The Catholic Spirit - September 1, 2011

Newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis World Youth Day

The Catholic Spirit September 1, 2011

■ Archbishop Nienstedt reflects on trip Page 2 ■ Pope to youth: Share faith with world Page 8 ■ Local pilgrims share highlights Page 24

TheCatholicSpirit.com

News with a Catholic heart

IN THIS ISSUE Did you see what Father posted on Facebook?

Archdiocesan Communications Day Oct. 13 will feature experts talking about the latest and best ways for the church to share information and spread the Good News.

— page 4

10 years later,

Marriage effort comes to the fair

Minnesotans reflect on the day and its impact

Minnesota for Marriage takes its education campaign about the state marriage amendment to The Great Minnesota GetTogether.

— page 5

Read about local

commemorations

Catholic Channel radio host talks about his first book, ‘Sinner’

See pages 12-13

St. Paul native Lino Rulli writes honestly about his often funny attempts to be a faithful Catholic amidst life’s trials and challenges.

— page 20

SCOOP OF HOTDISH Grief for guys CNS file photo

Peter Kellett: Little teacher of souls The following reflection by Catholic Spirit blogger Kathy Schneeman was written for CATHOLICHOTDISH.COM. The arms of Mary and Don Kellett are aching for their son Peter these days because on Aug. 20 their sweet child, age 6-anda-half, was called home to God. He is now wrapped in the arms of the Holy Family.

This disabled boy was somehow able to sprinkle lessons and blessings to people all over the world — even though he couldn’t walk or talk.

Father Jim Livingston, who has known the Kellets since Peter was born, told me: “I’ve talked to people who have held him and they felt God’s presence. When I was blessing him once, I felt like I was reaching my hand into a pool of living water, and that I was the one receiving the blessing.”

When he was born, Peter’s doctors said he wouldn’t live two weeks; he was born with a chromosomal defect called Trisomy PLEASE TURN TO BRIEF ON PAGE 14

You may never read something as touching — and as spiritual — as Bill Cento’s thoughts and feelings while dealing with his wife’s dementia and eventual death.

Read this blog post and others.

CATHOLICHOTDISH.COM

NEWS AROUND MN

File photo

Mary, Don and Peter Kellett in 2005.

Check out the new website MNCATHOLIC. COM for all the latest Catholic news from around the state.

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SEPTEMBER 1, 2011 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Reflections on World Youth Day

That They May All Be One Archbishop John C. Nienstedt

Our delegation from the archdiocese consisted of more than 300 pilgrims and 14 priests

The following is the first of a twopart series.

II and then led the assembly in a Spanish hymn to the Blessed Mother.

I just returned on Aug. 22 from World Youth Day in Madrid. Two weeks before, about half of our pilgrims, together with families and friends, had gathered at the Church of All Saints in Lakeville for Sunday Eucharist and a special pilgrimage prayer.

Since it was my privilege to celebrate that Mass, I directed my reflections on the Scripture readings to the meaning of what we were about to undertake. A pilgrimage, I said, was quite different from a guided tour of a foreign country. On a vacation tour one does what one wants to do. On a pilgrimage one goes in search of the living God. Thus, a pilgrimage involves as much “interior” effort as the external, physical effort.

Morning of catechesis

Good attendance Besides our general archdiocesan group, there were at least six other groups comprised of various parishes from across the archdiocese journeying to Madrid to be with the Holy Father, comprising over 300 pilgrims in all. When in Madrid, I counted 14 archdiocesan priests among our number.

Most groups left on Tuesday or Wednesday of that week in order to spend a few days visiting Marian shrines or some of the shrines dedi-

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.

Photo courtesy of Peggy Doherty

Archbishop John Nienstedt poses for a photo with youth pilgrims at World Youth Day in Madrid.

cated to one of the Spanish saints. I left on Monday, the 15th, and was joined in Atlanta on my Delta flight by two other World Youth Day groups. The joyful celebration had already begun!

The opening liturgy on Tuesday, the 16th, in Madrid was held at an outdoor altar set up in the Plaza de Cibeles. Some 800 bishops, including about 70 of us from the United States, concelebrated with Cardinal Antonio Rouco Varela, the archbishop of Madrid and president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference. The Mass was, fittingly, in honor of

Blessed John Paul II, so recently declared blessed.

The cardinal gave credit to Pope John Paul II for initiating the World Youth Days some 26 years before. (I recall being present in St. Peter’s Square for the very first one.)

He called the late pope “the father of youth” and urged the young pilgrims present to go forth in imitation of him to evangelize their contemporaries who are being so negatively influenced by a highly secularized society. At the end of Mass, the cardinal blessed a reliquary with a vile of the blood of Pope John Paul

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Notice Queen of Peace Hospital, New Prague On July 1, 2011, Queen of Peace Hospital officially merged with Mayo Clinic Health Systems. Simultaneously, the Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict of St. Joseph, the religious sponsors of the hospital since 1952, discontinued their Catholic sponsorship. Consequently, Queen of Peace Hospital is no longer a Catholic hospital.

In the coming months, the name of the hospital and affiliated clinics will be changed to Mayo Clinic Health System.

The official notice is on the hospital website: HTTP://QUEENOFPEACE HOSPITAL.COM/HOSPITAL/PRESS_MAYO.HT ML.

Vol. 16 — No. 18

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The next morning Bill Dill, our archdiocesan coordinator for youth events, met me at my hotel and together we went to the Palacio de los Deportes (i.e., Sports’ Palace) for a morning of catechesis by Sister Mary Gabriel of the Sisters for Life and Cardinal George Pell of Sydney.

Sister spoke of the dignity given in the sacrament of baptism which leads us to our destiny as disciples of Jesus, making us missionaries of faith and love.

Cardinal Pell reminded us of our belief in the Triune God, asserting that such a belief is inherently “reasonable” and, in fact, can be substantiated by scientific data. He urged the young pilgrims to not let the flame of faith grow dim or be extinguished on their watch. The morning concluded with a Votive Mass of the Holy Spirit.

That evening, Cardinal Rouco invited the bishops who had come to World Youth Day to a symphonic and choral concert at the National Auditorium of Music. We heard everything from Puccini to Brahms to Verdi and even Andrew Lloyd Weber’s “Pie Jesu.” I was reminded

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“It’s not just about creating good, well-informed citizens. It’s about creating saints.”

Marty Frauenheim, superintendent of schools in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, on the purpose of Catholic education

Local News from around the archdiocese

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

The Catholic Spirit

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Big welcome for new educators Catholic Schools Office holds orientation for new teachers, principals and presidents

Teacher Heidi Demo is glad to be coming back to Catholic schools. She spent 10 years in the Lakeville public school district and will be teaching Spanish at St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights this fall (she also has taught at All Saints School in Lakeville).

By Dave Hrbacek

“Teaching at a Catholic high school will allow me to give full expression to our Catholic faith,” she said. “I strive to be like Christ for others and to see Christ in others.”

The Catholic Spirit

Ali Maeser was introduced to teaching in a Catholic school by going to the very top — shaking hands with Archbishop John Nienstedt.

He stood in the Cathedral of St. Paul after Mass Aug. 24 to greet her and other new teachers, principals and presidents of Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The liturgy kicked off an orientation event for new educators put on by the archdiocesan Catholic Schools Office.

“I thought it was an excellent way to introduce all the new teachers to the Catholic community,” said Maeser, who is getting ready for her first year in the classroom at Nativity of Mary School in Bloomington. “I loved how, in his homily, he was able to pull everything together and make it one cohesive message to all of us teachers.”

Sharing the vision In addition to finding inspiration and affirmation of their roles as Catholic educators, attendees also were introduced to members of the schools office, including superintendent of schools Marty Frauenheim. She shared the vision for Catholic schools in the archdiocese, which is to “form students to live out the Gospel message, achieve academic excellence and lead by faith, virtue and reason.”

“This is the vision we want Catholic educators to keep before them,” she said.

Passion to teach That practice is at the heart of the vision for Catholic schools, which is what Frauenheim hoped to impart to the new educators, along with a hearty welcome to Catholic education.

Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit

First-year teacher Ali Maeser of Nativity of Mary School in Bloomington greets Archbishop John Nienstedt Aug. 24 at the Cathedral of St. Paul following a Mass that kicked off an orientation event for new Catholic school teachers, principals and presidents.

Awaiting their turn are Brigid Diaz, left, and Clare Schmidt of St. Helena School in Minneapolis.

“This is the focus of Catholic education, this is how we work with young people in our Catholic schools. . . . It’s not just about creating good, well-informed citizens. It’s about creating saints.”

Seventy-three educators attended the event, which lasted into the afternoon, with a session for principals after lunch and a training session for those needing to go through the program that deals with the protection of children.

Some teachers, like Maeser, are not only new to their schools, but new to teaching. For them, it was a nice way to begin their careers.

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“I’m just really excited to teach,” Maeser said. “I thought this was an excellent way to introduce all the new teachers to the Catholic community.”

Teachers who have taught before — at other Catholic schools or at public schools — also enjoyed the orientation event.

“The biggest thing that stood out to me was that Catholic identity was at the forefront — that Christ is the focus,” said Susan Spiegelberg, who will be teaching at St. Charles Borromeo School in Minneapolis after teaching for four years in two states.

“What we really wanted to do was help new people really feel welcomed, and to help them understand what their role is as educators in Catholic schools in this archdiocese,” she said. “When you teach in a Catholic school, it’s not a job, it’s a calling. . . . [Teachers] really have to bring to their classrooms, to their schools, a sense of the Catholic worldview — with enthusiasm, with joy, with passion and with wisdom.”

It is that passion that Archbishop Nienstedt was trying to stir up when he exhorted the educators during his homily.

“Jesus must be at the center of all we do from the classroom to the gym, from the church to the lunchroom,” he said. “If our students do not encounter the living Jesus or somehow do not become steeped in his teachings and commandments, then we are simply not doing our job and, worse yet, we are indeed failing our students.”

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THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

Did you see what Father just posted on Facebook?

In addition to a panel discussion, the day will feature a plenary session with two experts on the essentials of using social and digital media

THE PANELISTS

Allen

The Catholic Spirit Why and how our church, your parish and you can better connect and spread the Good News using Facebook, Twitter and other digital means — that’s the focus of Archdiocesan Communications Day on Thursday, Oct. 13.

Registration is open now for one of the most forward-looking days you’ll ever spend learning about the latest and best ways to share information and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

John Allen Jr., Lisa Hendey, Matthew Warner, Lino Rulli, Paul Henderson and Lou Carbone are all on the docket for presentations aimed to bring you up to date on the ways technology can and should be a tool you know how to use well.

A team from The Catholic Spirit, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Coalition of Ministry Associations in the archdiocese has developed the agenda for “Ever Ancient, Ever New” — Archdiocesan Communications Day at Pax Christi Church in Eden Prairie.

“More and more, we live online,” pointed out committee member Paul Krenzelok, director of faith formation and evangelization at Holy Name parish in Minneapolis. “If we are to touch people where they live, we must be a vital and dynamic presence on the Internet.”

Rulli

Henderson Keynote panel topic: “What challenges currently face the church in the area of communications — and what solutions do you propose?”

Register online at HTTP://TINYURL.COM/ or by mail to Mary Gibbs, The Catholic Spirit, 244 Dayton Ave., St. Paul, MN 55102. Early bird registration of $25 (after Oct. 1, $35) includes lunch.

COMMUNICATIONSDAY,

Experts to keynote The program will begin with Mass at 8 a.m. Archbishop John Nienstedt will introduce the topic of the day from his perspective, and then a video will pull together the theological and pastoral perspectives of communicating the message

of Christ and his church.

In the keynote session of the day, a panel of experts will address the question, “What challenges currently face the church in the area of communications — and what solutions do you propose?”

■ John Allen Jr., senior National Catholic Reporter correspondent and author who is frequently seen on CNN addressing Catholic issues, will answer the question from a global perspective.

■ Paul Henderson, marketing and communications expert on the staff of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’

Communications Department, will take on the view from the USCCB and give a national perspective.

■ Sirius/XM satellite radio host Lino Rulli will speak to the issue from the perspective of the under-40 age group.

A question-and-answer session with the panelists will follow.

Drilling down Following lunch, nationally recognized new media experts Hendey and Warner will present a plenary session on “The Essentials,” practical ways Catholics can take advantage of social and digital media, and afterward will lead a panel of local new media adherents to drill down even further to get at best practices now in use in this still-new and ever-changing technology environment.

Hendey is the founder of CATHOLIC MOM.COM, and Warner is the founder of FLOCKNOTE.COM, TWEETCATHOLIC.COM and is a National Catholic Register blogger.

Finally, maybe you can’t take the plunge into social media right away, but Twin Cities businessman Carbone will get down to the nitty-gritty by presenting five things you can do to improve your communication skills. The program will close by 4 p.m.

Planning committee member Casey Warren, a parish nurse, thought the day would be helpful for anyone who directs parish ministry.

“Parish leaders should attend Communication Day to learn the importance of communicating their invaluable message,” Warren noted, “and to learn ways to communicate this message to the rest of the church, namely, their staff, their parishioners and beyond.”

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SEPTEMBER 1, 2011 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

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Marriage amendment education effort comes to State Fair define marriage this way, the coalition’s literature notes.

“Marriage means husband and wife in all societies and cultures throughout history,” she added. “It’s for the benefit of children, not something for the rights of individuals.”

As important as marriage is to Catholics, Deeds said one doesn’t need to be a religious person to realize the importance of marriage to the common good.

Volunteer Andy Servi, from St. John the Baptist in New Brighton, pointed to the “wisdom of the ages” that he felt should be convincing. “Cultures throughout history found that marriage of one man and one woman benefited society.”

By Bob Zyskowski The Catholic Spirit

Within sight of the main gate of the Minnesota State Fair, Michael Blissenbach offered literature about marriage to people on their way to and from The Great Minnesota Get-Together.

Blissenbach and other volunteers were the point persons in the launching of what is expected to be a 15-month effort to inform voters in Minnesota about the importance of supporting an amendment to the state constitution that would preserve the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

The amendment will be on the ballot in November 2012.

“A lot of people are taking the literature,” said Blissenbach, a member of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Hastings. “And even if they don’t they’re very respectful about it. They’ll say ‘No thanks’ or ‘We don’t agree.’”

Volunteers handing out literature were organized by the Minnesota for Marriage Coalition, which successfully asked the state Legislature to put the amendment on the ballot.

With its booth set up on Midway Parkway in front of Holy Childhood Church, the group that includes the Minnesota Family Council, the Minnesota Catholic Conference and the National Organization for Marriage began what Cathy Deeds said is “ultimately a huge get-outthe-vote effort.”

Deeds is outreach coordinator for the Minnesota Catholic Conference.

Early support present “The goal is to talk to as many Min-

Taken for granted

Dianne Towalski / The Catholic Spirit

While volunteering at the Minnesota for Marriage booth in front of Holy Childhood Church in St. Paul, Michael Blissenbach, a member of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Hastings, hands a brochure to a passer-by on her way to the Minnesota State Fair Aug. 26.

nesotans as possible about marriage and the marriage amendment,” Deeds said, “and to sign up volunteers and supporters to preserve marriage for one man and one woman from being redefined by

future legislatures and courts.”

Early polling shows that most Minnesotans support the historic and traditional definition of marriage, Deeds said.

Thirty-one of 31 states have voted to

Gene and Gloria Hippe, Willmar residents and members of St. Mary parish there, stopped at the booth Aug. 26.

“I don’t want to see marriage break down any more than it already is,” Gloria Hippe explained.

Gene Hippe added, “It comes down to a child needs a mom and a dad. It’s something so basic that we haven’t thought about it until it’s threatened.”

Mailers, TV ads, print ads and more can be expected as future elements of the awareness campaign, said Chris Plante of the National Organization for Marriage who is working for the coalition.

“The coalition’s job is helping Mrs. Jones talk to Mrs. Smith about why marriage is for one man and one woman,” he said.

For further information, see MINNESOTAFORMARRIAGE.COM.

WWW.

The DREAM Act and the need for moral creativity The following is a legislative update provided by the Minnesota Catholic Conference, which advocates on behalf of the state’s bishops for public policies and programs that support the life and dignity of every human person. merican immigration reform remains a heated political issue. But it is not just a theoretical political issue; it is a humanitarian one that impacts the basic dignity and life of a person, and at a broader level, the common good. It is foremost a moral issue.

Because of the grave humanitarian considerations of the Jessica Zittlow debate, Catholics must welcome discussion about immigration and the challenges it presents.

Moral theologian Father Wojciech Giertych, current theologian of the pontifical household, once pointed out that the moral life requires creativity. And, creativity requires discussion. But throughout the discussion we must recognize and make a distinction: The legality of a person crossing into another country is one issue; the response to the person — their children or infants they bring — once he or she is here is another.

On a local and parish level, Catholics have a long history of reaching out to immigrant communities to address both spiritual and basic human needs.

Nationally, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops supports immigration

A

Faith in the Public Arena

reform that promotes, among other sustainable measures, economic initiatives that help people stay in their homelands.

Grounded by Catholic social teaching, this twofold approach promotes the common good as it is oriented to the progress of persons (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1912).

The common good In addition to the respect for the human person, an essential element of the common good is the social well-being and development of the group. Considering this, those in authority are called to mediate in the name of the common good, between various interests, but always making accessible to each person what is truly needed for a human life.

To get “creative,” our response to the person must be rooted in promoting the common good as it relates to authentic progress for a flourishing human life — for immigrants, ourselves, our communities and our country.

The DREAM Act An acute example of the crisis in the immigration system is the situation of many young adult migrants who were brought into the United States illegally as infants or children.

In the years following their entry, they were educated in American schools, taught American values, and became responsible, hard-working members of society. Simply, they became American.

Today, many dream of going to college

but live under the threat of deportation and being forced to leave the only home they know.

The DREAM Act, introduced to Congress in 2009, gives students who fit screening criteria and who have grown up and graduated from high school in the U.S the opportunity to earn legal status through college or military service.

The inability of the federal government to, as of yet, enact sustainable changes and practical solutions to address the problems with the current immigration system harms the common good. The DREAM Act is one approach to addressing the issue in a way that promotes human progress. Access to education is a rung up the ladder out of poverty, a rung up the ladder to legal residence, and currently for the country, a rung up the ladder to long-term economic recovery and growth.

The U.S. bishops are calling on all Catholics to support the DREAM Act through prayer and education, because fundamental to promoting the wellbeing and development of the group is allowing everyone to reach their Godgiven potential.

The USCCB goal is to continue the call for the DREAM Act while also urging President Obama to protect vulnerable populations, including DREAM Act eligible youth and parents of citizen children, from unwarranted detention and deportation.

Unsuccessful efforts have been made to pass similar bills since 2001. The USCCB

expects the DREAM Act to be part of the broad reforms Congress will debate this year, based on the recent words and actions of the leaders in Congress as well of the president.

Pray for DREAM weekend The USCCB’s Justice for Immigrants Campaign is facilitating Pray for the DREAM weekend and encouraging priests and laity to participate. Between Sept. 18 and Oct. 9, dioceses, parishes and other faith groups will be planning events and incorporating petitions, homilies and prayers into Sunday Masses in support of our DREAM Act eligible students and youth.

The JFI Campaign is coordinating events and Masses in support of immigrant youth with a special focus on Sunday, Sept. 25, although parishes can choose other Sundays as well.

Visit MCC’s online Immigration page, under “Issues,” for JFI event organizing, education (such as an immigration myths vs. facts) and homily tools: WWW. MNCC.ORG/ISSUES/IMMIGRATIONSUNDAY/.

Support the chance for innocent immigrant youth to succeed and reach their God-given potential. “The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were once aliens in the land of Egypt” (Leviticus 19:34).

Jessica Zittlow is communications associate at the Minnesota Catholic Conference.

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THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

Visitation School teaches the spirituality of sports

By Christina Capecchi

am denied, keep me from envy.”

For The Catholic Spirit

Values more than trophies

As Twin Cities students head back to school, so do their coaches.

The typical training that coaches receive covers topics such as league rules and emergency procedures, but for the 51 coaches at Convent of the Visitation School in Mendota Heights, there is more: an overview of Salesian Spirituality, the theology of Visitation founders St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal.

Athletic Director Mike Brill invited Anne Eilers Williams, director of Salesian studies at Visitation, to chat with coaches recently about modeling Salesian values.

“We don’t compartmentalize,” Williams said. “We aren’t teaching virtues that just apply to the chapel or the classroom. They’re for the court, too. And the Salesian values of kindness, humility and joyful optimism have a very relevant application to athletics.”

As a member of Visitation’s class of 1982, Williams learned to recognize the spirituality of sports at a young age.

“The sisters would enthusiastically ask about the results of our competitions, but they also wanted to know how we conducted ourselves and what lessons we learned,” she said.

Williams gave Visitation coaches holy cards with a reflection on the Salesian values, which this school year will be dedicated to courage. Coaches also

“The Salesian values of kindness, humility and joyful optimism have a very relevant application to athletics.

”

ANNE WILLIAMS

received a pocket-sized booklet of Salesian reflections called “The Golden Counsels,” which is used by Visitation nuns across the country.

Seeing God in everyone “Salesian spirituality teaches us that we are all made in the image and likeness of God, so students should strive to do the best they can with their own gifts and have deep respect for the God-image of everyone, their teammates and even those they are competing against,” said Sister Mary Paula McCarthy, a member of the Mendota Heights community who graduated from Visitation in 1947.

That message seems to have stuck with Visitation athletes.

“I’m in sports that are traditionally considered individual pursuits, but before every practice and meet, we pray for each other to be the best we can be,” said senior Erin Scallen, a captain of the

Nordic ski team and a member of the cross country team.

Scallen’s cross country teammate, senior Shannon Deasey, added: “We don’t have anybody out there showboating.

We’re focused on doing the best we can do and on empowering and inspiring our teammates to be the best they can be.”

Brill said he is amazed that an institution which began as a small finishing school for girls in 1873 has grown to the size and caliber it is today.

“Vis is a unique school,” he said. “New coaches are introduced to Salesian Spirituality so they understand what makes us different. We want them to feel part of the community and get off on the right foot.”

Brill tucked a prayer into the packet of material he gave each coach last week.

“Help me to learn something that matters once the game is over,” it says. “If I know victory, allow me to be happy; if I

The cases filled with trophies make Brill beam, but he places emphasis on the Salesian victories unfolding before him.

“One of the things I’m proudest of is not the fact that the swimming and diving team has won four state championships,” he said, “but that the seventhand eighth-graders will tell you how much they have been mentored and encouraged by older teammates — that’s one of the great gifts of the Salesian education.”

That’s exactly what stands out to sophomore Nikki Janssen, a four-year varsity swimmer who joined the team as a seventh-grader.

“The older students on our team are supportive and often provide tips,” she said. “They have had a big impact on my attitude toward swimming and my commitment to become better.”

Rene Gavic, who coaches cross country and track and field, has witnessed beautiful bonds among teammates.

“Our varsity teams often include seventh- through 12th-grade students, and I’m impressed at the mentoring between the different age groups and the confidence and character that is built in collaboration and competition,” she said. “I believe that the way we incorporate Salesian Spirituality into our athletic program helps the students value their personal fitness and increases their sense of self-respect and teamwork.”

Annual lunch to honor those who work to support life issues set for Oct. 6 The fourth annual Champions for Life awards will be presented by Archbishop John Nienstedt Oct. 6, during a lunch at St. Peter Catholic Church in Mendota.

The awards, sponsored by the archdiocesan Office for Marriage, Family and Life, honor individuals, teams, youth and organizations that have worked tirelessly for respect life issues.

Recipients were chosen from more than 50 nominations.

Dr. John Bruchalski, chairman of Divine Mercy Care, a non-profit, faithbased health care organization, will be the keynote speaker.

The 201l Champions for Life categories and recipients are:

Youth Category: Stephanie Gockowski is a recent graduate of the University of St. Thomas and attends Mass at Nativity, St. Mark and the Cathedral of St. Paul, all in St. Paul.

While in college, Gockowski served as vice president of Students for Life and helped organize the Cemetery of the Innocence on the UST campus. She also has worked with the Little Sisters of the Poor in Denver, serving pregnant women and the elderly; volunteered with the Highland Life Center and currently works with pro-Life Action Ministries.

Her nomination said: “What really makes Stephanie a Champion for Life is the way she lives her life every day, loving each and every person in all the little day to day things. And how grateful she is in her own life.”

Church, School or Catholic-Affiliated Group: Rachel’s Vineyard, Twin Cities retreats provide hope, help and healing for men and women suffering from the aftermath of an abortion. Serving hundreds if not thousands of clients in the Twin Cities area since 1999, the retreats have brought Christ’s love and mercy to those lost in despair.

Nancy Bloom has directed more than 29 Rachel’s Vineyard retreats. She and her team members become ministers of hope and healing. Bloom said, “The retreats are patterned after the Passion of Christ and the retreatants need to go through their own passion in order to obtain the resurrection from the death of their grief and loss. . . . God heals them with his unlimited love and mercy, and when you bring a woman back to the church, she does not come alone. She brings her husband and children with her.”

Team, Couple or Family Category: Al Shimota and Paul Creagan are a

dynamic team who work together to brighten the lives of the residents of the Alzheimer’s Care Unit at the Minnesota Masonic Home. Both are parishioners at St. Edward in Bloomington. In addition to leading the Communion service and rosary every Tuesday, both men use their special gifts and skills to bring joy to the residents. Shimota utilizes his wood crafting skills to create plaques from prayer cards for the residence and plays his harmonica or concertina.

Creagan gives each person a hug and a smile.

Al is 84 years old and Paul is 93. Their lives and commitment to living out the Gospel message proves that you are never too old to serve others and live out the Gospel of life.

Adult Category: Brian Gibson is executive director of Pro-Life Action Ministries. He first served as a volunteer in the founding of PLAM in 1981 and has been its director since 1989. Gibson and ProLife Action Ministries is recognized as the best organized and largest ministry for sidewalk counseling in the

nation. The organization has expanded from one office to three — St. Paul, Duluth and Orlando, Fla. — and leads the Twin Cities’ Forty Days for Life vigils.

Gibson oversaw the creation of the Chapel of the Innocents adoration chapel and a collection of pro-life prayers. He hosts a weekly radio program and prays outside of abortion clinics almost daily.

But his work doesn’t stop at the sidewalk. He and his wife have two adopted children and he serves in many ministries at St. Michael Church in Prior Lake.

Paula Kelly puts in hundreds of hours at the Wakota Life Care Center as secretary of the board, office secretary and assisting clients. Her ability and passion shines as the organizer of the center’s annual fundraiser. Before she began working with the annual fund drive, it took in less than $3,000. This year’s efforts generated almost $30,000.

Kelly and her husband are active volunteers with ARC for people with intellectual and development disabilities.

She has volunteered at a homeless shelter, taught confirmation classes, helps with her parish liturgies and continues her spiritual development through Bible studies and prayer.

For more information about the lunch or to reserve tickets, contact the Marriage Family and Life office at (651) 291-4488 or visit the archdiocesan website at WWW.ARCHSPM.ORG.

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

Sponsors:

“There is no doubt . . . World Youth Day is a gift for both those already committed and those still searching.”

Bishop Donald Bolen of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Nation/World 8

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

News from around the U.S. and the globe

Pope tells youth to build, share faith with world

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

Pope Benedict XVI saw that 1.4 million young people could be buffeted by gusty winds and drenched by a driving rain and still fall silently to their knees to adore the Eucharist.

At the final Mass closing World Youth Day Aug. 21 in Madrid, the pope challenged the Catholic pilgrims to take that faith, make it grow and share it with the world.

Despite the hardships of getting to the Cuatro Vientos Archdiocesan military air base in pilgrims blistering heat Aug. 20 and the downreflect pour during the — Page 24 nighttime vigil with the pope, hundreds of thousands of young people from around the world spent the night on the open field, praying, singing and perhaps trying to snatch a few hours’ sleep.

But they were up, ready and rowdy when the pope arrived for the morning Mass.

In his homily, the pope said, the vision of that sea of happy souls “fills my heart with joy.”

“I think of the special love with which Jesus is looking upon you. Yes, the Lord loves you and calls you his friends,” the pope told them.

Next gathering in Brazil To the joy of the crowd, particularly the Brazilians present, at the end of the Mass, the pope announced that the next international gathering of World Youth Day would be in Rio de Janeiro in 2013.

In his homily at the Mass, Pope Benedict said faith is not about understanding a bunch of facts, “it is an ability to grasp the mystery of Christ’s person in all its depth.”

Even if it feels like a struggle at times, faith is not primarily about people working out their thoughts about God; it starts with the gift of God’s love and God’s reaching out to each person, he said.

Faith entails “a personal relationship with Christ, a surrender of our whole person, with all our understanding, will and feelings,” he said.

But the pope went even further, telling the young that a personal relationship with Jesus always must be transformed into action, service and love for others.

In addition, it must be lived within the church, the community of believers to whom Jesus entrusted his message and his mission of salvation.

“We cannot follow Jesus on our own,” he said. Those who try “approach the life of faith with the kind of individualism so

CNS photo / Paul Haring

Pope Benedict XVI arrives to celebrate the final Mass of World Youth Day at Cuatro Vientos airfield in Madrid Aug. 21.

Pope tells seminarians new doctor of church will be their role model Telling seminarians they must prepare seriously for the priesthood by devoting themselves to becoming saints, Pope Benedict XVI gave them a role model: St. John of Avila, who will become the Catholic Church’s 34th doctor of the church. At the end of a Mass Aug. 20 in Madrid with some 6,000 seminarians from around the world, the pope announced he soon would add the 16th-century Spanish saint to the short list of saints formally recognized for making a big mark on Catholic theology through their teaching and writing.

— Catholic News Service

prevalent today” and risk not encountering the real Jesus or “following a counterfeit Jesus,” he said.

Christ asks each person, “Who do you say that I am?” the pope said.

“Respond to him with generosity and courage, as befits young hearts like your own,” he told the young.

“Let me urge you to strengthen this life of faith which has been handed down from the time of the apostles,” he said.

“Make Christ, the Son of God, the center of your life.”

‘Like’ and share faith Pope Benedict told the young people, who had been texting, tweeting and posting Facebook updates about their

adventures, that whenever we “like” anything, we share it, and that must hold true for faith, too.

“You, too, have been given the extraordinary task of being disciples and missionaries of Christ in other lands and countries filled with young people who are looking for something greater,” the pope said.

Share the faith, he said, and help them see they are right when “their heart tells them that more authentic values do exist” and they resist being “seduced by the empty promises of a lifestyle which has no room for God.” Even before Mass began, officials of World Youth Day broadcast another challenging message to the crowd, telling them that most pilgrims would not be able to receive Communion during Mass and asking them to offer it up as a sacrifice for the pope.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said the plan was to distribute Communion from 17 eucharistic chapels set up on the perimeter of the airfield.

The storm Aug. 20 destroyed several of the chapel-tents, and police asked organizers to dismantle most of the others because they posed a danger in the wind.

Brigette Liss, a 26-year-old from Chicago, said going to church every Sunday while working is difficult.

“This experience has helped me come back to Mass and see how important it is to keep up on your faith and be sure that every day you take time out to pray and think of God,” she said.

The Catholic Spirit

Briefly Baltimore archbishop heads Holy Land group Pope Benedict XVI appointed Archbishop Edwin O’Brien of Baltimore as pro-grand master of the Equestrian Order (Knights) of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem, based in Rome. The appointment was announced simultaneously in Rome and in Wa s h i n g t o n Aug. 29. The order is a chivalric organization dedicated to promoting and defending Christianity in the ARCHBISHOP Holy Land, supO’BRIEN porting the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and responding to the needs of Catholics in the region.

He succeeds U.S. Cardinal John Foley, who resigned and retired in February from the post for health reasons. It is not known when Archbishop O’Brien will take up his new post in Rome. Though he ceases to be archbishop of Baltimore effective with the appointment, the pope named him as apostolic administrator of the archdiocese until his successor is named. “I pray that I will carry out the will of God and that of [the pope] in preserving the faith in the Holy Land,” Archbishop O’Brien said.

Judge rules for Illinois on Charities’ contracts An Illinois county circuit judge ruled Aug. 18 that the state may refuse to renew its foster care and adoption services contracts with Catholic Charities in the dioceses of Belleville, Joliet, Peoria and Springfield.

The decision could impact thousands of children and hundreds of Catholic Charities employees. Peoria Bishop Daniel Jenky said he was “extremely disappointed” by the decision of Sangamon County Circuit Court Judge John Schmidt. It came one day after a hearing in Springfield on an ongoing dispute between Catholic Charities and the state over the intent of the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act, which took effect June 1. The legal issue stems from Catholic Charities’ practice that prospective adoptive and foster care parents who are cohabiting be referred to other agencies. Illinois attorney general’s office lawyers say that policy violates anti-discrimination laws.

— Catholic News Service

“The intact, biological, married family remains the gold standard for family life in the United States.”

‘Why Marriage Matters’ study by the Center for American Families

This Catholic Life SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

Opinion, feedback and points to ponder

The Catholic Spirit

9

Marriage matters Study: Cohabitation puts children at greater risk of abuse, instability than divorce

By Mark Pattison

“People have seen divorce in

Catholic News Service

hile studies have long shown the negative effects on children of divorce compared to those from two-parent households, a new study has determined that children born to cohabiting couples fare even worse than children from divorced families.

Despite a drop in the divorce rate, “family instability continues to increase for the nation’s children overall, mainly because more than 40 percent of American children will now spend time in a cohabiting household,” according to the study, “Why Marriage Matters,” issued Aug. 16 by the Center for American Families at the Institute for American Values and the National Marriage Project, based at the University of Virginia.

“As marriage becomes less connected to childbearing, children are more likely to be exposed to a relational merry-go-round with adults coming in and out of their lives,” the report said. “Now, approximately 24 percent of the nation’s children are born to cohabiting couples, which means that more children are currently born to cohabiting couples than to single mothers.”

The study found that children born to cohabiting couples are much more likely to experience a parental breakup compared to children born to married couples — 170 percent in unmarried households with children up to age 12.

Not only is cohabitation less stable, it is more dangerous for children, according to the study.

W

their own family lives . . . and that’s made them gun-shy about getting married. But I also think that some people have responded to their parents’ divorce by developing a kind of deepened dedication to marriage.

”

W. BRADFORD WILCOX University of Virginia researcher

wedding ceremony on Labor Day, Sept. 5, for 30 couples who have been only married civilly. But Msgr. Kobti hears from Catholics who are in cohabiting relationships as well.

Spiritual guidance offered

Long list of negatives Federal statistics show that children are at least three times more likely to be physically, sexually or emotionally abused in cohabiting households, compared to children in intact, biological married-parent homes. They are also significantly more likely to experience delinquency, drug use and school failure.

“If Mom is living with a boyfriend, they may have less trust, less emotional security in their relationship, less sexual fidelity,” said W. Bradford Wilcox, a researcher at the University of Virginia and lead author of the report.

“And all of these characteristics in a relationship, which aren’t good, seem to bleed over into these kids’ lives. If Mom and Dad are cohabiting,” he added, “that’s going to be corrosive to the kids’ sense of security in their own lives.”

Wilcox, who presented some of the report’s findings Aug. 20 at the American Sociological Association’s convention in Denver, told Catholic News Service the rate of cohabitation is rising.

“Yes, people have seen divorce in their own family lives and or seen friends get divorced or whatever, and that’s made them gun-shy about getting married,” he said. “But I also think that some people have responded to their parents’ divorce by developing a kind of deepened dedication to marriage. For those getting married today they’re trying to work harder on their marriages than their parents did.”

Sheila Garcia, associate director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, said she looked askance at the notion of cohabitation as “an acceptable alternative to marriage. People today tend to be very individualistic and they look into what is good for them,” Garcia said. “They enter into a cohabiting relationship based on what will make them happy, but it does not take into account what is good for the children.”

Marriage gap growing Garcia cited another concern. “We’ve noticed for a few years now a marriage gap, which means that people who are better educated and wealthier are more likely to marry than those who don’t have those advantages,” she told CNS. “People who are considered working class are less likely to marry. There are economic benefits to marriage. And when married is not valued among the working class as it has been, that’s a problem. Marriage is a wealth-building institution.”

The “Why Marriage Matters” report concurred.

“Marriage is an important public good, associated with a range of economic, health, educational and safety benefits that help local, state and federal governments serve the common good,” it said. “The benefits of marriage extend to poor, working-class and minority communities, despite the fact that marriage has weakened in these communities in the last four decades.”

Msgr. Labib Kobti, pastor of St. Thomas More Parish in San Francisco, has a special pastoral commitment to the sacrament of marriage.

“Our [patron] saint has died defending weddings,” he said. More was beheaded in 1535 for opposing Henry VIII’s divorce and refusing to renounce papal authority.

The San Francisco priest was planning a mass Catholic

“During confession they tell you [about it] and you have to tell them, ‘Look, get married, let me help you.

We are not asking for money. We just want to help you.

You are confessing you know this is not regular, this is not right . . . and you want something better,’” he said.

Outside the confessional, he told CNS, “They come when they have problems. Now we are organizing something like Marriage Encounters where we meet once a month with couples and to speak about marriage with the groups, and we tell them about the difficulties of life and we try to help them spiritually.”

The church teaches that any sexual activity outside of marriage is sinful. If a cohabiting couple seeks to be married in the church, many diocesan marriage preparation policies suggest that pastoral ministers encourage the couple to live apart until the wedding.

Statistics on the webpage of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth say that “almost half the couples who come for marriage preparation in the Catholic Church are in a cohabiting relationship.” It also notes that the Official Catholic Directory reported 406,908 couples married in the Catholic Church in 1974; in the 2011 directory it reported that 170,172 couples married in the church.

According to the “Why Marriage Matters” study, “Departures from the norm of intact marriage do not necessarily harm most of those who are exposed to them. While cohabitation is associated with increased risks of psychological and social problems for children, this does not mean that every child who is exposed to cohabitation is damaged,” the report said.

“For example, one nationally representative study of 6- to 11-year-olds found that only 16 percent of children in cohabiting families experienced serious emotional problems. Still, this rate was much higher than the rate for children in families headed by married biological or adoptive parents, which was 4 percent.”

However, it said, “the intact, biological, married family remains the gold standard for family life in the United States. Children are most likely to thrive, economically, socially and psychologically, in this family form.”

10

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

Commentary

/ This Catholic Life

Letter from Kenya: ‘We slept like that’ roughts are cyclical in Kenya. Before, they came every 10 years, but now they seem to be hitting us more often and for longer periods of time.

My community remembers events and birthdays by times of hunger. We give the droughts names: “Longoza” was the drought when many animals died; there was the drought of the “planes” because food was dropped from the air by planes. One particuPeter Kimeu larly bad drought was called “man who dies with money in his fist” because, even if there was money, there was simply no food to purchase.

I was born in 1951 in Machakos, and, from what my mother tells me, that year there was a serious drought. My sister was born in 1961, and I clearly remember the terrible weather and the prevailing hunger throughout the region. I can’t tell you how many times I went to bed without eating. “I slept like that” is how we described it, which means we went to bed with nothing to eat.

I can’t count the number of days when “I slept like that,” or describe the feeling of going to sleep hungry knowing I’d wake up and there would still be no food for breakfast.

D

Guest Column

Dehumanizing disease Hunger is an unforgivable disease because it is one that is the easiest to cure.

It is annoying to wake up in the morning and look east, west, south and north and see that there is nothing green that you can chew.

During a drought everything goes yellow and dry. I would walk the roads and search the ground to see if someone had spat out a bit of chewed up sugar cane. I am not ashamed to say that I would rechew what I would find.

Hunger is dehumanizing. It gets to a level where you do not know how you will survive and you will do anything for a simple kernel of corn.

The thing about drought is that it does not just affect farmers and their crops — it affects everyone. If you think about it, during harvest time farmers hire local farmhands to help with their crops. But, when there are no crops to harvest, not only does the farmer lose his or her income, so do the laborers the farmer would have hired. There is a ripple effect that impacts the whole community. Few have food and even fewer have money to buy food.

My parents did everything they could to feed us. My father would leave early in the morning carrying a little basket to beg for food or ask for food on credit.

Each night he would arrive around 10 p.m. My mother, after a fruitless day attempting to find food, would try to encourage us by telling me to keep the water in our pot boiling so that when my father arrived we could quickly cook the

go to school without eating and that there would be no food for lunch and, if we were lucky, we might come home and perhaps my father or mother would have found food.

Today’s drought

CNS photo / Paul Jeffrey

Asio Dagene Osman cares for her severely malnourished 7-month-old son, Minhaji Gedi Farah, in a hospital in late July in the Dadaab refugee camp in northeastern Kenya.

food he brought in the already-prepared water.

I would keep the fire burning and the water boiling. As the hours passed, I would watch the water level slowly go down, all with the hope that we would eat that night. More often than not, however, my father would arrive frustrated and empty-handed. And I would sleep like that, knowing that I would have to

It is a traumatizing situation as a young child to be without food. Your stomach is so empty that even when you are thirsty and you take water it makes you dizzy.

You get so nauseated you want to vomit, and you’re vomiting what you didn’t eat.

I think about this now as East Africa faces another drought. I think about all the children who are suffering as I did.

We see terrible images of hunger, but I fear that we have not yet seen the worst of what is to come. What we are having is really serious stress. At the moment, the magnitude of the hunger facing Kenya is not well-known.

It is incumbent on all of us to band together and fight this very curable disease. No child on earth should ever have to “sleep like that.”

Peter Kimeu is a small-scale farmer in Machakos, Kenya, and Catholic Relief Services’ regional technical adviser for partnerships, global solidarity and justice.

To contribute to Catholic Relief Services’ efforts to aid people affected by the current drought and food shortages in East Africa, visit CRS.ORG.

Catechetical sessions were among WYD highlights CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 once again how the gift of music can lift the soul to contemplate the beauty and majesty of God.

Chastity talk On Thursday, our first talk of the morning at another catechetical session was given by a married couple, Jason and Cristilina Evert. The topic was the joy of being chaste.

Cristilina told of how she lost her virginity at the age of 15 because her boyfriend had told her it would prove her love for him. Afterwards, he lost all respect for her and they soon parted. But when he left, she reported, he took with him something that was very special to her.

Gradually she came to see how she needed to respect herself and her body in order to experience true joy. Jason recalled giving a chastity talk to a group of high school students after which he was approached by a burly football player who had written down “A hundred ways to love my girlfriend without sleeping with her.” He said his next assignment was to push the list to a thousand.

Archbishop Miller of Vancouver next told us that once we know someone’s name, that person is no longer a stranger and can be a friend. We know the holy name of Jesus, he said, so we must deepen our friendship with him. Friendship with Jesus opens the doors to happiness.

Open wide, he urged us, the doors of our hearts to Him! That afternoon, we returned to the Plaza de Cibeles and waited for two hours in the sweltering heat for the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI. When he was spotted, the pilgrims went crazy with songs and cheers.

Archbishop Nienstedt’s schedule ■ Tuesday, Sept. 6: 8:30 a.m., St. Paul, Archbishop’s Residence: Scheduling meeting with staff.

■ Wednesday, Sept. 7: 8:30 a.m., St. Paul, Archbishop’s Residence: Planning for “lectio divina” at the University of St. Thomas.

Noon, Minneapolis, Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota: Luncheon meeting with Bishop Brian Prior.

5 p.m., St. Paul, The Saint Paul Seminary: Opening Mass of academic year with faculty’s Profession of Faith and Oath of Fidelity and banquet.

■ Thursday, Sept. 8: 2 p.m., Philadelphia, Pa., Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul: Installation Mass of Archbishop Charles Chaput, archbishop-designate of Philadelphia.

■ Saturday, Sept. 10: 4 p.m., Annandale, Church of St. Ignatius: Sunday liturgy.

■ Sunday, Sept. 11: noon, Minneapolis Church of the Holy Cross: Sunday liturgy and celebration of 125th anniversary of the parish.

7 p.m., St. Paul, University of St. Thomas: “Lectio divina.”

■ Monday, Sept. 12: 6 a.m., St. Paul, St. John Vianney College Seminary: Holy Hour and Holy Eucharist, followed by breakfast.

10:30 a.m, St. Paul, The St. Paul Seminary: Meeting with administration.

11:35 a.m., St. Paul, The St. Paul Seminary: Holy Eucharist, followed by lunch.

5 p.m., St. Paul, Town & Country Club: St. John Vianney College Seminary Cup Social and Dinner.

■ Tuesday, Sept. 13: 8:30 a.m., St. Paul, Archbishop’s Residence: Scheduling meeting with staff.

9:30 a.m., St. Paul, Chancery: Archbishop’s Cabinet meeting.

1 p.m., St. Paul, Chancery: Presbyteral Council meeting.

3:30 p.m., St. Paul, Chancery: Meeting of College of Consultors.

6 p.m., St. Paul, Town & Country Club: Retirement dinner for archdiocesan communications director.

■ Wednesday, Sept. 14: 9:30 a.m., Mendota Heights, St. Thomas Academy: Mass for opening of academic year.

■ Thursday, Sept. 15: 9 a.m., St. Paul, Chancery: Meeting with staff.

10 a.m., St. Paul, Chancery: Catholic Community Foundation members meeting.

11:30 a.m., St. Paul, St. Catherine University: The Catholic Spirit Leading with Faith Awards banquet.

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

The Holy Father greeted the youth in seven languages, welcoming them to Madrid and reminding them that the nature of our gathering was spiritual, whereby we share with one another our mutual friendship in Jesus.

He challenged the pilgrims with the theme of this World Youth Day to stand “firm in the faith” and “to be planted and rooted in Jesus Christ” so that they would openly show forth their faith and never be ashamed of Jesus. He encour-

aged his young audience to use these days to get to know Jesus better, finding new ways to grow in holiness, especially through the celebration of the sacrament of penance.

By the way, throughout the three days of catechesis, the sacrament of penance/ reconciliation was available in every language you could imagine in Retiro Park, where hundreds of youth lined up to experience God’s mercy. The sacrament was also available at each of the catechetical sites.

Light to the world On the last day of our instruction, Archbishop Tim Dolan gave a spirited talk on how the pilgrims were called to go back home and spread their faith by being light to the world and salt for the earth. He mentioned four ways of doing this: 1) By showing charity in all we do: Here he mentioned Catherine Dougherty of Canada, who said if we cannot serve the poor with love, we better just close up shop. Love is our business.

2) By being joyful: The definition of joy, he said, was Jesus first, others second and yourself last.

3) By being hopeful: Here he recalled his trip to Haiti after the earthquake and marveled at the resilience of the Haitian people whose hope never diminished.

4) By being passionate in our love for the church: As Catholics, we cannot have Christ without the church because Christ is alive, available, accessible through and in the church, which is not only his body, but his bride as well.

The message was clear, concise and easy to remember.

(To be continued) God bless you!

This Catholic Life / Commentary

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Bringing Christ to the clinic A Making Sense out of Bioethics Father Tad Pacholczyk

Close collaboration between Catholic medical professionals and clergy is critical to effectively address the needs of patients approaching death

Catholic physician once related to me a powerful story about one of his patients, who had just received a diagnosis of advanced, metastatic cancer and had a relatively short time left to live.

The patient mentioned to the doctor that he was Catholic but had drifted away from the church and no longer practiced. A short time after sharing the diagnosis, the doctor returned to the man’s hospital room together with a priest, asking whether he would like to talk with him. The man became upset and threw them both out of the room, saying to his doctor, “Don’t ever do that again!”

Over the next few weeks as his condition worsened, the doctor worked tirelessly with the patient, addressing his medical and pain management needs. He became closer to him each day and spoke with him about a range of topics. A relationship of trust began to grow and develop.

A bold move When the patient’s condition took a sharp turn for the worse, the physician knew the end was approaching. Once again he came to the door of the patient’s room accompanied by a priest and stood there for a moment. The patient caught the doctor’s eye, and with a glimmer in his own, said rather cryptically, “Oh, what the heck, he probably knows me better than you do, so send him in here.”

The priest didn’t come out of the room for over an hour. The man ended up going to confession and receiving the last sacraments.

Ninety minutes after the priest departed, the man passed on to the Lord.

It might seem bold that the physician brought the priest to the room

initially without first inquiring whether the patient had wanted a visit from the priest. Yet, it was clearly out of concern for the patient’s spiritual needs that he “erred” on the side of taking that risk.

That same personal concern, bolstered by a stronger relationship with the patient, led him to try a second time, making it possible for the man to receive the sacraments and make his peace with God. The physician’s boldness and unflagging concern for his patient played an important role in bringing Christ into a situation where his healing graces were needed, where even the priest alone probably could not have succeeded.

Decision to baptize A few months ago, a physician in Florida told me a similar story from his own experience. A young man who had been found unconscious from a suspected drug overdose was

admitted to the ICU. He was not brain dead, but his neurologic exam was poor, and death was imminent.

His parents and sister were at the hospital that Sunday morning when it looked like he would die in the next hour or so. The physician explained the situation and then asked if they had any spiritual needs he could help them with. The father and mother indicated they were both Catholic, but they had never had the children baptized, saying, “I thought they should make their own decision.”

The doctor inquired if they would like their son to be baptized. They nodded yes, even though their daughter didn’t agree.

The doctor placed a call to the hospital’s Spiritual Services but couldn’t reach anyone. He tried calling two local parishes, but the priests were saying Mass. Finally, he called a retired housebound priest

11

he knew and asked him how to proceed. The priest instructed the physician to baptize the patient conditionally.

When the physician returned, the father spontaneously restated that he would like his son baptized.

With the nurse and the parents at bedside, the physician took some tap water into his hand and poured it over the patient’s forehead while saying, “I baptize you conditionally in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

The patient died within the hour.

The physician later commented: “Hopefully the patient was disposed to receive the sacrament. I believe his parents were comforted by their decision, and rightfully so. They had probably just requested the most important event in their son’s existence.”

Getting involved Some Catholic health care workers may take a largely hands-off approach when it comes to addressing the spiritual needs of their patients. The physician or nurse may feel such spiritual concerns are not really their purview or concern.

Yet, close collaboration between Catholic medical professionals and clergy is critical to effectively address the needs of patients approaching death. Even when a priest may not be available, physicians and nurses often will have opportunities to serve as unique conduits of God’s grace, if they are willing to be courageous, take some risks, and bring Christ into the clinic.

Father Tad Pacholczyk is a priest of the diocese of Fall River, Mass., and serves as the director of education at The National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia.

See WWW.NCBCENTER.ORG.

Gold stars, blue ribbons and Facebook likes y friend is blogging again after a four-month hiatus. “In the last week, two people have asked me about this little blog of mine, and because my ego is easily stroked,” she wrote, “I’m back.”

Another friend gave up blogging for Lent and voiced her anxiety the first week of Easter, back at her keyboard: “So I sat down to write a blog post this morning and saw that my Blogspot followers went down overnight. Unable to help myself (and yet, knowing better) I clicked over to Google Reader and saw that over there, too, I was down by two.

Was it something I said or something I didn’t? Am I too fluffy?

Offensive? Boring? Fat?” That’s the trouble with social media. They have created more ways to chase after approval and more ways to fall short of it. We count friends and fans and followers (none of which live up to the reallife definitions). We can see where they live, how they found us and whether they return.

M

Twenty Something Christina Capecchi

Don’t fall into the trap of scorekeeping when it comes to love

We are still seeking the gold stars dispensed in grade school, now in electronic form: comments and tweets, LinkedIn recommendations, Facebook likes, Flickr views. A click of a mouse and — presto! — a judgment cast globally. Laptop turned voting booth.

We become politicians, campaigning unceasingly and claiming all the credit.

Scriptural insights September’s back-to-school cycle heightens the pressure to perform, to make more friends and earn better grades. That’s what makes this month’s Sunday Gospels so challenging and well-timed.

St. Matthew understands how we operate, keeping score and holding grudges. Change the setting of his parables from vineyard to boardroom and you see how little has changed. We vent to others before addressing the offender (Sept. 4). We accept forgiveness that we don’t extend (Sept. 11). We begrudge co-

workers who show up late (Sept. 18).

We agree to tasks that we don’t perform (Sept. 25).

It happens in the classroom and in Congress. And it happens in families. We watch siblings receive credit — forgiven debts, homecoming parties, wedding gifts — and we wonder, “Will I be granted the same benefits when it’s my turn? Will the well run dry?”

There’s only one baby, for example, that turns parents into grandparents, and the other siblings see all the wet kisses, the gushing superlatives, the free babysitting and the singular adoration.

The siblings who are first to parent also worry, whispering their own silly fears: Will my child enjoy the same affection when a new grandbaby arrives?

We’re all operating on a false notion, bending to the smallest, saddest portrait of humanity.

We need to hear the landowner’s question in Matthew 20: “Are you

envious because I am generous?”

‘We have elastic hearts’ The human heart is not a trophy case with limited shelf space. It’s not a bank account that runs out after too many withdrawals. Love exists in infinite supply.

We have elastic hearts: There is always more to give.

Deep down we know this truth, but sometimes we need reminding.

So just think of Grandma: Each additional grandchild brings her more joy, which warms everyone.

Generosity begets generosity. A heart stretched by one act of charity is open wider for the next opportunity.

When we throw away the scorecards, our humanity gives way to holiness. We celebrate the divine love that encircles us.

Christina Capecchi is a freelance writer from Inver Grove Heights. Contact her at CHRISTINA@ READCHRISTINA.COM.

12 Mass to honor law enforcement, emergency workers ■ What: Mass of Thanksgiving and Remembrance ■ When: 4:30 p.m., Sunday, Sept.

11 ■ Where: Cathedral of St. Paul, 239 Selby Ave., St. Paul Archbishop John Nienstedt invites people of all faiths to this event honoring law enforcement and emergency personnel. It begins with a civic commemoration at 4:30 p.m., followed by a 5 p.m. memorial Mass with Father Peter Laird. Members of the Cathedral Choir School of Minnesota and the Cathedral Schola Cantorum will sing the Minnesota premiere of the Trinity Requiem.

The gathering is an opportunity to publicly thank these civic servants.

On this 10th anniversary of the 9/11 events, participants will recognize and show their appreciation to all those who serve our communities and also remember those who lost their lives in the line of duty. A reception will follow the Mass.

Sponsored by the Galtier Society and the archdiocesan Office of Marriage, Family and Life. For more information, call (651) 291-4488 or visit WWW.ARCHSPM.ORG.

Faiths to gather on Capitol mall ■ What: “Remember. Honor. Hope” ■ When: 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 11 ■ Where: Minnesota State Capitol Mall, 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul In remembrance of the 10th anniversary of 9/11, a coalition of faith organizations will honor freedom and democracy, lament loss, offer healing and seek to inspire greater cooperation in our state and nation during this public ceremony. The Commission on Ecumenism and Interreligious Affairs of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is among the event’s organizers, said Father Erich Rutten, commission chair.

“It’s an historic gathering of interreligious leaders [and communities] . . . to say we will not tolerate religious hatred or animosity caused by religious differences. It’s Christians and Muslims coming together, which is significant.”

‘Songs of Hope’ at Basilica of St. Mary ■ What: “Songs of Hope” ■ When: 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 10 ■ Where: The Basilica of St. Mary, corner of Hennepin Avenue and North 17th Street, Minneapolis This commemorative concert will mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11 with music, readings and prayers from the Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Universalist traditions. Participants will include a 100-voice choir from the Downtown Interfaith Community, Interfaith Chorus of Minneapolis Children, Minneapolis Youth Chorus and Minnesota Sinfonia. The concert is free and open to the public.

Volunteer at Ground Zero wanted to help people

9/11 hero inspir

By Julie Carroll

For many Americans, the 9/11 tragedy that rock our sense of safety is a sad memory with lasti changes to our formerly carefree travel routines.

But for the victims’ families, like Beverly and To Burnett Sr., “it’s like it happened yesterday.”

Tom Burnett Jr. was among the 40 passengers United Airlines Flight 93, who fought 10 years a for control of the plane from four terrorists w planned to crash in Washington, D.C. Althou everyone died when the plane crashed in Shank ville, Pa., the passengers prevented a greater disast

The Catholic Spirit

Like millions of Americans, Jim Daly watched in horror as the World Trade Center’s iconic twin towers came crashing down on live television Sept. 11, 2001.

A decade later, the parishioner of St. John in Little Canada reflects on the time he spent as a Salvation Army volunteer at Ground Zero in January 2002.

“It was a national disaster, and if I could do something to help people, I wanted to,” Daly said.

After answering the Salvation Army’s call for volunteers, Daly found himself at Ground Zero staring into a gaping pit the size of a football field, where construction workers, police officers and firefighters continued to unearth bodies nearly four months after the attacks that killed thousands.

DALY “I was just kind of overwhelmed the first time down at the pit,” he said. “. . . The first couple of days I was there, I was just thinking, ‘What did I get myself into?’”

Daly worked the midnight shift for two weeks at a morgue, where he served food to relief workers and organized other volunteers.

The retired Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office lieutenant had dealt with dead bodies many times in his line of work. But what he saw at Ground Zero was on a different scale than anything he had witnessed before.

Enduring images Many of the images during those two weeks remain sharp in Daly’s mind: bodies being unloaded from fire trucks, 18 refrigerated trailers full of body parts, a shrine with flowers and candles in memory of lost loved ones, missing persons posters, a giant canvas tent that workers referred to as the “Taj Mahal,” and a “sea” of officers standing outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral for a police officer’s funeral.

Then there was the smell. “With decomposing bodies, there’s a certain smell that you never forget,” he said, “and that was continually coming out of the morgue.”

Every night, the workers would bring new bodies, many of them fallen police officers, to the morgue for DNA testing. “We would all line up and stand at attention when we would get a call that there was a body on the way,” Daly said.

Workers who came to the morgue often wanted to talk, so Daly listened. “There was a lot of survivor guilt,” he said. “Everyone knew somebody who was killed.”

“The thing about cops and firefighters . . . is that we all know that it could just as well have been us,” he added. “Every time an officer is killed, that same thought goes through your mind. . . . There’s a comradeship that comes with that. You just kind of understand.”

Daly said he prayed every night during his service. “I prayed, ‘Lord, please make me adequate for this.’”

When asked how the experience affected him, Daly paused for a moment, then said: “I have an appreciation for every day when I watch the sun come up. I think [the experience] probably just strengthened that.”

N.Y. trip brought two priests close to terrorist attacks

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit

When Fathers Jeff Ethen and Peter Kirchner of the Diocese of St. Cloud flew to New York City on Sept. 10, 2001, they had no idea that a cup of coffee would save their lives the very next day.

An ambitious FATHER ETHEN itinerary had them scheduled to eat breakfast at the top of one of the World Trade Center towers at a restaurant called Windows on the World. But, a second cup of coffee that Father Ethen poured — against his doc-

tor’s orders — kept the two at Leo House in Manhattan, 20 blocks from the twin towers, just long enough to avoid the terrorist attacks that killed everyone dining at the restaurant that morning.

Offering service The two recently reflected on that narrow escape and the ensuing two days of service that they offered to help the city during its most vulnerable days of existence. First, they went to St. Vincent Hospital the same day of the attacks and worked alongside New York Cardinal Edward Egan, ministering to survivors brought in for medical help, including firefighters who were at the scene and managed to escape the twin towers’ collapse.

Then, the next day, they went to a makeshift missing person’s bureau at Chelsea Piers, a rec FATHER KIRCHNER center in Manhattan where those seeking information about their loved ones came for news — and the comfort that clerics such as the two priests could provide.

Ten years later, the memories are still

By Pat Norby The Catholic Spirit

Still touching lives

On a recent, sky-blue summer day at the Burnet home in Northfield where they attend St. Domin the two talked about their son, “Tommy,” and t upcoming anniversary of his death.

Billie, the toy rat terrier puppy that Tom Jr. talk Tom Sr. into taking 10 years ago — for just a fe weeks — still greets visitors to the Burnetts’ hom Her graying fur and waddling gait mimic the phy cally slowed-down Tom Sr. — who has had five sm strokes, Beverly explained.

This year, the couple will not travel far to com memorate their son’s death. “We made several com mitments to speak in the Twin Cities,” Tom said. O Sept. 10, they will participate in a halftime cerem ny at the Minnesota Gopher football game to hon Tom and the others killed on 9/11 and the schol ship program set up by the Tom Burnett Fam Foundation (WWW.TOMBURNETTFOUNDATION.ORG).

“The funds that people sent to Deena [Tom J wife] or Tom and I all went to scholarships,” Beve said. “We knew that Tommy would want us to su port education. That’s what he was all about.”

Besides the U of M, scholarship money goes to John’s University, Thomas Jefferson High School a John F. Kennedy High School, both in Bloomingto Pepperdine University in California and a citizensh program for middle school students, which started Oak Grove School in Bloomington.

On Sept. 11, the Burnetts will attend Mass Bloomington with the Poor Clare Sisters, with who Tom Jr. had a special relationship. On the day h plane went down, the sisters received a letter and financial gift from him thanking the nuns for th

fresh, and the impact of the tragedy strong. Words came rolling off their tongues, especially when Father Ethen pulled out the white coffee cup that he had held in his hand that morning.

Recognizing its significance, he took it back home with him on his nearlyempty flight a week after the tragedy.

“Being a historian and journalist myself, I had the sense to go back and get the coffee cup off of the table,” said Father Ethen, now pastor of parishes in Elrosa, Brooten and Belgrade. “I take it around when I give talks to kids. They actually get to see an artifact [from 9/11].”

It didn’t take long for the two priests, friends since Father Kirchner’s time in the seminary in the early 1990s, to realize the fine line they walked between life and death.

“We were in shock because we realized we both could have been in those towers,” Father Ethen said. “So, it really hit home to us.”

But, they didn’t let their emotional state paralyze them. Rather, sensing the importance of their background in ministry, they hustled to the nearest hospital to serve as volunteer chaplains. That brought them face to face with firefighters who had been in the buildings and survived, some of whom were itching to

go back.

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SEPTEMBER 1, 2011 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

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Beverly and Tom Burnett hold a photo of their son, Tom Jr., who died on Flight 93. A photo of Tom Jr.’s three daughters is on the ledge in the background.

prayers for his family, the Burnetts said.

Later, the Burnetts will go to Fort Snelling, and at 5 p.m. they will attend a ceremony in Bloomington honoring the foundation’s citizenship program.

Still seeking justice Despite the pain of losing their son, the Burnetts acknowledged that many blessings have blossomed from the tragedy.

“It would have been easier for Tom and I to pull the shades,” Beverly said. “Tom didn’t want to. He knew he had to find the people responsible for killing his son, so he initiated the search for the attorney who has our case and we are hoping to get our day in court.”

Tom added, “We want to get at the underbelly of this and that is the money” and the people who did this to everyone. They said the death of Osama Bin Laden, which they cheered, was just the beginning.

Although the remains of people on Flight 93 found

all day was to work triage our phones out and make a m, and to just make sure that t go back to Ground Zero y were just geared to go back Father Ethen said.

eets

osphere in Manhattan was wo priests said. Sirens were lmost constantly, barricades where, very few vehicles were otherwise-crowded streets, y jets were flying overhead. here was kind of like being e arrest because we saw the over the skyline,” said Father now pastor of parishes in and Villard. ts’ confinement in Manhater, offered them additional es for ministry to people on

ame up to us because of our ther Ethen said, to ask quesGod and faith.

Ethen’s case, it actually was collar. While he was at St. a priest from Australia who cationing in New York came ital to volunteer his services. hustle and chaos that filled

since the crash are supposed to be buried Sept. 11 in Pennsylvania, that does not comfort the Burnetts.

“Some of my son’s remains were found five miles from the crash site,” Beverly said. Remains from other passengers and their baggage are still on the crash site and have been found up to 10 miles away, she added. “It makes me wake up at night,” wondering if people are picking up mementos and keeping them, such as Tom’s wedding ring, which was Tom Sr.’s wedding ring and is inscribed with both of their wedding dates, Beverly said.

As for the costly memorial being built at the crash site, “My son would think that this is crazy,” she said. “We want a suitable memorial,” added Tom, who voted against the current design, which has created some controversy because of what he and others see as Islamic symbols incorporated into the design.

That is another project that Tom is watching.

The Burnetts said they were not surprised by their son’s bravery 10 years ago.

“He was selfless,” Tom said. “He had an ability to make people feel good. He was concerned about them.”

Beverly said their son made his sisters, Martha and Mary, and parents watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” every Christmas. Family members always knew they would receive a book during the holiday because Tom Jr. wanted to educate them.

Books also preceded the trips that Tom Jr. planned with his dad to Korea and Omaha Beach in Normandy, France, and before sending his parents to Costa Rica. Although Beverly stayed home from the D-Day trip, she said Tom Jr. made her part of the trip by calling her from each site to tell her where they were and email her photos.

Beverly said her message to others is to “pray that we will never have another 9/11.”

“When you talk about 3,000 people being killed, you’re not talking about the entire story because all these people had mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters,” she said. “All these people were going to work; they were good citizens.”

Tom Sr. added, “Tom was always concerned about his children [twins Madison and Halley, now 15, and Anna Clare, now 13, who live with their mother and stepfather in Arkansas] that they would be good citizens. That was right at the top the message he would have is be good citizens.”

13

Readers reflect As an associate at the Cathedral of St. Paul, I vividly remember coming back to the offices after the morning Mass and hearing of the attack. Once it sank in, I went up to my residence and wept, for the people lost (we thought there were tens of thousands), for the people who would be so hateful to act as they did, and for us as a country for being so focused on our need to succeed.

The next Mass I celebrated was the evening Mass on the 12th and I had a hard time getting through it, again thinking of the FATHER HART hate and greed that led to the attack.

Wednesday morning, the hymn in the Office of Readings was about chaos. And now, every time I come to that hymn, I am reminded of 9/11. I also frequently think of the attack as I see an airplane in the sky or look at a skyscraper and wonder how anyone could perpetrate such an act.

FATHER BOB HART St. Patrick, Inver Grove Heights

■■■ The day after Sept. 11, 2001, was the day that I realized how much I love my country. I attended the all-school Mass at Our Lady of Grace Church. Many parents always attended this weekday Mass, but many more attended that day. My husband and I have three children who were students at Our Lady of Grace School then. To close the Mass, the congregation tried to sing “God Bless America.” Many tears were wiped away as some of us tried to sing. . . . Sept. 11 made me feel that America’s freedoms and sense of security had crumbled right along with the crumbling of the twin towers. I wondered if my young children’s lives would change dramatically because of terrorism. I mourned for the people who died and their families and friends, and for the freedoms that might die along with those innocent victims.

Though the congregation was tremendously sad because of what happened, that day I felt somewhat comforted that I was a part of something bigger than myself. Being at church that day confirmed my belief that faith in God can get us through hard times. I pray that “My Home, Sweet Home” will never again have to endure a day like America suffered on Sept. 11.

MARY ANN STEINER MONAHAN Our Lady of Grace, Edina

■■■

the hospital’s hallway, he ended up losing his collar. Essentially, the Roman collar was a way through the police barricades and into places like this.

“They were harassing him to get out because only workers could be there [and he didn’t have a collar signifying he belonged],” Father Ethen said. “So, he saw me and he asked if I had an extra collar, which I did not. We were by the operating room, so we took out a surgical scissors and cut mine in half. So, he got half and I got half.”

The most memorable part of their second day of service was speaking one-onone with people like a man searching for his wife, who was in one of the towers when it was hit. Father Kirchner spoke with him and discovered that the couple hadn’t been married long and that the wife was pregnant at the time.

He spent all day trying to reach her by phone, without success.

“I assume that she probably never got out,” Father Kirchner said. “I think of people like that and they’re often in my prayers.”

In a different way, Father Kirchner can relate to those who lost loved ones in the tragedy. Just a week before the attacks, he buried his father, Peter Sr., his last surviving parent (his mother,

Helen, died in 1996).

“It was really a double whammy to lose my dad and to be in this tragedy,” he said. “I thought this [trip to New York City] would be kind of a nice way to unwind and grieve for my father and take a break from getting ready for the estate sale and cleaning out the house.”

Going back Both priests, who regularly take vacations together, are planning to go back to New York for the 10th anniversary of 9/11. As always, they will visit museums and go to concerts and restaurants, which is a common interest that has forged their friendship over two decades. But, they don’t have anything special planned.

As the two continue to respond to requests from both Catholic groups and civic organizations to recount their experiences, they will use their opportunity to shed positive light on the priesthood — often maligned in the secular media — and to offer a simple sermon on what’s important in life.

“I just think 9/11 showed the importance of faith, family and friends — the three Fs,” Father Kirchner said. “Everyone’s going to have tragedies in their life, but faith, family and friends keep us going.”

These days our nation is so divided — over economic crisis, polarizing political views and health care policies. We feel vulnerable because of the lack of jobs, housing and basic security. Our world feels incredibly tenuous. I pray we have the ability to remember the astonishing solidarity we experienced on 9/11/2001 as one nation. Our hearts became one, and we felt in a real way our human connection to one another. We were filled with grace and found strength to get through that day and for many days afterward, by leaning on one other.

As citizens of the greatest and strongest country in the world, we mourned the loss of our family and friends. We were shaken to our core upon hearing the tragic stories of so many people who we did not even know. Sept. 11 changed us for other reasons as well. Our innocence and security were gone. As a society and individuals, we had been violated. We discovered, though, we could find comfort, solace and strength in our fellow citizens. Our response toward each other was kinder, accepting and gentler, even to perfect strangers.

Here we are 10 years later, and wounds are still open. I wonder, in light of the issues we are dealing with today: Have we forgotten that we are still one country? When our local government can shut down because consensus cannot be reached, and we have conversations and expectations about me — would that have happened 10 years ago? My prayer is that we again remember to see each other as God sees us — loving, accepting and always ready to listen. It would be another tragedy for the memory of the people who have lost their lives to turn our backs on the significance of the message we received that day.

DEBRA TALLARICO Cathedral of St. Paul, St. Paul

Read more reader reflections at THECATHOLICSPIRIT.COM.

14

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Brief, young vocation reaps a rich harvest CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 18. Frustratingly, his parents were encouraged to abort him. Some people even had the gall to say, “Just wrap him in a blanket and let him die.”

From the beginning, Peter was a fighter and object of many prayers. He gained strength during his five weeks of neonatal intensive care. “I just dreamed of the day when I could hold him. I joked to the nurses that I was going to Superglue him to me,” Mary told The Catholic Spirit, which in 2005 and 2006, featured their family’s journey.

During the years that Peter’s siblings had with him, they were great helpers and smothered him with kisses galore.

And I’m told that Don is the St. Josephfigure for the family; a very patient and loving man who would probably have to pry Peter out of Mary’s arms in order to have a turn holding him.

Prenatal Partners for Life Peter’s family predicted that when his time came he would leave a lasting legacy — and he has.

His life inspired his family, members of St. Raphael in Crystal, to found a website called Prenatal Partners for Life ( WWW.P RENATAL PARTNERS F OR L IFE . ORG ), which matches families who receive an adverse diagnosis with families who have given birth to a child with a similar condition.

The experienced parents help the

others embrace life and offer accurate information, support and encouragement.

Mary stated: “There is a place in the world for children with special needs.

We all are ‘differently-abled,’ with flaws and gifts. These children are teachers of our souls, and society desperately needs the lessons and blessings they bring.”

Peter the teacher Like the child Jesus instructing the elders in the temple, so did tender Peter teach the young and old.

“He achieved much in his life — he gave his family and those who knew him many teachable and touchable moments. That was his vocation,” said Deacon Sean Curtan, who along with his wife, Joan, is the coordinator of the archdiocesan Outreach for Persons with DisAbilities. “God reaped a rich harvest from Peter’s life, not a drop of it was wasted. We can be sure he is surrounded by love as he was on Earth.

Peter’s legacy lives on.”

His legacy is seen in a pamphlet Mary wrote for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2007 titled: “Peter’s Story: Discovering Hope and Love after an Adverse Prenatal Diagnosis.”

This work is distributed to Catholics nationwide and has helped many families.

In it, Mary states so beautifully: “We are grateful for Peter, whom we call our

‘little teacher.’ Even though he may never speak a word, he has taught us many important lessons about love, sacrifice, compassion, patience, hope and faith. He has transformed the way we look at life and has broadened our view on the deeper meaning of the sacredness of all human life made in the image of God. “Peter is teaching us what Jesus taught, and he is a tremendous source of grace. He is a sweet, happy little boy who knows and loves his family. In many ways he is my easiest child out of the 11.”

Yielding to meekness Father Livingston said that the most important thing about Peter is that he was the face of meekness.

“Often we are so proud and strong that we don’t appreciate the blessedness of this gift Peter taught us. We live in a fast-paced, high-powered world.

We have super-charged engines and he taught us to yield,” he said.

Deacon Curtan said, “We know he walked right into heaven.”

And I have a feeling that as soon as he got there, everyone lined up to hold him!

Kathy Schneeman attends St. Joseph in West St. Paul with her husband and their nine children. She writes the “Embracing Life” blog on CATHOLICHOTDISH.COM.

Mass for people with disabilities is 3 p.m. Sept. 11 The Catholic Spirit Monica and Patrick Duffy have taken their children — Colleen, 10, who has Down syndrome; Kevin, 11, and Rachel, 8 — to the annual Archbishop’s Mass for Persons with Disabilities for the past five years.

This year will be no different, Monica said, although some people may attend a memorial service elsewhere because of the 9/11 anniversary. The Mass begins at 3 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 11, in St. Mary’s Chapel at the St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul with Bishop Lee Piché.

Monica first heard about the annual Mass in the Sunday bulletin at St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony, where the Duffys are parishioners.

“It’s an event filled with joy and it’s so nice to see other families that I feel such a connection with,” she said. “The biggest delight for us at the Mass is to see people receiving the sacraments — sometimes that’s a struggle for some families.”

An additional benefit of the Mass, is getting together with Joan and Deacon Sean Curtan, who is director of the archdiocesan Outreach to Persons with DisAbilities, she said. Statistically, there are almost 80,000 Catholics with disabilities in the archdiocese, Duffy said.

“Hopefully, [the Mass] has and will continue to spark further interest in making connections between families and interest in helping Deacon Sean and Joan with their outreach,” she said.

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“One must care about a world one will not see.”

Bertrand Russell, philosopher, mathematician

The Lesson Plan SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

Reflections on faith and spirituality

The Catholic Spirit

15

Love means taking responsibility to speak out about sin here is a proverb in my native Kasem dialect that says: “Ta n jege noona se n yeini wanno,” which translates: “You should have people and bother not about wealth.”

The wisdom in this proverb is that we are social beings; we are created by God to live in communion and be responsible for each other. It is a call to eschew all forms of individualism and indifference and to yearn for as many people as possible to lend their support in time of need and to point out Deacon without hesitation Albert Wugaa the right path to you.

In a similar way, Ezekiel echoes this message of being responsible for one another. He was appointed by Yahweh to point out the misdeeds of the wicked: “Thus says the Lord: ‘You, son of man, I have appointed a watchman for the house of Israel; . . . you shall warn them for me.’”

Ezekiel was given the responsibility to point out the sins of others. Failure to do so would result in the wicked receiving

T

Sunday Scriptures

The apostle Paul tells that we owe our neighbor nothing but love. It is this love that will impel us to execute the prophetic task of not only correcting the wrong of society but also affirming the right and leading others to God the Father.

Readings Sunday, Sept. 4 23rd Sunday in ordinary time ■ Ezekiel 33:7-9 ■ Romans 13:8-10

Love reigns over all

■ Matthew 18:15-20

For reflection When have you expressed love and courage to point out a sinful act in society?

punishment for their sins, as well as the loss of the prophet’s own life. This warning is meant to lead the children of Israel to the knowledge that God is always there for the repentant sinner.

All are to watch Like Ezekiel, we all are appointed to watch over and be responsible for our neighbor. If we neglect to dissuade others to turn from ways that do not please the Lord, and our brothers and sisters lose their lives, then we shall be held responsible by the Lord (Ezekiel 33:8).

Each of us is to point out the wrong that others do in fraternal love. Our society, today, needs to hear this warning

over and over because no one wants to be told that he is wrong. We are called to confront others with a prophetic voice, even though today’s world views that as abuse of an individual’s “freedom” to do whatever they please.

That is a misunderstanding of freedom.

Many of us think no one — not even the church — should tell us what to do or what not to do.

I do not want to sound judgmental or vindictive, but we, like Ezekiel, will lose our lives if we fail to be responsible for one another, or if we fail to be prophetic, or if we are bystanders and say it is not our business. We are called to condemn the wrong and affirm the right, in love.

Jesus, the new law, crowns it all by outlining the steps to be taken when a brother does wrong: confront the person who wrongs you, discuss it one-on-one and bring others into the matter, and discuss it before the whole church.

Those three steps are meant to be exercised in love and to win the erring brother or sister back to the church. Although our society makes it hard for us to practice these steps, we must remember our Christian identity and use them.

Jesus says it is by our love that the world will know that we are Christians and his disciples (John 13:35). The Scriptures add that, he who does not love his brother abides in death (1 John 3:14).

Deacon Albert Wugaa is in formation for the priesthood at the St. Paul Seminary for the Diocese of NavrongoBolgatanga in Ghana. His teaching parish is Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul.

Daily Scriptures 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. 8 Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Micah 5:1-4a Matthew 1:1-16, 18-23 Faith isn’t certainty but trust in the midst of fear and doubt.

Monday, Sept. 5 Labor Day Colossians 1:24 — 2:3 Luke 6:6-11 Has a tendency to avoid conflict allowed others to suffer?

Sunday, Sept. 11 24th Sunday in ordinary time Sirach 27:30 — 28:7 Romans 14:7-9 Matthew 18:21-35 “Then Peter approaching asked him, ‘Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him?’”

— Matthew 18: 21 Although Peter probably didn’t get the answer he was looking for, at least he had the courage to ask the question.

How often do we pray that others change and entirely avoid the whole subject of our anger and resentment?

Volumes have been written on working through the sometimes long and difficult process of forgiveness, but the question

Tuesday, Sept. 6 Colossians 2:6-15 Luke 6:12-19 Notice if there is a balance of prayer and action in your life.

Wednesday, Sept. 7 Colossians 3:1-11 Luke 6:20-26 As we see our lives through the eyes of faith our values will be turned upside down.

Friday, Sept. 9 Peter Claver, priest 1 Timothy 1:1-2, 12-14 Luke 6:39-42 Has anyone ever extended the benefit of the doubt to you and how did it change you?

Saturday, Sept. 10 1 Timothy 1:15-17 Luke 6:43-49 Our great challenge is to put aside our opinions and assumptions in order to hear the still small voice of the Holy Spirit.

we have to begin with is: Are we willing to bring our broken hearts and stubborn wills to prayer?

Despite obstacles, the spirit continues to work through all who are open hearted.

Monday, Sept. 12 Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary 1 Timothy 2:1-8 Luke 7:1-10 How has faith in a compassionate God changed you?

Saturday, Sept. 17 Robert Bellarmine, bishop 1 Timothy 6:13-16 Luke 8:4-15 It is only when we realize how difficult it is to open our hearts that we understand its necessity.

Tuesday, Sept. 13 John Chrysostom, bishop 1 Timothy 3:1-13 Luke 7:11-17 What is your response to people in emotional pain?

Thursday, Sept. 15 Our Lady of Sorrows 1 Timothy 4:12-16 John 19:25-27 Who have you stood with in times of suffering and who has stood by you?

Sunday, Sept. 18 25th Sunday in ordinary time Isaiah 55:6-9 Philippians 1:20c-24, 27a Matthew 20:1-16a “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.”

— Isaiah 55:8 When it comes to discerning whether or not we are in alignment with the heart of God, Jesus said it best: “By their fruit you shall know them.” What looks like a desire for holiness might actually be rigid perfectionism, and what appears to be love might be a tolerance for bad behavior that proves destructive to all involved. To admit that we don’t always know our own heart — let alone God’s — is a step toward humility and sanity.

Friday, Sept. 16 Cornelius, pope and martyr; Cyprian, bishop and martyr 1 Timothy 6:2c-12 Luke 8:1-3

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.

Wednesday, Sept. 14 Exaltation of the Holy Cross Numbers 21:4b-9 Philippians 2:6-11 John 3:13-17 We find liberation not by denying our brokenness but by looking at it honestly.

16

The Lesson Plan

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

Why stewardship?

‘Stewardship: A Disciple’s Response’ — A summary of the U.S. bishops’ pastoral letter on stewardship

“Stewardship as a way of life has astonishing implications for our relationships and our daily lives.

The following is the first in a three-part series on stewardship.

”

By Mike Halloran For The Catholic Spirit

In the early 1990s, the United States Catholic bishops collectively prayed and reflected on the hallmarks of Christian discipleship. Grounded by many solid biblical foundations, the bishops concluded that a disciple of Jesus is truly a thankful, responsible and generous caretaker of God’s many blessings.

Based on several parables and the many apostolic instructions, Jesus’ disciples understood they were to share their gifts with others. They believed in a provident Lord who multiplied meager offerings of bread and fish.

Guided by Scripture, the bishops concluded that the Christian steward is a person whose prayer leads to a constant awareness that God is the creator of all blessings in life — spiritual and material. Jesus presented the ultimate gift to God — the gift of his life — and we, too, are called to follow in Jesus’ footsteps by: ■ Receiving God’s gifts gratefully.

■ Cultivating them responsibly.

■ Sharing them lovingly in justice with others.

■ Returning them with increase to the Lord.

Daily stewardship examples God has entrusted us with the gifts of material creation, our individual vocation, and the living out of

Learn about your choices by visiting our website:

God’s mission through the church. Gratefully caring for these gifts leads to these tangible examples of stewardship in our daily lives: ■ Stewardship of Creation: Respecting life, protecting the environment and developing our world through noble human labor.

■ Stewardship of Vocation: Faithfully carrying out our unique individual roles in God’s plan.

■ Stewardship of the Church: Prayerfully sharing our time, talent and treasure to fulfill the mission of the parish, diocese and universal church.

This concept of stewardship as a way of life is not focused on our temporal or temporary needs such as facilities and debt. It recognizes the innate spiritual desire to give. This desire lies within all our hearts. Our loving God created us in his image with the potential and expectation to share our gifts with the world around us.

Stewardship as way of life

Essential to our success in accomplishing this vision will be the encouragement and formation of our clergy and laity in practicing and teaching stewardship as a way of fulfilling one’s ministry in the parish.

That is why the archdiocese has developed a comprehensive resource “tool kit” for parishes to use in teaching stewardship as a way of life, as well as providing ongoing support and training to parish leadership.

Stewardship as a way of life has astonishing implications for our relationships and our daily lives. We can experience life-shaping changes of mind and heart when we commit ourselves to the Lord — recognizing God as the origin of life, receiving gifts in a gratitude that is glued to action with an eagerness to demonstrate our love for God and neighbor.

The journey of discipleship is one of intense joy, fulfillment and peace. As Mary, the mother of Jesus, lived her ministry in a spirit of fidelity and service, we can find the same favor with God by living as authentic stewards of our world, our vocation and our church.

It is Archbishop John Nienstedt’s hope to grow stewardship as a way of life within our homes, our parishes and throughout the 12 counties of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Mike Halloran is director of the Office of Development and Stewardship for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

www.saintjudehospice.org

The Lesson Plan

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

17

The Preface Dialogue: On your mark, get set, go!

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. ne part of Mass often overlooked is called the Preface Dialogue. It draws our attention to the high point of the Mass, the great Eucharistic Prayer. It’s kind of like getting ready for a race: “On your mark, get set, go!”

Let’s look at why the Preface Dialogue is so important.

God is a Trinity of Persons — Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Humanity was created in God’s communal image, which is why God told Adam, “It is not good for the Father man to be alone” Thomas (Genesis 2:18).

Margevicius But sin entered the picture, resulting in separation: Humans were cut off from God, and Adam and Eve covered themselves, hiding in shame from both God and each other.

The history of the Chosen People is the drama of the people drawing close to God, then falling back into separation — back and forth. Jesus became incarnate as part of this people in order to remedy this separation. Once and for all Jesus would definitely bring humans back to God and to each other.

On the night before he died, Jesus prayed that all his disciples may be one with each other and with the Father (John 17:21). And, when Jesus died, the veil in the Temple (that symbolized our separation from God) was torn from top to bottom. The Eucharist makes that sacrifice of Jesus present on the altar. Every element of the Mass aims at overcoming the separation that has plagued humanity since the beginning.

O

Priest: The Lord be with you. (Latin: “Dominus vobiscum.”)

“With the celebration of the

People: And with your spirit. (“Et cum spiritu tuo.”)

Eucharist we can resume running the race toward the Father, with Jesus as our model and the Spirit empowering us.

Priest: Lift up your hearts. (“Sursum corda.”)

People: We lift them up to the Lord. (“Habemus ad Dominum.”)

”

Priest: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. (“Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro.”)

FATHER THOMAS MARGEVICIUS

People: It is right and just. (“Dignum et iustum est.”)

Priest: It is truly right and just . . . (“Dignum et iustum est . . .”)

Lift Up Your Hearts

Serving a dual role Liturgical dialogues — back-and-forth communication between priest and people — are distributed throughout the

Mass: “The Lord be with you/And with your spirit,” “The Gospel of the Lord/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ,” etc. The General Introduction to the Roman Missal no. 34 emphasizes their importance: “Since the celebration of the Mass by its nature has a ‘communitarian’ character, both the dialogues between the priest and the assembled faithful, and the acclamations are of great significance; for they are not simply outward signs of communal celebration but foster and bring about communion between priest and people.”

In other words, dialogues in Mass do two things: they bond the people with each other so they can pray together, and they bond the people to the priest when they all speak to him in unison. The unity of the mystical Body of Christ is both expressed and advanced by these dialogues.

Most dialogues contain two lines, but the Preface Dialogue at the beginning of the Eucharistic Prayer is three times as long. It’s as though the liturgy is telling us, “All along we’ve worked at praying in unison, but it’s especially important now because we’re beginning the most important part of the Mass.”

Coming up next ■ Sept. 15 — The Roman Canon, part 1. As a way of examining the Mass itself, this article will explore the first Eucharistic Prayer, often called the Roman Canon.

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

The General Instruction no. 78 put it this way: “Now the center and high point of the entire celebration begins, namely, the Eucharistic Prayer itself, that is, the prayer of thanksgiving and sanctification. The priest calls upon the people to lift up their hearts toward the Lord in prayer and thanksgiving; he associates the people with himself in the Prayer that he addresses in the name of the entire community to God the Father through Jesus Christ in the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, the meaning of this Prayer is that the whole congregation of the faithful joins with Christ in confessing the great deeds of God and in the offering of sacrifice.”

In the new translation it will be prayed this way:

The language of this dialogue is very ancient and hard to translate. The verb “lift up” is not in the Latin, but is presumed. “Sursum corda” means literally, “Hearts aloft!”

Similarly, the response “Habemus ad Dominum” means literally, “We hold toward the Lord.” Does it mean, “We are lifting them up” or “We have already lifted them up to the Lord, where we hold them now”? The Latin is ambiguous, which is the nature of liturgical language: It’s poetic and can have multiple meanings.

Running the race The last line of the dialogue: “It is right and just,” is echoed by the priest as he continues the rest of the preface. It is “right” to give thanks because that is why humans were created, and it is “just” because God deserves to be praised.

When we join Jesus’ own self-sacrifice enacted in the Eucharist, the double separation that has plagued humanity since the beginning — cut off from God, and from each other — is overcome.

With the celebration of the Eucharist we can resume running the race toward the Father, with Jesus as our model and the Spirit empowering us. Let’s pray the Preface Dialogue with enthusiasm: On your mark, get set, go!

Father Thomas Margevicius is instructor of liturgical theology at St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul.

Blessed are the peacemakers, who turn Sept. 11 terror toward prayer for peace to being peacemakers.

By Father Michael Van Sloun For The Catholic Spirit

Sept. 11, 2011 is the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City, one of the most horrific days in American history, a day that has changed our way of life in the United States and around the world.

Security measures have increased dramatically — at airports, around critical facilities like power plants and water treatment plants, and at large gatherings like concerts and sporting events.

We are under more surveillance than ever. We are subject to searches and scans. We are on the lookout for suspicious activity. Military operations continue in Iraq and Afghanistan. For 10 years we have enjoyed relative security and calm at home, but it has been a nervous peace.

Important day for prayer Because the peace we enjoy is so tenuous and could be disturbed at any moment, and remembering the devastating loss of life and massive destruction 10 years ago in New York, and never forgetting the horrors of war, particularly during World War II, Korea, Vietnam and Desert Storm, Sept. 11 is an especially important day to pray for peace.

“As Christians, it is our duty to keep the peace wherever we may be, and if strife erupts, to work to restore the peace.

”

FATHER MICHAEL VAN SLOUN Pastor of St. Stephen, Anoka

As we pray for peace, we must also work for peace. In his seventh beatitude Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9), and he went on to say, “They will be called children of God.” As the lyrics to a song say so well, “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.”

There is conflict everywhere, not just between countries, but in our families, among our relatives, at work, at school, at church and in our neighborhoods. As Christians, it is our duty to keep the peace wherever we may be, and if strife erupts, to work to restore the peace.

As we remember Sept. 11, let us rededicate ourselves

Peacemakers’ litany Peacemakers regard others as children of God and real people rather than “the enemy”; share rather than hoard; seek the common good over special interest and privilege; empower rather than control and manipulate; are humble rather than arrogant; flexible and cooperative rather than stubborn and unyielding; agreeable rather than quarrelsome; amiable rather than argumentative.

Peacemakers reestablish conversation where there has been silence; speak respectfully and politely instead of yell and scream; tell the truth where there have been lies and distortions; set aside resentments, bitterness and the desire to punish and get even.

Peacemakers are able to apologize for past wrongdoing and willing to make amends; ready to let go of the past and make new beginnings; and have a calming effect where there is trouble.

While we pray for peace in the world, we need to work diligently for peace where we live, work and worship.

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

“We can either have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few; but we can’t have both.”

Supreme Court Justice (1916-1939) Louis Brandeis

Labor Day 18 The Catholic Spirit

A Catholic Spirit special section

Today’s workers like those who inspired bishops’ letter

Fall Festival Our Lady of the Prairie Belle Plaine

Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011 Praise and Worship Mass 10 a.m.

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Serving the Archdiocese since 1911 One Faith, Many Stories, 100 years

The Catholic Spirit

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

By Catholic News Service The head of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, in an annual Labor Day statement, likened today’s workers and the difficulties they face to those who inspired Pope Leo XIII’s landmark encyclical of 120 years ago, “Rerum Novarum,” (“On New Things”).

The encyclical on capital and labor ushered in the era of Catholic social teaching.

“Over 9 percent of Americans are looking for work and cannot find it. Other workers fear they could lose their jobs.

Joblessness is higher among AfricanAmerican and Hispanic workers. Wages are not keeping up with expenses for many,” said Bishop Stephen Blaire of Stockton, Calif., committee chairman, in the statement.

“Countless families have lost their homes, and others owe more on their homes than they are worth. Union workers are part of a smaller labor movement and experience new efforts to restrict collective bargaining rights,” he continued.

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Fall Festival September 16, 17 & 18 Friday Events • Carnival Rides & Games/Food/Craft Fair/Silent Auction – 5:00 p.m. – 10 p.m.

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• Kick – off Harvest Moon Dinner & Live Auction with Entertainment (6:30 p.m.) Adults $35 (Cash Bar) (Adult Event) Saturday Events • 5K Family/Walk Run – 9:00 a.m. check-in • Carnival Games & Rides/Bingo & Meat Raffle/Crafts Fair/Country Store/Silent Auction/Food – 11 a.m. on! (Silent Auction closes 7:30 p.m.)

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“Hunger and homelessness are a part of life for too many children.

“Most Americans fear our nation and economy are headed in the wrong direction. Many are confused and dismayed by polarization over how our nation can work together to deal with joblessness and declining wages, debt and deficits, economic stagnation, and global fiscal crises. Workers are rightfully anxious and fearful about the future,” he added.

Same moral challenges But, Bishop Blaire noted, “at the time of the Industrial Revolution workers also faced great difficulties. Pope Leo XIII identified the situation of workers as the key moral challenge of that time and issued his groundbreaking encyclical ‘Rerum Novarum.’ This letter has served as the cornerstone for more than a century of Catholic social teaching.”

“This timely encyclical lifted up the inherent dignity of the worker in the midst of massive economic changes,” he said. “This encyclical is best remembered for Pope Leo’s prophetic call for the church to support workers’ associations

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for the protection of workers and the advancement of the common good.”

Dated for Labor Day, Sept. 5, Bishop Blaire’s 3,400-word statement on “Human Costs and Moral Challenges of a Broken Economy” was released Aug. 24 in Washington.

“Beginning in ‘Rerum Novarum,’ the church has consistently supported efforts of workers to join together to defend their rights and protect their dignity.

Pope Leo XIII taught that the right of workers to choose to join a union was based on a natural right and that it was the government’s obligation to protect that right rather than undermine it,” Bishop Blaire said.

“This teaching has been affirmed consistently by his successors,” he added, including Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, the latter of whom said in his 2009 encyclical “Caritas in Veritate” (“Charity in Truth”), “The repeated calls issued within the church’s social doctrine, beginning with ‘Rerum Novarum,’ for the promotion of workers’ associa-

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Labor Day U.S. bishops still defend right to organize and protect labor

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT CONTINUED

FROM PAGE

18

tions that can defend their rights must therefore be honored today even more than in the past.”

“Our church continues to teach that unions remain an effective instrument to protect the dignity of work and the rights of workers,” Bishop Blaire said. “At their best, unions are important not just for the economic protections and benefits they can provide for their members, but espe-

cially for the voice and participation they can offer to workers. They are important not only for what they achieve for their members, but also for the contributions they make to the whole society.”

But by the same token, he added, “unions, like other human institutions, can be misused or can abuse their role. The church has urged leaders of the labor movement to avoid the temptations of excessive partisanship and the pursuit of

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only narrow interests.”

In those instances in which some unions have taken public positions the church cannot support, church and labor leaders “should address them in principled, respectful and candid dialogue,” Bishop Blaire said. “This should not keep us from working on our own and together to advance common priorities of protecting worker rights, economic and social justice, overcoming poverty, and creating economic opportunity for all.”

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Fall Festival Saturday, September 10 Holy Name of Jesus

19

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Friday night performance by

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Carnival These are just some of the highlights!

“Each of us can become an evangelist for the forgiveness of Christ and a witness to God’s wondrous mercy.”

Cardinal Donald Wuerl

Arts & Culture 20

The Catholic Spirit

Exploring our church and our world

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

‘Sinner’ is a winner for Catholics striving to do better

By Joe Towalski The Catholic Spirit

Lino Rulli has his own national satellite radio show. He’s a three-time Emmy winner for his work in television. He’s received Communion in the pope’s private chapel, taught high-school religion in the Bahamas and even worked as a sidekick to an organ-grinder.

In many ways, the St. Paul native and host of SiriusXM Radio’s “The Catholic Guy” show has lived a life much different than most people.

But what becomes apparent as you page through the chapters of his new book, “Sinner,” is that Rulli resembles a lot of people we know: men and women striving to live as faithful Catholics but who stumble along the way because of pride, envy, lust and other sins of the “deadly,” as well as the more mundane, variety.

You might even see something of yourself in this collection of short, humorous stories in which Rulli talks about his successes, failures and experiences of God’s grace along the way.

Taking an honest look “Sinner” — to be officially released Sept. 1 — was the obvious choice for the book’s title, Rulli said in an Aug. 29 interview with The Catholic Spirit.

“I know I strive for one thing in my life and don’t meet up to it on a daily basis,” Rulli said. “So, I wanted to put a book out there that says exactly that: I’m a sinner.

I don’t have all the answers; the church has all the answers. I don’t have a lot of things going on in my life that make a lot of sense, and maybe you don’t either. I was hoping people would relate to a book like this.

“I really wanted to grab people’s attention and say, ‘Yes, I’m a guy who tries to

live out his faith. Yes, I suck at it sometimes. And, no, I won’t give up trying,’” he said.

One attractive aspect of the book is that Rulli is willing to tell stories and reflect on them with sometimes brutal honesty, even when it comes to embarrassing admissions — like getting arrested while in college for underage drinking and struggling with temptations of the flesh during a visit to Thailand.

Writing about the embarrassing moments wasn’t difficult, Rulli said. The real difficulty was having them published.

“It’s not [difficult] until you put it out there [and] you start getting the reactions,” he said. “You think, ‘OK, my mom has a copy of the book now and is reading all these stories . . . about me doing these stupid things.

“If anything, I just hope that if I’m honest, it encourages other people’s honesty — not necessarily in book form, but an honesty in their own lives and their spiritual lives. We can lie to ourselves, but we can’t lie to God,” Rulli said. “I don’t think it does us a whole lot of good to just pretend we are these perfect people who’ve got it all figured out.”

Given that reality, Rulli is the first to admit that he “would be such a mess” if it weren’t for the sacrament of reconciliation — a topic to which he devotes three chapters in the book. These “adventures in confession,” as he calls them, get him refocused and reenergized to live his Catholic faith. And, he wants others to understand the value the sacrament can bring to their own spiritual lives.

“It’s kind of like when you find a great diet tip, you tell people. If you find something of great value, you want to share it,” he said. “To me, if you take [confession] away, I’m screwed. . . . It’s such an

essential part of my life — spiritually and psychologically.

“At the end of the day, it’s another one of those things I emphasize so much because, if I only tell you the stories of what a screw-up I am, and I just leave it at that, you might think that I sin and I don’t care. I’m saying, no, I sin, and I wish I didn’t. But because I do, then I guess the good that comes out of that is me talking about confession.”

Rulli calls the sacrament “one of the best things going on about Catholicism.” And, while “Sinner” is good for a lot of laughs, his hope is that the book encourages some readers — those who rarely, if ever, darken the confessional doorstep — to go to confession.

Local flavor Rulli grew up attending St. Ambrose in St. Paul (since relocated to Woodbury), went to Hill-Murray School in Maplewood and graduated from St. John’s University in Collegeville. He worked as a reporter and commentator for WCCO-TV and KMSP-TV and hosted and produced “Generation Cross” in Minneapolis from 1998 to 2004. He also is a former columnist for The Catholic Spirit.

Minnesota readers will appreciate his stories about local people and places. In the acknowledgments section at the end of the book, he thanks a few from the archdiocese, including Father John

Forliti, Mark Croteau, Father Peter Laird and Father Joseph Johnson, who have had a positive impact on his life and career.

“Sinner” — published by Servant Books, an imprint of St. Anthony Messenger Press — has received praise from people ranging from the executive producer of the “Howard Stern Show” to New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, who gives “Sinner” a back cover endorsement, calling it “a winner.”

Still, the book is not for everyone. Rulli knows he has critics who don’t appreciate his style of humor, which seems irreverent to some. But he’s OK with that.

“I really want this book not to be for the people who go to daily Mass,” he said. “This is a book for guys like me when I was a teenager, when I was in my 20s” — for people who ask, “Should I even try this church thing? I feel like I’m not going to be any good at it.”

“I’m not trying to [reach] the people who already know great Catholic authors and spiritual guides. I’m really writing a book more for the average person.”

And, he might add, the “average Catholic” who tries to be faithful but often falls short. For them, “Sinner” offers comfort, hope and a lot of laughs along the way.

You can order “Sinner” — which is also available in other formats such as audio CD — online by visiting this story at THECATHOLICSPIRIT.COM and clicking on the order link. The book is also available at most local bookstores.

In Scripture, theology, art and literature, Virgin Mary still sparks interest

By Bob Zyskowski The Catholic Spirit

There is renewed interest in the Virgin Mary — her role in lives of faith, how to interpret references to her in Scripture, how she is depicted in art and literature — enough to spark a second “Mary in Our Day” conference, this one in Duluth, and held on the feast of the Assumption, Aug. 15.

“Her call to holiness still echoes,” explained Christian Brother Mark McVann. “Mary continues today to be a major spiritual force and resource in the modern world.”

The College of St. Scholastica hosted this second exploration of the enduring significance of the Blessed Mother. The first was organized by St. Mary’s College of California last year.

Brother Mark, a professor of theology and religious studies at St. Mary’s, said the revival of interest in Mary and

Marian devotions is evident in the volume of recent books on Mary, in the University of Dayton’s The Mary Page on the Internet, and of enough significance that the History Channel has done a series (and now a book) — “Visions of Mary” — which he called “excellent.”

The fact that there are sparse references in the New Testament makes discussions of Mary complex and open to interpretation, he said.

In St. Luke’s Gospel, we see a Mary as “open, intelligent, independent and faithful,” Brother Mark said.

“Mary is more than an Old Testament saint,” he added. “She is the first one to hear the Gospel. Mary is the first Christian disciple. . . . When she appears at the foot of the cross, she becomes the model for believers.”

Church teaches through liturgy Father William Graham, a priest of the Diocese of Duluth and theology professor

at St. Scholastica, pointed out that the church teaches during the liturgy what Mary’s role is. “The Roman Missal is a rich repository for us as we seek to reflect on and understand and teach what is acceptable on Mary.”

Father Graham, who also spoke at the first “Mary in Our Day” conference and organized the one at St. Scholastica, gave examples of how the church’s liturgical prayer through the year references Mary and reveals her role as the one who brings the Word to flesh. The Annunciation was one such instance.

“Mary’s honor is in her courageous, faith-filled reply to the Angel Gabriel,” Father Graham said. “The church’s prayer aims to shape us in the same faith-filled, joyful trust.”

Mary’s role as the mother of Christ and mother of the church is clear, he added.

“Every feast, every act of devotion to Mary, finds its dignity in turning our

hearts to God,” Father Graham said.

A new Pentecost?

Boston College theologian Nancy Pineda-Madrid put forward the case that the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico in 1531 is “an American Pentecost,” a renewal of hope that, like the coming of the Holy Spirit both to the apostles after Jesus’ ascension into heaven and continuing today, the miracle of Guadalupe is an ongoing event.

Pineda-Madrid drew parallels between the dashed hopes of the apostles and the down-trodden, even suicidal native peoples of 16th-century Mexico.

The emblazoning of Our Lady’s image on the tilma of Juan Diego left a rich symbol that not only “mediates a sense of the divine,” she said, but in the cloak’s combination of Aztec and Catholic symbols, the native peoples “see a future for PLEASE TURN TO BLESSED ON PAGE 23

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

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

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.

Parish events 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. Garage sale at St. Anthony of Padua, Minneapolis — September 8, 9 and 10: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at 312 Monroe St. N.E. Features daily door prizes.

Fall festival at St. Bonaventure, Bloomington — September 9 and 10: Chicken dinner Friday at 4:30 p.m. at 901 E. 90th St. Continues Saturday with a parade at 10 a.m., rides, food, music, a car show and more.

Carnival at St. Timothy, Blaine — September 9, 10 and 11: Music Friday from 5 to 10:30 p.m. Festival from noon to 10:30 p.m. Saturday at 707 89th Ave. N. Features carnival rides, petting zoo, chili contest and music.

Continues Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. with a flag ceremony to observe Patriot Day on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.

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, beer tent 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. Fun includes auction, country store, beer garden and more. For information, visit WWW.CARVERSTEAMBOAT DAYS.WORDPRESS.COM. Festival at St. Ignatius, Annandale — September 10: Polka Mass at 4 p.m.

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT bean bag toss contest and more. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday with a chicken dinner, carnival, raffles and more at 223 19th St. N.W. Visit WWW.STFXB.ORG.

Don’t miss Wayzata festival to feature Tim Mahoney Local artist Tim Mahoney will be the featured entertainment at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Community’s annual fall festival Sept. 10. Mahoney was recently seen on NBC’s The Voice.

The event begins with an outdoor tent Mass at 4:30 p.m. followed by dinner.

Christian band Sonar will perform at 6:30 p.m. and Mahoney will take the stage at 8:30 p.m.

Holy Name of Jesus is located at 155 County Road 24, Wayzata. For more information about the event, visit WWW.HNOJ.ORG/FALLFESTIVAL2011. 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.

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 is featured all weekend including Dan Perry and the Ice Cream Band. 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, country store and more at 11300 Frankfort Parkway N.E.

dancers, games and more.

125th anniversary celebration at Holy Cross, Minneapolis — September 11: Noon Mass at 1621 University Ave. N.E., followed by a reception and dinner at Cedars Hall, 602 University Ave. N.E. Cost for dinner is $35 for adults and $17 for children. For information and reservations, call (612) 789-7238.

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.HOLYFAMILYMARONITE.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 St. Stanislaus, St. Paul — September 11: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 187 S. Western Ave. Features a turkey dinner from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and games and raffles.

Festival at St. Mary, Waverly — September 10 and 11: Mass at 4 p.m. Saturday followed by festival from 5 to 11 p.m. at 607 Maple St. Continues Sunday at 9 a.m. Features food, activities and raffles. To purchase raffle tickets, call (763) 658-4319, ext. 32.

Festival at Our Lady of the Prairie, Belle Plaine — September 11: Praise and worship 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.

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.SACREDHEARTROBBINSDALE.ORG.

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.

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 inflatable rides for the kids. Visit WWW.STMARYSWBL.ORG. 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

Festival at St. Patrick, Inver Grove Heights — September 16 to 18: Begins Friday with a wine and beer tasting event with live music and dancing from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday Mass at 4 p.m. followed by a taco dinner, bingo and games. Continues Sunday with a classic car show from noon to 5 p.m.

Nativity County Fair at Nativity of Our Lord, St. Paul — September 16 to 18: from 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at 1900 Wellesley Ave. Includes an online auction, craft fair, rides, games, food and more. Outdoor Mass at 10:30 a.m. Sunday. VISIT WWW.NATIVITYCOUNTYFAIR.ORG. Glory Days celebration at St. Francis Xavier, Buffalo — September 16 to 18: 5 to 11 p.m. Friday with a carnival, beer tent, music and fireworks. Continues Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. with children’s activities, 5K race,

Festival at Transfiguration, Oakdale — September 16 to 18: Dinner Friday evening followed by a teen dance, arcade and rides. Saturday features a 5K family run/walk, games, food and music by GB Leighton. Sunday outdoor Mass at 10:30 a.m. followed by a breakfast at 6133 15th Ave. N. Festival at St. Rose of Lima, Roseville — September 17: Barbecue dinner from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at 2048 Hamline Ave. N. Live music, kids’ games, bingo and more from 6:30 to 10 p.m.

Festival at Holy Cross, Minneapolis — September 17 and 18: 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday music “under the big tent” with Dr. Kielbasa. Sunday polka Mass at 10 a.m. followed by a chicken dinner and festival from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at 1621 University Ave. N.E. Festival at St. Matthew, St. Paul — September 17 and 18: Begins with a chicken dinner at 5 p.m. Saturday with activities including games, an antique car display, wacky hair styles and face painting until 10 p.m. More Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 490 Hall Ave. Applefest at St. Anne, LeSeuer — September 17 and 18: Outdoor Mass at 5:15 p.m. Saturday followed by a hog roast and a teen dance. Chicken dinner and kids’ games Sunday at 11 a.m. Featured both days is Grandma’s Kitchen, garage sale, antique shop and more at 511 N. Fourth St. Festival at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Hastings — September 17 and 18: 1:30 p.m. start for golf tournament Saturday at the Hastings Country Club. Festival Sunday 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. at 2035 15th St. W. features games, pony rides, raffles and more.

Visit www.seasparish.org.

Festival at Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Paul — September 17 and 18: 6 p.m. to midnight Saturday with music, food, dancing and coronation of the queen. Continues Sunday noon to 6 p.m. with music, food and kids’ games at 401 Concord St. Hilltop Autumn Fest at All Saints, Lakeville — September 17 and 18: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at 19795 Holyoke Ave. Craft fair, farmers market and more. Continues Sunday with a dinner. Visit WWW.ALLSAINTSCHURCH. COM.

Prayer/ liturgies World Apostolate of Fatima Vigil of Reparation to the Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart at St. Mary, St. Paul — September 2 and 3: 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. at 161 Eighth St. For information, call (651) 295-3304 or WWW.FATIMA ONLINE.ORG. 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. Knights of Columbus traveling rosary at St. Columba, St. Paul — September 4: 2 p.m. at 1327 Lafond Ave. Knights of Columbus traveling rosary at St. Mary, St. Paul — September 11: 2 p.m. at 261 Eighth St. E.

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22

Travel & Pilgrimages

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

Christian leaders: Pilgrimages must change to help Holy Land peace

By Simon Caldwell Catholic News Service

Catholic and Anglican leaders have challenged Christians to find new ways to establish lasting peace in the Holy Land, including changing the nature of pilgrimages.

International Christian, Jewish and Muslim delegates at the two-day Conference on Christians in the Holy Land, at Lambeth Palace in July, considered concrete steps that might be taken by ordinary people to help to resolve enduring tensions that have forced millions of Palestinian Christians to flee their homeland in the past 50 years.

Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, told a July 19 news conference at the palace, his London residence, that the delegates had looked for a “bit of a step change in Christian involvement here with the situation of Christians in the Holy Land, a step change that will allow us to identify and support specific projects more effectively.”

“As this is not just for the churches in the Holy Land but for the communities those churches are embedded in, we don’t see this as an exclusively Christian project,” he said.

“This is the Lord’s land, and we must all work together to find a solution that is just and which is going to bring peace with justice and security in the Holy Land.

”

CARDINAL THEODORE MCCARRICK

He added that the “approach to pilgrimages” needed to change beyond a “tourist venture” to allowing visitors “to engage with the reality on the ground.”

More than prayer Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, told the news conference that British parishes would be encouraged to work for peace and forgiveness, rooted in justice, for all the people of the region.

The plan includes charitable relief work, contact with people in the region and in the Palestinian diaspora, and the lobbying of politicians to work for change.

He said he would like to see such work extend to the wider community in the

United Kingdom to include leaders of other faiths.

The conference, organized by the Church of England and the Catholic Church in England and Wales, was attended by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

The cardinal called for renewed dialogue among followers of the Abrahamic faiths in the region, but he also made a specific plea for the rights of the minority Christians in the Holy Land to be guaranteed and respected.

He said Christian communities were not founded by missionaries sent from Rome or Constantinople but by the apostles and were a gift to their societies because “they bring cultural openness, a sense of the dignity of the human person

JERICO CHRISTIAN JOURNEYS Check out our new Website

and particularly of women; a conception of freedom which harmonizes rights and privileges, and a conception of political society which can lead to democracy.”

Among the delegates were Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson, Ariz., who is of Lebanese descent, and Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington, who has worked for 10 years with the U.S.-based National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East.

Peace dissipates problems In an interview with Catholic News Service, Cardinal McCarrick said the major obstacle for progress in the Holy Land and the plight of Christians there was the absence of peace.

“Once you have peace there, many of the other problems will disappear,” he said. “I think one of the reasons Christians are leaving is that they don’t find peace there. . . . I think [the conference] will let people know they are not alone in striving for peace in the Holy Land.

“The main thing is that we keep trying and, in good times and in bad, we keep the search for peace going on. This is the Lord’s land, and we must all work together to find a solution that is just and which is going to bring peace with justice and security in the Holy Land,” he said.

Stay connected.

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www.jericochristianjourneys.com JOIN US ON PILGRIMAGE Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help near Green Bay, Wisconsin Many Summer/Fall Departures from Twin City area Or customize your own group For further information/brochures, call:

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23

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

Blessed Mother still influential in 21st century CONTINUED FROM PAGE 20 themselves and their children.”

Our Lady of Guadalupe, PinedaMadrid posited, initiates a zeal for mission, crosses racial and ethnic lines, and continues God’s promise that the presence of the Holy Spirit will continue to be with and empower the faithful.

Art opens door to God Brother Charles Hilken, also a Christian Brother and a history professor at St. Mary’s in California, used images and likenesses of Mary to explain why the Blessed Mother continues to be influential in the 21st century.

“Christian faith is one that overflows into images,” noted Brother Charles, who was a curator for the “Vatican Splendors” exhibits in the United States recently.

“Christian faith wants to express itself.”

As a variety of images of Mary from various artists through the ages came up on a large screen, he made the point that Mary has been envisioned by all cultures.

“These images serve as openings to the inner life of God,” he said. “An image of Mary prompts our memory — it’s short-

hand for the faith we know,” and it can open for us a door to prayer.

“Whatever Mary becomes for the individual Christian, whether she is Mother of the Church or Our Lady of the Rosary or our refuge and life’s confidant or simply a repository of faith, her image defines for us beauty,” Brother Charles said.

“It is she who shows us the way.”

A model for today Kathy Herzog, who with her husband owns a restaurant in Pine City, said: “I loved seeing those images of Mary. They just touch the heart. It was so moving to me.”

Just recently moved to Willow River and St. Mary parish there, Herzog said she came to love Mary through seminars and speakers, and at adoration of the Blessed Sacrament one day felt compelled to follow Mary’s call to regular recitation of the rosary and Mass.

She had pages of a spiral notebook filled with notes near the end of the daylong conference, which she said “inspires me to want to learn, to be open to learning more about Mary.”

Benedictine Sister Lois Eckes said that’s because Mary is “a woman for our time, a woman for all seasons.”

The prioress at the St. Scholastica Monastery, Sister Lois said hosting the

conference was a way for the college to help people better see Mary as a model.

“She’s such a model for our faith, one who helps us know that God is in our world in all this mess.”

Catholic film held over for second week The Catholic movie “Vito Bonafacci,” currently showing at AMC Theatres in Maple Grove, did so well during its Aug. 26 to Sept. 1 run that it will be held over for another week. The movie, the story of a lapsed Roman Catholic in spiritual crisis, will now be showing through Sept. 9.

News Notes The Catholic Spirit

Where: AMC Arbor Lakes 16, 12575 Elm Creek Blvd., Maple Grove, — north of the I-94/I-494/I-694 junction in the Arbor Lakes Mall area.

Showtimes: Call 1-888-AMC-4FUN, or visit

WWW.AMCTHEATRES.COM/ARBORLAKES.

For more information about the film, visit WWW.VITOBONAFACCI.COM.

Crosier priest re-elected as prior Crosier Father Kermit Holl was re-elected Aug. 23 to his third term as prior of the Crosier Community of Onamia, Minn.

Father Holl, who made his first profession as a Crosier in 1985 and was ordained a priest in 1990, has served as prior in Onamia since 2005. He was born and raised in Richfield.

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“As we remember my daddy’s legacy, let it not be about us.

Let it be about being obedient to the will of God.” Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., during a prayer service in honor of her father.

(The King memorial dedication has been delayed because of Hurricane Irene.)

Overheard 24

The Catholic Spirit

Quotes from this week’s newsmakers

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

WYD: Close encounter of the papal, faithful kind

By Susan Klemond

believe these things.’”

For The Catholic Spirit

Multicultural flavor

Just a few weeks before he left for World Youth Day in Madrid, Spain, Brandon Lehner remembers that he was impressed by how many fans Target Field could hold. The 24-year-old software engineer multiplied that number by 50 as he watched the roughly 1.5 million pilgrims gather in a field for the overnight vigil Aug. 20 and papal Mass the following morning.

“That was kind of inspiring to see that that many people cared enough about their faith to make the trip and spend all the money and all the time to get to that spot with everyone else,” said Lehner, a member of St. Alphonsus in Brooklyn Center who attended World Youth Day for the first time as part of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ pilgrimage to the Aug. 16-21 event.

Time to grow Lehner and other WYD attendees from the archdiocese said they were inspired by seeing Pope Benedict XVI, as well as the vast numbers of young Catholics from other countries who shared their faith. While they said the pilgrimage was challenging at times, local young adults found opportunities to grow spiritually and the inspiration to apply what they’ve learned in their daily life.

For Erin Phillips, a 25-year-old chemist who is a member of the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis, the highlight of WYD was being close to the Holy Father.

“I was about 10 feet away from Pope Benedict when he passed through for the opening Mass,” said Phillips, who previously attended WYD in Toronto in 2002.

“I guess [what struck me was] just the power of his presence along with sort of this united group of international young people and just that whole interplay of

Photo courtesy Peggy Doherty

From left, in sunglasses and hat, Father Kevin Finnegan, Father Erik Lundgren, Father Tom Wilson and Bill Dill enjoy a light moment with young adults, during World Youth Day in Madrid.

we’re all here together for this common, [yet] very special event.”

Rachael Daschielle, 20, said she was surprised that so many people came without expecting anything in return. “I think it was really cool because people weren’t there to receive anything, like a gift or anything like that,” said Daschielle, who attends St. Alphonsus and the University of Minnesota.

Being around many others who have the same beliefs is encouragement to

share your faith, Daschielle said. “It’s like: Be proud to be Catholic because there are so many other people who do believe the same things I do,” she said. “I think it really, like, just gave me a boost of confidence to really be the best Catholic that I can be.”

Being with other young Catholics made Lehner think about really living his faith, he said. “It just kind of made me rethink a lot of things about my faith and rethinking, ‘OK this is actually why I

Tsining Dang, 20, who attends St. Vincent de Paul in St. Paul, said he appreciated seeing different cultures at WYD. “Honestly, it’s just a good event to go to because it really makes you see the greater picture of how many people all over the world in all the different cultures and ethnicities that believe . . . gathered together in one place,” said Dang, a student at Century College who attended WYD in Sydney, Australia in 2009.

The fact that things ran differently in a foreign country also helped him grow in patience. “We Americans are always on the go, always doing things,” Dang said.

“Basically we don’t have time to actually make time for the Lord and make time for us to think and reflect upon our faith, so basically [we have] to have patience and tolerance.”

Marketing specialist Brittany Prokott, 24, said she appreciated the little things during the pilgrimage. While food and accommodations were not what she was used to, she said she was surprised at how strong she was. “With Jesus you really can do anything,” said Prokott, a St. Alphonsus parishioner who attended WYD for the first time.

Prokott encouraged those who can’t attend WYD to bring it’s spirit into their own lives through their parishes.

“Even though you’re not present with the pope right there, you can still celebrate your faith with a group of people in your home parish,” she said.

Anyone taking part in WYD should expect to come back changed by the experience, Phillips said.

“You have to expect to come back a [changed] person because there’s just not any way you can go and then come back without a different story to tell.”

Faribault pilgrims struck by power of faith amidst the WYD storm “The highlight of the trip for me was seeing the pope and being so close to him when he first arrived in Madrid! It was awe-inspiring to see one of the holiest people on the planet and to know that he has a special message for all of us youth.

“This pilgrimage actually saved my Catholic faith. I was starting to stray away from God and my faith to the point I stopped going to church, stopped praying, and REUVERS almost started to stray away from my family and friends. I finally realized this before I went to WYD so I asked God if he would help me back to him and the church. During the pilgrimage God helped me find my way back to my faith.”

SARA REUVERS, 17 Divine Mercy, Faribault

■■■ “The highlight of my experience was the vigil with the

pope [Aug. 20]. After a six-mile pilgrim walk among thousands of pilgrims into the park “Cuatro Vientros” (The Four Winds, a prophetic name) we remained hydrated, dependent on the love of other pilgrims bringing us water in the 110-degree heat.

“Finally, the sun relented and the vigil began in the usual way — selected youth asking the profound questions of life to the pope. The Gospel was read (John 15, “I am the Vine...”). In response to their questions, the Holy Father prepared to elaborate. Just then, a huge electrical storm enveloped the 1.5 million people in the crowd with gale force winds blowing from every corner of the park with pouring rain.

“The storm was greeted by a cheering crowd! The youth, not surprised by the storm, recognized it as a test of faith and resolved to remain rooted in Christ. Some did not — they left the park to seek man-made shelter, but our shelter was Christ. . . This went on for 20 minutes and the pope himself was buffeted by the storm! No words were spoken by the pontiff until the storm passed.

At this time the Holy Father bypassed his talk and said: ‘Dear friends: I thank you for your joy and your

resistance. Your strength is greater than the rain. Thank you. With rain the Lord has sent us many blessings. In this also, you are an example.’

“At this point, he silently got up and left the stage. He vested in gold and brought the Blessed Sacrament out and exposed our Lord in a monstrance. He then led the multitude in silence before our Lord. . . . After Benediction, the Holy Father said: ‘We have lived together an adventure. Strengthened by your faith in Christ, you have resisted the rain. Before leaving I wish you all good night. Have a good rest. I thank you for the sacrifice that you are making and I have no doubt that you will offer it generously to the Lord. We shall see one another tomorrow, God willing, in the celebration of the Eucharist. I am expecting all of you. I thank you for the fine example that you have given. As happened tonight, you can always, with Christ, endure the trials of life. Do not forget this. I thank you all.”

“This profound providential moment spoke to each heart and continues to be reflected on by millions.”

JUSTIN STROH, YOUTH LEADER Divine Mercy, Faribault