Newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis
The Catholic Spirit
Make Advent more meaningful
16A & 19A
News with a Catholic heart
November 21, 2012
Guide to Senior Services
B Section TheCatholicSpirit.com
Baskets of love Burnsville parish members box Thanksgiving meals for those in need By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit
Jean MacFarland and Bill Keatts lost their spouses seven weeks apart nine years ago. When they started dating each other months later, talk of marriage surfaced. It was then that Jean shared something she wanted Bill to know: She played a key role in the Thanksgiving Basket program at Mary, Mother of the Church in Burnsville. And, she was not about to quit, even if there were wedding bells in their future. Bill wholeheartedly supported that decision. “The Thanksgiving Basket program came with the marriage,” said Jean, who married Bill at St. Olaf in Minneapolis on May 21, 2005. Now, they work together, which they started doing in 2004, when Bill tried it for the first time. She is the quarterback of the operation, supervising the assembly of baskets and then loading them up to deliver to area hunger relief agencies. Bill is what she calls the “chief go-fer.” “We kid about taking a sabbatical from retirement because we haven’t stopped working, we just don’t get paid anymore,” said Bill, 71. “In the forseeable future, I think we just keep going.” Said Jean, 69: “I feel that it helps us not look so much inward as outward to-
Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit
Melissa Doeden, a catechist at Mary, Mother of the Church in Burnsville, helps Paige, left, and Ethan Sprenger assemble boxes of food Nov. 14 as part of the parish Thanksgiving Baskets program. Volunteers buy groceries and assemble boxes of food that are given to the poor in the community.
gether. And, I think that’s a real strong bonding piece.” In fact, it’s a bonding experience for the parish, with roughly 1,000 pairs of hands getting involved. Some make the baskets at home and bring them in. Faith formation children then come in to assemble more, which they did on Nov. 14 for this year’s program. This year’s goal was 285 baskets, which
they exceeded. The program began in 2002, and volunteers have seen a rise in need as suburban families deal with the struggling economy.
Expression of faith Lynne Ferkinhoff came this year with her 11-year-old son Logan. This was their ninth year. “It’s an expression of our Christian
faith to stand up and answer the call to serve people in need,” she said. “It fills me with hope, gratitude and inspiration to see how the Mary, Mother of the Church community comes together through this project to provide support and kindness to those trying to get through a difficult time. The ThanksPLEASE TURN TO PARISHIONERS ON PAGE 5A
Pope tells young to share Christ’s love with doubting peers Catholic News Service When young Catholics from around the world gather in Rio de Janeiro in July, they will be under the gaze of the city’s famous statue of Christ with outstretched arms, a reminder of his desire to embrace all people, Pope Benedict XVI said. In his message for World Youth Day 2013, released Nov. 16, the pope asked young people to welcome Christ’s embrace and share with others the joy of being loved by him. The theme of World Youth Day 2013, set for July 23-28, is: “Go and make disciples of all nations.” “Many young people today seriously question whether life is something good and have a hard time finding their way,” the pope said.
Faith helps people see that “every human life is priceless, because each of us is the fruit of God’s love,” he said. “God loves everyone, even those who have fallen away from him or disregard him.” Pope Benedict asked young Catholics to reach out with love to their questioning or doubting peers, helping them find the hope and meaning faith brings. While asking the young to bring their Christian values to their social media
networks and other online activities, he cautioned them to use the media wisely. “Be aware of the hidden dangers they contain, especially the risk of addiction, of confusing the real world with the virtual, and of replacing direct and personal encounters and dialogue with Internet contacts,” he said. Pope Benedict also told the young people that the responsibility to share the faith flows from their baptism into the church, is sustained by prayer, nourished by receiving the Eucharist, purified through confession and strengthened by confirmation. “If you are to remain firm in professing the Christian faith wherever you are sent, you need the church,” he said. “No one can bear witness to the Gospel alone.”