The Catholic Spirit - April 18, 2019

April 18, 2019 • Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

Notre Dame fire French leaders vow to rebuild the Notre Dame Cathedral after devastating April 15 fire.

— Page 9

Racial injustice Traveling to Alabama, youths from several parishes deepen knowledge of civil rights movement.

— Page 5

God and the cosmos Catholic physicist explores ways that faith, science complement each other.

— Page 6

‘Unplanned’ Movie about former Planned Parenthood clinic director’s change of heart on abortion inspires local pro-life advocates.

— Page 8

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Catholics and ecology Ahead of Earth Day April 22, MCC document delves into ‘Laudato Si’,” a moral theologian explores people’s relationship to creation, and experts consider morality of animal gene editing.

— Pages 14-15

See what love Holy Week and Easter u Archbishop Hebda: Lives must be changed by the risen Christ • Page 3 u C atholic authors reflect on what New Testament women teach Christians today • Pages 12-13 u In Jerusalem, a family tradition of carrying the cross • Page 18 u The connection between Jesus washing his disciples’ feet and the Eucharist • Page 20 u Liz Kelly: Crocuses symbolize Easter truth • Page 22 u How did Jesus die? • Page 24

This wood carving of the fourth Station, Jesus meets his mother, is located at St. Albert the Great in Minneapolis. It is not known who made the Stations for the church, and it is believed that they were installed shortly after the church was built in the late 1940s.

Archbishop Hebda to lead morning prayer at Cathedral during triduum The Catholic Spirit Archbishop Bernard Hebda is inviting all the faithful of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to join him in morning prayer during the Easter triduum. He will preside at the Liturgy of the Hours’ morning prayer and the office of readings at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul 7:30 a.m. Holy Thursday and Good Friday and 8 a.m. Holy Saturday. Commemorating the passion, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, the Easter triduum is the summit of the Church’s liturgical year.

It is celebrated from Holy Thursday through Easter Sunday.

2 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

APRIL 18, 2019

PAGETWO NEWS notes

$655,704

The amount raised in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for the 2018 Retirement Fund for Religious. More than 150 parishes participated in December through March collections and other donations to help support retired religious sisters, brothers and priests. Donations continue to be accepted all year long, and they help meet health care and other needs. The fund also supports programs for long-term retirement planning.

Parishioners across the archdiocese have contributed more than $15 million to the fund since it was launched in 1983.

3

The number of oils to be blessed during the annual Chrism Mass, traditionally associated with Holy Week and set to be celebrated this year at 10 a.m. April 18 — Holy Thursday — after a spring snowstorm postponed the planned April 11 Mass. Archbishop Bernard Hebda will preside at the Mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. The oils are chrism, used for baptisms, confirmations and ordinations of priests and bishops; oil of catechumens, used for infant baptisms and in some rites as catechumens prepare for initiation into the Catholic Church; and oil of the sick, used in the sacrament of anointing the sick. Distributed to parishes across the archdiocese, the oils are used throughout the year.

DAVE HRBACEK | COURTESY CATHOLIC COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

IMMIGRATION AWARENESS Sister Norma Pimentel, right, speaks during a panel discussion that was part of Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota’s Giving Insights Series April 9 at Pax Christi in Eden Prairie. Sister Norma, a member of the Missionaries of Jesus, is the executive director of Catholic Charities for the Rio Grande Valley and founder of its Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas. She gave the keynote address at the event, which focused on immigration, including U.S. immigration policy. The other three panelists are, from left, Archbishop Bernard Hebda; Robyn Meyer-Thompson, an attorney at the St. Paul-based Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota; and Lesly Gonzalez-Barragan, Latino outreach coordinator for Youth in Theology and Ministry at St. John’s University School of Theology and Seminary in Collegeville.

4

The number of marks of the Church — one, holy, catholic and apostolic — being explored in spring and fall faith formation gatherings for parish and archdiocesan leaders and volunteers. The May 9 spring gathering is titled “Being Holy as God is Holy: Sabbath Time and Growing Holy in the Church.” Three speakers will explore aspects of what that means at St. Joseph of the Lakes in Lino Lakes. Cost is $25 through April 25, $35 through May 6. To register and view other details visit archspm.org/formationday.

8

The number of years Catholic radio station Relevant Radio has awarded an annual Christ Brings Hope Award to someone in the Twin Cities area. Archbishop Bernard Hebda is this year’s honoree for his leadership and dedication to sharing the good news of Christ.

People who donate to Relevant Radio at the banquet can pick a Catholic school in the Twin Cities area to receive matching funds provided by an anonymous benefactor. The award banquet is April 26 at the JW Marriott Minneapolis Mall of America.

324

The year, according to legend, St. Helena found what she believed to be the one, true cross of Christ in Jerusalem. She will be the focus of a May 5 discussion and prayers at Holy Cross in Minneapolis. Elizabeth Lev, a Rome-based art historian and Catholic, will discuss depictions in sacred art of St. Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine.

Titled “The Fact of the Cross, St. Helena and the Claim of Christ’s Victory,” the 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. gathering will include two other speakers, a procession and vespers, confessions and Mass. It is sponsored by The Northeast Catholic Collective, The Roccasecca Project and the American Tipi Loschi. roccaseccaproject.org/events.

95 COURTESY MIKE MCNEIL

PASSING ON THE FAITH Bev Good helps first Communion student Kekeli Adelaide Amedome during a session of Generations of Faith at St. Peter in Richfield. Young and old, including parents of faith formation students like Amedome, gathered once a month from October through March for stories, skits, activities and snacks. Parish leaders began the program this school year to involve more parents in faith formation of their children and promote interaction between youths and seniors. Deemed a success, the program will resume in September.

CORRECTIONS In the April 7 edition, “‘Raising up an army’ for God: St. John Vianney College Seminary at 50” included an incorrect statistic on the number of dioceses that have sent men to the college seminary since its 1968 founding. The correct number is 46.

Also in the April 7 edition, News Notes incorrectly reported the opening weekend box-office ranking for the film “Unplanned.” It was No. 4.

The Catholic Spirit is published semi-monthly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Vol. 24 — No. 8 MOST REVEREND BERNARD A. HEBDA, Publisher United in Faith, Hope and Love

TOM HALDEN, Associate Publisher MARIA C. WIERING, Editor-in-Chief

The number of T-shirts students and parishioners of St. Joseph Catholic School and Church in Waconia bought and wore April 12 on National Pro-Life T-Shirt Day. The event is sponsored by Light and Shield Ministries’ Culture of Life Studies Program, which offers pro-life materials and curriculum to schools and churches. St. Joseph hopes to use the organization’s materials soon, according to Karen Bonick, president of the parish’s pro-life committee. She noted the school’s participation in the T-shirt event is part of a larger effort to build a culture of life, which includes a pro-life cupcake contest, essay contest and poster contest, and starting a pro-life student club.

50

The number of days the Church celebrates the Easter season — the longest season in the liturgical year — and part of the title of a new book: “Risen: 50 Ways to Live Easter.”

Written by Laura Kelly Fanucci, a parishioner of St. Joseph the Worker in Maple Grove who has written several books on spirituality and writes a column that appears regularly in The Catholic Spirit and other diocesan newspapers, the book offers daily Scripture readings, prayers, reflections and ideas for living out the season. It is offered by Blessed Is She, a ministry for Catholic women. blessedisshe.net.

Materials credited to CNS copy­righted by Catholic News Service.

All other materials copyrighted by The Cath­olic Spirit Newspaper.

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

Published semi-monthly by the Office of Communications, Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, 777 Forest St., St. Paul, MN 55106-3857 • (651) 291-4444, FAX (651) 291-4460.

Per­i­od­i­cals pos­tage paid at St. Paul, MN, and additional post offices.

Post­master: Send ad­dress changes to The Catholic Spirit, 777 Forest St., St. Paul, MN 55106-3857.

TheCatholicSpirit.com • email: tcssubscriptions@archspm.org • USPS #093-580

APRIL 18, 2019

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 3

FROMTHEARCHBISHOP ONLY JESUS | ARCHBISHOP BERNARD HEBDA

Christ is alive!

O

n the first Sunday of Lent this year, more than 500 people, joined by their family members, friends and sponsors, journeyed to our co-cathedrals in St. Paul and Minneapolis for the annual Rite of Election and Call to Continuing Conversion. This weekend, they will be sacramentally initiated and warmly welcomed into the Catholic Church in parishes throughout our archdiocese.

It is nothing short of amazing that so many would come forward at such a challenging time in the Church to make a public profession of their faith as new Catholics. They speak in awe and amazement of the ways in which the Lord tenderly called them to his Church, often through the good example of a Catholic spouse or co-worker, or through an encounter with the beauty of the Catholic liturgy that awakened something deep inside of them, or through a startling sense of God’s comforting presence in the midst of the struggles of life, or through an attraction to God’s word that can only be explained by grace. Each story is unique and speaks to the handiwork of a God who knows just what we need. We rejoice that he has brought them to know his son, Jesus, in a new way and their lives will never be the same.

I am grateful that the Lord continues to offer us hope by bringing new life to his Church. I am also grateful to those catechists, sponsors and supporters who have walked patiently and joyfully with our inquirers; to the catechumens and candidates on their RCIA journeys; and especially grateful to those who will be initiated this weekend for their inspiring response to the movements of the Holy Spirit in their hearts. Their witness boldly proclaims to the world the earthshattering Easter message: The Lord is risen!

This Easter and always, we need to know in every

¡Cristo está vivo!

El primer domingo de Cuaresma de este año, más de 500 personas, acompañadas por sus familiares, amigos y patrocinadores, viajaron a nuestras co-catedrales en Saint Paul y Minneapolis para el Rito de Elecciones y el Llamado a la Conversión Continua.

Este fin de semana, se iniciarán sacramentalmente y serán bienvenidos en la Iglesia Católica en las parroquias de nuestra Arquidiócesis.

No es nada menos que sorprendente que muchos se presenten en un momento tan difícil en la Iglesia para hacer la profesión pública de su fe como nuevos católicos. Hablan con asombro y asombro de las formas en que el Señor los llamó con ternura a su Iglesia, a menudo a través del buen ejemplo de un cónyuge o compañero de trabajo católico, oa través de un encuentro con la belleza de la liturgia católica que despertó algo muy profundo de ellos, o a través de un sentido sorprendente de la presencia consoladora de Dios en medio de las luchas de la vida, o a través de una atracción a la Palabra de Dios que solo puede explicarse por la gracia. Cada historia es única y habla de la obra de un Dios que sabe exactamente lo que necesitamos. Nos alegramos de que los haya llevado a

“

I love how the Holy Father reminds us that Christ ‘is in you, he is with you and he never abandons you.’

iSTOCK | RAFAELVILANOVA

fiber of our being that “Christ is alive!” These are, in fact, the words with which Pope Francis begins his recently released exhortation to young people and to the entire people of God, “Christus Vivit.” Flowing from the proposals that emerged from last fall’s worldwide Synod on Young People and Vocation, “Christus Vivit” would be wonderful reading for the 50 days of the Easter season, no matter our age. I love how the Holy Father reminds us that Christ “is in you, he is with you and he never abandons you. However far you may wander, he is always there, the Risen One. He calls you and he waits for you to return to him and start over again. When you feel you are growing old out of sorrow, resentment or fear, doubt or failure, he will always be there to restore your strength and your hope.”

That is a promise that changes everything.

Not long after the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, the local Lutheran pastor was invited to speak at my home parish as part of a Lenten series. My father, a lifelong Catholic, came home that evening with a new understanding of the centrality of the Resurrection to our faith. He spent the next 50 years quoting Pastor Ed (“... if Jesus did not rise, my faith in him is in vain”).

conocer a su Hijo, Jesús, de una manera nueva y que sus vidas nunca serán las mismas.

Estoy agradecido de que el Señor continúe ofreciéndonos esperanza al traer nueva vida a su Iglesia, a los catequistas, patrocinadores y simpatizantes que han caminado con paciencia y alegría con nuestros indagadores, catecúmenos y candidatos en sus viajes a RICA, y especialmente agradecidos a aquellos quienes serán iniciados este fin de semana por su inspiradora respuesta a los movimientos del Espíritu Santo en sus corazones. Su testimonio proclama audazmente al mundo el conmovedor mensaje de Pascua: ¡El Señor ha resucitado!

Esta Pascua, y siempre, debemos saber en cada fibra de nuestro ser que “¡Cristo está vivo!” Estas son, de hecho, las palabras con las que el Papa Francisco comienza su exhortación recientemente lanzada a los jóvenes y al pueblo de Dios, Christus Vivit. A partir de las propuestas que surgieron del Sínodo mundial del otoño pasado sobre Jóvenes y vocación, Christus Vivit sería una lectura maravillosa para los 50 días de la temporada de Pascua, sin importar nuestra edad. Me encanta cómo el Santo Padre nos recuerda que Cristo “está en ti, está contigo y nunca te abandona. Por muy lejos que puedas vagar, él siempre está ahí, el Resucitado.

Te llama y te espera para que vuelvas con él y comiences de nuevo. Cuando sientas que te estás volviendo viejo por el dolor, el resentimiento o el miedo, la

I have vivid memories of my mom and dad annually herding the family into the car on Easter afternoon to head to the cathedral for the bishops’ Easter blessing.

My siblings and I always had a thousand things that we would rather have been doing, but we had no choice in the matter. The long lines to greet the bishop and his auxiliaries only made matters worse. By that point in the day, my Easter finery was always permanently stained by the horseradish and red beet concoction that my mother had bribed us to eat with our Easter ham and kielbasa (I never let on that I loved it).

When it would finally be our turn to exchange greetings with the bishop, my father would invariably tell him about the Easter insight he had gained from the Lutheran pastor, much to the chagrin of my mother, who thought it unseemly to talk to our Catholic bishop about a Lutheran pastor in the sanctuary of the cathedral.

I will always be grateful to Pastor Ed for what he stirred in the heart of my dad, prompting him to integrate into his daily examination of conscience a new point for reflection: How has my life today reflected that the Lord is indeed risen and alive? While that’s a great point for personal reflection, I suspect it could be equally relevant for us as an archdiocese as well. Especially as we strive to rebuild our Church, are we giving evidence by our joy and our service that the Risen One, who offered his life for us, continues to be with us and love us? Do we manifest in our life together a belief in Jesus’ living presence in his Church?

Please join me in praying this Easter that this holy season might be a time for recommitting ourselves to stay in the race, as Pope Francis in “Christus Vivit” has urged us, “attracted by the face of Christ, whom we love so much, whom we adore in the holy Eucharist and acknowledge in the flesh of our suffering brothers and sisters.”

May his resurrection be our strength.

duda o el fracaso, él siempre estará allí para restaurar tu fuerza y tu ​​ esperanza “(n. 2).

Esa es una promesa que lo cambia todo.

No mucho después de la conclusión del Concilio Vaticano II, se invitó al pastor luterano local a hablar en mi parroquia local como parte de una serie de Cuaresma. Mi padre, un católico de toda la vida, llegó a casa esa noche con una nueva comprensión de la centralidad de la resurrección para nuestra fe. Pasó los siguientes 50 años citando al Pastor Ed (“... si Jesús no resucitó, mi fe en él es en vano”).

Tengo vívidos recuerdos de que mi mamá y mi papá acompañan a la familia en el auto cada tarde de la tarde de Pascua para dirigirme a la Catedral para la Bendición de Pascua de los obispos. Mis hermanos y yo siempre tuvimos mil cosas que preferiríamos haber estado haciendo, pero no tuvimos otra opción. Las largas colas para saludar al obispo y sus auxiliares solo empeoraron las cosas. En ese momento del día, mi atuendo de Pascua siempre estaba manchado permanentemente por el brebaje de rábano picante y remolacha roja que mi madre nos había sobornado para comer con nuestro jamón de Pascua y kielbasa (nunca demostré que me encantara). Cuando finalmente sería nuestro turno de intercambiar saludos con el Obispo, mi padre invariablemente le contaría acerca de la perspectiva de la Pascua que había obtenido del pastor luterano, para

disgusto de mi madre, que pensaba que era impropio hablar con nuestro obispo católico sobre un pastor luterano en el santuario de la catedral.

Siempre estaré agradecido con el Pastor Ed por lo que movió el corazón de mi papá, lo que lo impulsó a integrar en su examen diario de conciencia un nuevo punto de reflexión: ¿cómo ha reflejado mi vida hoy en día que el Señor realmente ha resucitado y está vivo? Si bien ese es un gran punto para la reflexión personal, sospecho que podría ser igualmente relevante para nosotros como Arquidiócesis.

Especialmente mientras nos esforzamos por reconstruir nuestra Iglesia, ¿estamos evidenciando con nuestra alegría y nuestro servicio que el Resucitado, que ofreció su vida por nosotros, sigue estando con nosotros y nos ama? ¿Manifestamos en nuestra vida juntos una creencia en la presencia viva de Jesús en su Iglesia?

Por favor, únanse a mí para orar en esta Pascua para que esta temporada sagrada sea un momento para volver a comprometernos a permanecer en la carrera, como el Papa Francisco nos ha instado, “atraídos por el rostro de Cristo, a quien amamos tanto, a quien adoramos en el mundo en La Sagrada Eucaristía y reconocimiento en la carne de nuestros hermanos y hermanas sufrientes “(Christus Vivit 299).

Que su resurrección sea nuestra fortaleza.

4 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

APRIL 18, 2019

LOCAL

Fish on!

SLICEof LIFE DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Bill Sislo of Our Lady of Grace in Edina keeps watch over a batch of cod in the deep fryer during the parish’s annual fish fry April 5. Organizers estimate about 2,300 people were served, both inside the church and at the drive-through in the parking lot.

The fish fry began 11 years ago. The OLG Men’s Club cooks, and dozens of other volunteers serve the meal. The event drew about 120 people the first year and has “gotten bigger every year,” said Kyle Kirsch, the event’s co-chair along with Bill Dubbs. “This is a ‘fun raiser,’ not a fundraiser. ... Our primary focus is to bring the parish together for a great event. Judging from the fact that it gets bigger every year, we must be doing something right — great food, good people, good service.” After searching for several years and visiting various local restaurants to find the best fish recipe, organizers settled on The Tin Fish, formerly a restaurant in Minneapolis and now a food truck business. Owners Sheff and Athena Priest shared their recipe for battered cod and have helped at the event every year, including this year. The fish fry also featured a live band and Finnegan’s Irish Pub, named after Father Kevin Finnegan, Our Lady of Grace pastor.

LOCAL

APRIL 18, 2019

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 5

First Lay Advisory Board meeting opens new dialogue for archdiocese

By Matthew Davis The Catholic Spirit Mary Brady hopes a new Lay Advisory Board to assist Archbishop Bernard Hebda will usher in a new era of listening in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

“I was really active in several archdiocesan commissions when I was in my 20s. They’re no longer around,” said Brady, 71, citing as one example a former urban Catholic coalition that promoted inner city parishes. “I’m hoping that it’s a sign ... that the diocese is being more open to a variety of input from people around the entire diocese.”

Representing Deanery 14, Brady, a member of St. Frances Cabrini in Minneapolis, is one of 19 members of the newly formed board, which met for the first time with the archbishop April 3 at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center in St. Paul.

Ranging in age from their 20s to 70s, some retired but others working for parishes or in professions such as business management, project management and insurance, board members were asked by the archbishop to offer advice, to listen and to be a conduit for information with people throughout the archdiocese about opportunities and challenges in the local Church.

Announced as an initiative in November, the board consists of representative members of parish pastoral councils across the archdiocese. Each was chosen by their peers to represent one of 15 deaneries, or geographic regions of the archdiocese. Some traveled as far as 40 miles to get to the Catholic Center.

Among other roles, the board will be key to finding ways to promote healing from the clergy sexual abuse scandal, Archbishop Hebda said.

It also will help shape an anticipated archdiocesan synod, which will create room for the Holy Spirit to help people to express the needs of the local Church, the archbishop told the group. Synods have been an important part of Pope Francis’ pontificate because they allow for listening to the Spirit, the archbishop said.

“That’s what he (Pope Francis) wants us as a Church to be — accompanying one another on this journey

Susan Wieneke, a parishioner of St. Thomas the Apostle in Corcoran, talks with Dale Lieb, a member of St. Mary of the Lake in White Bear Lake, at the first Lay Advisory Board meeting with Archbishop Bernard Hebda April 3 at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center in St. Paul.

Both are members of the board, which consists of representatives from each deanery in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

in a way that really roots us in our tradition, in our faith, but is sensitive to where the Holy Spirit might be prompting us to act,” Archbishop Hebda said.

Board members will meet quarterly with the archbishop and share results of those meetings with their deanery and pastoral council leaders.

The board includes representatives from the African-American, Latino, Vietnamese and Native American communities. The archdiocese appointed those four members to the board to ensure a diverse representation of the local Church.

“The goal was to be able to get the group to reflect the cross section of the diocese. Part of that happens naturally by the deanery structure,” said Father Mike Tix, episcopal vicar for clergy and parish services.

Father Tix, who was involved in regional meetings of deanery leaders that led to the board’s formation, also attended the April 3 gathering. He said he was encouraged by the respectful sharing of differing opinions by the board members. All had the opportunity to introduce themselves and share

thoughts and questions about expectations for the board and needs in the archdiocese.

Board member Wesley Sandholm, 25, said the conversation was a good start.

“I’m pleased that it really does seem like the people there are going to have some good and productive conversations,” said Sandholm, a member of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul representing Deanery 3 and an information technology security expert.

Board members also were given some homework.

Archbishop Hebda asked them to seek input with members of their respective deaneries and then suggest up to five areas of priority for the local Church before their next meeting, July 17. People interested in sharing ideas with the board are encouraged to work through their pastoral council representatives.

“I was really impressed with the people who were elected to be on this board,” Archbishop Hebda said after the meeting. “I think it portends well for the venture. They’re committed to the Church, they’re articulate, and they know that they want to help the Church move beyond where we are today.”

Youths expand civil rights perspective with trip to national memorials

By Matthew Davis The Catholic Spirit St. Thomas Academy senior Sean Hubbard understood the story of Rosa Parks in a new light when he saw the bus stop in Montgomery, Alabama, where she boarded a bus Dec. 1, 1955, the day she refused to give up her seat because of her skin color.

“It’s a completely different thing because you actually get the feeling of being there where actual history took place, so you actually have more of a feel for it, and you don’t take it as something light,” said Hubbard, 17, a member of St. Peter Claver in St. Paul.

He joined 19 other local high school students plus their chaperones for a civil rights field trip in Alabama March 31 to April 3. Some belong to the parishes of St. Peter Claver and St. Cecilia in St. Paul, Guardian Angels in Oakdale and St. Rita in Cottage Grove. The group visited civil rights museums and memorials in Montgomery and Selma that told the stories of slavery to modernday racism.

“It was a very eye-opening experience for me,” Hubbard said. He previously attended St. Peter Claver Catholic School, where black and African history were part of the curriculum, but he said experiencing the trip taught him more

about that history.

Everlyn Wentzlaff, 67, a member of St. Peter Claver, organized the youth trip after seeing the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery when it opened last year. While sharing her experience with fellow members of St. Peter Claver, the idea came up to bring youths to see the memorials.

The St. Peter Claver social justice committee and Guardian Angles social justice outreach sponsored the trip.

Wentzlaff also received a grant through the National Black Catholic Conference.

Wentzlaff, chairperson of the St. Peter Claver social justice committee, said a lot of African-American history isn’t taught regularly in public schools. She said the trip deepened the students’ understanding of civil rights and blacks in the Catholic Church.

“They were amazing on the trip,” Wentzlaff said. “I think it was a good experience and life lesson for them.”

As part of the trip’s application process, the students responded to essay questions about why they wanted to go.

Before leaving they read the 2010 book “Racial Justice and the Catholic Church”

by Father Bryan Massingale, a professor of theological and social ethics at Fordham University in New York.

“It really made me think about our history,” said Elise Carroll, 15, a member

From left, Kenny Jordan and Shaquille Young view a statue during a tour of the National Memorial for Peace and Justice April 1 in Montgomery, Ala., organized by St. Peter Claver in St. Paul.

DEBI GREEN | FOR THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

of St. Cecilia and a sophomore at Central High School in St. Paul, regarding the trip.

“I definitely learned a lot of new things.”

Seeing exhibits of people’s struggles for civil rights and hearing stories told by tour guides made things come alive for her, she said.

Hubbard said the sites helped him understand “the deeper context of the civil rights movement.”

Liza Pirjevec, 17, a member of St. Peter Claver in St. Paul, said she was particularly impacted by letters on display written by incarcerated AfricanAmericans. She added that some were from people as young as 15.

Montgomery sites the group visited

included the National Civil Rights Memorial, the Freedom Riders Museum and the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. first served. In Selma, they visited the Slavery and Civil War Museum, the National Voting Rights Museum and the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the site of brutal beatings during a 1965 civil rights march that came to be known as Bloody Sunday.

“It’s important to know this information and to be able to share it with other people,” Carroll said.

Wentzlaff said she hasn’t planned another youth trip yet, but interest grew in the St. Peter Claver community after the group returned.

6 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

LOCAL

APRIL 18, 2019

Catholic physicist asserts harmony between faith, science

By Jonathan Liedl For The Catholic Spirit Stephen Barr has a theory.

That’s not uncharted territory for Barr, an expert in theoretical particle physics at the University of Delaware who has been recognized by the American Physical Society for “original contributions to grand unified theories.” It’s his forte.

But this particular theory is less an account of some scientific question than it is an insight into the dialogue between religion and science.

“A philosopher or a theologian can say there’s no conflict between science and religion,” Barr told The Catholic Spirit during his April 4 visit to the University of Minnesota to deliver a lecture on the topic. “But people aren’t going to believe it until they hear a scientist say there’s no conflict between science and religion.”

Barr, 65, is putting his theory into practice. A Catholic, he plans to step down from his tenured university position to promote an international lay organization he founded three years ago that is devoted to the interplay of science and religion. And he’s going on speaking tours, including his delivery April 4 at the university’s St. Paul Student Center Theater of the sixth annual V. Elving Anderson Lecture in Science and Religion, hosted by Anselm House, a Christian study center serving the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.

In a speech titled “Modern Physics and Ancient Faith,” Barr demonstrated what he called the harmony between Christian theology and the findings of physics and cosmology on a variety of topics, including the universe’s created status and its temporal beginning in time.

Barr drew connections between the book of Genesis and Einstein’s theory of relativity, and between the works of 13th-century theologian St. Bonaventure and theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking. He used creative analogies, arguing at one point that equating the universe’s temporal beginning with its ultimate cause would be just as faulty as saying that the opening lines of a novel explain its origin.

“If someone asked you, ‘Why is there the novel ‘A Tale of Two Cities?’ it’d be silly to answer, ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,’” he quipped.

In addition to illustrating connections between the claims of faith and science, Barr made more general points about that relationship. He noted that physics can’t explain “why there’s an actual universe to

DAVID BERG PHOTOGRAPHY | COURTESY ANSELM HOUSE

Physicist Stephen Barr delivers the lecture “Modern Physics and Ancient Faith” at the University of Minnesota April 4. He is the founder of the Society of Catholic Scientists, an international lay organization that now has more than 1,000 members. describe.” And he argued that natural and supernatural explanations for the same phenomenon, such as creation and evolution, don’t need to be viewed as in conflict.

More than 300 people attended the lecture. Several attendees noted Barr’s humility when addressing the wonders of the universe and the ability to find answers through science.

“It was impactful to hear someone so well accomplished in the sciences be so devout in his faith,” said John Hill Price, 26, a doctoral candidate in plant genetics at the U of M.

During his visit to the Twin Cities, Barr also participated in a faculty roundtable, spoke to Anselm House’s student fellows and led a workshop with campus ministers.

“Because of his caliber as a scientist and his active involvement in the faith and science dialogue, he’s been on our radar for a long time,” said Andrew Hansen, Anselm House’s programs director.

Barr’s ability to speak authoritatively but also accessibly as a scientist and a Christian made him a compelling choice to deliver the Anderson Lecture, he said.

Barr told The Catholic Spirit that although he’s always had an interest in theology and philosophy, he didn’t begin his career seeking to become an authority on the relationship between science and religion. His formal education, which included earning a doctorate from Princeton University, focused on physics. His engagement with philosophy and theology was on what he called “a need-to-know basis.”

“It was always in response to a question that particularly gripped me at the time,” he said. “I’d just do a lot of reading and thinking about things on my own.”

Barr’s public engagement on the topic began in 1995 after reading “Shadows of the Mind,” a work by British mathematician Sir Roger Penrose. Barr thought the book had something important to say to theologians, so he wrote a review and submitted it to First Things, an American journal on religion and public life, not expecting it to be published. Not only was his review published, but First Things sent him additional books to review.

Reviews led to articles of his own, and in 2006 he published his first book exploring the relationship between science and Christianity under the same title as his speech in St. Paul: “Modern Physics and Ancient Faith.”

In 2016, he founded the Society of Catholic Scientists, an international lay organization that now has more than 1,000 members.

The society’s aim is fostering fellowship among Catholic scientists who might feel “a sense of isolation” in their field, Barr said. In turn, a robust group of Catholic scientists practicing both their faith and their profession can make a compelling case to the wider world that the truths of religion and science can be held in harmony, he said.

“We want to be a witness to the world,” Barr said.

“If we have a lot of scientists, that will change people’s perspectives.”

Come celebrate the Triduum with us at

St. Casimir

Jessamine at Forest, St. Paul • 651-774-0365

Holy Thursday, April 18, Mass at 7 p.m.

Good Friday, April 19, Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion, at 3 p.m.

Holy Saturday, April 20, Blessing of Food Baskets at 2 p.m. and Mass at 7 p.m.

Easter Sunday, April 21, Mass at 9 a.m.

u Holy Thursday, April 18 • potluck dinner 5:30 pm Mass of the Lord’s Supper/ washing of feet — 7 pm u Good Friday, April 19 • Stations of the Cross at 3 pm The Lord’s Passion, 7 pm u Saturday, April 20 • Easter Vigil at 8 pm u Easter Sunday, April 21 • Masses at 9:30 and 11:30 am

LOCAL

APRIL 18, 2019

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 7

YA group a highlight of national conference

By Matthew Davis The Catholic Spirit A group of young adults gathered at a home in St. Paul in August 2018 to discuss the Church’s clergy sexual abuse crisis in the wake of emerging details of abuse in Pennsylvania and credible allegations against the sincelaicized Theodore McCarrick, a former U.S. cardinal.

Daniel Quinan, 31, was part of the meeting, and he shared fruits of that gathering in an April 6 presentation at a conference in Chicago on the Church’s response to the abuse crisis.

“It was great. I’m glad I used that opportunity” in Chicago to share, said Quinan, a judge for the metropolitan tribunal in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Quinan, a core team member of the young adult group that grew out of the 2018 conversation, YA (Young Adults) Respond, and a parishioner of St. Mark in St. Paul, described how the group grew from a conversation among friends to working with Archbishop Bernard Hebda to address clergy sex abuse issues in the archdiocese.

The local scandal included the archdiocese’s clergy abuse-related bankruptcy, which ended in December 2018 with a settlement of $210 million in remuneration for 442 clergy abuse victims/ survivors.

Sixty college students from around the country attended Quinan’s talk at the ESTEEM

Your Byline Here.

The Catholic Spirit is seeking experienced, professional freelance journalists to report on Catholic life in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Interested? Email

CatholicSpirit@archspm.org

Capstone Conference, held April 5-7 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Chicago.

ESTEEM — Engaging Students to Enliven the Ecclesial Mission — forms Catholic college students for volunteer or professional lay leadership roles in the Church after they graduate from school. ESTEEM DANIEL QUINAN is a program of the Leadership Roundtable, a Washington-based nonprofit focused on developing Church leadership and management.

“It’s really impressive what YA Respond did in Minneapolis to say, ‘Hey, we’re the Church, too,” said Megan Colford, ESTEEM national coordinator, who organized the conference.

Colford brought Quinan in as a speaker via Susan Mulheron, the archdiocese’s chancellor for canonical affairs, after Colford and Mulheron discussed the ESTEEM conference at a Feb. 1-2 Leadership Roundtable gathering in Washington about the abuse crisis.

In a Feb. 5 email to Quinan, Mulheron wrote that his experience as a canon lawyer and working with YA Respond made him perfect for presenting at ESTEEM. During his presentation, Quinan noted that canon law explains the laity’s right and obligation to make concerns known to the Church hierarchy. He also referenced a

2004 report by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice of The City University of New York, the largest study of clergy sexual abuse in the country, commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

YA Respond studied the report as part of the group’s efforts to advance conversation around the crisis.

Quinan highlighted YA Respond’s decision to craft a letter in September 2018 to Archbishop Hebda, asking for “continued efforts and changes” regarding clergy sexual abuse. Archbishop Hebda responded to the letter by hosting two listening sessions with young adults.

Quinan said a Dec. 14 letter to the faithful from the archbishop also addressed some of the young adults’ concerns.

Quinan encouraged students at the conference to start their own groups in their respective dioceses as one way to seek concrete action by their respective bishops.

Colford said she received positive feedback from students who attended Quinan’s talk.

Quinan’s presentation wasn’t the first presentation about YA Respond outside the archdiocese. YA Respond co-founder Chris Damian, 28, an immigration attorney and member of St. Thomas More in St. Paul, was interviewed by a Canadian radio program Feb. 23.

Quinan, Damian and Tucker Moore, 26, a member of the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis and a musician, co-founded YA Respond.

Kathleen McChesney makes a point April 8 at a panel discussion in St. Paul on the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Archdiocese shares expertise The Catholic Spirit Groups discussing best practices for legal and pastoral approaches to the national clergy sexual abuse crisis are reaching out to leaders connected to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Organizations seeking their expertise and perspective recently included an April 9 panel discussion at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., on the role of civil law in the abuse crisis. The event included Thomas Johnson, a former prosecutor who is ombudsman on sexual abuse matters in the archdiocese.

On April 8, a panel discussion on the crisis held at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis included Johnson, Tim O’Malley, director of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment for the archdiocese, and Kathleen McChesney, former executive director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office of Child Protection. Currently, McChesney is a consultant who in 2013 helped the archdiocese conduct a review of its files related to clergy sexual abuse.

McChesney said Catholic law schools and colleges can play important roles in helping address the abuse crisis. “I can’t emphasize enough that these entities can be very instrumental in providing research that needs to be done,” she said.

LOCAL

8 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Unplanned response Twin Cities pro-life leaders say film is stirring local movement

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit Emagine Waconia Theatre didn’t intend to show the abortion-themed movie “Unplanned” when the film premiered at the end of March.

But that changed thanks to Mary Olson, a 31-yearDAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT old mother and member of St. Joseph in Waconia.

Mary Olson of St. Joseph in Waconia stands in front of Emagine When she heard last fall about the movie — which is Waconia Theatre, which granted her request to show the based on the true conversion story of former Planned movie “Unplanned.”

Parenthood clinic director Abby Johnson — Olson decided to push for a showing in Waconia. get involved.’”

Her persistence — and the response of local She brought her daughters to Planned Parenthood Catholics — paid off. Emagine ended up showing and was with a group of more than a dozen women “Unplanned” in two of its auditoriums March 31, April 8 for an hour and a half. It was her first visit to filling both of them with 216 people from St. Joseph the abortion facility. and surrounding parishes and churches. The theater “We held signs and we prayed and I talked to the went on to offer public showings through April 11. sidewalk counselor,” said Fischer, 39, whose Olson began calling the theater in January and conviction to be a sidewalk counselor grew during her spent the next two months petitioning the manager. experience outside Planned Parenthood. “I want to be He finally agreed to the March 31 showings. here for these women. It’s not just the babies I care “It was a lot of work for the past two months, but it about.” was 100 percent worth it,” said Olson, a member of Gibson said the response of Fischer and others like her parish’s Women of St. Joseph committee, which her is a key development, in part because sidewalk supported her efforts. “Seeing the 216 people come to counseling is what drove Johnson in 2009 to leave the see the movie warmed my heart and made me very Planned Parenthood clinic in Bryan, Texas, where she happy.” had worked for eight years. After resigning Oct. 6 of The movie appears to be mobilizing Olson and that year, she went to the office of Coalition for Life other pro-life forces across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and met with its director, Shawn Carney. and Minneapolis and around the country as the film As documented in the movie, which is based on her — despite serious obstacles including reluctance by 2011 book bearing the same title, she eventually theaters to show it — surged to No. 4 at the box office began praying in front of the clinic she once directed. on its opening weekend and continues going strong.

She started an organization called And Then There It stayed in the top 10 its second week, and already Were None, which helps abortion clinic workers leave local pro-life leaders are seeing more people take the industry. While at Planned Parenthood, Coalition action in the Twin Cities to defend the unborn. for Life volunteers and staff members, including “The movie is driving people to the sidewalks” to Carney, had prayed for Johnson and talked to her pray and offer counseling to pregnant women in front regularly in the clinic parking lot, offering compassion of Planned Parenthood’s facility in St. Paul, said Brian and an invitation to help her if she left.

Gibson, 63, executive director of Pro-life Action Carney now runs an organization called 40 Days for Ministries, which organizes prayer vigils at Planned Life, which facilitates 40-day prayer vigils across the Parenthood. “We’re out there all the time, so we’re country, including in Minnesota. Gibson helps seeing it happen. Anytime throughout the day, it’s organize the vigils in the Twin Cities. His organization happening. We’ve gotten a lot of interest in sidewalk also runs more events, including an annual Good counseling, having people just call and say, ‘I want to Friday prayer vigil — which this year will be 8:30 a.m. sidewalk counsel.’” to 4 p.m. April 19 at Planned Parenthood in St. Paul.

Jennifer Fischer of Nowthen took to the pavement Many people who saw the movie in Waconia are in front of Planned Parenthood after seeing the movie ardently pro-life, Olson said. Maria Boecker of April 1. She organized a group of 14 women, Guardian Angels in Chaska was among them, taking including her two daughters, to watch the film. Her her husband, Bill, their three adult daughters, and older daughter had asked her to go, and she decided it three other guests. would be good to go with both of her daughters so “We visit Planned Parenthood once or twice a year they could understand “why we’re pro-life.” [to pray],” said Boecker, 53, “and so it’s a cause close to our hearts.”

The next day, Fischer called Pro-Life Action Ministries, and she was in front of Planned She has read Johnson’s book and said the movie Parenthood in St. Paul a week later to observe “brought it to life.” Now, she is “telling everybody to sidewalk counseling. She plans to keep going and in go.” Though the movie is rated R for violence, primarily the fall will train to become a sidewalk counselor. due to scenes that show the abortion process, Boecker said, “Parents need to bring their kids.”

“It broke my heart watching the movie,” said Fischer, a mother of five who belongs to Abundant One of Boecker’s children, Larissa Boecker, decided Life Alliance Church in Oak Grove, of seeing the pain to see the movie even though she supports abortion women go through when they have an abortion. “I under certain circumstances. She said she learned totally heard God say to me in the theater, ‘It’s time to some things from watching the movie and has

Celebrate the Sacred Paschal Triduum

Saint Katharine Drexel Catholic Church Ramsey

Holy Thursday: Mass of the Lord’s Supper – 7 p.m.

Good Friday: Stations – 3 p.m. • Passion Service – 7 p.m.

Holy Saturday: Food Blessing – Noon • Vigil – 8:30 p.m.

Easter Sunday: Mass 10 a.m. www.stkdcc.org • 763-323-4424

APRIL 18, 2019

modified her views, though her stance on birth control and abortion do not conform with Catholic teaching.

“I have a lot of mixed thoughts (about abortion),” said Larissa, 27, who has gone to Planned Parenthood for birth control but said she would not choose abortion. “I do think that Planned Parenthood offers some benefits, such as birth control and STD (sexually transmitted disease) testing and that type of stuff. I did not, before watching the movie, realize that they were pushing abortion as ... the first option (for dealing with an unplanned pregnancy). My main takeaway is I don’t think that is correct. I don’t think that’s the right way to go about it. I think that (abortion) should be the absolute last resort.”

Larissa noticed the contrast in the movie between two different types of pro-life supporters: those who shout at women and make judgmental comments, and those who offer compassion, kindness and support. She feels the latter are more effective and wants pro-life supporters to understand this point.

“I would just say that it’s not an easy choice for anyone to make, and that one of the best things to do is to be there for them,” she said of reaching out to a pregnant woman trying to decide what to do. “If you come at them in a non-supportive way, you’re just going to turn them further away.”

Scott Fischbach, executive director of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, said he thinks the movie can play a major role in changing hearts and minds, from supporting abortion to supporting life.

“It’s an important film,” said Fischbach, 53, who has been involved in the pro-life movement since 1978 and with MCCL since 2001. “There’s so many avenues now for us to get out our pro-life message, and seeing it up there on the big screen is another hugely important avenue for us. So, I’m excited that it’s reaching a whole new audience.”

Fischbach said he thinks it can draw people who “are in the middle” or “ambivalent” on the issue of abortion.

“This can be an eye-opener,” he said. “This can touch people’s hearts. We’re already seeing it.”

“Unplanned” was shown in 1,059 theaters nationwide opening weekend and expanded to 1,515 the second week, according to Carmel Communications in Roswell, Georgia. In Minnesota, 33 theaters showed it opening weekend, with 25 more offering it the second week. It also will be released as a DVD, with a release date yet to be determined.

“It’s perfect timing, frankly,” Fischbach said of the movie’s opening in theaters. “Some of the folks have actually said that it’s providential. I believe that.”

He is hopeful that, as pro-life legislation moves forward at the state and federal levels, the “one big hurdle” can finally be overcome — the overturning of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide in 1973.

Gibson shares that hope, but with guarded optimism.

“It’s a long-term battle, still,” he said. “Roe v. Wade is not going to be overturned tomorrow afternoon. It may not be in the next 10 years, for all we know. It may not even be in the next 20 years. But, in the meantime, we can cripple the abortion industry if we put our minds to it. The Church herself could do that if we, the people of God, step up to the plate.”

And step into a theater to watch “Unplanned.”

“Anybody and everybody ... needs to go see the movie,” he said. “Because it will give insight and understanding of what abortion really is that you’ve never had before, and give you the inspiration to understand that there is something the individual can do about it that’s positive and profound.”

APRIL 18, 2019

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 9

NATION+WORLD Notre Dame Cathedral will grace Paris skyline again Catholic News Service Church leaders joined government officials in saying they expect that Notre Dame Cathedral’s grandeur will be restored as firefighters extinguished the last flames of a fast-moving blaze that seriously damaged much of the iconic structure.

“We are living through an extreme moment,” Paris Archbishop Michel Aupetit said outside of the 850-year-old historic structure late April 15 as firefighters continued to attack the flames.

“Having marked the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are now experiencing our own passion, but we know that after it will come the Resurrection. We believe in this and we will proclaim it by rebuilding this cathedral,” Archbishop Aupetit said.

The archbishop also appealed for church bells throughout Paris to be rung in a sign of prayer and solidarity.

French President Emmanuel Macron praised the “extreme courage and great professionalism” of first responders who CNS helped save the facade and towers of the Flames and smoke billow from the Notre Dame Gothic landmark. He announced that a Cathedral in Paris April 15. national reconstruction fund would be established.

Authorities said the cause of the fire was cathedral’s 300-foot spire. Authorities said much of the cathedral’s wooden interior not certain, but it might be linked to was destroyed and its masonry was renovation work that was underway at seriously scorched. the cathedral.

The La Croix daily newspaper reported Speaking in front of the charred much of the building continued to cathedral late April 15, Macron said he smolder April 16, as thousands of understood the feelings of French onlookers continued to pray and sing Catholics in the face of the disaster and hymns in nearby streets. pledged the whole population would Rescue teams formed a human chain to “stand with them” in restoring it. remove many of the cathedral’s priceless “Notre Dame de Paris is our history, our artworks and sacred objects, including the literature, our imagination, the place crown of thorns relic from Jesus’ where we have experienced our great crucifixion and a gold tunic of moments, the epicenter of our life,” said St. Louis, the report said.

Macron, who was accompanied by the Noted art historian Jean-Michel archbishop, French Prime Minister Leniaud told the newspaper April 16 it Edouard Philippe and Paris Mayor Anne was too soon to assess the extent of the Hidalgo. fire damage but said it would certainly “We built this cathedral over centuries, represent “a major blow and terrifying raising it up and improving it, and I now mutilation of the country’s history.” state solemnly that we will, all of us The cathedral symbolized “relations together, reconstruct it. This is between religion and political power,” he undoubtedly part of the French destiny,” said, adding that he believed the French Macron said. state should “take charge of its Up to 500 firefighters battled for 15 reconstruction.” hours to save the cathedral after flames Meanwhile, offers of support in erupted in the structure’s attic about rebuilding the cathedral, a UNESCO 6:30 p.m. local time. The blaze quickly World Heritage site, came from church consumed two-thirds of the 13th-century oak roof and brought down the leaders and governments around the

world, including Donald Tusk, European Council president, who said April 16 that he hoped the European Union’s 28 member-states would all help share the costs.

French newspapers said the Pinault family, whose consortium owns the Gucci and Saint-Laurent fashion brands, had pledged 100 million euros (US$113 million) overnight, while the LVMH group, which includes Moet HennessyLouis Vitton, had promised 200 million euros (US$226 million).

In a television interview in the early morning hours of April 16, Archbishop Aupetit said the cathedral symbolized “the soul and history of France,” as “a site traversing the centuries which was always a place of faith.”

He explained how the disaster had stirred “deep emotions” throughout France, adding that he had received messages of sympathy from faith leaders worldwide, including many Muslims.

The newly elected president of the French bishops’ conference, Bishop Eric Moulin-Beaufort of Reims, told the Famille Chretienne weekly the cathedral also represented “national unity during all tests,” and would be “an immense loss” to the whole world.

“Something from the best of humanity went up in flames yesterday evening, and I sense a large part of humanity is in communion with our grief,” Bishop Moulin-Beaufort said.

“But cathedral edifices have been burned before and every time they’ve been rebuilt even more beautifully. So I see in this tragedy the occasion for a national restart and a sign of resurrection for the whole nation,” he said.

Paris prosecutors said they had opened investigations into the cause of the massive fire and were questioning workers carrying out an eight-year restoration project, launched in January.

FIRE IS ‘GUT WRENCHING’ Archbishop Bernard Hebda said April 15 it was “gut wrenching” to watch video of Notre Dame Cathedral burning in Paris.

“It’s such a magnificent structure,” he said.

“When you think about Paris, you think about Notre Dame. ... It’s a place where people of all faiths (have) come together.

“I’ve been there a good number of times.

I was there for the first time when I was 16, and I remember then thinking there couldn’t be a more beautiful church in all of Christendom than Notre Dame. It’s the sculpture, it’s the windows, it’s the woodwork inside.”

Archbishop Hebda said he has been there about a dozen times, with the last visit about 10 years ago.

“What I really loved the best was going there for Mass,” he said. “On Sunday evenings, they have organ concerts and then it goes right into Mass.”

He said the timing of the fire is particularly painful, coming at the beginning of Holy Week.

“It has to be devastating for the people of Paris, that they won’t be able to use their cathedral” for any of the Easter triduum liturgies, he said.

LOCAL SOLIDARITY The Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis celebrated a noon Mass April 16 in prayerful support of the community of fire-damaged Notre Dame Cathedral and the city of Paris.

A book for people to write messages of support to the people of Paris was placed on the Altar of the Sacred Heart in the Basilica. The book will be sent to the archbishop of Paris.

A simple ring of the bell at noon at the Basilica was extended to two minutes in honor of Notre Dame Cathedral, followed by a ringing of all the bells. The bells at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul were rung for five minutes at 6:16 p.m. April 16.

— The Catholic Spirit

HOLY WEEK AT THE CATHEDRAL Monday – Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Closed Sunday

HOLY THURSDAY, APRIL 18 • Sung Morning Prayer (Lauds) at 7:30 a.m.

• Archdiocesan Chrism Mass (Blessing of the Holy Oils) at 10:00 a.m.

• Confessions from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m.

• Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 7:00 p.m.

• Adoration until Sung Night Prayer (Compline) at 9:30 p.m.

Holy Week at the Cathedral of Saint Paul

GOOD FRIDAY OF THE LORD’S PASSION, APRIL 19 • Sung Morning Prayer (Lauds) at 7:30 a.m.

• Confessions from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.

• Stations of the Cross at 12:00 p.m.

• Celebration of the Lord’s Passion at 3:00 p.m. (Solemn) • Celebration of the Lord’s Passion at 7:00 p.m. (Simple) HOLY SATURDAY, APRIL 20 • Sung Morning Prayer (Lauds) at 8:00 a.m.

• Confessions from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.

• Blessing of Easter Foods at 11:30 a.m.

THE EASTER VIGIL IN THE HOLY NIGHT at 8:00 p.m., APRIL 20 EASTER SUNDAY OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE LORD, APRIL 21 • Masses at 8:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m. (Solemn), Noon, & 5:00 p.m.

A place to

inspire your heart, mind and soul

30% off One Regularly Priced Item With this coupon. Expires 5/31/19

Catholic Gifts for all Occasions Next to Chanhassen Dinner Theater, Chanhassen

521 West 78th Street • 952-974-8084 www.seedlingsgiftsandbooks.com

10 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

NATION+WORLD

APRIL 18, 2019

Retired Pope Benedict reflects on abuse crisis

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service Retired Pope Benedict XVI, acknowledging his role in helping the Catholic Church come to terms with the clerical sexual abuse crisis beginning in the 1980s, wrote an article outlining his thoughts about what must be done now.

Rooting the crisis in the “egregious event” of the cultural and sexual revolution in the Western world in the 1960s and a collapse of the existence and authority of absolute truth and God, the retired pope said the primary task at hand is to reassert the joyful truth of God’s existence and of the Church as holding the true deposit of faith.

“When thinking about what action is required first and foremost, it is rather obvious that we do not need another church of our own design,” he wrote.

“Rather, what is required first and foremost is the renewal of the faith in the reality of Jesus Christ given to us in the Blessed Sacrament.”

The pope’s remarks, presented as a compilation of “some notes,” were to be published in Klerusblatt, a Germanlanguage Catholic monthly journal for clergy in Bavaria. Several news outlets released their translations of the text early April 11.

Given the February Vatican gathering of presidents of the world’s bishops’ conferences “to discuss the current crisis of faith and of the Church,” the pope said, and given his role as pope during “the public outbreak of the crisis,” he felt it appropriate to contribute “to a new beginning.”

Pope Benedict added that he contacted Pope Francis and Cardinal Pietro Parolin,

CNS

Retired Pope Benedict XVI greets cardinals in 2014 before a consistory for the creation of new cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.

Vatican secretary of state, before releasing the article.

The retired pope, who turned 92 April 16, led the universal Church from 2005 to 2013. For 23 years before that he headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is charged with handling cases of the abuse of minors by priests. He also served as a theological consultant during the Second Vatican Council between 1962 and 1965.

Beginning in the late 1960s, while Western society at large was facing the “death” or disappearance of God and any moral compass, he said, the Church’s

own moral theology suffered “a collapse that rendered the Church defenseless against these changes in society.”

A misreading of the Second Vatican Council, he said, shifted the Church’s understanding of revelation, resulting in a diluted or shape-shifting morality that was no longer grounded in natural law and the existence of absolute good and evil; morality could only make “relative value judgments” contingent on the moment and circumstances.

“Indeed, in many parts of the Church, conciliar attitudes were understood to mean having a critical or negative

attitude toward the hitherto existing tradition, which was now to be replaced by a new, radically open relationship with the world,” he wrote.

In an extensive study on the causes and context of the abuse of minors by priests in the United States from 1950 to 2010, the John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York found “the majority of abusers (70 percent) were ordained prior to the 1970s,” and 44 percent of those accused entered the priesthood before 1960.

Social factors influenced the increase of abuse incidents during the 1960s and 1970s, the report said, finding the increase consistent with “the rise of other types of ‘deviant’ behavior, such as drug use and crime,” and changes in social behavior such as the “increase in premarital sexual behavior and divorce.”

The retired pope emphasized the importance of recognizing, embracing and defending the most essential and foundational principles of faith and of protecting the authority of the Church, particularly in matters of morality.

“In the general awareness of the law, the faith no longer appears to have the rank of a good requiring protection,” he wrote. “This is an alarming situation which must be considered and taken seriously by the pastors of the Church.”

“What must be done?” he asked.

Creating “another church” will not work because “that experiment has already been undertaken and has already failed.”

“Only obedience and love for our Lord Jesus Christ can point the way. So, let us first try to understand anew and from within what the Lord wants and has wanted with us,” he wrote.

Newly-appointed Washington archbishop spends time ‘with the people’ Catholic News Service A rainy Washington morning greeted the newly appointed archbishop of Washington April 5 as he began to get to know his Washington home.

The day after being named the seventh archbishop of Washington by Pope Francis, Archbishop Wilton Gregory, 71, accompanied by his predecessor Cardinal Donald Wuerl, visited some of the sites and people of the Archdiocese of Washington, which includes the nation’s capital and the five surrounding Maryland counties.

The first stop was Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington, where the archbishop was greeted by Msgr. John Enzler, president and CEO of Catholic Charities, other leaders of the agency and some of its clients.

The archbishop also visited St. Anthony Catholic School in Washington, where he met school leaders and students. And that afternoon, the archbishop and Cardinal Wuerl visited the Little Sisters of the Poor and the residents at the sisters’ Jeanne Jugan Residence for the elderly poor in Washington.

With his busy first full day in Washington, Archbishop Gregory stayed true to a pledge he made at the news conference that was held in the archdiocese’s pastoral center in Hyattsville, Maryland, after his

appointment was announced: “The best time for any bishop is the time they spend with their people. I want to be in the midst of our people, listening to them, praying with them, dining with them. ... I want to be in the pews with the people.”

At the news conference, the archbishop also pledged to rebuild trust after the downfall of former Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and the Church’s current sex abuse scandal.

“I want to offer you hope. I will rebuild your trust,” Archbishop Gregory said. “I cannot undo the past, but I sincerely believe that together we will not merely address the moments we’ve fallen short or failed outright, but we will model for all the life and teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we will reclaim the future ... for those who will follow us.”

Cardinal Wuerl introduced Archbishop Gregory at the news conference. Pope Francis accepted Cardinal Wuerl’s resignation as Washington’s archbishop in October and named him apostolic administrator. The cardinal, now 78, had submitted his resignation, as is mandatory, when he turned 75, but the pope had not accepted it until last fall.

Cardinal Wuerl had faced pressure to resign following an Aug. 14, 2018, grand jury report detailing past sexual abuse claims in six Pennsylvania dioceses, which showed a mixed record of how he handled some of the cases when he was

CNS

Archbishop Wilton Gregory helps students at St. Anthony Catholic School in Washington during a visit April 5, the day after Pope Francis named him as the new archbishop of Washington. bishop of Pittsburgh from 1988 to 2006.

Cardinal Wuerl also recently faced questions about what and when he knew about past accusations involving McCarrick, who was stripped by Vatican officials of his clerical status Feb. 16 after months of accusations that he sexually molested minors and abused seminarians at various times and places in his 60 years as a priest.

Cardinal Wuerl remains apostolic administrator until the scheduled May 21 installation of Archbishop Gregory, who offered kind words for his predecessor

while acknowledging shortcomings.

“It’s difficult to come into a situation where there is unrest and anger,” Archbishop Gregory said. “I’ve known Donald Wuerl for over 40 years. He is a gentleman. He works very hard for the Church. He’s acknowledged that he’s made mistakes. That’s a sign of the integrity of a man. If I can shed light on what I think we need to do in response to some of the mistakes that he’s acknowledged and asked forgiveness for, I’ll do that.”

Archbishop Gregory also acknowledged that Washington, as the country’s seat of political power, may ask for political savvy from its archbishop.

“I see this appointment to be the pastor of the Archdiocese of Washington,” he said. “I was not elected to Congress, and so I intend to speak and promote the Church’s moral and doctrinal teaching that comes with the job, but I think my involvement with the political engines that run here has to be reflected through that prism.

I’m here as pastor. The pastor must speak about those things that are rooted in the Gospel, but I’m not going to be at the negotiating tables. That’s not my place.”

Archbishop Gregory will become the first African-American to head the Washington Archdiocese. He begins his new appointment after 14 years as archbishop of Atlanta.

APRIL 18, 2019

NATION+WORLD

Digital apostle: Pope cites tech whiz as role model

Don’t forget to check out the

2019 Parish Festival Guide at TheCatholicSpirit.com/festivals

By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service In his recent apostolic exhortation, Pope Francis told young men and women that they did not need to look far for role models who avoided the traps of “self-absorption, isolation and empty pleasure” that abound in the digital age.

The life of Venerable Carlo Acutis, a 15-year-old Italian teenager on the road to sainthood, showed that young people could use the power of social networking and communications with “creativity and even genius,” the pope said in his exhortation “Christus Vivit” (“Christ Lives”).

“Carlo was well aware that the whole apparatus of communications, advertising and social networking can be used to lull us, to make us addicted to consumerism and buying the latest thing on the market, obsessed with our free time, caught up in negativity,” the pope said. “Yet he knew how to use the new communications technology to transmit the Gospel, to communicate values and beauty.”

Before his death from leukemia in 2006, Acutis was an average teen with an above-average knack for computers.

He put that knowledge to use by creating an online database of eucharistic miracles around the world.

“He learned on his own how to animate 3D cartoons on a computer. He never even took a course on how to use Photoshop. He would sit on his bed, download instructions on the internet, and he was able to understand all these computer programs. It took me years to learn Photoshop, and I still haven’t learned!” Antonia Salzano, Acutis’ mother, told Catholic News Service April 10.

Acutis liked making short videos. One was an explanation of transubstantiation in layman’s terms. Another was an homage to the opening crawl of “Star Wars,” complete with a starry background, scrolling text and John Williams’ famed score.

Even as a child, there were some sparks of holiness that his own mother thought were “a bit out of the ordinary.”

“I would never hear him criticize anyone, I never heard him complain, always attentive to any person,” Salzano said. “Many people would say that when they would greet him, it would tug at their heartstrings.”

Pope Francis noted that young Carlo avoided the trap many young people fall into when influenced by social networks and mass media.

“He saw that many young people, wanting to be different, really end up being like everyone else, running after whatever the powerful set before them with the mechanisms of consumerism and distraction,” the pope said. “As a result, Carlo said, ‘Everyone is born as an original, but many people end up dying as photocopies.’ Don’t let that happen to you!”

While the pope quoting her son “was something that filled us with joy,” Salzano said it was also a call to spread the example of the young teen’s life to show others that being holy and maintaining one’s originality “isn’t that

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 11

Additions: St. John Vianney, South St. Paul • May 18 St. Odilia, Shoreview • Sept. 7-8 St. Peter, Forest Lake • Sept. 21-22 Corrections: Holy Cross, Minneapolis • Sept. 13-15 Our Lady of Lourdes • July 27

CNS

Venerable Carlo Acutis is being considered for canonization. hard of a goal to obtain.”

“It is enough to put God at the center of one’s life like Carlo did. Carlo led a normal life: He went to school, he played sports, he played video games, although usually just one hour a week because he understood that one could be enslaved by video games,” she said.

Yet, his zeal for spreading the message of the Gospel wasn’t limited to the digital sphere, Salzano recalled. He would help his peers who were bullied at school and save up his money to buy sleeping bags, food and hot beverages for poor people living on the streets of Milan.

Acutis also held a special place in his heart for migrants, his mother said.

“Here in Milan, there are many from Asia, India and Africa. Carlo would make friends with all of them, whether they were Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist.”

In 2018, five years after the introduction of his sainthood cause, Pope Francis recognized that Acutis lived the Christian virtues in a heroic way and declared him venerable.

As part of the canonization process, Acutis’ body was exhumed and transferred to a place suitable for public veneration, the Shrine of the Renunciation at the church of St. Mary Major in Assisi.

The shrine, dedicated in April 2017, is the site where a young St. Francis of Assisi renounced all claims to his father’s inheritance and embraced poverty.

In a letter sent on the occasion of its dedication, Pope Francis said the Shrine of the Renunciation was a “precious place where young people can be helped in the discernment of their vocation.”

For Salzano, it wasn’t a coincidence that her son is now buried at the place where “St. Francis began his own journey toward sainthood.”

“Carlo was young, and, like St. Francis, Carlo had his journey, a journey that we are all called to make, especially young people, to begin placing God in the first place in our lives,” Salzano said.

“I hope that the fact that Carlo is buried there may be a sign of hope for these young people,” Salzano said. “And more importantly, that it would encourage us to bring forward the extraordinary plan that God has for each and every one of us.”

The Shrines of Italy & Oberammergau

2020 Pilgrimage to Rome • San Giovanni Rotondo • Loreto • Assisi • Munich • Oberammergau with Fr. Michael Wolfbauer September 13 – 25, 2020 For more information call (320) 260-2753 or go online to www.pilgrimages.com/dombrovski

Join us on pilgrimage HOLY LAND (Walk Where Jesus Walked) Father Todd Schneider - Spiritual Director August 27 – September 7, 2019

BEST OF ITALY Father Robert Fitzpatrick (Fr. Fitz), Spiritual Director Retired priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis October 20-30, 2019

Father Schneider

Father Fitzpatrick

IRELAND • September 23-October 3, 2019 • Still a few seats available OBERAMMERGAU 2020 + GERMANY AND AUSTRIA • September 8-19, 2020

Contact Colleen @ JeriCo Christian Journeys for details or a brochure call 1-877-453-7426

12 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

‘Th

W

By Jessica Weinberger For The Catholic Spirit

When Catholic a columnist Liz Kell Land in 2013, she convergence of fa unfolding in front over the Gospels t of Loyola’s spiritu biblical figures be her prayers: Moth Mary of Magdalen

It’s those women — fill the pages of her aw Approaches: What Con Learn about Healing, F Women of the New Te 2017), which highligh women in the New Te now.

“I think especially fo keep in mind for both Jesus was formed by w and knew women as fr Kelly, a parishioner of Lake who also offers a book.

Kelly and two other Archdiocese of St. Paul reflected recently on w particularly in light of seasons.

Stories of strength, c flow from scriptural na valuable insights and e Catholics that transcen women said.

Some stories feature the sisters Mary and M Jesus and his disciples recounted in the Gosp Others receive less atte or formation, such as t healed from a hemorrh Gospels of Matthew, M It’s by spending tim group of women that C reminded of the comp men and women bring said, and that can spur among couples, friend that women especially the Gospels.

“If women take a pe going to see their own said. “That should give sense of dignity, greate greater sense that it’s n being invited to give C all women.”

Lessons that t “The Holy Women at the Tomb” (1890) by William-Adolphe.

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Author Stephanie La than a decade bringing women in the New Tes fiction series “Living W of women who were ch

APRIL 18, 2019 • 13

heir stories are our stories’

W

author and ly visited the Holy e marveled at the aith and history t of her. Praying through St. Ignatius ual exercises, specific egan appearing in her Mary. Elizabeth. ne. Anna.

— and many others — who ward-winning book “Jesus ontemporary Women Can Freedom & Joy from the estament” (Loyola Press, hts the importance of estament, both then and

or our era, it is valuable to h men and women that women. He was mothered riends and disciples,” said St. Pius X in White Bear Bible study based on her

r women authors in the l and Minneapolis women in Scripture, the Lenten and Easter

courage and faithfulness arratives, providing encouragement for nd the centuries, the

e well-known women like Martha who welcomed into their home, as pels of Luke and John. ention in today’s homilies the woman who was hage, included in the Mark and Luke. me with this wide-ranging Catholics can be plementary gifts that both g to the Church, Kelly r meaningful dialogue ds and families. She hopes y can see themselves in

eek at the Gospel, they are n lives unfolding,” Kelly e us all courage, greater er sense of purpose, not just Mary who is Christ to the world — it’s

transcend time

andsem has spent more g to life the stories of stament. Her historical Water” retells the accounts hanged and transformed

Lessons from women of the New Testament because of an encounter with Jesus.

In “The Tomb” (Howard Books, 2015), Landsem builds on what we know about Martha in Bethany by detailing a fictional secret past that influences the events leading up to her brother Lazarus’ resurrection from the dead. In “The Well” (Howard Books, 2013), she reimagines the story of the woman at the well from the Gospel of John by detailing how the Samaritan woman’s daughter strives to save her mother after a stoning. And in “The Thief” (Howard Books, 2014), she presents the story of a Roman centurion and a Jewish girl who witness the healing of a blind man to illustrate the power of forgiveness and love. Each installment in the three-part series has been approved by the Catholic Writers Guild.

Landsem, who attends St. Michael in Stillwater, said perspective is the most important takeaway from reflecting on women in Scripture. Jesus met thousands of men and women during his ministry, yet these stories with women at the center are consistently carried by the Gospels.

“The Holy Spirit wants us to learn from that,” she said. “That’s why I write [these books] and ask the questions — what did [the encounter with Jesus] mean to her and what did she feel, but also why is this relevant to me?

What is it saying to us?”

Landsem said that it’s important to remember that just because these women were changed by Jesus, the Christian life is not always easy. And even though they are separated from current events by time and often by geography, these women are more like people living today than one might think.

“They wanted the same things we want.

They were concerned about their families, they loved their children, they worried about politics and where they were going to get their next meal,” Landsem said. “We have more in common with women in the New Testament in those times than we have differences.”

Many faith journeys For Kelly Wahlquist, a Catholic author, speaker and associate director of the Archbishop Flynn Catechetical Institute at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul, the wide-ranging women of the New Testament mirror how women today are at different points in their faith journeys. As the editor of “Walk in Her Sandals: Experiencing Christ’s Passion through the Eyes of Women” (Ave Maria Press, 2016), which includes contributions from 10 Catholic women writers including Landsem, she sees this displayed in each reflection.

There’s a young Mary at the Annunciation who accepts an unlikely and perhaps troubling request, and there’s Elizabeth, who is older, barren and lives in the hills. Those moments, Wahlquist said, could represent challenging points in a person’s spiritual life.

And then, by contrast, there’s Anna, the prophetess at the presentation of Jesus in the temple, who embodies a deep and prayerful faith, and whose hope that she would see the Savior is fulfilled.

It’s through the women of the New Testament, she said, that people can see the most important relationship in the world — the relationship God has with his people. As founder of WINE: Women in the New Evangelization, Wahlquist considers this especially significant because people can see how Jesus related and responded to women 2,000 years ago, much as he does now.

“He continues to pursue them, to pursue their hearts and offer them love, mercy, forgiveness, compassion and healing,” said Wahlquist, a parishioner of Holy Name of Jesus in Medina. “When we read their story, we can enter into their story, and it becomes our own because Jesus is doing the same for us. He is constantly pursuing us in the way he’s pursuing the women in Scripture. And we can learn from their responses.”

Key roles This is especially poignant during the Lent and Easter seasons because women played key roles in Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection, despite cultural norms that curtailed the influence of women at that time. “Walk in Her Sandals” allows readers to walk alongside women through these pivotal events, illuminating lessons that relate to today, Wahlquist said.

She cited Mary Magdalene as an especially important figure for women to turn to during Holy Week and the Easter season. Even after Jesus was crucified, when confusion and grief overflowed among his followers, Mary Magdalene went to where she knew Jesus to be — the tomb.

“In our deepest, darkest hour, we need to go where we know Jesus to be — whether that’s in the Mass, Scriptures, in the Eucharist or in adoration,” Wahlquist said. “Even though we may not sense that he’s there, he is there.”

While the Bible offers some details and context around women in the New Testament for Catholics to reflect on, many questions remain. What happened in the days, weeks and months after an encounter with Jesus?

Were they forever changed?

Kelly, who said she forged deep, prayerful relationships with these women as she penned “Jesus Approaches,” recognizes that only knowing parts of their lives may be frustrating for some. But, she said, this ultimately serves as an opportunity for spiritual growth.

“The pieces of Scripture that are left out are an invitation to us to order our imagination and allow the Holy Spirit to enter into their stories and (help us) wonder: How did they get to be like that?” Kelly said.

The lessons taught by Christ to these faithful women from centuries ago still ring true, for how Jesus interacted with them sheds light on how he interacts with people today.

And that’s why, according to Kelly, the stories of women in the New Testament matter at women Easter and beyond.

“Because they’re us,” she said. “The Gospels are not dead. They’re living, and their stories are our stories.”

MELODIES OF FAITH New Testament women in song Folk musician Katy Wehr was working on her doctorate in theology at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland when she turned to songwriting for a creative escape. Wehr, who works as the faith formation director at St. Mark in St. Paul, found inspiration in her studies and wrote her first song about the Mary who anointed Jesus’ feet. A song about Mother Mary followed. Continuing that theme, she began penning additional songs about women in the New Testament, which in 2018 became her third album, “And All the Marys,” available at katywehrmusic.com.

From Elizabeth to the Samaritan woman to Salome, Wehr wrote each of the 12 songs in the first person, drawing upon her biblical and theological training to channel each woman’s unique perspective — and most importantly, their experiences with Jesus.

“One of the biggest takeaways for me was that Christ treated women like people. He interacted with them individually,” she said, noting how women were often witnesses to Christ’s teachings, healings and miracles. “I find it encouraging to know that Christ also sees us as individuals and that our individual needs and struggles can be brought into conversation with him for healing or just companionship.”

Seeing how women lived in the background due to cultural constraints, yet still had a meaningful presence, resonated with Wehr. Reflecting on how these women stayed faithful despite overwhelmingly difficult choices, like the Virgin Mary’s “yes” at the Annunciation, became a source of encouragement when she converted to Catholicism from the Anglican tradition three years ago.

“Even when we don’t see the final result, there’s this trust that can come when we catch a vision for what God is doing, even if we know we won’t see all the pieces of the puzzle,” she said.

Wehr was deeply curious about each of the women she profiled, but especially the women at the foot of the cross. Her song “The Women Prepare the Spices” draws upon Luke 23:56, where the women prepare the spices for Christ’s burial. She imagined how they would have felt, leaving the foot of the cross in despair, only to return to find the tomb empty.

“What a journey that they went through,” said Wehr, who also works as a fellows tutor at Anselm House, a Christian study center serving the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. “It’s easy for us, but they didn’t know the end of the story. To walk alongside them through that would be amazing.”

She credits the Holy Spirit for why these stories are woven throughout the Gospels and preserved. As Catholics, she said, we can look to them for their close understanding of Christ’s character, will and love for his people.

“They can intercede for us and be examples for us,” Wehr said of the women. “We need all of the intercessions we can get, right?”

— Jessica Weinberger

14 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

APRIL 18, 2019

FAITH+CULTURE MCC document: In Catholic worldview, there’s no divide between human, environment issues

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit Gender identity and clean water. Pornography and agriculture. Low-income housing and greenhouse gases.

“Everything is connected,” Pope Francis wrote in his 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si’, Care for Our Common Home.”

The Minnesota Catholic Conference is underscoring that statement with a new document synthesizing “Laudato Si’” and applying its teaching to issues that especially concern Minnesotans.

Jason Adkins, MCC executive director, said the document, “Minnesota, Our Common Home,” challenges the false dichotomy between “life issues” and “social justice issues” when it comes to public policy and personal decision-making, and he expects it to compel every Catholic to reconsider his or her policy stances and lifestyle choices.

At the heart of the 41-page document, published earlier this year, is an explanation of “integral ecology,” which Adkins describes as a recasting of Catholic social teaching. As a central idea in “Laudato Si’,” the concept unites care for “natural ecology” — the natural environment — and “human or moral ecology” — human society.

(See related commentary on page 21.)

For Catholics, natural ecology and human ecology cannot be properly understood apart from each other, Adkins said.

It’s about “right relationships,” he said, “and right relationships are rooted properly in a question of understanding who we are in our identity, and our own created nature is made for life and made for each other. We are made for relationships, and we are incomplete without relationships. ... It starts with our relationship to God, ourselves, each other, our families, our communities but also the environment.”

The document is primarily for Catholics, but like “Laudato Si’,” “Minnesota, Our Common Home” is addressed to all people of good will, Adkins said. He noted that the state’s Catholic bishops shared copies with Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan during a recent meeting, in part because it explains why the bishops are involved in so many advocacy areas.

MCC is the public policy voice for the Catholic Church in Minnesota. Its board members are the state’s Catholic bishops.

While other states’ Catholic conferences have published documents exploring the importance of certain aspects of human and natural ecology, this is the first to explain the Catholic worldview through the framework of integral ecology, Adkins said. MCC recognized that the questions raised in “Laudato Si’” and “our environmental moment” was “an opportunity for evangelization,” he said.

The document also aims to show that the Church’s holistic vision can bridge the void otherwise filled by ideologies that range from the “Leave No Trace crowd,” Adkins said, to the transhumanism movement, which aims to use science and technology to transcend humans’ natural mental and physical limitations.

“There’s a lack of awareness of our true nature, and what it means to live in a world of created natures,

and respecting the ends and purposes of each created nature, whether it’s the natural environment or our bodies,” he said. “It’s not ‘leave no trace,’ but ‘leave the right trace.’”

In Minnesota, that plays out not only in questions surrounding sustainable farming and mining practices, the document states, but also those surrounding human sexuality, including artificial birth control and the transgender movement.

More than 30 experts contributed to the document, Adkins said. Among them was Anthony Granado, director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office of Domestic Social Development. His office also collaborated with MCC to host a workshop in November for state Catholic conference leaders on integral ecology.

Granado said that “Laudato Si’” and “Minnesota, Our Common Home” articulate a “traditional teaching that we’ve lost over the centuries.”

With modernity, people experience “the loss of a holistic understanding of the human person and the relationship to God and the created order,” he said.

“You cannot separate life issues from social justice issues, because life issues are social justice issues. How we interact with the created order through our business practices, through our employment practices are moral questions and are about the life and dignity of persons.”

Bishop Andrew Cozzens, auxiliary bishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, said “Minnesota, Our Common Home” challenges every person, no matter his or her political beliefs, and that the document resists ideology, which can lead people away from the Gospel.

“There’s always a distinction between ideology and the Gospel,” he said. “Ideology is people who take an idea, even a good idea, and they follow that idea, but it can cause them to lose the Gospel, which keeps everything connected. And there’s always a danger for Christians to become ideologues, that is, people who are fundamentally defending an idea, not the person of Jesus Christ, in whom everything is perfected.”

He added: “Jesus wants to teach us how to see the world the way he sees (it).”

However, that everything is connected doesn’t mean that everything has equal moral weight, he said.

“By uniting all these issues in one document, we’re not saying that all issues are equal,” he said. “The destruction of human life is a greater evil than the needless destruction of certain aspects of the environment, because it’s a more immediate danger (and) it affects more directly the human person, which is created in God’s image. But that doesn’t mean we don’t care about the environment.”

He added: “Part of (what Pope Francis calls) the ‘ecological conversion’ is actually (the recognition that) God’s in control and God’s the author, and we’re stewards of everything, and that’s the environment as well as my body. That puts things in right order and helps me to see everything rightly.”

While the document explores issues deeply shaped by public policy and acknowledges their complicated factors, it also emphasizes that individuals’ daily decisions also make an impact — not only on the environment, but also on the heart.

“Nothing is insignificant when seen with eyes of faith,” it states. “Every sustainable choice at the grocery store, every farm-to-table meal ordered at a restaurant, every scrap of food composted rather than wasted, now speaks the language of love; what once seemed mundane is transformed into an opportunity to express our Catholic faith. ... Even the food we eat has implications for our relationship with God, with our neighbor and with the earth.”

“Minnesota, Our Common Home” can be downloaded at mncatholic.org.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Christopher Thompson of the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul hopes to help guide a conversation about valuing and caring for the natural world.

Moral theologian: Protect nature Interview by Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit

C

oncerned about what he saw as a modern-day weakening of care for the natural world, moral theologian Christopher Thompson sat down to write three years ago.

What emerged is titled “The Joyful Mystery: Field Notes Toward a Green Thomism.”

Published two years after Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si’, On Care for Our Common Home,” Thompson’s book integrates the pope’s teaching on faith, ecology and the environment with Thompson’s more than 10 years of research on the subject and what he calls “Green Thomism”: using St. Thomas Aquinas’ theology on creation to help guide ecological decisions.

A professor at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity at the University of St. Thomas and a parishioner of Nativity of Our Lord, both in St. Paul, Thompson spoke with The Catholic Spirit March 29 about his book, his own connection to nature, and his hope for the future.

The Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.

Read a longer vesion at TheCatholicSpirit.com.

Q. Why did you feel it was important to write “The Joyful Mystery?”

A. (Under modern thinking) the human person

stands over and against creation as master and commander — and with the new technologies and (gene editing) that’s going to be increasingly true.

We’re going to have to, as a Church, be prepared to guide that conversation. In the absence of that offering, something else will fill the void.

Q. You have talked about developing an

understanding of mankind’s spiritual relationship with lower animals, insects and plants as going into “uncharted waters.” Why are they uncharted and why the urgency to chart those waters now?

A. In my opinion, the Church was late to the table on ecological conversations. The Church, I think, in her imagination, in her language and in her theology was largely an urban phenomenon. The idea of the rural life or the idea of wilderness spaces was just an ancillary concern. The theology was there; we had a theology of creation. It’s not about the doctrinal elements, but it’s about where the Church’s energies were directed.

Q. Why is it that we’re in this place where we

don’t have the respect and awe of nature and the responsibilities that follow?

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

APRIL 18, 2019

FAITH+CULTURE

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 15

Panel explores Catholic ethics and gene editing

By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit

I

n November, a Chinese scientist announced that he had defied standard medical ethics and genetically altered the embryos of three babies — twin girls since born, and one still in gestation.

That is the most dramatic example of what can be done with gene-editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9. But it’s not the only application of this tool, which scientists have developed and honed over the last decade or so.

Now, scientists are experimenting with CRISPR pigs genetically engineered to resist a flu virus that is deadly to the animals, and a CRISPR mouse with a genetic change in its liver to help advance the study of an inherited human disease known as HT1.

CRISPR pigs also have been genetically modified in experiments designed to make their hearts and other organs more readily transplantable to humans.

Scientists are studying modifications in rats to render them sterile and wipe them out as a form of pest control, and sterilization of a species of mosquito to eliminate the carrier of malaria, Zika and other viruses.

The emergence of such powerful technology raises urgent ethical questions not only about genetically altering humans, but also animals, insects and plants, said three professors and researchers at a Feb. 28 panel discussion of the issues at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.

And, the panelists suggested, people’s moral responsibilities, informed by a variety of perspectives, including Christian teaching, must be part of the conversation.

Titled “All Creatures Great and Small: Discerning the Limits of Genetic Modification,” the discussion’s sponsors included the university, its Office of Sustainability Initiatives and its Terrence J. Murphy Institute for Catholic Thought, Law and Public Policy, and also Anselm House, a Christian study center serving the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.

“The diversity of contributors only

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

A. One (factor) was the jettisoning of

Christianity as the normative narrative of the West, (with) a theology of creation, sin and redemption, coupled with an incredible burst in technology and economic development that made it almost irresistible. And so you and I are going to have to be called for a heroic witness. It’s going to require heroic witness on our part to resist the impulses to just run roughshod over the natural order.

Q. What do you see as some of your book’s major themes?

A. In my more optimistic moments, it’s

really about inviting the reader to be much more docile to the way the Lord wishes to enter into our lives. Yes, it’s through sacred Scripture; yes, it’s through the sacraments of the Church; but we have to remember that the Christ we profess is the “Logos” of creation, that is, the one through whom all things came to be. In other words, Christ is the

serves to highlight the vitality of the issues we are talking about tonight,” said Christopher Thompson, panel moderator, a professor of moral theology at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity and co-director of the Murphy Institute, as he also noted the collaboration of the seminary’s Institute for Theological Research and the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota.

Introducing the discussion with comments about Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home,” Thompson said the pope calls on “every person on the planet, and the Catholic community in particular, to give special attention to the care of creation and to the stewardship of the earth’s resources.”

“It is not only important, but essential that we take time to develop a set of values that might guide a protocol concerning genetic research and the manipulation of creatures,” said Thompson, who explored those themes and more in his 2017 book, “The Joyful Mystery: Field Notes Toward a Green Thomism.” (See Q&A beginning on page 14.)

Thompson’s perspective was echoed by Father Nicanor Austriaco, one of the panelists and a professor of biology and theology at Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island, after he introduced CRISPR and its capabilities.

Central ethical questions, he said, include, “Should we do it? How should we do it? Why should we do it?”

Father Austriaco said there clearly is a difference between human beings and “things.” But where, he asked, should animals be placed in the spectrum of things nonhuman?

“Is it a person or is it property?” he asked. “And I’m going to propose to you that our culture struggles with this question. Some people treat animals like persons. And some people treat animals like property, and neither of those works.”

Father Austriaco said he views animals as “a gift.” Treating animals as gifts might help people understand an ethics of “creation care,” he said.

Incarnate Word. But it’s not the word of Zeus; it’s not the word of Mazda. It’s the Incarnate Word of the provident God of Genesis. So no Christian, it seems to me, can be indifferent to creation. Because we’re not indifferent to Christ, the Logos of creation.

Q. And pessimistically?

A. It’s all that apocalyptic language

about meeting challenges, overcoming modernity, etc. But we have the Holy Spirit. We have Christ, and it’s going to be fine.

Another central theme I think would be that the new evangelization will run out of steam unless it embraces the “stuff” of our lives. Culture is the intersection of spirit and matter, and that’s man’s privileged position. If I had a concern, it’s that Catholicism is becoming an increasingly elaborate mental landscape of characters and figures and dramas lived almost exclusively between the ears. I just think that this is not our faith.

You have to be able to go outside and

PIERCE LADEN | COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS

John Berkman, a professor of moral theology from Toronto, speaks at a conference on animal gene editing Feb. 28 at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.

In “Laudato Si’,” Pope Francis expands on the faith tradition of St. Thomas Aquinas, he said. “I think the challenge in the 21st century is to take that tradition and bring it into the conversation,” said Father Austriaco, who, like St. Thomas, is a Dominican.

On one level, people use animals for food and clothing, which is legitimate, but the animals should not be made to suffer or to die needlessly, Father Austriaco said.

That principle connects to research because “sometimes we (the scientific community) tend to do science for the heck of it,” or because of a “technological imperative” tied to ambition — that because scientists can do something, they want to do it, and “we want to be the first to do it,” he said.

Cultivating virtues such as humility and gratitude to God and neighbor, as encouraged by the Catholic Church, can help point the way to resisting that technological imperative, Father Austriaco said.

John Berkman, another panelist and a professor of moral theology at Regis College at the University of Toronto in Toronto, suggested viewing all creatures as neighbors and to abide by God’s call to love them. say, “When all is said and done, I see a beautiful sunset.” I think the encounter with beauty is a first step in the discovery of Christ. All of a sudden, you tread more lightly. In other words, ecology is not at odds with the Christian faith, ecology is the expression of the Christian faith. The best definition it seems to me of ecology is the Holy Spirit-filled participation in the ordered cosmos.

Q. What is your personal connection with nature?

A. We (Thompson and his wife, Mary)

have a native prairie that we maintain out in Wisconsin. And that was a huge discovery that taught me so much. … It was all corn. There was nothing there, just corn. And when you first went out there, there was not a bug, there was not a bird, there was not a worm in this field because of course it had been (chemically) treated for years, and you would have thought you were indoors.

We took the corn out. Then we started to develop the native prairie, and now

“Pope Francis’ ‘Laudato Si’,’ I believe, is a massive breakthrough in our thinking about our relationship with God’s other creatures,” Berkman said.

“First, and this is very important: It is the first authoritative statement from the Catholic Church that unequivocally and emphatically teaches the independence and instrinsic goodness of nonhuman animals. There are lots of other documents that might point to it, but this is the first one that (states it) completely clearly and unequivocally.”

Berkman suggested that viewing animals with love and working for their good, as suggested in “Laudato Si’,” will help people discern how to treat them.

One area in particular where people might want to genetically modify creatures is for quicker adaptation to the rapid advance of global warming, suggested Jessica Hellmann, the third panelist, an expert on global change ecology and climate adaptation and director of the Institute on the Environment at the University of Minnesota.

“We are modifying our planet in a dangerous way” by contributing to global warming, Hellmann said. “We might want to intervene as humans to counteract those negative effects.”

Animals might be genetically modified to select for traits like heat or drought tolerance, she said. Some of that could be accomplished through traditional breeding methods, but CRISPR might allow for “more specific, more tailored and possibly more effective” outcomes, she said.

Virtues or principles that might lead people to intervene through genetic modification include the duty of stewardship, or proper concern for the planet now and into the future, Hellmann said.

Climate change is one example of a call to better understand and take into account the potential ill effects of genetic modification of animals, even as use of the technology is considered, she said.

“I hope that greater awareness of the power and responsibility of intervention invites us to take a closer look at our moral obligations to nature,” she said. there’s thousands of flowers and bugs and birds and bees.

Q. How else have you come to know nature and live differently than the way you once did?

A. I just simply eat less meat, eat beans

and rice, lots and lots of various forms of food that are lower on the food chain.

For one, I think it just puts you in solidarity with the rest of the world. And it makes you appreciate fine meat when you have the chance to enjoy it.

That’s what I was trying to say earlier about Catholicism and the sort of menagerie between the ears. You and I go to Mass on Sunday and we profess a certain worldview. But then Monday through Friday we live in a completely different world. And then we wonder why the faith isn’t alive in my life. Well, some of it is because when you’re going back home you’re simply going back into the world of unbridled consumption.

And it’s very attractive, and it’s very alluring, but it’s not our Catholic faith.

16 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

APRIL 18, 2019

HEALTH+WELLNESS From left, Mary and Jessica Ottman package finished soap bars April 9 in the lower level of Mary’s home in Blaine, where they have set up Siena Soap Company operations. Siena Soap is offering readers of The Catholic Spirit free shipping at sienasoap.com; use the free shipping code Siena.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Mother-daughter team crafts safe skin care products

By Debbie Musser For The Catholic Spirit

C

lick on the Siena Soap Company website and you’ll discover an all-natural, handcrafted artisan skin care company offering a variety of products, from aromatherapy soap bars to baby balms to charcoal deodorant.

Behind this growing business, named after St. Catherine of Siena, is a spunky and determined mother-daughter team, Mary and Jessica Ottman, whose faith guides them in their mission to bring customers high quality, affordable products with health and medicinal benefits.

“I have a servant’s heart, and I want to do what God wants me to do with my life,” Mary said. “This is one way I can serve, as I know we are helping lots of people. That brings me joy.”

With a background in public health and now working as a grant manager with the Minnesota Department of Health’s Positive Alternatives Grant Program, Mary developed an interest in natural products from her own family’s skincare needs. She and her husband, Tom, are parents of five children, four adopted from South Korea.

“My children who were born in Asia had skin irritations, and I was paying a lot of money for prescriptions and remedies that didn’t work,” Mary said.

“I thought there had to be a simpler solution.”

After researching and buying some natural soaps, Mary received a gift from her oldest daughter, Jessica: a book on how to make natural soap.

“I started making soap for the kids — with great results by the way — and

soon friends wanted my soap bars, and they wanted to pay me for them,” Mary said. “That’s how Siena Soap Company began back in 2006.”

A parishioner of St. Paul in Ham Lake, Mary has long admired St. Catherine of Siena as “an amazing woman of faith who is often pictured with the lily, a symbol of purity.” They chose the lily as the company’s emblem, she said, “as we offer safe, natural, 100 percent pure products.”

Five years ago, Jessica joined her mother as co-owner of Siena Soap and serves as director of marketing. A member of St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony, Jessica uses skills honed from her University of St. Thomas business entrepreneurship degree, plus experience in the business world to broaden awareness of the company.

“Jessica came to me and said, ‘Mom, I want to help you. Your products are great, but your labeling stinks,’” Mary said. “I recognized that wasn’t my strength — I like the artistry and science of doing formulations to make the products — so we each bring our own talents to Siena Soap.”

Mother and daughter admit they had some growing pains as they worked together. “I’m the oldest child and Jessica’s also the oldest child so we each like to be the boss,” Mary said.

“We have a good rhythm now, but it took a lot of grace and patience, and we learned along the way,” Jessica said.

Added Mary: “God presents us with these special opportunities in life, doesn’t he?”

Soap molds, ingredients, labels and packaging materials can be found in the Siena Soap studio in the lower level of

Mary and Tom’s home in Blaine. It’s a busy place; all products are made on site.

“Our soaps, salves, serums, balms, deodorants and oils are made in small batches and are free of harsh chemicals, synthetic fragrances and irritating dyes; they have wonderful healing properties for dry, sensitive skin, aging and more,” Jessica said.

“One of our top sellers, our baby balm, was created as a natural alternative for diaper rash cream,” she said. “It’s jam-packed with healing herbs, and customers have found it works great on cuts, sunburn, mosquito bites and also reduces scarring.”

Mary makes the soaps in the studio from scratch using a timeless, coldprocessed method. Jessica makes a lot of the non-soap products, manages the labeling and company website and social media, and is working to expand the number of wholesale customers. They’ve also had success with local pop-up markets.

Meanwhile, they’re collaborating with Catholic author and evangelist Jeff Cavins to develop a beard balm and beard oil with a biblical theme, Jessica said. “We have a lot of men customers; it’s fun to see men enjoying good products like our soaps and shave bars.”

Siena Soap plans to expand its outreach as well. A portion of profits helps survivors of sex trafficking heal through the company’s partnership with the Minnesota nonprofit Terebinth.

“Providing handcrafted, quality, natural skin care products for our growing customer base of all ages is our passion,” Mary said. “I believe we’ve only scratched the surface on what we can offer.”

NOTICE

Look for The Catholic Spirit advertising insert from

CATHOLIC CHARITIES in all copies of this issue.

HEALTH+WELLNESS

APRIL 18, 2019

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 17

Priest-seminarian b-ball: fitness, fun, vocations

By Matthew Davis The Catholic Spirit

C

haska native Father Nick VanDenBroeke never donned a Chaska High School Hawks basketball jersey in his high school days. But he played on his family’s driveway, and he never lost a love for the game.

He combined that with his love for priest and seminarian fraternity when he organized the first Priest-Seminarian Basketball Tournament in 2009 while studying at the St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul.

Now in its 11th year, the tournament brings together priests from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and seminarians from the St. Paul Seminary and St. John Vianney College Seminary at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.

Priests and seminarians will compete again this year at 6:30 p.m. April 26 at Holy Family Catholic High School in Victoria. The free event includes a 5 p.m. barbeque dinner.

“I thought it would just be really good for the (greater Catholic) community,” said Father VanDenBroeke, pastor of Immaculate Conception in Lonsdale. “I really just wanted to play against the priests — and especially try and beat them.”

The competition offers an opportunity to build community among priests, seminarians and the laity, Father VanDenBroeke said. Held at rotating sites, the tournament each year draws more than 100 people.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Father Patrick Barnes goes up for a shot against two St. John Vianney defenders during action at last year’s Priest-Seminarian Basketball Tournament at St. Agnes School in St. Paul.

Two teams of seminarians square off in the first game, and the winner faces the priests’ squad for the title.

Guardian Angels in Chaska, Father VanDenBroeke’s home parish, hosted the tournament the first few years at its school.

Father VanDenBroeke said the opportunity for priests to come together motivates their participation.

Have a Blessed Easter

“I have played in it many years,” said Father Patrick Barnes, pastor of St. Nicholas in Elko New Market.

“For me, it’s a fun way to be with other priests (and) seminarians and do something I enjoy.”

The seminarian teams have their regulars, too.

St. John Vianney junior Joe Wappes, 21, a member of St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony, played the last two years.

“We don’t get to see the priests all together that much, so it’s pretty cool to see them all together on a team and have interaction with them,” Wappes said.

The games promote vocations because fans get to see priests and seminarians having fun and competing in a popular sport, Father VanDenBroeke said. The tournament also provides an opportunity for priests to exercise, which can benefit spiritual life and growth in virtue, he said. Some priests are physically active throughout the year, but demanding schedules can make it difficult to find the time, he said.

Father VanDenBroeke said he plays basketball all year long in recreation leagues near his parish at two Catholic schools — Holy Cross in Webster and Divine Mercy in Faribault.

He particularly looks forward to the priestseminarian tournament each year.

“I enjoy playing the game, and it’s a chance to play competitively a little bit,” Father VanDenBroeke said.

“I enjoy the social, the fraternity time with priests and seminarians, and bringing people together. It’s really turned into a great family night.”

18 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

APRIL 18, 2019

FROMAGETOAGE Family tradition: Carrying the cross on Jerusalem’s Via Dolorosa

Mousa Kamar, front right, and his son, Youssef, left, carry the large wooden cross during the Good Friday procession on the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem’s Old City March 25, 2016. Mousa Kamar and his sons are carrying on the tradition of his grandfather and father, carrying the cross on Good Friday.

By Judith Sudilovsky Catholic News Service

F

or four decades, Mousa Kamar has taken his place at the head of the heavy wooden cross used during the Franciscan Good Friday procession on the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem.

Kamar, 55, can be seen every year at the front of the cross, the same position where his father used to carry the cross. His grandfather also helped carry the front of the cross. The scores of old black-and-white pictures, color photographs and magazine photos Kamar has collected and uploaded onto his Facebook page attest to the long-held family tradition.

“We do this not only because it is the tradition, but because we are religious and we truly believe in it,” said Kamar, looking over some of the photographs scattered on a coffee table as he sat in his mother’s living room in Jerusalem’s Old City, near the ninth station of the cross. This is the home where he grew up and where his paternal grandmother was born.

It takes about 20 men to carry the 3-meter (3.3yard) cross on Good Friday, and traditionally each position on the cross has been taken by a representative of a different family. Kamar is the only one who has continued with the tradition. As the older generation died off, the younger members of the other families did not continue with the tradition, he said.

The cross, though still large and heavy, is smaller than the one used generations ago, he said.

Even in the pushing and shoving of the procession, which includes local Catholics and pilgrims packing the cobblestone streets of the Old City as they make their way along the Via Dolorosa, Kamar said he is able to find a space within himself where he can reflect on the significance of the moment and on the life of Jesus.

“When I am carrying the cross I remember Jesus, how he died for us and how he walked all this way by himself,” said Kamar. “We are 20 people carrying it, and he carried it by himself. Especially as we stop at each station and it is mentioned where he fell (or other details), it makes me feel like I am following the footsteps of Jesus.”

Kamar’s parents had run a family grocery store near

CNS

the eighth station of the cross, and Graciella Matulleh Kamar, today 83, recalled the pride she felt as she would stand in the doorway of their shop on Good Friday and watch as her husband carried the cross during the procession. Her husband, Kamar’s father, was killed during the 1967 war in which Israel took over control of Jerusalem from the Jordanians.

“After he was killed, I couldn’t watch the procession anymore. It was too painful,” she said.

Only when Kamar, at age 15, stepped in to fill his father’s place was she able once again to watch the procession, she said.

Kamar was 5 when his father was killed.

“Especially on Good Fridays, my mother would tell me about how my father carried the cross and that one day I would carry it, too,” he said. The first time he carried it, Kamar said, “I couldn’t sleep the night before (because) I was so excited about ... filling that space my father had.”

Several years ago, Kamar’s oldest son, Youssef, 20, also joined the group of men carrying the cross, but during the procession, he steps aside to let others take their turn. More recently, Kamar’s youngest son, Ramez, 15, began taking part in the carrying of the cross. One of the pictures shows a 13-year-old Ramez at the end of the cross, his head barely peeping over the top of the cross among the crowd of men surrounding it. With his dark curly hair and full cheeks, he looks just like his father did in earlier pictures.

“It was very exciting to be able to carry the cross,” said Youssef Kamar. “In the future maybe I and my

(future) sons will continue the family tradition.

Although this is a tradition, it also helps me feel closer to Jesus and what he went through before being crucified.

“It is also a burden and an honor to do this,” he added. “Since I was young, I heard stories about this family tradition and, since my father and his father and his grandfather have done this, I think it is important to keep the tradition and to keep our religion alive.”

In preparation for the procession, Mousa Kamar spends Holy Week in prayer, visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre every day after work and participating in the liturgical ceremonies, including the traditional veneration of the pillar of Jesus’ flagellation, the washing of the feet pilgrimage to the Cenacle, and Holy Hour on Holy Thursday at Gethsemane.

He said he uses the time to meditate and pray for Christian unity and a strengthening of Christian religious identity, which he feels is being lost.

“All week I am praying, preparing to carry the cross, linking how Jesus suffered for us to the Palestinian situation. He fought for us, sacrificed himself for us but, unfortunately, we are losing our Christianity. I always pray for that, that people will return to the foundations of Christianity,” he said noting that Christians in the Middle East are living a difficult reality with close to 50 percent of the Christian population having emigrated. “We love Jesus and we feel we are a part of Jesus. Every corner, every stone in Jerusalem is directly about Jesus.”

Senior Art and Garden Show w a s hb ur n- m crea vy. c o m

Funeral Chapels, Cemeteries and Cremation Services

Since 1857, you can trust the McReavy family for professional advanced planning, funeral and cremation services.

Sun., April 28 | 1-3 p.m.

Featuring local art and master gardener.

Learn more at:

www.cerenityseniorcare.org/events

612.377.2203 Blogs and commentary: CatholicHotdish.com

200 Earl Street, St. Paul, MN 55106 cerenityseniorcare.org

014-064 Art and Garden Ad_2.75x5 v2.indd 1

4/1/19 10:10 AM

FROMAGETOAGE

19 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

APRIL 18, 2019

One-third of Canada’s churches to close within decade

Cardinal O’Brien turns 80; U.S. left with nine cardinals electors

By Michael Swan Catholic News Service

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service U.S. Cardinal Edwin O’Brien, grand master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, celebrated his 80th birthday April 8, meaning he is no longer eligible to enter a conclave to elect a new pope.

His ineligibility leaves the College of Cardinals with 121 members who are under 80 and could enter a conclave. Eighteen of the voters were made cardinals by St. John Paul II; 46 by Pope Benedict XVI; and 57 by Pope Francis.

The college has a total of 222 members. The United States has 15 cardinals, nine of whom are under the age of 80. Only Italy — with 44 cardinals, 22 of whom are under 80 — has both more cardinals and more cardinal CARDINAL electors. When Pope Francis created EDWIN O’BRIEN 14 cardinals in June, he set aside St. Paul VI’s limit on 120 cardinal electors. The college should return to the limit April 27 when Polish Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, retired archbishop of Krakow and former personal secretary to St. John Paul II, turns 80.

Cardinal O’Brien, born in the Bronx in 1939, was ordained to the priesthood in 1965. His first assignment was as civilian chaplain at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He then was an Army chaplain in North Carolina and in Vietnam.

From 1990 to 1994, he was rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome and was named an auxiliary bishop of New York in 1996. The next year he became head of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services and, in 2007, archbishop of Baltimore. Pope Benedict named him grand master of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre in 2011 and made him a cardinal in 2012. He participated in the March 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis.

A

third of Canada’s Christian architecture, some 9,000 churches, will close in the next 10 years, according to the National Trust for Canada.

“It’s definitely going to be a bad thing,” architect Roberto Chiotti told The Catholic Register in Toronto. “You know, it’s our theology in stone.”

Robert Pajot of the National Trust is more or less resigned to the fact that a lot of Canada’s churches are becoming surplus to the needs of society. “Yes, we’re going to lose some. Yes, some may be commercial, some may go to condos,” he said.

There are approximately 27,000 places of worship across Canada, which means about one-third of them will be sold, demolished or abandoned over the next decade. But it is not all bad news. In the Archdiocese of Toronto, for example, no closures are anticipated. The archdiocese has built nearly a church per year since the turn of the 21st century.

“The Archdiocese of Toronto is blessed to have a large

immigrant population engaged in their faith locally, part of the reason we celebrate Mass in more than 35 languages each week,” said Neil MacCarthy, archdiocesan spokesman.

That’s a stark contrast to rural and small-town Nova Scotia, where the Diocese of Antigonish has already closed 30 percent of its churches over the last dozen years. Father Don MacGillivray, diocesan spokesman, expects more closures are coming.

“I’m not a demographer by any stretch of the imagination, but you know people have to mostly leave for work,” he said.

For five years Father MacGillivray was the director of pastoral planning for his diocese, a job that put him in the position of closing St. Anthony Daniel in Sydney, Nova Scotia, while he was still pastor there.

“My philosophy always is, we need to do this in an orderly fashion where we can be pro-active rather than be up against the wall and have to be reactive,” he said.

The story is similar in New Brunswick and Quebec, where large numbers of churches have been shuttered or are slated to

close. Dozens of Catholic and Protestant churches in small towns across western Canada and in southwestern Ontario for years have also been closing.

Under canon law, final decisions about closing Catholic churches, amalgamating parishes and finding other uses for buildings belong solely to the bishop. But in Antigonish, Father MacGillivray always tried to involve the worshipping community. He would meet with the parish, lay out its financial obligations and the demographic realities in terms of parish population, then ask for suggestions.

In places like Antigonish, it is not just the declining number of parishioners or their ability to pay for the repairs and maintenance an old church requires. There’s also a dwindling number of priests.

However, Father MacGillivray disputes the idea that a priest shortage is driving decisions to amalgamate parishes and close churches.

“I think it can be argued we don’t have a shortage of personnel. We have an overabundance of infrastructure,” he said.

Trojack Law Office, P.A. • Wills • Powers of Attorney • Trusts • Health Care Directives • Probate

John E. Trojack, Attorney at Law

• Guardianships • Conservatorships

Call to attend complimentary workshops We offer tailor-made, client-focused estate planning and related services from a Catholic Perspective

Trojack Law Office, P.A. • 1549 Livingston Ave., Ste. 101 • W. St. Paul, MN 55118

Phone: 651.451.9696 • www.TrojackLaw.com

Catholic senior living communities A welcome change of place Rich in opportunity for physical wellness, spiritual connection and social activity

...designed for all lifestyles! @SaintThereseMN

w w w. s a i nttherese.org

MOVIE REVIEWS •

TheCatholicSpirit.com

20 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

APRIL 18, 2019

FOCUSONFAITH SUNDAY SCRIPTURES | FATHER MICHAEL JONCAS

Finding the right words for the Resurrection Have you ever had an experience so profound and so out-of-thenorm that you were tonguetied in trying to convey to others the impact of that experience?

Imagine what it must be like for a newborn child to try to communicate the difference between the life he or she knew in the womb and the post-birth life the child now experiences.

Then all sounds from outside the mother’s body were muffled, with the sound of the mother’s constant heartbeat in the auditory forefront; now the newborn is bombarded by human speech, mechanical noises and (possibly) lullabies, with the constant sound of the mother’s heartbeat absent.

Then it was questionable if the child in the womb could see any objects at all; now the newborn is assaulted by a panoply of bright lights and colors. Even if he or she had command of a language, how difficult it would be for the newborn to communicate the radically new form of life he or she now experiences?

Something analogous happened for our ancestors in the faith as they witnessed to

and grappled with the resurrection of Jesus. Nothing like what had happened in and to Jesus had ever occurred in human history.

Jewish thinking on the topic by the time of Jesus did not so much envision resurrection as an event for each individual, but as a corporate event, when God would raise all of the elect at the end of history. In this belief system God raises Jesus from the dead as the “first fruits” of the general resurrection (1 Cor 15:20). It is in the context of this hope that early Christian preachers developed three powerful ways of communicating the resurrection of Jesus: “kerygmatic formulae,” empty-tomb narratives and appearance stories.

“Kerygmatic formulae” are short creedal statements of belief, the earliest of which probably appear in 1 Cor 15:3-8.

Today’s first reading, Peter’s speech in Acts 10, consists almost entirely of “kerygmatic formulae,” the most important of which for Easter Sunday is the contrast: “They (those ‘in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem’) put him (Jesus) to death by hanging him on a tree.

This man God raised on the third day ... .”

We believe that empty-tomb

FAITH FUNDAMENTALS | FATHER MICHAEL VAN SLOUN

Holy Thursday: the Eucharist and service The Eucharist is at the forefront of Holy Thursday. The Easter triduum begins with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper.

The liturgy commemorates the institution of the Eucharist by Jesus, the faithful receive the Eucharist during the Communion Rite, the Eucharist is carried in procession at the end of Mass as it is transferred, and the night concludes with eucharistic adoration.

With such a strong emphasis on the Eucharist, it would seem that the Gospel for the Mass should be an account of the institution of the Eucharist, but it is not. Matthew, Mark and Luke each have one available for use. None of them are chosen. Instead, Paul’s account of the institution of the Eucharist is used for the second

reading (1 Cor 11:23-26), and the Gospel, the most important Scripture text and the pinnacle of the Liturgy of the Word, is the footwashing. It might seem surprising or out of place. Only John reports the footwashing, and it enjoys the privilege of position and is the major point of emphasis on the night that features the Eucharist.

Why, we might ask. John does not shortchange the Eucharist by not including the institution narrative in his Last Supper account. He devotes almost an entire chapter to the Eucharist — Chapter 6 — the multiplication of the loaves and fishes (Jn 6:1-15) and the Bread of Life discourse (Jn 6:2259). John wants us to see that the footwashing and the Eucharist are interrelated.

Footwashing is eucharistic.

The Eucharist is about the real presence of Christ. Jesus is truly present in the consecrated bread and wine. John’s insight

narratives belong to a later stage of trying to communicate the resurrection of Jesus, especially since they will often include a kerygmatic formula uttered by one of the people in the story.

These narratives probably stem from a primitive report that Mary of Magdala and other women came to the tomb where Jesus was laid, only to discover that the tomb was empty. By itself, the discovery of an empty tomb does not establish the reality of the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus’ body could have been resuscitated and left the tomb, or the women may have been mistaken about the tomb in which they believed Jesus had been laid, or forces hostile to the Jesus movement or Jesus’ own disciples may have stolen the body and spirited it away to another location, etc. (cf. Mk 15:47; Mt 28:13; Lk 20:15).

Today’s Gospel reading (Jn 20:1-9) is clearly an empty-tomb narrative in which Mary of Magdala, the Beloved Disciple and Simon Peter all discover that Jesus is not among the dead, but only the Beloved Disciple “saw and believed” based on the immediate evidence.

The third form in which ancient Christian preachers and the Christian Scriptures attempt to communicate the resurrection of Jesus is through appearance narratives. In these stories, the risen Christ reveals himself to those who can receive him: Jesus walks, talks, eats, drinks and offers himself to be touched.

Peter’s speech in Acts 10 presents a report of an

is that Jesus is also truly present in humble service. Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve.

He emptied himself for others.

During the supper, Jesus took off his outer garments and tied a towel around his waist, the way a servant would dress.

Then, kneeling before his disciples, the posture of a servant, he humbly and kindly poured water over each of their feet and then tenderly and lovingly dried them, which is more than a servant was expected to do. It was a heartwarming and gracious act of generous service. Jesus, the teacher and master, gave his disciples a beautiful example of how to serve.

Jesus concluded both the institution of the Eucharist and the footwashing with instructions. After blessing the bread and wine, he said, “Do this in memory of me,” and after washing their feet he said, “As I have done for you, you should also do.” Neither was to be a one-time event. The disciples were supposed to receive the Eucharist over and over again, and they were also to serve others throughout the rest of their lives. Jesus, whose

appearance narrative: “This man (Jesus) God raised on the third day and granted that he be visible, not to all the people, but to us, the witnesses chosen by God in advance, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.”

However, the most vivid appearance narrative in today’s lectionary readings occurs in the sequence “Victimae paschali laudes,” where the details of the empty tomb story (“the shroud and napkin resting”) found in the Gospel meld with those of an appearance narrative with Mary of Magdala in the garden.

This leaves only the alternative selections for today’s second reading to be considered (1 Cor 5:6b-8. They are both examples of “paraenesis,” an exhortatory composition offering advice and counsel on how to act. Especially interesting is the use of yeast as a metaphor in 1 Corinthians. In the ancient world, observers considered the action of yeast to be corrupting, making a batch of dough leavened just as corrupting as a dead body bloated from gases released as it decomposes. The Apostle counsels us to get rid of the “yeast of malice and wickedness” so that we might be “unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” In other words, the Resurrection must have its effects not only on Jesus, but on those of us who form the body of the Risen One. Father Joncas, a composer, is an artist in residence at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.

presence they would receive in the Eucharist, was to be carried forth, and when the disciples served others in humility and love, Jesus became truly present in the form of their service. The Eucharist is ordered to service.

Service is demanding, and it requires a great deal of energy.

The spiritual energy comes from the Eucharist, which is supplied to the communicant at every Mass, and once dismissed, the person is sent forth to serve others. Service is draining. By the end of the week a person’s energy is spent, the reserve is low, and it is time to return to Mass to be reenergized. It is a continual cycle: Eucharist to service, and service back to the Eucharist.

The foot washing is a perfect Gospel for Holy Thursday because foot washing and the Eucharist are intimately connected. Jesus is made present in both, and the Eucharist leads to service.

Father Van Sloun is pastor of St. Bartholomew in Wayzata. This column is part of an ongoing series on the Eucharist. Read more of his writing at CatholicHotdish.com.

DAILY Scriptures Sunday, April 21 Easter Sunday Acts 10:34a, 37-43 Col 3:1-4 Jn 20:1-9 Monday, April 22 Acts 2:14, 22-33 Mt 28: 8-15 Tuesday, April 23 Acts 2:36-41 Jn 20:11-18 Wednesday, April 24 Acts 3:1-10 Lk 24:13-35 Thursday, April 25 Acts 3:11-26 Lk 24:35-48 Friday, April 26 Acts 4:1-12 Jn 21:1-14 Saturday, April 27 Acts 4:13-21 Mk 16:9-15 Sunday, April 28 Second Sunday of Easter Acts 5:12-16 Rev 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19 Jn 20:19-31 Monday, April 29 St. Catherine of Siena, virgin and doctor of the Church Acts 4:23-31 Jn 3:1-8 Tuesday, April 30 Acts 4:32-37 Jn 3:7b-15 Wednesday, May 1 Acts 5:17-26 Jn 3:16-21 Thursday, May 2 St. Athanasius, bishop and doctor of the Church Acts 5:27-33 Jn 3:31-36 Friday, May 3 Sts. Philip and James, apostles 1 Cor 15:1-8 Jn 14:6-14 Saturday, May 4 Acts 6:1-7 Jn 6:16-21 Sunday, May 5 Third Sunday of Easter Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41 Rev 5:11-14 Jn 21:1-19

APRIL 18, 2019

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 21

COMMENTARY FAITH IN THE PUBLIC ARENA | SARAH SPANGENBERG

In politics, everything is connected Today, people working to advance Catholic social teaching often find themselves in opposing camps, divided along party lines. But the Church’s political work is about putting back together what has been torn apart by a highly partisan culture. In his encyclical “Laudato si’,” Pope Francis proposes integral ecology as a new framework for reunifying the Church’s mission of public engagement.

Have you noticed how rarely all dimensions of Catholic social teaching coexist peacefully in the political engagement of many Catholics? How often are “social justice Catholics” working at cross-purposes with “pro-life Catholics?” Catholics who devote themselves to protecting the unborn or defending marriage don’t always see eye-to-eye with Catholics who prioritize serving the poor or caring for natural ecology, and vice versa.

To be sure, the “life issues,” because they typically involve intrinsic moral evils, must have a certain priority in our social and political engagement. But to achieve short-term wins on the life issues, many are prone to dismiss concern over environmental destruction or the well-being of immigrants, because those issues do not compare with the destruction of life brought on by abortion or assisted suicide.

Other Catholics emphasize the concrete needs of people in their midst and how to meet them. They are unpersuaded by what seem like moral abstractions — precisely because the life issues are often framed as mere opposition to some immoral action, not as a defense of the human person in light of the web of relationships in which we exist.

CATHOLIC WATCHMEN | DEACON GORDON BIRD

Rising to new life through accountability

Often said and forever true: Without the cross, there can be no resurrection. Without the Passion, there is no Easter. Without sacrifice — new life in Christ now and forever — the hope of the promise to come does not present itself.

That is our lot in the sacrificial life as Christians. And bearing this lot requires much prayer, the grace of God and a fellowship of accountability to help our hearts be steadfast in our faith journey.

The road to Easter glory, whether in the saintly or secular life, has never been portrayed to be an easy one.

Yet Jesus taught us through the Gospels that with mourning comes comfort, with toil comes fruit and with the cross comes glory.

In the Christian life, this lot of taking up your cross and dying daily to self in order to join in Jesus’ rising takes — among many virtues — being men and women of courage and integrity. Courageous people of integrity are morally and ethically steadfast in faith, hope and love.

I’ll bet we all know and admire someone who remains intact and recollected through the times of

And yet, isn’t there something common to the two perspectives? Isn’t it the very same “throwaway culture” which now populates our prisons, our landfills and our graveyards? Our culture’s tendency to discard whatever — or whomever — as old or inconvenient is rapidly polluting both the earth itself and the human community. We need a more integrated way of approaching all the social issues as Catholics.

Principled, not partisan At the Minnesota Catholic Conference, our policy positions do not fit neatly into the polarized, left-right framework that still dominates the political landscape.

Instead, on our bill tracker (available at mncatholic.org/ actioncenter), you will find positions opposing assisted suicide and abortion, but you will also find support for clean water funding, an opioid epidemic response and immigrant driver’s licenses.

This is not arbitrary. Nor is it the “mushy middle,” a way of pandering to both the right and the left. Rather, it is reflective of a consistent ethic of life that puts back together what our political culture has pulled apart.

American politics have become disintegrated, and even while both parties get it right on some issues, neither has a consistent vision of social life capable of building a truly just society.

In light of these difficulties, we can look to Pope Francis, who offers a new way of looking at Catholic social teaching in “Laudato si’.” In it, he proposes integral ecology, which means helping the natural and human ecologies to flourish while respecting both.

A new vision for Catholic social teaching A vision statement for integral ecology could be the chorus from “Laudato si’”: “Everything is connected.”

When one aspect of our lives is out of sync with Gospel principles, whether in our personal lives or in our public engagement, the whole “spiritual organism” suffers.

It is the same way with the political ecosystem: We cannot address a social problem in a narrow or isolated manner because our problems arise within a society of broken or disintegrated relationships and the failure, in some instances, to live our relationships with others well. That’s what the tradition means when it refers to structures of sin. And those structures can be dismantled only through personal conversion and by

suffering and healing, sorrows and joys. Whether it’s a trial, tribulation or triumph, these holy heroes are great witnesses of Christ that help encourage us. They keep the bar of accountability of our own behavioral lives as Catholics quite high.

To rise to new life daily is not easy — at least not for me. And this is why Christian relationships are so important. My family, my friends in Christ, and other colleagues and models of faith all keep me accountable during difficult times. The complementarity my wife brings to my faith life, which in turn, benefits the rest of the family — is incalculable. We are not meant to be alone, and indeed, as an antithesis to Cain, there are times when brothers and sisters need keepers.

That Catholic Watchmen takes its name from Scripture is not an accident. It encourages a culture of Christian relationships by igniting transparency and embracing accountability. This allows us to flourish even through the obstacles, continuing to rise up each day as people of God armed with integrity to give him glory, and to bring people to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ — in either the simplicity or complexity of our lives.

At the recent 2019 Archdiocesan Catholic Men’s Conference, Bishop Andrew Cozzens emphasized in his workshop the merits of men meeting regularly to discuss and share their lives of faith, family, jobs, etc. If you didn’t get a chance to attend, view “Growing in Holiness through Small Brotherhood Groups” at thecatholicwatchmen.com. The intellect, the enthusiasm and the commonsensical nature of the bishop’s teaching on the value of men mentoring men and holding each other in the spirit of accountability are compelling and convincing.

Rising to new life as people of integrity through transparency and accountability can happen and is

Minnesota’s students deserve to attend schools that meet their individual educational needs. Parents, as the primary educators of their children, need to be enabled to enroll their children in the school that they feel best meets those needs. The good news is there is now legislation, the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (SF 1872), that will provide families with access to the schools of their choice and ensure we have educational freedom in Minnesota.

Let your senator know that you support Opportunity Scholarships. It only takes a few minutes to contact your legislators, and it will make a positive difference in the lives of our children. You can visit our action center (mncatholic.org/actioncenter) to send your senator a message asking for the support of the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (SF 1872). You can also reach them on the phone by calling the Minnesota Senate’s main line at 651-296-0504. addressing how they affect a whole ecosystem of social relationships. To get at downstream effects, we must see the source of the problem upstream.

Because of the significance of integral ecology for public policy engagement in the life of the Church today, the bishops of Minnesota have approved the publication of a brand-new document by the Minnesota Catholic Conference titled “Minnesota, Our Common Home.” This resource is intended to help all of us grow in cultivating integral ecology within our families, in our daily lives, and in our call to be faithful citizens — all right here in our home state.

You can download or order your own copy by visiting mncatholic.org/ourcommonhome. As you read and pray through this document, we pray you are challenged and encouraged in your call to care for our common home, whether in your own backyard or on Capitol Hill.

Spangenberg is the communications associate of the Minnesota Catholic Conference.

happening within or outside of the premises of our parishes. A brother in Christ recently commented to me that being accountable to his core brotherhood — a small group — allowed him to be transparent on life issues he would normally hold in. Accountability required an avenue for transparency, a vulnerability to open up to men of Christ he could trust, truly allowing for healing and yet providing a steadfastness to stay strong. Accountability to self and others is an imperative for men to live up to the duty to be sacrificial protectors, providers and leaders of family and parish.

We continue to learn throughout the Catholic Watchmen movement how important accountability is in building fraternity, evangelizing and arming men of integrity in regular fellowship gatherings. Of our seven disciplines as a brotherhood of Watchmen, this is the anchor that integrates in our lives a constant reminder of the daily, weekly and monthly practices to help us grow in holiness. This is because we are not meant to be alone.

This is why we commune and are in communion as a body of Christ. And yes, we all need encouragement and reinforcement.

As the great prophet proclaims what God will do — wielding us as his instruments: “I will go before you and level the mountains” (Is 45:2).

Deacon Bird ministers at St. Joseph in Rosemount and assists the Catholic Watchmen movement of the archdiocese’s Office of Evangelization. As a permanent deacon ordained in December 2017, he and his wife, DiAnn, are members of All Saints in Lakeville. They have two married children and four grandchildren. Reach him at gordonbird@rocketmail.com. Learn about the archdiocese’s Catholic Watchmen initiative at thecatholicwatchmen.com.

COMMENTARY

22 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

APRIL 18, 2019

YOUR HEART, HIS HOME | LIZ KELLY

What my crocuses know about Easter

A few weeks after I had a rather alarming lump removed in a somewhat unexpected surgery that was insanely expensive, even with insurance, I learned that my business accounts had been hacked to the tune of $100,000 in fraud. To put that in perspective, an average transaction on my website is about 12 bucks. Apparently, when random charges started coming in for $26,000 and the like, this raised no alarm bells. It was pretty impressive, actually. The hacker got into my email and was replying as me and had changed out my bank account for his (or hers, let’s be fair). No one caught this until almost two weeks had passed, at which point about $23,000 was unrecoverable.

I frequently and with some anticipatory amusement pray for the conversion of my hacker.

A week later, to make matters even more ridiculous, my husband was attacked by a dog. He was running on a public jogging path blocks from our home when a huge beast, perhaps 120 pounds, leaped up and sunk his teeth into my husband’s abdomen. The dog was on a leash, but his owner could not control him.

Later, when my husband reported the incident to the police, he was made out to be the instigator of said attack by the dog’s owner. As if my husband, out for a jog, would stop to randomly provoke a pet. Two

“

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing.

Isaiah 35:1-2

weeks later the police called to let us know that the dog did not have rabies (for which we were tremendously grateful) and was now “free to return to his normal dog life.” Well, what a relief, that the dog could return to his normal dog life.

The world is mad.

I think this might be why God bothered with the hearty spring crocus. I planted a few bulbs some years ago next to my house and every year, without fail, despite the snow and cold and ice that may yet await its arrival, my crocuses valiantly reach skyward to pierce the surface of the frozen earth, green and savory and ready to blossom. The crocus knows: Beauty and goodness and life often spring up from darkness. The crocus reminds us: Evil will not win, it can never overcome what has been achieved through the Passion and brought to fullness on a Good Friday

THE LOCAL CHURCH | KATHLEEN EISCHENS

Mercy me: Trust in his Imagine you are part of a college tennis team. You are scheduled to play doubles in a meet with your main rival.

Unfortunately, the week before the meet, you skip one of the five scheduled tennis team practices and totally blow your plan to eat healthily. Match day arrives. Your partner is in top form and plays really well. However, your serve is embarrassing, your return is outof-bounds several times, and you completely miss what should have been an easy backhand. You and your partner lose the match. You feel responsible and remorseful.

You throw yourself at your partner’s mercy, apologize and vow to attend all practices, eat well and work out conscientiously before the next match. You can ask for your partner’s mercy because you trust your partner not to judge you harshly, to forgive you and to give you another chance.

And your partner does!

Infinitely more than the human mercy offered by your doubles partner in this scenario is God’s love and mercy. In Exodus 34:6, God declared to Moses that he is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” In “The Second Greatest Story Ever Told,” Father Michael Gaitley, director of evangelization for the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception and director of Formation for the Marian Missionaries of Divine Mercy, writes, “All of salvation history can be summarized as ...

God’s great effort of trying to get us skittish, fearful creatures to give up our fear of him and to trust in his love and goodness.”

St. Faustina, whose visions and revelations from Jesus in the 1930s brought into today’s world the message of divine mercy, wrote of divine mercy in her diary: “On one occasion, I heard these words: ‘My daughter, tell the whole world about my inconceivable mercy. I desire that the feast of mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of my tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of my mercy. The soul that will go to

SHUTTERSTOCK

afternoon. Do not doubt it for a minute: Evil may take a bite out of you from time to time, but it can never undo what has been achieved by El Shaddai.

Let the world go mad and go buy yourself a crocus.

And live with abiding, unshakable joy in the reality of Easter.

Father Almighty, Creator and Sustainer of all that is, the earth manifests your glories and sings with joy of your wisdom and might. Let my every word and work join in this eternal and triumphant song that proclaims the unstoppable truth of your victory over sin and death. Amen.

Kelly is the author of six books, including the awardwinning “Jesus Approaches” (Loyola Press, 2017), and is a parishioner of St. Pius X in White Bear Lake. Listen to the “Your Heart, His Home” podcast at lizk.org.

DIVINE MERCY RESOURCES uLearn more about the history of the divine mercy devotion with “Divine Mercy in the Second Greatest Story Ever Told,” a video featuring Father Michael Gaitley, MIC, available at augustineinstitute.org/divinemercy. uThe Image of Jesus as the Divine Mercy is available and explained in a booklet “The Divine Mercy Chaplet” from Lighthouse Media at lighthousecatholicmedia.org. uThe Divine Mercy Chaplet, a prayer given to St. Faustina by our Lord, is said daily at 3 p.m. on 1330 AM Relevant Radio. uThe novena — a nine-day prayer — to Jesus as the Divine Mercy begins on Good Friday and culminates on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 28. uLocal parishes’ celebrations of Divine Mercy Sunday, including the Divine Mercy Chaplet, can be found at TheCatholicSpirit.com/divinemercy. confession (the Church says within 20 days of Divine Mercy Sunday) and receive holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. ... It is my desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter.

Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the fount of my mercy.”

With Easter and the feast of Divine Mercy just around the corner, the following are some ways to experience the depths of God’s mercy: uMeditate on the image of Jesus as the divine mercy. uPray the Divine Mercy Chaplet. uPray the Novena to the Divine Mercy. u Pray during the afternoon’s 3 o’ clock hour, known as the “hour of great mercy.” u Celebrate the feast of divine mercy on Divine Mercy Sunday.

Although St. Faustina’s revelations about receiving God’s mercy are relatively new in terms of salvation history, they remind us of God’s timeless message of merciful love. As Jesus told St. Faustina: “My heart overflows with great mercy for souls and especially for poor sinners. … [I]t is for them that the blood and water flowed from my heart as from a fount overflowing with mercy. For them I dwell in the tabernacle as King of Mercy.”

Eischens, a longtime member of St. Hubert in Chanhassen, is a wife and mother, photographer and freelance writer.

LETTER Not just fun and games While I am putting the target “let he who is without sin cast the first stone” on my back, I must express my dismay at The Last Word article “Partners in Slime” (April 4). As a Catholic school educator whose own school is also opting for rewards of “building community” by having adults participate in foolishness, I don’t have to wonder why disrespect is a major issue in today’s classrooms.

Yes, the monetary cost of the silly rewards is minimal, but how do we rationalize volunteering at Feed My Starving Children one day and then later dumping food, or slime, on our leaders? I question how the Catholic learning environment is different than any other school choice. Why are we surprised when St. Thomas students find decapitated statues or stale bread with the words “Body of Christ” written on it (“After Mary statue vandalized, some St. Thomas students criticize administration response,” April 4)? Surely it’s all in good fun.

Tina Triplett St. Timothy, Maple Lake

ADD YOUR VOICE Share your perspective by emailing CatholicSpirit@archspm.org. Please limit your letter to the editor to 150 words and include your parish and phone number. The Commentary page does not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Catholic Spirit.

Letters may be edited for length or clarity.

APRIL 18, 2019

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 23

CALENDAR Dining out

FEATURED EVENTS Morning prayer with Archbishop Bernard Hebda during the triduum — April 18, 19 and 20: 7:30 a.m. April 18; 8 a.m. April 19; 8 a.m. April 20 at the Cathedral of St. Paul, 239 Selby Ave., St. Paul. All are invited to join the archbishop for sung morning prayer and the office of readings. cathedralsaintpaul.org.

21st Annual Living Stations of the Cross — April 19: Servants of the Cross will re-enact the passion of Jesus Christ on Good Friday at three locations: 9 a.m. at St. Peter, 2600 N. Margaret St., North St. Paul; noon at Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 1725 Kennard St., Maplewood; and 7 p.m. at Blessed Sacrament, 2119 Stillwater Ave. E., St. Paul. servantsofthecrossmn.com.

36th annual Good Friday pro-life prayer vigil — April 19: 8:30 a.m.–4 p.m. at Planned Parenthood, 671 Vandalia St., St. Paul.

Fifteen area pastors will lead those gathered in reading Scripture and prayers. Sponsored

by Pro-Life Action Ministries. plam.org.

“Was Jesus a Model for Muhammad?” — April 23: 7:30–9:30 p.m. at the University of St. Thomas, O’Shaughnessy Education Center, 2115 Summit Ave., St. Paul. The inaugural Terence Nichols Symposium features Georgetown visiting researcher Younus Mirza. Sponsored by St. Thomas’ theology department’s Theological Encounters Program: Encountering Islam and co-sponsored by the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning. stthomas.edu.

Catholic Watchmen rally with Bishop Andrew Cozzens — May 2: 6:30–9 p.m. at Sacred Heart, 4087 W. Broadway Ave., Robbinsdale. Includes eucharistic adoration, opportunities for confession and dinner.

Bishop Cozzens to present on Blessed John Henry Newman. $10 freewill offering. Enzo Randazzo at randazzov@archspm.org or 651-291-4483. thecatholicwatchmen.com.

Spring salad luncheon: Up North — May 4: 11:45 a.m.–2:30 p.m. at Guardian Angels, 8260 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. Features musical entertainment by Rising Sparrows. Hosted by Women’s Club. guardian-angels.org.

Crafters spring sale — May 4-5: 9 a.m.–6:30 p.m.

May 4 and 8:30 a.m.–1 p.m. May 5 at Guardian Angels, 8260 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. guardian-angels.org.

Children’s clothing and toy sale — May 4-5: 9 a.m.– 2 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker, 7180 Hemlock Lane N., Maple Grove. Proceeds to support social justice ministries. sjtw.net.

A Taste of Greece, Feast of the Golden Fork — April 27: 6–9 p.m. at Holy Childhood, 1435 Midway Parkway, St. Paul. Tickets at 651-644-7495. Sales close April 24. holychildhoodparish.org.

Knights of Columbus pancake breakfast — April 28: 8:30–11:30 a.m. at Sts. Peter and Paul community center, 150 Railway St. E., Loretto. Duane Schlosser at 612-978-6959. saintsppta.org.

Knights of Columbus breakfast — April 28: 8 a.m.– 1 p.m. at KC Hall, 1910 S. Greeley St., Stillwater. kc1632.mnknights.org.

Knights of Columbus breakfast — April 28: 9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. at Blessed Sacrament, 2119 Stillwater Ave., St. Paul. blessedsacramentsp.org.

Taste of Lebanon Dinner — April 28: 11:30 a.m.– 5:30 p.m. at St. Maron, 602 University Ave. NE, Minneapolis. 612-379-2758. stmaron.com.

Breakfast buffet — May 5: 8 a.m.–1 p.m. at Guardian Angels, 8260 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. guardian-angels.org.

Madonna luncheon — May 6: Noon at St. Genevieve, community center, 6995 Centerville Road, Centerville.

Sponsored by Council of Catholic Women. stgens.org.

Prayer/worship Good Friday labyrinth and Taize prayer — April 19: 4–7:30 p.m. at St. Richard, 7540 Penn Ave. S., Richfield.

7:30 p.m. Taize prayer around the cross. strichards.com.

Healing Mass — April 23: 7 p.m. at Holy Name of Jesus, 155 County Road 24, Wayzata. Celebrated by Father Jim Livingston. Rosary at 6:30 p.m. hnoj.org.

May evensong/vespers and blessing of the garden — May 5: 7 p.m. at Guardian Angels, 8260 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. guardian-angels.org.

Schools

Parish events Living Stations of the Cross — April 19: 3 p.m. at Ascension, 323 Reform St. N., Norwood Young America.

Living Stations of the Cross presented by Ascension and St. Bernard confirmation students and choirs. ascension.org.

Red Lake mission school gala — April 25: 6:45– 8:30 p.m. at St. Patrick, 6820 St. Patrick’s Lane, Edina.

Supports St. Mary’s Mission School in Red Lake. Meal includes Red Lake walleye and Red Lake harvested wild rice. Freewill donation. RSVP 218-849-8852.

Caregivers support group Nourish — April 25: 1–2:30 p.m. at Guardian Angels, 8260 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. guardian-angels.org.

Gray Matters: Depression in Older Adults — April 27: 10–11:30 a.m. at Guardian Angels, 8260 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. guardian-angels.org.

Holy Name rummage sale — May 2-4: 4–8 p.m. preview sale May 2 ($1 per person); 9 a.m.–6 p.m. May 3; 9 a.m.–noon Bag Day May 4 ($3 per bag) at Holy Name, 3637 111th Ave. S., Minneapolis. 612-724-5465. churchoftheholyname.org.

Queen of May Dinner and Auction to benefit Immaculate Conception School — May 3: 5:30 p.m. at 4030 Jackson St. NE, Columbia Heights. Tickets at 763-788-9065. iccsonline.org.

Speakers St. Agnes Lenten lecture series — April 19: 7–9 p.m. at St. Agnes, 535 Thomas Ave., St. Paul. “Great Spiritual Doctors of the Church.” churchofsaintagnes.org.

Life Legal Minnesota — April 27: 6 p.m. at St. Peter’s Heritage Center, 1405 Highway 13, Mendota. lifelegaldefensefoundation.org.

“Jumping into God’s Arms” — April 30: 7–8:30 p.m. at Risen Savior, 1501 E. County Road 42, Burnsville. Featuring Jennifer Gaines, a sex trafficking survivor. risensavior.org.

A conversation with Chris Schenk, CSJ — April 30: 6:30 –8:30 p.m. at St. Frances Cabrini, 1500 Franklin Ave. E., Minneapolis. “Developing a Stronger Lay Voice in our Faith Communities” sponsored by Catholic Coalition for Church Reform and Call to Action Minnesota. Reservations at artstoeberl@yahoo.com or 651-278-6630. cabrinimn.org.

Prolife Across America Culture of Life Banquet — May 2: 5:45 p.m. at St. John the Baptist, 835 Second Ave. NE, New Brighton. Guest speaker Jason Jones. Christine at 612-782-9434. prolifeacrossamerica.org.

CALENDAR submissions DEADLINE: Noon Thursday, 14 days before the anticipated Thursday date of publication. We cannot guarantee a submitted event will appear in the calendar. Priority is given to events occurring before the next issue date.

LISTINGS: Accepted are brief no­tices of upcoming events hosted by Catholic parishes and organizations.

If the Catholic connection is not clear, please emphasize it in your submission. Included in our listings are local events submitted by public sources that could be of interest to the larger Catholic community.

ITEMS MUST INCLUDE the following to be considered for publication: uTime and date of event uFull street address of event uDescription of event uContact information in case of questions ONLINE: thecatholicspirit.com/calendarsubmissions MAIL: “Calendar,” The Catholic Spirit 777 Forest St., St. Paul, MN 55106

Lecture and lunch with Matt Birk — May 4: 11 a.m. at St. Lawrence Catholic Church and Newman Center, 1203 Fifth St. SE, Minneapolis. Catholic men ages 18 and older are invited. Sponsored by archdiocesan Holy Name Society.

Cain Pence at caino@cainpence.com.

Restorative Justice and Healing with Janine Geske — May 6: 7–9 p.m. at St. Mary of the Lake, 4741 Bald Eagle Ave., White Bear Lake. Father Daniel Griffith, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes in Minneapolis, will join Justice Geske. stmarys-wbl.org.

Other events Catholic softball group — Tuesdays beginning April 23: 6–9 p.m. at Victoria Ball Fields, 2490 Victoria St. N, Roseville. Sign-ups for summer are open. catholicsoftballgroup@gmail.com.

Palestrina Choir of Dublin — April 24: 7:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Paul, 239 Selby Ave., St. Paul. Freewill offering. cathedralheritagefoundation.org/events.

Senior art and garden show — April 28: 1–3 p.m. at Cerenity Marian Center, 200 Earl St., St. Paul. Featuring local artists and master gardener. cerenityseniorcare.org.

St. Joseph the Worker Religious Brothers’ Day celebration — May 1: 5–8:30 p.m. at Franciscan Brothers of Peace, 1289 Lafond Ave., St. Paul. Men ages 18-35 are invited for Mass, cookout, recreation. brothersofpeace.org.

Marketplace • Message Center Classified Ads Email: classifiedads@archspm.org • Phone: 651-290-1631 • Fax: 651-291-4460 Next issue: 5-2-19 • Deadline: 3 p.m. 4-25-19 • Rates: $8 per line (35-40 characters per line) • Add a photo/logo for $25 ACCESSIBILITY SOLUTIONS

CEMETERY LOTS

GREAT CATHOLIC SPEAKERS

STAIR LIFTS - ELEVATORS WHEELCHAIR LIFTS FOR HOMES, CHURCHES & SCHOOLS Arrow Lift (763) 786-2780

Crystal Lake Cemetery: 2 graves, Sec. 26; Lot 263; Graves 3 & 4. Value $4,850.00/pair; Selling Price $3500.00 for the pair. Call Bob 763-862-4308

CD of the Month Club Lighthouse Catholic Media, Scott Hahn, Jeff Cavins and more! $5/month includes shipping.

Subscribe online at http://www.lighthousecatholicmedia. org/cdclub Please Enter Code: 1195

ANTIQUES TOP CASH PAID For Older Furniture Advertising Signs • Beer Items • Toys • Misc.

(651) 227-2469

Morningside Memorial Gardens: Double Lawn Crypt, Devoting 173 D-4; Selling Price $3000.00. Call Bob 763-862-4308

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES

HANDYMAN

ATTORNEYS Edward F. Gross • Wills, Trusts, Probate, Estate Planning, Real Estate. Office at 35E & Roselawn Ave., St. Paul (651) 631-0616.

CEILING TEXTURE Michaels Painting. Popcorn Removal & Knock Down Texture: TextureCeilings.com (763) 757-3187.

CEMETERY LOTS Resurrection Cemetery: 1 lot. Value $1740; Price $1300; Sec. 62 Block 8 Lot 14 Grave 1; (651) 447-0724.

DO YOU HAVE SALES EXPERIENCE? ARE YOU WELL NETWORKED IN THE LOCAL COMMUNITY? J.S. PALUCH COMPANY NATIONAL PUBLISHER OF CHURCH BULLETINS • Full Time Positions Available with Excellent Earning Potential!

• Medical Benefits, 401K, Life & AD&D Insurance Offered • Excellent Commission Compensation Program Email Resume to RECRUITING@JSPALUCH.COM www.jspaluch.com

WE DO 1,162 THINGS AROUND THE HOME! Catholic Owned Handyman Business: We will fix/repair and remodel almost anything around the home. Serving entire Metro. Call today.

Mention this ad and receive 10% off labor.

Handyman Matters (651) 784-3777, (952) 946-0088. www.HandymanMatters.com

HARDWOOD FLOORS

Sweeney’s Hardwood Floors

IT’S SPRING! Spruce up your home with new or refurbished hardwood floors: 10% off labor.

Sweeney (651) 485-8187.

PAINTING For painting & all related services. View our website: PAINTINGBYJERRYWIND. COM or call (651) 699-6140.

Ask a our 3 bout t speciaime l!

CatholicHotdish.com PAINTING Merriam Park Painting. Professional Int./ Ext. Painting. WP Hanging. Moderate Prices, Free Estimates. Call Ed (651) 224-3660.

Michaels Painting. Texture and Repair.

MichaelsPaintingllc.coM. (763) 757-3187.

Dennis Heigl Painting Interior/Exterior Serving Mpls. & suburbs. Free Estimates.

(612) 819-2438

PILGRIMAGE TRAVEL Guadalupe Shrine Mexico City Oct. 7-12, 2019; $1659/person incl. airfare (MSP); Call 651-779-7712; CitaRegs@AOL.com

PRAYERS Thank you Holy Trinity, Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Jude, in advance, for prayers answered. HB

PRAYERS NOTICE: Prayers must be submitted in advance. Payment of $8 per line must be received before publication.

VACATION/FAMILY GETAWAY Knotty Pines Resort, Park Rapids, MN. 1, 2 & 3 bdrm cabins starting at $565/week. www.knottypinesresort.com (800) 392-2410.

Mention this ad for a discount!

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED Become a Hospice Volunteer!

For more information, visit www.healthpartners.com/hospice, or call 952-883-6877.

WANTED TO BUY Estate & Downsizing: I buy Van Loads and Bicycles. Steve (651) 778-0571.

To advertise in the classifieds, email classifiedads@archspm.org.

24 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

APRIL 18, 2019

THELASTWORD

How did

Jesus

DIE? Catholic doctor gives medical view of Christ’s passion, crucifixion

By Tom Dermody

J

Catholic News Service

He said an adult male has about 1.5 gallons of blood and the loss of 40 percent of that blood can lead to hypovolemic shock, a life-threatening condition. Jesus likely surpassed that threshold after repeated beatings throughout the night, an intense scourging at the hands of Roman soldiers that included wearing a crown of thorns and having nails driven through his upper wrists and feet.

“Some people ask, did Jesus really die of physical factors, or did he — as God — say, ‘OK, my work is done,’” said Millea. After taking his audience hourby-hour through Jesus’ physical and emotional suffering from the Agony in the Garden to his death on the cross, Millea concluded that “how he lived this long is one of the biggest divine mysteries.”

Millea, an orthopedic surgeon with offices in Iowa and Illinois, is president of a local chapter of the Catholic Medical Association for members in those two states.

He said his interest in researching this topic began in 1986 when he read an article “On the Physical Death of Jesus Christ” in the Journal of the American Medical Association. His subsequent research showed that Jesus’ medical condition has been discussed since the 16th century.

Among the latest sources he quoted was the 2014 book “A Doctor at

Calvary: The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ” by Dr. Pierre Barbet. Millea also referenced modern research on the Shroud of Turin, believed by many to be Jesus’ burial cloth.

For example, he said the man whose image is seen on the shroud was 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighed about 175 pounds. While tradition says Jesus was whipped 39 times in his scourging, nearly 400 wound marks are counted on the shroud and “every one of them (was) bleeding” on the day of his death.

While he promised his talk would not be “like watching Mel Gibson’s movie again” — a reference to the graphic depictions of Jesus’ sufferings in the 2004 biblical drama “The Passion of the Christ” — there came a time in his description of the crucifixion when he paused and asked his audience to “bear with me, we’re going to get through this. I don’t like this part, either, but it’s pretty important.”

He described Jesus’ passion and death as “a tragic story, a horrible story, a painful story,” but ended his presentation by showing an image of the resurrected Christ on the screen to illustrate that “this story doesn’t end with where we finish tonight.”

The surgeon acknowledged that other physicians and historians have suggested that Jesus might have died

iSTOCK PHOTO | g215

esus likely died from excessive blood loss, a Catholic surgeon said April 4 during a talk that examined the 18 hours of Christ’s passion and crucifixion from a medical perspective.

“Christ emptied himself,” Dr. Timothy Millea told about 100 people at his home parish of St. Paul the Apostle in Davenport, Iowa. “As a surgeon, two words that make our hair stand on end are ‘bleeding out,’” he said. “If you can’t stop it, you can’t keep that patient alive.” from asphyxiation because breathing was so difficult on the cross. Others say perhaps he had a heart attack after the hours of physical exertion and trauma.

But Millea feels the blood loss theory is not only medically likely but it also corresponds with the theological teachings of atoning sacrifice, with Jesus taking the place of the slaughtered lambs of the Old Testament. Sacrificed animals also died from blood loss.

“Jesus was literally the sacrificial lamb,” he said.

Other medical and historical evidence the surgeon cited included: uA rare medical condition that matches the description in the Gospel of Luke that Jesus’ sweat during his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane “became like drops of blood.” The condition, called hematohidrosis, causes blood to be released through the skin and “is almost always associated with intense emotion or physically challenging episodes.” uThe whip used in the scourging was likely a flagrum, with leather cords 2 feet long that contained metal objects, glass and lead balls. “It was a very diabolically effective means of harming the tissues down to muscle depth,” said Millea. uThe crown of thorns likely more resembled a helmet than the laurel wreath depicted in art. “Every time the

soldiers hit the thorns, they impaled in his scalp,” said Millea. “If you’ve ever had a cut on your scalp, you know it bleeds like crazy.” uJesus probably only carried the horizontal beam of the cross, because both beams would have weighed 300 pounds. “You’ve got a 175-pound man who has been beaten, he’s bleeding, he hasn’t eaten or slept or had anything to drink, and he’s going to carry 100 pounds for 600 yards. He fell three times? It’s a miracle he didn’t fall more often.” uThe nails in Jesus’ hands likely would not have been in the palms, which could not have held his weight.

There is a space in the upper wrist where ligaments are strong. “The problem, for those of you who have had carpal tunnel problems, is that the median nerve travels through there,” said Millea, meaning the pain would have been intense.

Millea went through Jesus’ last seven recorded phrases — including “I thirst” and “It is finished” — which he said were necessarily short because of the difficulty in breathing that Jesus was experiencing.

He said the crucifixion was a public spectacle, and Jesus’ followers most likely thought it was the worst thing that could have happened, not knowing that it would later prove to “be the best thing that ever happened.”