The Catholic Spirit - August 18, 2011

Newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis BACK TO SCHOOL

The Catholic Spirit August 18, 2011

■ Activities director mixes athletics and theology ■ Principal comes home ■ Not your grandmother’s school library anymore Pages 13-16

TheCatholicSpirit.com

News with a Catholic heart

Reinvesting in Catholic schools Archbishop Nienstedt announces initiatives to strengthen schools in areas of governance, educational excellence,

IN THIS ISSUE Pornography poses threat to adults and youth In his column, Archbishop Nienstedt warns about the moral dangers posed by this multi-billiondollar industry.

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advancement, funding The Catholic Spirit With classrooms opening in just a few weeks, Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis are getting what in many ways is a fresh start, one principals, pastors and parish administrators are calling “exciting” and “energizing.”

Here’s what’s happening: ■ New standards are in the works for improving the Catholic identity of both elementary and secondary schools.

■ A new foundation is being created for financial support, and it already has a $600,000 head start.

■ A new advisory council is being formed.

■ A blue-ribbon commission has developed — and Archbishop John Nienstedt has approved — a flurry of initiatives that will promote best practices in everything from school governance to educational excellence to marketing and accounting procedures.

After 45 years, the Coon Rapids parishsponsored venue is closing mainly due to financial reasons.

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Standing up for marriage Success of Minnesota ballot campaign will depend on Catholics playing an active role

— page 11

PLEASE TURN TO CATHOLIC ON PAGE 6

Inside ■ Archbishop’s vision for Catholic education — page 6 ■ Read the recommendations

State Fair’s Epiphany Diner to serve last meal

— page 7

Humanitarian crisis continues in East Africa Two bishops issue joint statement calling for Christians throughout the world to offer assistance

— page 23

‘I had not seen that smile in three years!’

SCOOP OF HOTDISH

Archbishop recalls impact of past World Youth Days, expresses hopes for Madrid Archbishop John Nienstedt is traveling to World Youth Day in Madrid, where he will meet with a group of youth pilgrims from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis who Read more about are attending the Aug. 16-21 event. In this Q&A interview, World Youth Day first published on the U.S. — page 9 Conference of Catholic Bishops Media Blog, the archbishop talks about the trip and past World Youth Day celebrations.

Why are you going to WYD Madrid 2011?

Answer: This will be the fifth World Youth Day that I have been privileged to attend. The previous ones were Denver, Toronto, Sydney and Cologne. In fact, I was present in St. Peter’s Square on the first Pentecost

Sunday that Pope John Paul announced this initiative and the World Youth Day cross was brought into the piazza, having traveled from Poland.

I had been asked that day to be the English speaker, as I was, at the time, a member of the Vatican Secretariat of State. I marveled at the occasion and continue to marvel at the great vision that Blessed John Paul II had in bringing the youth of the world together to celebrate their being church. I am convinced that for the majority of these young people, this is a life-changing religious experience.

They come to pray, to sing, to meet other Catholics PLEASE TURN TO MADRID ON PAGE 17

A mother, a son and a rose One mom and her son show their thanks to a ministry that helped save the boy from abortion. Read this blog post and a heaping spoonful of others.

CATHOLICHOTDISH.COM

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AUGUST 18, 2011 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Overcoming pornography addiction

That They May All Be One Archbishop John C. Nienstedt

Sacrament of Penance can be of great assistance by offering hope, healing and forgiveness

While watching the evening news on the second Sunday of July, I was intrigued to hear that one of the local Detroit evangelical churches had declared their weekly gathering to be “Porn Sunday.”

The young 30-something pastor explained in an interview that he had been formerly hooked on pornography and now wanted to help others in like situations by calling attention to this grave evil and the harm it can do to individuals, marriages and families.

I was impressed by the pastor’s reasoning and thought I would do a little research on the subject.

Big business Would you believe that the pornography industry brings in $57 billion per year, $12 billion of which is made in the United States alone? Porn revenue exceeds the combined revenues of ABC, CBS and NBC ($6.2 billion) and is larger than all combined revenues of professional football, baseball and basketball franchises.

Current estimates are that $20 billion is spent annually on “adult” videos, $2.5 billion on cable pay-for-view, $2.5 billion on the Internet, $4.5 billion on phone sex and $7.5 billion on magazines.

In 2004, there were 4.2 million pornographic websites on the Internet, with 372 million pornographic pages in all. Daily there were 68 million pornographic search engine requests (25 percent of all requests!). The U.S. Customs Service estimates that there are 100,000 websites offering illegal child pornography.

Seventy percent of 18-to-24-year-old men PLEASE TURN TO MEN ON PAGE 17

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.

Four additional parishes exceed Appeal goal

Archbishop Nienstedt’s schedule ■ Monday-Monday, Aug. 15-22: Attendance at World Youth Day in Madrid, Spain ■ Tuesday, Aug. 23: 8:30 a.m., St. Paul, Archbishop’s Residence: Scheduling meeting with staff.

11 a.m., St. Paul, Chancery: Planning meeting for upcoming Presbyteral Council meeting.

1:30 p.m., St. Paul, Chancery: Archbishop’s Cabinet meeting.

5:30 p.m., Edina, Edina County Club: Next Generation special appreciation reception.

■ Wednesday, Aug. 24: 8:30 a.m., St. Paul, Cathedral of St. Paul: Mass for new principals and teachers.

3 p.m., St. Paul, Chancery: Staff meeting.

4 p.m., St. Paul, Chancery: Meeting with subcommittee of the Archdiocesan Finance Council.

■ Thursday, Aug. 25: 11 a.m., St. Paul, The St. Paul Seminary: Mass and lunch with seminarians on day of reflection.

3 p.m., St. Paul, Chancery: Archdiocesan Finance Council meeting.

■ Saturday, Aug. 27: 4:30 p.m., St. Paul, Church of St. Patrick: Sunday liturgy.

■ Sunday, Aug. 28: 10:30 a.m., Waterville, Church of the Holy Trinity: Sunday liturgy.

■ Monday, Aug. 29: 3 p.m., St. Paul, Chancery: Catholic Community Foundation quarterly meeting.

■ Tuesday, Aug. 30: 8:30 a.m., St. Paul, Archbishop’s Residence: Scheduling meeting with staff.

10:30 a.m., St. Paul, Little Sisters of the Poor: Mass on feast of St. Jeanne Jugan.

■ Wednesday, Aug. 31: 6 p.m., St. Paul, Archbishop’s Residence: Dinner with investees of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

The New Generation of Appliance Specialists

Vol. 16 — No. 17 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 Published bi-weekly by the Catholic Spirit Publishing Company, a non-profit Minnesota Corporation, 244 Dayton Ave., St. Paul, MN 55102 (651) 291-4444, FAX (651) 291-4460. Periodicals postage paid at St. Paul, MN, and additional post offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Catholic Spirit, 244 Dayton Ave., St. Paul, MN 55102. www.TheCatholicSpirit.com e-mail: catholicspirit@archspm.org USPS #093-580

Angela Warner

Joe Warner

Third-Generation Appliance Specialists

Four more parishes have now exceeded their 2011 Catholic Services Appeal goal, bringing the total to 86 parishes that have now surpassed their CSA goals.

The four new parishes are: ■ St. John the Evangelist, Hopkins ■ Mary, Mother of the Church, Burnsville ■ St. Peter, Richfield ■ St. Timothy, Blaine Parishes that previously exceeded their goal are: St. Stanislaus, St. Paul St. Ambrose, Woodbury Blessed Sacrament, St. Paul All Saints, Minneapolis St. Lawrence, Minneapolis St. Michael, Pine Island St. Andrew, Elysian St. Joseph, Miesville The Cathedral of St. Paul, St. Paul Assumption, St. Paul Corpus Christi, Roseville St. Mary of Czestochowa, Delano St. Michael, St. Michael St. Anne/St. Joseph Hien, Minneapolis Our Lady of Lourdes, Minneapolis Mary, Queen of Peace, Rogers St. Hubert, Chanhassen St. Luke, Clearwater Nativity of Our Lord, St. Paul St. Mary of the Lake, Plymouth St. Michael, Stillwater St. Peter, Forest Lake St. Michael, Kenyon St. Helena, Minneapolis Ascension, Norwood Young America St. Bartholomew, Wayzata St. Adalbert, St. Paul St. Genevieve, Centerville St. Bonaventure, Bloomington St. Albert, Albertville St. Rita, Cottage Grove Our Lady of Victory, Minneapolis St. Charles Borromeo, St. Anthony Risen Savior, Burnsville St. Jude of the Lake, Mahtomedi Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Paul St. Canice, Kilkenny St. Vincent de Paul, St. Paul St. Patrick, Jordan St. Thomas the Apostle, Corcoran Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Minneapolis St. Anne, Hamel St. Peter, Mendota St. Joseph, West St. Paul St. Francis of Assisi, Lakeland Holy Family, St. Louis Park St. Patrick, Faribault St. Margaret Mary, Golden Valley St. Patrick, Edina Our Lady of Grace, Edina St. Francis Xavier, Taylors Falls St. Pius V, Cannon Falls PLEASE TURN TO MORE ON PAGE 27

Correction St. Paul s Edina s Woodbury Maple Grove s Apple Valley Rochester s Mpls. Outlet

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.com w.Warn ersStellian

In the Aug. 4 story about Minnesota priests serving in the military, three active duty priests were inadvertently left out, according to the Archdiocese for Military Services: Father Eugene Theisen, Air Force; Father Sean Magnuson, Army; and Father Lawrence Johnson, Navy.

“There is something gratifying about feeding the hungry, as Christ calls us to.”

Father Dennis Zehren, Epiphany pastor

Local AUGUST 18, 2011

News from around the archdiocese

The Catholic Spirit

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State Fair’s Epiphany Diner to serve last meal the diner, she said. Another year the diner hosted senior royalty from area high schools. And then there were the “Lucille Ball moments,” the times when things didn’t go quite as smoothly as anticipated.

By Julie Carroll The Catholic Spirit

After nearly half a century of serving its famous turkey and meatloaf dinners to hungry Minnesota State Fair-goers, Epiphany in Coon Rapids has announced that this will be Epiphany Diner’s final year at the fair.

Outdated kitchen equipment, dwindling customers and needed church building improvements all were factors that led to the decision.

“Now is just a time where, with all the financial constraints that everybody is feeling, we just had to reprioritize,” said parishioner Sue Lewis, who has volunteered at the diner for 15 years.

“It’s a heart-wrenching decision,” she added. “When you have this tradition that we’ve had for 45 years, it’s hard to let it go. . . . But we’re making this decision out of a sense of obligation to be good stewards of all the resources that we have.”

In its heyday during the early 1990s, Epiphany Diner served more than 30,000 customers per year. Last year, only 10,000 dinners were sold.

Most people don’t come to the fair in search of a sit-down dinner these days, Lewis said. “Now we’re seeing more of a take and run, something on a stick type of fair-goer.”

Staffing the 12-day event also has become a challenge, Lewis said.

Epiphany Diner ■ When: Thursday, Aug. 25, to Monday, Sept. 5 ■ Where: West side of Underwood between Carnes and Judson streets ■ Information: WWW.MNSTATE FAIR.ORG

Lewis said she is sad that the diner is closing, but she hopes more parishioners will volunteer their time and create new memories at the parish’s annual Springfest and new Fall Gala, which will be held Saturday, Dec. 3.

She invites everyone to come to the diner this year for one last hurrah.

“We really hope that people will come and celebrate this last year with us,” Lewis said. “The food will be as good as ever. We’re not cutting any corners.”

Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit

After 45 years at the Minnesota State Fair, Epiphany in Coon Rapids has announced that it is closing Epiphany Diner, the last of the Catholic diners at the fair.

More than 70 volunteers a day are needed to run the diner, with even more working behind the scenes.

Evangelization, fellowship While the diner isn’t the lucrative fundraiser it once was for the parish, it has always been a source of evangelization and fellowship.

“In a parish as huge as ours, it was a nice way to meet people who you maybe didn’t sit next to in the pew,” Lewis said. “When you work really hard next to somebody for 10 hours, you learn a lot about them.”

Lewis has many special memories working at the fair. One year a couple held their wedding reception at

PRESENTED

BY THE JOHN

Old favorites, including barbecue ribs, meatloaf and ostrich burgers, will be brought back this year. A family-style breakfast also will be on the menu.

At one time, as many as 20 churches of various denominations had diners at the fair, according to a State Fair spokesperson. Now only two remain — Hamline Methodist United Church and Salem Lutheran Church.

After St. Bernard’s Bulldog Diner closed its doors in 2009, Epiphany Diner was the only Catholic diner.

PAUL II CENTER

STUDY THE BIBLE AND CATECHISM First Corinthians

Walking Toward Eternity: Making Choices for Today

St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Savage

Holy Name of Jesus, Wayzata

Begins September 6 Contact Brenda Schroll: (952) 890-9465 ext. 254

Begins September 22 Contact Jean Roozendaal: 763-745-3481 Direct

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“EPIC” A JOURNEY THROUGH CHURCH HISTORY DVD Study Church of St. Paul, Ham Lake Begins September 20 A 20-week DVD Study with Stephen Weidenkopf as presenter

Contact Cathie Durham: (763) 258-9110 www.churchofsaintpaul.com

Walking Toward ING M O C RING Eternity: Making SP 012 2 Choices for Today Transfiguration Catholic Church, Oakdale Begins January 24, 2012 Contact Chad and Marilyn Crow: www.transfigurationmn.org

St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Savage Begins January 24, 2012 Contact Brenda Schroll: (952) 890-9465 ext. 254 bschroll@stjohns-savage.org

Taught live at 3 convenient locations by Jeff Cavins, Catholic bible teacher and author All registration forms can be found at www.jeffcavins.com under “Live Twin Cities Studies” tab.

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THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • AUGUST 18, 2011

Archdiocese says Holy Cross to retain Polish heritage The archdiocese released the following statement in response to the concerns of those who attended the rally: “Holy Cross Catholic Church will continue as a proud and strong center of the Catholic faith and the Polish culture of Northeast Minneapolis as it has been for more than 125 years. Mass will continue to be offered in English and in Polish at Holy Cross Church.

Polish programs such as Polish Saturday school will also continue. Any rumors to the contrary are unfounded.

Holy Cross’ pastor and lay leadership are fully supportive in all these matters.”

The Catholic Spirit While some 50 people protested the merger of northeast Minneapolis parishes Aug. 6 at the Cathedral of St. Paul and the archdiocesan chancery across St. Paul’s Summit Avenue, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis responded by attempting to clarify the facts and alleviate parishioners’ fears.

Under the archdiocesan strategic plan announced in October, Holy Cross, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Clement and St. Hedwig, all of northeast Minneapolis, are identified for merger.

As stated at the plan’s announcement, a merger decision does not necessarily mean that a merging parish’s church building will close. Decisions regarding the church buildings of a newly combined parish community will be made by local leaders in consultation with the archbishop and Presbyteral Council, a representative body of priests.

In November, Archbishop John Nienstedt confirmed his original decision regarding the northeast Minneapolis parishes with some modifications, including that the combined parish community would be named Holy Cross and the effective date of the merger would take place upon the retirement of St. Clement’s pastor by July 2013. The archbishop also reaffirmed the Polish nature of the combined parish community, including the continued offering of Mass in Polish.

During the rally, homemade signs pointed out the concern that the Polish heritage of Holy Cross would be lost in any merger.

Barb Maciejny of Holy Cross, who attended the rally with her husband, Anatol, said, “We are asking [Archbishop Nienstedt] to do a new decree — not merging. . . . He should leave us just as we are.” She said she has written letters protesting the merger both to the Vatican and to Archbishop Nienstedt.

Other mergers underway

Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit

Dave Berger of Our Lady of Victory in Minneapolis joined about 50 others to express their concerns about parish mergers during a rally held at the Cathedral of St. Paul Aug. 6. Most of the protesters are members and/or supporters of Holy Cross in Minneapolis who said they fear the Polish-ethnic nature of the parish would be lost in a merger. A statement issued by the archdiocese sought to alleviate those fears.

Hearing Tests Set for Senior Citizens Announcement — Free electronic hearing tests will be given all next week Monday thru Friday from 9 am to 4 pm.

The tests have been arranged for anyone who suspects they are not hearing clearly.

People who generally feel they can hear, but cannot understand words clearly are encouraged to come in for the test, which uses the latest electronic equipment.

Everyone, especially those over age 55 should have an electronic hearing test once

a year. Demonstrations of the latest devices to improve clarity of speech will be programmed using a computer to your particular needs — on the spot — after the tests.

See (and HEAR) for yourself if newlydeveloped methods of correction will help you understand words better.

Tests will be performed at one of 20 convenient Greater Twin Cities Avada Hearing Care locations.

Call 1-800-435-5189

Nine parishes have merged with six neighboring parishes under changes announced in the strategic plan.

Another merger between two Minneapolis parishes — St. Philip and Ascension — happened outside of the planning process for urgent financial reasons.

Four of the remaining nine mergers have been appealed to the Holy See. Holy Cross in Minneapolis; St. Austin in Minneapolis; St. Columbkill in Belle Creek; St. Mary in Bellechester (St. Columbkill and St. Mary are part of the same merger); and St. John in St. Paul remain in the hands of the Holy See. The mergers of St. Thomas of St. Thomas with St. Anne of Le Sueur; St. Andrew with Maternity of the Blessed Virgin, both in St. Paul; St. Francis de Sales with St. James, both in St. Paul; and the merger of St. Benedict, St. John the Evangelist, St. Joseph and St. Scholastica with St. Wenceslaus, all in the New Prague area, were made official Jan. 1, 2011. The mergers of St. Augustine with Holy Trinity in South St. Paul and St. Thomas the Apostle with Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul took effect on July 1, 2011.

PLEASE TURN TO ARCHDIOCESE ON PAGE 27

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Pilgrimage to the Holy Land with Fr. Schneider Join Fr. Robert Schneider on a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land!

October 31 - November 11, 2011 This Pilgrimage also includes visits to Brussels, Bruges, Leuven and Cologne Germany.

For more information go to: www.as-ic.org and click on pilgrimage or call Fr. Schneider at 507-469-9979

Sunday, Aug. 21, 2011

Turkey dinner Served 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

St. Bonaventure 3rd Annual Pro-Life 5K Run/Walk 901 East 90th St.

Saturday, September 17, 2011 at 8:00 a.m.

A fun, exciting, family friendly event in Bloomington

• Bingo • Cake Walk • Raffles • Kids Games

$10 per person — $20 per family.

Free t-shirts to the first 100 registrants.

Fun for All!

Registration: 7:00 a.m. to 7:45 a.m. on September 17th.

WWW.THECATHOLICSPIRIT.COM

For more information contact Jim Koepke at 952-884-4372 or email at Jim_Koepke@yahoo.com.

Proceeds from the event will be donated to the Robbinsdale Women’s Center providing assistance to women experiencing unplanned pregnancies.

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AUGUST 18, 2011 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

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Family members come from near, far for Larpenteur reunion first visit to the Twin Cities, and he found the experience at Calvary Cemetery to be an especially meaningful one.

“It was very moving to see these gravestones here,” he said.

Isabelle Hurtiger, another first-time visitor from France, is a descendant of Nicholas Larpenteur, a brother of Louis Benoist. She was happy to see local Larpenteur relatives as well, calling the entire reunion experience “a very moving event.”

By Julie Pfitzinger For The Catholic Spirit

When Marcia Kremer, a parishioner at Lumen Christi in St. Paul, first began assembling a chart of her mother’s family tree — descendants of a man named Louis Benoist Larpenteur — she reached a point where the monumental list of names filled an 83-foot-long spreadsheet.

“In 1996, when I first started to look into the genealogy of our family with a cousin who lives in California, I wasn’t very interested, but as I got more involved, it became something of an addiction,” Kremer said with a laugh.

Earlier this month, a group of 175 Larpenteur relatives from both the United States and France gathered in St. Paul for a four-day family reunion, which included a Mississippi River cruise and trip to Fort Snelling, a visit to the Cathedral of St. Paul and a ceremony at Calvary Cemetery in St. Paul, where more than 120 members of the Larpenteur clan are buried, including Louis Benoist, whom Kremer calls “the father of the American Larpenteurs.”

Three years in the making

Cathedral connections Auguste Larpenteur, grandson of Louis Benoist, settled in St. Paul in 1843 and launched a mercantile business. Auguste, for whom Larpenteur Avenue was named, became an influential member of the Catholic community. Bishop Joseph Cretin, the first bishop of St. Paul, selected Auguste to serve on the planning committee for the third cathedral in St. Paul (the first Mass was celebrated there in 1858) and the budget committee for the current cathedral, the cornerstone of which was laid in 1907.

Louis, a native of France who later settled in Maryland, traveled to Minnesota to visit his grandson and succumbed to typhus while in St. Paul; he is buried in Calvary, and his gravesite was recently restored, thanks to financial contributions from a group of

Jim Bovin / For The Catholic Spirit

Members of the Larpenteur family from the United States and France attend a gathering at Calvary Cemetery in St. Paul during a recent family reunion. Auguste Larpenteur, for whom Larpenteur Avenue was named, was an influential member of the Catholic community who served on the planning committee for the third cathedral in St. Paul and the budget committee for the current cathedral.

Larpenteur family members.

Jean-Pierre LeFebvre was one of several who traveled to the St. Paul reunion from Paris. There was another Larpenteur reunion in France three years ago that many of the American relatives attended. This was LeFebvre’s

Along with Kremer, Michele Murnane, who was born in the Twin Cities but now lives in Seattle, was one of the primary organizers of the Larpenteur reunion.

“It took about three years to plan, and there were several members of the family that originally connected on Facebook,” she said. “Many of us met for the first time at the reunion in France, but there are people here now that are also meeting each other for the first time.”

Murnane’s sister, Mary Langner, and her husband, James, are part of the large local Larpenteur contingent.

(Mary and Michele’s grandmother was a Larpenteur).

The couple live in Richfield and are parishioners at St. Peter.

“We went to the reunion in Thomery, France, three years ago, which is a small town along the Seine River.

It was the first time I’d ever been to Europe,” said Mary.

“The whole town put on a party for us. There were French flags and American flags everywhere. It was marvelous, a phenomenal experience.”

According to Kremer, this is the first time Calvary Cemetery has hosted a large-scale family event, and she was grateful for its help with the coordination, which included staff members placing white flags on the 120 Larpenteur graves to help the family more easily identify their locations.

“We were amazed at the response to this reunion from our family,” said Kremer. “It has been really fun.”

Local Catholic leaders attend lay ministry symposium

By Pat Norby The Catholic Spirit

Archbishop John Nienstedt sent Eric Pederson and Jennifer Smeby to the 2011 Collegeville National Lay Ecclesial Ministry Symposium to gather information and ideas on promoting excellence in ministry.

In addition, Parish Services Team member Estela Villagrán Manancero attended as a long-time participant from the Latino community along with others from various ministries and institutions in the archdiocese.

The gathering took place Aug. 2-5 at St. John’s University in Collegeville.

Lay ecclesial ministry refers to lay persons who, with the authorization and supervision of the clergy in the church, participate in the mission of Christ in the world.

The goals of the symposium were to: ■ Amplify the voice and strengthen the national will to promote effective leadership practices identified within “Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord,” the U.S. bishops’ 2005 statement on lay ecclesial ministry.

■ Advance the theological understanding and pastoral practice of the vocation and authorization of lay ecclesial ministers.

■ Publish recommendations and organizational commitments that will advance excellence in lay ecclesial ministry.

■ Fund research and projects advancing the symposium’s recommendations and organizational commitments.

“Teamwork at our parish has been a gift.”

JENNIFER SMEBY St. Stephen, Minneapolis

The following are comments from the perspectives of Pederson, archdiocesan assistant superintendent for religious education; Smeby, who is involved in parish pastoral ministry with Latinos at St. Stephen in Minneapolis; and Manancero, who serves the Latino community as part of the archdiocesan Parish Services Team.

Schools perspective Pederson, who came into full communion with the Catholic Church in 2000, is a career educator who holds a master’s degree in theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, with studies at the Angelicum in Rome.

He previously taught music and religion and worked in high school and youth ministry.

He said that two key bishops spoke at the symposium about the three-fold responsibilities of those who are ordained: to teach, sanctify and govern.

Both Cardinal Francis George of Chicago and Bishop Blasé Cupich of Spokane, Wash., discussed ways that the laity can collaborate and assist bishops and priests in the area of teaching.

“This insight can be of great help to our Catholic schools because it provides principals and teachers with the understanding that when they teach, they do

not do it in isolation,” Pederson said.

“The passing on of the Catholic faith is an awesome responsibility and is always done in connection to the local bishop and the entire magisterium.”

The most important practice discussed, Pederson said, was the initial and ongoing formation of lay ecclesial ministers.

The U.S. bishops said in “Co-workers in the Vineyard of the Lord” that lay ecclesial ministers should have: a desire to serve the church and its mission; a commitment to prayer and participation in the Mass and penance; and a zeal to live a Christian life and teach as the magisterium teaches.

“Those items would need to be part of any formation programs in the area of lay ecclesial ministry,” he said.

Parish perspective Smeby is in her second year at St. Stephen, working with Latinos in the areas of marriage preparation, adult formation and parish cell evangelization, and will teach natural family planning this fall. She served as a Catholic missionary from 2001 to 2009 in Canada, Florida and Argentina. She is currently working on a master’s in theology at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.

“It was interesting that discussions touched on preparing the ‘next genera-

tion’ of lay ministers for the church,” said Smeby, 34.

Smeby noted three things that she learned during the symposium that will help her as a lay minister: ■ “It reaffirmed for me that our position of service to the parishioner in a ‘ministry’ role/employment is on behalf of the teaching office of the archbishop.”

■ “The need for solid theological formation . . . knowing the teachings (and so to live them) is a great service to the people searching for ‘the answers to life’ found only in [Christ].”

■ A recent study on U.S. parishes noted the need to invest in evangelization and to accept the changes needed with a growing Latino population.

Although Smeby is not involved in any formal lay ministerial group, she said that she has friends and colleagues with whom she discusses the mission of the church.

“And teamwork at our parish has been a gift — each open to the other’s suggestions and looking together toward working to build the parish,” she said.

Intercultural perspective Manancero said she has participated in the National Lay Ecclesial Ministry Symposiums since they were initiated in 2007 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ subcommittee on diversity. She was originally invited by the USCCB to discuss issues faced by the Latino Catholic community.

“When we were first invited and sent PLEASE SEE CONFERENCE ON PAGE 17

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THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • AUGUST 18, 2011

Catholic schools are ‘essential part’ of church’s mission CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The plans were announced by the archbishop Aug. 11 at a leadership meeting attended by some 200 school and ministry personnel at St. Peter Church in Mendota.

Superintendent of schools Marty Frauenheim noted that even new guidelines for report cards are on the table.

Frauenheim presented details of standardized tests that showed high achievement results for English language learners at inner-city Catholic schools, test scores at or above proficiency for a vast majority of eighthgraders and pie charts of survey results that point to non-white preparation for college that comes close to mirroring that of the majority population.

Hope and motivation Kathleen Segna was heartened by the belief in and commitment to Catholic schools she heard, especially from the archbishop, but also from other speakers and her colleagues.

“This day makes me so hopeful for Catholic education,” said Segna, principal of St. John’s Catholic School in Hopkins.

“I liked that we’re focusing on the points about what you need to do to be a viable Catholic school,” she said.

“It’s a motivator to us.”

With a vision from the Archdiocesan Strategic Plan for Parishes and Schools that was released last October, the plans the archbishop announced began with research on national best practices.

Work by the 17-member Catholic Schools Commission convened in January. The archbishop received the commission’s proposal in June, and he explained his acceptance of the plan that now carries the title “Catholic Schools: Reinvesting in Our Future.”

“The initiatives announced today,” Archbishop Nienstedt said, “are part of an overarching vision for this local church, as articulated in the strategic plan, aimed at fostering a culture of ongoing evaluation and greater accountability so as to realize a more vibrant community of faith, hope and love.

“These are not the only initiatives necessary to attain that end,” the archbishop said. “We still have need, for example, to reinvest in the religious education of students who are not fortunate enough to attend Catholic schools, as well as to build faith relationships with all Catholic teenagers and college-aged youth.

“But these initiatives with respect to Catholic schools are necessary,” he added, “and an important part of the investment we are called to make since Catholic schools are an essential part of the mission of this local church to make the name of Jesus Christ known and loved by promoting and proclaiming the Gospel in word and deed through vibrant parish communities, quality Catholic education, and ready outreach to the poor and marginalized.”

Archbishop Nienstedt’s vision In announcing new initiatives for Catholic education, Archbishop John Nienstedt clearly stated his vision for schools in the archdiocese: “Our overall goal must include more than an excellent education in reading, writing, math, and science.

“It must aim at more than the development of personal character through social relationships, successful sports teams, creative arts, and service projects.

“The overall goal for all Catholic schools is to prepare young men and young women to be virtuous disciples of Christ and, as such, to be active leaders in our Catholic Church as well as our civic communities; bringing their gifts of faith and reason to the issues and challenges of our world today.

Guiding us to this goal is a vibrant and cohesive vision which we affirm anew today: The Catholic schools of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis form students to live out the Gospel message, achieve academic excellence, and lead by faith, virtue, and reason.”

The full text of Archbishop Nienstedt’s remarks can be found at HTTP://WWW.ARCHSPM.ORG/DEPARTMENTS /SCHOOLS/REINVESTING-IN-OUR-SCHOOLS.PHP. Click on “Catholic Schools: Reinvesting In Our Future Initiatives.”

“This day makes me so hopeful for Catholic education.”

KATHLEEN SEGNA Principal, St. John’s Catholic School, Hopkins

Many played a role The consultation process involved a wide segment of the Catholic community.

More than 3,000 school and parish leaders, parents, teachers and other stakeholders participated in surveys, and dozens more participated in eight focus groups, including pastors, principals, business administrators, teachers, marketing staff, school council members, parish finance council members, volunteers and benefactors.

What developed — and what was recommended to and accepted by Archbishop Nienstedt — were steps to drive Catholic schools in the archdiocese to be academically superb, financially sustainable, well-administered and consistently excellent.

Commission co-chairs Karen Rauenhorst and John

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McMahon went into detail explaining that the commission’s initiatives focus on four areas: ■ Governance; ■ Educational excellence; ■ Advancement (marketing); ■ Funding models/financial management.

The commission made recommendations — 18 in all — in each of the four areas (see sidebar story on page 7 for a list of the recommendations).

They include such things as increased financial aid, uniform accounting methods, a marketing and branding plan that includes a tool kit schools may customize, comprehensive evaluation tools, professional growth opportunities for teachers and principals, and an archdiocesan Catholic Schools Advisory Council to support and oversee implementation.

Details of “Catholic Schools: Reinvesting in Our Future” are online at WWW.ARCHSPM.ORG/DEPARTMENTS/ SCHOOLS/REINVESTING-IN-OUR-SCHOOLS.PHP.

Positive feedback Ann Garland, parish administrator at St. Peter in Richfield, said she felt “super excited” and hoped that the word gets out to all those who are now benefiting from their own Catholic education. St. Peter is part of the consolidation that formed Blessed Trinity School in Richfield.

Father Michael Tix, pastor of St. John the Baptist in Savage, was impressed with the language used that called for Catholic schools to produce graduates who will engage society “with faith, virtue and reason.”

He said he liked the proactive approach to marketing Catholic education that is in the plans, and he was looking forward to assistance in the development area, which, as a pastor, he finds he just doesn’t have time to get to.

“One thing that I walk away with, with hope, is to see the foundation that focuses solely on schools,” Father Tix said. “That’s critical for our schools because of the difference between our costs and the amount of tuition we can charge.

“We’ve got a great story with a long and rich tradition.”

As a firm believer in Catholic education, Father Tix also said he appreciated the archbishop’s statement that support of Catholic schools was an archdiocesan concern, not solely on the shoulders of parishes with schools.

The archbishop declared a firm commitment to Catholic schools, noting, “As our Catholic schools are an indispensible tool for the mission of the church, I believe that this entire local church should share responsibility for supporting our Catholic schools.”

Local

AUGUST 18, 2011 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

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Catholic school recommendations focus on four areas Eighteen recommendations — pulled from four areas of focus — are included in “Catholic Schools: Reinvesting in Our Future,” the initiatives announced

by Archbishop John Nienstedt Aug. 11.

By area of focus, here are the challenges Catholic schools face and the recommendations to address them:

Governance Challenges: Without a strong champion for the identification and implementation of best practice, we are now burdened in our decentralized Catholic school system with dozens of variations on school governance structures that confuse the pastor’s role and fail to engage the laity in an appropriate and effective manner. This multiplicity of governance structures has led to inefficiencies and isolation.

The Office of Catholic Schools would benefit greatly from an advisory body skilled in strategic planning and the sharing of best practices, as well as focused on fostering a culture of ongoing evaluation and greater accountability.

Finally, the Office of Catholic Schools itself needs reinvigoration to empower it to address declining enrollment with new tools and resources and partnering with schools to proclaim and deliver on the promise of Catholic schools: our next generation of church and civic leaders who have been formed to live out the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.

Recommendations: 1: An Archdiocesan Catholic Schools Advisory Council should be established to be a visible and supportive leader for the Catholic schools of our Archdiocese.

2: All parish schools should establish a school advisory council to advise the pastor and the principal in the governance of the school.

3: There should be clear roles and responsibilities outlined for the parties involved in the governance of consolidated Catholic schools in order to enhance the schools’ capabilities and long-term viability.

4: The archdiocese should adopt Operating Principles which outline the manner in which the local school operations, the parishes, the Office of Catholic Schools, and other archdiocesan staff with school-related responsibilities will collaborate, support, and be accountable to each other in order to advance Catholic schools in the archdiocese.

5: The archdiocese should adopt the Model for the Archdiocesan Office of Catholic Schools in order to solidify the office’s leadership role in the renewal and advancement of our Catholic schools.

Educational Excellence Challenges: Due to the decentralized nature of Catholic schools within the archdiocese, there are diverse curriculums and testing models. Today, potential Catholic school parents are, by and large, as concerned about academic excellence as they are about Catholic formation and spiritual life. Parents want to know schools assess student achievement, growth and progress to ensure children are assisted in reaching their full academic potential. Additionally, many benefactors want to see comparative data when making their gift decisions.

Therefore, it is essential that Catholic schools have a uniform assessment system, including uniform standardized tests, that addresses these needs. It is recognized that there are not currently archdiocese-wide learning standards aligned to locally established curriculum, which can lead to inconsistencies between schools and inefficiencies. It is also recognized that parish and school leaders need assistance in recruiting the right principal for their school, and that principals/presidents and teachers desire more development opportunities.

Recommendations: 1: Office of Catholic Schools should establish benchmarks for addressing school vitality and viability for all elementary schools to support a culture of continuous improvement and ongoing renewal within the schools.

2: Professional development related to the role and mission of Catholic schools and their operation and governance should be provided to seminarians and priests.

Furthermore, it is recommended that the archbishop

assign pastors with expertise or high interest in schools as pastors/canonical administrators.

3: Office of Catholic Schools develops and employs a professional growth and evaluation tool for principals/ presidents.

4: Office of Catholic Schools organizes and supports ongoing professional development and learning communities for all school administrators and teachers that enhances professional practices and aligns with diocesan strategic initiatives.

5: To continue to attract qualified and effective principals, it is critical to have an effective principal recruiting and hiring process. It is recommended that the Office of Catholic Schools work with pastors and school leadership in the process of principal selection, recruitment, and hiring.

6: By July 1, 2015, all current principals and teachers have a current up-to-date Minnesota Department of Education license or equivalent. Also, all newly hired principals and teachers have three years, from their date of employment, to attain their Minnesota Department of Education license or equivalent for their position. Also, it is expected the hiring process strongly emphasizes the recruitment of practicing Catholics who understand and accept the teachings of the Catholic Church and the moral demands of the Gospel. Non-Catholics are only hired for compelling reasons and never as teachers of religion. Furthermore, school administrators (president, principal, assistant principal, etc.) are active, practicing Catholics who understand and accept the teachings of the Catholic Church and the moral demands of the Gospel.

7: The Office of Catholic Schools, through a collaborative process, should develop a comprehensive, multivariant evaluation process that promotes best practices and a holistic look at K-8 schools using existing and new tools and programs. This evaluation should be ongoing to promote continuous improvement and should include the evaluation of school performance (e.g., accreditation, Catholic identity), principal and teacher performance, and student performance.

Advancement Challenges: Leadership at many Catholic schools is ill equipped to effectively market the value of its schools. This is due to the lack of professional expertise and the absence of available revenue to fund creative efforts and access vehicles for sharing the message. The need, however, for marketing is more important than ever for several reasons: a continuing decline in enrollment during the past decade and in light of a decline in the belief that the entire Catholic community should support Catholic schools because of their fundamental value to the future health of the church.

Recommendation: 1: The archdiocese, through the Office of Catholic Schools and the Office of Communications and with the assistance of outside firms as needed, should execute a marketing and branding plan. This plan should include an archdiocesan-level marketing initiative along with a tool kit for individual school implementation, which each school should be encouraged to use to improve marketing efforts at the local level.

Funding Models Challenges: The average, adjusted cost of education per student at Catholic schools throughout the archdiocese is $5,237. The average tuition revenue per student at Catholic schools throughout the archdiocese is $3,377.

That leaves an average gap between cost of education and tuition per student of $1,860. The remaining total cost of education not covered by tuition comes to more than $30 million annually. That gap is covered by parish subsidy (intentional and unintentional), grants and gifts, endowments, local fundraising and financial support through the archdiocese and other sources.

Due to the revenue shortfall, schools and parishes have taken increasingly drastic approaches to meet budget, which have resulted in donor fatigue, reduction of capital reserves, delayed facility investment, and other concerns. Adding to the challenge is the use of a

Meet the ‘blue-ribbon panel’ The Catholic Schools Commission that was appointed by Archbishop John Nienstedt and developed the initiatives recommended in “Catholic Schools: Reinvesting in Our Future,” was co-chaired

by John McMahon and Karen Rauenhorst.

McMahon, a member of Holy Spirit in St. Paul, is director of federal tax services at Ernst & Young.

Rauenhorst is a trustee of the archdiocese, community volunteer and member of Holy Name of Jesus in Medina. Other commission members are: ■ John Banovetz, director, Strategy and Business Development Group, 3M ■ Christian Brother Michael Collins, president, De La Salle High School ■ Gail Dorn, marketing consultant ■ Marilou Eldred, president, Catholic Community Foundation ■ Marty Frauenheim, superintendent of Catholic schools, Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis ■ Michael Frey, partner, EBF & Associates ■ Amy Goldman, executive director, GHR Foundation ■ Father Peter Laird, vicar general, Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis ■ Sheila Letscher, retired attorney, mother of four, community volunteer ■ Marina Munoz Lyon, vice president and director, Pohlad Family Foundation ■ Doug Milroy, chief executive officer, G&K Services ■ Father Michael O’Connell, pastor, Ascension Parish, Minneapolis ■ Kathleen O’Hara, principal, St. Vincent de Paul School, Brooklyn Park ■ Richard Pearson, consultant, Archdiocesan Finance Council member ■ Jill Reilly, former president, Academy of Holy Angels.

variety of charts of accounts among parishes and schools, resulting in lack of clarity about the true cost of Catholic school education. Moreover, it is recognized that parishes without a school must do more to support Catholic schools.

Recommendations: 1: Consolidate archdiocesan support (Assessment, CSA, CCF, new Foundation) for schools/students to a coordinated transparent function that provides coordination, monitoring, measurement, and reporting to all stakeholders. The granting philosophy should be to move K-8 support from block grants to schools to primarily student-based financial aid. While specific school-level support will be made in certain instances, the vast majority of aid will go to students. Aid should be provided to students across the archdiocese based on a financial need assessment approach to be developed, and which will include family needs, community resources, and school finances. This will be phased in by the 2013-2014 academic year. Metrics and functions of qualifying schools will be articulated by June 1, 2012.

2: Catholic schools are an important ministry of our local church and are the responsibility of all parishes in the archdiocese. We recommend that through the assessment process, the amount of aid for students across the archdiocese significantly expand over the next five years, and that the assessment levy be altered (through another process) to include a component related to supporting Catholic schools for those parishes without a school. In addition, we recommend that the level of Catholic Services Appeal (CSA) support continue to be in the 20-25% range.

3: Increase the amount of financial resources from outside the archdiocese that would be available primarily for student assistance at Catholic schools across the archdiocese.

4: Deploy a uniform accounting and reporting methodology that will strengthen school management capabilities. The goal is to move to a consistent financial model that emphasizes transparency into per student costs, including an intentional plan to communicate that true cost of education with stakeholders, as well as transparency into levels of financial support from the parish and barriers/gaps to achieving a balanced budget.

5: Centrally coordinated means of enhancing revenue and reducing costs are necessary.

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Local

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • AUGUST 18, 2011

Cretin-Derham Hall golfer above par at school others who have your same spot on their team, you are spending four hours on a course together,” Ellen said. “She’s spent most of her summer with these girls and enjoys her time with them.”

Since the summer competition season has ended, Kuenster continues to practice and play several times per week, often at Somerset Country Club in Mendota Heights or with her golf pro, Brent Snyder (current Minnesota PGA Match Play champion) who works with her out of the Troy Burne Golf Club in Hudson, Wis.

St. Joseph parishioner youngest ever to win state amateur tourney

By Julie Pfitzinger For The Catholic Spirit

At the age of 15, Celia Kuenster has already developed the kind of game that golfers more than three times her age have been striving to achieve on the course for years.

Last month, she became the youngest woman ever to win the Minnesota Women’s State Amateur Golf Tournament, beating the age of the previous record holder — 1978 winner Jody Rosenthal (now Anschutz) — by three months.

Kuenster is also the first student from Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul to win the tournament.

Kuenster has a quiet, confident demeanor that allows her to excel on the course. Winning the state amateur championship by seven strokes, she shot 74 on each of the first two days of the event and 72 on the last day — that day’s score was better than any posted during the tournament at Hastings Country Club.

Kuenster said she was simply playing her game. While she knew she was under par and probably in the lead, she didn’t quite know for sure.

Her parents, Ellen and Mike Kuenster of Mendota Heights, parishioners at St. Joseph in West St. Paul, also believed their daughter was winning but didn’t monitor her official progress.

“They were updating the scores every few holes. I knew I could have tracked it on my smart phone, but I decided not to,” Ellen said with a laugh.

A first-class competitor Kuenster’s penchant for golf began when she was in first grade and she and her twin brother, Will, would head to the Mendota Heights Par-3 golf course with

Showing her Raider pride

Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit

Celia Kuenster, a member of St. Joseph in West St. Paul and soon to be a sophomore at Cretin-Derham Hall High School, has blossomed as a golfer. Kuenster, pictured at Somerset Country Club in Mendota Heights, recently became the youngest golfer ever to win the Minnesota Women’s State Amateur Golf Tournament.

older brother Nolan, now 19. (She also has a sister, Megan, 17).

“The three of us would compete and I really liked it,” said Kuenster, who added that her brother Will is also “a really good golfer.”

As a seventh-grader at St. Joseph’s School, Kuenster competed in the Catholic Athletic Association golf tournament and easily won the girls’ division. She didn’t compete in the CAA tournament during her eighth-grade year due to a conflict with final exams, but she was continuing to improve her game, playing and practicing regularly.

During her freshman year as a member

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of the CDH golf team, Kuenster tied for the Class AAA individual championship in the girls’ state high school golf tournament and then went on to win the Minnesota Junior Girls’ State Championship (18 and under division) earlier this summer.

Through the course of competing, both at CDH and in other tournaments, Kuenster has gotten to know many of her competitors on the course, which Ellen believes is a big boost to the sport for young players.

“Celia has really become friends with many of the girls. Since you don’t play directly with your teammates, but with

Kuenster and her brother Will will soon be starting their sophomore years at Cretin-Derham Hall, where she said her favorite subject is history. Golf is not her only sport — she was also a member of the girls’ varsity basketball team at CDH last year.

Her “Raider pride” is evident during every golf game: a bracelet that was a gift from her parents spelling out “Go Raiders” is one of the items she can’t be without on the golf course, along with a coin given to her by her grandmother that she uses for divot repair.

Although college is three years away, Kuenster knows she would like to continue to play competitively, only stipulating at this point that any college she attends would be “someplace warm.”

There is a lot of time to be spent on the golf course between now and then. For now, the entire Kuenster family is enjoying a daily reminder of how Celia spent her summer vacation: The Minnesota Women’s State Amateur Championship trophy is still sitting on the family’s kitchen table.

“It’s a traveling trophy, so we get to keep it for the whole year,” Kuenster said with a smile.

The determination and skill of a young Mendota Heights golfer just might keep it on that table for quite some time to come.

“Even one choice can radically change the world.”

Sister Mary Gabriel, novice director for the Sisters of Life

Nation/World AUGUST 18, 2011

News from around the U.S. and the globe

Pilgrims find culture, faith at World Youth Day

By Gretchen R. Crowe Catholic News Service

The colors of World Youth Day lit up the auditorium of the Palacio de Deportes sports arena in Madrid Tuesday afternoon for the opening of the “Love and Life Center: A Home for EnglishSpeaking Pilgrims.”

American, Canadian and World Youth Day flags, among others, swayed to the rockin’ beat of Louisiana-based L’Angelus, a Catholic family band that opened the event to cheers of young people ready to be on fire with their faith.

Band members invited their younger siblings onstage. Twins Maximilian and Kolbe Rees, 7, played “When the Saints Go Marching In” on the trumpet, and 5year-old Molly endeared herself to the crowd by singing and performing a French-Canadian dance.

L’Angelus offered a fitting tribute to the center’s celebration of the Catholic faith.

9

Homilists: Get to the point in six or eight minutes

By Peter Finney Jr. Catholic News Service

Microcosm of life The center is a “microcosm of the culture of life,” said Sister Mary Gabriel, novice director for the Sisters of Life.

“You will find everything. You will find a home for yourself.”

A collaboration of the Knights of Columbus and the New York-based sisters, the Love and Life Center will offer four days of programming to help pilgrims grow closer to God. Events include catechesis by Sydney Cardinal George Pell; a panel on theology of the body; music from groups like L’Angelus and Northern Virginia-based folk-rock group Scythian; a “You and Me” exhibit depicting the power of choice; and, of course, prayer.

The center is co-sponsored by Holy Cross Family Ministries, Canada’s Salt and Light Television Network, the Apostleship of Prayer, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), World Youth Alliance and the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family.

Sister Mary Gabriel said the Love and Life Center is all about giving hope to the young people who participate. She said the nuns arrived Aug. 10 and have since been busy getting the center ready for the pilgrims, especially the “You and Me” exhibit, which uses audio to tell the stories of people who allowed God to work through the choices they made in their lives.

“It’s about the human person and the power of a choice,” Sister Mary Gabriel said. “Even one choice can radically change the world.”

Pilgrims wiped tears from their eyes as they moved from station to station, listening to the witnesses of real people the Sisters of Life met through their ministry or through the Catholic community. The different examples of family life show

The Catholic Spirit

Katrina Goetsch, 15, waves a fan as she waits with other pilgrims from Wisconsin before World Youth Day in Madrid Aug. 16.

CNS photo / Paul Haring

how “literally new worlds were opened up” as people found guidance through God’s help, Sister Mary Gabriel said.

“They touch on issues of the heart, the issues that everyone grapples with to some degree,” she said. “They’re all really powerful.”

Follow along with MN pilgrims via WYD blog Three youth from Divine Mercy in Faribault and a priest are blogging from World Youth Day in Madrid, Aug. 16 to 21. Visit HTTP://WORLDYOUTHDAY 2011.TUMBLR.COM for reflections and photos from Alex Paukert, Jake Kohl, Molly Davies and Father Erik Lundgren, Divine Mercy’s associate pastor.

You can add your own comments and questions as well.

For more World Youth Day updates, visit THECATHOLICSPIRIT.COM.

Excited to serve Jennifer Loser, alumni relations manager with FOCUS, said the group’s connection with the Knights of Columbus has enabled it to “share in the joy and the hospitality of inviting people into the love and life center.”

“We hope that [pilgrims] see that people are young and attractive and excited to serve the Lord,” Loser said.

Sister Mary Gabriel said she hopes the pilgrims will leave the center knowing there is “hope for me — that Christ is good and Christ means good for us.”

“The idea is that everyone who comes here will be able to receive something that allows them to grow closer to Christ and grow closer to who they are and knowing what their potential is,” she said. “The Lord is with them. Love is possible in their life. They can live life in this way and be set free.”

She said all the work, time and effort put into getting the center ready all boils down to making “a place where the Lord can give us what he’s prepared for us.”

“He’s here and he’s anticipated this more than us,” she said. “That, to me, is what is so beautiful. He just takes over, and you let it roll.”

For eight days at Loyola University New Orleans, three priests and five deacons absorbed the cool mathematics and internal symmetry of good preaching.

Just as Moses descended from Mount Sinai with Ten Commandments chiseled on two stone tablets, the rules laid out by Father Roy Shelly and Deborah Wilhelm of the Diocese of Monterey, Calif., while not etched in permanent marker, are boundaries worthy of respect: six to eight minutes for a Sunday homily, three to five minutes for a weekday sermon.

“The idea is not so much ‘brevity’ as it is not taking longer than you need,” said Wilhelm, a doctoral student with a focus on preaching at the Aquinas Institute of Theology.

Improving the quality and spiritual depth of preaching has been a passion for Father Shelly, who is director of vocations and oversees homiletics training for the permanent diaconate in his diocese.

If priests and deacons do not take seriously their vocational call and the preparation needed to preach the Gospel, Father Shelly said, the resulting communication will be flat and possibly even an obstacle to worship.

“The Pew Foundation looked at why young adults are leaving the church, and the first reason the study gave was poor preaching,” Father Shelly said.

“In the Diocese of Monterey, we only recently renewed the diaconate. The mandate that came from the presbyteral council was that deacons should be effective preachers — and we should also hold the presbyterate to the same standards. This postVatican II generation expects more from us.”

Preparation is key Spiritual preparation is critical, Father Shelly said, and the methodology employed involves “lectio divina” — reading, reflecting and praying over the Scripture passage.

In training preachers, Father Shelly asks them to write down one sentence that encapsulates the homily they are about to give. Then members of the congregation are asked to write down in one sentence the theme of the homily they have just heard.

Wilhelm said an effective preacher is “first and foremost a listener to God’s word. It’s presumptuous to speak God’s word to God’s people without listening to God’s word first.”

“At the end of our life, we shall all be judged by charity.”

St. John of the Cross

This Catholic Life 10

AUGUST 18, 2011

Opinion, feedback and points to ponder

The Catholic Spirit

Resolving the U.S. debt crisis Faith-based groups ask: ‘What would Jesus cut?’

‘Whom would Jesus indebt?’

By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service

After President Barack Obama signed the Budget Control Act Aug. 2 to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, a collective sigh of tentative relief was immediately followed by plenty of speculation and analysis of what the country should do next.

Although much of the discussion relied on the opinions of economists and politicians, religious groups bypassed the usual pundits to consider how Jesus would react to the country’s financial fiasco.

And apparently, he could have differing takes on ways to solve the debt crisis, according to two different Christian groups.

The Circle of Protection, a faith-based group that includes the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has been urging Washington’s lawmakers not to cut funding for programs for the poor, and couches its members’ concerns with the question: “What would Jesus cut?”

Another faith-based group, Christians for a Sustainable Economy, has argued that federally run programs for the poor do not always provide the best solution and is urging the government to put more focus on financial stewardship and economic responsibility.

In a letter to President Obama, the group said the Circle of Protection doesn’t “speak for all Christians.” Its members raised their own question about the most Christian way to respond to the debt crisis, asking: “Whom would Jesus indebt?” and pointing out that “the good Samaritan did not use a government credit card.”

Valid arguments The arguments of both groups have merit, according to Patrick Clark, an assistant professor of theology at Jesuit-run University of Scranton, Pa. Clark posted an Aug. 8 blog entry on the opposing Christian responses to the economic crisis on HTTP://CATHOLICMORALTHEOLOGY. COM — a site that posts comments from North American Catholic moral theologians.

He called the Circle of Protection’s approach “more urgent,” though, saying public spending on poverty and global health programs is “a sliver of discretionary spending and essentially irrelevant to America’s longterm debt.”

Clark also noted that an argument in the budget talks about “shared sacrifice” focuses mainly on cuts in discretionary spending and “requires disproportionate sacrifices of the most vulnerable.”

“If religious people do not make this case,” he said, “it is difficult to determine what distinctive message they offer.”

John Carr, executive director of the U.S. bishops’ Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development, has been keen on making the case for those in need and has been disappointed with the government’s recent solutions.

In an Aug. 3 statement, the day after the president signed the debt deal, he said the budget debate “demonstrated the partisan, ideological and dysfunctional polarization that dominates Washington.”

“It wasn’t pretty, and it isn’t over. While the crisis of default was averted, for advocates of poor and vulnerable people, this debate was disappointing, ominous and just a beginning,” he said.

CNS photo / Karen Callaway, Catholic New World

Volunteers serve food cooked by nuns and other volunteers in late February in the Wednesday Soup Kitchen at St. Blase parish in Argo Summit, Ill. A faith-based coalition called Circle of Protection, which includes the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, has been urging the federal government to not cut funding of programs for the poor in the national budget.

What do you think?

How would you solve the nation’s financial crisis?

Drawing from your faith, what specific government programs or services would you cut to rein in debt?

Send your response, 200 words or less, to CATHOLICSPIRIT@ARCHSPM.ORG. (Write “Debt” in the subject line.) We’ll publish a selection of responses in an upcoming edition.

The unfinished business of trimming the U.S. budget now falls on the shoulders of a super committee — a bipartisan congressional group of 12 — whose number alone has an apostolic ring to it. Members of the committee, whose names were finalized Aug. 11, have until Nov. 23 to recommend $1.5 trillion in deficit reductions during the next 10 years.

They can recommend further cuts in discretionary spending, changes to entitlement programs, including Medicare and Social Security or increases in tax revenue.

A Washington Post editorial Aug. 1 pointed out the enormous task ahead for this then-unnamed group and said it called for “the most able legislators from each party to come together and recognize that flexibility and compromise will be essential to crafting a final agreement.”

Compromise needed The ability to compromise and work together will certainly be key, especially since Congress’ inability to do so influenced Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the U.S. credit rating Aug. 5.

The credit ratings agency faulted the charged debt debate and inability of politicians to compromise as factors in their decision to downgrade. “The political brinkmanship of recent months highlights what we see

as America’s governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable,” it said in a statement.

Jesuit Father John Kavanaugh, a professor of philosophy at St. Louis University, wrote in the Aug. 1 issue of America magazine that the economic situation is “dangerous, but it need not be fatal.”

He said compromise could still happen if House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Obama “muster allies within their parties who will seriously address our dangerously inequitable distribution of wealth, our illusions of endless entitlements, the diminishment of the middle class, the increasing misery of the jobless and the poor, the socialism that benefits those too big to fail, and belt-tightening for those too small to care about, and the 1,000-page morass of hidden loopholes and exemptions called a tax code.”

The priest said this kind of work will take time, imagination, intellect and heart. “But most of all, it will take courage to stand up to the nasty rhetoric and nutsy intransigence that haunts our political life.”

And while the budget details are fine-tuned during the next few months, interested groups will continue to weigh in on the issue.

Sister Simone Campbell, a Sister of Social Service who is executive director of Network, a Catholic social justice lobby, said that in the upcoming weeks and months the interfaith community will be “both vigilant and active” in reminding Congress about the needs of the poor.

“We will not be silent,” she said.

Carr likewise said lobbying efforts will continue through letters, visits and action alerts stressing a “moral responsibility to put the nation’s fiscal house in order, to reduce unsustainable deficits and future debt, and to do so in ways that protect human life and dignity, especially among ‘the least of these.’”

This Catholic Life / Opinion

AUGUST 18, 2011 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

11

Need to get your priorities straight? Go see this movie t’s hard not to be reminded of your own mortality while paging through the morning newspaper or watching the evening news. Stories about young soldiers dying in Afghanistan, car accident victims and the ever-present obituary pages are reminders of the fragility of the gift of life we have been given.

Death is a reality that few of us like to confront or think about until we’re forced to. The idea that, truly, we could die at any time can be a frightening prospect — even though as Christians we know that death is very much a part of our earthly pilgrimage and that we live in the hope of Christ’s resurrection.

The church tells us that our time on earth is a time to prepare — a time to get ourselves right with God and our neighbor before we come face to face with our Creator in heaven.

But, absent a terminal illness diagnosis, how many of us really think about this, much less consciously prepare for it, as we lead our busy lives at work, at home and in our communities? And, how would we even begin preparing ourselves?

I

Editorial Joe Towalski

‘Vito Bonafacci’ delves into meaning of life, death and faith

‘Cinematic retreat’ These are some of the issues and questions faced by Vito Bonafacci, the lead character in a new movie of the same name. Vito lives a successful and comfortable life — more comfortable than most. He lives in a big house and has a devoted wife.

Coming to Maple Grove The Catholic Spirit is sponsoring a special localrun of “Vito Bonafacci.”

■ When: Aug. 26-Sept. 1 ■ Where: AMC Arbor Lakes 16, 12575 Elm Creek Blvd., Maple Grove.

■ Showtimes: Call 1-888AMC-4FUN. Or visit HTTP://WWW.AMCTHEATRES. COM/ARBORLAKES. Photo courtesy of CAVU Pictures

Paul Borghese plays the title character in “Vito Bonafacci.”

He has a cook, a gardener and a guy who washes his car.

Vito appears to be living the American dream. But what’s apparent from the opening scene of the film is that his mind is also restless because of a dream in which his dead mother warns him that eternal happiness cannot be found in the things of this world.

Vito has never had much time for faith or religion, and his mother warns him that he needs to re-examine his path in life or face unpleasant consequences. He subsequently has conversations with others in the film about life, death and faith.

It’s heavy stuff to contemplate, but “Vito Bonafacci” unfolds at a slow pace that almost compels viewers to contemplate their own lives in

relation to Vito’s. One reviewer accurately described the movie as a “cinematic retreat.”

An actor’s perspective Paul Borghese, the actor who plays Vito, told me in a recent interview that he empathizes with Vito in many ways.

“I don’t think Vito is greedy or pretentious or conceited,” Borghese said. “I think he’s just caught up in wanting to be successful, wanting to be a hard worker, wanting to do all the things that you’re brought up being told you should do. Unfortunately, because he was successful, he got caught up in some of the materialistic ways of life. That’s why his mother came to him in the dream and complained that he let that get

the best of him.”

Borghese said playing the part of Vito deepened his Catholic faith. He goes to church more, prays more. He goes so far as to tell others: “If you go see this movie, you stand a better chance of going to heaven.”

That a bit of a stretch, but the Bronx native also said: “Almost anybody who watches this movie is going to be affected in some kind of positive way — in the way they live their life, should live their life.”

On that point, he’s correct. “Vito Bonafacci” has a lot to say about faith, prayer and the importance of receiving the sacraments, particularly reconciliation and Holy Eucharist.

While it focuses on “getting right with God,” it would have been an even better movie if it also had said something more explicit about the importance of parish life and “getting right with our neighbor.”

But, imperfections aside, this is a good movie for families with older children, pastors and catechists. It will provide fodder for group discussions about the meaning of life as well as death.

If you go see the movie, you’ll be reminded of your own mortality.

But you’ll also walk away with some food for thought about how to live your life better here on earth and how to better prepare yourself for eternal life in heaven.

And that, certainly, is worth the price of admission.

Stand up for marriage, the center of social life n November 2012, Minnesota voters will have a chance to defend marriage as the union of one man and one woman from rogue courts and legislators who believe it is their right to redefine and undermine this vital social institution.

The ballot question states, “Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota.” If adopted, the Minnesota Constitution would be amended accordingly.

As Catholics and faithful citizens, we Jason Adkins should consider this as an opportunity to share with other Minnesotans why marriage matters for our communities. Our answer is fundamental to all Catholic social teaching.

Jesus was born and lived in a concrete family and was nurtured by a mother and father joined together in marriage. He conferred the highest dignity on the institution of marriage, making it a sacrament of the new covenant (cf. Matthew 19:3-9). Enlightened by this message, Catholic teaching considers the family the first natural society and places it as the center of social life — where we learn to love others and live the virtues necessary to be good and productive members of our communities.

A family founded on the mutual selfgiving of one man and one woman is the bedrock of civil society. As Blessed John Paul II reminds us, authentic, strong marriage is where children “develop their potentialities, become aware of their dig-

I

Faith in the Public Arena

nity and prepare to face their unique and individual destiny.” If families suffer, children suffer and all of society suffers.

Given the inherent connection between families, the well-being of children and the good of society, it is natural that the state supports and endorses traditional marriage in its laws.

Civil marriage exists in law because societies across history and around the world realized that marriage between one man and one woman provides the most stable environment in which to raise children and keeps biological parents connected to their children. While death and divorce too often prevent it, we know children do best when raised in an intact home by their mother and father.

In other words, traditional marriage fosters strong community.

Minnesota’s Catholic bishops have publicly promoted a state marriage amendment because of ongoing attempts by judges and politicians to redefine marriage in our laws. The 2012 amendment will prevent what happened in Iowa and New York, among other places, where a small group of legislators or a smaller group of judges redefined marriage for the whole state.

Help strengthen marriage The Minnesota Catholic Conference is actively supporting “Minnesota for Marriage,” the ballot campaign promoting the amendment, and will work with a broad coalition of groups to promote the amendment in a positive, pro-marriage and pro-community way. It is helping to organize a grassroots network of volun-

Volunteers needed Minnesota for Marriage has an immediate volunteer need for its booth at the 2011 Minnesota State Fair, Aug. 25 to Sept. 5. If you want to help share information about the importance of marriage and recruit others to join our campaign, please contact Cathy Deeds as soon as possible at CDEEDS@MNCC.ORG or (651) 256-7583. We will have Minnesota for Marriage materials, T-shirts, volunteer training and free passes to the fair for those who can help.

teers across the state.

The success of the campaign depends upon the initiative of all Catholics to take an active role in helping with the many activities needed to be done between now and November 2012. Not everyone has the same gifts or interests, but there will be lots of opportunities to use your talents and time.

Will the campaign be easy? No. We will be vastly outspent and there will be many cultural forces working against us.

They will try to make us think that we are swimming against the tide of history.

They will call us names for defending the important institution of marriage. But, we must stand together.

Volunteers are needed at the parish and community level. We will be conducting a massive voter education effort, speaking with all Minnesotans about the amendment and why it is necessary to preserve traditional marriage in our state.

We need parishes to provide prayer

teams and support; parish leaders or captains who can assist the pastor in various educational efforts in support of marriage and the amendment; help recruiting other volunteers and organizing activity in the parish and local community; help with voter registration drives, phone calls, door knocking and get-out-the-vote efforts later in 2012. Training and resources will be provided.

Your support is vital to help other Minnesotans see the timeless institution of marriage as the bedrock of civil society and the strongest environment for raising children.

To become informed and involved, and for regular marriage amendment campaign updates, please sign up at: HTTP://MINNESOTAFORMARRIAGE.COM. You can also contact MCC outreach coordinator Cathy Deeds at (651) 256-7583 or email her at CDEEDS@MNCC.ORG. Visit “MCC’s Marriage Amendment Resource Page” website for helpful documents on church teaching on marriage, frequently asked questions in the marriage debate, videos and news updates at HTTP://MNCC.ORG/ISSUES/MARRIAGE. God is the author of marriage. But we are his hands and feet. Through prayer, fasting and hard work, Catholics will work to preserve his design for marriage as the union of one man and one woman to the benefit of families, children and society. Please join us and stand up for marriage today.

Jason Adkins is executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference.

12

Commentary

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • AUGUST 18, 2011

/ This Catholic Life

Important life lessons learned on a sailboat hen I was growing up, my father taught me how to sail and it was probably one of the most valuable lessons of my life.

Living in Minneapolis, the City of Lakes, Dad taught me the fundamentals of sailing, which have proven to be useful guides for my adult life, in the business world and at home.

One of the first things you learn in sailing is that you can’t always get from point A to point B in a straight line. If your goal is upwind, you have to sail toward point C for a while before pointing back at your goal. In sailing, this maneuver is called tacking; in business it might be called strategic planning.

Rarely are worthwhile goals attained via short and easy routes. If the route to success were obvious, then everyone would take it. In fact, only some succeed because only some are willing to travel out of their way to reach their goals.

W Faith and the Workplace Tom Bengtson

One of the first things you learn in sailing is that you can’t always get from point A to point B in a straight line

Little things are big things The next thing you learn while sailing is to pay attention to details.

In sailing, you watch the surface of the lake, or the little pieces of yarn on the halyards to indicate shifts in the wind. If you miss a wind shift and fail to adjust, the boom at the bottom of the main sail could come rushing around and

“The most successful people in life and business don’t complain about the things they can’t control; whatever the conditions may be, they figure out a way to succeed.

”

TOM BENGTSON

knock you on the side of the head.

Life is exactly the same way. You have to pay attention to the little things. The behavior of those around you, the patterns established by your customers, the interests of your stakeholders all foreshadow the future. Wise people read those signs and respond appropriately. Those who fail to recognize the signs can be blindsided in painful ways.

In sailing, you also learn to pay attention to differences.

When my dad took me to my first boat show at the old Minneapolis Auditorium, I thought all the sailboats looked alike. Dad taught me to see the difference between a day sailor and a racing boat; to notice things like sail configuration, hull shape, and tiller style. I really grew to appreciate sailboats once I knew what to look for.

The same has been true in my professional life.

It wasn’t until I knew what to look for that I could appreciate particular workplace skills, artistry, craftsmanship and creativity, or a different approach to management.

No sailor, of course, can control the wind. And I observed that the best sailors never complain. Whether the wind was howling at 20 knots or barely detectible, the best sailors adjusted and made the

most of the conditions.

That was probably the most valuable lesson I ever learned.

The most successful people in life and business don’t complain about the things they can’t control; whatever the conditions may be, they figure out a way to succeed.

For more on faith in the workplace, visit WWW.TOMBENGTSON.COM.

Angry with God? Turn to the Bible for complaint inspiration The following question-and-answer column was written by Father Michael Schmitz for Northern Cross, newspaper of the Diocese of Duluth.

How can I pray to God when I am so disappointed in him? I am often angry at God because it feels like nothing I do ever works out. It feels hypocritical to then just go and tell God that everything is OK. Things aren’t OK in my life! irst, amazing question. I am certain that your question arises from a heart that has been broken in some way.

Please know of my prayers for you and for anyone reading this column who is suffering defeat at this moment. You are not alone. You have brothers and sisters in Christ, and you have a God who is on your side.

Your question zeroes in on the most Father Michael important issue we must face: Can we Schmitz really trust God? The Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard believed this question was so vital that he put it forth in words like these: “It is not so important to know whether God exists or not; what is important is to know whether he is love or not.”

As a Catholic, you know that God is love. Because you are in Christ, you know the story; you know that God has made his decision. He is on your side. And yet, what do we do when things crash around us?

F

Commentary

“Our spiritual parents, the Jewish people, have given us an entire spiritual genre called Lamentation.

”

FATHER MICHAEL SCHMITZ

Do you know that you can take your tears to God? Do you know that he actually wants us to bring our broken hearts and broken dreams to him? We can get it out of our heads that God only wants us to tell him our good news.

Biblical basis to complain Our spiritual parents, the Jewish people, have given us an entire spiritual genre called Lamentation.

This is the raw and honest cry of a people who cried out to God: “We thought you were on our side! Why have you forgotten your promises? Why have you abandoned us?”

This book is in the Bible. That means that the Holy Spirit inspired these words of complaint.

This means that it is clear that God does not merely want our praise; he wants our pain as well.

These same prayers (as well as those found in the book of Psalms) show us how we can bring these complaints to God. First, they are honest.

The authors of sacred Scripture did not sugarcoat their pain or frustration. (“How long, O Lord? Will you forget your people forever?”) Rather, they trusted God

enough to tell him the truth. You can begin by bringing God into your situation as it is.

Second, while the Jews were strikingly aware of their present condition, they never forgot that God had blessed them in the past. In their prayer, they specifically praised God and thanked him for the good things they had received from him.

In my experience, it is very easy to think that all that God has done in my life is instantly canceled out when I am in distress.

The Bible reminds us that we must not forget that the God who has guided and cared for us in the past will continue guiding and caring for us today.

In your prayer, be just as specific with your praise as you are with your pain. In this way, the “God, I’m so lonely” is eventually followed by “Thank you for giving me the friendship of my brother when I felt all alone last year.”

Try an ‘act of trust’ Third, make an act of trust in God. It is important to remember that the act of trust is not in yourself or in fate or in the healing effect of time. Sometimes my

prayer for the future centers around those three things.

I say to myself: “I know if I just try harder, it’ll be better,” or “Things will start looking up. They’ve just got to. I’m a good person,” or “Someday this pain won’t sting as much. I’ll just wait until that day.”

Remember, God is on your side. He is faithful even when we are not faithful.

Because of this, we place our trust in him, not in ourselves or anything else.

A great example of this is Psalm 3, a psalm of David. David was the king of Israel. He was the one chosen by God. And yet, he endured tremendous pain and betrayal.

Psalm 3 is entitled (in my Bible) “Threatened but Trusting.” And the subscript that describes the occasion when David wrote this psalm is: “When David fled for his life from his son Absalom.”

Here is a man who was trying to do God’s will (imperfectly), and his own son was chasing him down with thousands of troops.

The Bible was not authored by individuals sitting in ivory towers, untouched by anguish, but by people who experienced the worst that life has to offer and still turned to God. You are chosen by God as well. You can do the same.

Father Michael Schmitz is diocesan director of youth/young adult ministry, and he leads the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Reach him at MSCHMITZ@DIOCESEDULUTH.ORG.

“Teachers must remember that [the Catholic school] depends chiefly on them whether the Catholic school achieves its purposes.”

“Declaration on Christian Education,” Second Vatican Council

Back to School AUGUST 18, 2011

A Catholic Spirit special section

The Catholic Spirit

13

Coming home Hastings native returns as principal of elementary school that she attended

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit

Visitors to the principal’s office at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School in Hastings will inevitably come across artwork on display with this line from Psalm 118: “This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Just about anywhere a person might look is a plaque with this verse on it.

“I have three of them in my office right here and two at home,” said principal Jill Moes, 46, now beginning her first full year as principal of the school she attended as a child.

Today’s school is a merger of the two Catholic schools she attended in the 1970s — Guardian Angels (first through fourth grade) and St. Boniface (fifth through eighth grade).

Path to Hastings Her career started in the public school system, where she worked as school psychologist and assistant principal. Almost two decades later, she found her way back into the Catholic realm, taking a job as business administrator at St. Francis of Assisi in Lake St. Croix Beach.

Finally, in the fall of 2010, she got her chance to come back to her community and be a Catholic school principal after Rita Humbert left her post as principal of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.

“My passion was really for this school — to come here to SEAS because this is my home parish,” she said. “I was born and raised here, my grandma was a thirdgrade teacher here — Alice O’Connor.

She is in heaven right now. Then, both of my parents graduated from here and my siblings graduated from here.

“It’s really easy to be passionate about something you feel so strongly about.

And, I’ve just always admired the school and what it did for me growing up, and giving a real solid faith formation. It’s just so nice to be back.”

At the start of last school year, a parishioner took the job on an interim basis while a search committee looked for a replacement.

When Moes heard about the opening, she quickly submitted an application, though she was principal of Immaculate Conception School in Columbia Heights at the time. The committee unanimously recommended her to Father James Perkl, pastor of the parish and the decision maker for hiring a new principal.

“It was just a thrill to know that she would be available for us,” Father Perkl said. “I was really pleased that it was a

Jill Moes, principal of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School in Hastings, talks to eighth-grade students during class in May. She grew up in Hastings, graduated from the school in 1979 and began her job as principal there last November.

Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit

unanimous decision [by the search committee to recommend her]. That’s a really good feeling.”

Mark Dittman, parish administrator and search committee member, said both he and Father Perkl received calls from parishioners asking them to hire Moes.

Actually, the committee needed very little convincing.

“It was not difficult; it was actually very easy for the committee to come to that consensus,” Dittman said. “That speaks to her merits as a candidate, but it also speaks to the fact that they knew she was from Hastings.”

And, if Moes’ impressive qualifications — 11 years in education, several advanced degrees, including a doctorate in educational administration, plus licensure as a school superintendent, secondary principal, elementary principal and school psychologist — weren’t enough, her intense desire for the job surely would have sealed the deal.

Good listener Moes and her deep roots fit in with a school featuring a number of teachers with long tenure. Especially after losing a beloved principal like Humbert, who was there for 11 years, having someone who grew up in the community is comforting to the staff. But, say some teachers, it didn’t take long for Moes and her warm, enthusiastic personality to win them over.

“She’s very personable,” said first-grade teacher Anita Endres, who grew up in Hastings and has taught at the school for 12 years. “She listens and she listens to our staff. . . . She wants everybody to have a voice. And, I think that’s great.”

Moes started her job part way into the school year last November. She came during the middle of the grueling accreditation process, which involved visits and interviews with state accreditation officials, not to mention mounds of paperwork. But, she managed to not only push her way through the arduous steps, but develop rapport with her teachers in the process.

“She’s easy to talk to, she’s inviting, she’s supportive,” said 20-year teacher Clara Schultz (third grade). “If I have a concern about a student or I want another opinion, she helps me out.”

It’s not just the teachers who have warmed to her presence. Parents, too, have responded positively, especially those like Mike Judge, who was in her grade school class. He is one of two of her classmates now sending a child to the school (the other is Paul Wagner). Mike and his wife, Sheri, have a daughter, Nicole, who will be a second-grader at SEAS starting Sept. 6 “It was neat to see Jill come back,” Mike Judge said. “I’m happy for her.”

In addition to “coming home,” as she puts it, Moes also is glad to be in a place where she can freely express her faith. No longer does she have to put a muzzle on her spiritual beliefs in the halls of a school building.

“I pretty much always wear a little cross around my neck and it was very nice that, in my job interview [at SEAS], I didn’t have to take it off,” she said. “It was the first time I went into a job interview that I didn’t have to turn my cross around [to hide it from view].

“In the Catholic schools, you can say,

‘God bless you’ and it doesn’t need to be preceded by a sneeze. That’s my favorite saying of all. And so, it just builds the whole dynamics of your school and your culture. And, when you come together and you pray together every week at Mass, and you’re praying for people’s grandparents or siblings or friends, it’s going to make you be more tenderhearted and nurturing to everybody around you, and then that builds the culture of your school.”

As Moes gets ready to begin her first full year as principal, she knows she has inherited a healthy school, one that is nearly filled to capacity (holding steady at 300 students in kindergarten through eighth grade) and growing with the addition of a 3-year-old program to its already successful preschool program.

In the coming years, Moes hopes to be there when the parish eventually builds a new school next to the church that will bring both campuses together in one location. This is phase three of a building project that began with the construction of the new church in 1994.

If she is fortunate to be part of the next phase of the school, it will be an exciting chapter of a life spent mostly in the community where she grew up. She lives just a short distance from Hastings on land that has been in her family for six generations, with two of her three children.

“I bought land from my dad [Hubert “Buster” Schneider], a farmer, 23 years ago,” she said. “From my parents’ home to where I’ve lived for the last 24 years, I got a mile. So, I always laugh — I got a mile in life and now I feel like I just got down the hall.”

14

Back to School

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • AUGUST 18, 2011

Holy Angels activities director mixes athletics, theology Michael Kautzman, 40, recently was hired as activities director for the Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield. In that role, he will supervise and manage all extracurricular activities, including athletics. For the past seven years, he has served on the school’s faculty as a theology teacher, theology department chair and director of faith formation.

He also has coached ninth-grade football and baseball and once was a student at the St. Paul Seminary, where he spent time discerning whether God was calling him to the priesthood. (He eventually left the seminary and now is married with one child.) In the following interview with Catholic Spirit reporter Dave Hrbacek, he talks about merging theology with athletics.

How will your theology background guide you in your role as activities director?

Q

“I just think it provides the values that underlie everything I do. So, in that sense, my study of theology helped me to understand my personal beliefs and values more deeply. In that regard, it’s just going to continue to inform everything I do here, just like in the past it’s informed all of the other positions or activities that I’ve been involved in.

“For example, in my role of director of faith formation, we began a program called Faith in Action, in which prayer, service [and] leadership development were intentionally integrated into all of our activities. That program will continue to expand and grow now that I’m also the activities director.”

“God is involved in some way in every activity we do, teaching us a lesson if we stop to reflect back. And then, that guides us forward in a deeper and richer way.

”

MICHAEL KAUTZMAN

How do you hope to incorporate this background into the schools athletic and extracurricular programs?

Q

“There are a few programs. We have the AHA Way program, which is a system of four core values that we integrate into everything that we do, and then, the Faith in Action program, which works hand in hand, and are the primary values and means by which we integrate our larger belief system into our activities.”

Q

Talk more about the AHA Way. “There are four general pillars: Honor the absent, communicate [that] you matter, help others and yourself to succeed, and then be a part of the solution. . . .

Those are basic, core human values, and then the Faith in Action puts in the prayer and service piece, and leadership development. So, they kind of work

together, the two programs, and are integrated into everything we do in the activities department.”

Name one theological principle that you think could greatly benefit your school’s student athletes.

Q

“I’d simplify some of [Jesuit Father] Bernard Lonergan’s epistemology. It’s basically this: Action followed by reflection leads to more purposeful action. . . .

Any time we stop and reflect on an activity, we learn more about ourselves, about what we’ve done well, what we can do better, so that we become deeper and richer persons moving forward after the reflection. God is involved in some way in every activity we do, teaching us a lesson if we stop to reflect back. And then, that guides us forward in a deeper and richer way.”

The Catholic Spirit

You are not merely a theology teacher who has been asked to enter the realm of athletics. Talk about your background in sports and coaching.

Q

“I kind of make a joke that I became an assistant coach at the age of 2 because my mother [Maureen Kautzman] was a P.E. teacher who quit teaching to raise the remaining five children that came after me. We were always outside doing stuff and, as the oldest child, I always was involved in organizing sports for my younger brothers and sisters.

“But then, I went on to participate in athletics in high school — football, basketball, track and baseball. And, I went on to play four years of college football and coach one year, two years of college baseball and ran a summer rec. program for eight years in my hometown [Mott, N.D.]. Then, before I entered the seminary, in the public school system [I taught] P.E. and coached track and basketball, and then moved on to coach football and baseball here [at Holy Angels]. . . . It’s been a part of my entire life.”

Has your background in theology caused you to ask deeper questions, like what role should athletics have — and not have — in the life of a high school student?

Q

“Yes. I think the benefit of having that PLEASE TURN TO KAUTZMAN ON PAGE 15

www.TheCatholicSpirit.com

Back to School

AUGUST 18, 2011 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

15

Kautzman works with school to create a culture of respect CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14 [theology background] is understanding that the person has a complex makeup of body, mind and spirit. The deeper question is how do you balance those three aspects of your life in a healthy way?

And, that’s always a work in progress to try to do. I think that’s one question I often ask myself: How do we help the kids grow in each of these areas and try to pursue excellence in each of these areas, but also teach them how to balance each part of themselves? Because it’s so easy for one to become so much more important than the others that you become unbalanced.”

Your school has a reputation for success in athletics, with state tournament appearances and championships in multiple sports. What is the reputation you would like your school to have when it comes to things like character, sportsmanship and faith?

“I just had a conversation about this with the coaches’ council that I’m start-

Q

ing to develop. We chose a theme for ourselves: Stars shooting for excellence. And, we talked about the importance of wanting to be known as adults who help try to foster excellence in all areas so our kids are carrying themselves the right way on the field.”

How can you help make that happen?

“I guess I would start with one small anecdote. We just sent two of our coaches to a conference at Notre Dame. . . .

One of the speakers said that the best coaches, when they step out on the field for practice, the first person they go up and speak to is the student who may not be the star of the team or may not get a lot of playing time. As soon as the coach does that, the other students on the field see that as an example to follow, that we’re a team here. It’s not just about the best [players] as far as physical abilities, it’s about each one of us participating.

Q

“And, I thought, that’s the sort of spirit that we’d like to have, that every per-

WE OFFER:

son on the team, regardless of playing time or position or awards or achievements, understands that they’re valued.

And, you know, that’s the body of Christ — many parts, one body and each part has a place.”

You were in the seminary. Talk about that experience.

“As I look back at the pattern of my life, it [being in the seminary] was the moment that things went from black and white to color.

Q

“When I encountered philosophy and theology, and then started to reflect back on what I had learned and previous experiences, it just caused everything to look more colorful and vibrant — deeper. It was a wonderful experience. It was [also] a difficult experience when I found that my calling was not to the priesthood, that God was calling me to other things.

There was a little bit of a rocky road there, but now everything seems to have come together. . . . It feels like those two things [theology and athletics] are really starting

to merge in everything that I do in my role as activities director. All the passion I have for athletics and activities is present, but then those values and that perspective that I gained from my study of theology helps me to understand and to channel that passion more properly and correctly so that I see things in a deeper way and a more meaningful way.”

Would you like to see priesthood and religious vocations come out of this school, and will you try to promote them?

Q

“Yes, most certainly. When I was a freshman football coach, we regularly tried to have our chaplain or other priests in the area come in to do a freshman football Mass. Our current chaplain has Mass for our varsity football team before every game and always gives them something to think about and chew on. We were founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph, and they want the young women in the community to be inspired by that example of commitment.”

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16

Back to School

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • AUGUST 18, 2011

School libraries help bridge technology, learning for the demands of high school by familiarizing them with applications such as Google Docs, which enables students to work collaboratively.

Students learn on computers in some libraries, while at other schools they are taught by library or technology specialists in their classrooms. Also, many libraries are using technology in their check-out systems, Kane said.

St. Michael School in St. Michael is expanding its computer lab in part as it adds the seventh grade at the school, said Amy Huberty, technology specialist. It has purchased 26 laptops for all the students as well as 27 iPod Touch audio devices to help younger students develop reading fluency.

“Our goal hopefully is in the future to go to a true one-to-one [student-to-computer] program,” she said. “Financially, in this economy, we can’t do it right now.

We’re investigating all there is out there in technology, and at this point we decided to add this additional lab of MacBooks.”

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit

Along with crisp new paper books, Holy Spirit School students this fall might notice additions in their library and classrooms, such as audio books and Internet-based interactive white boards, which will help them continue developing media technology skills, according to Mary Wollmering, the school’s librarian/media specialist.

“We can’t expect children to power down when they enter the school building,” said Wollmering, who in addition to running Holy Spirit’s library also teaches the K-8 school’s upper level students computer skills and web-based research.

More tools for learning Their libraries might not look much different, but a number of the 85 schools that the archdiocese’s roughly 21,600 elementary and middle school students attend are adding new technology that will impact how kids read and learn in just about every subject — whether or not they’re in the library, according to Mary Kane, the archdiocese’s assistant superintendent of schools.

From laptops to hand-held devices such as Apple iPods and iPads, schools are expanding their teaching tools for more differentiated learning. All 95 schools in the archdiocese are equipped with high-speed Internet, Kane said.

Schools are using books and other kinds of media, Kane said. “I think they’ve done a very good job of just looking at both ways of using those resources.”

Using a variety of resources helps prepare students for high school. “In order to meet the needs of more users, we’re trying to provide access in multiple formats,” said Judith Roggow, librarian at De La Salle High School and chair of the high school group of the Catholic School Librarian and Media Directors Association.

“It’s trying to adjust our offerings to meet the needs of the digital learners,” she said. “Students are all digital natives.

They grew up with the stuff, and so we need to provide it to them in that con-

Changing landscape

“Students are all digital natives. They grew up with the stuff, and so we need to provide it to them in that content and that format.”

JUDITH ROGGOW De La Salle High School librarian

tent and that format.”

Paper books are definitely still a big part of learning, Wollmering said, adding that a fair amount of her library/media budget still goes toward traditional paper books. Many students still like the tactile nature of such books, she said, adding

that the images in picture books don’t show up very well in e-readers.

At the same time, Wollmering said students who have e-readers are excited about reading and she is considering purchasing the devices for the library. Holy Spirit also is working to prepare students

Similar to many of the schools adding technology to their media offerings, St. Michael depends in part on donations.

Like Wollmering, Huberty also teaches computer classes. Far from just handling books, some librarians now also work with other forms of media.

Some schools, like St. Michael, employ an IT specialist to manage technology, according to Kane. Whether they’re in the library, the computer lab or the classroom, librarians and technology specialists have an important role in guiding students through the rapidly changing media landscape.

“As teachers, we’re preparing kids to be contributing citizens in the world, and you see technology is changing every day,” Huberty said.

“I don’t know what the world is going to look like when the third-grader I’m teaching this year is out in the world, so I have to do what I can to give them that foundation so that when they are out in that world, they can take the skills that they’ve learned and apply them to the new technology.”

Tips for packing healthy lunches for students The rush of getting the kids out the door in the morning can make packing a healthy lunch seem like an impossible burden.

The typical parent will pack around 200 school lunches yearly, and planning them all requires some serious nutritional skills. Not only do parents need to know how to choose healthy fare, but they need to know how to pick foods their kids will actually eat.

“When you plan your child’s lunches, be sure to choose items that are both healthful and fun,” says Edmond Sanctis, co-founder of Sahale Snacks, a producer of all-natural nuts and nut blends. “You want to select foods that are colorful and appealing and that provide energy and nutrients to get them through the day.”

■ Get creative with protein. Nuts and beans provide more fiber and less saturated fat than traditional proteins like meat, cheese, and eggs. Try making a bean dip from chickpeas or pinto beans and pairing it with crunchy vegetables, like carrots, celery, bell peppers or whole-wheat pita triangles. Or, add texture and sweetness to low-fat yogurt with a handful of nuts or granola.

■ Pack edible ABCs. Fresh fruits and nuts are a fun way for kids to get muchneeded vitamins, from A to zinc. For example, oranges pack a wallop of vitamin C, blueberries are full of antioxidants, and almonds are rich in vitamin E, calcium, magnesium and iron.

■ Portion control matters. Little bellies require smaller portions. While kids love opening crinkly bags of chips, the serving size may be too large and unhealthy. Instead, look for small portion packs, like .75ounce bags of healthy nut blends, such as Sahale Snacks Cashews with Pomegranate or Almonds with Cranberries. Choose packaged foods made with natural sweeteners and flavors, like vanilla, honey and sea salt, instead of artificial flavors or high fructose corn syrup.

■ Drinks are as important as foods. Once you’ve gone to all the trouble of choosing nutritious foods, don’t ruin your efforts by tossing soda into your child’s lunchbox.

Opt for unflavored low-fat milk, water or 100 percent fruit juice. Many juice products only have small amounts of real fruit juice, so read labels carefully.

■ Make veggies special. Add extra flavor and crunch to salads with apple slices, nuts and dried cranberries. Or, mix in pre-packaged nut blends or seasoned nuts. For young children, consider blends combining tree nuts with dried fruit, like pomegranate. Older kids might like salads topped with more flavorful choices, such as Sahale Snacks Barbecued Almonds with Mild Chipotle and Ranch.

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17

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • AUGUST 18, 2011

Madrid gathering is archbishop’s fifth World Youth Day CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 and to wallow in the grace of being a member of the Catholic Church.

I am going to Madrid to underscore the fact that the leadership of our church has great pride in our young people and looks to them as the hope for the future of our Catholic faith.

What do you hope the youth from your archdiocese and from the world get from participating in WYD? A: As I indicated earlier, I believe that all the young people will have a tremendous experience of their universal faith. Catholic youth come from all over the world to celebrate with our Holy Father. As my dad used to say, “It’s seeing the forest for the trees.” It gives one a new vision of being a part of something much bigger than ourselves, or even our own parishes or local dioceses.

I hope that this reality of belonging to something so vibrant and so alive will help the spiritual life of these young people to grow and to blossom.

Photo courtesy of the Diocese of New Ulm

What do you think are the gifts that U.S. participants will bring to WYD Madrid 2011?

A: I believe that the U.S. participants will bring great enthusiasm, as well as the firm conviction of their faith.

Young people here in the United States are searching for answers to spiritual, economic and vocational questions. There is a great lack of leadership in our government and political bodies. Young people are looking for a sense of direction and I am hopeful that they will gain that from their participation in this WYD. You have been at prior World Youth Days. Can you share any special moment or anecdote that touched you?

A: There are so many fond memories that I have of the WYD, beginning with that first Pentecost Sunday in Rome.

I especially remember the torrential rain that was

Archbishop Nienstedt talks with the young people from the Diocese of New Ulm at World Youth Day in Cologne, Gemany, in 2005.

falling on us in the Mile-High Stadium in Denver. As soon as the pope’s plane touched down, the clouds disbursed and the sun began to shine. The minute the popemobile arrived in the arena, there was an outpouring of cheering, singing and clapping. I was terribly moved by the excitement that the Holy Father was able to engender in the youth who were gathered. He had a very direct way of being able to touch these young people.

Another key moment was in Toronto when the pope first came on stage. The cheers were deafening with the cry, “John Paul II, we love you!” At that, the Holy Father, who had been suffering from Parkinson’s for so many years, looked up and a beautiful smile came over his face. I had not seen that smile in three years! But again,

Men more susceptible to porn addiction CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 visit pornographic sites on a monthly basis. Sixty percent of men in their 20s and 30s also report regular use.

One out of every three visitors to pornographic websites are women, though they tend to favor chat rooms two times more than men.

Psychologists report that men are more susceptible to becoming addicted to pornography since they respond more strongly to visual stimulation than women. A man’s brain is distinct and can fixate on sexual stimuli, creating neural pathways that are worn into the brain over time, becoming a constellation of images, chemical reactions, thoughts, feelings and sensations that eventually overwhelm the frontal lobe controls. Soon the viewer is addicted.

Like other addictions, it takes more and more stimuli to achieve the desired effect. As this continues, the person may be tempted to act out, at first in simply reckless ways, though eventually even in a criminal manner.

Breaking the cycle The first step in breaking this addictive pattern is to bring the problem out in the open and admit to not having control over this behavior. Here the sacrament of reconciliation/penance can be of great assistance. The priest is there to offer hope, healing and, above all, forgiveness.

The second step is to avoid the very circumstances that will lead to further temptation. The avoidance of the occasion of sin is of paramount importance in the struggle with the passions.

Further, having a professional counselor or a close friend to help monitor one’s behavior can be of great benefit.

Being a better steward of one’s time is likewise essential. Many fall prey to temptation because they are bored and have too much time on their hands. A regular prayer life and frequent participation in the Mass are

“Parents should also be

proactive by teaching their children about the beauty of our God-given sexuality and the truth about social morality upon which they will want to base their lives.

”

ARCHBISHOP JOHN NIENSTEDT

also powerful sources for fighting temptation.

Finally, a daily examination of conscience along with a renewed expression of our sorrow for past sins provides an attitude of determination to fight against the lure of the Evil One. Parents should be particularly vigilant in monitoring the activities of their children. Eleven years old is the average age of first Internet exposure to pornography.

This can be accessed on the computer, an iPod or even a cell phone.

But parents should also be proactive by teaching their children about the beauty of our God-given sexuality and the truth about social morality upon which they will want to base their lives. Parents also ought to encourage them in the habit of reading good and wholesome literature.

In Detroit, there is one evangelical pastor who has overcome an addiction to pornography and is now willing to share the new hope that he had found by helping others who were likewise afflicted. His is a powerful witness.

I hope we find that same kind of witness here in St. Paul and Minneapolis. God bless you!

it showed the deep affection that our Holy Father had for these young people.

Why is participating in WYD important to you, and how has it impacted your ministry?

A: I continue to be concerned about the well-being of our young people and the practice of their faith. I make regular visits to our Catholic high schools and colleges in order to be present and available for our young people.

The WYD gives me ideas about how I can be more accessible to the youth and share the gift of my faith with them. I really take the example of our Holy Fathers, Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, as models for me to emulate in my ministry.

Conference addresses intercultural ministry CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5 in 2007, there was a big movement mobilizing the Latino leadership in this symposium because the ‘CoWorkers’ document just came out and we felt they left out the whole non-white church,” she said.

During discussions about promoting excellence in lay ecclesial ministry with an intercultural perspective, the Latino and other ethnic communities expressed concerns about proposed education levels for catechesis.

“The American standard is very high for formal education, and when we started the talks a few years ago, there was talk that only people with master’s [degrees] would be educators and catechists,” Manancero said. “Not everybody that comes from Latino America has a master’s or four years of university. But they are still doing a great job teaching catechesis in our parishes.”

One of the initiatives the bishops approved is to do training about intercultural competency, she said.

“There is a need for all the Catholic dioceses to have that . . . to be more open to our differences and similarities,” she said. A pilot training program was started earlier this year in three dioceses, she said, and is to be expanded to regional training sessions in January 2012.

“All this push about intercultural ministry comes from the vision of the bishops that our church is changing,” Manancero said. “It gave me hope that we as a church community are going to be respected . . . and be able to still teach and pass along our faith and . . . valued as baptized people.

“I always tell my leaders that God doesn’t choose the prepared ones, but prepares the chosen ones.”

To read about previous symposiums, speakers, authors and more, visit WWW1.CSBSJU.EDU/SOT/SYMPOSIUM.

SMALL BUSINESS Bob Balk Owner, St. George Catholic Books & Gifts Church of St. Paul, Ham Lake

William S. Bojan, Jr. Founder & CEO of Integrated Governance Solutions, LLC. St. Hubert Catholic Community, Chanhassen

Jackie Jacobs Gibney

Archbishop John Nienstedt will present the 10th annual

Leading With Faith Awards

President & Co-owner, Jacobs Marketing, St. Therese, Deephaven

Jim Reinhardt Owner, Minnesota Rehabilitation Services Holy Family Catholic Church, St. Louis Park

Robert J. Strachota President, Shenehon Company Our Lady of Grace, Edina

at the 2011 Catholic Spirit Business Leaders Luncheon

Martin D. Schutz, Esq.

Thursday, September 15

Attorney & Partner, Flower and Schutz, PLC. St. John the Baptist, New Brighton

Reservations now being taken!

LARGE BUSINESS

Jin oinhonoring Archbishop Nienstedt and The Catholic Spirit those who live out their faith life in the

Paul Leighton

workplace and in their parish and community.

Larry Lejeune

The Leading With Faith Awards Luncheon will be served at Noon (gather at 11:30 a.m.) in the Rauenhorst Hall, Coeur de Catherine building at St. Catherine University, 2004 Randolph Ave., St. Paul.

Partner, North Star Resource Group St. John Neumann, Eagan

Chairman and CEO LeJeune Investment St. Bartholomew, Wayzata

NONPROFIT Mark Dienhart EVP, COO, University of St Thomas Nativity, St. Paul

Richard R. Engler Individual reservations are $30.

Table of 10: $300.

For reservations and information, contact Mary Gibbs at The Catholic Spirit, 651-251-7709 gibbsm@archspm.org Emcee Tom Hauser KSTP-TV

Patron sponsors:

President/Principal, Cretin-Derham Hall High School St. John Neumann, Eagan

Gay L. Jacobson Operations Director, Metro Cable Network Immaculate Conception, Columbia Heights

John LeBlanc Development, Marketing & Communications Director St. Therese of New Hope & Oxbow Lake Christ the King, Minneapolis

Sponsor:

“You say grace before meals. But I say grace before . . . sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink.”

G.K. Chesterton

The Lesson Plan The Catholic Spirit

Reflections on faith and spirituality

AUGUST 18, 2011

19

Accept sacramental graces flowing from Christ through church t Caesarea Philippi, about 20 miles north of the Sea of Galilee, there is a large rock mountain — or hill — that towers above what is generally a plain.

At the time of Jesus, this rock was designated as the temple of the Roman god Pan. This god of shepherds and hunters, leader of the nymphs, president of the mountains, patron of a country life, and guardian of flocks and herds, was also adored by fishermen.

Pan also was thought to hold the Deacon Peter Akudugu keys to the netherworld.

Jesus, who often used powerful imagery to get his message across, brought his disciples before this huge rock. He pointed to Peter and said, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in

A

Readings

For reflection

Sunday, Aug. 21 21st Sunday in ordinary time ■ Isaiah 22:19-23 ■ Romans 11:33-36 ■ Matthew 16:13-20

Think about how we are enriched by the abundance of water in our state and how much more abundant is God’s love.

Sunday Scriptures

heaven” (Matthew 16: 18-19).

Not just any spring Another feature of this rock at Caesarea Philippi that is worth contemplating this week, is that it is at the site of a natural spring — not just any spring, but one that forms the headwaters of the Jordan River.

The spring at Caesarea Philippi is to the Jordan a little like what Lake Itasca is to the Mississippi. The rock sits atop the

source of the Jordan River, which gives life to the Promised Land, the lush area that Abraham was promised (Genesis 12:7); the lush area that spiritually represents heaven and the church on earth.

Another significance of the Jordan River is that Jesus was baptized there by John (Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22). So, spiritually, it is the Jordan River in which we are all baptized.

And passing through the waters of baptism allows us to inherit the Promised

Land, also referred to as the kingdom.

We Catholics believe that the pope, in communion with the college of bishops, is the successor of the authority that Jesus clearly gives to Peter in Sunday’s passage.

Authority lives on in pope Pope Benedict XVI, with the world’s bishops, is the guardian of the sacramental graces that flow from Christ to give life to all of God’s people in the church.

The authority of Peter lives on in the pope, the chief shepherd, and we are invited to remain under his guidance and enjoy the life-giving graces that flow from the sacraments and the church.

Let us continue to avail ourselves of those graces by being faithful to the teachings of Christ that come to us through the hierarchy of the church; by taking part in the sacrament of reconciliation; by being in communion with Jesus through prayer, the Word of God and the Eucharist; and being open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.

Deacon Peter Akudugu is in formation for the priesthood at The St. Paul Seminary for the Diocese of NavrongoBolgatanga in Ghana. His teaching parish is Lumen Christi in St. Paul.

Daily Scriptures Sunday, Aug. 21 21st Sunday in ordinary time Isaiah 22:19-23 Romans 11:33-36 Matthew 16:13-20 “For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor?”

— Romans 11:34 One given of life is that people will surprise us. The person we didn’t expect to attend our wedding travels across the ocean to do so, while the neighbor down the street doesn’t show. The child who barely maintained a B average in high school ends up graduating from college with the highest honors. The person you thought was cold and distant becomes your best friend. If people refuse to follow the script we have written for them, how much more is that true of God. Monday, Aug. 22 Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5, 8b-10 Matthew 23:13-22 We know the spirit or purpose of the law has been destroyed when we demand perfection rather than celebrate progress.

Tuesday, Aug. 23 St. Rose of Lima, virgin 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8 Matthew 23:23-26 Notice how easy it is to make what is trivial the center of our attention.

Wednesday, Aug. 24 Bartholomew, apostle

Revelation 21:9b-14 John 1:45-51 Recall a time when you stepped out in faith despite being skeptical.

Thursday, Aug. 25 Louis of France or Joseph Calasanz, priest 1 Thessalonians 3:7-13 Matthew 24:42-51 Without a hopeful vision and a sense of purpose, our hearts grow dull.

Friday, Aug. 26 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 Matthew 25:1-13 Persistence and patience are undervalued virtues.

Saturday, Aug. 27 Monica 1 Thessalonians 4:9-11 Matthew 25:14-30 When we make choices out of the fear of losing something, we become enslaved.

Sunday, Aug. 28 22nd Sunday in ordinary time Jeremiah 20:7-9 Romans 12:1-2 Matthew 16:21-27 “Be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God.” — Romans 12:2 Although the busy mother of three continued to hold a demanding full-time job, I noticed she was happier and more patient with her young children. She explained that, one day, she was

praying and suddenly recalled the airlines’ instruction to put on your oxygen mask first before helping your children put on theirs. She realized it was a truth she had to apply to her life. Before she could care for others, she had to begin doing things that gave her life. Is there a word that the Spirit wants to speak to your heart that requires a willingness to change your mind?

Monday, Aug. 29 Martyrdom of John the Baptist 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Mark 6:17-29 The innocent suffer when we are driven by our hunger for success, power or approval, instead of compassion.

Friday, Sept. 2 Colossians 1:15-20 Luke 5:33-39 We resist what we do not understand.

Saturday, Sept. 3 Gregory the Great, pope Colossians 1:21-23 Luke 6:1-5 What life experiences have taught you that the law is not an end in itself?

Wednesday, Aug. 31 Colossians 1:1-8 Luke 4:38-44 Who in your family or neighborhood needs your prayers and healing presence today?

Sunday, Sept. 4 23rd Sunday in ordinary time Ezekiel 33:7-9 Romans 13:8-10 Matthew 18:15-20 “Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.”

— Romans 13:10 A well-known Franciscan preacher likes to say that it is much easier to follow a set of rules than to really love one another. From my experience, he is right.

I would much rather go to church every day than listen to what the person who pushes all my buttons has to say. I would rather use my faith to make me feel superior than remain open to those who have different political and religious viewpoints. Luckily, God does not give up on us no matter how hard we avoid growing into the fullness of Christ.

Thursday, Sept. 1 Colossians 1:9-14 Luke 5:1-11 We are challenged to step out in faith in our daily choices.

The daily reflections are written by Terri Mifek, a member of St. Edward in Bloomington and a certified spiritual director at the Franciscan Retreat House in Prior Lake.

Tuesday, Aug. 30 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6, 9-11 Luke 4:31-37 When we least expect it, the Spirit frees our hearts and enlightens our minds.

20

The Lesson Plan

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • AUGUST 18, 2011

New Creed text precisely articulates Jesus’ divinity, humanity The following is the next in a series of articles regarding the new Roman missal, which will be used in the United States beginning Nov. 27, the first Sunday of Advent. n this article, we continue our examination of some of the most significant changes to the Creed in the new translation of the Roman Missal.

In the last issue of The Catholic Spirit, we discussed the changes in the text from the first person plural to the first person singular (i.e., “We believe” to “I believe”) as well as the inclusion in the new translation of the important phrase “maker . . . of all things visible and invisible,” a small but significant edit to the current “maker . . . of all things seen and unseen.”

There are a number of other modifications being made to the Creed that are important to mention. Two will be explored here briefly.

One change that will certainly be noticed right away when reciting the new text is the translation of the Latin term “consubstantialem” as “consubstantial” rather than “one in Being.” To be sure, this new word Father is not familiar to us and will perhaps John Paul never be used by us outside of the Erickson Sacred Liturgy, unless of course we are professional theologians. All the same, it is an incredibly important expression, the truth of which many a martyr hath made.

One of the central mysteries of the Faith is the belief in the divinity of Christ. Jesus Christ, who is like us in all things but sin, shares with the Father the divine nature. “Consubstantial” is a word derived from the scrupulously precise terminology of philosophy and metaphysics, and was devised by the early Church Fathers to defend this saving revelation against those who denied the divinity of Jesus Christ. It is perhaps best here to quote the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 464 and 465:

“The truth of the Incarnation is unveiled at Christmas, when the Son of God is born to the sound of angelic choirs and the homage of oriental kings,” says Father John Paul Erickson, director of the archdiocesan Office of Worship. “But it is a truth begun at the Annunciation, with the respectful announcement of a lone angelic messenger and the simple reply of a young Jewish woman.”

At left, a church window depicts the angel Gabriel greeting Mary.

I

Lift Up Your Hearts

“The unique and altogether singular event of the Incarnation of the Son of God does not mean that Jesus Christ is part God and part man, nor does it imply that he is the result of a confused mixture of the divine and the human. He became truly man while remaining truly God. Jesus Christ is true God and true man. During the first centuries, the Church had to defend and clarify this truth of faith against the heresies that falsified it.

“The first heresies denied not so much Christ’s divinity as his true humanity (Gnostic Docetism).

From apostolic times the Christian faith has insisted on the true incarnation of God’s Son ‘come in the flesh.’ But already in the third century, the Church in a council at Antioch had to affirm against Paul of Samosata that Jesus Christ is Son of God by nature and not by adoption. The first ecumenical council of Nicaea in 325 confessed in its Creed that the Son of God is ‘begotten, not made, of the same substance (homoousios) as the Father,’ and condemned Arius, who had affirmed that the Son of God ‘came to be from things that were not’ and that he was ‘from another substance’ than that of the Father.”

One may complain that this new word “consubstantial” is complex and unnecessarily cumbersome for the average person in the pew. There is no doubt that the new word will require thoughtful pause and intelligent explanation. But let us remember what it is that we are trying to enunciate with this word — an awesome mystery that is impossible to fully comprehend by the human mind. Perhaps it is for the best than that the word used to describe the divinity of Christ is perplexing and mysterious.

The ‘in-fleshing’ of God Another change being made to the English translation of the Creed touches upon our belief in the Incarnation of the Son of God, or “the in-fleshing” of God. The Latin phrase “Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto ex Maria Virgine” found in the second section of the Creed will now be translated as “and by the Holy Spirit

CNS photo from Crosiers

Current text

New text

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father.

Through him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died, and was buried.

On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified.

He has spoken through the Prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages.

God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.

I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Coming up next ■ Sept. 1: “The Preface Dialogue.”

■ Read past articles in the new missal series online at THECATHOLICSPIRIT.COM.

was incarnate of the Virgin Mary. . . .” Currently, our Creed proclaims “by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary. . . .” The two English translations of the one Latin text are quite different, and really express two different things.

To say that the Son of God was incarnate of the Virgin Mary is to proclaim a truth that took place at the very moment of Mary’s yes to the message of Gabriel.

The womb of the Virgin was the first resting place of the Son of God upon his entry into the created world.

We do not believe that the Son of God became one of us at the Nativity in Bethlehem when Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, but rather in the womb of the Blessed Virgin, in which and from which the humanity of Jesus Christ was fashioned and woven together.

It is a biological fact that life begins at conception.

The life of Jesus Christ, who is the Incarnate Son of God, was no different. And, with his life came his body. This body, offered on the cross for the salvation of the world, was taken from Mary in her maternal womb. It was in this new ark of the covenant that the Word of God became incarnate.

The truth of the Incarnation is unveiled at Christmas, when the Son of God is born to the sound of angelic choirs and the homage of oriental kings. But it is a truth begun at the Annunciation, with the respectful announcement of a lone angelic messenger and the simple reply of a young Jewish woman.

The four changes to the English translation of the Creed discussed in these articles do not exhaust the edits that will be noticed on Nov. 27. Furthermore, the new words and manner of expression will indeed take some getting used to. But the central truths of the faith, expressed succinctly in the Nicene Creed, are well worth the effort.

Father John Paul Erickson is director of the archdiocesan Office of Worship.

“We are honored to continue to spread his profound and powerful message of hope for our country, our continent and our world.”

Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, announcing that the Knights of Columbus will purchase the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center

Arts & Culture AUGUST 18, 2011

Exploring our church and our world

The Catholic Spirit

21

Knights to buy cultural center, establish shrine to late pope foundation chaired by Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, who on the day of Anderson’s announcement issued a decree establishing the cultural center as an official archdiocesan shrine.

Cardinal Wuerl said beatification of the late pope “has focused increased attention on the great gift that he is for the church.”

“Evident devotion to him prompted the decision to designate the facility being acquired by the Knights of Columbus as an archdiocesan shrine. This shrine will provide a focal point for increased devotion to Blessed John Paul II and an ongoing recognition of his legacy,” he added.

Catholic News Service Supreme Knight Carl Anderson announced Aug. 2 that the Knights of Columbus will purchase the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington.

The announcement came during the business session of the Knights’ 129th annual convention Aug. 2-4.

Anderson, delivering his annual report, said that over the next year, the fraternal organization will build a shrine to Blessed John Paul II and put up related exhibits on the property.

“True to Pope John Paul II’s vision, and using the story of his life as inspiration, the shrine will be an opportunity to evangelize and spread the good news of the Gospel through a new evangelization,” he said.

Fitting honor

Opened in 2001 The center, which went up for sale about 18 months ago, sits on 12 acres just steps from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and The Catholic University of America.

It cost $75 million to build and the property has been valued at $37.7 million.

The Knights bought the property for $22.7 million, according to a letter from Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron to priests and laypeople of the archdiocese.

The letter, which is posted on the archdiocesan website, also said the sale should be finalized in 60 days.

The center opened in 2001 with financial backing from the Detroit Archdio-

CNS photo / Nancy Wiechec

The Knights of Columbus has announced that it will open a shrine dedicated to Blessed John Paul II at the current location of the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington. Seen here in an April photo, the center is located in northeast Washington within steps of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and The Catholic University of America.

cese. Under the terms of the sale, the archdiocese will receive about $20 million, and Catholic University, which has a secured interest in the land, will receive $2.7 million.

“Because of his tireless evangelization efforts, an entire generation of Catholics

has become known as the ‘John Paul generation,’ and certainly we are honored to continue to spread his profound and powerful message of hope for our country, our continent and our world,” Anderson said in his remarks.

The complex has been overseen by a

Exhibits planned for the center will include displays on the life and legacy of Blessed John Paul and on the Catholic heritage of North America.

Cardinal Wuerl was attending the Knights’ convention and in remarks there said: “I can think of no more fitting way to venerate this extraordinary pope whom the church has declared ‘Blessed’ and to honor and carry on his legacy than through this shrine.”

The center experienced financial difficulties throughout its history as it never attracted the number of visitors it expected. In 2006, because of low attendance rates, it discontinued museum activities and focused on being a place of research on the pontiff. It has been open only by appointment.

Make plans to see a Catholic film:

‘Vito Bonafacci’ Showing Friday, August 26 through Thursday, September 1

AMC Arbor Lakes 16 12575 Elm Creek Blvd., Maple Grove, MN North of the I-94/I-494/-694 junction In the Arbor Lakes Mall area

Movie Times: 1-888-AMC 4FUN www.amctheatres.com/ArborLakes

View the trailer at: www.vitobonafacci.com/Trailer.html

22 Calendar Submissions DEADLINE: Noon Thursday, seven days before the anticipated Thursday date of publication.

Recurring or ongoing events must be submitted each time they occur.

LISTINGS: Accepted are brief notices of upcoming events hosted

by Catholic parishes and institutions. If the Catholic connection is not clear, please emphasize it in your press release.

ITEMS MUST INCLUDE the following to be considered for publication in the calendar: • Time and date of event.

• Full street address of event.

• Description of event.

• Contact information in case of questions.

E-MAIL: SPIRITCALENDAR@ ARCHSPM.ORG.

(No attachments, please.)

FAX: (651) 291-4460.

MAIL: “Calendar,” The Catholic Spirit, 244 Dayton Ave., St. Paul, MN 55102.

AUGUST 18, 2011 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

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.

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.

Catholic United Financial matching grant breakfast at St. Joseph, Waconia — September 17: 7 to 11 a.m. at the corner of E. First Street and Elm Street. Features pancakes, French toast and more.

Catholic United Financial matching grant pork chop dinner at St. Joseph, Waconia — September 23: 4 to 8 p.m. at the corner of E. First Street and Elm Street.

Parish events Corn Fest at St. Gerard, Brooklyn Park — August 19 to 21: 6 to 11 p.m.

Friday, 4 to 11 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday at 9600 Regent Ave. S. Features live entertainment and food, including fresh sweet corn. Friday night music by Zebra Mussels, Saturday is Boogie Wonderland. Visit WWW.ST-GERARD.ORG. Pig roast and dance at St. Peter, Richfield — August 20: Social hour at 5:30 p.m. with catered dinner from 6:30 to 7:30 at 6730 Nicollet Ave. S. Dancing from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Cost is $10 for adults and $5 for children ages 4 to 10. Call (612) 866-5089 for information.

Parish festival at Holy Family, St. Louis Park — August 20: Festival fun from 2 to 5 p.m. featuring paintball, train rides and more. Food booths from 2 to 10 p.m. and a chicken dinner from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Music from 7 to 10 p.m. at 5900 W. Lake St. For a schedule of other events, visit WWW.HFCMN.ORG. FunFest at St. Thomas the Apostle, St. Paul — August 20 to 21: Saturday car show from 2 to 6 p.m. and Robby Vee and his Rock-n-Roll Caravan from 6 to 10 p.m. Sunday features a hog roast, games and a cake walk beginning at 11 a.m. at 2119 Stillwater Ave. Festival at St. Mary of the Purification, Marystown, Shakopee — August 21: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 15850 Marystown Road. Features smorgasbord from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with more food available under the tents at 1 p.m.

Includes games, quilt auction, wall of wine, and music by Czech Area Concertina Club from 4 to 6 p.m.

Festival at St. Bernard, St. Paul — August 21: 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 187 Geranium Ave. W. Outdoor Mass at 10:30 a.m. followed by entertainment, booya, country store and more. Food, including fried bananas, will be available.

Fun Fest at St. Mathias, Hampton — August 21: Begins with a polka Mass at 11 a.m. at 23315 Northfield Blvd. followed by food from noon to 3:30 p.m., country store, games and live country music.

Festival at St. Cyril and Methodius,

inflatable rides for the kids. Visit

Don’t Miss

WWW.STMARYS-WBL.ORG.

Bloomington parish sponsors third annual Pro-life 5K The third annual Pro-life 5K run/walk will be held at St. Bonaventure in Bloomington Sept. 17.

Registration will be open from 7 to 7:45 a.m. with the event beginning at 8 a.m. Registration fee is $10 or $20 per family, and the first 100 to register will get a free t-shirt.

Proceeds will benefit the Robbinsdale Women’s Center.

For information, email JIM_KOEPKE@YAHOO.COM. St. Bonaventure is located at 901 E. 90th St. Minneapolis — August 21: Polka Mass at 10:30 a.m. followed by festival from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1315 Second St. N.E. Food includes Polish sausage, hot dogs, cabbage rolls (Holubky) and Hispanic foods. The Don Pafko and Lipa Slovak Dancers perform at about 1 p.m.

Annual Ho-down, Most Holy Trinity, Veseli — August 21: Begins with a polka Mass at 11 a.m. at 4939 N. Washington St. Features a chicken cook-out, home baked kolacky, tea rings and mocha cakes, games and music until 6:15 p.m.

Backyard BBQ at St. Bridget, Minneapolis — August 21: 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 3811 Emerson Ave. N. Includes a pig roast, spaghetti dinner, silent auction and children’s games.

Assumption Grade School reunion at Assumption, St. Paul — August 21: 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at 51 W. Seventh St. Refreshments will be served. To RSVP, call (651) 777-2115.

Archdiocesan Choir Camp at the Cathedral of St. Paul, St. Paul — August 22 to 26: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily at 239 Selby Ave. A choral experience for current members of the St. Cecilia Choir and new choristers ages 10 to 17. Cost is $75 and includes lunch. For information, email LLAWYER@CATHEDRALSAINTPAUL.ORG. Basilica night at Target Field, Minneapolis — August 26: 5 p.m. BBQ at the Basilica, 88 N. 17th St., followed by the 7:10 p.m. Twins game. For information, visit WWW.MARY.ORG. Festival at St. Anne, Hamel — August 27 and 28: 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at 200 Hamel Road. Food, games, entertainment and more. Chicken dinner Sunday 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Festival at St. Luke, Clearwater — August 28: 10 a.m. polka Mass followed by a pork chop dinner at 17545 Huber Ave. N.W. Features square dancing, live music, food booths, games and quilt auction.

Rummage sale at St. Austin, Minneapolis — September 8, 9 and 10: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, bag day at 4051 Thomas Ave. N. Countryfest at St. Patrick, Oak Grove — September 9, 10, 11: Begins with a teen dance Friday from 8 to 11 p.m. at 19921 Nightingale St. N.W. Saturday features a 5K fun run/walk, Highland games, magic show and fireworks. Mass at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Sunday with games and more from noon to 4 p.m. and classic car show until 3 p.m. Visit WWW.ST-PATRICKS.ORG. 33rd Incredible Festival at Our Lady of the Lake, Mound — September 9, 10, 11: Features live music, 5K run,

carnival rides and games and more throughout the weekend. BBQ chicken dinner served at noon Sunday at 2385 Commerce Blvd.

Cornfest at St. Jude of the Lake, Mahtomedi — September 10: 1 to 10 p.m. at 700 Mahtomedi Ave. Features corn on the cob and a chicken dinner, live music, classic cars and kids’ parade at 1 p.m.

Steamboat Days at St. Nicholas, Carver — September 10 and 11: Saturday noon to midnight and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 412 Fourth St. W. Features a chicken dinner from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday and pork lunch on Sunday. Features a raffle, country store, beer garden and more. For information, visit WWW .CARVERSTEAMBOATDAYS.WORDPRESS.COM. Festival at St. Ignatius, Annandale — September 10: Polka Mass at 4 p.m. at 35 Birch St. E., followed by a pork chop dinner, live polka music from 5 to 7 p.m., bingo, raffles, beer garden and more. Music by Unleaded from 7 to 9:30 p.m.

Festival at Holy Name of Jesus, Wayzata — September 10: Outdoor tent Mass at 4:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 155 County Road 24.

Features performances by Sonar and Tim Mahoney (featured on “The Voice”) after dinner.

Garage sale at Sacred Heart, St. Paul — September 10 and 11: 9 a.m. to noon Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Sunday at 840 E. Sixth St. Festival at St. Odilia, Shoreview — September 10 and 11: Saturday noon to 10:30 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. at 3495 N. Victoria St. Features grill foods and authentic Latino foods, games, marketplace/ boutique and more. Local talent featured all weekend. Visit WWW.STODILIA. ORG. Festival at St. Michael, St. Michael — September 10 and 11: Saturday bingo from 2 to 5 p.m., polka Mass at 4:30 p.m. in the historic church on Main Street and German dinner from 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday features a chicken dinner, games, petting zoo and more at 11300 Frankfort Parkway N.E. Fun Fest at Sacred Heart, Robbinsdale — September 10 and 11: Begins with 4 p.m. Mass Saturday followed by food, games and live music with The Dweebs at 4087 Broadway Ave. Continues Sunday at 11 a.m. Visit WWW.SACREDHEARTROBBINS DALE.ORG. Festival at St. Mary of the Lake, White Bear Lake — September 10 and 11: Saturday features a 5K run/walk at 3 p.m., outdoor Mass at 5 p.m. followed by a spaghetti dinner at 4690 Bald Eagle Ave. Turkey dinner served from noon to 3 p.m. Sunday.

Activities also include games and

Festival at Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Minneapolis — September 11: Mass at 8 and 10 a.m. with Marian procession following the 10 a.m. Mass at 701 Fillmore St. N.E. Spaghetti dinner served from noon to 4 p.m. Also features games, raffles and door prizes.

Festival at Sacred Heart, St. Paul — September 11: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 840 E. Sixth St. Features authentic Mexican food, American food, music dancers, games and more.

Festival at Holy Family Maronite Church, Mendota Heights — September 11: 11 to 5 p.m. at 1960 Lexington Ave. S. Features children’s games, Lebanese foods, a belly dance performance and more. For information, visit WWW.HOLYFAMILY MARONITE.ORG. Festival at St. Joseph, Rosemount — September 11: Parish picnic at 11:30 a.m. with pork chop on a stick lunch, bingo and kids’ games at 13900 Biscayne Ave. W. Festival at Our Lady of the Prairie, Belle Plaine — September 11: Mass at 10 a.m. with a chicken and ham dinner to follow until 2 p.m. at 214 N. Chestnut St. Also features live music, food stands, games and a wood auction.

Wild Rice Festival at St. Mary, Stillwater — September 11: Chicken dinner from 11a.m. to 4 p.m. at 423 S. Fifth St. Also features kids’ and teen games, fancy work, quilts and more.

Prayer/ liturgies Legion of Mary prayers in front of Planned Parenthood, St. Paul — Every Friday: 3 p.m. at 1965 Ford Parkway.

For information, call (651) 439-9098.

Knights of Columbus traveling rosary at St. Peter Claver Convent, St. Paul — August 21: 2 p.m. at 265 Century Ave. Outdoor harvest Mass in Lake Elmo — August 27: 5 p.m. at the home of Del and Joan Eder, 4515 Julep Ave. N. A light dinner follows Mass. Free will offering. For information, call (651) 777-6538.

Knights of Columbus traveling rosary at St. Bernard, St. Paul — August 28: 2 p.m. at 187 W. Geranium St. All night vigil with the Blessed Sacrament at Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Paul — September 2 and 3: 7 p.m.

Friday to 8 a.m. Saturday at 401 Concord St.

Singles Sunday Spirits walking group for 50plus Catholic singles — Ongoing Sundays: For Catholic singles to meet and make friends. The group usually meets in St. Paul on Sunday afternoons. For information, call Judy at (763) 221-3040 or Al at (651) 482-0406.

50-plus singles picnic at St. Joseph, New Hope — August 28: 5 p.m. at 8701 36th Ave. N. Includes social hour, potluck dinner and games and visiting to follow. Bring a dish to share, brats and hot dogs privided. Call (763) 439-5940.

23

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • AUGUST 18, 2011

Deacon sees ‘overwhelming need’ in Ethiopia

Bishops offer joint appeal for help in stemming African famine Catholic News Service

Left: A child in the village of Legedini, Dire Dawa, Eastern Ethiopia, clings to her mother as they wait their turn to draw clean water from the village’s central water point.

Below: Villagers in Ethiopia proudly show off their new plow. The plow will be attached to an ox that was purchased as part of a Catholic Relief Services program.

Deacon Bill Heiman / For The Catholic Spirit

By Deacon Bill Heiman For The Catholic Spirit

It has been said that Ethiopians’ tolerance for suffering would amaze even the hardest of hearts.

This saying was never more vivid to me than this past June, when I had the opportunity to travel with 11 fellow deacons and priests as a global fellow to Catholic Relief Services aid sites throughout Ethiopia.

After traveling for nearly 20 hours, the first thing that struck me as I left the Addis Ababa airport is that Ethiopia is truly one of the world’s most populated countries. The number of people is staggering. People are everywhere.

Seemingly everyone congregates around the airport — arriving businessmen, returning mothers and children, international aid workers, and 12 deacons and priests who totally stood out as “ferenge” (foreigners).

As we cleared an intense security ring around the airport complex, there were more porters and vendors than I have ever experienced clamoring for my business.

A businessman from the first class section of my flight walked out to meet his SUV ride and another person from the economy class section was met by his donkey cart ride at the same time we met our local CRS representatives.

Immediately we were all besieged by people begging for food, work or money.

Never had I felt more overwhelmed and distant from a place I was visiting than I did that evening.

And yet, as the CRS staff member greeted us with a hearty “salaam” (peace), there was a calming presence that we were there for a greater purpose — to learn how to love and serve God through our ministry to all of these people.

It occured to each one of us that as overwhelmed as we felt by the number of people, the people who lived there were overwhelmed much more by the lack of basic needs of food, shelter and clothing.

It became clear to us as CRS global fellows we were charged with somehow taking all of these events in and then coming home to share that message with our fellow Catholics.

The ongoing drought and famine afflicting Somalia and other East African nations is “a humanitarian crisis that cries out for help to Christians throughout the world,” said the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the chairman of the board of Catholic Relief Services in a joint statement.

“CRS can use all the help we can offer in this current tragic situation,” wrote Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, USCCB president, and Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, Ariz., CRS board chairman. “Through CRS our generosity could literally feed thousands and provide them clean water, shelter and other life-saving goods.”

CRS, the U.S. bishops’ overseas aid and development agency, estimates that more than 12 million people are in urgent need of aid in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia. The drought has resulted in failed crops, deaths of livestock and critical shortages of food and water.

Children dying

About Ethiopia Ethiopia is landlocked in the Horn of Africa. The country is home to a dense population of 76 million people. Its population is predicted to more than double by 2050.

This population growth spurt will move Ethiopia from the 15th most populous country in the world to the ninth.

More than 75 percent of the population lives on less than $2 per day, and GDP per capita is just over $1,000.

Life expectancy at birth is an average of 56 years.

CRS provides life-saving aid We learned that CRS has been working in Ethiopia since 1958. It is one of CRS’ largest country programs, with 123 employees. In fact, CRS Ethiopia implements program activities in nine of Ethiopia’s 10 regions, directly benefiting more than 589,000 Ethiopians without regard to religion or ethnicity.

We also learned that our visit would be severely complicated by the impending famine that Ethiopia was facing.

By working closely with local partners, including the Ethiopian Catholic Church, CRS leverages a powerful network across the country that supports service delivery in both urban and rural areas. Key program areas include water and sanitation, emergency preparedness, recovery and agriculture initiatives.

Keeping those goals in mind, we traveled to the far eastern region of Ethiopia (closet to Eretria and Somalia) to learn how those programs created opportunities.

In the lowlands area of Dire Dawa, we

saw firsthand young men learning a new trade — bee-keeping — to help provide for their families and communities.

We also learned how important it was to a farmer and his village to receive an ox to help with tilling the rocky soil (with a piece of metal attached to a broken tree branch serving as the plow).

We also visited the highlands area to observe a clean-water project.

Once women spent 80 percent of their day struggling to provide clean water for their families, but now they have a pipeline that brings mountain spring water to their village.

In support of our brothers and sisters in East Africa, we Catholics need to pray, learn, share the stories of those in need, advocate on behalf of those who have no voice, and give of our gifts.

Deacon Bill Heiman works for Catholic Senior Services. He also serves at St. Mark and St. Mary in Shakopee, St. Mary of the Purification in Marystown, and Shakopee Area Catholic School and Faith Formation.

“There are parents whose little children have died, and children who have been orphaned. They are suffering from hunger, thirst, disease and drought,” the prelates said in a statement issued from Baltimore, home of CRS headquarters. “We see millions of people being forced from their homes, leaving behind what meager possessions they had, and walking for days over rough terrain” to find sustenance.

In Ethiopia, CRS officials said the agency is expanding its food distribution program to 1.1 million people and is working with local partners to provide livelihood support, water and sanitation.

In Somalia, CRS is supporting local partners to assist highly vulnerable, displaced families with basic necessities, such as food packages, support to clinics, therapeutic feeding and shelter.

In Kenya, CRS is working both to assist newly arrived refugees with hygiene, sanitation promotion and protection, and also to provide water, sanitation and supplemental feeding to drought-affected Kenyan communities.

Misiones Salesianas, the Spanish Salesians’ mission office in Madrid, said Aug. 10 it would send 200,000 euros (about $284,000) to provide relief in famine-stricken areas. It said both refugee camps and Salesian centers “are overcrowded, with thousands arriving every day to receive food and water.”

The U.S. government announced Aug. 8 it will give an additional $105 million in humanitarian assistance to nations in the Horn of Africa region, bringing its total commitment for this fiscal year to $564.5 million to help those in need.

Catholic Relief Services is accepting donations by phone at (800) 736-3467; online at http://crs.org; or by mail to CRS, P.O. Box 17090, Baltimore, MD 212037090.

“You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

From Age to Age 24

A Catholic Spirit special section

The Catholic Spirit

Get a grip:

AUGUST 18, 2011

Baby boomers delay retirement, return to simpler lifestyles

By Adeshina Emmanuel Catholic News Service

The baby boom generation has been slammed hard by the recession and slow recovery, just like much of the rest of the U.S. population. As a result, many in this age group are not facing the easy retirement they once anticipated.

Many saw their wealth shrink amid the dismal stock returns, plunging home prices, and widespread cuts to hours and jobs that accompanied the financial crisis.

Nearly two-thirds of working boomers in their 50s and early 60s said they may have to delay retirement because of the recession, according to a May 2010 Pew Research Center survey.

Retirement presents a more pressing concern to some boomers than others because the generation includes people born from 1946 to 1964 — and 18 years separate the youngest and the oldest.

It can be a difficult time for older boomers who thought they were right on the verge of retiring and have had to abruptly readjust their expectations, as well as people who have had to come out of retirement and work because of “tight” finances, said Nancy Skeans, managing director of Schneider Downs Wealth Management Advisors in Pittsburgh.

Rethinking your life

CNS photo

“But if they sit back and write down where they want to be and where they are now, they may find that that adjustment isn’t quite as harsh as it appears in the news media,” she said.

Skeans said making lifestyle changes like downsizing to a less expensive home or selling extra cars are examples of how boomers can save money and “get rid of the stress and worry of maintaining a lifestyle that is beyond them.”

Younger boomers further removed from retirement have more time to change their game plan and adjust their lifestyle, especially those in their mid-to-late 40s.

They have more working years left and more time to cut back on expenses and save.

Susan Howe, a member of Financial Literacy Commission at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, said she sees this belt tightening as “a little bit of a return to simplicity.”

“People have sort of refocused their goals,” she said.

“It’s going to be worthwhile in a big way to cut down your expenses now and save, even if it hurts in the short term, so that you can have a comfortable retirement.”

Howe said working on a reduced schedule into your 60s and even early 70s can be beneficial and shouldn’t be viewed with dread.

PLEASE TURN TO TAKE ON PAGE 26

WWW.THECATHOLICSPIRIT.COM

From Age to Age

AUGUST 18, 2011 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Discuss death now to ease burdens for loved ones later that not everyone wants to be in the room at a death and trying not to “put their own feelings on other people.”

By Nancy Frazier O’Brien Catholic News Service

In the days immediately before and after a loved one dies, time may slow to a crawl or pass in a flash. But how can people be sure to do or say the things they want to in that critical time period?

“Practically speaking, you need to pull a support system together,” says Sherri Auger, an elder-care planning consultant who co-wrote “Now What?

A Practical Guide to Dealing with Aging, Illness and Dying” (Novalis, 2010) with health journalist Barbara Wickens. Even better, if the death is not sudden, you can help your loved one to plan ahead so that his or her wishes for end-of-life care and a final remembrance can be carried out easily.

“It takes a huge burden off the family if they know they have done what you want them to do,” she said.

Auger, an only child, found out the importance of such planning 10 years ago when her father became ill. His illness took its toll on her mother, who also became ill and died three weeks later. Auger then had to plan her mother’s funeral, settle her estate, sell her parents’ home and find long-term care for her father without much guidance or advance discussions about her parents’ wishes.

The process led Auger, who then was working in the corporate world, into the relatively new field of elder-care planning. She now teaches on the subject in the Toronto area and heads Caring Matters, which helps individual clients with elder care and estate planning.

Starting a discussion about end-of-life care and funeral arrangements with elderly parents is difficult and doesn’t get easier as parents get older, Auger acknowledges. She said adult children approaching middle age should make out their own wills and put their funeral plans in writing, then raise the topic with their parents.

■ As a person begins transitioning into death, he or she might “need to be given permission to pass away,” Auger said. Handholding and applying hand cream can be very welcome, but it is important to know, too, that some people might find it uncomfortable to be touched as the end nears.

■ Keep practical considerations in mind, such as the fact that the dying person might not be wearing his or her dentures and could find it difficult to speak. “You cannot expect them to say their dying words to you,” Auger said.

“Don’t leave what you want to say until the very end. Have the words you want to have with them before it reaches that stage.”

■ Last rites or a final blessing from a priest or other religious leader can ease the transition to death, she added.

“Don’t leave what you want to say until the very end.

”

SHERRI AUGER Elder-care planning consultant

Advice for the living Here is some of Auger’s best advice for the time when a loved one is dying and the period immediately afterward: ■ “The center of attention always has to be on the person passing away,” she said. Those in the room with a dying person must remember that “the last sense that people lose is the sense of hearing” and must give one another “space and respect,” acknowledging

■ Once death has occurred, “you don’t have to rush away.” Instead, Auger recommended that people “take whatever time you need to be with the person.” She also recommended that after a grieving person returns home they should “mark that moment in some special way, with something pleasant” such as a hot bath.

■ In looking for support through the grieving process, she advised people to consult the many resources available through churches and hospice programs. Ask friends and family members for help, especially with tasks that match well with their expertise. But be aware that the people closest to you might not be able to help “because they are grieving too,” she added.

■ On a practical note, she advised next of kin of the deceased to avoid getting robbed from those who prey on the grieving by asking someone to stay at the house during the funeral.

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From Age to Age

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • AUGUST 18, 2011

More seniors and families mixing travel with service impact volunteering has had on his family’s life.

“In our opinion, all of our children have little desire for wealth and are faithfilled. They are passing that faith and spirit to our 13 grandchildren,” he added.

By Jessica Pall Catholic News Service

Vacations are usually savored as a time to relax and get away from the daily grind, but that view is changing. Some people are using vacation time as a chance to see new places and also help others.

The trend of combining travel with service work even has a name — voluntourism — and a website — VOLUNTOURISM.ORG — which links travelers to available service opportunities in places such as Cape Town, South Africa; Jordan; Philadelphia; and Vancouver, British Columbia.

The site provides a wealth of information on the 10,000 trips offered around the world and the different tools for individuals looking to spend their vacation in service. It includes a list of questions and answers, details on trip preparation, tips on how to get the most out of one’s trip, and advice on post trip re-adjustment to normal life.

Each year, more than 3,500 volunteers find work in a developing country through the site.

Catholic opportunities Americans have been giving a lot of time to their local communities. According to a poll posted on WWW.VOLUNTEER INGINAMERICA.GOV, 61.8 million Americans contributed 8 billion hours of volunteer service in 2008. So it’s not hard to imagine that many might welcome this idea of combined travel and volunteering.

Give a day, week or more This type of long-term commitment isn’t for everybody. Some might choose to combine vacation with a day of service, such as an opportunity promoted by Disney through the “Give a Day. Get a Disney Day” special. Families who signed up and volunteered for a day with a participating organization received free admission to one of the theme parks.

Service opportunities in other locales include: restoring trails in Rock Resorts in Colorado; cleaning the beach at Doral Golf Resort with Biscayne Nature Center in Miami or helping victims of Hurricane Katrina with Habitat for Humanity or Catholic Charities in New Orleans. The American Hiking Society can also set up vacationing families with trail restoration opportunities.

In the Appalachia region, Bethlehem Farm in Pence, W.Va., offers a family week. The Catholic community, WWW. BETHLEHEMFARM.NET, provides visitors with opportunities to serve local residents.

Eric Fitts, a longtime volunteer at the farm, who lives there with his wife Colleen, said he has seen families get closer from their experience, especially as they pray together, have shared meals and meet other families with a similar interest in living out their faith.

CNS photo

One source for information on organized volunteer trip opportunities, both long and short-term, is Catholic Network of Volunteer Service, WWW.CNVS.ORG. It lists more than 34 programs, both domestic and international, and accepts married couples with children. Each program offers different packages.

One of the programs is the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, founded in 1958 by Father James Flanagan. It is a society of apostolic life, whose charism is comprised of ecclesial or fami-

ly teams serving in missions around the world.

Through the society, Deacon Cal and Ginny Cathers have volunteered in Belize since August 1976. The couple initially went there with their five children, and their sixth child was born there.

“We had a degree of faith and a desire to help (the) less fortunate. Thirty-four years later, we have a faith that cannot be expressed and the joy of knowing our lives have brought much to others,” Deacon Cathers said, when asked about the

Take this time to try a new career In the 1990s, he said, boomers enjoyed some of the “greatest economic prospects,” of any generation in history.

“They’ve also spent a lot,” he said.

He said that many boomers were more focused on upgrading their standard of living than on saving for retirement.

Consequently, many have under saved.

Those still in the job market should take advantage of every saving opportunity they can.

While financing retirement weighs on many minds, Skeans said that mental health is also important. She advised boomers to “get your mind off of it.”

“That might sound corny but if you stress about this you’re going to end up making yourself sick,” she said.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 24 “It brings money in and keeps you more engaged in life,” she said.

Boomers’ view of retirement is different than their parents’ view, said Larry Rosenthal, president and founder of Financial Planning Services, a Virginiabased financial planning firm.

“You worked your career, usually worked at one to two, maybe three places your whole life. You retired, and you never went back to work,” said Rosenthal, who also hosts “Making Money Sense” a financial advice radio show that airs in the Washington area.

The current view, said Rosenthal, is to “get into a less stressful job and maybe work part time in retirement.”

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THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • AUGUST 18, 2011

Archdiocese seeks to alleviate merger fears Two adjustments made

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

Along with holding parishioner listening sessions across the 12-county archdiocese and meetings with priests and ministry leaders before any of the strategic plan was proposed to Archbishop Nienstedt, the archbishop has made some adjustments to certain mergers in the plan as part of a structured appeal process laid out when the plan was announced last October.

In November 2010, in response to information received from parishioners in their petitions to reconsider parish merger decisions, Archbishop Nienstedt modified two of the original 14 mergers, namely the one involving Holy Cross, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Clement and St. Hedwig in northeast Minneapolis and the one involving St. Thomas of St. Thomas.

St. Paul, Zumbrota St. Nicholas, New Market St. Michael, Prior Lake St. Paul, Ham Lake Guardian Angels, Chaska St. Charles, Bayport St. John the Baptist, Hugo St. Bridget of Sweden, Lindstrom St. Joseph, Taylors Falls Lumen Christi, St. Paul St. Cecilia, St. Paul Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Paul St. Rose of Lima, Roseville St. Louis, King of France, St. Paul St. Francis De Sales, St. Paul St. Agnes, St. Paul Sacred Heart, St. Paul St. John of St. Paul, St. Paul

Catholic News Service Hundreds of Catholics gathered at the oldest cathedral in the Americas Aug. 8 to mark the 500th anniversary of the first Catholic dioceses in the Western Hemisphere.

Before a large crowd in Columbus Plaza, in the colonial zone of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, Cardinal Carlos Amigo Vallejo, retired archbishop of Seville, Spain, celebrated Mass, highlighting Catholicism’s unwavering presence in the region.

More parishes exceed Catholic Services Appeal goals CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

Celebrations mark 500th anniversary of first dioceses in the Americas

St. Odilia, Shoreview St. John Vianney, South St. Paul St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Hastings St. Henry, LeSueur Nativity, Madison Lake St. John the Baptist, Savage Most Holy Trinity, St. Louis Park Good Shepherd, Golden Valley St. Nicholas, Carver St. Joseph, Waconia St. John the Baptist, Dayton St. Katharine Drexel, Ramsey

“The church does not exist to give up, or to be changed, but to enforce the will of God. We are the voice; Jesus Christ is the Word,” he said during the lateafternoon liturgy that followed a procession. Cardinal Amigo attended the event as Pope Benedict XVI’s envoy.

The 2011 Catholic Services Appeal has now reached more than $9.3 million in pledges and gifts. It is not too late to give a gift. If you would like to make a pledge/gift to the Appeal, please go to WWW.ARCHSPM.ORG/APPEAL to donate online. Or, if you have questions, contact the Development and Stewardship Office at (651) 290-1610.

Earlier in the day, Catholic leaders and Dominican politicians, including President Leonel Fernandez, attended the opening of the Santo Domingo Cathedral Museum, which displays works of art and religious pieces dating to the colonial era. Work on the museum began in 1993.

The celebrations marked the anniversary of the establishment of the first three dioceses in the Americas on Aug. 8, 1511, by Pope Julius II. The other two dioceses are located in La Vega, Dominican Republic, and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

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Overheard 28

The Catholic Spirit

Quotes from this week’s newsmakers

AUGUST 18, 2011 “All of us are praying for rain, but all we see are rain clouds in the distance. We never see any rain.”

— Msgr. John Anderson, vicar general for the Diocese of Las Cruces, N.M., regarding a “D4” level drought — the most intense level on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s scale — affecting most of Texas and significant portions of New Mexico and Oklahoma

“It is humbling that the Lord would use me just the way I am and that he trusts me. So I will pray that BISHOP WYPYCH the Lord and the church won’t be disappointed in me. I will do my best.”

— Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Wypych, speaking before his Aug. 10 episcopal ordination at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago; Auxiliary Bishop Alberto Rojas was ordained at the same ceremony

Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit

Msgr. Sharbel Maroun, center, pastor of St. Maron in Minneapolis, gets ready to auction off his hair as parishioners Aimee Brask, left, and Leisa Moses Magee of Maude Salon in Minneapolis tie it into small ponytails for a special fundraising event Aug. 14 at St. Maron.

Hair-raising feat at St. Maron’s

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit

Msgr. Sharbel Maroun’s Hair for Hope campaign ended in dramatic fashion Aug. 14 at St. Maron in Minneapolis. After going more than two years without a haircut, the church’s pastor got his locks trimmed in front of an audience of about 300.

As two parishioners — hair stylists Leisa Moses Magee and Aimee Brask, owner of Maude Salon in Minneapolis — stood on stage with scissors in hand, members of the audience cheered and threw money at their pastor — literally. In fact, they bid against each other for the chance to cut 26 small ponytails that the two stylists carefully tied during an intermission of Msgr. Maroun’s concert.

With bids of up to $1,000, individuals and small groups came up to the stage for the privilege of cutting a ponytail. That day, the hair-raising proceeds totaled $17,700, which included a $2,000 donation for the honor of giving the pastor a buzz cut after all of the ponytails were sliced off. This was added to $16,000 raised during the previous two years of the campaign.

“I think, more than the money, the people’s love and care were touching,” said Msgr. Maroun, who began growing his hair in July of 2009. “I’m more impressed with that than the money.”

What began as a tribute to family members who had died of cancer turned into a fundraiser for both cancer and evangelization. The money will be given to St. Jude Medical Center to help

“I do not consider myself a hero. If there was a hero, it was the 34th person. God brought us together. It was God who guided us through this whole journey.”

— Jose Henriquez, one of the 33 Chileans rescued last year, 69 days after a mine collapse, speaking at an Aug. 3 press preview for the new exhibit “Against All Odds: Rescue at the Chilean Mine” at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.

“There are parents whose little children have died, and children who have been orphaned. They are suffering from hunger, thirst, disease and drought. We see millions of people being forced from their homes.”

Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit

Marounicio Jacobs, great nephew of Msgr. Maroun, takes his turn with a scissors during the hair-cutting ceremony, as stylist and parishioner Leisa Moses Magee lends a hand.

children suffering from cancer, and to Télé Lumière/Noursat, a Christian TV station that broadcasts in Lebanon, other Arab countries and various other parts of the world.

To learn more about the Hair for Hope campaign and to make a donation, visit WWW.STMARON.COM/H4H.

— From a joint statement by Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops president, and Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, Ariz., Catholic Relief Services board chairman, on the ongoing drought and famine in East Africa

News Notes will return in the next issue.