The Catholic Spirit - April 7, 2022

April 7, 2022 • Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

‘He took up our pain’ Holy Week in a hurting world

EASTER STORY

Faith grows amid terrible loss — pages 10–11

HOLY HOUR AND CONSECRATION 7 | REBUILD UKRAINE 12 | PLAYWRIGHT MOM 14

You are all invited to the St. Bernard’s Gala Dinner Join us for a night in Israel with guest speaker Dale Ahlquist President of the Society of G.K. Chesterton Fundraiser to help the youth go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land April 29th 5:30pm • St. Bernard’s Gym • Silent Auction • Live Music • Live Auction Table of 8: $400 • Individual: $60 RSVP: mnyouthpilgrimage@gmail.com or (313) 693-6960 Info: www.mnpilgrimageforyouth.com

2 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

APRIL 7, 2022

PAGETWO NEWS notes The late foundress of a secular institute based in Italy with members in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis will be beatified, an important step toward sainthood, April 30 in Milan, Italy. Armida Barelli was born in 1882 to an affluent family in Milan. In 1913, she committed herself to serving God as a lay person in the world. She founded an association of consecrated lay women that would grow into the Secular Institute of the Missionaries of the Kingship of Christ, which takes inspiration from St. Francis of Assisi and Franciscan spirituality and has 2,800 members in 29 countries. Members work in a profession and are self-supporting, while making a vow of chastity and promises of poverty and obedience. Jane Lynch, 81, an institute member and parishioner of Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, said Barelli’s beatification is an honor for the institute. “Her life has been a great inspiration,” she said. Lynch is one of three institute members in the archdiocese and one of six in the institute’s Midwest region.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

SWORD BLESSING Archbishop Bernard Hebda sprinkles holy water as he walks past a line of fourth degree Knights of Columbus at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul at the end of Mass March 26. More than 50 fourth degree Knights from the Twin Cities and other parts of the state took part in a sword blessing that coincided with the international 140th anniversary of the Knights of Columbus. According to State Deputy Jim Witzman, the sword blessing practice began in Canada and was adopted in Minnesota at the local, or assembly, level in 2015. This marks the first time it has been done at the state level by a bishop, though it is not an official Knights of Columbus ceremony, according to Dennis Stoddard, supreme master of the fourth degree.

After a two-year break because of the pandemic, the annual Dorothy Day Community Breakfast held by Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis is returning May 6. In late 2019, final stages of constructing Catholic Charities’ Dorothy Day Place shelter, permanent housing and social services hub in St. Paul were completed, only to have the pandemic make those services and other activities at the site more difficult, even as they continued. In light of the pandemic and to minimize any disruption to Catholic Charities’ services, this year’s 7 a.m. continental breakfast and program for supporters, volunteers and community members will be held under a tent in the rear parking lot of the campus’ Opportunity Center. It will include honoring the work of former president and CEO Tim Marx and senior director of stable housing Tracy Berglund, who plans to retire this summer after nearly 23 years with the organization.

Abortion practitioners performed 4,410 tax-funded abortions in Minnesota in 2020, with taxpayers effectively reimbursing them more than $1 million, Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life said in a March 23 news release, citing a recent Minnesota Department of Human Services report. The 2020 total was 53 fewer than the 4,463 tax-funded abortions in 2019, but it still marks the second-highest figure ever and a 30% increase in tax-funded abortions since 2013, MCCL said. Planned Parenthood, meanwhile, was reimbursed with a record $730,559, for 3,422 tax-funded abortions in 2020. The group has increased its tax-funded abortions over the last nine years for a 296% jump since 2011, MCCL said.

Two local Catholic high schools squared off March 26 for the Class AAA state boys basketball championship. Totino-Grace High School in Fridley capped the season with a 50-44 win over DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis for its first-ever state title. Actually, it was the first state title while playing in the Minnesota State High School League. Before that, the Eagles played in the Catholic School League and won a state championship in 1972, again by defeating DeLaSalle in the finals. TG’s recent win over DeLaSalle gave it two consecutive Class AAA titles in basketball.

The week before, Totino’s girls basketball team won the state title, its second. The boys and girls tournaments kept the Spencer family at Totino-Grace particularly busy, with a player on each team — RJ, a senior, and Megan, a junior.

COURTESY MAGGEE BECKER | MINNESOTA CATHOLIC CONFERENCE

COMMON GROUND Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, at center with Archbishop Bernard Hebda, spent about 30 minutes March 24 with the archbishop and other bishops of Minnesota at the State Capitol in St. Paul. It is an annual gathering organized through the Minnesota Catholic Conference as the bishops seek to “foster common ground for the common good,” said Jason Adkins, MCC’s executive director and general counsel. The bishops also met for 30 minutes each with Senate Majority Leader Jeremy Miller, House Speaker Melissa Hortman and six other lawmakers. Topics discussed through the day included nonpublic school student aid, creating a state child tax credit, combating homelessness and the bishops’ opposition to gambling expansion. From left in the photo are Msgr. Douglas Grams, administrator of the Diocese of New Ulm; Bishop Daniel Felton of Duluth; retired Bishop Donald Kettler of St. Cloud; Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston; Bishop John Quinn of Winona-Rochester; and Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Williams of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

As the Catholic Church prepares to welcome people through baptism, confirmation and first Communion this Easter, The Catholic Spirit asks readers, “Do you carry a vivid memory from your first Communion or confirmation? What does that memory mean for you now?” Send responses of 200 words or less to CatholicSpirit@archspm.org with “Readers Respond” in the subject line. Your reflection may be included in a future edition of The Catholic Spirit.

The Catholic Spirit is published semi-monthly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Vol. 27 — No. 7 MOST REVEREND BERNARD A. HEBDA, Publisher TOM HALDEN, Associate Publisher MARIA C. WIERING, Editor-in-Chief JOE RUFF, News Editor

Divine Mercy Sunday is April 24. Many parishes across the archdiocese plan to mark the feast day with special divine mercy devotions, including the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Find a list of those devotions at TheCatholicSpirit.com/divinemercy.

PRACTICING Catholic On the April 1 “Practicing Catholic” show, host Patrick Conley interviews Mike Rios-Keating from Catholic Charities, who describes how people can get involved with ministering to the needs of the poor and vulnerable in the community. Also featured are Judith Oberhauser, hospice chaplain at Our Lady of Peace hospice in St. Paul, who offers suggestions for serving people facing the end of life, and local Catholic educator Maria Zownirowycz, who shares what she hears from relatives in Ukraine and how individuals can help. Listen each week on Fridays at 9 p.m., Saturdays at 1 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. on Relevant Radio 1330 AM. Listen to interviews after they have aired at practicingcatholicshow.com, soundcloud.com/practicingcatholic or tinyurl.com/practicingcatholic.

ON THE COVER This depiction of the Eighth Station — Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem — hangs in the chapel at Providence Academy in Plymouth. Originally all white, this station and the other 13 were hand painted by art teacher Christopher Santer in 2005. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

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FROMTHEARCHBISHOP ONLY JESUS | ARCHBISHOP BERNARD HEBDA

Turning to Jesus in the Eucharist

E

ven more sought after than Bitcoin is the passcode to gain admission to the new perpetual adoration chapel at St. Ambrose. It’s a slice of heaven in the middle of Woodbury. After convincing a college-aged parishioner that I was sufficiently trustworthy to be given the code, I stopped by to pray one night last week and was inspired by the number of people who were there, presumably both to give Lenten praise to God and to refill the tank at the end of a busy day.

I found myself praying for the dozen or so people in that chapel that night, all younger than me. Judging from their apparel, some had come from the office, some from the gym, some from dinner and others from home, perhaps after putting the kids to bed. Equipped with insulated water bottles, Bibles, pens and notebooks for journaling, and even ear buds (perhaps for Father Mike Schmitz’s “Bible in a Year” podcast), they had come well prepared for their Holy Hours.

Everything suggested that they were serious about their mission.

The layout of St. Ambrose’s adoration chapel offers an intriguing juxtaposition: From every vantage point, the eye easily captures both a stunning San Damiano crucifix and the simple beauty of the monstrance. On the cusp of Holy Week, the visuals of the chapel seemed to emphasize the connectedness between the mysteries of our faith, encompassing the very events that we will be remembering on our spiritual journey through the Sacred Triduum that

Volviendo a Jesus en la Eucaristia

A

ún más buscado que Bitcoin es el código de acceso para ingresar a la nueva Capilla de Adoración Perpetua en St. Ambrose.

Es un pedacito de cielo en medio de Woodbury. Después de convencer a un feligrés en edad universitaria de que yo era lo suficientemente confiable como para recibir el código, pasé a orar una noche la semana pasada y me inspiró la cantidad de personas que estaban allí, presumiblemente tanto para alabar a Dios durante la Cuaresma como para rellenar el tanque al final de un día ajetreado.

Me encontré orando por la docena de personas en esa capilla esa noche, todos más jóvenes que yo. A juzgar por su vestimenta, algunos habían venido de la oficina, algunos del gimnasio, algunos de la cena y otros de casa, tal vez después de poner el niños a la cama.

Equipados con botellas de agua aisladas, biblias, bolígrafos y cuadernos para llevar un diario, e incluso auriculares (quizás para la Biblia en un año del padre Mike Schmitz), llegaron bien preparados para

begins on Holy Thursday and concludes on Easter. As St. John Paul II would remind us in his 2003 document on the Eucharist, “Ecclesia de Eucharistia,” the span of those three days embraces both the “mysterium paschale” (the paschal mystery) and the “mysterium eucharisticum” (the eucharistic mystery).

The two are eternally connected. From the monstrance, Jesus, who humbles himself to be present to us in the Eucharist, reminds us of both his victory over death and of the sacrifice that he made for us. His willingness to be so accessible to us in the Eucharist offers comfort not only as we contemplate the details of his passion but also as we consider his invitation to imitate him by taking up our crosses and following him.

For St. John Paul, the mystery of the Eucharist was always a mystery of light: It sheds light on the truth that is before

us. I reflect often on the experience of the disciples on the road to Emmaus who were in the presence of Jesus on that first Easter Sunday but unaware of his identity. It’s only in the breaking of the bread — the celebration of the Eucharist — that they come to recognize Jesus in their midst. St. John Paul stated that “whenever the Church celebrates the Eucharist, the faithful can in some way relive the experience of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus: ‘Their eyes were opened and they recognized him.’”

I suspect that is what has drawn so many to Mass each Sunday even in the midst of a pandemic, and that has motivated so many parishioners at St. Ambrose and throughout our archdiocese to commit to a weekly eucharistic Holy Hour. Whether we are trying to make sense of the war in Ukraine, or of violence in our cities, or

of strife in our families, we turn to our eucharistic Lord to open our eyes so that we might recognize him, follow him and serve him in our brothers and sisters.

The connection between the Eucharist and service is essential. Pope Francis has emphasized that Jesus shows us in the Eucharist that the aim of life lies precisely in self-giving, and that we can find strength even in fragility. He has reminded us that in the light of the Eucharist we are able to “find the greatness of God in a piece of Bread, in a fragility that overflows with love, that overflows with sharing. ... Jesus becomes fragile like the bread that is broken and crumbled.” For Pope Francis, Jesus’ strength lies most especially in that fragility. “In the Eucharist fragility is strength: the strength of the love that becomes small so it can be welcomed and not feared; the strength of the love that is broken and shared so as to nourish and give life; the strength of the love that is split apart so as to join all of us in unity.”

As we enter the holiest of weeks, let us turn to Jesus in the Eucharist to open our eyes to his presence among us, to challenge us to greater self-giving in spite of our littleness and fragility, and to be our strength, a strength grounded in love.

It would be a blessing to see you in church this Holy Week, gathered around the Lord’s table. As Pope Francis has prayed, “May the Blessed Virgin, in whom God became flesh, help us (this Holy Week and Easter) to embrace the Eucharist with a grateful heart and to make a gift of our life, too. May the Eucharist make us a gift for all others.”

Blessed Easter!

sus horas santas. Todo sugería que se tomaban en serio su misión.

El diseño de la capilla de adoración de San Ambrosio ofrece una yuxtaposición intrigante: desde todos los puntos de vista, el ojo capta fácilmente tanto un impresionante crucifijo de “San Damiano” como la sencilla belleza de la custodia. En la cúspide de la Semana Santa, las imágenes de la capilla parecían enfatizar la conexión entre los misterios de nuestra fe, abarcando los mismos eventos que estaremos recordando en nuestro viaje espiritual a través del Triduo Sagrado que comienza el Jueves Santo y concluye en Pascua. Como San Juan Pablo II nos recordaría en su documento de 2003 sobre la Eucaristía, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, el lapso de esos tres días abarca tanto el mysterium paschale (el misterio pascual) como el mysterium eucharisticum (el misterio eucarístico).

Los dos están eternamente conectados.

Desde la custodia, Jesús, que se humilla para estar presente con nosotros en la Eucaristía, nos recuerda tanto su victoria sobre la muerte como el sacrificio que hizo por nosotros. Su disponibilidad para ser tan accesible a nosotros en la Eucaristía ofrece consuelo no solo cuando contemplamos los detalles de su pasión, sino también cuando consideramos su invitación a imitarlo tomando nuestras cruces y siguiéndolo.

Para San Juan Pablo, el misterio de la

Eucaristía fue siempre un misterio de luz: ilumina la verdad que está ante nosotros.

Reflexiono a menudo sobre la experiencia de los discípulos en el camino a Emaús que estaban en presencia de Jesús en ese primer Domingo de Pascua pero sin saber su identidad. Es solo en la fracción del pan, la celebración de la Eucaristía, que llegan a reconocer a Jesús en medio de ellos. San Juan Pablo afirmó que “siempre que la Iglesia celebra la Eucaristía, los fieles pueden revivir de alguna manera la experiencia de los dos discípulos en el camino a Emaús: ‘se les abrieron los ojos y lo reconocieron’”.

Sospecho que eso es lo que ha atraído a tantos a Misa todos los domingos, incluso en medio de una pandemia, y eso ha motivado a tantos feligreses de San Ambrosio y de toda nuestra Arquidiócesis a comprometerse con una Hora Santa Eucarística semanal. Ya sea que estemos tratando de dar sentido a la guerra en Ucrania, a la violencia en nuestras ciudades o a los conflictos en nuestras familias, recurrimos a nuestro Señor Eucarístico para que abra nuestros ojos para que podamos reconocerlo, seguirlo y servirlo. en nuestros hermanos y hermanas.

La conexión entre la Eucaristía y el servicio es esencial. El Papa Francisco ha subrayado que Jesús nos muestra en la Eucaristía que el fin de la vida está precisamente en el don de sí mismo, y

que podemos encontrar fuerza incluso en la fragilidad. Nos ha recordado que a la luz de la Eucaristía somos capaces de “encontrar la grandeza de Dios en un trozo de Pan, en una fragilidad que rebosa de amor, que rebosa de compartir…. Jesús se vuelve frágil como el pan que se parte y se desmenuza”.

Para el Papa Francisco, la fuerza de Jesús reside sobre todo en esa fragilidad. “En la Eucaristía la fragilidad es fuerza: la fuerza del amor que se hace pequeño para ser acogido y no temido; la fuerza del amor que se parte y se comparte para nutrir y dar vida; la fuerza del amor que se escinde para unirnos a todos en la unidad”.

Al entrar en la semana más santa, volvámonos a Jesús en la Eucaristía para que nos abra los ojos a su presencia entre nosotros, para desafiarnos a una mayor entrega de nosotros mismos a pesar de nuestra pequeñez y fragilidad, y para que sea nuestra fuerza, una fuerza cimentado en el amor. Sería una bendición verlos a todos en la Iglesia esta Semana Santa, reunidos alrededor de la mesa del Señor.

Como ha orado el Papa Francisco, “que la Santísima Virgen, en quien Dios se hizo carne, nos ayude [en esta Semana Santa y Pascua] a abrazar la Eucaristía con un corazón agradecido y a hacer don también de nuestra vida. Que la Eucaristía nos haga un don para todos los demás”. ¡Bendita Pascua!

For St. John Paul, the mystery of the Eucharist was always a mystery of light: It sheds light on the truth that is before us.

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APRIL 7, 2022

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Remie Jasinski, a secondgrader at St. Pascal Regional Catholic School in St. Paul, and her mother, Hayley Roger, check out floral crowns at the school March 24 during a fundraiser for humanitarian aid for Ukraine. The school sold the crowns and Ukrainian Easter eggs, both made by parishioners of St. Constantine Ukrainian Catholic Church in northeast Minneapolis, plus lollipops and badges.

A similar sale was held March 31. The two events raised $4,445, with $2,628 given to the Save Ukraine Mutual Aid Center and $1,817 given to St. Constantine for its Ukraine fundraiser. The principal of St. Pascal, Inna Collier Paske, is from Ukraine.

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THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 5

COVID-19 liturgical restrictions lifted in archdiocese April 1

By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit Effective April 1, pandemic-related restrictions for Mass and other liturgical events were lifted in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, including facial coverings, social distancing and avoiding large gatherings.

Individuals or parishes are free to retain some restrictions, or to phase them out incrementally, if they deem it prudent, said Father Tom Margevicius, director of worship, in a March 24 memo from the archdiocese’s Office of Worship. “Further, if the pandemic resumes its virulence, it may be necessary to reinstate some protocols,” he said.

But for now, the Centers for Disease Control, tracking COVID-19 pandemic trends, classifies the entire Twin Cities area with a community level risk of “low,” the memo stated.

“It is still advisable to practice good hygiene, keep indoor spaces well ventilated, and (when showing symptoms) isolate and get tested,” Father Margevicius said. “However, urging all to wear masks, keep social distance, and avoid large gatherings is no longer required.”

The lowered risk of transmission and rescission of pandemic protocols come just as parishes prepare for Holy Week liturgies the week of April 10, leading up to Easter Sunday, April 17.

The rescission of protocols also comes two years after public Masses in the archdiocese were temporarily suspended due to COVID in March 2020. Public Masses returned that May, and parishes began inviting people back to Sunday Mass, initially with capacity limits and other precautions in place. Many parishes continue to livestream Sunday liturgies, a practice that became prevalent during Minnesota’s COVID stay-at-home order in March 2020. A dispensation from Catholics’ “Sunday obligation” to attend in-person weekend Masses remained in effect in Minnesota until July 1, 2021.

This year, Holy Week, the Triduum and Easter celebrations can proceed without masks, social distancing or other restrictions. Palms, Easter candles and other liturgical items can be handled without needing sanitization, the memo says.

Also notable is the opportunity to reinstate the common chalice at Communion, a practice that has been discouraged since March 2020.

Pastors are encouraged to weigh the costs and benefits

REPEALING PROTOCOLS Rescinding pandemic protocols for liturgies also allows: uSinging by cantors, the choir and assembly. uShaking hands at the sign of peace, with respect for individuals’ level of comfort. uAnointing with oil directly from thumb to skin, with cotton swabs still permitted. uHoly water stoups and multiple uses of the font for baptisms.

of livestreaming liturgies, and outdoor liturgies will no longer regularly be scheduled, except processions such as those on Palm Sunday, Corpus Christi and other celebrations. Outdoor weddings on church grounds already scheduled can proceed, but no new outdoor weddings should be scheduled.

In addition, archdiocesan confirmations will proceed without restrictions, although pastors can seek permission to have confirmation in their own churches if there are ongoing pandemic concerns.

Synod Assembly will draw 500 to Cretin-Derham Hall school Pentecost weekend

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit Prayer, presentations and discussion.

Catholics who have participated in any part of the three-year 2022 Archdiocesan Synod process are unlikely to be surprised by the core elements of the Synod Assembly, scheduled for Pentecost weekend, June 3-5, at Cretin-Derham Hall in St. Paul.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda recently approved the event’s general schedule.

The Assembly weekend is scheduled to run 7-9 p.m. June 3, 8:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. June 4, and noon-6 p.m. June 5. The event is structured around the Archdiocesan Synod’s three focus areas: 1. Forming parishes that are in the service of evangelization, 2. Forming missionary disciples who know Jesus’ love and respond to his call, and 3.

Forming youth and young adults in and for a Church that is always young.

Each focus area session will begin with prayer, followed by a presentation.

Those focus area presentations will be given by local Catholic leaders Douglas Bushman, director of parish formation and mission at St. Joseph in West St. Paul; Michael Naughton, director of the Center for Catholic

Studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul; and Liz Kelly, an author and national speaker, who wrote theological orientation papers for the Synod earlier this year. With that preparation, participants will then engage in table discussions followed by large group sharing. Assembly participants will then provide feedback, including voting on propositions they believe the Holy Spirit is inviting the archdiocese to prioritize to renew the local Church.

The propositions were developed as a result of the feedback from the Parish Consultation with Small Groups, a six-week series held in parishes in September and October 2021. They were refined through the Parish Synod Leadership Team Consultation, which took place in parishes in late February and early March.

The prioritization of the propositions given through the Synod Assembly voting will inform Archbishop Hebda as he prepares a pastoral letter slated for release on the feast of Christ the King, Nov. 20. The letter, which will provide priorities and direction for parishes, will be followed by an action plan.

About 500 people, including two participants from each of the 186 parishes in the archdiocese, are expected

to participate in the Synod Assembly.

Other attendees will include local Catholic leaders.

Assembly participants will be expected to sign a profession of faith, affirming they believe in the truths of the Catholic faith. The profession is a requirement of canon law for those with voting rights in diocesan Synods, as well as other Church councils.

The Synod Assembly is the culmination of a process that began fall 2019, which included 30 initial Prayer and Listening Events attended by Archbishop Hebda and Bishop Andrew Cozzens, then the auxiliary bishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Those events helped Archbishop Hebda discern the Synod’s three focus areas, which he announced in August 2020.

Initially planned to take place over two years, the Synod process was extended a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The additional year included several virtual series addressing topics

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uPraying with Scripture Series (five sessions) uHealing and Hope Retreat (five sessions) uFaith and Culture Series (four sessions) u Synod at Home: Tips and Tools for Growing in Faith (four sessions) View the Synod Small Groups videos (six sessions) at archspm.org/synodsmallgroups.

View the three Parish Synod Leadership Team consultation presentations (one session) at archspm.org/synod.

raised during the Prayer and Listening Events. Those series focused on prayer, healing, faith and culture, and growing in faith at home.

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APRIL 7, 2022

‘Laudato Si’’ inspires Catholic inroads in caring for creation

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit Many Catholics will identify with some aspect of Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si’, on Care for our Common Home,” and the more they learn about environmental issues, the better chance they’ll get involved in sustainability efforts, said panelists at a March 29 forum on the subject at Annunciation in Minneapolis, organized by the Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota.

“Let’s talk about what’s important to us as people, together on this journey, where we are trying to create and help build the kingdom of heaven but we’re also on the journey to heaven,” said Kat Doyle, director of justice and peace ministries for the Archdiocese of Atlanta. “Both of those things together are what (‘Laudato Si’’) is about.”

The forum was part of the foundation’s Giving Insights series, which explores community challenges and opportunities, ministries and organizations, and ways Catholic philanthropy can impact them. More than 140 people attended the forum, and 66 people joined the gathering via livestream.

The encyclical describes creation and humanity’s relationship with the environment, as well as the depletion of natural resources and ways climate change impacts the world, particularly less developed areas.

Pope Francis also offers hope for resolving the many challenges.

To explore climate questions and consider the legacy left for future generations, the foundation invited Doyle and two other panelists to discuss theological and moral ramifications, while raising awareness and encouraging involvement in environmental efforts.

“Laudato Si’” is a call to action rooted in Catholic social teaching on human dignity, said Bishop Emeritus Richard Pates, who served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis from 2001-2008 and returned to the Twin Cities after retiring in 2019 as bishop of Des Moines, Iowa.

“These social justice teachings are applicable to almost any teaching of the Church because they’re cut into the reality of who we are as individual people and who we are as a Church,” he said.

If Catholics believe climate change is the top issue, they need to keep repeating and understanding the message, he said.

“Laudato Si’” calls for a grounding in the Catholic belief that creation is a gift that must be stewarded responsibly, said Jose Aguto, executive director of Washington, D.C.-based Catholic Climate Covenant, which educates and equips Catholics to act on climate change.

Catholics can build bridges with others by focusing on shared values, Aguto said.

“I feel like the faith voice, if we do it correctly, is …

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

From left, Kat Doyle, Jose Aguto and Bishop Emeritus Richard Pates engage in dialogue about Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si’” during a Giving Insights forum March 29 at Annunciation in Minneapolis. about, ‘We care for the common good, we care about the other,’” he said. Aguto emphasized the need for climate-related public policy and mobilizing youth and young adults to faith and action.

Doyle said theology and morality behind caring for creation come first in changed hearts. Bringing Catholics together in small faith groups can give them tools that empower action, she said.

Doyle described a “Laudato Si’ Action Plan” authored

by University of Georgia professors and the Atlanta archdiocese, which offers ideas for reversing global climate change and environmental degradation threats and creating a more sustainable world. Last year, Pope Francis launched the Laudato Si’ Action Platform online to assist individuals, Catholic schools and parishes, and other sectors of the Church to implement sustainability practices.

The Giving Insights forum was moderated by Jeff Rauenhorst, executive vice president of Washington, D.C.-based Catholic Energies, a program of the Catholic Climate Covenant that focuses on solar and energy efficiency among Catholic organizations. Rauenhorst also provided insights and data on some of the major effects of climate change.

The Church can help people address the planet’s climate challenges, said Anne Cullen Miller, president of St. Paul-based CCF, which works with the financial resources of individuals, families, parishes and

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institutions to meet spiritual, educational and other needs of the community.

“We as Catholics have a responsibility to educate ourselves on these important issues, take initiative to educate others and find ways to leave a more hopeful legacy to our children and our grandchildren,” she said.

Attendee Mary Beth Weibel, 62, said the forum has inspired her to develop more environmental tools and training for youth and seniors she works with as executive director of nonprofit Trust Inc. in south Minneapolis, which works with religious congregations to unite and serve the community.

“I came away (thinking), how can I put this in practice for myself?” Weibel said. “How can I be more aware every day?”

Patrick Fox, 60, said he felt inspired personally and as an elementary school principal — presently at St. Bartholomew Catholic School in Wayzata and soon in a new position at Shakopee Area Catholic School.

Environmental justice issues can be incorporated into curriculum, he said.

A member of St. Olaf in Minneapolis, Fox said he considers care for creation a Christian duty. It’s another way for the faithful to express, demonstrate and live out the faith, he said.

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APRIL 7, 2022

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 7

Archbishop Hebda, bishops worldwide consecrate Ukraine, Russia to Mary

By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit

MARY’S INTERCESSION

Archbishop Bernard Hebda and Bishop Joseph Williams joined Pope Francis, brother bishops and the faithful around the world March 25 in prayers for peace and the consecration of Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

“Indeed, there is the need to cry, as we see innocent human life being taken,” Archbishop Hebda said, referring to Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion and continued bombardment of Ukraine, in his homily at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul during an 11 a.m. Holy Hour with eucharistic adoration and Benediction.

“I’m so grateful for Pope Francis” calling the Church to prayer, the archbishop said. “Also, to consecrate Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

The archbishop noted that the gatherings, held simultaneously with Pope Francis in Rome and bishops across the globe sharing the same Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, also was held on the solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, when Mary said “yes” to God’s call to bear his Son. It was Mary’s “yes” that brought Jesus so close to all people, taking on human flesh, and in turn brings all people closer to one another, the archbishop said.

Special prayers are needed in this time of violence, the archbishop said, “as brother turns on brother and sister turns on sister. We need that unity that Christ brings into the world through that ‘yes,’ through that ‘fiat’ of Mary.”

The Holy Hour included a reading from chapter 17 in the Gospel according to John, with Christ praying, “‘Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are.’” It is a reminder that “we are not alone in praying for unity,” the archbishop said. “Indeed, it is Jesus’ prayer that ‘all may be one.’”

The consecration turned the faithful to the intercession of “Mary, Mother of God

As Russia’s invasion continued to devastate Ukraine, Pope Francis laid the fate of both countries at the feet of Mary. To read about the pope’s Lenten penance service and Act of Consecration in St. Peter’s Basilica, and continuing coverage of the war in Ukraine, go to TheCatholicSpirit.com.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Archbishop Bernard Hebda prays in front of the Blessed Sacrament during a Holy Hour and Consecration of Ukraine and Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary March 25 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. Next to him is Father Tom Margevicius, director of worship for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. and our Mother, in this time of trial.” It addressed the world’s straying from the path of peace, forgetting the wars of the past, and disregarding the commitments made as a community of nations.

“The people of Ukraine and Russia, who venerate you with great love, now turn to you, even as your heart beats with compassion for them and for all those peoples decimated by war, hunger, injustice and poverty,” the prayer read. “Therefore, Mother of God and our Mother, to your Immaculate Heart we solemnly entrust and consecrate ourselves, the Church and all humanity, especially Ukraine and Russia.”

Aksana Muratalieva, 48, attended the Holy Hour wearing a traditional dress and headwear from her native Kyrgyzstan in central Asia, which was formerly part of the Soviet Union. With her was her 12-year-old son, Kamilljan, his friend, and another friend

from Ukraine.

She was deeply moved by the Holy Hour and believes that prayer is powerful. It gives her hope, she said.

“It’s so hard to grasp the sacredness of the message,” said Muratalieva, who worships at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis. “What’s happening in Ukraine is a mass bringing-to-theknees” of all humankind. “We are one human race and we absolutely must acknowledge that our ways have turned not into God’s ways, because … God does not want us to be in war against each other. God wants us to be in union.”

Barb Peterson, who worships at the Cathedral and nearby St. Agnes, spoke with emotion in her voice about the importance of joining with others to pray for an end to Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

“The pope composed such a beautiful prayer, and to see so many people praying for peace — I can only hope that

it (the violence) will end, and Our Lady will take care of it,” said Peterson, 52, a special education teacher.

“It’s difficult to watch the innocents be destroyed, and it’s clearly the innocents he’s going after,” she continued, speaking of Russian President Vladimir Putin and news of children injured and killed in the Russian army’s attacks. “It’s very difficult to watch nations stand by and do nothing.”

Elizabeth and Tom Feeney, parishioners of Holy Trinity in South St. Paul, were among the many parents who brought their children to the Holy Hour. With them were their six children, ages ranging from nearly 1 to 12.

They pray the rosary daily and love Our Lady of Fatima, said Elizabeth, 40.

“We’ve been praying and hoping for this consecration to happen,” she said, adding that she saw it as a fulfillment of Mary’s request to the children at Fatima in 1917. “It’s just history unfolding, just God’s divine providence.”

Curtis and Mary Osborne drove 45 minutes from Albertville, where they are parishioners of St. Albert, to the Cathedral with their three young children for the Holy Hour. Hearing the rosary prayed partly in Ukrainian “felt very unifying,” said Mary, 29.

“And being here is always so beautiful — the organs and everyone singing together,” added Curtis, 33, referring to the Cathedral. “It felt good.”

Maria Wiering contributed to this story.

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APRIL 7, 2022

Father Francis Pouliot remembered fondly as ‘a great man of God’

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit Father Francis Pouliot had a slogan he would often repeat during the 22 years he served as pastor of Visitation in south Minneapolis: “Well begun, half done.” These words stayed with Dan Gleason, who served as principal of Visitation School during all of those 22 years. He would hear them during the first week of classes, when Father Pouliot celebrated Mass and tried to help students understand the importance of getting off to a good start.

The inspirational priest behind those words died April 3 at age 89.

“Around Vis, he became famous for that” saying, said Gleason, 74, who served as principal of the school from 1977 to its closure in 2008. “All the kids knew that. Every first day of school every year, he would bring that into his homily — ‘Well begun, half done.’ He’d talk about what that meant, getting off to a good start in school with your homework and your attitude and being nice to the other kids.”

In Gleason’s eyes, Father Pouliot, who served as pastor of Visitation from 1983 to 2005, practiced what he preached. Gleason called him “a great man of God to work with,” and had no trouble describing his strong attributes.

“He was such a kind man,” said Gleason, who later served as principal of Holy Trinity Catholic School in South St. Paul before retiring in 2017.

“He didn’t just imitate God’s kindness.

Jesus was living in him. Jesus’ kindness just came through him all the time.

And, I think everybody felt that.”

While serving together at Visitation, Gleason and Father Pouliot came up with the idea of riding a tandem bike together during the annual Marathon for Nonpublic Education, which took place in the fall. A large number of Catholic schools would gather at Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis and walk or bike the marathon together.

Gleason said he and Father Pouliot rode the tandem bike together for about 10 years. It’s one of his fond memories of working with and for Father Pouliot.

The priest grew up on a farm with 12 siblings in what is now Corcoran. He later attended Nazareth Hall, a preparatory seminary in St. Paul, and continued his studies at The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, then was ordained a priest in 1958. During the summer, he worked on the family farm. His younger brother, Eugene, later followed a similar path to the priesthood and is a retired priest in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Known to his family as “Father Fran,” he was a source of encouragement and inspiration to his family, his parishioners and young priests. He came out of retirement in 2008 to serve as parochial vicar of Maternity of Mary in St. Paul. While there, he served as a mentor for Father Peter Williams, who had first seen Father Pouliot earlier in his life. During his childhood, Father Williams would

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

In this file photo from 2010, Father Francis Pouliot talks to people gathered for an event at The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul in which he received a Distinguished Alumnus Award. sometimes attend Mass at Visitation with his grandmother. Father Pouliot left a strong and lasting impression that helped forge a priestly vocation.

“It is evident that he loves being a priest,” Father Williams said about Father Pouliot in an article published in 2010 by The St. Paul Seminary, “something that is like contagious joy for those who have the privilege of knowing him.”

Marian Neumann, Father Pouliot’s younger sister, remembers going to Nazareth Hall for visits while he was studying there.

“He was a very cherished big brother,” said Neumann, 83. “He was the seventh child of 13, and I was the 11th. … We had no freeways, so we would have to pack a lunch (because of the long drive to and from Corcoran). Usually, us four younger children would go with Mom and Dad, and we would have a picnic lunch at Nazareth Hall. It was just really something to be able to go down there and see these young boys preparing for the priesthood. It was just a special feeling. The day ended with Benediction in the chapel there, and listening to them (singing) Gregorian chant was just awesome.”

Before his assignment to Visitation, Father Pouliot served at St. Mary in Waverly (1958-1960), St. Therese in Deephaven (1960-1965), St. Joseph in West St. Paul (1965-1969), St. Stephen in Anoka (1969-71) and St. Lawrence in Faribault (1971-1983). His ministry also included being a chaplain for the Knights of Columbus, plus a number of other roles while serving as pastor of parishes where he was assigned, leading one of his nieces to remark, “He could never say ‘no.’”

The funeral Mass for Father Pouliot is 11 a.m. April 8 at Annunciation in Minneapolis, preceded by a reviewal at 10 a.m. Archbishop Bernard Hebda will be the main celebrant, and Father Williams will deliver the homily. There will be a visitation 4–7 p.m. April 7 at Annunciation. Interment will be at St. Jeanne de Chantel Cemetery in Corcoran.

APRIL 7, 2022

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 9

NATION+WORLD Pope apologizes for treatment of Indigenous in Canada, promises to visit

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

A ‘FRESH TRACK’

Expressing “sorrow and shame” for the complicity of Catholics in abusing Indigenous children in Canada and helping in the attempt to erase their culture, Pope Francis pledged to address the issue more fully when he visits Canada.

“For the deplorable conduct of those members of the Catholic Church,” the pope told Indigenous representatives April 1, “I ask for God’s forgiveness, and I want to say to you with all my heart: I am very sorry.”

Representatives of the Métis National Council, the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami and the Assembly of First Nations had asked Pope Francis for an apology for the Church’s role in running residential schools in Canada, but they asked that he apologize in Canada.

The pope responded to that request as well.

Saying he was impressed by their devotion to St. Anne, the grandmother of Jesus, the centerpiece of the popular Lac Ste. Anne Pilgrimage, scheduled this year for July 25-28, Pope Francis told them, “This year, I would like to be with you in those days.”

The Shrine of St. Anne, on Lac Ste. Anne, is located in central Alberta, not far from Edmonton.

Gathered in the frescoed Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace, representatives of the Métis, Inuit and First Nations shared their prayers, music, dance and gifts with the pope.

The pope had held separate meetings March 28 with representatives of the Métis and Inuit and met March 31 with delegates from the Assembly of First Nations. They were accompanied by six Canadian bishops.

Addressing all the delegates and their supporters at the end of the week, Pope Francis recalled that several delegates compared their communities to branches, growing in different directions, buffeted by wind, but still living because they are attached to the trunk and the tree’s deep roots.

“Your tree, which bears fruit, has suffered a tragedy, which you told me about in these past few days: uprooting,” he said. The normal transmission of language, culture and spirituality from one generation to the next “was broken by colonialization, which, without respect, tore many” from their homelands and tried to force them to adopt other ways.

Catholics could not use trying to evangelize the Indigenous as an excuse for running the schools because “the faith cannot be transmitted in a way contrary to the faith itself,” the pope said.

The Gospel calls Christians “to welcome, love, serve and not judge,” he said, and it is “a frightening thing” when, in the name of that faith, Christians act the opposite.

“Through your voices,” he told the delegates, “I have been able to touch with my own hands and carry

Leaders of Canada’s main Indigenous organizations welcomed Pope Francis’ apology for the Catholic Church’s role in running residential schools, but, as one said, it was just “a fresh track” on a longer hunt for healing and reconciliation.

Chief Gerald Antoine, leading the delegation of the Assembly of First Nations at the Indigenous communities’ meetings with Pope Francis March 28-April 1, used the analogy of hunting to explain to reporters that much remains to be done.

For Antoine, a key concern is a formal recognition by the Canadian government that the residential schools were part of a systemic attempt at “cultural genocide,” or, as he explained it, an attempt “to kill the Indian in the child” and force them to assimilate.

PAUL HARING | CNS

Canadian Indigenous delegates walk outside St. Peter’s Square after a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican April 1. The pope apologized for the treatment of Indigenous in Canada and promised to visit. within me, with great sadness in my heart, the stories of suffering, deprivation, discriminatory treatment and various forms of abuse suffered by many of you, particularly in residential schools.”

Pope Francis said it is “chilling” to think of how much thought and effort went into designing and running a system aimed at instilling “a sense inferiority” in the students and the attempt “to make someone lose his or her cultural identity, to sever their roots, with all the personal and social consequences that this has entailed and continues to entail: unresolved traumas that have become intergenerational traumas.”

“I feel shame — sorrow and shame — for the role that a number of Catholics, particularly those with educational responsibilities, have had in all these things that wounded you, in the abuses you suffered and in the lack of respect shown for your identity, your culture and even your spiritual values,” he said.

Those values were on display during the meeting in the Apostolic Palace, which began with representatives offering their prayers.

First Nations Elder Fred Kelly, wearing a feathered headdress and offering a prayer in Nishnawbe and English, prayed for the gifts of “love, kindness, respect, truth, kindness and humility from the one Creator.”

Métis Elder Emile Janvier, a residential school survivor, recited his prayer in Dene-Michif, asking the Creator for healing of “the hurts of the past” and for strength in moving forward “in forgiveness and reconciliation.”

Marty and Lizzie Angotealuk, members of the Inuit delegation, led the singing of the Lord’s Prayer

Natan Obed, president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, told reporters, “Today we have a piece of the puzzle,” which is the papal apology. “I was touched by the way in which he expressed his sorrow and also the way in which he condemned the actions of the Church in particular,” Obed said.

The next piece will be Pope Francis’ promised trip to Canada, apparently this summer, to visit Indigenous communities and apologize to them. But even more, he said, the Indigenous need a commitment to discovering the full truth of what went on at the schools and bringing to justice any priests, religious and lay staff who abused students and are still alive.

— Cindy Wooden in Inuktitut.

During the individual meetings earlier in the week, elected leaders of the groups asked Pope Francis for a formal apology for the Catholic Church’s role in suppressing their languages, cultures and spiritualities and, particularly, for the Church’s role in running many of the residential schools that were part of the government’s plan of forced assimilation and where many children were emotionally, physically and sexually abused.

The leaders also asked Pope Francis to go to Canada to make that apology and requested his help in getting access to more of the school records so a full history of the schools could be written and so the children in unmarked graves could be identified.

But the major part of the private meetings with the pope was devoted to the survivors of residential schools telling their stories.

Pope Francis thanked the delegates for “opening your hearts and for expressing the desire to walk together,” and he assured them that he brought all of their stories to his prayer.

HEADLINES u Videos prove war in Ukraine is battle against evil, archbishop says. Videos of dead Ukrainian civilians, many apparently executed by Russian troops, are further evidence that “the struggle of Ukraine is a spiritual struggle against evil, against the devil and his servants,” said Ukrainian Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych in his daily video message from Kyiv April 4. He spoke after the widespread distribution of videos from Bucha and other towns from which Russian troops had retreated. The videos show dead bodies in the streets and in the yards of homes. Many appear to have been shot in the head, and the hands of many of the corpses are bound. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, announced April 4 that the European Union “has set up a joint investigation team with Ukraine to collect evidence and investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

Archbishop Shevchuk told his people that while it is right to support the military and to keep fighting the Russian invasion, the evil at play can only be vanquished with goodness, holiness and generosity. u Groups decry end of Oregon residency rule for physician-assisted suicide. The National Right to Life Committee and Philadelphiabased Catholic Medical Association condemned the move, which came in response to a lawsuit seeking to remove the enforcement of the residency rules. Laura Echevarria, NRLC director of communications and press secretary, lambasted the ease with which someone can ask for life-ending drugs because it is cheaper than life-sustaining treatment. “Oregon’s February 2019 report on its assisted suicide law showed that the terminal diseases that qualified some patients for the lethal overdose included diabetes and

arthritis. These are not terminal conditions,” she said in an April 4 statement. u Wahlberg: Real-life Father Stu has him ‘continuing to carry on his message.’ Catholic actor Mark Wahlberg, who plays the title role in the upcoming movie “Father Stu,” said the real-life Montana priest is “having me continuing to carry on his message.” “Father Stu,” in theaters April 13, tells the story of Father Stuart Long, a priest who had been ordained for only four years before he died from an incurable muscle disorder, and the lives he touched along the way before and after his ordination. Some of those he touched were, in truth, pummeled, as Stuart Long was an amateur boxer, compiling a 15-2 record before he gave up the ring. “I’ve made a movie about a remarkable man, and I know that they had campaigned to get him ordained and petitioned to have him canonized,” Wahlberg said in a March 31 interview.

u Dialogue is part of schools’ Catholic identity, congregation says. Holding together the obligation to protect and promote the Catholic identity of Catholic schools while reaching out to a broader community of students and teachers requires a commitment to dialogue, said a new document from the Congregation for Catholic Education. The instruction, “The Identity of the Catholic School for a Culture of Dialogue,” was signed by Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi, congregation prefect, and was released by the Vatican March 29. The congregation, Cardinal Versaldi said, was asked to write the document particularly “given cases of conflicts and appeals resulting from different interpretations of the traditional concept of Catholic identity by educational institutions.”

— Catholic News Service

10 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

A

t 1 a.m. on a Sunday 16 months ago, offered a hug.

Taylor Tix of Hampton received a “People came out of the woodwork because phone call from her best friend with they didn’t know what else to do,” Father Tix the worst kind of news: Her said. They showed the best of a small town, he husband of 15 months, Colton, added. was in an accident a couple of After the funeral, Father Tix reached out to miles from home. She needed to get to the scene Taylor. Because her life was turned upside down immediately. And contact his parents. and she didn’t want to stay home alone right Taylor arrived during the last 10 minutes away, Taylor was living with Cody, 29, an paramedics performed CPR, but her 26-year-old agronomist, his wife, Holly, 30, an occupational husband had died of “a crush injury,” she said, therapist, and their toddler, Dawson, now 3. Last involving a four-wheel utility terrain vehicle.

October, Holly gave birth to the couple’s second son, Colton, named after his uncle.

At age 26, Taylor was a widow.

For the first couple of months after Colton’s “Cole said he always knew I was the one for death, the trio slept in the same room — on him,” she said. They were friends one year apart mattresses placed on the living room floor, or two at Randolph High School in Randolph, and drew on a sectional couch, and the other on a mattress closer to one another her senior year and after on the floor. For the first month, they often were she graduated in 2013. Once they started dating joined by Colton’s cousin, Justin Weber, and his in 2016, the feeling was mutual, she said. “We wife, Kayla. had an epic love story.”

“We just didn’t want to leave each other,” His death derailed life plans. Both had been Holly said. determined to meet career goals by September 2021: For Taylor, that meant completing her Holly said she could have stayed at Taylor’s bachelor’s degree in nursing, which she did, and house “but then my husband was grieving, too, for Colton, a journeyman carpenter, it was taking so I didn’t want to leave him alone. And we just classes to complete his bachelor’s wanted to be together.” in aviation on a path toward The sleeping arrangement (It) points to the becoming a pilot. They also brought a familiar comfort to the presence of the planned to start a family. terrible situation. Taylor said she But out of the grief and a search and her late husband had Easter story, for answers and meaning in the sometimes moved their mattress at sudden loss of her young, vibrant Christmas so they could sleep by really, points to and loved husband, came a the tree. Occasionally, when Cody the presence of deepening of faith for Taylor — was out of town for work, Taylor and a conversion to the Catholic and Colton had moved a mattress the risen Christ faith for her close friend and at Cody and Holly’s home so the among us. sister-in-law, Holly. three of them could sleep in the same room to help with Dawson.

Colton and his brothers, Cody Father Michael Tix and Mitch, were raised Catholic by “It’s hard to be alone in situations their parents, Mike and Becky Tix, like that,” Taylor said. “No one was attending St. Mathias in Hampton. Taylor’s mom sleeping through the night anyway, so we could and stepdad are strong Catholics, she said. Taylor have somebody there throughout the night.” was baptized at St. Pius V in Cannon Falls, where Some nights the group talked about faith “and she grew up (moving seven miles west to why we thought this happened,” Taylor said.

Randolph in sixth grade). She received first “Sometimes we were just silent, or journaled. We Communion at St. John the Baptist in Vermillion were just what we needed in that moment for and was confirmed at nearby St. Mathias. each other.”

After a couple months, Cody and Holly converted a craft room to a bedroom for Taylor, Grieving together “and we started trying to function like adults St. Mathias, St. John the Baptist and St. Mary in again,” Holly said.

Taylor began meeting with Father Tix to talk New Trier are the three parishes served today by about her husband’s death and whatever else was Father Michael Tix, who grew up in Hampton on her mind. Most of the time they met at Cody and is a cousin to Colton’s grandfather. and Holly’s home, and the couple joined the On Dec. 6, 2020, Father Tix also received a call, conversation. Taylor said she found comfort — from a relative, about Colton’s death early that and some answers — through those conversations. morning. Because Colton died in the first year of “It was more about ‘help me understand,’” she the COVID-19 pandemic, Father Tix celebrated a said, but it also involved talking about her anger, private funeral Mass for a group of family and not certain at first whether it was toward God. friends that met the crowd size precautions at the Father Tix helped her, Holly and Cody time. comprehend things “in the way that God doesn’t But to accommodate the many others who force these things to happen to us,” Taylor said. were grieving and wanted to pay their respects to the family — including many young adult friends “And he explained things in a way that made sense to us and broke things down. We were so of the couple and their families — “we ended up overwhelmed and confused. He said exactly what being a little creative,” Father Tix said. we needed him to say.”

On Dec. 13, one community member set up a Taylor said she felt more at peace after talking tent for the casket and large family photos on with him, that she gained more understanding stands. Another person brought heaters for inside and was better able to grasp the concept of loss. the tent “because it was December,” Father Tix She found Father Tix personable and relatable, said. Someone else delivered straw bales. with a sense of humor and ability to make “We worked with the funeral home and the conversations “just natural,” she said.

Dakota County Sheriff’s office,” Father Tix said, to make sure all knew and agreed with the plan. For four hours, people in their cars drove in a steady Finding faith stream through the St. Mathias parking lot.

People paid their respects, waving to family Cody’s parents sometimes joined the small members, Father Tix said. A few jumped out and group for conversation, and “we would talk about

Hope in h

A tragic loss leads Hamp

By Barb Umberge

From left, Taylor Tix joins Dawson, Holly, Colton and Cody Tix in the living room of the home where Cody and Holly live and where Taylor spent time after her husband, Colton Tix, died. Five-month-old Colton is named after his uncle.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

COURTESY HOLLY TIX

Taylor Tix, Colton Tix’s widow, stands behind his coffin during a drive-through visitation in the parking lot of St. Mathias in Hampton Dec. 13, 2020. Family members and friends of Tix, 26, paid their respects amid pandemic precautions in that first year of COVID-19. all kinds of things,” Father Tix said.

As the comfort level increased, Holly’s defenses decreased, he said, and one evening she mentioned she had never been baptized and that she’d like to do that with her son, Dawson.

So, the group started talking about “Church things and faith things,” Father Tix said.

Ultimately, Holly, who raised in religion,” decid the Catholic Church.

“For me, it was kind o to take when you’re alm who do you go to?” she super overwhelming. So

APRIL 7, 2022 • 11

heartbreak

pton family to deeper faith

er • The Catholic Spirit

young woman who wanted to join the Church.

Jenessa Mohn, 23, was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran Church, but during college, she began attending Mass at a Catholic church and liked the feel of it more than other churches she had attended. “As I started going more regularly, I really wanted to grow in my faith,” Mohn said.

Her long-time boyfriend was raised Catholic and the couple have discussed marriage. Being able to marry at St. Mary in New Trier was a big factor in her decision, Mohn said, something both want.

Mohn said she especially looked forward to receiving Communion. Every time she went to Mass and walked up for a blessing or stayed in the pew, “it pulled a little bit more every time,” she said. “I finally got to the point where, you know what? This (becoming Catholic) is what I want to do.”

Mohn made her first Communion and was confirmed at St. Mary on March 6. Her boyfriend’s mother was her sponsor, she said, and “very inspirational in her faith.”

The following week, on Sunday, March 13 — Holly’s 30th birthday — Father Tix blessed her marriage with Cody, called convalidation.

The next Saturday morning, March 19, she was baptized with her two sons and confirmed.

After naps that same day for the little ones, Holly received her first Communion at 5 p.m.

Mass.

‘A tribute to Father Mike’

COURTESY HEATHER OTTO, OTTO PHOTOGRAPHY

Father Michael Tix baptized Holly Tix, 30, and her sons, Dawson, 3, and Colton, 5 months, March 19 at St. Mathias in Hampton, and also confirmed Holly. Later that day, Holly received her first Communion during 5 p.m. Mass.

o said she “was not ded she wanted to join

of an intimidating step most 30 years old, and asked. “It just seems that’s what held me

back for so long.”

During one conversation with Father Tix, Cody opened up about his faith and feelings about “how could this happen,” Holly said.

Holly began talking with Father Tix about finding her faith and receiving the sacraments, she said. And the priest looped in another

Cody is proud of his wife’s decision to join the Church, as is his family.

“I didn’t want her to do it just to make me and my family happy,” he said, “but she pursued it herself.”

Cody is about 10 years older than his brother Mitch, but only a year and a half older than Colton.

“We grew up doing everything together,” Cody said of Colton. They attended school, played sports, and fished and hunted together. They shared many of the same friends. They did “a lot of construction for our dad” on weekends and some weeknights, he said.

If something good came out of Colton’s death, Cody said, “it really brought us back to faith.”

“We’ve become much more connected with the Church and a lot of it is a tribute to Father Mike,” he said. “He spent a lot of time with us in the last year.”

After Colton died, Holly recalled Cody often saying, “If God is real, then how could this happen? Why would God make this or cause this to happen?”

Father Tix explained that God doesn’t make bad things happen, Holly said, but God is there to support, guide and protect. “(Father Tix) made it a way that felt more comforting that God was there,” Holly said, “not that God causes it to happen.”

Holly said she has found that the more she learns about and experiences the Catholic faith, the more questions she has and the deeper an understanding she seeks.

Father Tix continues to stay in touch with Taylor, with an open invitation to get together to talk.

“I know he’s always there if I need him, which is huge,” she said. “He is so genuine and cares so much.”

Taylor said the way her pastor went out of his way for the entire Tix family, including

‘THE RISEN CHRIST AMONG US’ Father Michael Tix, episcopal vicar for clergy and parish services for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, grew up in Hampton, about 25 miles south of downtown St. Paul. In addition to his duties for the archdiocese, Father Tix serves as parochial administrator of St. Mathias in Hampton, St. John the Baptist in Vermillion and St. Mary in New Trier — essentially serving as pastor of the three parishes, he said, which include nearly 600 households.

While Father Tix did not know Colton Tix, he does know his parents. “His grandpa would be my first cousin,” he said.

Relationships “go to another level when you’re the priest and you’re the relative, too,” he said, which can be a blessing “because sometimes it does give you a toehold.”

Experiencing the aftermath of Colton’s death with grieving family members had many layers for him, he said, from helping relatives impacted by a tragedy to his first time leading sacramental preparation. His previous experience with the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults had been simply celebrating the rite. Personally accompanying people to the faith was something new.

“I had the experience of being able to walk the journey with them …, which was an honor and a privileged place to be able to welcome them, to be able to hear their story and to help them get to this new place,” he said. “I didn’t know him (Colton), but there’s the piece of knowing that there was the connection that was there that I think did help open the doors.”

The baptism of Holly Tix and her two sons marked the first time he has baptized a mother and two children at the same time. “And then to do that for relatives” was particularly impactful, he said.

Father Tix said part of his role following Colton’s death was letting his loved ones talk and asking “what’s going on inside?” In tragic times, he said, “the age-old question is: ‘Why do bad things happen to good people?’”

Father Tix does not believe God intends harm. God is always about the good, he said. But why do tragic things happen?

“I can’t give an answer and nobody can,” he said. “And … because in those kinds of times, where it’s so vivid and so raw, you’ve got to believe in something beyond yourself, and that’s the pathway to God, I think.”

In the midst of tragedy, the Holy Spirit is alive, he said, and helps good things come from some of the hard things in life.

“Which points to the presence of the Easter story, really, points to the presence of the risen Christ among us,” Father Tix said.

— Barb Umberger accompanying Holly as she’s grown in faith, is inspiring.

Losing her husband brought a roller coaster of emotions, Taylor said, but it prompted her to pray more, and it deepened her connection with God. “It’s made me want to be better,” she said. “I’ve gone to church more. I wanted to know everything, exactly what happened after you die.

I wanted to know exactly where Cole was.”

Taylor read “book after book” on religions and beliefs “to see what felt right, to see what felt right for where Cole is.”

All the reading brought her back to “my God and my relationship with him, and just keeping my faith,” she said.

“I think that’s what’s gotten me through,” she said. “As long as you keep your faith, I think that’s what matters.”

12 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

APRIL 7, 2022

FAITH+CULTURE

Rebuild Ukraine UST professor creates organization to infiltrate war-torn country with much needed supplies

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit

P

aul Gavrilyuk gets about four hours of sleep a night.

It’s a wonder he gets any sleep at all. The Ukraine native and theology professor at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul is working around the clock to help his native country, which he left in 1993 but has family and friends still living there.

One friend is a fellow academic who has taken up a military rifle to help defend cities and villages from fierce and relentless attacks by Russian forces who were ordered Feb. 24 to invade the country by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two professors text often, and sometimes talk on the phone.

The news is not good.

“He just fought a battle near the Irpin River,” said Gavrilyuk, 50, who himself has military experience in Ukraine. “That is a town that was very heavily shelled.

It’s about 20 miles southwest of Kyiv, the capital.

And, it’s the area specifically where one American photographer died and one American journalist was wounded,” he said, referring to the March 13 Russian attack in which photojournalist Brent Renaud was shot and killed and Juan Arredondo injured.

Gavrilyuk’s friend is his age and has four children.

He serves in what Gavrilyuk calls a “sniper unit” of Ukraine’s civilian defense volunteers and engaged in combat with the Russian military March 27. The man sent Gavrilyuk a five-page letter detailing the engagement, when, he said, a small Ukrainian unit with just two tanks destroyed 20 Russian tanks and held its ground.

Hearing about the conflict on a daily basis has Gavrilyuk thinking about joining the fight himself.

But he came up with a better idea. It involves less risk, which makes his wife, Eugenia, happy. And, a higher reward. Much higher, he thinks.

It builds off something he started in 2015 after the Russians invaded Ukraine to annex Crimea. He created an organization called Rebuild Ukraine to raise money for much-needed supplies like tourniquets and prescription medications, then deliver them to hospitals in Ukraine.

Although he still continues to teach at St. Thomas, almost every other waking moment is spent on Rebuild Ukraine.

“I measure my life in tourniquets,” Gavrilyuk, who is Eastern Orthodox, said during an interview with The Catholic Spirit March 30. “We have the capability of sending about 5,000 tourniquets into Ukraine on a weekly basis.”

Tourniquets are medical devices used to stop the flow of blood by compressing veins and arteries, often as an emergency measure to keep a person alive. During military conflicts, tourniquets are used in the field and may be the only way to prevent fatal blood loss.

“We essentially asked ourselves the question: What product can we supply that would maximize the chances of saving a life in Ukraine?” he said. “We want to participate in God’s mission of saving lives.”

As soon as the Russians invaded Ukraine in February, Gavrilyuk’s organization ramped up to raise money and deliver tourniquets and other supplies in anticipation of the heavy military conflict that ensued. So far, Rebuild Ukraine has brought 2,500 tourniquets into the country, and Gavrilyuk hopes the efforts will not only continue, but increase.

“The hope is to send 10,000 more in the next month,” he said. “We’re really talking about easily 1,000 wounded (Ukrainians) a day. So, that means if I had 7,000 tourniquets to pump into the country every week, I’d be a very happy man.”

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Paul Gavrilyuk spends most of his spare time running an organization he started called Rebuild Ukraine, which works to distribute supplies in Ukraine.

One thing that distinguishes his organization from other relief efforts and helps it be more effective is having volunteers who live in Ukraine. He has 100 volunteers working in two major cities — one of them Kyiv — to distribute the donated supplies to hospitals and all the way up to the front lines of battle. He has about 15 volunteers in the U.S.; some of them are in the Twin Cities. One of them hosted a fundraiser in Stillwater March 9 that infused the organization with money to expand its efforts.

Soon, another important item will be added to the list of supplies collected and sent by Rebuild Ukraine — bulletproof vests. Gavrilyuk is working on manufacturing vests to deliver to civilian defenders, and said he hopes to have vests ready to ship overseas within two weeks. Another source is police departments that have “decommissioned” bulletproof vests because of age. Gavrilyuk recently became aware of this phenomenon and began reaching out. The response has been encouraging.

“I want to thank police chiefs, specifically in Wisconsin and in Texas,” he said. “What I wrote was a crazy request: Could you supply decommissioned police vests to Ukraine? They immediately said, ‘Absolutely, yes. It would be an honor, actually, to do it.’”

Gavrilyuk has also started to shift some of his attention to food. After careful thought about the best food item to make and distribute, he came up with beef jerky. He said beef is plentiful in Ukraine and the surrounding countries, and jerky is highly nutritious and easily transportable. Already, volunteers are hard at work making and distributing it to civilians and soldiers alike in Ukraine.

He highlighted the efforts of one person in particular — a woman who lives in Ukraine but is removed from the current military battle areas.

This volunteer “is drying meat in her house (and) also sheltering 20 refugees,” he said. “And, her young husband, 25, is fighting (against the Russians). So, the husband is fighting, the wife is taking care of 20 refugees and producing more than a hundred pounds a week of dried meat for us.”

The only part of his Rebuild Ukraine effort causing uncertainty is fundraising. He is working hard to solicit

APPROACHING HOLY WEEK With Holy Week just around the corner for Catholics, Paul Gavrilyuk had no trouble connecting this liturgical season with the war in his native Ukraine against the invading Russians.

“There’s a Ukrainian Golgotha here,” the University of St. Thomas theology professor said, referring to the place where Jesus was crucified outside of Jerusalem. With heavy battles and many casualties — including civilians — it’s easy to see the parallel between the suffering of Ukrainians at the hands of the Russian army and the suffering of Christ on the cross.

Ties to the Resurrection are harder to make.

“I think it’s incredibly difficult to celebrate Holy Week because Holy Week looks forward to Christ’s resurrection,” said Gavrilyuk, who is Eastern Orthodox. “There could be no resurrection of the nation (Ukraine) until there is decisive victory (over the Russians).”

Gavrilyuk is doing his part to try to bring victory in Ukraine, by sending supplies into the country via a nonprofit he started called Rebuild Ukraine. Its logo features the letter “U” in blue, surrounding a yellow bird: a phoenix — a bird whose meaning in Greek mythology is “rising from the ashes.” But it also has meaning as “an ancient Christian symbol of the Resurrection,” he said. In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, Easter this year is celebrated April 24, one week after it is celebrated by the Catholic Church. Holy Week in the orthodox church is called Passion Week.

“I can live through Passion Week, to be sure,” Gavrilyuk said.

“But the Easter part, I think, for me, is in the future. The Easter part will have to be postponed until the end of the war.”

— Dave Hrbacek

donations by traveling to other cities like Chicago and New York, and by creating a website, rebuild-ua.org. But, raising money is not his area of expertise, he readily admits.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

FAITH+CULTURE

APRIL 7, 2022

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 13

RUSSIAN ROOTS Paul Gavrilyuk was born in Ukraine, and his wife, Eugenia, in Russia. Does that make for high tension due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine Feb. 24?

Not at all. Both feel exactly the same way about the attempt by Russian President Vladimir Putin to take over Ukraine.

COURTESY PAUL GAVRILYUK

This friend of Paul Gavrilyuk lives in Ukraine and has joined the country’s civilian defense volunteers.

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE “I’m just a 50-year-old trying to do fundraising,” he said. “As a university professor, I need a lot of help. I’ve never done it (before).”

At the local level, he has had discussions with administrators at St. Thomas about having a panel discussion and a photo exhibit of war images from Ukraine, which will take place April 11 at the university, and he is working to gain support from other local leaders.

For now, he will continue to follow his passion and work tirelessly to support the efforts of Ukrainians to defend their country.

“I would love to have 240 hours in a day and not 24, but that’s as much as the Lord gives,” he said. He wants to stand up against what he calls “serious war crimes,” which likely won’t end until there is a “regime change” in Russia.

“There is no end game to what Putin is doing,” he said.

“Ukrainians are paying with the lives of civilians and the lives of its military and voluntary defense units. And, that’s horrible. That’s a very high price. And, I think it’s important that the world doesn’t just admire Ukrainian bravery, but also supports it with prayer and compassionate action. And, compassionate action is what Rebuild Ukraine is about.”

In this season of Lent, what are you willing to give?

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As you reflect on all the ways you might give — time, talent, and treasure — consider creating a giving plan.

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651.389.0300 | ccf-mn.org

“When all these disasters started to happen, not only me, (but) all my Russian friends born in Russia who identify themselves as Russian, we experienced the same, almost physical sense of nausea and disgust,” said Eugenia, 57, a Moscow native who, like her husband, teaches in the theology department at the University of St. Thomas. “It’s noxious, as if you are poisoned. It’s a sense of deep shame.”

Paul feels the same way, which is why he started the nonprofit Rebuild Ukraine to send supplies to war-torn cities in Ukraine. It is primarily his venture, but he has Eugenia’s full support.

The war in Ukraine “is very difficult for me,” Paul, 50, said. “My elderly parents are now refugees. My great aunt, who is 98 … is a refugee (now living) in Lithuania.”

Paul grew up in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. At that time, Ukraine was part of the Soviet Union, but the country gained its independence in 1991 with the collapse of Communism and the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Prior to that, Paul had served in the military for almost three years as a citizen of the Soviet Union. He then enrolled at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, where he met Eugenia. Both earned undergraduate degrees in physics, then married in the town of Novgorod near Moscow in 1993. A year before

that, Eugenia, who had no religious affiliation growing up, was baptized a Roman Catholic in Moscow. Now, she and Paul are Eastern Orthodox, the faith of Paul’s upbringing. Although there has been much movement of people back and forth between Ukraine and Russia, there is a distinct Ukrainian culture that its citizens, including Paul, are trying hard to preserve. Thus, they are defending more than just buildings, but a way of life and, even, a religion.

“Ukraine is home to the largest body of Eastern-rite Catholics anywhere in the world,” Paul said. “We’re close to 5 million Eastern-rite Catholics in Ukraine, and most of them are concentrated in western Ukraine.”

TCS

For him, the assessment of the Russian invasion is simple. “They’re bombing civilians,” he said. “These are serious war crimes. … It’s callous and it’s a genocide of the whole culture.”

He added, “You basically have the second-largest army on Earth and the country with the largest land mass on Earth still wanting to grab yet another piece of territory that doesn’t belong to it.” These sentiments are being shared with students in their classes at St. Thomas.

That is where Eugenia says she can make a difference.

“I’m teaching a full load, and I use this opportunity to inform my students about what is going on,” she said. “Almost in each class, I make some parallels — sometimes, not intentionally — because it’s always in my head what’s going on between Russia and Ukraine.

And, when you are teaching the Bible, you can see lots of parallels.”

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FAITH+CULTURE

14 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

APRIL 7, 2022

Creativity springs forth in young mom producing divine mercy play Q How exciting — and scary!

By Christina Capecchi For The Catholic Spirit

A It’s nerve-wracking. It feels like a

Claire Bona, 30, stepped down from her teaching position at St. Agnes School in St. Paul to be a stay-at-home mom, but she jumped at the chance to write a play for the sixth graders. Now pregnant with her second child, she and her husband, Hank, belong to the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. Her production, the Divine Mercy Passion Play, will be performed at St. Agnes School at 3:30 p.m. Holy Wednesday, April 13. The 45-minute one-act show is free, and no reservations are needed. Children are encouraged to attend. Doors open at 3 p.m.

Claire Bona spends time helping her son, Dominic, learn the rosary. She wrote and produced the Divine Mercy Passion Play, which will be performed April 13 at St. Agnes School in St. Paul.

Q How did the play come to be?

A There was a St. Agnes tradition to do the living Stations of the Cross. When we moved it from the old gym to the auditorium, the question was raised: Should we re-write this to fit the new space? They asked me to adapt it.

Q You pulled it together quickly!

A I wrote the play in a week. Honestly,

I think the Holy Spirit did a lot of the work for me. I got the inspiration that instead of just doing the Passion, we could tell the story of St. Faustina receiving these visions of Jesus about divine mercy. The Lord said to her: You will understand my mercy better when you meditate on my Passion. Ninetyeight percent of St. Faustina’s lines are directly from her diary.

You start to see: Where does divine mercy come from? What does it do?

It comes from suffering, and that makes you more grateful for it. It’s not just mercy in the abstract, it’s mercy in a lived-out, incarnational way.

Q You adapted the play for COVID,

making it an audio drama. Were there any silver linings?

A It introduced me to a new passion!

I really love audio editing. It makes me so happy. I love mixing music with voiceovers and sound effects and creating an auditory painting. That’s something I might never have done. As a kid, it was always my dream to be in an audio drama. We’d listen to Focus on the Family Radio Theater. Now to produce one is pretty amazing!

Q Looking back on the early days of quarantine, do you see other blessings?

DAVE HRBACEK THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

A We learned how to slow down. We

learned how to just be, as a family — which was nice training. My son was born in June (2020). And I learned that being at home doesn’t mean losing your community. Community becomes even more important.

Q You’d hoped to deliver at a birth

center with midwives, but Dominic was having heart decelerations, so you went to United Hospital.

A You can feel like you failed because

your plan didn’t go as planned, but truly, our plans are just outlines. There’s a lot of surrender.

There’s a novena of surrender that was given to a contemporary of St. Patrick, Don Dolindo. It’s incredible. I have friends who suffer from anxiety, and they say the entire novena on a daily basis because it takes away your sense of anxiety and gives you this trust — what we all need to have and find so hard to hold onto.

Pray it. It will change your life.

Q What’s motherhood been like for you?

A The moment you receive your baby

into your arms, everything changes.

And always stays changed. I learned in a Netflix documentary that the portion of a mother’s brain that operates on surveillance and protection against danger lights up the moment her child is born, and it never shuts down again.

It just stays lit up forever, into your child’s adulthood.

Q We never sleep soundly again! How does your faith sustain you?

A Being a Catholic is so helpful with

parenthood. You’ve been training your whole life for this, knowing that idea of laying down your life, and now you get to say it in a different way: This is my body, given out for you, and having the rosary to pray to keep you awake at a 2 a.m. feeding, that’s a gift.

Q What’s it like seeing your idea come to fruition on stage this Holy Week?

A It taught me that humans do our best

work when we do it for the greater glory of God. There’s this outpouring of grace and love.

Q Has it emboldened you to just go

for it and boldly pursue other creative dreams?

A Yes! I have a tendency to write and

go, “Well, that’s not good enough.” But in this case, it just had to be done. I had to accept that it wouldn’t be perfect, but it would be good enough. That’s been encouraging.

My dream is to publish novels. I just decided this year — partly inspired by that — it’s time to take the bull by the horns and start sending the first novel out and fully expect that it’s going to get rejected a bunch of times, and I’m going to learn from that and I’m going to keep refining and refining. I’ll knock on enough doors and maybe one will open.

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colossal act of conceit to say: “Well, I wrote something and I think it’s good enough to pay to read it.” But at the same time, it’s also humility. I read somewhere that hosting people in a messy house is an act of humility as well as hospitality, saying, “I don’t need my house to be perfect in order to experience community with others.”

You could apply it to writing: “I don’t need this to be perfect before I share this with someone who needs to read it.”

Q What sparks your creativity?

A History. When I learn little things

about how daily life was lived, that’s where I get ideas. Like understanding that in the Regency Era, it became fashion for upper-class men to wear collars so stiff they couldn’t turn their heads. It was so starched that, once it was set, you had to turn your body to see things. Their clothing was a reflection of their views on work being for the lower class, not for them.

Every day Dominic and I listen to Father Mike Schmitz’s “Bible in a Year” podcast. It’s full of interesting stories.

The more you learn — it doesn’t take away from the sadness and brutality of the ancient world, but it gives you an understanding of how God’s goodness reaches into really broken situations.

Q Lifelong learning is the answer!

Curiosity.

A When I’m tired, when I’m dragging

through the day, learning something interesting or reading a good book keeps me going. Audio books are really helpful. I use Libby, the free library app.

I listened to the whole “Confessions of St. Augustine” — a book I tried to read and failed at repeatedly — but I can press play and listen while I do dishes.

And by the end, I was so glad. It’s actually super interesting.

Q And then Dominic, who’s 22

months, gets to absorb some of those stories!

A Right! He’s at least absorbing

language. If I don’t play Father Mike’s podcast, Dominic will say to me, “Bible?

Mike?”

APRIL 7, 2022

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 15

FOCUSONFAITH SUNDAY SCRIPTURES | FATHER CHAD VANHOOSE

Catching the faith I was raised in the Catholic Church, and every year during Holy Week, that took a literal meaning.

From Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, we practically lived at church!

Sunday Vespers, Tenebrae service, Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, Stations of the Cross and Veneration of the Cross on Good Friday, Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday — not to mention choir practice, altar server practice, and cleaning and decorating the church with my mother.

Everything else in life paused during that week for the sake of entering the sacred mystery of Jesus Christ’s passion, death and resurrection. This was good training for the priesthood, and fundamentally, it was good training to be a disciple of Jesus. The priorities

of that week taught me that being a Christian in the world requires sacrifice, and practicing the faith is a continual encounter.

I am grateful for the lessons that I learned from this school of action and prayer, though I cannot recall the words of a single homily or sermon during those holy days. This is not a knock on my childhood pastors, as I am sure they were adequate preachers. In seminary I learned that the Church actually instructs priests to preach briefly on the “big days,” because the celebrations of the mysteries speak for themselves. This instruction is particularly direct on Palm Sunday as the rubrics indicate, “After the narrative of the Passion, a brief homily should take place, if appropriate. A period of silence may also be observed.” Waving palm branches, hearing the words “Crucify him! Crucify him!” come out of your own mouth, and kneeling in silence when Jesus breathes his last are more impactful and memorable than any words spoken from a pulpit.

In these moments, we become active participants in the mystery, and the fruits of his sacrifice on Calvary are made present in us here and now.

If you want to learn the meaning of the words of

FAITH FUNDAMENTALS FATHER MICHAEL VAN SLOUN

Betrothed, married Editor’s note: This marks column No. 11 in a series on the sacrament of marriage. It reflects on Mary and Joseph’s response to God’s call as a betrothed and married couple. Watch for the May 12 edition of The Catholic Spirit for the second part of Mary and Joseph’s life together.

COURTESY FATHER VAN SLOUN

If Jesus, Mary and Joseph are the Holy Family, then Mary and Joseph are the Holy Couple. And if the Holy Family serves as the model for Christian families, then Mary and Joseph serve as the model for Christian couples who are living the sacrament of marriage.

Before they lived together (Mt 1:18). Mary and Joseph were betrothed, a Jewish ritual ceremony in which the bride and groom dedicate themselves to each other. The period of betrothal lasts approximately one year, a time when the bride and groom live apart, usually in their parents’ homes, and abstain from sexual relations. Mary and Joseph did not cohabitate before marriage, and the moral standard they followed still applies to couples that intend to be married today. Decisions about living arrangements before marriage are not to be governed by apartment leases, home purchases, insurance coverage, work or school schedules, or concerns about compatibility, but rather by the conscious decision to reserve one’s self totally for one’s spouse, and to share the intimacy of marriage

Mary and Joseph at St. Joseph in Miesville. only after their commitment to love each other for life has been sealed by God in the sacrament of marriage and witnessed and ratified by the Christian community gathered at worship in church.

Joseph, “a righteous man” (Mt 1:19), and Mary, “favored one” (i.e., “full of grace”) (Lk 1:28). Even before they were married, Joseph already was a righteous man and Mary already was full of grace. They knew God’s laws and obeyed them, had an established pattern of upright living, practiced the virtues, prayed regularly, and had a strong desire to please God. It was their firm intention prior to marriage to set their union on the solid rock of their faith in God and their spiritual values. Every prospective bride and groom while a child, adolescent or young adult, before dating or while dating, should spend his or her days making spiritual headway as devout believers and dedicated disciples, growing in wisdom, favor and grace (see Lk 2:40), learning and obeying the Gospel, receiving the

St. Paul’s hymn to Christ in Philippians 2 about Jesus “emptying himself” and “becoming obedient to the point of death,” then cancel the plans you have for this week and walk with Jesus on the road to Calvary.

Celebrate the Last Supper with Jesus and the Twelve Apostles, stay awake and keep watch with him in the garden of his agony, hear the hammer ring against the nails that tear through his hands and feet, and wait outside the tomb for the glory of the Third Day. Christians have practiced the rituals of this week for generations, and in the drama of these days, the faith has been caught more than it has been taught. Bending our knees and confessing the lordship of Jesus with our tongues are external actions that bear the fruit of interior conversion. Do not underestimate the power that the mysteries still hold when they are celebrated with faith and devotion. This week above all others, we live and die at our local parishes, so that we who participate in the Passion of our Lord might also share in the glory of his resurrection.

Father VanHoose is pastor of St. Jude of the Lake in Mahtomedi. sacraments, and becoming good and holy people, so when they exchange their vows, their marriage will be anchored upon the foundation of their faith.

Obedient to angels. Joseph and Mary received appearances from angels. An angel told Joseph to take Mary as his wife (Mt 1:20), to take Jesus and Mary and flee to Egypt (Mt 2:13), and once harm had passed, to take Jesus and Mary and return to Israel (Mt 2:20).

In each instance, Joseph obeyed without resistance or delay. The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce that she would be the mother of the Son of God (Lk 1:31,35), and she replied, “May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38). The angels were messengers of God and conveyed God’s will, and Joseph and Mary trusted God and obeyed. Likewise, a Christian couple, before they are married and after, pay attention to God’s will and obey, however his will is conveyed.

Joseph took his wife into his home (Mt 1:24). Joseph and Mary began to live together at the angel’s bidding, and for them to establish a home, it also presumed that their betrothal had ended and that they were married within the Jewish faith. Wherever they were living, probably in Nazareth, they would have gone to the synagogue and exchanged their marriage vows before a rabbi according to the prescribed ritual in the presence of fellow Jews who were members of the local synagogue.

Similarly, when the engagement ends and before they live together, the couple bring the marriage to a Catholic church and exchange their consent before a priest or deacon, family and friends who represent the local parish and the universal Church.

Father Van Sloun is the interim director of clergy services in the archdiocese. He can be reached at vanslounm@archspm.org

DAILY Scriptures Sunday, April 10 Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion Is 50:4-7 Phil 2:6-11 Lk 22:14–23:56

Friday, April 15 Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion Is 52:13—53:12 Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9 Jn 18:1—19:42

Monday, April 11 Holy Week Is 42:1-7 Jn 12:1-11

Saturday, April 16 Easter Vigil Gn 1:1—2:2 Gn 22:1-18 Ex 14:15—15:1 Is 54:5-14 Is 55:1-11 Bar 3:9-15, 32—4:4 Ez 36:16-17a, 18-28 Rom 6:3-11 Lk 24:1-12

Tuesday, April 12 Holy Week Is 49:1-6 Jn 13:21-33, 36-38 Wednesday, April 13 Holy Week Is 50:4-9a Mt 26:14-25 Thursday, April 14 Mass of the Lord’s Supper Ex 12:1-8, 11-14 1 Cor 11:23-26 Jn 13:1-15

Sunday, April 17 Easter Sunday The Resurrection of the Lord Acts 10:34a, 37-43 Col 3:1-4 or 1 Cor 5:6b-8 Jn 20:1-9

Monday, April 18 Octave of Easter Acts 2:14, 22-33 Mt 28:8-15

Saturday, April 23 Octave of Easter Acts 4:13-21 Mk 16:9-15

Tuesday, April 19 Octave of Easter Acts 2:36-41 Jn 20:11-18

Sunday, April 24 Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday Acts 5:12-16 Rev 1:9-11a, 12-13, 17-19 Jn 20:19-31

Wednesday, April 20 Octave of Easter Acts 3:1-10 Lk 24:13-35 Thursday, April 21 Octave of Easter Acts 3:11-26 Lk 24:35-48 Friday, April 22 Octave of Easter Acts 4:1-12 Jn 21:1-14

Monday, April 25 St. Mark, evangelist 1 Pt 5:5b-14 Mk 16:15-20 Tuesday, April 26 Acts 4:32-37 Jn 3:7b-15

Wednesday, April 27 Acts 5:17-26 Jn 3:16-21 Thursday, April 28 Acts 5:27-33 Jn 3:31-36 Friday, April 29 St. Catherine of Siena, virgin and doctor of the Church Acts 5:34-42 Jn 6:1-15 Saturday, April 30 Acts 6:1-7 Jn 6:16-21 Sunday, May 1 Third Sunday of Easter Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41 Rev 5:11-14 Jn 21:1-19

16 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

APRIL 7, 2022

COMMENTARY TWENTY SOMETHING CHRISTINA CAPECCHI

When Catholic entrepreneurs take the leap Matt Martinusen lost his job at a precarious time.

He was the sole breadwinner, and his wife, Lisa, a stay-athome mom, had just had their third baby.

The nonprofit Matt had been working for was running out of money due to COVID. They had to let him go.

It was the day before his birthday.

“Losing that full-time income was scary,” said Matt, now 27, a father of three who belongs to St. Joseph in West St. Paul. They had enough money saved to support the family for four months.

More importantly, they had a dream.

For the last two years, Matt had been running a little side business as a hobby: the Catholic Card Game. It was a Catholic version of the popular game Cards Against Humanity. And with the help of two successful Kickstarter campaigns and a lot of input from Lisa, Matt had started selling games.

They were a hit.

But his work on the game had been

We’re choosing to live with less money but then have the freedom to both be home.

That’s amazing.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Matt Martinusen

Matt and Lisa Martinusen with The Catholic Card Game. limited to small pockets of time.

Then, suddenly, he was unemployed.

“I had to go for it,” Matt said. “It was always my dream to be self-employed, but I never knew how. I’d daydream about my quitting my day job to be full-time self-employed, but there was too much security with my day job that I thought I couldn’t lose.”

Now it was sink or swim. Matt set up a makeshift office in his unfinished basement and feverishly set to work.

Day by day, week by week, Matt made inroads. The game enjoyed a wider reach. It was played by Bishop Robert Barron. It inspired Halloween

SIMPLE HOLINESS | KATE SOUCHERAY

The development of character Character is often misunderstood and seemingly mysterious in our current culture. It describes our innermost nature and temperament, and it is the way others fundamentally experience us. Our reputation, on the other hand, is what people think of us, and it can often be fabricated to portray the persona we want people to see, or believe us to be. Character and reputation are not the same thing, even though the two words are often used as synonyms. Of the two, character is essentially who we are, whereas, reputation can be constructed. Of the two, character is far more important. If we attend to our character, our reputation will take care of itself.

Building a strong and consistent character is something we must care for each day, as we align our decisions and choices with the right and good thing to do. Our character, according to Patricia Cronin, a clinical psychologist, is developed through a close relationship with God as we practice virtuous behavior. Cronin, who wrote “Character Development in the Catholic School,” contends that in today’s moral climate, the challenges to doing the good we intend often erode our efforts. We are witnessing a great need to develop an intensive and coordinated effort to understand and build character, she says.

Cronin argues that the best way to build a strong and resilient character is to become Christ-like, as we attend to an active and well-formed conscience. She

costumes. And every review on the website, catholiccardgame.com, is five stars.

Looking back, Matt can see how God had “slowly separated me” from the securities of his day job “and showed me what was possible.” He can also admit that, without the job loss, he wouldn’t have made the leap to selfemployment.

Sometimes, he realizes, God closes a door before he opens a window. “I’ve had multiple experiences in my life of holding onto things that I think I need or expecting things to go a certain way, and the Lord has had to take it all away

When we understand the ‘why’ of our choices, we will have a better understanding of the ‘what’ we should do … explains that it is through the combined effort of the Catholic school and Catholic parents that “children must be taught to live their faith.” A conscience that is resilient and strong helps us develop the virtues of patience, honesty, obedience, understanding, respect, prudence and perseverance. All we must do as Christians is look to the cross and we will see the virtuous nature of Jesus, as he faced his death with conviction and courage.

Cronin identifies the three goals of character development as the desire to be good, as we live lives of concern for others; the formation of a lasting habit of self-reflection; and a clear understanding of why we should be good, as well as the ways in which we can be good. In order to achieve these goals, we must want to be good, which we can fulfill through reflecting on the motivating factors for our behavior.

When we understand the “why” of our choices, we will have a better understanding of the “what” we should do, with regard to the best decision to make in a given situation. To be effective, all of these efforts must be guided by the voice of the Holy Spirit.

This may sound like an overwhelming task, one that could cause discouragement and dismay. But it does not need to. If we acknowledge that a virtuous character is something we desire, then we must accept that we may have work to do. First, we must invite guidance from the Holy Spirit and abide with him as he speaks words of wisdom to us in prayer, in our thoughts, and through the wisdom of others. Then we must work, as we attend to the task before us, one small step at a time, one small decision before us.

to show me his plan clearly.”

Matt isn’t raking in the dough, but he’s running a successful business. And best of all, he’s enjoying a lot more time with his family. He’s been away from his third baby just one day.

“I have friends who are getting promotions and bigger paychecks,” Matt said. “I could do that, but then I would be gone. I look at myself as a business owner but also a very present father. We’re choosing to live with less money but then have the freedom to both be home. That’s amazing.”

That means opting for the secondhand and leaning on family for moral support. It also means trusting that God’s generosity will never be outdone.

Once, when Lisa walked the trash out, she returned to the front door to find someone had left a meal.

“That kind of stuff happens, especially when things seem most dire,” she said.

Matt’s willingness to take risks is an indication of how far he’s come. “I’ve learned to make the leap and trust that, if it’s meant to happen, it will. I used to be deathly afraid of even calling the pizza place to order a pizza.”

Courage from Christ makes all the difference for a Catholic entrepreneur.

“I have a trust in the Lord that gives me comfort, knowing that his will will be done,” Matt said. “All I can do is take one more step in the direction I think he is showing me to go.”

Capecchi is a freelance writer from Inver Grove Heights.

ACTION STRATEGIES u Focus on developing a strong character as you align yourself with the good and right things in your life. Be aware that you are your child’s living example of a consistent and holy character. u Incorporate the habits of strong character into your everyday experience of life and reflect on how this impacts your conscience.

Toward this effort, Cronin explains that we must begin with a positive sense of self. Next, we must attend to a well-formed and active conscience. This will help us develop the skills of good decision making, which will provide a selection of virtuous habits from which we may choose. Ultimately, our goal is to develop a holy conscience, one that can lead us to do the right and good thing at the moment of decision. Cronin states, “An active conscience is a liberating asset. … It gives a person the freedom to focus on goodness.”

Again, all we must do is look to the cross to see the virtue of Jesus and his willingness to hold steadfastly to his convictions. The strong character he possessed was developed in him through the guidance of his earthly parents, his time in prayer with his Father and his deep desire to align with the good. These experiences assisted him as he faced his death with bravery and deep faith. As his followers, we are encouraged to develop character and act with conviction and courage in our lives, as well.

Soucheray is a licensed marriage and family therapist emeritus and a member of St. Ambrose in Woodbury.

She holds a master’s degree in theology from The St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul and a doctorate in educational leadership from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota.

COMMENTARY

APRIL 7, 2022

ALREADY/NOT YET | JONATHAN LIEDL

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 17

ARCH 9, 2017 • SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA “households” being baptized, and the practice is attests to the practice when it speaks of entire

Infant baptism eal challenges. Catholics are called to respond. reveals what it means to be person

considered a “tradition received from the Apostles” — not an innovation — by Church Fathers like St. Irenaeus, St. Cyprian and St. Augustine.

But just because something has always been done a certain way doesn’t mean that there isn’t a deep and profound theological reason for why it is and has been done that way. The underlying logic of infant baptism isn’t arbitrary, after all; if it’s true, it must be connected to the mystery of our Catholic faith in its totality. Other supernatural mysteries help us I had the great privilege of understand this particular mystery, and infant baptism witnessing my nephew’s baptism helps us to understand other aspects of our faith (a this past weekend. Prior to the theological principle known as the “analogy of faith”). holy water being poured over his In particular, our practice of infant baptism reveals head, he stated his desire to be something profound about what it means to be a baptized into the Church, affirmed person. that he clearly understood what The textbook definition of what a person is hops, dynamic Church leaders, and 1,000+ Catholics from he was undertaking and made his was provided to us by the sixth-century Christian profession of faith. philosopher Boethius: A person is an individual r a day of inspiration and Capitol.

Except, he didn’t. Luca is aadvocacy baby. He can’t at our State substance of a rational nature. And this is evident understand most words, can’t speak and certainly isn’t s 22-and-under FREE!  Learn the issues, hear dynamic in the case of an infant baptism. My nephew Luca is capable of professing the Catholic faith. clearly an individual; after all, this is why he, as Luca, speakers, and meet your legislators.

Andwith yet, he was baptized all the same. Instead of nch included needs to be baptized individually! And even though, seeking baptism on his or confirming  own Seevolition the newly renovated State Capitol! as an infant, he can’t actualize all of his rational his own belief in the faith, his parents did so on his powers and potencies, as a human being, he is rational behalf. They presented him to the Church to receive in nature. the sacrament, and they confirmed that he would And yet, this isn’t all we can say about being a be raised according to the faith, a faith which they person. Before becoming Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph professed anew that Sunday morning. And Luca was Ratzinger wrote in his magnificent “Introduction to baptized.

Christianity” that we can also think of a person as How is this possible? How can a small child be “being from and for” another. In other words, a person baptized and enter into the life of the Church without is an individual, but he or she is also fundamentally any apparent individual understanding or choice in ARCHBISHOP BERNARD HEBDA BISHOP ANDRrelational.

EW COZZENIn S a sense, we are incomplete, not fully GLORIA PURIVS the matter? persons, if we are not in relation with others.

Black Catholics United for Life Archdiocese of Saint Paul & Minneapolis As Catholics, we tend to take this practice of infant Ratzinger emphasized this point again in a baptism for granted — as just the way it is and always pivotal article on the theological understanding of has been. And sure enough, infant baptism has been personhood he wrote for the journal Communio: practiced for a long time, as a “rule of immemorial “Relativity toward the other constitutes the human tradition” in both the East and the West, as a 1980 person. The human person is the event or being of instruction from the Vatican reminds us. Scripture relativity.” Relationality is not an “add-on” to the

OTECT LIFE & MAN DIGNITY

s is our moment.

Let’s go!

principled, not partisan, thereby allowing Catholics to work collaboratively across the political spectrum.

The policy advocacy of our bishops offers a credible witness to the Gospel and is an expression of their pastoral care for all people in the community, especially the poor and vulnerable.

SPONSORS: By modeling principled advocacy, our Each spring, bishops help our elected officials come to the bishops from Minnesota’s six dioceses view the Church as a home for people to know, love and serve the Lord. who comprise the Minnesota Catholic Minnesota’s Catholic bishops also Conference convene in joined a coalition of faith leaders St. Paul to meet with the from Minnesota’s Jewish, Muslim and governor and key state Protestant communities to express legislators. The annual their opposition to the legalization of day of meetings, which typically occurs commercial sports gambling via a letter around the midpoint of the legislative delivered to the governor and every session, helps give momentum to the member of the state’s House and Senate. advocacy of MCC staff, who are tasked The letter — which was spearheaded with bringing the bishops’ legislative

by MCC’s partner organization, the Joint concerns to the attention of lawmakers.

Religious Legislative Coalition (JRLC) — lays out concerns, not only from a moral This year, the bishops focused their perspective, but also addressing the very conversations with Gov. Tim Walz, real costs of gambling and the damage Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, Speaker of that would be created by normalizing the House Melissa Hortman, Senate mobile gambling.

Majority Leader Jeremy Miller and The fact that the letter was signed by other key leaders on strengthening a diverse array of nearly two dozen faith family economic security by creating a leaders ranging from rabbis in Duluth to Minnesota Child Tax Credit, combating rural area Protestant leaders to Muslim homelessness by assisting the work of imams in the Twin Cities, highlights emergency shelters, providing equitable funding to nonpublic pupil aid programs, the underreported reality that the push by sports gambling companies to enter and opposing the legalization of online Minnesota is not as widely embraced as sports gambling. As always, these lawmakers may have been led to believe. conversations showcase an excellent The full letter can be read at model of faithful citizenship. Even mncatholic .org/gambling. during points of disagreement, the bishops and legislative leaders engaged in civil dialogue, as all recognize that “Inside the Capitol” is an update from these are difficult issues with myriad Minnesota Catholic Conference staff during considerations. The Church’s advocacy is the legislative session.

human experience; it is at the core of who and what we are.

This understanding of the human person as relational flows from the Church’s theological reflection on the persons of the most holy Trinity, persons who are inter-personal relations: the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Made in the image and likeness of this relational God, it is not an accident that the human person is also fundamentally relational.

Infant baptism reflects this profound truth of the relational character of the person. My nephew Luca, as an isolated individual, cannot be baptized. It is only as a member of a family, or even, in an anticipatory way, of the Christian community, that he can approach the baptismal font. As St. Augustine wrote, “it is the whole company of saints and faithful Christians” who present the child. St. Thomas Aquinas adds that the baptized child believes not on his own, individual account, but through others, “through the Church’s faith communicated to (him).”

If Luca is merely an isolated individual, then this is a violation of his nature and of his freedom, understood as autonomous choice. But if Luca is a person, a being “from and for” others, whose dependency upon his parents for not just his natural but also his supernatural needs is not arbitrary, but is actually an intentional part of God’s providential plan, then his baptism as a volition-less, understanding-less infant is actually a fulfilment of his nature and personal dignity.

Persons are fundamentally relational and interdependent. This is true for baby Luca — but it’s also true for each of us, no matter our age. Amid a society animated by radical individualism, the Church’s practice of infant baptism provides us with an opportunity to not only renew our own baptismal promises, but to reflect upon and recommit to living as persons, “from and for” each other.

Liedl, a Twin Cities resident, is a senior editor of the National Catholic Register and a graduate student in theology at The St. Paul Seminary and School of Divinity.

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18 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

APRIL 7, 2022

Why I am Catholic Catholic

By Joanne Whalen

M

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

y parents helped me begin my spiritual

journey with baptism soon after I was born.

Now, as a private piano teacher, I pray that my

During my growing up years, my family attended

students grow closer to our Lord by experiencing my

Mass and confession, Friday Benediction and

faith in action. I like to help them celebrate their first

said the rosary together. I attended Catholic schools from

Communions and confirmations, and sometimes we talk

kindergarten through college.

about our faith. One student told me she was worried

Then, I lost my way for a bit. When I returned, it was

“

me — and the center — down.

that her grandfather was in purgatory. It gave me an

with a vengeance. I can only think it was the prayers of

opportunity to explain how we could pray for him and

my grandparents and parents that brought me to embrace

that it would be a good thing if he was in purgatory

the Truth, once and for all. I still cry as I contemplate

because it meant he would be in heaven one day.

my wayward years and the beauty of God’s mercy and forgiveness.

My parents lived their faith. When my father was

I still cry as I contemplate my wayward years and the beauty of God’s mercy and forgiveness.

in his 80s, he stood in front of the abortion clinic, praying the rosary, entreating women not to go in.

He was active in the Knights of Columbus and the Serra Club. He visited hospital patients, often taking one of us with him. My mother gave a faithful witness in her own quiet ways. My parents offered shelter to an immigrant and to a newborn baby when her mother was hospitalized for three months.

In their retirement years, they attended daily Mass. I learned a lot from them! And, now, as a mother and grandmother, my prayers are focused on helping my

children and grandchildren get to heaven, just as I know my parents have done for me.

When I was the executive director of a pro-life pregnancy center, my Catholic faith informed the way I counseled, given the Church teaching on life. Mothers chose life for their babies as a result of us telling them the truth. I began attending daily Mass and frequenting confession when I realized I needed spiritual armor.

Receiving the grace of these sacraments helped me to stand firm against the evil forces that threatened to bring

For nearly 50 years, I have been in music ministry. It has been a great honor to play music for our Lord and to entice congregations to sing praise to God. And, when I program music for liturgies, I think about the angels and saints who are there with us and try to choose music I think they would like to sing, too.

The most important reason I am Catholic is the holy Eucharist. It is the greatest gift, barring none, that I receive in this life. I could never leave our dear Lord. As St. Peter said, “Lord, to whom shall we go?”

Whalen, 67, is a member of St. Columba in St. Paul. She teaches piano and is the music director at St. Columba, and also helps with music at other parishes and venues. She has worked for a pregnancy resource center and currently volunteers with Prolife Across America. She has four children and seven grandchildren, whom she calls her “pride and joy.” She also enjoys theater and is a supporter of Open Window Theatre in Inver Grove Heights.

“Why I am Catholic” is an ongoing series in The Catholic Spirit.

Want to share why you are Catholic? Submit your story in 300-500 words to CatholicSpirit@archspm.org with “Why I am Catholic” in the subject line.

APRIL 7, 2022

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 19

CALENDAR LENTEN FISH DINNERS The Catholic Spirit’s Fish Fry and Lenten Meal Guide is updated online, and now there’s a handy link to a web map of the meals. Dinners at the map site are in order by date. TheCatholicSpirit.com/nomeat

PARISH EVENTS Ham Bingo — April 9: 6–10 p.m. at Presentation of Mary gymnasium, 1725 Kennard St., Maplewood.

Food 6 p.m., bingo 7–10 p.m., 12 hams as door prizes. presentationofmary.org Easter Craft and Bake Sale — April 9-10 at Holy Cross, 1630 Fourth St. NE, Minneapolis. 1–6 p.m. April 9; 8 a.m.–1 p.m. April 10. Handmade crafts, baked goods and refreshments. Sponsored by Holy Cross’ Council of Catholic Women (CCW). ourholycross.org Afternoon Tea — April 23: 2 p.m. at St. Peter, 1405 Highway 13, Mendota. Gather sisters, friends, mothers, daughters for sandwiches, sweet treats and tea in St. Peter’s beautiful Heritage Center. Silent auction for gourmet cakes. $15. Reservations through Pat, 651-4522833 or Barbara, 651-492-2331. stpetermendota.org St. Thomas Aquinas’ 47th Annual Mardi Gras Spring Training in the Park — April 24: Noon–5 p.m.

920 Holley Ave., St. Paul Park. Food, games, pull tabs, silent auction, bake sale and a grand prize raffle. st-thomas-aquinas.com St. Bernard’s Gala Dinner — April 29: 5:30–11 p.m. at St. Bernard, 187 Geranium Ave. W., St. Paul. Held in gym across street from church. Theme: A Night in Israel. Speaker: Dale Ahlquist. Supports St. Bernard’s youth group’s July pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Hors d’oeuvres 5:30 p.m., dinner 6:30 p.m. Live music, silent and live auctions. Tickets $60; table of eight $400. mnpilgrimageforyouth.com

WORSHIP+RETREATS Men and Women’s Holy Week Retreat — April 13-16 at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. Father Bob Morin, OMI, on Peter, Mary Magdalene, Simon of Cyrene and the Passion. $275; $50 nonrefundable deposit. Register at kingshouse.com.

Men’s Holy Week Retreat — April 14-16 at Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center, 16385 St. Francis Lane, Prior Lake. Theme is “Hope Rising; Revisioning Our Dream.” Scheduled and open time, prayer, confession, anointing, Mass, Holy Hour. franciscanretreats.net Living Stations of the Cross — April 15: 3 p.m. at Ascension, 323 Reform St. N., Norwood Young America.

With confirmation class, students and choir from Ascension. Sponsored by Ascension CUF Council No. 352. ascensionnya.org

23rd Annual Living Stations of the Cross — April 15: Servants of the Cross re-enact the Passion on Good Friday, noon at St. Peter, 2600 N. Margaret St., North St. Paul; 3:30 p.m. at St. Jude of the Lake, 700 Mahtomedi Ave., Mahtomedi; 7 p.m. at Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 1725 Kennard St., Maplewood.

Freewill offering. YouTube presentation available. servantsofthecrossmn.com Women’s Weekend Retreat — April 22-24 at Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center, 16385 St. Francis Lane, Prior Lake. Theme: “Hope Rising; Revisioning Our Dream.” Scheduled and open time, prayer, confession, anointing, Mass, Holy Hour. franciscanretreats.net

with Archbishop Bernard Hebda, catered banquet and luncheon, Lay Women Volunteer Awards, annual meeting and learning opportunities, marketplace for unique gifts. accwarchspm.org/2022-convention

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.

SCHOOLS

St. Alphonsus Catholic School Gala — April 23: 6:30 p.m. at St. Alphonsus, 7025 Halifax Ave. N., Brooklyn Center. “A Night with Our Crusaders” 2022 spring gala. Appetizers, dessert, casino games, silent and live auctions. Virtual attendance through live streaming. e.givesmart.com/events/khz or advancement@mystals.org

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.

MUSIC

Retreat for Parish Staff and Volunteers — April 26-27 at Christ the King Retreat Center, 612 First Ave. S., Buffalo. “Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound.” Explore the hymn and how to absorb God’s gift of grace. $110; $50 non-refundable deposit. Register online at kingshouse.com.

Cathedral Lenten Organ Concert (with narration) — April 8: 7–8:30 p.m. at Cathedral of St. Paul, 239 Selby Ave., St. Paul. “Le Chemin de la Croix” (The Way of the Cross) by Marcel Dupré, a musical meditation on each of the 14 Stations. Organist: Stephen Hamilton.

Narrator: Michael Barone, host of National Public Radio’s “Pipedreams.” cathedralheritagefoundation.org

CONFERENCES+WORKSHOPS

OTHER EVENTS

Catholic Charismatic Renewal Spring Conference: “Jesus the Glory of God” — April 23: 9 a.m.–8 p.m. at Guardian Angels, 8260 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. Praise and worship to grow in relationship with the Holy Spirit and Jesus. Speakers are Alicia Hartle, executive director of Pentecost Today USA, and her brother, Father Levi Hartle of the Pittsburgh diocese. office@ccro-msp.org or ccro-msp.org/events/spring-conference A New Pentecost — Saturdays, April 23-June 4: 6–8 p.m. at Mary, Mother of the Church, 3333 Cliff Road, Burnsville. A “Life in the Spirit” seminar with video presentation by charismatic renewal leaders David Mangan, Ralph Martin, Patti Mansfield, Peter Herbeck and Sister Ann Shields. mmotc.org Sidewalk Counseling Training Seminar — April 26: 7–9 p.m. Presented by Pro-Life Action Ministries. Held at Bethlehem Baptist Church, 720 13th Ave. S., Minneapolis. Learn how to peacefully reach out with love and information to those entering abortion clinics. Prayer supporters invited. No charge. Register through debra.braun@plam.org or 651-797-6364. plam.org Catholic Psychotherapy National Conference — April 28-30 at Minneapolis Hilton, 1001 Marquette Ave. S., Minneapolis. Theme is “Grace Transforms Nature.”

Revisit foundations of understanding the human person according to Catholic anthropology. catholicpsychotherapy.org/2022conference ACCW Convention — April 29: 8 a.m.–8 p.m. at St. Albert, 11400 57th St. NE, Albertville. “Come and See — Come and Share” at the 89th Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women’s Convention. Presenters, Mass

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

“What’s in a Name? The Meaning of a Catholic University Today” — April 26: 7–9 p.m. at the University of St. Thomas, 2115 Summit Ave., 3M Auditorium in Owens Science Hall, St. Paul. National and local university leaders discuss the secular drift at Catholic institutions and why it matters. Father Wilson Miscamble, C.S.C. of the University of Notre Dame, will deliver remarks, followed by a panel discussion and Q&A featuring Michael Naughton of Catholic Studies, Jesuit Father Christopher Collins of UST’s Office for Mission, and Anne Maloney of St. Catherine University in St. Paul. The evening will conclude with a reception.

The event is co-sponsored by the Roccasecca Project, Center for Catholic Studies and the Office for Mission. stthomas.edu

NOTICE Look for The Catholic Spirit advertising insert from

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Catholic Softball Group — April 28: 6–10 p.m.

Double-header games Thursdays. 10-week league.

Register: catholicsoftball.com/register/summer-softball.

Information at catholicsoftballgroup@gmail.com.

ProLife Across America Banquet — April 29: 6:30–9 p.m. at St. John the Baptist, 835 Second Ave. NW, New Brighton. Speaker Christina Bennett, a writer featured in Live Action News, Life News, Charisma, and LifeSite News. Call Christine 612-782-9434 for reservations. $60. prolifeacrossamerica.org

ONGOING GROUPS

Restorative Support for Victim/Survivors — Monthly: 6:30–8 p.m. Zoom. Open to all victim/survivors: u Victim/Survivor Support Group for those Abused by Clergy as Adults — First Mondays u Support Group for Relatives or Friends of Victims of

in all copies of this issue.

Clergy Sexual Abuse — Second Mondays

u Victim/Survivor Support Group —Third Mondays uSurvivor Peace Circle —Third Tuesdays u Support Group for Men who have been Sexually

Abused by Clergy/Religious — Fourth Wednesdays

For more information and details for attending the virtual meetings, visit archspm.org/healing. Questions? Contact Paula Kaempffer, Outreach Coordinator for Restorative Justice and Abuse Prevention, 651-291-4429.

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20 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

APRIL 7, 2022

THELASTWORD Passion Play makes a pandemic return in Oberammergau

By Günther Simmermacher Catholic News Service

I

n 1633, at the height of the Reformation, the Black Death was sweeping through Europe, including the southern German region of Bavaria. The terrified people of one small village decided to do something to protect themselves from this pandemic: The villagers vowed that every 10 years they would perform a “Passionsspiel” — a play depicting the Passion of Christ — should their hamlet be spared.

The pandemic spared the village of Oberammergau, and on Pentecost the following year the villagers staged their first Passion Play, at the town’s cemetery.

It has been performed by the villagers at regular intervals ever since, most recently in 2010.

Now, 389 years after that pandemic, Oberammergau is ready to stage another Passion Play, at a time when the world is waiting to mark the end of another pandemic. The Passion Play was originally planned to be performed in 2020, but COVID-19 caused cancellation.

With foresight, the organizers decided to delay the play for two years. This year, from May 14 to Oct. 2, the play will be performed five days a week.

Oberammergau, population 5,400, is near the winter sports resort of GarmischPartenkirchen, and the village subsists on the revenue of the play and the associated tourism. While those who produce and act in the play are driven by local pride and piety, the organizers of the modern Oberammergau Passion Play are motivated by economics.

Performances are sold out well in advance. In 2010, half a million people attended the 102 performances. One day fights broke out at the box office when 300 people came to compete for 40 available tickets. Many of these multitudes come from afar, and they must sleep somewhere, eat, drink and buy souvenirs. The whole region around Oberammergau benefits.

The souvenir shops are plenty, and the village’s world-famous woodcarvings are popular with visitors. Not all wood carvings on sale are produced in Oberammergau; some are made in China.

But it would be unjust to dismiss the Passion Play as a purely commercial

KIENBERGER PHOTO, PASSION PLAY 2022 | CNS

The Passion Play Theater is pictured in 2010 in Oberammergau, Germany. Only local villagers are allowed to perform in the Passion Play, which is usually performed every 10 years. The 2022 performance runs May 14-Oct. 2. exercise. The Catholic faith infuses the air in Oberammergau, as it does throughout the region — most of Germany’s remaining 21 Passion Plays are performed in Bavaria. The sincerity of those who take part should not be doubted. Only locally born people or residents of at least 20 years may act in the play; musicians and members of the chorus may be drawn from surrounding areas. The cast also includes animals, which need not be local.

For the 2,100 villagers who take part, it is a labor of love and, for many, an exercise in evangelization. There is not much in it for most of them, but the sacrifices are many. Some actors take unpaid leave to participate. Outside the leading roles, the actors do not earn much. And there are fines for transgressions, such as laughing on stage.

In return for their modest remuneration, the cast members invest many hours of practice every night from January to the opener in May. The men must grow long hair and beards — by a traditional decree promulgated by the mayor.

Since November 2018, everyone has known what their role will be, from the leads to understudies to ushers.

One of the two Jesuses, Frederik Mayet, a 41-year-old art director at a Munich

theater, played that role in 2010. Years before that, he played John — and 2010’s John has been promoted to the role of Judas in 2022.

This year’s alternate Jesus is Rochus Rückel, at 25 the second-youngest actor to play the part in the Passion Play’s almost 400-year history. The two actors playing Annas, the high priest Caiaphas’ ruthless father-in-law, have been performing in the play since 1950.

Oberammergau did not invent Passion Plays. These were widespread in medieval times, performed throughout the German-speaking region as well as in countries such as France, Italy and England. Before and for long after Oberammergau’s villagers made their plague-dodging bargain with God, the most famous Passion Play was that of Benediktbeuren, also in Bavaria. The oldest complete script of a Passion Play dates to the 14th century.

With the Reformation, Passion Plays fell out of common usage in most parts of Germany, but in the solidly Catholic Bavarian Alps and Austria they became increasingly popular. It was in that context that the Oberammergau play was born, along with 40 others in the region between 1600 and 1650.

Oberammergau gained a measure of preeminence in 1750 when its script was

thoroughly reworked by Benedictine Father Ferdinand Rosner of the nearby Ettal Abbey. That script was adopted by other Passion Plays throughout Bavaria.

In 1780, when Passion Plays were banned in Bavaria, Oberammergau’s was one of two plays granted an exemption.

This near-monopoly helped establish Oberammergau’s Passion Play and, in the mid-19th century, it began to attract international attention and increasing popularity.

By the 1930s, Oberammergau attracted 400,000 spectators. Among them in 1934 — the play’s 300th anniversary — was Adolf Hitler.

Throughout their history, Passion Play runs generally were not a good time for a Jew to be seen in public — and not only in Germany. Stoked on by the assertion that Jews were responsible for the execution of Christ and the blood libel (the rumors that Jews used the blood of Christian children for the production of matzos for the Passover), Christian crowds would attack Jews, even burning their homes.

Oberammergau did not solve the problem of anti-Semitism in its script until the 1990s, almost three decades after the Second Vatican Council decree “Nostra Aetate,” which put an end to the final remnants of institutional antiSemitism.

The reworking came with Christian Stückl, who first directed the play as a 29-year-old in 1990 and has done so ever since. He supervised two comprehensive revisions to shed the play of any trace of anti-Semitism. The script now presents Jesus as the leader of a Jewish movement, rather than as non-Jewish victim of an intrinsically bloodthirsty people.

The theology of the Passion Play is modern and profoundly Christian: The play does not condemn but seeks to understand motivations. Judas does not betray Jesus for greed but in a tragically misguided strategic gambit.

Likewise, Caiaphas’ concerns are mostly political: Jesus is a danger to a delicate peace between the Jews and the Roman occupiers.

It is not spoiling any plotlines to reveal that the story culminates in the Resurrection. In 2010, the last words in the Oberammergau play belonged to the choir, which declared: “Hallelujah! Praise, honor, adoration, power and majesty be yours, forever and ever!”

HOLY THURSDAY • APRIL 14 • Lauds (Morning Prayer) at 7:30 a.m.

• Archdiocesan Chrism Mass 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 Night Prayer (Compline) at 9:45 p.m.

Holy Week at the Cathedral of Saint Paul

GOOD FRIDAY OF THE LORD’S PASSION • APRIL 15 • Matins and Lauds (Morning Prayer) 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 16 • Matins and Lauds (Morning Prayer) 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 16 EASTER SUNDAY OF THE RESURRECTION OF THE LORD • Masses at 8:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m. (Solemn), Noon, & 5:00 p.m. • APRIL 17