distinguished Service Award; and the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity’s Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award.

On Oct. 18, 1984, Pope John Paul II conferred upon him the honorary title of “Monsignor” (Protonotary Apostolic).

Funeral Masses were celebrated May 30 in New Ulm and May 31 at St. John Neumann in Eagan. Msgr. Schaffer’s body was to be flown to San Lucas Toliman for a final Mass and burial in the San Lucas Toliman cemetery.

Deacon Timmerman last served St. Philip Deacon Dale Timmerman, who retired from ministry in December 2009 after serving as deacon at St. Philip in Minneapolis for nine years, died May 26. He was 67.

He was born Dec. 5, 1944. He retired from US Bank after working there for 34 years and was ordained a permanent deacon for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in 1998. He served as deacon at St. Peter in Forest Lake for two years.

Deacon Timmerman and his wife, Nancy, were married for 45 years and had two children, Nathan Timmerman and Sarah Niemi.

A funeral Mass was celebrated May 31 at Church of the Ascension in Minneapolis, with interment at St. Peter’s Cemetery in Forest Lake.

Parishes, deaneries encouraged to mark ‘Fortnight’ at local level CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 ■ July 3: St. Thomas, apostle and martyr; ■ July 4: Independence Day. Here in the archdiocese, we are planning an archdiocesan Mass at 5:15 p.m. on June 28 in the Cathedral of St. Paul. I will celebrate the Mass and Bishop Piché will concelebrate. Priests, deacons, religious men and women, and certainly the faithful are invited and encouraged to attend this special Mass.

In addition, parishes and deaneries are encouraged to design their own celebrations on a local level. Materials for liturgical prayers as well as bulletin inserts are available through the USCCB website at W W W. U S C C B . O R G / I S S U E S - A N D - A C T I O N /

“As native Minnesotan Archbishop Robert J.

Carlson of St. Louis has said: ‘Religious liberty is our first, most cherished freedom. The threat the HHS mandate poses to the Catholic Church is no small matter.’

”

ARCHBISHOP JOHN NIENSTEDT RELIGIOUS-LIBERTY/FORTNIGHT-FOR-FREEDOM/ FORTNIGHT-FREEDOM-PRAYER-RESOURCES.CFM.

It has also been suggested that bell ringing and the display of American flags can augment these services. The recitation of

the rosary, formal Holy Hours, as well as periods of fasting are also recommended.

Other events The Minnesota Catholic Conference, in conjunction with the archdiocese, is spon-

soring a series of educational events on topics related to religious liberty. The first event is entitled “Religious Liberty: Our Most Cherished Freedom,” and will be held at Nativity of Our Lord parish in St. Paul on June 21, 2012, at 7 p.m. More information about this and other events can be found at WWW.MNCC.ORG/CATEGORY/ RESOURCES/EVENTS/.

As native Minnesotan Archbishop Robert J. Carlson of St. Louis has said: “Religious liberty is our first, most cherished freedom. The threat the HHS mandate poses to the Catholic Church is no small matter.”

I believe it is time for Catholics to stand up and be counted!

God bless you!

“It was God who brought Eve to Adam and gave her to him as his wife, and it is God, my friends, who with his invisible hand bound the knot which united you and gave you to one another; therefore give good heed that you cherish a love which is holy, sacred and divine.”

St. Francis de Sales

Nation/World JUNE 7, 2012

News from around the U.S. and the globe

Minnesotan ordained for Irish church

By Sarah MacDonald Catholic News Service

One of the Irish church’s newest and youngest priests is from Minnesota.

Father Shane Sullivan, 26, was ordained June 3 along with 29-year-old Father Eugene O’Boyle in a ceremony at the Cathedral of the Assumption. They were the first ordinations for the diocese since 2006.

Assisting in the ceremony was Deacon Seth Gogolin, a classmate of Father Sullivan’s from Brainerd, Minn.; the deacon will be ordained for the Diocese of Duluth later in June.

The two were among six young men who joined the seminary out of the same class from Brainerd High School, though not all stayed the course.

Father Sullivan initially studied for the priesthood in his home diocese of Duluth from 2004 to 2007, during which time he graduated with a degree in arts and philosophy. He then transferred to Tuam Archdiocese in 2007 because he has links with the West of Ireland: His father is from Cill Chiarain and immigrated to the United States in the 1970s.

Returning to his roots The new priest told Catholic News Service his decision to finish his training and serve as a priest in Ireland is linked to his “great love for my heritage.”

But he said “the real heart” of his vocation to the Irish church was “a desire to serve in a place that is going through a

With a ruling that acknowledged the final decision will be up to the Supreme Court, a federal appeals court declared the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional May 31.

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the provision of the 1996 federal law, known as DOMA, that defines marriage as “a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.”

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, which had urged the court to uphold the law, jointly issued a press release June 1 calling the ruling disappointing.

“The federal appeals court in Boston did a grave injustice yesterday by striking down that part of the Defense of Marriage Act that reasonably recognizes the reality that marriage is the union of one man and one woman,” said the statement from Bishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of Oakland, Calif., chairman of the bishops’ Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage. “DOMA is part of our nation’s long-established body of law rooted in the true meaning of marriage.”

The president of the National Organization for Marriage, which opposes same-

9

Religious liberty, charter report on agenda for bishops’ meeting

By Dennis Sadowski Catholic News Service

CNS photo / Stephen Farragher

Father Eugene O’Boyle and Father Shane Sullivan prepare to distribute Communion during their June 3 ordination Mass at the Cathedral of the Assumption in Tuam, Ireland. Father Sullivan, 26, who attended Brainerd High School in Minnesota, was one of six young men who joined the seminary out of the same class.

particularly difficult time right now. There are many different places in the world that fit that description — places in America as well — but I just felt a very resounding attraction to Ireland and a great desire to pursue a vocation here,” he told CNS. Father Sullivan is the oldest of four children and was ordained in the presence of

his parents, Bart and Kathleen, as well as his sisters Erin, 24, Megan, 21, and his brother Colm, 20, all of whom flew in from Baxter, Minn., for the ceremony.

Father Sullivan celebrated his first Mass in the Irish language June 4 for family, friends and relatives living in the locality of Cill Chiarain church.

Federal court overturns DOMA; appeal presumed Catholic News Service

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

“DOMA is a part of our nation’s longestablished body of law rooted in the true meaning of marriage

”

BISHOP SALVATORE J. CORDILEONE

sex marriage, accused the judges of inventing the legal path to the ruling.

Judge Michael Boudin, who wrote the opinion, was appointed to the 1st Circuit

by President George H. W. Bush. The other two judges who joined the opinion were Judge Sandra Lynch, appointed by President Bill Clinton; and Judge Juan Torruella, appointed by President Ronald Reagan.

The panel cited previous Supreme Court rulings that struck down laws determined to be discriminatory against a class of people as being among the keys to their ruling. They also stayed their ruling pending review by the Supreme Court.

The case was brought against the federal government by a group of same-sex married couples and several widowed spouses, all from Massachusetts. They seek access to federal benefits such as Social Security that would be available to heterosexual married couples but are blocked under DOMA. The law was passed soon after Hawaii’s Supreme Court held that it might violate the state constitution to deny marriage to same-sex couples. Amid concern that states would soon begin to allow samesex marriages, Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed the 230-word law, which the appeals court described as “one of the shortest major enactments in recent history.”

Since then, 30 states have passed constitutional prohibitions on same-sex marriage while six states and the District of Columbia have passed laws permitting it.

Another dozen states, including Hawaii, have laws recognizing civil unions between people of the same sex.

The 1st Circuit was reviewing only the provision of DOMA that defines “marriage” and “spouse,” not its provision guaranteeing that no state or territory is required to recognize a marriage recognized by another state or territory.

With a long-standing campaign to press its concerns about infringements on religious liberty by governments and the courts, the U.S. bishops will devote a significant portion of their spring meeting June 13-15 in Atlanta to the issue.

The bishops also will receive a 10-year progress report by the National Review Board on the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” and hear recommendations from the review board stemming from the study “The Causes and Context of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Catholic Priests in the United States, 19502010.”

At the forefront of the bishops’ religious liberty efforts is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ mandate that would force Catholic institutions to provide health insurance coverage to employees for procedures the Catholic Church opposes, including abortion-inducing drugs, artificial contraceptives and sterilizations. The mandate was announced Aug. 1, 2011, as part of the rules HHS is issuing to implement the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Other concerns have surfaced that worry the bishops, including court rulings and policy decisions that have forced Catholic institutions out of adoption and foster care.

Thomas F. Farr, director of the Religious Freedom Project at the Berkley Center for Religion Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown University, will provide an overview of challenges to religious freedom around the world.

Strengthening protection Representatives of the National Review Board will look at the progress made on preventing incidents of clergy sexual abuse since the adoption of the charter in Dallas in 2002 and offer recommendations on how to strengthen its implementation for the future, said Mary Jane Doerr, associate director of the bishops’ Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection.

The National Review Board also will offer a series of recommendations to the bishops stemming from the “causes and context” study conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York released in 2011.

The study found “no single identifiable ‘cause’ of sexually abusive behavior toward minors” by clergy and encouraged steps to deny abusers “the opportunity to abuse.”

The recommendations will encompass the main factors identified in the study: education, situational prevention, and oversight and accountability, Doerr said.

10 T

HE

Nation / World

CATHOLIC SPIRIT • JUNE 7, 2012

Large families find strength, grace at Milan gathering Family of seven from South Carolina dines with pope

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service

One thing the Tuncaps and the Wongs have in common, other than attending their first World Meeting of Families with five children each, is they’ve had a lot of people tell them they were crazy.

Paula Wong, 42, said that back home in Coogee, Australia, people at the supermarket often say “I’m so glad I’m not you!” as she pushes her cart with her tousle-haired kids.

Her husband Hendrikus, 45, said his relatives still can’t understand why he would want so many children when his mother grew up poor in Jakarta in a family of 10.

“She didn’t want this for us” because she equates large families with hardship and poverty, Hendrikus said, shaking his head.

Relying on prayer, packing skills Allen Tuncap, 28, said his friends thought he was crazy for taking his wife and five kids from Charleston, S.C., to Europe on a shoe-string budget, with no set itinerary, hop-scotching across the Atlantic and Europe by hitching “space available” military family seats on cargo or commercial planes.

He told his wife Janell, “just pack light, bring lots of Pampers and God will take care of the rest.” The diaper supply was for 6-month-old Madden, the youngest of their five children. The others are: Ethan, 10; Aveah, 6; Tobey, 3; and Elyjah, 2.

Allen, a petty officer 2nd class in the U.S. Coast Guard, credits lots of planning,

CNS photo / Mic Smith

Allen and Janell Tuncap of Charleston, S.C., are pictured with their children, clockwise from top left: Aveah, 6; Tobey, 3; Ethan, 10; Madden, 6 months, and Elyjah, 2.

prayers to St. Rita, packing skills, friends with good connections and the grace of God for getting his family where they ended up: sitting at the pope’s table during a private luncheon June 3 in Milan.

“We were so nervous, we didn’t know how to eat, which fork to use,” said Janell, who still couldn’t believe they were chosen to sit with the pope at his table.

Elyjah and Ethan got up enough courage to go up and speak to the pope after the meal, which consisted of an appetizer plate of cured beef slices, followed

by Milanese risotto, veal and wild strawberries with custard, Allen said.

The two kids talked to the pope about school, what their names were “and he

said he was going to pray for our family,” Janell said. Tobey was shy but finally went up to the pope and hugged him, she said.

The Wongs’ trip was fully sponsored by the Archdiocese of Sydney. While they didn’t have the uncertainty of where they would sleep or when their next plane would take off like the Tuncaps, they had to endure a 26-hour flight.

Twins Madeleine and Michael, 14, Theodore, 12, Catherine, 5, and Laura Philomena, 5 months, were doing fine in Milan coping with the 10-hour jet lag, Hendrikus said June 2.

Hendrikus and Paula moved to Australia during the Jakarta riots of 1998. He said he left behind a successful career in bank-

ing and corporate finance to start from scratch in Australia.

Despite two master’s degrees from Australian schools, he said he still couldn’t find a career that offered economic security. But it’s a Catch-22, he said, because a better paying job would most likely mean missing time with his family, “and I don’t want that.”

Everything is focused on formation: giving the kids the love and guidance they need to become good men and women some day, not spoiling them with gadgets, he said.

“I used to dream that my kids would become doctors and make money, but not now,” Paula said. She changed when she read that the true measure of a child’s success is if he tells his parents one day “Thank you for all you’ve given and done for me,” she said.

Hendrikus agreed, saying if a strong foundation of values is laid down for their children, “they will work hard and everything else will follow.”

Getting graces The Tuncaps said they came to the world meeting to “get graces” and inspiration for raising good kids, especially in a culture that doesn’t always promote or respect what is best for humanity.

“We are on the front lines right now” against a culture that lacks respect for human dignity and life, said Allen.

He said their oldest, Ethan, is like “a lab rat for our parenting skills” — how they live their lives and raise their children will either “keep him in the faith or let him be derailed. So if we don’t get our graces now, then one, two, three, four, five lives suffer,” he said giving a head count of his kids.

Pope tells 80,000 youth: ‘You are called to great things’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 as between a man and a woman, urged parents to keep the transcendent alive in a world that adores the high-tech over high ideals, and urged kids to respect and love their family.

Because the five-day meeting’s theme was how to balance work demands, family needs and religious celebration, the pope upbraided economic theories that advocate that the best policies, markets and work ethics are those that push the most product and reap the most profit.

“The one-sided logic of sheer utility and maximum profit are not conducive to harmonious development, to the good of the family or to building of a more just society, because it brings in its wake ferocious competition, strong inequalities, degradation of the environment, the race for consumer goods and family tensions,” he said.

Such a “utilitarian mentality” takes a toll on the family and social relationships “reducing them to a fragile convergence of individual interests and undermining the solidity of the social fabric,” he added.

The pope spent nearly three full days at a variety of events: meeting local citizens, religious, government and business leaders and Catholic young people and families from around the world.

Despite the jubilant and festive air among participants, the pope and archdiocesan leaders peppered their speeches with reminders of the thousands of people rendered homeless or destitute by a recent series of earthquakes in northern Italy.

The pope called for concrete aid to those in need, assuring victims of his prayers.

Pope Benedict also hosted a lunch for 100 poor families — about 300 people — who live in Milan, but come from a variety of countries.

He urged faith communities and secular governments at events June 1-2 to work together for the common good by having people of faith live their values in all areas of life.

The church offers its teaching and input as a service to society, he said, as he urged governments to be just and guarantee liberty, based on natural law, for everyone “beginning with the right to life of which its deliberate suppression can never be allowed.”

Inside Milan’s monumental Gothic cathedral June 2, the pope met women and men religious, priests, seminarians and bishops for a prayer service in the Ambrosian rite. A religious vocation and one’s personal well-being are not at odds, the pope said, but go hand-in-hand since being a good priest or sister and a happy person both find its source in drawing closer to Christ.

Later that day in Milan’s San Siro soccer stadium, the pope told some 80,000 boys and girls who were or would be recently confirmed that they, too, can be saints as they let the Holy Spirit guide them to use their talents for the good of the community.

“You are called to great things,” he said, telling them to keep their aims high. He told them to study and work hard, obey

their parents, help others and be selfless “because egoism is the enemy of joy.”

Fielding questions At an evening vigil marked by testimonies from families all over the world and international music by well-known artists, the pope shared the joys and sufferings of the world’s families.

Five couples and families went up on stage one group at a time to ask the pope a personal question or appeal for advice.

The first, a 7-year-old girl from Vietnam, sat by the pope’s feet, wanting to know what it was like growing up in his home.

Aware of the content of each question beforehand, the pope spoke off-the-cuff, saying even though Germany at the time was suffering from a dictatorship and war, his childhood was “unforgettable” and joyful as their home was always filled with music, faith, love and long walks in the woods.

“To tell you the truth, if I could imagine what it will be like in heaven, I always imagine the time of my youth, of my childhood,” he said.

When a Greek family told the pope about their dire economic situation back home and asked how they could go forward in hope, the pope said words could never convey his sadness for people hit hard by the global economic crisis and the sadness over feeling unable to help.

He criticized the current political state of affairs, saying all political parties had to become more responsible and stop promising things they couldn’t deliver.

Candidates need to see that the votes people invest in them are not votes for the leaders but are a call for them to fight and be responsible for the good of all people, he said.

He said one idea for people to help right away was for more financially stable parishes and families to adopt a struggling family or parish akin to the twin cities’ initiative.

A Brazilian couple who work with divorced and separated Catholics asked how they could give the people they talk to hope.

The pope acknowledged the huge sense of loss and alienation divorced Catholics who remarry feel when they can no longer receive the sacraments. While preventing a marriage from breaking up is ideal through counseling and accompaniment, parishes could help divorcees still feel part of the community, experiencing the word of God and getting ongoing spiritual guidance, he said.

While they cannot receive the sacrament of the Eucharist, they can experience a spiritual form of communion by being united in the body of Christ as church, he said.

The pope ate lunch together with seven families after the June 3 Mass. They included Allen and Janell Tuncap and their five children from Charleston, S.C.; the Green family, including their seminarian son, Jack, from the diocese of Parramatta, Australia; and families from Baghdad, Iraq, Kinshasa, Congo, Mexico City, Spain and Milan.

For adult Catholics, this question burns in their souls and guides their search for direction in life: What is God calling me to do?

In other words: What is my vocation? As some point out, there is vocation with a Capital “V,” as in the choice between religious life and marriage. There is also vocation with a small “v,” as in career choice.

This special section explores the topic by profiling those who have gone through the discernment process themselves and includes tips and comments from those who have helped others. The people whose careers are profiled are among those who responded to a query on the topic from The Catholic Spirit.

May you be inspired and informed by these stories to answer God’s call on your own journey down the highway of life.

The Catholic Spirit Page 11

Life

is a highway

Here’s help for navigating your vocation/career curves Road to religious vocation is clear when God’s driving from back seat

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit

Tara Smith believes her small “yeses” to God eventually revealed the big “yes” he had for her — confirmation of her call to the religious life.

From her first fleeting thought five years ago as a high school senior about becoming a nun, until now, as she prepares to enter a contemplative monastery, Smith has been on a journey to discover the Lord’s plan for her.

“The more I said yes to the Lord in these little ways, like getting a spiritual director, going on retreat, the more it was confirmed,” said Smith who will enter the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration of Our Lady of Solitude in Tonopah, Ariz., in July. “I had more and more peace.”

Living faith more deeply While some say the early stages of discerning a vocation to the religious life or priesthood can involve more challenges than peace, learning to say yes through devotion to prayer, receiving the sacraments often and meeting with a spiritual director can help them conform their will to God’s and understand how he is calling them, according to vocation directors.

“If the Lord isn’t part of the equation, you can discern until you’re blue in the face and you’ll be constantly searching,” said Father Troy Przybilla, archdiocesan vocations director. “Just spend that time with our Lord, go to Mass more frequently, go to confession, just basically live your faith more — that would be my first step.”

Spending time with the Blessed Sacrament reading and praying with Scripture or just in silent prayer aids discernment, Father Przybilla said.

Through prayer, discerners will be better able to hear the Lord’s voice, said Sister M. Consolata, FSGM, vocation director for the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George in Alton, Ill., where several Minnesota women have entered in recent years.

“The main thing is prayer and the

Restless soul and unstable economy can lead to new direction in life

sacraments because our life is based on a

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit relationship with Jesus, so they have to get to know him,” she said. “As they About five years ago, Bill Muske started deepen that relationship with him they wondering if God might want him to do will hear his voice and they will know something else with his life besides conwhether he’s calling them to religious life tinuing to build up his career as a finanor marriage.” cial adviser.

Along with seeking the Lord’s will in “When you’re immersed in a market prayer, discerners can or in your career, it’s find information on really hard to pull your religious and priestly Discernment head above water and vocations, religious orlook around and ask, resources ders and other re‘Is this right for me or sources online, includCareer discernment not?’” said Muske, ing the vocations who attends St. Peter ■ “What Color is Your website of the U.S. in Forest Lake. “When Parachute” by Richard Nelson Conference of Caththe financial collapse Bolles olic Bishops (WWW. of 2008 hit, that’s ■ LifeKeys, Books and other USCCB.ORG/BELIEFS-ANDwhen I pulled my head discernment resources WWW. TEACHINGS / VOCATIONS ) LIFEKEYS.COM out.” and the Office for VoNow, after leaving cations of the ArchdioPriestly/religious an industry he believes cese of St. Paul and vocations he got into for the Minneapolis (WWW. ■ “The Discernment of Spirits: wrong reasons, God is 10000VOCATIONS. An Ignatian Guide for Everyday helping Muske figure ORG).

Living” by Father Timothy out if he should use his Gallagher Conforming people skills as a coun■ “Discerning the Will of God: selor. In the process, one’s will An Ignatian Guide to Christian he’s discovering not Distractions, presDecision Making” by Father just a new career path sure to explore every Timothy Gallagher but a life direction as option and a fear of ■ “To Save a Thousand Souls” he prays, does research commitment are

by Father Brett Brannen, a guide and receives guidance. among the challenges for discerning a vocation to discerners face, Father diocesan priesthood Finding the Przybilla said.

■ "The Consecrated Life” (“Vita right fit “Once we can get Consecrata”), Blessed John Paul Whether they’re enover that hurdle or fear II’s encyclical on the consecrated tering the job market life: WWW.CATHOLICCULTURE.ORG and or whatever it may be search for consecrated life for the first time or that keeps us wanting ■ Archdiocese of St. Paul and preparing for a second to keep all our options Minneapolis’ Office of Vocations or third career, those open, then we can rewebsite: WWW.10000VOCATIONS making a job or career ally get down to mak.ORG/INDEX.ASPX change seek security in ing decisions for our a volatile market, emlife,” he said. ployment experts say.

The most difficult By discerning God’s direction and doing challenge for discerners, however, is the work to get there, job hunters are wrestling with conforming their own will, more likely to find that security in a job he said. that’s right for them.

“What it really comes down to is “The dreams, the values, what am I passionate about, my wiring, my gifting, PLEASE TURN TO PEACE ON PAGE 18

it’s all part of the package,” said Jerome Meeds, a certified life coach and spiritual director who directs Dunrovin Retreat Center near Stillwater. “I believe God speaks to us through all those things to help give us a direction for our life.”

Finding the right career is a process, though not everyone takes the same steps, said Diane Crist, director of the University of St. Thomas’ Career Development Center, which offers a career development model for systematic planning, along with other resources on its website. (WWW.STTHOMAS.EDU/CAREERDEVEL OPMENT) “To really go through a discerning, thoughtful process about what are your interests, what are your motivations and then to do research, really get out there and talk to people, learn about these careers, learn about the related careers — it’s time consuming but I think in the long run [people who do this are] going to be in careers and jobs that fit them better,” she said. “When you’re doing something you’re really interested in you have higher tolerance for the mundane or frustrations, and you’re more likely to stick with it and not have to go through this process as many times.”

The resources available for job searchers can be overwhelming unless they have a personal formula and understand their talents and motivations, said Terence Quigley, who counsels job seekers at SOAR4Jobs, a job transition support and networking group at St. Odilia in Shoreview. “A lot of people go down a career path that’s absolutely alien to their gut.”

UST’s Career Development Center works with 65-75 percent of students, who are coming in earlier as freshmen and sophomores, Crist said. Also, with the economic downturn of recent years, alumni have been seeking career assistance, she said. Job seekers want stability as they research possible careers.

After losing a job, it may be better to PLEASE TURN TO JOB ON PAGE 18

12

Life is a Highway

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • JUNE 7, 2012

Priest ‘saves lives’ for sheriff’s department

By Sara Kovach The Catholic Spirit

Sgt. Dave Struckman felt abandoned when none of the accompanying firefighters or police officers at the scene of an accident were available to help him pull two dead bodies from a car. He had no one else to turn to except the police chaplain, Father George Grafsky, pastor of St. Anne in Le Sueur.

“I called George and put him in one of the worst situations probably,” Struckman said. “He doesn’t have to do that, but I said, ‘I need your help.’ And together we pulled the bodies out.”

This is just one of the many ways Father Grafsky has helped Struckman and the Le Sueur County Sheriff’s Department perform what can be, at times, dreadful jobs.

In a recent interview with The Catholic Spirit, Struckman mentioned multiple times that he is “blessed” to have Father Grafsky and two other chaplains as part of his department.

“A lot of things that happen out here are kind of forgotten about. We really didn’t have anything for us because we struggle at times on those scenes, too. That’s why I got George involved. It’s not only about the citizens that we protect, it’s about us, too,” Struckman said.

As a police chaplain, Father Grafsky sometimes helps families work through the pain of having lost a loved one to an accident or their house to a fire. He thinks of his chaplaincy work as a calling of sorts.

But it’s a calling that evolved, much like his call to the priesthood.

Father Grafsky was born to a Catholic mother and a Lutheran father — a source of tension at times — and priesthood was not something he thought about at first.

Yet, God had a plan for Father Grafsky

Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit

Father George Grafsky, pastor of St. Anne in Le Sueur, also serves as a chaplain to the Le Sueur County Sheriff’s Department.

and gave him the push he needed. A Christian brother told him, “George, you should be a priest” so that he could help

the church be the best it could be.

His father, after finding out his son wanted to join the priesthood, said “Well,

if you’re going to be a priest then I should PLEASE TURN TO FATHER ON PAGE 18

‘In love with God’: Sister reflects on a life of service

By Julie Carroll The Catholic Spirit

Gone are the days when all religious sisters donned habits. But make no mistake: They are still among us — running hospitals, serving the poor, and working in just about any field imaginable.

Wearing a flowery purple cardigan and khakis, Sister Stephanie Spandl greeted visitors last Wednesday at the English-language school where she is a social worker.

A silver cross pinned to her sweater was about the only outward sign of her vocation. What sets her apart is the way she lives her life for God. At MORE, a St. Paul organization that serves immigrants and refugees, the School Sister of Notre Dame generally introduces herself simply as Stephanie.

Eventually, though, her vocation comes up in conversation.

“Sometimes there are a few questions,” she said about people’s reactions. “Others just say, ‘OK.’” Either way, she sees it as an opportunity to evangelize.

Discerning the call Sister Stephanie, 47, first heard God’s whisper as a child, she said. She still has the journals she kept in junior high where she weighed the pros and cons of married PLEASE TURN TO SISTER ON PAGE 18

“There are certain

things that touch you so deep emotionally that they’re seared into your memory. This was one of those times.

”

SISTER STEPHANIE SPANDL, SSND

School Sister of Notre Dame Stephanie Spandl is the social services program manager at MORE, a St. Paul organization that serves immigrants and refugees.

Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit

Life is a Highway

JUNE 7, 2012 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

13

Faith formation ‘doorkeeper’ focuses on hospitality

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit

When it came time for Mary Beth Liekhus to make a career move in 2006, she sensed God calling her to make a leap of faith.

With the youngest of her four children attending high school at Benilde-St. Margaret’s School in St. Louis Park, she wondered if that might be the place for her to work.

After all, she had a degree in elementary education and had worked briefly as a teacher right out of college. But, at age 56, that job seemed like a speck in her rearview mirror.

What wasn’t so small was her love for children. She was just completing her 25th year as a licensed day care provider and had cared for 35 foster children along the way, not to mention raising her own four children with her husband Al, who has worked in maintenance at BSM since 1993.

The first thing she felt God say was to close the day care business, even though she did not have another job secured. Doing so gave her the chance to apply a prayer she has always said for the children in her life: “May they always walk by the light of faith on the path that leads to eternal life.”

Finding her place So, in April 2006, with a job at BSM just a mere possibility, she told the parents of her day care business that she was closing.

Then, she applied for the job as adminis-

Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit

Mary Beth Liekhus sees her job as administrative assistant in the faith formation department at Benilde-St. Margaret’s School in St. Louis Park as a way to both practice and share her Catholic faith.

trative assistant in the BSM faith formation department to replace someone who was retiring.

Weeks and weeks went by without hearing anything. Then, she scheduled knee replacement surgery for Aug. 15 of that year. In July, the school finally called her for an interview. Then, on the day of the surgery, she received a phone call from

the school.

“The morning of my surgery, they offered me the job,” said Liekhus, now 61.

“That said to me, ‘This is what God wants you to do.’”

As campus minister Mike Jeremiah, who has been at BSM for 37 years, points out, it is an easy environment in which to see your job as a vocation. And, not surpris-

ingly, Liekhus views her position as far more than handling the mountains of paperwork and details thrown at her each day.

With her deep and faithful prayer life as an anchor, she remains attentive and ready to minister to everyone who walks through the doorway of her office — students, teachers, parents and others. The chocolates on her desk just inside the office door are merely the greeting she offers to any and all visitors.

“I practice hospitality; I listen with the ears of the heart to adults who come in for a chocolate, but really have a prayer request for our prayer line,” she said, noting that a handful of saints were porters — doorkeepers — including St. Padre Pio. The school’s prayer line has been particularly active this year. Two long-time employees died during the school year — lunchroom workers Doris Christensen and Betty Rosenow, both 85 and with a combined 98 years at the school.

Then, of course, there was the Jack Jablonski tragedy on Dec. 30, in which the sophomore hockey player was checked into the boards during a junior varsity game and suffered a severe spinal injury.

Liekhus, who graduated from St. Margaret’s Academy in 1968, led the rosary shortly after it happened, as she does every Friday morning before school. That day, 40 students showed up. But she did even more for the fallen student.

“The sophomore retreat occurred not too long after Jack’s accident,” she said. “I PLEASE TURN TO ADMINISTRATIVE ON PAGE 15

“If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world ablaze.”

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14

Life is a Highway

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • JUNE 7, 2012

White Bear food shelf director: Parents modeled how to feed hungry

By Terry Griep For The Catholic Spirit

Serving others comes naturally to Ann Searles. She was blessed with parents and a grandfather who taught her that the more one gives, the more that person will receive.

Searles watched her grandfather, Joe Prifrel, buy fruit baskets, turkeys and hams for those who did not have anything to eat. As a state legislator for 30 years, he served his constituents in the Rice Street area in St. Paul by both representing them and continually offering a helping hand, she said.

The tradition continued with her parents. Searles remembers sitting at the family Christmas Eve dinner table with people she did not know. She said she learned years later that these “guests” either did not have money to buy food or did not have a place to go for the holiday.

As a married mother with three daughters, Searles is helping to provide food for those who don’t have any.

She became the director of the White Bear Area Emergency Food Shelf last September, a part-time position of 27 hours per week.

“As an adult, I am guided by the same foundational principles I learned from my parents, grandfather, and teachers in Catholic schools, to be ‘Christ like’ towards others, especially those less fortunate,” she said. “On a daily basis, I truly strive to ‘reflect the heart of Jesus’ and ask God for the grace to achieve this goal with everyone I meet, especially those in need. Daily prayer, meditation, and attending Mass helps me to achieve this goal.”

Positive change Searles, who has a master’s degree from the Carlson School of Business, has used her business expertise to implement changes that have enabled the food shelf to serve more families more efficiently.

The food shelf functions as an emergency service,

Dianne Towalski / The Catholic Spirit

Ann Searles, a member of St. Jude of the Lake in Mahtomedi, is called to serve those in need of food as executive director of the White Bear Area Emergency Food Shelf.

which means it serves families who have an immediate, dire need for food. The food shelf is set up so people call in the morning and receive their food that afternoon.

Searles instituted a new phone and computer system, so the number of families served daily increased from 13 to 18. Searles said 45 percent of the clients come for help because they have lost their jobs.

Many of the volunteers, who are senior citizens, were wary of the new system, but now love it because the software is easy to use and saves time and cramped fingers, she said. Family information stored in the computer makes it easier for volunteers to fill requests from a printout. A 70-year-old receptionist who had never used a computer now wants to get her own, Searles said.

Her excitement increased when she applied for her

first-ever grant, and received it. The grant from United Way enabled the food shelf to purchase refrigeration.

Now, in addition to staples, clients receive fresh milk, eggs and yogurt. Since clients receive food for a week for each registered family member, and can apply once a month, the refrigerated items are a welcome addition, she said.

Searles newest project is a garden. There was available land in back of the food shelf, but it needed to be cleared and prepared for planting. Other volunteers were skeptical — Searles is not a gardener. But she found a volunteer couple who used to farm, and the garden is flourishing, and she expects it to yield lots of fresh produce this summer.

“Right now we’re giving a handout. We’re looking at ways to give a hand up,” she said. She envisions providing counseling services to help clients “get back on track” and become self sufficient.

The food shelf serves families living in the White Bear Lake school district. Those needing food must provide a picture I.D. and proof of residence in the district, plus some proof of the number of family members residing in the household. It also serves people who are homeless or in transition, and have children attending a school in the district. Volunteers record the information, then other volunteers fill sacks and have them waiting in shopping carts for a specific pick-up time in the afternoon.

Meeting the needs Searles said 22,000 pounds of food is distributed each month. The food shelf serves 785 individuals a month, a 7 percent increase since the first of the year. The greatest increase is in the senior population, she said.

“These people have worked hard all their lives. They have small pensions, yet they can’t afford the rising cost of food today,” she said. Since they need help on an onPLEASE TURN TO SEARLES ON PAGE 17

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Life is a Highway Journey toward marriage vocation began at young age I was the flower girl in my aunt and uncle’s wedding. From day one, I was privileged to witness their joyful marriage.

My brother and I used to stay with them when our little sister was sick in the hospital. We could see that the gift of their love extended beyond them as a couple — it also radiated to their four children, extended family, friends and even strangers.

As I reached my teen years, I’d babysit for them. As they’d be getting ready for their dates, Uncle Bob would kiss Aunt Tibby in the kitchen a la Rhett Butler style!

Their love in action was very obvious to my young eyes. I began thinking, “Wow, I want to be married like that someday — and be a mom.” Thus began the journey of my vocation to marriage.

It may sound silly, but I began at a young age to make a “check list” of sorts in my mind as to what type of morals, goals and characteristics my future husband should have. And since I was going to spend the rest of my life with this spouse, he’d also have to make my blood boil!

Eventually, I re-connected with the perfect man for me — Eric Schneeman — who had gone to St. Joseph’s grade school when I did. He came from a great family, which was important to me, and he didn’t run in the other direction when I told him that I hoped for a ton of kids.

We’ve been married 23 years and have nine children. To us, marriage is the foundation of family and society. It is more than just our names signed on a governmental piece of paper — like a passport. Marriage is a sacrament from which we receive the grace needed to journey well in our vocation.

KATHY SCHNEEMAN St. Joseph, West St. Paul

Holy Spirit led me to youth ministry career I consider my career a calling because I was not seeking it out on my own. I was initially a pre-med major in college. It was while I was on a retreat that I heard the call. I can’t remember the speaker’s name or even what he said, but he was a youth minister from Georgia, and it was something about him and his presence that resonated with me. The Holy Spirit spoke in my heart in a profound way and led me to pursue a career in youth ministry.

After 10 years in youth ministry I can honestly say this is exactly what God created me to do. It is in youth ministry that I feel I can best use my gifts and talents to help bring about the reign of God. It is within youth ministry that I can hopefully help empower the teens who I work with to be witnesses of their faith in the world today. It is also within youth ministry that I am challenged and humbled the most, which in turn forces me to rely not on myself alone but on God who is leading me.

My marriage and family life are my upper-case “V” vocation, but the lowercase “v” vocation of my career is still, and hopefully will continue to be, a call that I can be a part of for a long time.

MOLLY SCHORR The writer is director of youth ministry at St. Vincent de Paul, Brooklyn Park.

JUNE 7, 2012 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

15

Administrative assistant ‘has such a big heart’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

“She truly lives out her

sat in the corner and crocheted a prayer shawl for Jack because he should have been there with us. . . . We sent it to the hospital to Jack.”

faith. She has such a big heart, and such a love for other people, and truly lives out the Gospel message. It’s just who she is.

Living out her faith He wasn’t the only prayer shawl recipient this year. Liekhus was busy making similar garments for expectant mothers on staff — six of them this year. That, as much as anything, convinces Jeremiah that her job is a vocation.

“She truly lives out her faith,” he said.

“She has such a big heart, and such a love for other people, and truly lives out the Gospel message. It’s just who she is.”

That quality tends to draw people to her, including students like senior Karen Valde, who came to see her often and even showed up in the campus ministry office again a few days after her classes had ended.

“She always has a smile on her face when other kids come in,” said Valde, who plans to study dietetics at Iowa State

”

MIKE JEREMIAH

University this fall.

Nurturing another vocation Liekhus’ son, Father Jim Liekhus, was ordained in 2005 and, yes, he received encouragement and guidance in his vocation from his mother.

“When he was 12 years old, I looked at that little boy and thought, ‘You have all the right gifts — you’re good with the wid-

ows on the corner, you’re wonderful with the kids in my day care,’” she said.

Yet, he resisted her encouragement to go to St. John Vianney College Seminary at the University of St. Thomas. Instead, he wanted to work in the corporate world and raise a family. Eventually, thanks to a visit to the school for BSM’s Vocations Day

by Father John Ubel, currently the pastor of St. Agnes in St. Paul who will serve as rector of the Cathedral of St. Paul beginning July 1, for BSM’s Vocations Day, Father Liekhus chose to enroll at SJV and “never looked back,” his mother said.

She has had the same attitude about working at BSM, even though her hours were cut back at the beginning of this school year. She considered looking for a full-time job, then realized that this was her place.

“I do love it here, and my dear husband, who could have advised me differently, said, ‘If you want to be there, we’ll make it work,’” she said. “When you’re here, and God shines the light on your path, then you walk.”

Law work offers opportunity to develop virtues I have been a lawyer for 29 years. I consider my profession a calling because it helps me to serve God and my neighbor.

Whether I am negotiating an agreement, discussing the disposition of someone’s estate or arguing a case in court, I have the opportunity to develop the virtues of prudence, temperance, fortitude and justice in myself and my clients.

When we first meet, my clients are in need, or they are hurt, or they suffer pain.

We must work together to protect the

innocent, to call the wrongdoer to account and to heal the brokenness that brought the client into my office.

If, when my representation is finished, we have become better people, we have answered a call by God himself.

I am sure every profession expresses God’s call to us at times, but my profession calls me every day.

STEVEN E. ANTOLAK St. Gerard Majella, Brooklyn Park

Daring to Be Different: Creating a Vision of Catholic Higher Education in Challenging Times

A CONTINUING LECTURE SERIES

The Challenges of Mission-focused Leadership at a Catholic University An evening with John Garvey, president of Catholic University of America and former dean of Boston College Law School 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 14 Woulfe Alumni Hall Anderson Student Center St. Paul Campus www.stthomas.edu/murphyinstitute

Coming this fall:

“Creating a Dynamic Vision of Catholic Mission and Identity: A University Experience” Father James P. Burns, Division of Mission and Ministry at Boston College “The Catholic University in the 21st Century” Patricia O’Hara, professor of law and former dean of Notre Dame Law School All lectures are free and open to the public. For accessibility requests: (651) 962-6315.

16

Life is a Highway

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • JUNE 7, 2012

Dianne Towalski / The Catholic Spirit

Author Gail Ann Wood sits in her backyard with her laptop. She takes the computer to different areas of her home to write, including the backyard.

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Historical fiction writer followed the story to spiritual destination

By Jennifer Janikula For The Catholic Spirit

If life is a highway, then Gail Ann Wood admits that she is not in control of her car.

As a matter of fact, she finds that life works best when she takes the back seat and lets God drive.

Wood, a writer of historical fiction for young people, said that God’s presence in her work is the only possible explanation for the progression of her career.

After many attempts to find a publisher for a set of picture books, Wood discovered a new writing project. During a family dinner, Wood’s father shared a story about his mother, Lizzie Lipinski, who grew up on the prairie near Ivanhoe, Minn., in the late 1800s.

Images of Lizzie Lipinski’s prairie life stayed with Wood. She started scribbling a story, little by little, in a notebook during her daughter’s tennis lessons.

Three years later, in 2006, White Mane Publishing released Wood’s first youth novel, “Lizzie and the Prairie Fire: Girl Pioneer in the American Midwest.”

The 100-page chapter book, which culminates when a prairie fire nearly destroys the family home, created many opportunities for Wood to expand her career. She began teaching children and adults about creative writing, publishing and the prairie.

But her biggest surprise was the message that emerged in her presentations.

Finding the silver lining

St. Joseph, Minnesota

m rit.co licSpi o h t a TheC

Wood, a member of St. John the Baptist in Excelsior, realized the book was really about silver linings and God’s plan.

“The prairie needs fire to flourish in the same way that the hard things in our lives can bring about greater good,” she explained. “It became obvious to me that this message was crafted by the Holy Spirit and the kids needed to hear it.”

Wood uses the story of Lizzie and the prairie fire to speak to children about their lives. “They don’t need to be afraid of the hard things in life,” she said, “for God can bring something wonderful out of it just like he did with his natural plan for the prairie.” She tells the kids to trust in God’s providence.

“It is so surprising,” said Wood, “how God can get his message out so slyly using someone like me, who is not fully cognizant of what he is doing.”

How did Wood know that God was part of her work?

As she looks back, she can see that her

9 questions to help you discern your vocation Based on her experience, Gail Ann Wood said prayer and reflection on the following questions will point you toward your vocation.

■ Do you have great joy in your work and feel a strong sense of being in your niche even though it may be challenging?

■ Do you have a strong, persistent desire to help others or to co-create in some area?

■ Is God opening doors for you or putting people around you to support your mission?

■ Do you sense greatly the action of the Holy Spirit, sometimes producing surprising results?

■ Do you feel confidence, courage or energized in an area and trust that obstacles will be overcome?

■ Are the pieces of your path fitting together, over time, like a puzzle, often delayed, challenging, time-consuming but ultimately coming together consistently and well?

■ Is this calling going to stretch you too thin in other areas God has called you to? It’s possible this calling is not from the Holy Spirit if it distracts you from your primary vocational responsibilities (i.e. establishing family unity or creating order in your life).

■ Do you possess the personal habits to exemplify your calling and make you a good example for God in this calling?

■ Are you praying for guidance and confirmation of your calling and are you receiving it?

writing career came together like a puzzle.

“The work was hard and time-consuming, but each piece seemed to fit so perfectly into the other as it developed,” she said.

Through prayer and discernment, she stayed alert for open doors and hints. She realized, even during challenging times, that she had the desire, confidence, support and resources to continue. Everything she needed was provided.

“God was calling me with each piece of the puzzle — telling me to be patient and trust that he would reveal more as needed,” Wood said.

She admits she still doesn’t have all of the answers — the puzzle is still growing.

PLEASE TURN TO PRAYER ON PAGE 17

Life is a Highway

JUNE 7, 2012 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Prayer and patience sustain book author CONTINUED FROM PAGE 16 But as she steps back and lets God lead, he continues to provide blessings.

If you are waiting for God to reveal your puzzle pieces, here is Wood’s advice: “Keep praying, even if you don’t think you hear anything. Look at where God is providing things — confidence, motivation, open doors, desire. Pray about it and then take a leap.”

For more information about Gail Wood and her books, send her an e-mail at

WOOD3@YAHOO.COM.

GAILA-

Searles is grateful for gifts that help her help others CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14 going basis, Searles said a food support specialist works with seniors, helping them sign up for federal assistance, so they will need help only on an emergency basis.

The food shelf is staffed by three part-time staff and more than 70 volunteers.

Eighty percent of its food comes from donations; the rest is purchased through Second Harvest or the Emergency Food Network. Catholic churches are very generous, Searles said, but so are other White Bear Lake churches. Kowalski’s, Festival and Cub Foods in White Bear Lake also make generous contributions, she said.

“I’m so fortunate that I’ve been able to use the gifts God gave me to minister to those in need,” Searles said. She is grateful, too, to her husband, Mike, and her three daughters, who all attend St. Jude of the Lake in Mahtomedi.

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Advancing Catholic education is avocation As I reflect on my various jobs, I see a thread throughout all of them: to advance Catholic education. I have had many opportunities to shape Catholic schools as a high school and college teacher, administrator and board member. . . .

In my current role as president of the Catholic Community Foundation, I am pleased to continue this effort through our significant grant-making in support of Catholic schools. Nearly 9,000 students in archdiocesan elementary and high schools have received tuition aid from the Catholic Community Foundation. Many of these children could not have experienced the benefits of Catholic education without that support. In reflecting on my career, I find this definition describes it well: A vocation is where your deep gladness meets a world’s deep need. I’m so blessed to live this every day in my

17

professional life.

MARILOU ELDRED Catholic Community Foundation president St. Paul

Special needs students inspire special ed teacher I consider my career choice a calling. I have worked with special needs students in the junior high school at St. Louis Park School District No. 283 for about 14 years. . . . Currently, I work as a paraprofessional. Throughout the years I have discovered that this career move was more than a job. It was a calling. I did not choose it, it was chosen for me. I show up for work every day, and I end up getting more joy from my students than they get from me. Every day is a new day. The students say the funniest things, and, above all else, they are much smarter than we are.

JENNIFER HIRSCH Holy Family, St. Louis Park Sacred Heart, Robbinsdale

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Life is a Highway

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • JUNE 7, 2012

Father Grafsky continues to see chaplain role as ‘amazing’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 be Catholic.” The elder Grafsky joined the church a year before Father Grafsky was ordained in 1971 at St. Michael parish in North St. Paul.

Ministry of presence His vocation journey wasn’t complete, however, since, not long after he was ordained, the St. Paul fire chief asked him to become a chaplain for the St. Paul Fire Department. Father Grafsky said yes, not knowing that it would become an important part of his ministry.

Since then, Father Grafsky has served with numerous police and fire departments in Minnesota including Pine Island, New Prague, Montgomery and currently Le Sueur.

“It’s a calling. Not every priest or minister would be good at it,” said Father Grafsky.

In addition to the sacraments he celebrates, he also brings a “ministry of presence” to the families, firefighters and police officers he serves — oftentimes he never even says a word at the scene.

“It’s about bringing faith to people, letting them know God is there. Renewing and re-strengthening their faith,” said Father Grafsky.

This can be a tough job to do, at times even for Father Grafsky. Struckman described a situation where there was a boy who drowned who had made his first Communion the day before. Father Grafsky stayed with the mother as she watched Struckman carry the boy out of the water.

“I said nothing. I sat there and listened, held her hand,” Father Grafsky said. “Being a chaplain isn’t always about let’s pray; it doesn’t work like that. They

just want someone to scream at or to hold. It takes a special person.”

Saving more lives For Struckman the emotional, humorous side that comes so naturally for Father Grafsky is a blessing for the sheriff’s department.

“We could not be emotionally involved. We are supposed to be these big iron people, but we’re not. And when George came into it, I started watching people and then I knew we needed help. Since then, we’ve saved a lot of jobs and lives,” Struckman said.

The one thing the priest probably did not expect as he followed this vocation path was to develop a close friendship with Struckman, who said Father Grafsky is like a “brother” to him.

He explained that the priest will regularly call him making sure he is not struggling by himself if he has dealt with a particularly bad accident or crime scene.

Struckman said Father Grafsky has become such an important person in his life and the lives of his fellow police officers that the chaplain is one of the first people to be informed if a horrible event has happened, even if he is in the middle of celebrating Mass.

“People say that if a siren goes off . . . my ears go red and I start talking faster. At Mass I’ve seen officers stand at the back of church and I go, ‘This can’t be good,’,” Father Grafsky said.

He said he continues to see his chaplain role as “amazing.”

“I know there are times I go and I’m like, ‘What . . . are we doing here?’ and the answer to that is ‘I don’t know but I just need to be here,’ ” said Father Grafsky.

Sister: Religious life is countercultural, but fulfilling CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 and religious life. But it wasn’t until about 10 years later that she experienced that “a-ha” moment when God’s calling crystalized.

Religious life had been on her mind, but she was afraid to tell anyone. Finally, she confided in a friend.

By the end of their conversation, she said, she knew the direction her life would take.

“There are certain things that touch you so deep emotionally that they’re seared into your memory. This was one of those times,” Sister Stephanie said. “There was a peace and a sense of intimacy with God. . . .” She likened the experience to what a person might feel after a marriage proposal.

After visiting several religious communities, Sister Stephanie joined the School Sisters of Notre Dame at age 26. She said she was drawn to the order because of its international membership, its focus on education and unity, and the sisters’ apparent joy when they were together.

On the day she professed her final vows, Sister Stephanie experienced something she hadn’t thought possible, she said. “I felt in love with God like I might feel in love with a person.”

On Aug. 5, 2000, she became a bride of Christ.

Poverty, chastity, obedience Sister Stephanie admits that the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience present both challenges and blessings.

The vow of poverty means that all of her income goes to her congregation. Every year she submits a budget to cover her living expenses.

“One of the underpinnings of the vow of poverty is really understanding that all is given to us by God, and so to live with more open hands,” she said.

As for chastity: “Sometimes I have felt it would be really nice to have a spouse, to have someone to love exclusively in that way, to share both the emotional intimacy and the physical intimacy that would come with that.”

Even more difficult, she added, becoming a sister meant consciously deciding never to have children.

“So there is a giving up of those things that are really natural to the human state and are beautiful to the human state,” she said. “I think that’s why one only can do that when one feels that call because there’s something about the passion or the depth of that call that says this is stronger, this pull is stronger than that pull.”

And then there’s obedience. While some might consider it a loss of freedom, Sister Stephanie sees it differently. “I would never say you’re giving up your freedom,” she said. “I think it depends on how you define freedom because I’ve made a free choice to be a part of this community.”

She said the vow of obedience doesn’t mean she has no say regarding decisions affecting her life, like what ministry she is involved in or who she lives with. Rather, she and her congregation engage in dialogue.

It’s similar to the give and take of marriage, she explained. “When you’re married, you’re not free completely either. As husband and wife, you need to make decisions together.”

Countercultural lifestyle Over the years, Sister Stephanie has performed a variety of ministries, including teaching, serving as a Spanish language interpreter and family advocate at a Head Start in Worthington, and running a homeless shelter in Mankato.

Currently she is the social services program manager at MORE, where she advocates for immigrants and refugees, helps clients obtain medical services, accompanies immigrants to doctor’s appointments, works with women in abusive relationships, and counsels clients with mental health issues.

While Sister Stephanie’s lifestyle might seem countercultural, she hopes more young women will keep an open mind to religious life.

“Like everyone else, I have my ups and downs and good days and bad days,” she said. “Sisters are not exempt from experiencing depression and anxiety and those kinds of things any more than anyone else.

“But overall, . . . am I happy in this life? Do I find love in this life?”

Her answer: An unqualified “yes.”

Job seekers find more with God’s guidance CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11 look for a new one in the same field in order to continue meeting financial responsibilities, rather than entering a totally new career at that time, Quigley said.

The person’s experience and familiarity with their old job’s tasks are big assets. “We have to start out with what they’re bringing to the table and what they’ve done and can sell in this market.”

Meeds agreed that the time after a job loss might not be the best time for a big change. “When someone’s down or depressed or in a low point, it’s a hard time to make life decisions because they’re not thinking always at their best place.”

His advice: Get another job but continue seeking God’s call. The loss could be an opportunity to refocus. “They’re going to be much more successful if they can get to the place where they’re operating more in their gifts and their wiring.”

Crist encouraged job seekers to look for support and networking at their church.

As Christians we need to ask for God’s help and direction, Meeds said. Career — and life — success from the Christian perspective is understanding God’s purpose for our lives, understanding and using our gifts, and making a difference in others’ lives.

He advises that people should get as much help as possible and use tools to discover who they are and to open the door for God to do more work. “The worst thing is to sit back and wait for God to act and move and make things really clear,” he said. “It’s in the moving that God directs us. It’s in us getting out and working at using those tools that are out there.”

Peace arrives in deep trust CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11 getting to the point of, we are Mary: ‘Let it be done unto me according to your Word,’” according to Father Przybilla. Reaching that disposition of heart has to do with factors such as the person’s formation and any baggage they have. Their will ultimately must come into conformity with God’s will, he said.

The same call to prayer and challenges apply whether someone is discerning diocesan priesthood or religious life, but those discerning religious life need to do more research to discover what type of community they’re being called to, Sister Consolata said.

“Where do you feel at home, where can you be yourself?” she asked. “Where does your personality come alive? That’s really what the charism of the community is; it’s already in a person.”

John DeLozier decided while serving a year with NET Ministries that he most wanted to bring others to Christ.

Of all the ways to do that, he discerned a call to bring them the sacraments as a priest.

“That’s really the desire of my heart, and I had been feeling this call to the seminary — I have to go check it out,” said DeLozier, of St. Michael in St. Michael, who had been praying about the possibility before he started at St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul last fall.

“I can’t not go and just listen.”

After spending this year in seminary, he’s still discerning and has found regular spiritual direction especially helpful.

“I’m just waiting for that more definitive call — just taking it one day, one year at a time of formation and seeing what God wants,” said DeLozier, who starts his sophomore year at SJV this fall.

The Lord doesn’t reveal everything at once, which can be agonizing, Father Przybilla said.

“With regard to all vocations, God doesn’t let us see beyond, to see our lives all the way to the end,” he said.

“We discern in a sense what we’re feeling drawn toward, where we feel God is leading us. . . . The joy is found in knowing God is calling you to something extraordinary, something that is above the mundane daily activities of this world,” he said.

Smith said she’s felt more at peace as she prepares to become a nun.

“My heart and my soul were increasingly more at rest with each step I took toward religious life,” she said.

“And now it’s like a joyful resting in the Lord’s will, something I realized I had been seeking for a long time.”

“It is estimated that only 23 percent of U.S. Catholics attend Mass each week. Those 77 percent absent . . . are our parents, siblings, spouses, children and friends.”

“Disciples Called to Witness: The New Evangelization,” a document by the U.S. bishops Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis

This Catholic Life JUNE 7, 2012

Opinion, feedback and points to ponder

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

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Advice on the New Evangelization and seminaries

J

ust recently it was announced that I have been named the new rector/ president of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Mundelein Seminary, my alma mater and one of the largest seminaries in the United States.

I believe that one reason Cardinal Francis George chose me for this position is that I’ve been working the past several years in the evangelization of the culture.

Father The last two popes Robert Barron have emphasized that seminaries should take the New Evangelization as their raison d’etre and organizing principle; therefore, I think that Cardinal George wants me to bring what I’ve learned in my work at Word on Fire to my new task.

What would I want to communicate to seminarians concerning this great theme?

Commentary

Be people of conviction First, new evangelists have to be people of fervor, enthusiasm and conviction.

When he mentioned the New Evangelization for the first time, in a speech in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince in 1983, John Paul II said that one of the principle marks of the method would be “new ardor.”

Long ago, in his still remarkably helpful treatise on rhetoric, Aristotle commented that audiences really listen only to “an excited speaker,” by which he meant someone utterly convicted of the importance of what he is communicating. What makes advertisers, sportscasters, politicians or evangelists effective is a patent enthusiasm for their topic.

I was trained as an academic, and I’ve done quite a bit of formal academic writing. I recognize that in the purely intellectual arena, cool detachment and a certain willingness to suspend judgment and entertain all points of view are virtues.

But these are not virtues in the arena of truly persuasive speech.

If we are wracked with doubts and unconvinced of our subject matter, people just won’t listen. Something that I sense on every page of the New Testament — in the Gospels, the Epistles of Paul, James and Peter, the Revelation of John — is a palpable excitement. These men wanted to take the world by the lapels and tell them about the resurrection of Jesus.

New evangelists have to have a similar fervor and energy.

Be deeply rooted in the Bible Second, I would tell my charges at Mundelein Seminary to be deeply rooted in the Bible and the great theological tradition.

There are some evangelists — both Catholic and Protestant — who are filled with energy and conviction but who just don’t have that much to say. I saw one of the most popular televangelists in the world today being interviewed on the

high and low.

He should be conversant with the philosophers and opinion-makers who shape attitudes in the salons of San Francisco and the drawing rooms of the Upper East Side and he should know which movies, songs, television show and books average people are attending to.

More to it, he should look out at the culture through biblical eyes, which is to say, he should be especially attentive to the patterns and events in the world that correspond to patterns and events in the scriptural revelation. That way, he will discover what the church fathers called the “logoi spermatikoi,” the seeds of the Word, that are thick on the ground in any culture oriented to the good, the true and the beautiful.

And looking through those same biblical eyes, he will also become cognizant of all of those elements in a culture that are fallen and that need to be called to conversion.

Karl Barth, the greatest Protestant theologian of the last century, proposed an image for prospective preachers that is just as valid for prospective evangelists: They should carry the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.

“Karl Barth, the greatest Protestant

theologian of the last century, proposed an image for prospective preachers that is just as valid for prospective evangelists: They should carry the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.

”

FATHER ROBERT BARRON

Must converse in new media

Photo illustration

Larry King show some years ago.

When a caller asked about the problem of evil — one of the most serious and central issues in theology, hugely important for the biblical authors and massively analyzed by the great figures, such as Augustine, Thomas Aquinas and John Henry Newman — the evangelist limply responded that he just wasn’t much of a theologian. I thought that his license should have been revoked.

Can you imagine a surgeon responding to a pointed question from a suffering patient with, “You know, I’m just not real good at anatomy?”

And what’s the difference between a doctor and a priest? Well, one is dealing with matters of life and death, while the other is concerned with the health of the body.

New evangelists owe it to their people to be thoroughly versed in the Bible, both

Old Testament and New, in the councils of the church, in the writings of the pivotal theologians and spiritual masters, and in the poets, artists and architects who have expressed the Catholic spirit in words, paints, stone and glass.

But the effective evangelist has to know more than the theological tradition; he has to know the culture he is attempting to address. If I might quote the great Aristotle again: “Whatever is received is received according to the mode of the recipient.”

This implies that every communicator has to know the prejudices, expectations, mood and attitude of the one to whom he wishes to communicate.

One who speaks the fullness of Christian truth, but does so in the void, might be correct, but he won’t be an evangelist.

This is why the new evangelist has to know the contemporary culture, both

Finally, new evangelists should be thoroughly conversant with the new media, with YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, with podcasting and with the myriad other means of communication available through the Internet.

These new media give the Catholic evangelist the opportunity to get his message out 24/7 all over the world and at relatively little cost.

We have to face the fact that the vast majority of eyes today are not glued to books or to newspapers, but to the computer screen.

Many years ago, a very successful writer said to me, “The first rule of the writer is to read.” Good advice, and to follow it today we have to get the message into the world where the most “readers” are found.

I hope I can communicate to my seminarians that this is an especially exciting time for the evangelist, in many ways as exciting as the middle years of the first century, when the message about Jesus was brand new, or as the beginning of the sixteenth century, when the printing press first emerged.

Now is a “kairos,” a privileged moment, to declare the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Father Robert Barron is the founder of the global ministry, Word on Fire, and in July will become the rector/president of Mundelein Seminary. He is the creator of the documentary series, “Catholicism,” airing on PBS stations and EWTN. The documentary has been honored with a Christopher award for excellence. Learn more about the series at WWW.CATHOL ICISMSERIES.COM.

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THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • JUNE 7, 2012

Opinion-Letters

/ This Catholic Life

Don’t miss chance to learn more about farming, rural life

T

Editorial Joe Towalski

Rural Life Sunday, farm bill to get attention this month

he growing popularity of farmers markets and organic food options are a small sign that more Americans are taking an interest in where their food comes from and how it is produced.

But more education is needed. Too many people still don’t know how the food they eat gets to their table and why they should care — a situation pointed out several years ago by the U.S. bishops in their pastoral reflection on agriculture, “For I Was Hungry & You Gave Me Food.”

The church takes an interest in farming and food production because food — more than being just another product on a store shelf — sustains life itself, provides a livelihood for farmers, supports rural communities, and challenges us to be good stewards of the land. For these reasons, agriculture has a moral dimension we can’t ignore.

That’s why the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis sponsors an annual Rural Life Sunday celebration.

This year, the event will be held June 24 on a Le Sueur area farm and feature Mass, lunch, entertainment and a petting zoo. The celebration is one way to help people better understand the life of farmers and their relationship to the land.

There are other ways as well to

“Agriculture has a moral dimension we can’t ignore.”

JOE TOWALSKI

learn more about farming and how to support rural communities. Jim Ennis, executive director of the National Catholic Rural Life Conference, offered the following suggestions in a previous interview with The Catholic Spirit: ■ Think about where your food comes from. Purchase locally grown food whenever possible. Support local farmers markets or ask where produce comes from at the grocery store.

■ Be engaged in issues that impact rural communities. Sign up to receive the National Catholic Rural Life Conference’s electronic newsletter at WWW.NCRLC.COM. The newsletter provides information about rural life programs, agriculture and food issues, environmental justice concerns, and pastoral and spiritual issues affecting

rural communities. You can also follow the conference on Twitter @NCRLC and friend them on Facebook.

■ Pray for farmers and for people who don’t have enough to eat.

■ Visit a farm. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture publishes the “Minnesota Grown Directory,” which lists 945 farmers markets, berry farms, garden centers, orchards, community-supported agriculture farms, Christmas tree farms, etc. The printed directory can be ordered free from Explore Minnesota Tourism at (888) 868-7476. The directory is also searchable online at WWW.MINNESOTA GROWN.COM. ■ Encourage your parish, school or workplace to purchase locally

grown food.

The NCRLC website is also a good place to learn more about the farm bill — federal legislation that needs to be renewed about every five years and that addresses programs related to farming, conservation and domestic and international food assistance.

The 2012 bill is a priority of U.S. Catholic leaders. The NCRLC’s Ennis was among the signers of a letter sent last March to the leaders of the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, asking them to “support a Farm Bill that provides for poor and hungry people both at home and abroad, offers effective support for those who grow our food, ensures fairness to family farmers and ranchers, and promotes stewardship of the land.”

The farm bill is slated to get renewed attention as the Senate returns from its Memorial Day recess. The House may also debate it later this month, according to the NCRLC. Rural Life Sunday, the work of the NCRLC and the farm bill discussion give us opportunities to learn about the vital role played by farmers and rural communities, offer our support, and advocate for Catholic values that benefit the common good. We shouldn’t let the opportunities pass us by.

Child-benefit programs aid nonpublic school students Parents have the first responsibility for the education of their children. (Catechism of the Catholic Church #2223)

B Faith in the Public Arena Peter Noll

These programs include textbook aid, transportation and access to full special education services to qualifying children

lessed John Paul II reminds us in his 1994 “Letter to Families” that for parents to take true responsibility for the education of their children, they must enjoy “true liberty in how their children are to be educated.”

In the current political climate, creating public policy for education initiatives supporting parental choice in education is easier said than done.

But even in times such as this, hopeful people should be encouraged by reflecting on the steady progress made over the years to support true educational opportunity. One success story is child benefit programs.

Variety of services During the last 40 years, the Minnesota Legislature has steadily enacted programs that provide direct financial benefit to children regardless of the school their parents choose to have them attend. These “child benefits” consist of textbook aid, health services, pupil transportation, guidance and counseling, and access to full special education services to qualifying children.

Many public and nonpublic school parents may not be familiar with some of these key child benefits that improve educational opportunity.

The state aid actually goes to the local school district that purchases materials, equipment and services for use by the nonpublic school student.

Our state constitution prohibits aid to sectarian schools.

Here are a few examples of benefits

accorded to nonpublic school students: ■ Government textbook aid Government textbook aid for nonpublic schools ensures that all children will have access to up-to-date publications to assist them in their learning. During the past two legislative sessions, the statute governing this program was expanded to provide funding for certain types of electronic textbooks and hardware for individual student use. These enhancements will accord nonpublic schools the ability to procure and implement innovative curriculum programming necessary to remain competitive in the K-12 education marketplace. To be legally precise, electronic textbooks and hardware are on loan to the nonpublic school student from the local school district that owns the materials and equipment.

■ Special education services Special education services are provided through a combination of federal, state and local revenue for qualifying nonpublic school students, and ensure that appropriate learning interventions are provided to all Minnesota children who are screened for a learning disability. Since the early 1960s, children attending nonpublic schools have been accorded the full access to special education services under a provision known as shared time.

Under the shared time provision of 1981, nonpublic school special education students are permitted to participate in certain public school programs on a “shared time” basis.

“Shared time pupils” means those

pupils who attend public school programs for part of the regular school day and who otherwise fulfill the requirements of the state’s compulsory attendance law by attendance at a nonpublic school.

For those children with a learning disability who attend nonpublic school at their parent’s choice, a school district may provide special instruction and services at the nonpublic school building, a public school or at a neutral site. The school district shall determine the location at which to provide services on a student-by-student basis, consistent with federal law.

■ Equality in school transportation In the late 1960s, the Legislature determined that in school districts where the state provides transportation aid, it is in the public’s interest to provide equality of treatment in transporting schoolchildren regardless of whether they attend a public or private school. The public interest, in this instance, is the health, welfare and safety of all the children of Minnesota.

While interpretation of the law is occasionally a source of contention in a few communities, the student transportation system effectively delivers nonpublic and public school students safely to and from school on a daily basis.

Leading up to the November election, ask your legislative candidates their position on child-benefit programs that support parents in exercising their freedom of choice in education. Encourage them to preserve

existing laws and support new ones.

Campaign season is an ideal time to remind candidates for public office that, in addition to protecting and promoting parent rights, taxpayers will continue to enjoy significant savings when parents are accorded the means and services that enable them to educate their children in a religious, private, independent or home school.

Peter Noll is the Minnesota Catholic Conference’s education director.

Thank you for helping retired religious The Retirement Fund for Religious achieved another successful year in this archdiocese. We are grateful for the $461,644.31 donated by this archdiocesan Catholic community. We are thankful for all those who remember religious men and women who have served us in the past. You are remembered in the prayers of religious communities.

For more information about the Retirement Fund for Religious or to make an additional donation or bequest, contact the national office: Retirement Fund for Religious National Office, 3211 Fourth St. NE, Washington, D.C., 200173053.

Letter

SISTER MIDGE BREITER, SSND Sister Midge is coordinator of the local Retirement Fund for Religious office.

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THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • JUNE 7, 2012

Seminarian experiences, up close, China’s pressure on church Joseph Kuharski taught English in China with the Maryknoll Missionaries and six other seminarians in 2011, as part of his summer apostolic work for the Pontifical North American College, where he is studying for the priesthood for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. In the following article, he shares his experiences and understanding of the Catholic Church of China and what he learned through conferences by missionaries in Hong Kong.

“The underground church

always has more freedom to practice the faith and run its local church.

”

My eager naiveté for my first real missionary experience in this land of blatant religious persecution conjured up images of Joseph the struggles and subKuharski sequent successes of St. Francis Xavier, Matteo Ricci, and other great missionaries to the East. Like them, we would face opposition by both the culture and the government.

Although the Chinese government permits the practice of religion in general, this practice must be independent from foreign influences in order to assure allegiance to the communist government.

Thus, my hopes of radically witnessing to the faith were crushed. We could not bring up matters of faith unless first being asked, the chances of which seemed to be hopeless in a culture with non-Christian roots.

JOSEPH KUHARSKI

Reflection

often have, could very well be considered an “underground church.” Since this is often a confusing term, I will explain the differentiation of the underground and aboveground “churches.”

Two communities, one church

Heroic yet simple faith

Lo and behold, the second day in Jilin, China, I was asked about my vocation story by a former student of the program.

In fact, throughout our three weeks there, each of us was asked at various times basic questions about the faith by individuals, and eventually students mustered up enough confidence to ask questions out loud in class as to who we were and what it really means to be studying to be a Catholic priest.

Outside of class, I had one experience that alone seemed to make the whole trip worthwhile.

One Sunday I went into town for Mass, since Father Brian Barrons, our supervisor, was out of town that weekend. As Pope Benedict said in his letter to the Church in China, “Lay faithful . . . must not hesitate to participate in the Eucharist celebrated by Bishops and by priests who are in full communion with the Successor of Peter and are recognized by the civil authorities.” Thankfully, the bishop of Jilin met these conditions. This local parish drew shockingly large crowds, and on this occasion, there was standing room only.

After Mass, the two young sisters that had been guests at Father Brian’s apartment introduced me to a young woman who expressed how much she had wanted

CNS photo / Paul Haring

A banner from a diocese in China is seen as Pope Benedict XVI arrives to lead his general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican April 11.

to meet me when she saw me in Mass. She explained how she recently converted and had very few opportunities to talk to other young Catholics about the faith.

Due to the meager catechesis offered to her, she had a seemingly insatiable hunger for a greater knowledge of faith and philosophy. Having basically never heard of the Second Vatican Council, we would have to start from ground zero.

While in my seminary studies, I often put great emphasis on what I know; the young woman’s heroic yet simple faith taught me that I must not lose sight of who I know and always come to him with the joyful humility of a child of God. She was ecstatic when I connected her with Father Brian and the small community of Christians and missionaries involved in his work and invited her to come to daily Mass.

Thus, this community, though less dramatic than the stereotypical images we

The communist government in the form of the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association has a certain degree of control over the aboveground church, which varies greatly from diocese to diocese.

However, Cardinal Joseph Zen of Hong Kong has said, “at the national level there is no other authority than the Patriotic Association.”

Regardless of the area, the underground church always has more freedom to practice the faith and run its local church, while, as Cardinal Zen states, bishops in the aboveground church are “slaves.”

One example of this freedom is in the formation of priests and religious, a crisis in the Chinese Church and the main reason for the continued presence of the Maryknolls. Materials and proper educators are at times not only restricted for those recognized in the aboveground church, but the government has even designed a nationwide program that mixes a communist influence into religious education.

Some of the priests and bishops that had to go through the program said it was so compelling that even with their background in faith matters, it was very difficult to decipher truth from communist propaganda.

On the other hand, in the underground church, we heard of a house of formation for women hiding under the storefront of a massage establishment!

One thing that the missionaries stressed was that the aboveground church in China recognized by state authorities and the underground church are not two separate churches, but two communities within one church.

In fact, there is at times overlap between clergy who serve in the underground

church and also serve in the aboveground church.

We heard one story of a bishop who was ordained clandestinely and served as such in the local diocese but was also officially recognized as a priest by the CPCA. However, the government has orchestrated several illicit ordinations, meaning that the candidates were supposedly elected by the people (which is also orchestrated), and then chosen without Vatican approval.

Bishops face narrow escapes Soon before we arrived in Hong Kong the government had forced the illicit ordination of Father Joseph Huang Bingzhang in nearby Shantou, which already had a Vatican-appointed bishop in place.

We heard stories of how the ordaining bishops had tried to escape and were trailed by police officers (for one a shocking 500 police officers!), taken by force to the cathedral, and compelled to take part in the ordination, which at times even included brainwashing techniques.

Though his involvement was highly coveted by government officials due to the weight of his reputation, Bishop Paul Pei Junmin successfully escaped the ordination and remained in his cathedral because of the heroic protection of his priests, who physically surrounded the cathedral so that the government could not take him away during the night.

I began to realize just how courageous this was when I heard from a missionary that multiple bishops are still missing due to similar “offenses.”

The Vatican has been doing all it can to bring hope and help to the church in China, especially through the appointment of Chinese-speaking church officials in key Vatican departments.

When Father Bruno, a member of the Paris Foreign Missions Society who had been working with Chinese priests for nearly a decade before finally being expelled, was asked what advice he would give the Vatican, he said that he would probably give them a blank sheet of paper The situation is dire and has gotten worse in the past few years, especially with the onslaught of illicit ordinations.

As the Holy Father exhorts us, let us all pray and offer sacrifices for the church in China through the intercession of the patroness of China, Our Lady of Sheshan.

Joseph Kuharski is a seminarian of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis studying at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. He is a member of St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony.

Catholics in China’s Inner Mongolia seek extra prayers during difficult time Catholic News Service Catholics in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region called on fellow believers last month to pray for them during the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China, which was May 24. They said this has been their most difficult time in recent decades.

The Asian church news agency UCA News reported that church sources told them the Catholic community in the region has faced a series of suppressive acts by authorities aimed at forcing clergy

from the clandestine, or underground, Catholic community to join the government-sanctioned Patriotic Catholic Association.

“It is very likely that the faithful have to quietly pass Pentecost this Sunday, one of the four major church feasts widely celebrated in China, as they did so at Easter,” a source told UCA News.

Priest faces torture To avoid arrest, underground priests remain in hiding and cannot carry out normal pastoral work because they have re-

fused to support the patriotic association, the source said.

Father Joseph Gao Jiangping, an underground diocesan administrator, has been confined in isolation at a detention center in Hohhot, China, since he was taken into custody Feb. 15. Church sources said the priest, in his 40s, is in poor physical condition because of torture and continuous interrogation.

Local officials may continue his detention with charge, “worrying that his influence among local Catholics would be enlarged, or they would incur interna-

tional criticism if he is sentenced,” one source said. “On the other hand, if he is released, it would affect expansion of the official church community.”

Meanwhile, the government-sanctioned church is gradually taking over large churches previously administered by underground priests.

One source said a newly built Gothic church was taken over by a governmentapproved priest from neighboring Baotou Diocese, while its pastor was forced “to leave and disappear under government pressure,” the source said.

“The culmination of the Mass is not the consecration, but Communion.”

St. Maximilian Kolbe

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The Lesson Plan THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Reflections on faith and spirituality

JUNE 7, 2012

Body of Christ goes beyond close-knit relationships

I

n my young adult years, it was such a joy to attend Mass with a group of friends who all participated in the same Bible study.

In fact, besides Mass and Bible study, we did pretty much everything together.

It was an amazing experience of the body of Christ on many levels.

The bond we shared was rooted in the sacraments and faith formation, and it sustained us through some rough years as young adults.

We formed our own social circle and did community service Jeff Hedglen together. Many people met their spouses, and marriages were made through this community.

Now, 25 years later, many of us are still friends and our children are continuing the bond we share. In a very real way the body of Christ was and is experienced in this group. The connection is supernatural, transforming, encouraging and consoling, and it spans decades.

Another way the body of Christ was revealed to me in the context of this group happened one day as the group was at Mass together.

Readings Sunday, June 10 Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ ■ Exodus 24:3-8 ■ Hebrews 9:11-15 ■ Mark 14:12-16, 22-26

For reflection How have you experienced the body of Christ in community? How does receiving the body and blood of Jesus impact your faith life?

Sunday Scriptures

HEBREWS 9:14

I was sitting next to Kelly. After Communion, I noticed that she was weeping.

I did not say anything but just prayed for whatever might be upsetting her.

Blown away by Jesus The next week, we ended up next to each other again and after Communion she was weeping again. This time I asked if everything was all right.

She said, “Yes, I just feel Jesus cleansing me of my sins.”

This blew me away. The body and blood

Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ Exodus 24:3-8 Hebrews 9:11-15 Mark 14:12-16, 22-26 Monday, June 11 Barnabas, apostle Acts 11:21b-26; 13:1-3 Matthew 5:1-12 Tuesday, June 12 1 Kings 17:7-16 Matthew 5:13-16 Wednesday, June 13 Anthony of Padua, priest and doctor of the church 1 Kings 18:20-39 Matthew 5:17-19 Thursday, June 14 1 Kings 18:41-46 Matthew 5:20-26 Friday, June 15 Most Sacred Heart of Jesus Hosea 11:1, 3-4, 8c-9 Ephesians 3:8-12, 14-19 John 19:31-37 Saturday, June 16 Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary 1 Kings 19:19-21 Luke 2:41-51

of Jesus had affected her in a deeper way than I had ever felt.

This week’s reading from Hebrews speaks of the power of Jesus to take away sin: “How much more will the blood of Christ . . . cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God.” Whether it is in eucharistic form or in shared communal bonds, the body of Christ renews and transforms.

It is no wonder that the documents of the Second Vatican Council refer to the Eucharist as the source and summit of

Christian spirituality.

The body and blood of Jesus is the place where it all began, and it is the place we find completion.

This CNS column is offered, in cooperation with the North Texas Catholic of Fort Worth, Texas, where Jeff Hedglen is associate director of Young Adult Ministry for the diocese and campus minister for the Catholic community at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Pope deplores ‘VatiLeaks’ scandal

Daily Scriptures Sunday, June 10

“How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to worship the living God.”

Sunday, June 17 11th Sunday in ordinary time Ezekiel 17:22-24 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 Mark 4:26-34 Monday, June 18 1 Kings 21:1-16 Matthew 5:38-42 Tuesday, June 19 Romuald, abbot 1 Kings 21:17-29 Matthew 5:43-48 Wednesday, June 20 2 Kings 2:1, 6-14 Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18 Thursday, June 21 Aloysius Gonzaga, religious Sirach 48:1-14 Matthew 6:7-15 Friday, June 22 Paulinus of Nola, bishop; John Fisher, bishop, and Thomas More, martyrs 2 Kings 11:1-4, 9-18, 20 Matthew 6:19-23 Saturday, June 23 2 Chronicles 24:17-25 Matthew 6:24-34 Sunday, June 24 Nativity of John the Baptist Isaiah 49:1-6 Acts 13:22-26 Luke 1:57-66, 80

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

Pope Benedict XVI voiced regret for the turmoil surrounding the recent publication of leaked Vatican documents, but thanked the vast majority of people who work at the Vatican for their dedication and fidelity.

Speaking at the end of his weekly general audience May 30, the pope said much of the media coverage of the leak of private letters and the arrest May 23 of his personal assistant has been exaggerated and “completely gratuitous, and has gone far beyond the facts, offering an image of the Holy See that does not correspond to reality.”

Pope Benedict said that while the scandal has saddened him, “it has never weakened my firm certainty that, despite human weakness, difficulties and trials, the church is guided by the Holy Spirit and will never be without the Lord’s help to support it in its journey.” He offered “encouragement to my closest collaborators and all those who, each day with fidelity and a spirit of sacrifice and in silence, help me fulfill my ministry.”

Prayers for earthquake victims The pope also offered his prayers for the people of Italy’s Emilia Romagna region after a second earthquake in nine days caused at least 15 deaths and seriously

damaged many buildings, including several churches.

“With my prayers and affection, I am close to the injured and those who are suffering difficulties, and I express my deepest sympathy to the families of those who lost their lives,” the pope said.

The earthquake May 29 brought death when roofs, walls and even church bell towers came crashing down. Hundreds were sent to area hospitals and thousands were left homeless. A quake May 20 had left five people dead and has been blamed for undermining the stability of many of the buildings that fell nine days later.

After the first quake, Pope Benedict sent close to $125,000 to the region’s dioceses to help them assist victims.

During his main talk during the audience in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Benedict continued his series of talks about prayer in the letters of St. Paul.

With the help of the Holy Spirit, prayer is a personal encounter with God, the pope said. It begins with God’s “yes” to the creatures he loves and should end with the believer’s “Amen,” or yes to God.

From the Vatican

The Lesson Plan

JUNE 7, 2012 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

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Pilgrimage sites in Galilee region visit Jesus’ early days

By Father Michael Van Sloun

the Beatitudes in Latin.

For The Catholic Spirit

Spiritual lessons The Beatitudes represent a major paradigm shift from the commandments and the Mosaic Law, a set of rules and regulations, to a set of spiritual ideals. Jesus is not satisfied with mere legal observance, often the least amount to get by. Instead, Jesus calls us to spiritual excellence, to practice the virtues, to live good and holy lives, and to conduct ourselves in an exemplary manner.

Galilee is not only the name of a lake; it is also the name of a region in northern Israel. It is the area where Jesus grew up as a youngster, where he “advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man” (Luke 2:52), and where he began his public ministry.

Nazareth Nazareth is where Jesus spent his childhood and young adult years, and the Church of St. Joseph, built in 1914, honors the place where Jesus, Mary and Joseph lived.

The church is dwarfed by the Basilica of the Annunciation, which stands next door. The Church of St. Joseph is also called the Church of Nutrition because it is where Jesus was fed and raised as a child, or the Church of the Carpenter’s Shop or Joseph’s Workshop because it is where Joseph worked as a tradesman. Nazareth was a wholesome place to raise a child, a safe distance from Sepphoris, a Roman city, King Herod Antipas’ capital, and a hotbed of corruption and vice. There was a Jewish synagogue in Nazareth and the Holy Family would go there every Sabbath day.

Spiritual lessons The Holy Family spent many hours together, a reminder that we need to spend quality time with family.

Mary and Joseph tried to keep Jesus away from bad people and bad situations, a reminder that we need to protect our children. Joseph was an industrious worker, a reminder that we need to apply ourselves to our tasks. The Holy Family prayed together at home each day and worshipped together at the synagogue each Sabbath, a reminder that Christian families need to pray together at home every day and go to Mass together every weekend.

Cana According to the Gospel of John, Jesus began his public ministry at Cana (John 2:1-11). Cana is situated between Nazareth, five miles to the southwest, and the Sea of Galilee, twelve miles to the northeast. Two churches commemorate the wedding feast and Jesus’ first miracle when he changed water into wine — the Latin or Roman rite church built in 1879 and the Greek Orthodox Church built in 1556. Jesus began his ministry by endorsing the institution of marriage, and his first act was to come to the aid of a troubled bride and groom. Cana is also where the Blessed Mother Mary declared: “Do whatever he [Jesus] tells you” (John 2:5).

Spiritual lessons Jesus upheld marriage as a permanent, life-long covenant or sacrament between husband and wife, and his followers are called to uphold the same biblical truth.

Cana is an ideal place to renew wedding vows, and married couples are reminded that they should recommit to each other every day. Jesus came to the aid of distressed newlyweds, a reminder that when couples run into trouble, they should turn to Jesus in prayer for help. And as

Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes

Courtesy of Father Michael Van Sloun

The exterior of the Church of the Primacy of Peter in Galilee, Israel.

the servers obeyed Jesus’ orders, we are reminded to obey Jesus’ Gospel teaching.

Capernaum According to the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus began his public ministry in Capernaum, a fishing village on the northwest corner of the Sea of Galilee, and it served as the headquarters of his Galilean ministry. Highlights include the Church of St. Peter, completed in 1990, built directly above Peter’s house and the archaeological remains of a Byzantine Era octagonal church; a fourth century A.D. limestone synagogue built on the foundations of an earlier basalt synagogue, which dates back to the first century B.C., most likely the place where Jesus preached the first time and cured a man with an unclean spirit (Mark 1:21-28); and the insulae, the stone foundations of the homes of the ancient village.

Spiritual lessons Jesus taught with tremendous authority, like no one the people had ever heard before, and the people spread news about him by word-of-mouth. We need to let Jesus have authority over our lives and to spread news about him to family and friends, neighbors and co-workers.

The people listened attentively to Jesus as he preached, and we need to listen attentively to the homily at Mass.

The people brought the ill and the possessed to Jesus to be cured, and we need to continue his healing ministry to those with physical and mental illnesses.

Mount of the Beatitudes The Church of the Beatitudes was built in 1938 and is located one and a half miles southwest of Capernaum on a picturesque hillside with a panoramic view of the Sea of Galilee. It traditionally is regarded as the place where Jesus delivered his famous Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). The dome over the main altar has eight stained glass windows with the text of each of

This church is located down the hill from the Mount of the Beatitudes along the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee, and it recalls the feeding of the 5,000. The first church on this site was built in the fourth century A.D., and the newest church was built from 1980 to 1982. The famous Byzantine floor mosaic in front of the altar depicts a basket with four loaves (and a fifth unseen loaf at the bottom of the basket) flanked by two fish. The feeding miracle is one of the few events recounted in all four Gospels.

Spiritual lessons As Jesus fed the crowds with bread and fish, he continues to feed us with the words of eternal life (John 6:68), Scripture, in general, and his Gospel, in particular, and true bread from heaven (see John 6:32,35), the Eucharist. This feeding miracle is repeated every time we celebrate the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist at Mass. It is of paramount importance to attend Mass regularly if we wish to be well-fed spiritually.

Church of the Primacy of Peter This church is located at water’s edge between Capernaum to the northeast and The Church of the Multiplication to the south, and it commemorates Jesus’ appearance to Peter and six other disciples after the resurrection (John 21:1-19). It is also known as the Church of the Charcoal and Simon Peter’s Landing. A sacred rock known as the Mensa Christi or the Table of Christ is traditionally regarded as the place where Jesus set both bread and fish. The newest church, the fourth on the site, was built in 1933.

Spiritual lessons The disciples made a great catch of fish, 153, and the net was not torn. The net represents the church and the different varieties of fish represent the different peoples of the world. There is room in the church for everyone, and once inside, a person will never be lost but will be saved. After Peter denied Jesus three times at a charcoal fire (John 18:15-18,25-27), Peter told Jesus that he loved him three times by a charcoal fire (John 21:9,15-17). All of us deny Jesus when we sin, and Jesus invites us to reverse our denials by pledging anew that we love him with our whole heart and are willing to serve him with our entire being.

Father Van Sloun is pastor of St. Stephen in Anoka.

Annual feast day honors the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist

By Father Michael Van Sloun For The Catholic Spirit

This weekend is the solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, previously called Corpus Christi.

This great feast celebrates the importance of the Eucharist, a precious gift given to us by Jesus.

Jesus is present in many ways, “but especially under the eucharistic species” (“Sacrosanctum Concilium,” The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, No. 7).

This annual feast was established to foster greater devotion to the Eucharist, as well as to provide an opportunity every year to reinforce and strengthen church teaching about this most revered sacrament, especially our belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

It is important because the doctrine of the Real Presence has been attacked, mocked and ridiculed by various nonbelievers so often over the centuries, and these criticisms have caused some Catholics to question their own faith.

Even in times of relative calm, some Catholics have wavered or grown lax with regard to this core belief. A number of opinion polls have reported various percent-

ages of those who claim to be Catholic who doubt or reject belief in the Real Presence.

Some say that the consecrated bread and wine are only reminders of Jesus; while others claim that they symbolize or signify Jesus; while still others claim it is impossible for the bread and wine to be transformed.

Church must defend teaching In the face of recurring criticism, doubt and laxity, it is imperative that the church defend and bolster this foundational teaching regularly. The doctrine of the Real Presence is based upon the words of Jesus when he instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper.

When Jesus took the bread, he said, “This is my body” (Matthew 26:26), and when he took a cup filled with wine, he said, “This is my blood” (Matthew 26:28). Jesus did not say that this looks like my body, or that it is a reminder of my body, or that it is a symbol of my body. He said, “This is my body.”

If we accept Jesus’ words, the Eucharist truly is his body and he is really present. This cannot be explained

factually or scientifically. There are no proofs, no evidence. It is a profound mystery and a matter of faith.

St. Cyril of Alexandria wrote, “Do not doubt whether this is true . . . receive the words of the Savior in faith, for since he is truth, he cannot lie” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1381).

What Jesus declared at the Last Supper, the church has repeated, retaught, re-emphasized and reinforced again and again, particularly at the 13th session of the Council of Trent on Oct. 11, 1551.

The council declared: “By the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation” (CCC, No. 1376). “In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist . . . the whole Christ is truly, really and substantially contained” (CCC, No. 1374).

Father Van Sloun is pastor of St. Stephen in Anoka.

“The great law of culture is: Let each become all that he was created capable of being.”

Thomas Carlyle

24

Arts & Culture THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Exploring our church and our world

JUNE 7, 2012

Cristero War took woman’s father but strengthened her faith

By Doris Benavides

one of the founders of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which ruled the country for the next seven decades.

Even for Manuel, it is hard to believe that the dead were hanged from poles on the roads under the fearful watch of survivors. Others were buried in mass graves.

“Thank God that war finally ended,” Meza said. “They were three long years.

They [the soldiers] put houses on fire, raped many women and tried to destroy all religious images.”

That is why she tries to preserve her Catholic beliefs, she confides.

“I don’t want my family to change to another religion,” Meza said. “I respect other people’s beliefs, but we went through so much and I think it was worth it.”

Catholic News Service

As she shut off the garden hose and set it next to her recently planted flowers, Maria Meza greeted a visitor.

“Yes, come in, everything’s all wet, clean,” she said with a smile.

The 92-year-old said she likes to exchange good-natured banter, but all smiles vanish when Meza begins narrating her family’s ordeal back when she was 7 years old and living in her native Michoacan, Mexico.

“Las balas tronaban (The bullets whistled),” said the survivor of the Cristero War of the 1920s, in which Catholics took up arms to contest the Mexican government’s systematic repression of religion.

It is depicted in the movie “For Greater Glory,” which opened in U.S. theaters June 1.

In an interview with The Tidings, newspaper of the Los Angeles Archdiocese, Meza said she welcomes the movie and would like to see it if it were shown in Spanish. She taught herself to read and write but found it very difficult to learn English, although she attended several classes after arriving in the U.S. in the 1970s with her husband and 10 children.

Not in vain

Hiding in cave Meza’s father, Jose Meza Galvez, was a strong Cristero who hid many priests in his house to help them avoid getting killed by the government that persecuted Catholics during the three-year civil war.

More than 90,000 people died, mostly men and numerous priests, including her uncle, St. Rafael Guizar Valencia. A bishop, he was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1995 and canonized by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006.

For three days, Maria Meza, her four sisters and their mother, Maria Ayala, hid in a cave while all the men in town fought against the government’s army.

With sadness, she recalled when the war ended. A few days after the war was over

CNS photo / Doris Benavides, The Tidings

Maria Meza, a 92-year-old survivor of Mexico’s Cristeros War, prays in front of a crucifix May 9 at Resurrection Church in Los Angeles.

a group of military soldiers burst into her home and killed her father.

“One shot was enough,” she said. He was about 40 years old.

The rest of the family survived because the army went after the men, Meza said.

“But he died bravely, shouting, ‘Viva Cristo Rey!’ ‘Vivan los Cristeros!’” she said proudly.

After that day, her mother made sure the family’s Catholic heritage stayed alive among her children. Two of the girls entered the religious community Sagrada Fa-

milia (Sacred Family); the other three married and passed their faith on to their children, along with the Cristero War story.

“I’ve heard this story many times in my life since I was a small boy,” said her son Manuel, 62, the fourth of her 14 children.

Four died at a young age.

Although the story has been passed through generations of survivors, it did not make it in the annals of Mexican history. Many analysts presume it is because the Mexican president at that time, Plutarco Elias Calles, who led the war, was

Purposefully, 12 years ago Meza and her husband bought a house across the street from Resurrection Church in East Los Angeles.

Unless she is sick, which rarely happens, she gets up at 5 o’clock every morning and by 6:45 she is sitting at one of the pews.

“Every single day,” Meza said, except on Sundays, when she attends the 10:30 a.m. Mass together with other family members. She has 60 grandchildren and 40 great-grandchildren.

“I am preparing myself to receive my glory,” she said. She receives Communion every day and prays the rosary each night before going to bed at 9 p.m. sharp.

“When I stand in front of the Judge, I think I will be prepared,” she said proudly.

“I think I have a solid faith. Although I don’t know him, I do believe in him. And I don’t lack anything; even in hard times he has provided.

“That shot to my father’s head was not in vain. The seed that my parents planted in me doesn’t wither that easily.”

New Franciscan website highlights Holy Land sites, events in ‘real time’ Franciscan Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Franciscan Custos of the Holy Land, oversaw the creation of a new website for the Franciscan Media Center of the Custody of the Holy Land. Stefania Sboarina, director of Franciscan Media Center, agreed to answer a few questions from The Catholic Spirit about the website, WWW.FMC-TERRASANTA.ORG.

French, Portoguese, Spanish and Arabic.

Why did you create the website?

We decided to create the website in order to give a greater spread to video news we produce, that until this time had been shared mainly through television. Thanks to the site we have now the opportunity to share the news in real time and daily, and also to reach people speaking many different languages: Italian, English,

When did you launch the website?

The website was launched just before Palm Sunday, March 30.

How long did it take and who was involved in its development?

It took about a year to design and develop the website, created in collaboration between people working for FMC in Jerusalem and an Italian company

What are the site’s main features? Is there anything on the site to which you wish to call particular attention?

In the website you can find all the video news we produce daily, but not only that.

See the Holy Land Watch live videos from the Holy Land on the new website of the Franciscan Media Center of the Custody of the Holy Land at WWW.FMC-TERRASANTA.ORG.

There are also special videos dedicated to the holy places and their history, interviews with the Custos of the Holy Land and other personalities and the opportunity to watch live-streaming of some of the events happening in the Holy Land.

The site focuses on videos; why videos rather than written articles?

Video images give a chance to be really

involved with the holy places, to see them from afar. It is an opportunity that we want to offer to those who cannot come here but also to all the pilgrims who were in the Holy Land and want to see again the places they have visited What do you hope to accomplish with this website?

We hope to introduce as many people as possible to the holy places, to the role and importance of the Custody and to the lives of Christians in the Holy Land.

What has been the response so far?

Very good! In less than three months we had about 150,000 visits to our website, and many people have contacted us to thank us for our work.

Calendar Dining out Fish fry at Knights of Columbus Hall, Bloomington — Every Friday: 5 to 9 p.m. at 1114 American Blvd. Cost is $10.95. Call (952) 888-1492 for reservations.

Chicken and rib dinner at Knights of Columbus Hall, Bloomington — Every Wednesday: 5 to 9 p.m. at 1114 American Blvd. Cost is $10.95. Call (952) 888-1492 for reservations.

KC pancake breakfast at St. Thomas the Apostle, St. Paul — June 17: 8 a.m. to noon at 2119 Stillwater Ave. Cost is $7 for adults and $5 for children 5 to 12. Take-out available.

Parish events Rummage sale at St. Therese, Deephaven — June 7 to 9: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 9 a.m. to noon Saturday ($3 bag day) at 18323 Minnetonka Blvd. Sponsored

by Boy Scout Troop 345.

Rummage sale at St. George, Long Lake — June 7 and 8: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday ($3 bag day) at 133 N. Brown Road.

Polka Mass and pork dinner at St. Stanislaus, St. Paul — June 9: Mass at 4 p.m. followed by dinner at 5 p.m. at 398 Superior St. Cost is $9 for adults and $4 for children under 12.

Also features a raffle drawing.

Corpus Christi retreat at St. Olaf, Minneapolis — June 9: Beginning at 9 a.m. and concluding with noon Mass at 215 S. Eighth St. Presenter is Paulist Father Ricky Manalo.

Bi-parish mission ‘Divine Mercy’ at St. Michael, Pine Island and St. Paul, Zumbrota — June 9 to 14: Speakers are members of the Congregation of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception, Father Dan Cambra and Brother Chris Alar. Call (507) 356-4280 for more information.

Retirement party for Father Tom Fitzgerald at St. Genevieve, Centerville — June 10: 2 to 5 p.m. at 6995 Centerville Road. Potluck, dancing and a program at 2:30 p.m.

‘Afghanistan: The Cost of Perpetual War’ presented at St. Joan of Arc, Minneapolis — June 12: 7 p.m. at 4537 Third Ave. S. Kathy Kelly, coordinator of Community for Creative Non-violence in Chicago, will speak.

Event is free and open to the public.

Garage sale at Holy Family Maronite Church, Mendota Heights — June 14 to 16: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at 1960 Lexington Ave. S. For information, visit WWW.HOLYFAMILY MARONITECHURCH.ORG. Rummage sale at St. Boniface, St. Bonifacius — June 14 to 16: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Thursday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday (bag day) at 8801 Wildwood Ave. Rummage sale at Annunciation, Minneapolis — June 14 to 16: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Thursday with a $3 early bird fee from 8 a.m. to noon, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday ($2 bag day) at 525 W. 54th St. Ice cream social at the Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis — June 17: Begins after the 11 a.m. Mass at 88 N. 17th St. Features ice cream and music on the front plaza. Sponsored by the Mental Health Ministry committee.

43rd annual chicken cookout at St. Nicholas, New Market — June 17: 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Also features children’s games, music, crafts and baked goods. Located 2-and-a-half miles west of I-35 on

JUNE 7, 2012 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT County Road 2, exit 76.

Summerfest at St. Stephen, Anoka — June 23: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at 525 Jackson St. Features crafts, food, 5K Sun Run/Walk, inflatable games, entertainment and more.

For information, visit WWW.STSTEPHENCHURCH. ORG. Retirement picnic and reception for Father Stephen Adrian of St. Matthew, St. Paul — June 23 and 24: Mass and potluck picnic Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Cherokee Park in St. Paul. Reception Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. at St. Matthew, 490 Hall Ave.

Prayer/ liturgies Sant’Egidio Community Evening Prayer at St. Richard, Richfield — every Thursday: 7 p.m. at 7540 Penn Ave. S. Legion of Mary prayers in front of Planned Parenthood, St. Paul — Every Friday: 3 p.m. at the corner of Vandalia and Charles. For information, call (651) 439-9098.

Rosary of the unborn at Pregnancy Choices LifeCare Center, Apple Valley — Every Thursday: 7:15 p.m. at 15026 Glazier Ave. For information, visit WWW.ROSARYOFTHEUNBORN. COM.

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Don’t miss Eighth annual Eucharistic procession for churches of Northeast Minneapolis The churches of Northeast Minneapolis will hold their eighth annual Eucharistic procession June 10 beginning at 3 p.m. at Holy Cross, 1621 University Ave. N.E. Procession moves to Sts. Cyril and Methodius, St, Anthony, St. Boniface, St. Maron and concludes at All Saints, 435 fourth St. N.E. Social with refreshments will follow at St. Maron, 602 University Ave. N.E. For information, call (612) 379-2324.

If it’s Catholic and in Minnesota, we wrote the book on it.

Knights of Columbus traveling rosary at St. Bernard, St. Paul — June 10: 2 p.m. at 187 W. Geranium St. Knights of Columbus traveling rosary at Lumen Christi, St. Paul — June 17: 2 p.m. at 2055 Bohland Ave. Healing Mass at Lumen Christi, St. Paul — June 18: Rosary at 7 p.m. and Mass at 7:30 p.m. at 2055 Bohland Ave. Father Benny Mekkatt will be the celebrant.

Other events Archdiocesan Corpus Christi Procession at the University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis — June 10: 2 to 4 p.m. beginning at LaSalle Avenue between 11th and 12th streets and processing to the Basilica of St. Mary, 88 N. 17th St. Vespers and Benediction at the Basilica at 3 p.m. An ice cream social will follow on the Basilica lawn. For information, visit WWW.WALKWITHHIM.NET. Benefit dinner for Prenatal Partners for Life at St. Raphael, Crystal — June 14: 6:30 p.m. at 7301 Bass Lake Road. Prenatal Partners for Life offers hope and support for families facing an adverse diagnosis of their unborn child. Visit WWW.PRENATALPARTNERSFORLIFE.ORG, or call (763) 772-3868, for ticket and raffle information.

Walk for life to benefit WomenSource pregnancy resource center at Elk Creek Park, Maple Grove — June 16: 9 to 11 a.m. at 12400 James Deane Parkway. For information about registration, visit WWW.WOMEN SOURCE.ORG. ‘Turning Our Gaze to Christ’ evangelization event at the Mayo Civic Center, Rochester — June 22 and 23: Features a concert and holy hour at St. John the Evangelist Church, Rochester, on Friday evening at 8:30 p.m.; Mass with Bishop John M. Quinn Saturday at 8 a.m., followed by a Eucharistic procession from the church to the Mayo Civic Center; and an outdoor concert on Saturday evening at 6:30 p.m., at Mayo Park, featuring Catholic singer and songwriter, Sarah Hart, and the band, Ceili Rain, offering “music with a dash of Celtic/Irish flavor.”

Sponsored by the Diocese of Winona. For information and to register, visit WWW.DOW. ORG.

Mass times at every church, contact points for every parish, every school and ministry, and much, much more.

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JUNE 7, 2012 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

African mission trips awaken Visitation students

By Christina Capecchi

multiple births. They sorted toys, organized hospital files, whitewashed a building, comforted the sick and played soccer with children. A few students taught the Hokey Pokey and tried in turn to learn some Swahili phrases.

For The Catholic Spirit

Mackenzie Grutzner was 17 when she witnessed the death of a tiny Kenyan child whose mother broke down in tears.

“It was heartbreaking and it was moving,” said Grutzner, a member of St. Joseph in West St. Paul. “I didn’t understand it for the longest time.”

Now she’s 18, a newly minted graduate of Visitation High School in Mendota Heights with a stronger faith, closer family ties and crystallized career plans.

She attributes all these developments to a Kenyan mission trip she and nine other Visitation students participated in last June, and she’s eager to make a second voyage to Africa from June 13 to 26 — this time to Zambia — joined by nine students and seven chaperones. The group will help Dominican sisters who support three orphanages, a secondary school and a health clinic.

‘Bigger things in life’ Visitation students have worked through the school’s campus ministry department to serve in Guatemala for many years. The idea of an annual African mission trip was conceived last year through parent-faculty collaboration, a new way to turn faith into sweaty, sun-drenched works of mercy.

It worked: Grutzner said Kenya changed her life and broadened her perspective. “A cell phone breaks and usually it’s like a teenager’s whole world. Now it’s like, ‘Oh, well, there are bigger things in life,’ ” she said.

Spiritually, the trip’s impact was profound, she added.

“It made me really believe my faith and everything I’ve been taught but not truly realized.”

Salesian virtues

Photo courtesy of Helen Wilkie

Mackenzie Grutzner, who recently graduated from Visitation High School in Mendota Heights, is pictured with children in Kenya in June 2011. She will be part of a group traveling to Zambia later this month.

And professionally, it solidified Grutzner’s dreams of becoming a dentist. Meanwhile, her classmate and fellow traveler Amanda Scheid, 18, a member of St. Peter in Mendota, was inspired to pursue neuroscience. She will major in chemistry and pursue a pre-med track at Notre Dame this fall.

“We joke and say we’re going to open a neck-andabove clinic,” Grutzner said. “I would definitely go back and live there for a year.”

Scheid said the Kenyan trip made her re-examine her faith, especially after participating in Mass there, which was filled with singing and felt more spontaneous. “It was the coolest Mass I’ve ever been to in my entire life,” she said.

All of the girls on the trip witnessed HIV tests and

Sharing their newfound insights with the Mendota Heights community after the trip tapped into a religion class called Salesian Leadership, based on the vibrant faith of St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal, who founded the Visitation order four centuries ago. “It’s about leading in a way that shows your love of God and the love of what you’re doing,” Scheid said.

The Salesian virtue of gentle strength was in clear display in Kenya, said chaperone Elizabeth Arnstein, an English teacher at Visitation. “The girls toughed it out in difficult situations, rolling up their sleeves and doing whatever was needed, whatever was asked of them. It opened their hearts and minds to things they never would have seen before.”

Arnstein, a mother of two who is expecting her third child, said she, too, was profoundly influenced by the Kenyan trip. Her family’s nightly prayers now include a petition for those who do not have abundant clean water.

As a literature teacher, Arnstein addresses the hard realities of poverty during discussion of Frank McCourt’s memoir “Angela’s Ashes.” Matters like health care and hygiene are trumped by the need for water and food, she tells students.

No matter the curriculum at hand, the Kenyans are always close to her heart, Arnstein said. “There is not a day that goes by that I do not think about the people we met.”

Appointments CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Glen Lake.

Effective May 26, 2012 Rev. Benjamin Little, ordained to the priesthood and granted the faculties of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Rev. Evan Koop, ordained to the priesthood and granted the faculties of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Rev. Nicholas VanDenBroeke, ordained to the priesthood and granted the faculties of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Effective June 15, 2012 Rev. J. Michael Byron, accepted resignation as pastor of the Church of Saint Cecilia of Saint Paul (effective July 1, 2012), and appointed pastor of the Church of Saint Pascal Baylon, Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Rev. Anthony Andrade, appointed pastor of the Church of Saint Thomas (Saint Paul Park). This is a transfer from his assignment as pastor of the Church of Saint Pascal Baylon, Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Rev. Michael Johnson, appointed associate priest of the Church of the Epiphany of Coon Rapids, Minnesota. This is a transfer from his assignment as associate priest of the Church of Saint John Baptist (New Brighton).

Rev. Mark Joppa, appointed associate priest of the Church of the Nativity of Our Lord (Saint Paul). This is a transfer from his assignment as associate priest of the Church of Saint Peter of Forest Lake, Minnesota.

Rev. Alex Carlson, appointed associate priest of the Church of Saint Ambrose of Woodbury. This is a transfer from his assignation as associate priest of the Church of the Epiphany of Coon Rapids, Minnesota.

Rev. Nicholas VanDenBroeke, appointed associate priest of the Church of Saint John

Baptist (New Brighton).

Rev. Evan Koop, appointed associate priest of the Church of Saint Stephen of Anoka, Minnesota.

Rev. Benjamin Little, appointed associate priest of the Church of Saint Peter (Forest Lake).

Rev. Jonathan Shelley, granted a sixmonth period of sabbatical.

Effective July 1, 2012 Rev. Francis Fried, accepted resignation as pastor of the Church of Corpus Christi of Saint Paul and granted the status of a retired priest.

Rev. Robert Fitzpatrick, appointed pastor of the Church of Corpus Christi of Saint Paul, in addition to his assignment as pastor of Saint Rose of Lima of Rosetown.

Rev. Daniel Griffith, appointed pastor of the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes of Saint Anthony, Minnesota, in addition to his assignment at the University of Saint Thomas School of Law. Rev. Charles Froehle, accepted resignation as pastor of the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes of Saint Anthony, Minnesota, and granted the status of a retired priest.

Rev. Martin Shallbetter, accepted resignation as pastor of the Church of Saint Bernard in Benton, Minnesota, and the Church of the Ascension of Norwood, Minnesota, and granted the status of a retired priest.

Rev. Stephen Adrian, accepted resignation as pastor of the Church of Saint Matthew of Saint Paul, Minnesota, and granted the status of a retired priest.

Rev. Michael Rudolph, appointed pastor of the Church of Saint Matthew of Saint Paul, Minnesota, in addition to his assignment as pastor of the Church of Saint Michael of Saint Paul, Minnesota, and as Moderator of the Community of Saints Regional Catholic School.

Rev. Lawrence Blake, granted nine months lawful absence from the Archdiocese so that he may receive a second deployment with the Air Force.

Rev. Allan Paul Eilen, appointed pastor of the Church of the Nativity of Cleveland, Minnesota, and the Church of the Immaculate Conception of Marysburg, Minnesota.

Rev. George Kallumkalkudy, CMI, appointed pastor of the Church of Saint Patrick of Shieldsville, Minnesota, in addition to his assignment as pastor of the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer of Montgomery, Minnesota (the Church of Saint Canice of Kilkenny).

Rev. Jay Kythe, accepted resignation as pastor of the Church of Saint Joseph of Miesville, Minnesota, and the Church of Saint Pius in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, and appointed pastor of the Church of Saint Pius X of White Bear, Minnesota.

Rev. William Murtaugh, appointed pastor of the Church of Pax Christi of Eden Prairie.

Rev. Dennis Backer, accepted resignation as pastor of the Church of the Nativity of Cleveland, Minnesota, and the Church of the Immaculate Conception of Marysburg, Minnesota, and appointed pastor of the Catholic Church of Mary Queen of Peace (Rogers).

Rev. Gregory Abbott, appointed pastor of the Church of Saint Bernard of Benton, Minnesota, and the Church of the Ascension of Norwood, Minnesota.

Rev. Jon Bennet Tran, appointed pastor of the Church of Saint Joseph of Waconia, Minnesota.

Rev. Fernando Ortega, appointed Pastor of the Church of Saint Joseph of Miesville, Minnesota, and the Church of Saint Pius of Cannon Falls, Minnesota.

Rev. Dennis Zehren, accepted resignation as pastor of the Church of the Epiphany of Coon Rapids, Minnesota, and appointed pastor of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin of Oxboro, Minnesota.

Rev. Thomas O’Brien, appointed pastor of the Church of Saint Cecilia of Saint Paul, upon the merger of the Church of the Visitation with the Church of the Annunciation. This is in addition to his assignment at

Saint Thomas Academy.

Rev. Thomas Dufner, appointed pastor of the Church of the Epiphany of Coon Rapids, Minnesota. This is a transfer from his assignment at the Church of the Holy Family of Saint Louis Park.

Rev. Terry Beeson, appointed pastor of the Church of Saint John Vianney in South Saint Paul. Father Beeson had been serving the parish as parochial administrator.

Rev. Joseph Bambenek, appointed associate priest of the Church of Saint Michael of Frankfort, Minnesota, and chaplain of Ave Maria Academy in Maple Grove. This is a transfer from his assignment as assistant priest of the Church of the Nativity of Our Lord (Saint Paul).

Rev. Nathaniel Meyers, appointed associate priest of the Church of Our Lady of Grace, in Edina, Minnesota. This is a transfer from his assignment as associate priest of the Church of Saint Michael of Frankfort, Minnesota.

Rev. Mark Shane Wasinger, appointed pastor of the Church of the Sacred Heart of Rush City, Minnesota. This is in addition to his appointment as pastor of the Church of Saint Gregory.

Rev. Kevin Magner, appointed associate priest of the Church of Saint Vincent de Paul of Osseo, Minnesota. This is a transfer from his assignment as associate priest of the Church of Saint Stephen of Anoka, Minnesota.

Rev. Kenneth O’Hotto, appointed State Chaplain of the Knights of Columbus. Father O’Hotto was originally assigned to serve as Associate State Chaplain until 2013, but due to other assignment changes his appointment as State Chaplain will become effective a year earlier, and extend until 2015.

Effective July 15, 2012 Brother Paul Daly, OMI, appointed Director of the ‘104’ Oblate Residence in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

27

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • JUNE 7, 2012

Shelter services lift chronic homeless up to new heights CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 “A lot of people think a homeless shelter is a place where you go and get stuck and stay there forever,” Petroskas said. “That’s not the case at all.”

A way to move up and out A recent report on shelter services showed that of the 3,000 men served in an 18-month period, 20 percent were at the shelter for one night and half were there for a week or less, he Architectural said. rendering “Most people who come through our doors are here because they have a personal emergency. They work their way through that and we don’t see them again,” he said.

Many of the amenities to be offered at Higher Ground are designed to help the men, literally, move up and out.

■ The first floor will provide emergency overnight shelter for 171 men.

■ The second floor will have 80 beds available for the payfor-stay program. The beds are set up in pods of four beds, a little more privacy, a storage locker, an adaptor to plug in a cell phone, shared bathrooms, showers, vending machines and expanded hours, all for an $8 per-night fee.

■ The third and fourth floors will have 38 private rooms with shared baths and kitchens for clients with persistent mental health and/or chemical health issues.

■ The fifth and sixth floors will house 36 residents who are experiencing long-term homelessness, in single rooms and shared kitchens and baths.

■ The seventh floor will have 11 furnished efficiency apartments that include private kitchen and bath facilities for lowincome individuals.

Along with emergency shelter and housing, Higher Ground will provide meals, a medical clinic, various supportive services, a computer and a mail slot with an address, which is key to ob-

taining a job.

“Unfortunately, we have a small number of people who are here for very long periods of time,” Petroskas said.

The top 10 individual shelter-users consume as much shelter in an 18month time period as the bottom 1,600, he said. So, if the top 10 guys move out of emergency beds, it makes room for 1,600.

Higher Ground “That’s the reason A look at the new $18 million, we built the housing 74,000-square-foot-home for on top of this,” he homeless men in Minneapolis: said. “There’s a reason those 10 guys are 336 Total housing units stuck in shelter.”

171 Emergency beds 80 Pay-for-stay beds Severe mental 74 Single room housing units health issues, chemi11 Affordable efficiency units cal health issues, medical issues and long■ Housing assistance term homelessness ■ Computer lab make transition to in■ Medical care ■ Supportive services dependent housing difficult for those For more information about clients, he said.

Catholic Charities or Higher Ground, “There is a lot of visit HTTP://WWW.CCTWINCITIES.ORG. regimentation in homelessness that you lose when you move into your own place,” he said.

By recruiting people from downstairs to move upstairs when there are openings, Catholic Charities hopes that clients will come to believe that there is a pathway out of their homelessness.

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The glossy four-page color supplement, which debuted May 31 to mark the end of the month dedicated to Mary, is called “Women, church, world,” and will run the last Thursday of every month.

The idea was proposed by female journalists at the Vatican paper as a way to “widen the coverage of the newspaper of the Holy See” by including more articles on women and the church, the newspaper said.

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28

Overheard THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Notes from this week’s newsmakers

Fargo’s Bishop Aquila named to Denver

JUNE 7, 2012

Father John Echert reflects on role in film, 25 years as priest

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit

Father John Echert’s acting debut in a movie about sharing war memories has him remembering his own experiences from two decades of service as an Air Force and Air National Guard chaplain — one part of his 25 varied years as a priest.

“It very much brings back memories not only of deployments to the desert but also deployments to the [Landstuhl, Germany] casualty hospital,” said Father Echert, who plays a civilian German pastor during World FATHER ECHERT War II in the feature film, “Memorial Day,” which was recently released on DVD. Father Echert, who is pastor of St. Augustine and Holy Trinity in South St. Paul, celebrated his 25th anniversary as a priest June 3 as Holy Trinity also marked the feast day of the Holy Trinity with a Mass and reception.

CNS photo / James Baca, Denver Catholic Register

Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila prays alongside Bishop James D. Conley, Denver auxiliary bishop and apostolic administrator of the Denver Archdiocese, during a May 29 press conference about Pope Benedict XVI appointing Archbishop Aquila to head the archdiocese. Archbishop Aquila, 61, who has been serving as the bishop of Fargo, N.D., succeeds Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, who was named to head the Philadelphia Archdiocese last July. Archbishop Aquila will be installed July 18.

Archdiocesan Youth Choir Camp registration now open Cathedral Choir of Minnesota is accepting applications for interested returning Saint Cecilia choristers and new choristers ages 10-17 for the Archdiocesan Youth Choir Camp. The The day camp will be Catholic Spirit held at the Cathedral of St. Paul on Aug. 6-10. The cost of the camp is $75 and includes lunch. Learn to sing Gregorian Chant in Latin and participate in the end-of-week concert featuring music from around the world.

News Notes

Academy of Holy Angels seniors pack bags for families A group of high school seniors from the Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield spent time during their overnight Senior Party June 3 to June 4 packing bags with household essentials to benefit families served by the Salvation Army. They then helped load the bags into a Salvation Army truck at the end of their festivities at Brunswick Zone XL in Lakeville.

Father Jerome Fehn receives Silver St. George Emblem

Father Jerome Fehn was presented the Silver St. George Emblem by the

National Committee on Catholic Scouting. This award honors adult members of the NCCS who have worked at the national level. Father Fehn has worked with NCCS for 30 years as a meeting organizer, region chaplain and on the advisory board.

National Center for Fathering essay winners announced The National Center for Fathering announced three students from St. John the Baptist-Vermillion Elementary School as essay winners of the “What My Father Means to Me” essay contest.

The student essays nominated their father or a father figure to win the 2012 Minnesota Twins Father of the Year contest.

From a pool of 4,128 essays submitted, Lukas Hanson won first place in the third grade level, Evan Kaiser won first place in the first grade level and Stephen Reinardy was chosen as runner-up in the second grade level.

Also of note: ■ Father James Burns, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, was named interim dean of the Woods College of Advancing Studies at Boston

College, where he has served since 2010 as director of faculty outreach and program assessment for University Mission and Ministry. He previously served as a professor at the University of St. Thomas.

■ Hill-Murray School in Maplewood honored the following alumni during the May 18 senior Mass: Bob Jones (1962) and Carla Jones Hauge (1987) with the Hill High School Heritage Award; Pat Barrett Wolff (1965) with the Archbishop Murray Memorial High School Heritage Award; Mark Berchem (1972) with the Hill-Murray Heritage Award; Donna Widerkehr (1978) with the Father Greg Tolaas Distinguished Service Award; Patricia Gaertner Eull (1976) with the Ron Ryan Jr. Community Leadership Award; Christian Brother Martin Sellner, staff member 1963-1985, with the Lasallian Award; and Honor Hacker, staff member 19581989, with the Benedictine Award.

■ St. Catherine University elected four new officers for two-year terms on its board of trustees: Karen Rauenhorst as chair; Sister Jean Wincek, CSJ, as vice chair; Joanne Jirik Mullen as vice chair; current board chair Mark Chronister will become secretary of the board.

Sharing memories

In “Memorial Day,” actor James Cromwell plays a World War II veteran who shares memories of his service with his grandson, who grows up to serve in the Iraq war and in turn shares his own stories.

While the movie, shot entirely in Minnesota, contains war scenes, it’s not intended to be a war film but rather to encourage families to share memories, even difficult ones, Father Echert said.

“There’s a healing process and a closure that can happen after sharing memories that are hard,” Father Echert said.

Father Echert’s 30-second appearance in the film was shot over three days in 2010 in an old church near Montgomery, Minn.

In his role, he leads the Lord’s Prayer in Latin during an Easter Vigil Mass in a bombed out German town.

Knowing both Latin and German proved useful in the part. “After reciting it in my best, most fluid Latin, the director asked if I could do my Latin lines to make them sound more German.”

“Memorial Day” became available May 29 on DVD and Blu-ray. For more information about the film, visit HTTP:// WWW.MEMORIALDAYFILM.COM. Father Echert’s first movie role in “Memorial Day” is another facet of his priestly career which has included parish work, 15 years as a professor in sacred Scripture and military chaplaincy both at home and abroad.

“It’s been a very good variety, very . . . challenging and fulfilling,” he said. “It’s brought together two worlds. I always wanted to be a priest, and I always wanted to be in the military.”