Newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis
Saints come marching in
The Catholic Spirit News with a Catholic heart
October 27, 2011
IN THIS ISSUE
With the approach of All Saints Day Nov. 1 and All Souls Day Nov. 2, readers tell which saints have inspired them most. — pages 18-19
TheCatholicSpirit.com
TRAGEDY TRANSFORMED
‘Ever Ancient, Ever New’ Social media, modern evangelization take center stage at Communications Day. — page 3
Vatican suggests fix for global financial crisis A new Vatican document calls for regulation of financial markets to stem greed and other economic injustices. — page 9
Planning your Catholic funeral Two parish funeral planners say planning in advance can ease the burden on loved ones. — page 20
Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit
As Michael and Anne Gross continue to grieve the death of their daughter, Teresa (shown), part of their healing process has involved planning an adolescent mental health seminar at their parish, St. Paul in Ham Lake.
As the first anniversary of their daughter’s suicide approaches, local couple feels called to help other families By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit
I
t was a normal day, a beautiful day on Nov. 1, 2010, when Anne Gross drove home a group of giggling girls from St. Agnes School in St. Paul. Among them was her 14-year-old daughter, Teresa, who was laughing and joking with two of her siblings — Rebekah, then a junior, and Mary, then a seventh-grader. At the time, Teresa seemed to have completely recovered from the depression that had caused her to start cutting herself just three months earlier. On their way home, they stopped briefly at Leaflet Missal in St. Paul, where Anne bought a prayer card of Blessed Mother Teresa as a way of encouraging her daughter’s devotion to her namesake. When they got home, Teresa bounced over
More inside ■ Pastor identifies with family’s tragedy ■ Warning signs every parent should know ■ Suicide facts and statistics ■ What does the church teach about suicide? — pages 14-15
to one of her neighbors to walk the dog, as she had been doing for folks in the neighborhood throughout the summer and fall. A future as a veterinarian seemed like a distinct possibility. Meanwhile, her father, Michael, was just returning home from a Catholic conference in which the featured speaker was Father Raniero Cantalamessa from Rome, Preacher to the Papal household. As Michael put it, he was “flying high from the conference” and, to add icing on the cake, his favorite song was playing on the radio on the way home — “Let the Healing Begin” by Tenth Avenue North.
Little did he know at that moment how deeply meaningful this song would become. Eventually, after a walk with friends, Teresa came back home and went upstairs to her small bedroom on the second floor. Anne was busy in the kitchen making a batch of chili for Michael and the six of their nine children still living at home. Inspired by the conference and his favorite song, Michael continued to play this tune, downloaded from iTunes, on his computer. Finally, dinner was ready about 5:30. Anne called everyone into the dining room, but the kids were slow to arrive. When Teresa failed to answer the summons, Anne sent Mary up to her room to get her. Mary knocked on the door, but there was no answer and it was locked. She came down and told Anne, who was growing irritated by the delay. She had worked hard on making the meal, and the least the kids could do was come promptly, she thought. She charged upstairs and knocked on the door. Again, no answer. Pulling out the key, PLEASE TURN TO FOLLOWING ON PAGE 14