The Catholic Spirit - August 11, 2022

This image of Moraine Lake in Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada, is a favorite among nature photos taken by Father Paul Kammen, pastor of St. Joseph in Rosemount. He became serious about landscape and wildlife photography shortly after his ordination to the priesthood in 2007, and now has a website featuring his work. FATHER PAUL KAMMEN

MERGING PARISHES 5 | NEW MISSION ADVANCEMENT DIRECTOR 6 | PAPAL PILGRIMAGE REACTION 7 BISHOP BARRON INSTALLED 8 | OUTDOOR INFLUENCES 14 | WHY I AM CATHOLIC 18

August 11, 2022 • Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis ‘The incredible beauty of God’ Priest puts spotlight on nature — Pages 10-11

COURTESY

A Fairview Health Services clinic, wellness center, mental health and addiction services, food distribution, adult day services and long-term acute care hospital fully opened its doors Aug. 4 at the former St. Joseph’s Hospital in St. Paul. James Hereford, president and CEO of Fairview Health Services, said collaboration with several other health organizations and emerging possibilities marked the opening. “We’ve seen how health and racial inequities are intertwined and can negatively impact our communities,” Hereford said. “Together with the community, we have reimagined our footprint in St. Paul, seeking to establish accessible, affordable care models that serve the most pressing needs.” For 133 years, St. Joseph’s Hospital was owned by its founders, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, and the hospital retained its name and status as a Catholic hospital from an ownership change in 1986 until this summer’s transition to a health and wellness center. The religious order supports the move, and a member of the order’s leadership team for the St. Paul Province, Sister Suzanne Herder, participated in the grand opening.

A 21-minute episode of “The Chair,” a series produced by DeSales Media on the history of the Catholic Church in America through its cathedrals, highlights the history of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. Featured interviews include Archbishop Bernard Hebda and Father John Ubel, Cathedral rector. The episode can be rented for 99 cents or purchased for $2.99 at tinyurl com/bdctt37S St. Timothy in Maple Lake is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the construction of its current church with a Centennial Fall Festival Sept. 24-25, which will include a petting zoo, virtual games truck, BBQ competition, raffles, cash prizes, church tours, a street dance and Mass with Archbishop Hebda. Groundbreaking for St. Timothy’s current church took place in spring 1922, and its first Mass was celebrated Dec. 16, 1923. Construction cost $100,000. In 1924, the church was dedicated by Archbishop Austin Dowling. Find details for the Centennial Fall Festival at churchofSttimothy org/centennial Missed the Boat Theatre, the nonprofit theatre company in St. Paul founded by Father Kyle Kowalczyk and Mary Shaffer that produced “Catholic Young Adults: The Musical” (2019) and “Moonshine Abbey” (2021) is working on its next production, Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility,” adapted by Jessica Swale and directed by Shaffer. At least six shows are expected to run Nov. 11-20 at the Helene Houle Auditorium at St. Agnes School in St. Paul. Learn more at miSSedtheboattheatre com

PAGETWO

It was a total thrill. Dominican Father Peter Gautsch, who with six of his fellow Dominican friars, as the Hillbilly Thomists, graced the Grand Ole Opry stage in Nashville, Tennessee, Aug. 1 to perform the welcoming concert for the 140th annual Knights of Columbus Supreme Convention. The 10-piece traditional folk and bluegrass band recently released its third album, “Holy Ghost Power.”

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT ARTIFACT UNFOLDED Father Richard Kunst of the Diocese of Duluth inspects a papal bull Aug. 1 from Pope Innocent II dating back to 1138, which he will display with more than 300 other items Aug. 19-21 at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center at an event called “Vatican Unveiled: An Exploration of Legacies.” He acquired the papal bull several months ago and brought it to the Midwest Art Conservation Center in Minneapolis, where Dianna Clise, second from left, senior paper conservator, used a special process to unfold the document, which was written on parchment. “This is a very high-end papal document,” said Father Kunst, who claims to have the largest collection of papal artifacts outside of Rome. “It’s worth a lot — thousands (of dollars).” Exhibition tickets can be purchased in advance online or at the door. For more information and to buy tickets, visit vaticanunveiled com

The National Catholic Committee on Scouting awarded $2,000 scholarships to two recent high school graduates in the archdiocese who are Eagle Scouts: Paul Kariuki, a parishioner of Nativity of Mary in Bloomington and 2022 graduate of Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield, and Matthew Korf, a parishioner of St. Ambrose in Woodbury and 2022 graduate of St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights. Both are members of the Order of the Arrow, Boy Scouts of America’s Honor Society. Nine scholarships were awarded nationwide to recognize Scouts for outstanding service and leadership in four areas: church, community, school and Scouting.

COURTESY ST. THOMAS ACADEMY

The Catholic Spirit is published semi-monthly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Vol. 27 — No. 15 MOST REVEREND BERNARD A. HEBDA, Publisher TOM HALDEN, Associate Publisher MARIA C. WIERING, Editor-in-Chief JOE RUFF, News Editor

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READY TO GO From left, Sam Westlake, Rob D’Agostino, Daniel Staelgraeve and Mark Westlake, Sam’s father, all with connections to St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights, stand ready to tackle a big project: competing in PBS’ 48-hour invention documentary series, Make48, Aug. 12-14 near Madison, Wisconsin. Eight teams will compete in the regional event, with other regions also holding competitions. Winners go on to the national contest in March 2023. The competitions are filmed and expected to be distributed as a series months later by American Public Television. Mark Westlake is the director of the Academy’s Innovation Center, where this photo was taken, and his son, D’Agostino and Staelgraeve all have been captains of the academy’s experimental vehicle team. Staelgraeve, a graduate of the Academy, is studying engineering at Michigan Tech, and D’Agostino, also a graduate, and Sam Westlake, who was homeschooled through high school but led a vehicle team, are both engineers. The competition theme is “sustainable mobility.”

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PRACTICING Catholic On the Aug. 5 “Practicing Catholic” radio show, host Patrick Conley interviews Kenna and Pat Millea who discuss their new initiative that provides faith-filled mental health services for individuals, couples and organizations, and a podcast debuting Labor Day weekend. The latest show also includes interviews with outdoorsman Dave Hrbacek, photographer and writer for The Catholic Spirit, who discusses the connection between hunting, fishing, outdoor photography and being a practicing Catholic; and a reprised interview with Msgr. Jason Gray of the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, who describes the process of becoming a canonized saint. Find interviews after they have aired at PracticingcatholicShow com or anchor fm/Practicing catholic Show with links to podcasting platforms.

Gratitud por la creación de Dios M is primeros recuerdos son de vivir en un departamento con mis padres en una casa adosada en el lado sur de Pittsburgh, a tiro de piedra de los molinos que habían atraído a generaciones de inmigrantes de Europa Central y del Este. Para un niño, South Side era lo mejor de la vida urbana. Podíamos caminar para visitar a mis abuelos y las casas de la mayoría de mis tías, tíos y primos. Además, todo lo que necesitábamos se podía encontrar en Carson Street, la arteria principal de la comunidad. Todavía puedes comprar los mejores pretzels blandos del mundo horneados a la vuelta de la esquina de mi antigua casa. Sin embargo, lo que fue más difícil de encontrar fue una brizna de hierba. Había jardineras ocasionales con petunias rojas y blancas que recordaban vagamente a la bandera polaca, pero prácticamente nadie tenía césped. Cuando mi padre finalmente compró un automóvil y dimos el paso audaz de mudarnos a 15 minutos a otro vecindario dentro de los límites de la ciudad (mi padre era el único de los ocho hijos de su familia que se fue del lado sur), mis tías y tíos dijeron mis primos que nos íbamos a mudar al campo. Si bien no había una vaca, un pollo o una mazorca de maíz en el nuevo vecindario, sí había césped, pájaros y conejos (imagínese las calles de Frogtown).Aúnmás importante, estaban “los bosques”, una parte cubierta de maleza del vecindario que no se pudo desarrollar debido al hundimiento de la mina. Empacaríamos almuerzos y saldríamos a explorar; y aprendí sobre salamandras, zarigüeyas y hiedra venenosa. Una vez que me di cuenta de que los niños mayores estaban inventando sus cuentas de osos, serpientes y bandidos, el bosque se convirtió en un gran lugar para ir y pensar ... y eventualmente para orar. La conexión entre la oración y la belleza de la creación de Dios se forjó para mí en Camp Notre Dame en el norte de Pensilvania. Fue allí donde escuché por primera vez una lechuza y un somorgujo, allí conocí por primera vez a un seminarista (todos los consejeros estaban estudiando para la Diócesis de Erie), y allí entre los pinos donde serví la Santa Misa por primera vez. Esa convergencia dejó una huella imborrable. me imprimió cuando me di cuenta de que nuestro asombroso Dios quería que lo reconociéramos en su obra, ya sea en la belleza de una puesta de sol, en la majestuosidad de las maderas duras de Pensilvania o en el potencial de una bellota. Me enganché. Vislumbré por primera vez la justificación de Jesús para escapar tan a menudo a las colinas a orar: ¿dónde mejor para sentir el amor del Padre?Ensu encíclica sobre el medio ambiente, Laudato Si, el Papa Francisco recordó que su homónimo, el Poverello de Asís, “nos invita a ver la naturaleza como un libro magnífico en el que Dios nos habla y nos hace vislumbrar su infinita belleza y bondad. “ Más que ser “un problema que hay que resolver, el mundo es un misterio gozoso que hay que contemplar con alegría y alabanza” (LS n. 12). En esta Tierra de 10,000 lagos, tenemos la suerte de tener tantas oportunidades para esa contemplación... y ni siquiera tenemos que viajar hasta la costa norte. Solo me toma unos minutos escapar de la oficina al lago Phalen o al lago Gervais para rezar la oración del mediodía o la oración de la tarde y recordar que tenemos un Dios que tiene un plan amoroso y hermoso para este mundo.Recientemente tuve la oportunidad de celebrar Misa en Wisconsin para un grupo de jóvenes campistas de nuestra arquidiócesis. Estuve allí en su último día de campamento y tuve la bendición de poder escuchar sus testimonios. Estaba claro que en medio de la creación de Dios habían experimentado la Eucaristía y el sacramento de la reconciliación de formas nuevas y poderosas. Qué maravilloso que el Señor que llamó por primera vez a Pedro, Andrés, Santiago y Juan a orillas del lago de Genesaret no había perdido su toque y seguía encontrando corazones jóvenes y transformando vidas, aunque en el lago Hoinville. Como era de esperar, fui transportado de regreso a mi propia experiencia en Camp Notre Dame y agradecí que el Señor continúa brindándonos en la naturaleza tantos recordatorios de su amor que intensifican nuestra experiencia de su bondad. Dentro de pocas semanas, el 1 de septiembre, la Iglesia volverá a celebrar la Jornada Mundial de Oración por el Cuidado de la Creación. El Papa Francisco nos ha recordado repetidamente que no podemos ignorar nuestra obligación de cuidar lo que Dios ha creado. Esa solicitud es una de las formas en que podemos expresar nuestra gratitud por el don del amor de Dios revelado en su creación. En su mensaje para la celebración de este año, el Papa Francisco escribe en particular: “Sigamos creciendo en la conciencia de que todos vivimos en una casa común como miembros de una sola familia. Alegrémonos todos de que nuestro amoroso Creador sostenga nuestro humilde esfuerzo por cuidar la tierra, que es también la casa de Dios donde su Verbo “se hizo carne y habitó entre nosotros” (Jn1,14) y que se renueva constantemente por la efusión de El espíritu santo.” Armados con esa convicción, que nuestros esfuerzos de colaboración en nombre de nuestra casa común, así como nuestra oración unida el 1 de septiembre, nos ayuden a regocijarnos siempre en lo que el Papa Francisco ha denominado “el dulce canto de vida y esperanza de la creación”.

creation ONLY JESUS | ARCHBISHOP BERNARD HEBDA

M y earliest memories are of living in an apartment with my parents in a row house on Pittsburgh’s South Side, a stone’s throw from the mills that had attracted generations of immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe. For a child, South Side was urban living at its best. We could walk to visit my grandparents and the homes of most of my aunts, uncles and cousins. Moreover, anything that we needed could be found on Carson Street, the community’s main artery. You can still buy the best soft pretzels in the world baked just around the corner from my old home. What was more difficult to find, however, was a blade of grass. There were occasional window boxes with red and white petunias vaguely reminiscent of the Polish flag, but virtually no one had a lawn. When my father eventually purchased a car and we took the bold step of moving 15 minutes away to another neighborhood within the city limits (my dad was the only one of the eight children in his family to leave the South Side), my aunts and uncles told my cousins that we were moving to the country. While there wasn’t a cow, chicken or ear of corn in the new neighborhood, there were indeed lawns and birds and rabbits (picture the streets of Frogtown).Evenmore importantly, there were “the woods” — an overgrown portion of the neighborhood that could not be developed because of mine subsidence. We would pack lunches and go exploring, and I learned about salamanders, opossums and poison ivy. Once I realized that the older boys were making up their accounts of bears, snakes and bandits, the woods became a great place to go and think — and eventually, to pray. The connection between prayer and the beauty of God’s creation was forged for me at Camp Notre Dame in northern Pennsylvania. It was there that I first heard an owl and a loon, there that I first met a seminarian (all the counselors were studying for the Diocese of Erie), and there amid the pines that I first served holy Mass. That convergence left an indelible imprint on me as I realized that our amazing God wanted us to recognize him in his handiwork, whether it be in the beauty of a sunset, or the majesty of the Pennsylvania hardwoods, or the potential of an acorn. I was hooked. I caught a glimpse for the first time of Jesus’ rationale for escaping so often to the hills to pray: Where better to feel the Father’s love? In his encyclical on the environment, “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home,” Pope Francis recalled that his namesake, the Poverello of Assisi, “invites us to see nature as a magnificent book in which God speaks to us and grants us a glimpse of his infinite beauty and goodness.” Rather than being “a problem to be solved, the world is a joyful mystery to be contemplated with gladness and praise” (LS n. 12). In this Land of 10,000 Lakes, we are blessed to have so many opportunities for that contemplation — and we don’t even have to travel all the way to the North Shore. It only takes me a few minutes to escape from the office to Lake Phalen or Lake Gervais to pray mid-day prayer or evening prayer, and to be reminded that we have a God who has a loving and beautiful plan for this world.

I recently had the opportunity to celebrate Mass in Wisconsin for a group of young campers from our archdiocese. I was there on their last day at camp, and was blessed to be able to listen in on their testimonies. It was clear that in the midst of God’s creation they had experienced the Eucharist and the sacrament of reconciliation in powerful new ways. How wonderful that the Lord who first called Peter, Andrew, James and John on the shores of Lake Gennesaret hadn’t lost his touch, and was still encountering young hearts and transforming lives, albeit on Hoinville Lake. Not surprisingly, I was transported back to my own experience at Camp Notre Dame and gave thanks that the Lord continues to provide us in nature with so many reminders of his love that intensify our experience of his goodness. In just a few weeks, on Sept. 1, the Church will be once again celebrating the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. Pope Francis has repeatedly reminded us that we cannot ignore our obligation to care for what God has created. That solicitude is one of the ways that we can express our gratitude for the gift of God’s love as revealed in his creation. In his message for this year’s celebration, Pope Francis writes in particular: “Let us continue to grow in the awareness that we all live in a common home as members of a single family. Let us all rejoice that our loving Creator sustains our humble efforts to care for the earth, which is also God’s home where his Word ‘became flesh and lived among us’ (Jn 1:14) and which is constantly being renewed by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.” Armed with that conviction, may our collaborative efforts on behalf of our common home, as well as our united prayer on Sept.1, help us to rejoice always in what Pope Francis has termed “creation’s sweet song of life and hope.” God’s

Archbishop Bernard Hebda has announced the following appointments in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis: Retirement Effective July 1, 2022 Reverend Timothy Cloutier, granted the status of retired priest. Father Cloutier has served the Archdiocese as a priest since his ordination in 1983, most recently as pastor of the Churches of Maternity of Mary and Holy Childhood in Saint Paul. Effective July 20, 2022 Reverend Jeff Norfolk, assigned as Formator and Spiritual Director of the Saint John Vianney Seminary in Saint Paul. Father Norfolk is a priest of the Diocese of Sioux Falls. Effective August 1, 2022 Reverend Matthew Quail, assigned as parochial administrator of the Church of Saint John the Baptist in Jordan, while Father Neil Bakker is on sabbatical. This is in addition to his assignment as parochial vicar of the Parish of Saints Joachim and Anne in Shakopee. Effective August 15, 2022 Reverend James Boric, granted faculties of the Archdiocese and accepted as postulant of the Carmelite Monastery in Lake Elmo. Father Boric is a priest of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

OFFICIAL AUGUST 11, 2022 THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 3

FROMTHEARCHBISHOP Gratitude for

Proper burial

LOCAL SLICEof LIFE

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Sister Mary Lang carries a container with 42 deceased embryos during a burial ceremony at Epiphany Cemetery in Coon Rapids Aug. 2 facilitated by Sacred Heart Guardians and Shelter. Laura Elm, right, founder and director of Sacred Heart Guardians, receives the remains of human embryos from in-vitro fertilization (IVF) laboratories and cryopreservation facilities across the country and facilitates a communal burial for them, as an alternative to the standard lab practice of medical waste disposal. Burial services take place every three months at a Catholic cemetery in Minnesota, and are usually led by Father Andrew Jaspers, chaplain and board member of Elm’s ministry, who also serves as a chaplain at North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale. Since the first burial service in 2018, Sacred Heart Guardians has provided Christian burial for 855 deceased embryonic children. Sister Mary has traveled from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for the last six services. “These are children of God,” she said of the embryos, explaining her motivation to attend the burials. “It is worth one person coming from far away to be at their burial.” Sister Mary has belonged to the Missionaries of Charity for 46 years, but has permission to try and start a new order she wants to call the Infant Jesus Society.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT Cell: (651) 470-0675 Kathy kathykueppers.realtor@gmail.comKueppers From condos to castles, performance exceeds promise Advertise your real estate business in The Catholic Spirit. Call 651.291.4444 4 • The Catholic Spirit LOCAL SLICEof LIFE These real estate agents can help you find your Home Peggy plangeslay@cbburnet.comLangeslay Now is the best time to sell your home. Realtor/Broker Now is the best time to sell your home. With historically Low Inventory of Homes for Sale, your home may be worth more than you realize. Call Today for a Free Home Value. Buyers are Waiting! (Bloomington and Eagan are most needed) 5BR/4BA 3400+ sq. ft 2 story in Blaine. $359,900. 4BR/ 4BA 4200+ sq. ft story in Plymouth $539,000. 4BR/2BA 1800+ sq. ft 4 level split in Maple Grove $230,000. Home SELLER Seminar March 9th 7-8pm OR March 25th 9-10am, The Sue Johnson Team 651-690-8591 Call Today for all Your Buying and Selling Needs 612-987-8200 jjohanning@edinarealty.com If you would like to advertise on this page, please call The Catholic Spirit Advertising Department at 651-291-4444 Top 612-803-4301.largenotchortoo Office kathykueppers.realtor@gmail.comCell:Kathy651-452-3047Kueppers(651)470-0675 From condos to castles, performance exceeds promise Kathy Kueppers REALTOR®,Owner/BrokerCRS Cell:(651) 470-0675 Office:(651) kathykueppers@realtyexecutives.com365-0230 CHARMING 2 story, hardwood floors, natural woodwork, updated kitchen, master suite, large yard. Close to St Joseph’s school, parks, easy access to shopping, West St Paul $189,900. The Sue Johnson Team is now Good CallRealtyCompanyGroupustoday!651-329-1264 GoodCompanyRealtyGroup.com Looking for your first home? Down-sizing for any reason? Sue Johnson and the Good Company Realty Group can help. Call 651-329-1264 or e-mail: suejohnson@goodcorealty.com Decades of helping families just like yours have a great real estate experience. Providing exceptional value is the cornerstone of my service to you! How can I help you today? Providing exceptional value is the cornerstone of my service to you! How can I help you today? Providing exceptional value is the cornerstone of my service to you! How can I help you today? JOE CASSIDY 612.803.4301 joecassidy@kw.com www.joecassidyhomes.com Realtor Providing exceptional value is the cornerstone of my service to you! How can I help you today? www.joecassidyhomes.kw.com

When Angela Franey, executive director of Abria Pregnancy Resources, entered the back door of its St. Paul location about 7:30 a.m. Aug. 1, she found a softball-sized rock in the hallway that appeared to have been thrown through glass in both front doors. Looking at the front of the building, which faces University Avenue, she saw in red spray paint the words “If abortions aren’t safe, neither are you.” She does not believe vandals were inside the building. No one has claimed responsibility for the actions, Franey said, which were reported to and were being investigated by the police. Vandalism at Abria follows vandalism July 5 at a Birthright crisis pregnancy center in St. Paul. Graffiti including the words “Abort America” and “Jesus loves Abortion” were painted on an outside wall, and two windows were broken there. On June 14, vandals defaced and broke windows at Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life offices in Minneapolis. There, the words, “Abortion is Liberation” were written in red paint. Following that damage, an MCCL spokesman said the police were notified, and a group that supports keeping abortion legal called Jane’s Revenge claimed responsibility in an online posting. Jane’s Revenge has claimed responsibility for several acts of vandalism at pro-life centers across the country since a leaked draft opinion in May from the U.S. Supreme Court indicated the court would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade. The high court June 24 issued its final ruling, finding that U.S. constitutional protections for abortion outlined by Roe v. Wade did not exist. Franey said vandalism at Abria and other pregnancy centers reflects recent anger and misunderstanding around the issue of abortion. This is the first time that Abria has been targeted with vandalism, Franey said, and the damage, she believes, stems from misunderstanding its mission. Abria’s staff love and help women, she said, and provide a variety of information so they know they have options. “We never tell them what to do,” she said, but instead, offer them information to help make a fully informed decision. “And we respect their ability to do that,” she said. Abria, with one location in St. Paul and one in Minneapolis, offers lab-quality tests, ultrasounds performed by trained medical personnel, medical consultation, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. Non-medical services include pregnancy and parenting education, personal support services, life coaching, material assistance, referrals to community resources and more. All services are at no charge.Ifwomen choose life, Abria helps make it possible, Franey said, with baby supplies, education and referrals to community resources. If people knew Abria’s mission, Franey does not believe individuals would turn as much to Abriaviolence.remained closed Aug. 1 as staff cleaned up. The center opened as usual Aug. 2. “It’s safe now and no one was hurt,” Franey said. “Our goal is to make things safe and secure again, to pick up the pieces, to meet the challenge face to face and continue to overcome these things with good, because that’s what we do.” Abria receives some funding from the Catholic Services Appeal Foundation in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. About 90% of its funding comes from individual donors, Franey said.

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Robbinsdale • Plymouth • St. Louis Park

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The parishes of Holy Rosary and St. Stephen, located about two miles apart in south Minneapolis, merged effective July 1. Sharing financial, formation and evangelization resources will help bring more people to Christ, said Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis in a statement announcing the merger. Following two years of parish discernment, Bishop Joseph Williams presented to Archbishop Hebda a formal petition to combine the parishes, which the archbishop addressed with the archdiocese’s Presbyteral Council, as required by canon law. Bishop Williams will serve as pastor of the Church of St. StephenHoly Rosary until Sept. 8, when Father James Stiles assumes that role. At the time of his ordination as bishop in January, then-Father Williams was serving as pastor of St. Stephen and parochial administrator of Holy Rosary. “It is inspiring to see the desire of two parish communities willing to make sacrifices and adapt to needed changes in order to fulfill the mission of the Church in evangelizing and serving the faithful people of south Minneapolis,” Archbishop Hebda said.

The parishes of St. Stephen, left, and Holy Rosary, both in south Minneapolis, merged effective July 1. By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit

Abria Pregnancy Resources in St. Paul vandalized Aug. 1

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AUGUST 11, 2022 LOCAL THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 5

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The Dominican friars of the Central Province announced in February 2020 that they would conclude their ministry at Holy Rosary after 142 years. The final Dominican to lead the parish was Father Jerry Stookey, who departed June 30, 2020, after serving as Holy Rosary’s pastor since July 2018. The archbishop said he prays that the Holy Spirit continues to guide the newly formed parish family as they plan together for the future. “Please also join me in offering a prayer of thanksgiving for the faithful devotion of the Dominicans who served the people of Holy Rosary over the course of 14 decades, and have supported the discernment process these past two years,” he said.

COURTESY ANGELA FRANEY Vandalism Aug. 1 at Abria Pregnancy Resources in St. Paul. No one has claimed responsibility for the damage, said Angela Franey, executive director.

South Minneapolis parishes Holy Rosary and St. Stephen merge

6 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT LOCAL AUGUST 11, 2022 You live a faith-filled life. You participate in the sacraments. You pray and read scripture. You share generously of your time and talents. And your parish is at the center of it all. Have you remembered your parish in your estate plan? A simple bequest to your parish ensures future generations can call your parish home, too.See sample bequest language to include in your estate plan at www.ccf-mn.org/bequest Call 651.389.0300 or visit ccf-mn.org Faithful in life. Faithful in legacy. Catholic FOUNDATIONCommunityOFMINNESOTA REGISTER NOW ! www.fiatministries.org www.10000vocations.org • 651.962.6890 Women’s discernmentretreat REGISTER NOW ! www.fiatministries.org www.10000vocations.org • 651.962.6890 SEPTEMBER23-252022FOR CATHOLICSINGLEWOMENAGES18-28 who are seeking God’s will for their life. RETREATDUNROVINCENTER 15525 St. Croix Trail N. Marine on St.Croix, MN 55047 *Friday, 6:45 p.m. Arrival | Sunday, 2 p.m. Departure

The Synod was a three-year process of listening to local Catholics to help form parishes in the service of evangelization, forming missionary disciples, and forming youth and young adults. The Synod Assembly was held in June, and a pastoral letter outlining the Synod’s outcomes is expected from Archbishop Bernard Hebda in November.Houghton has led the Aim Higher Foundation since 2017. The organization awards scholarships to children from families with demonstrated financial need who wish to attend Catholic schools. She has contributed to several recent archdiocesan initiatives, including helping lead the Access and Sustainability Committee of the Roadmap for Excellence in Catholic Education, which guides the 96 Catholic schools in the 12 counties within the archdiocese. She also participated in the archdiocese’s economic task force, which helped parishes and schools navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. “Jean’s leadership has been paramount to the recent success of the Aim Higher Foundation, the Roadmap for Excellence in Catholic Education, and our Catholic schools more broadly,” said Archbishop Hebda in a statement. “I am grateful that Jean has committed to bringing her gifts to the Archdiocesan Catholic Center not only to lead the work of this new office, but to draw on her relationships with so many of our pastors and principals to help the archdiocese better serve their needs.”Under Houghton’s leadership, the Aim Higher Foundation tripled the number of students who receive its tuition-assistance scholarship, and now serves more than 10% of all K-8 students in the archdiocese. In February, Houghton received an award from St. Agnes School in St. Paul, where she served for 18 years before joining the Aim Higher Foundation. Houghton led a $5.8 million capital campaign and secured lead gifts of more than $18 million for new construction. She and her husband, Tom, are members of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT Jean Houghton will serve as the archdiocese’s director of mission advancement.

The

Aim Higher president to lead archdiocese Office of Mission Advancement FATHERVARGHESEMEKKATTBENNY

The Catholic Spirit Father Benny Mekkatt Varghese, who served in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis from 2008 until May, was elected superior general of his religious congregation’s general chapter July 26 at its recent meeting in Rome. He is the first non-Italian to serve in that position for the Congregation of the Sons of the Immaculate Conception, which was founded in Italy by Blessed Luigi Monti in 1857.Father Mekkatt, 47, a native of India, was ordained a priest Oct. 9, 2004. He served in prison ministry in the archdiocese from 2008-2022, as a chaplain in the spiritual care department at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis from 2008-2013, parochial administrator of Presentation of Mary in Maplewood from 2014-2015 and as pastor from 2015-2017. He was pastor of St. Mary in St. Paul from 2017-2019, pastor of Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul from 2018-2021, and he served in residence at St. Bonaventure in Bloomington before assuming duties as parochial vicar at St. Joseph in Winter Haven, Florida. He also served as vocation director for his congregation from 2008-2022, and as delegate superior of the North American delegation, which includes Canada, Mexico and the United States, fromFather2017-2022.Mekkatt will serve his six-year term in Rome, where he will work with a newly elected council of four, with one member from Argentina, one from Africa and two from Italy. They form the governing body for the Congregation, which ministers in 24 countries.

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By Barb Umberger

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The Aim Higher Foundation’s board of directors named Ricky Austin as the foundation’s new president, effective Aug. 26. Austin joined the foundation in 2017, most recently serving as vice president of advancement and operations. Priest who held local roles named religious congregation’s superior

By Barb Umberger Catholic Spirit Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has hired Jean Houghton to serve as its first director of mission advancement, it announced Aug. 1. She begins the new role Sept. 6. Houghton, who presently serves as president of the St. Paul-based Aim Higher Foundation, will lead efforts to develop and coordinate an archdiocesan-wide development plan and foster a culture of stewardship and generosity, said Bill Lentsch, chief operating officer for the“Wearchdiocese.arecounting on Jean to unite people and their giving of time and treasure,” Lentsch said in an Aug. 1 statement. “Whether someone has the capacity to give a few dollars or a few million dollars, a few hours or several months of their time, supporters will experience Jean’s love of Christ and love of the people in his Church.”

In a statement from Aim Higher, Houghton said she is “thrilled to have this opportunity to develop this new, important office in service to the archdiocese’s mission and the priorities emerging from the Archdiocesan Synod.”

D. Richard Wright, 73, a member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe and an expert in Indigenous spiritual health at the Indian Health Board of Minneapolis, said he closely followed the pope’s journey and has seen many reactions, including anger, in social media. “It certainly is not a simple matter,” Wright said. “It’s incited discussion all across North America, in Canada and in the United States. … There is a spiritual need to heal.”

“It’s a start, right?” he said. “The head of the Roman Catholic Church has come here to apologize. ... Tears are healing. I think that was one response for a lot of people when he actually said those words.”

ROSE NORDIN SHAWN PHILLIPS

Wiping out practices and knowledge of Indigenous cultures to assimilate Native American children into white society was one aim of many residential schools in Canada and in the United States, government officials in both countries have acknowledged.TheCanadian government estimates at least 150,000 First Nation, Inuit and Métis children were taken from their families and communities to attend residential schools between 1870 and 1997. Tens of thousands of Native American children in the U.S. were also encouraged, forced or coerced to attend boarding schools from 1819 to 1996, according to U.S. officials. Catholic and other religious denominations in both countries helped run many of the schools, including in the archdiocese. The pope’s trip to Canada came after the discovery in May 2021 of what experts believe to be about 200 unmarked graves on the campus of long-closed Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia. That same discovery prompted the U.S. Department of the Interior to launch a review last June of federal boarding schools in the United States. The U.S. report, released May 11, identified 408 schools in 37 states or U.S. territories that Native American children were forced to attend. At least 53 marked or unmarked burial sites are associated with the schools, and about 19 of the schools accounted for more than 500 child deaths. The number of recorded deaths was expected to increase as more information surfaced, the Department of the Interior’s report said. On the day the DOI report was released, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said it was an important first step in what he expects will be a painful but necessary journey for the country and the Church. He apologized for the role the Church played in U.S. boarding schools, and noted that the archdiocese has begun working with tribes on relationship building and records review. Pope Francis began his pilgrimage in Canada by apologizing July 25 on treaty land of the Ermineskin Cree Nation, near the former site of one of Canada’s largest residential schools. “The first step of my penitential pilgrimage among you is that of again asking forgiveness, of telling you once more that I am deeply sorry,” the pope said. “I ask forgiveness, in particular for the ways in which many members of the Church and of religious communities cooperated, not least through their indifference, in projects of cultural destruction and forced assimilation promoted by the governments of that time, which culminated in the system of residential schools.”

“But a real apology needs to make Native lives better right now,” Poitra said. “Maybe to help the poor and suffering, or counseling. It’s hard for me to imagine what it would feel like if one of my children or a relative was harmed at a boarding school.”

VATICAN MEDIA | CNS Pope Francis and Chief Wilton Littlechild say farewell to each other July 29 in Iqaluit, Nunavut, as the pope prepares to return to the Vatican after a six-day visit. Littlechild, a 78-year-old lawyer, survivor of abuse in a residential school and former grand chief of the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations, had lobbied hard for the pope to visit Canada and apologize to residential school survivors.

Shawn Phillips, director and pastoral minister of the archdiocese’s Office of Indian Ministry and at Gichitwaa Kateri, said reaction to the pope’s journey in Canada has been mixed. For many, the Catholic Church symbolizes an evil thing, while others want land back, including from the Church, and other reparations. Others appreciate Pope Francis’ effort, he said.Phillips, 64, who is not Native American but who grew up on a Nez Percé reservation in Idaho and attended a Native American school, said Pope Francis’ ministry with Indigenous in the Amazon and in North America has emphasized ways people in the Church can be respectful missionaries by honoring and working with all cultures and backgrounds, rather than trying to change them. “And they learn from you about God and creation,” he said. “They want to know your creation story, too.”Nordin said people can do more to understand one another.“Ifpeople would truly set aside, and stop and listen to each other, that would cure a lot of the problems,” she said. “I do believe there is good in the world, and I believe that in having conversations and learning about things and working toward forgiveness, there is a way to heal.”

“I think it was good that the pope came to Canada and apologized,” said Rick Poitra, 74, an Ojibwe of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa based in North Dakota, who lives in Eagan and is a retired newspaper printer. “I think that was a good first step.”

The Catholic Spirit As Pope Francis apologized to Indigenous people in Canada for the role Catholics played in uprooting lives, spiritualities and cultures through that country’s residential schools, his words reverberated among Native Americans paying close attention in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. For several parishioners of Gichitwaa Kateri in south Minneapolis, home of the archdiocese’s Office of Indian Ministry, the pope’s words and actions July 24-29 marked a beginning for healing and reparations that remain necessary across Canada and the U.S.

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Rose Nordin, 55, who lives in Fridley and is of Ojibwe and French descent, said she wrestles with anger and the need to forgive, even after the pope’s apology. Nordin grew up in northern Wisconsin, and her mother never talked about their heritage. Later, when Nordin was in her 40s and learning about Native American culture on her own, her mother said she didn’t talk about it to protect her, that it wasn’t good to be Indian because she would be snubbed and ridiculed.“Allmy life people would ask me about Native culture, and I wouldn’t know what to tell them because I didn’t know. And I thought it was my fault,” said Nordin, a senior computer application developer in higher education. “I was taught Manifest Destiny and Christopher Columbus.”

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The pope offered similar apologies throughout his pilgrimage, in Quebec City, along the shores of a lake near Edmonton known among Indigenous there for miraculous healings, and to Arctic Indigenous communities in Iqaluit, Nunavut. While acknowledging the pope’s apologies, Nordin said that she thought Pope Francis did not do enough to note the pain people experienced as a result of the policies of the Catholic Church as an“Iinstitution.thinkhecould have done a little better,” she said. “It seemed more like a prepared statement. Each time he stuck to the script.”

Pope’s apology to Indigenous people in Canada reverberates in archdiocese

The archbishop ordained Bishop Barron in 2015 at age 55, together with the other two of the so-called “triplets” named auxiliary bishops for Los Angeles at the time, David O’Connell and Joseph Brennan, who is now the bishop of Fresno, California.

Bishop Barron launched Word on Fire Catholic Ministries in 2000 and has been broadcast extensively throughout the world. His 10-part documentary, “Catholicism,” aired on public television in the United States.Heis the first priest since Archbishop Sheen to have a regular national program on a commercial television network.Bishop Barron has over 3.1 million Facebook followers, 527,000 YouTube subscribers, 351,000 Instagram followers and over 205,000 Twitter followers.

uDetained bishop in Nicaragua says hate must be answered with love. Nicaraguan Bishop Rolando José Álvarez offered a message of love to the world Aug. 7 even as he continued to be detained by police inside a Church building in Matagalpa. “We have to respond to hate with love, despair with hope, and fear with the strength and courage given to us by the glorious and resurrected Christ,” the 55-year-old prelate said in a video posted on various social media platforms. The bishop, along with a group of priests and lay Catholics, has been prevented from leaving the building since Aug. 4. A few days before his detention, several Catholic radio stations under the auspices of the Diocese of Matagalpa were shuttered by the government. The bishop has been openly critical of the government of Sandinista President Daniel Ortega because of its repression of the Nicaraguan populace and violation of human rights. The government has expelled Catholics from the country, including an order of nuns in July, and the Vatican’s ambassador, known as the nuncio, in March. After Bishop Álvarez publicly objected to the closing of the radio stations, he soon after found the entrance to the local curia blocked by police, though he was not charged with a crime. Late Aug. 5, however, Nicaragua’s national police announced an investigation that included the bishops, saying violent groups were organizing to “carry out acts of hatred against the population, causing an atmosphere of anxiety and disorder, disturbing the peace and harmony in the community, with the purpose of destabilizing the state of Nicaragua and attack constitutional authorities.”

uOldest member of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Jozef Tomko, dies in Rome Aug. 8 at 98. The Slovakian-born cardinal had been hospitalized since the end of June after a fall, and he suffered further complications from COVID-19. He served nearly 16 years as the head of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, which was responsible for coordinating Church activities in mission territories, especially Africa and Asia. After he retired in 2001, at the age of 77, he was appointed president of the Pontifical Committee for the International Eucharistic Congresses, until retiring in 2007.

uNuns and priests flee, more churches shut amid Ethiopia’s insecurity. Catholic bishops in Ethiopia have warned that insecurity is shutting down churches and forcing more priests and nuns to flee their monasteries, as insecurity spreads in parts of the Horn of Africa country. In November 2020, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali ordered military action against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, the rulers of the semiautonomous region. The prime minister accused the TPLF of overrunning a national army base in the Tigray capital city, Mekele. But the operation that was supposed to be a short

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By Mike Nelson and Pablo Kay Catholic News Service

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After nearly seven years serving as an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, a new chapter in Bishop Robert Barron’s ministry as one of the Catholic Church’s most recognizable evangelists has begun halfway across the country. On July 29, the 62-year-old Chicago native was formally installed as the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester.TheCathedralof St. John the Evangelist in Rochester was filled with friends, family members and hundreds of local faithful, along with 25 bishops and cardinals and more than 100 priests and deacons. Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis and Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, were among the prelates in attendance. The nuncio was there as the representative of Pope Francis, who appointed Bishop Barron to the post June 2. The invitation-only Mass was livestreamed and also was broadcast by the Eternal Word Television Network, Real Presence Radio and Bishop Barron’s own Word on Fire Catholic Ministries website. “My heart is overwhelmed with joy and with gratitude today,” Bishop Barron said during the Mass. In his remarks, Archbishop Pierre told the bishop, “You have brought with you an uplifting spirit ... and have unveiled yourself to countless people who thirst and hunger to satisfy themselves with the message of the good news.” Citing Bishop Barron’s episcopal motto, “Non Nisi Te Domine” (“Only You, Lord”), Archbishop Pierre said the core of the prelate’s ministry of evangelization and preaching has helped countless people want God before anyone or anything else. “May your witness as a good shepherd, and may your preaching and writing always reflect the same spirit which you communicate to your people,” the nuncio told Bishop Barron. Bishop Barron’s new mission brings him to a 12,000-square-mile diocese with more than 100,000 Catholics in 107 parishes spread across Minnesota’s 20 southernmost counties. Winona is home to St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, a Catholic liberal arts college founded in 1912, and Rochester is home to the world-famous Mayo Clinic.Thediocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018, and in 2021 announced a $21.5 million settlement with survivors of sexual abuse as part of a court-ordered reorganization plan. In his homily, Bishop Barron said that his threefold plan for the members of the diocese was represented by Martha, Mary and Lazarus, whose feast the Church was celebrating that day. His plan is to worship God alone; to care for the poor and those whom Jesus loves; and to evangelize others after being “unbound” by Jesus. Referencing Pope Francis, his longtime mentor the late Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, and singers Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash, Bishop Barron, with humor and sincerity, called on those in attendance to become close friends of Jesus Christ. “The task that’s been entrusted to me today by the Holy Father is to facilitate the process by which the people of this diocese become ever more deeply friends of Jesus,” Bishop Barron said. Back in Southern California, those who worked most closely with Bishop Barron during his time in the Los Angeles Archdiocese’s Santa Barbara pastoral region said he brought a special kind of energy that will be missed. In the early 2000s, Msgr. Jon Majarucon was pastor at Santa Clara Church in Oxnard when — via thenChicago Auxiliary Bishop Gustavo García-Siller, one of his St. John’s Seminary classmates — then-Father Barron of Chicago and his Word on Fire evangelization ministry came to his attention. Bishop García-Siller, now the archbishop of San Antonio, “told me great things about Father Barron,” said Msgr. Majarucon, who soon tuned in to his podcasts and weekly homilies. “They were wonderful, and I started telling people, ‘You need to hear this fellow.’”In2015, Pope Francis named Father Barron an auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles for the Santa Barbara region, much to the delight of Msgr. Majarucon, who is now pastor of St. Raphael Church in Goleta, California. “When he arrived,” recalled Msgr. Majarucon, “people said, ‘Hey, wait a minute. This is the guy we’ve heard about. He’s like a modern-day Fulton Sheen. And he is our bishop!’” (Archbishop Sheen was known for his preaching and especially his work on television and radio.)Over his seven years in the archdiocese, Bishop Barron came to be known not only for his powerful preaching and deep commitment to faith, but for his personal warmth, friendliness and accessibility. “From a professional perspective, Bishop Barron upped our game,” said Noel Fuentes, pastoral associate at San Roque Church in Santa Barbara, who served as an assistant to Bishop Barron when he first arrived in his regional office. “He deepened our theological understanding of Church teaching, and why we believe what we believe.”

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Now Winona-Rochester shepherd, Bishop Barron ‘overwhelmed with joy’

The people of the region have observed, with awe, Bishop Barron’s ability to balance and maintain a hectic schedule filled with regional responsibilities, including confirmation Masses; U.S. bishops’ committee obligations; and his Word on Fire ministry. “His schedule is insane,” chuckled Fuentes, one of several regional representatives who traveled to Minnesota for Bishop Barron’s installation. “The people of Winona-Rochester won’t know what hit them, in a good way, because he is a dynamo.”

CLARE LOCOCO, COURTESY WORD ON FIRE CATHOLIC MINISTRIES | CNS Bishop Robert Barron, formerly a Los Angeles auxiliary bishop and the founder of the Catholic media apostolate Word on Fire, is seen July 29 at St. John the Evangelist Co-Cathedral in Rochester, where he was installed as the ninth bishop of the Diocese of Winona-Rochester.

But on a personal level, Bishop Barron made it evident that “every single person matters to him,” Fuentes told Angelus, the online news site of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. “When he expresses gratitude, it’s real because he knows the challenges people face and he appreciates their kindnesses,” he said. Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez said he is certain that Bishop Barron “will be a great shepherd for the family of God in Winona-Rochester.”

u At least 12 dead as bus carrying Polish pilgrims crashes in Croatia. Church leaders offered condolences after a bus carrying Polish pilgrims to the Bosnia-Herzegovina shrine of Medjugorje crashed in neighboring Croatia, killing 12 and seriously injured more than 30. Polish officials said Aug. 8 they were still identifying those killed and injured when the bus, with pilgrims from central Poland, crashed early Aug. 6 on Croatia’s A4 highway near Varazdin, a day after leaving the Polish national sanctuary of Jasna Gora.

“I am very grateful for his service here in the Santa Barbara pastoral region over these past several years,” Archbishop Gomez said. “Personally, I am going to miss him, and so will the people of Santa Barbara and all of us in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.”

uReligious orders call for international intervention in Haiti. Religious orders working in Haiti have called on the international community to directly intervene to address the reign of terror of armed gangs they described as “diabolical, frightening and unacceptable.” The same gangs are responsible for nearly four kidnappings a day in 2022 and violence that killed more than 200 and forced 3,000 to flee their homes during July alone. In an Aug. 4 open letter to Najat Maalla M’jid, U.N. special rapporteur on violence against children, the Justice Coalition of Religious — made up of 20 religious orders — urged the international community “to respond swiftly and effectively to the atrocities occurring in Haiti.”

uBioethics institute urges U.K. to review parental rights of very ill kids. The Oxford-based Anscombe Bioethics Centre, serving the Catholic Church in the U.K. and Ireland, urged the U.K. government to speed up a review of the rights of parents of sick children after doctors ended the life of a brain-damaged boy against the wishes of his parents. Archie Battersbee, 12, died Aug. 6 in the Royal London Hospital about two hours after medics switched off his ventilation. The child’s parents had unsuccessfully contested the decision to withdraw treatment in the High Court and then in the Court of Appeal. The Anscombe Bioethics Centre responded to the child’s death by saying the case demonstrated a lack of protection for the rights of parents and for severely disabled patients.

— Catholic News Service

u 24 members of Congress write Biden about Jesuit murders, Mexico violence. U.S. members of Congress — all Democrats — sent an Aug. 3 letter to President Joe Biden, urging him to work closely with the Mexican government to ensure “there is full accountability for the murders” of two Jesuits in their parish and a tour guide they were protecting June 20.

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service When Pope Francis gave his first fulllength interview after his election in 2013, he was asked about the importance of the Church providing solid points of reference in a rapidly changing world. The new pope pulled out his thumbworn breviary and read a Latin quote from a fifth-century French monk. Highlighting the words of St. Vincent of Lérins, Pope Francis raised a curtain onto his pontificate: presenting a littleknown but once highly influential theologian whose name and citations would soon appear in a number of papal speeches, documents and interviews over the next decade. The pope’s favorite quote? That Christian doctrine should follow the true and legitimate rule of progress, so doctrine may be “consolidated by years, enlarged by time, refined by age.” It expresses how doctrine can develop and how there can be growth in the expression and awareness of the faith and in morals “while always remaining faithful to its roots,” he told reporters on the plane to Rome from Morocco in 2019.This is the point the pope returned to again when speaking to reporters on his flight back to Rome from Canada July 29, when he said St. Vincent offered a “very clear and illuminating” rule for proper doctrinal development.

u Kansas pro-lifers will ‘redouble efforts’ to help women, protect unborn. After the Value Them Both constitutional amendment was defeated in Kansas, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City said that attention is now turned “to our pastoral efforts.” “While we can’t protect women and children from abortion by the law, we can with love,” he said. Value Them Both would have reversed the 2019 Kansas Supreme Court decision that found a right to unlimited and unrestricted abortion in the state’s 1859 constitution. The state’s high court ruling in Hodes & Nauser v. Schmidt Aug. 2 has effectively nullified more than 20 years of pro-life legislation by making abortion a fundamental right, placing all abortion-regulating laws under a stricter standard of scrutiny. Because of the Hodes ruling, laws banning the live dismemberment of unborn children, as well as laws requiring clinic licensing and inspections, have been struck down. More laws are expected to fall as they are challenged. Fifty-nine percent of Kansans, or 534,134, voted against the amendment, while 41%, or 374,611, voted in favor of it.

Like every one of his predecessors, “Pope Francis has the difficult task of protecting the deposit of faith even while encouraging legitimate growth and progress,” Msgr. Thomas Guarino told Catholic News Service Aug. 3 in an email response to questions. “For Vincent, the task of the entire Church — pope, bishops, theologians, laity — is to foster development and growth over time, but always in full accord with the Gospel and the dogmatic tradition,” said the monsignor, who is professor emeritus of systematic theology at Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey, and the author of “Vincent of Lérins and the Development of Christian Doctrine.”Thisidea of growth rooted in and guided by Church tradition also led the pope, speaking to reporters on the return flight from Canada, to warn against a perverted sense of tradition, an insidious sin he calls “backwardism.” People who look to the past do not go forward with the Church, the pope said; they lack the root of tradition, which provides life-giving nourishment for growth and development. Tradition properly understood, he said, is “the root of inspiration for the Church to go forward,” not backward. Tradition “is always open, like the roots of the tree, and that is how the tree grows.”

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But, just like St. Vincent, the pope recognizes the opposite risk: of going too far and breaking away from the direction of the Church as a whole and from Church authorities, which he also briefly mentioned on the plane when he upheld his admonishment of the German Synodal Way. In a letter he sent on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul 2019, Pope Francis warned against false reforms and walking “alone,” rather than to walk together as “an apostolic body and listen to each other under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, even if we do not think the same way. ... The Lord shows us the way of the beatitudes.”

COURTESY BRIAN MATTHEW WHIRLEDGE | CNS St. Vincent of Lérins, a fifth-century French monk, is pictured in an icon by Brian Matthew Whirledge. Pope Francis has cited St. Vincent for his rule for proper doctrinal development.

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uVatican reports $3.3 million deficit was significantly less than expected. The Vatican reported Aug. 6 that projections of an expected deficit of 33.4 million euros ($34 million) for 2021 ended in a shortfall of just 3.3 million euros ($3.36 million). For the second year in a row, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, known by its Italian initials APSA, published a summary of its budget and financial assets.

u5th Circuit urged to keep injunction in place on HHS transgender mandate. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans heard oral arguments Aug. 4 in Franciscan Alliance v. Becerra, a challenge to a federal mandate that requires doctors to perform gender transition procedures even if this violates their conscience and medical judgment. In 2016, the federal government under the Obama administration began implementing a mandate requiring doctors to perform gender transition procedures on any patient, including children, and required private insurance companies — except plans run by Medicare and Medicaid — and many employers to cover gender reassignment therapy or face severe penalties and legal action. In August of that year, Becket, a Washington-based religious liberty law firm, joined by eight state governments, filed a lawsuit in Texas against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on behalf of Franciscan Alliance, a religious hospital network sponsored by the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration, and the Christian Medical & Dental Associations. After years of litigation, including an appeal to the 5th Circuit and a remand to the lower court, the District Court granted the doctors and hospitals involved in the case permanent relief from the mandate and protected their medical conscience rights. The Biden administration appealed to keep the mandate in place. Secretary Xavier Becerra heads HHS under President Joe Biden. In a separate action, the HHS civil rights office July 25 released proposed regulations that could force health care workers to perform gender transition procedures; require health insurance plans to cover those costs; and likely remove federal conscience protection for those in health care who object to performing abortions. On Aug. 4, the proposal was published by the Federal Register, opening a 60-day period for public comment that can be submitted at bit ly/3vEM4bl

Pope Francis then seems to rely on this fifth-century monk, not just to guide proper doctrinal development — he also thinks the saint can help Church members navigate the world, steering far from the two extremes of an errant, unecclesial drive for change and a dead nostalgia for fruitless tradition.

mission spread to other regions. Agencies estimate that the deaths in Tigray have reached 500,000 people, due to combined causes that include starvation, direct killings and lack of medical or health care. For more than 20 months in Tigray, Bishop Tesfaselassie Medhin of Adigrat, his priests, and the people of the region have remained cut off from the rest of the country in a government blockade.

Pope revitalizes ancient theologian’s rules as a timely guide

uArchbishop decries Biden executive order, ‘continued promotion of abortion.’ Decrying President Joe Biden’s new executive order on abortion, Baltimore Archbishop William Lori, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ pro-life committee, said Aug. 5 that “continued promotion of abortion takes lives and irreparably harms vulnerable pregnant mothers, their families and society.” On Aug. 3, Biden signed an executive order instructing the Department of Health and Human Services “to advance access to reproductive health care services, including, to the extent permitted by federal law, through Medicaid for patients traveling across state lines for medical care.”

uVatican publishes schedule for papal trip to Kazakhstan; ambassador says pope will also visit Ukraine. Pope Francis’ September visit to Kazakhstan will mostly focus on a gathering of religious leaders from around the world, but it will also include a Mass and meeting with Catholics in this Muslim-majority nation. The Vatican Aug. 2 released the pope’s schedule for the Sept. 13-15 trip, which also includes private meetings with religious leaders and his fellow Jesuits. Kazakhstan is a former Soviet Republic in Central Asia that gained independence in 1991. On Aug. 6, Andrii Yurash, Ukraine’s ambassador to the Holy See, announced Pope Francis plans to make a long-awaited visit to Ukraine before his trip to Kazakhstan.

Msgr. Guarino said that Pope Francis “has put a great emphasis on synodality, that is, on listening to the entire Church.”“Heclearly finds inspiration in the thought of St. Vincent who, in his major work — known as the Commonitorium — insists that the Catholic faith is maintained by all Christians” and places great emphasis on the body of bishops throughout the world, “particularly when they are gathered together in a council or synod,” he said.

However, Msgr. Guarino said, St. Vincent should be not cited, as the pope has done, in matters where there has been “a reversal, such as his teaching in 2017 that the death penalty is ‘per se contrary to the Gospel.’” However, that change can be understood as “an advance in understanding human dignity,” he said. The saint described the natural law of progress as analogous to the growth of a body: the child develops into an adult, so “there is change, yes, but there is also stability — with the person remaining the same from youth to old age, even while progressing,” the monsignor said.

Quo vadis?

Father Paul Kammen uses this camera and tripod setup for taking photos of birds such as owls, warblers and eagles. Birds are his favorite type of wildlife to photograph.

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More than 15 years of serious photography has helped him see and appreciate the spiritual side of capturing nature. In a time when people are spending more and more hours in front of screens, he is increasingly moving in the opposite direction, taking many spare moments behind a camera’s viewfinder — and finding God in the process. “It’s a faith-building experience for me,” he said. “You see these things in nature that are just the incredible beauty of God.”

Father KammenThis photo of a blackburnian warbler was taken at Jay Cooke State Park near Duluth in June. The blackburnian is Father Kammen’s favorite warbler, one he calls “a stunning bird.”

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There are also the surprises that come with photographing wildlife, like time he was driving down a road in Glacier National Park in September 2016 with one of his ordination classmates, Father Mark Joppa, and happened upon a rare sight. “We were just there watching a field, and we saw this grizzly (bear),” Father Kammen recalled. “This mother grizzly just came out of the brush.”

By Dave Hrbacek, The Catholic Spirit

He can’t help but invest hours framing and recording images of this beauty. “It just kind of recharges me and reminds me of God’s presence,” he said. “It gives me peace and refuels me for whatever’s ahead — gives me time to think and be alone with my thoughts.” He is able to set aside the rigors of parish work at least once a year for extended trips, usually to a national park. This month, he has a 14-day trip planned to Banff, one of his favorite places, and neighboring Jasper National Park. He was invited by an experienced nature photographer and professional tour guide to travel the parks with him. Father Kammen’s web gallery from previous Banff trips includes photos of iconic spots in the park, including a sunrise on Moraine Lake in the Valley of the Ten Peaks. To get shots like this, Father Kammen often arrives at a spot a half hour or more before sunrise, which means lugging his photo gear nearly in the dark. He has learned the price that needs to be paid to get quality images, and he is more than willing to pay it. This includes spending thousands of dollars on good equipment. He now has two Nikon cameras with several lenses, ranging from an ultrawide angle to an 800-millimeter super telephoto. For the telephoto lenses, which can be heavy, he has a sturdy tripod. The telephoto and tripod combination is his go-to setup for birds. It allows him to photograph them from a distance, plus get super-tight shots in which the bird fills the frame. He has hundreds of images on his website of birds such as warblers, owls and eagles. One spot he likes is the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge in Bloomington. He goes there and other places with Father Tom Margevicius, director of worship for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, who is a birding expert. During those excursions, stretching back about 10 years, Father Kammen has learned about many different bird species from this priest who taught him at the seminary. It wasn’t too long ago that he didn’t even know what a warbler was. Now, he has a web gallery containing more than 250 images of them. When it comes to warblers, he uses the word “obsessed.” To describe what this looks like, he uses an anecdote about one particular warbler search not long after he arrived at St. Joseph in 2015. “There was a rare warbler seen for our neck of the woods — a prairie warbler,” said Father Kammen, who previously served as pastor at St. Joseph and St. Peter in Delano (now called St. Maximilian Kolbe) from 2011-2015. “I drove over there (where it had been spotted just a few miles from the church), got to the field at six in the morning.” He had planned to find and photograph the warbler and get back to the church in time to celebrate the 8:30 a.m. Mass. Instead, he wandered around the area looking for the prairie warbler and got lost. He found someone with a car and asked for a ride back to his own car. The person obliged, and Father Kammen got home just in time to take a shower and celebrate Mass. “I didn’t get the warbler” that day, he said, noting that he later confessed his humbling episode in a homily during Mass. “I did get him in Florida once, but not here (in Minnesota).”

•W

Today, people are saying the same thing about his nature photos, which can be viewed and purchased on his website: fatherpaul.smugmug.com. The images are a mixture of landscapes and wildlife, with nearly an equal balance between the two. He has traveled to numerous state and national parks, including Yosemite in California, Yellowstone in Wyoming, Glacier in Montana and Banff in Alberta, Canada. He also takes many photos locally, focusing mainly on birds. That pursuit is near the top of what he likes to capture with his camera. “I love all birds, but I’m especially crazy about warblers and owls,” said Father Kammen, pastor of St. Joseph in Rosemount. “About a couple years ago, I was a guest on a podcast called ‘Warbler Crazy’ with some photographers from New Jersey where we talked about warblers and owls, and eagles and raptors. I really love the owls in the winter and the warblers in May and June and early July.”

hile his vocation to the priesthood was developing at The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul in the early 2000s, another passion was taking root in the mind, heart and eyes of Father Paul Kammen: photography. “When I was in seminary, I got a Canon Power Shot (camera) and started taking pictures around the area,” said Father Kammen, 44, who grew up in the Twin Cities. His pursuit of photography “got a little more serious” as he moved toward ordination in 2007. He bought his first D-SLR (digital single lens reflex) camera in 2005. While helping at Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Paul, he photographed flowers on the parish grounds and also went over to the State Capitol for more photographic exploring. His first parish assignment after ordination was at Holy Name of Jesus in Medina. He walked a network of nearby trails, including a loop in Baker Park Reserve. His daily time in the outdoors led him to a simple conclusion: “This is beautiful.”

Although the bear was about 100 yards away, Father Kammen pulled out his telephoto lens and filled most of the frame with the bear, which paused briefly ‘This is Priest draws closer to God

God one camera click at a time

“I’m fond of Bishop Robert Barron (recently appointed to lead the Diocese of Winona-Rochester), and he often will talk about finding God in the mountain,” Father Kammen said. “That’s kind of what I relate to. I just get away from the meetings, and from the phone calls and the busyness of parish life for a bit, and go out with my camera — sometimes with another photographer friend — and just take it all in and enjoy the vastness of it all. And, I say, ‘Wow, there must be a God.’”

Wildlife and landscape photos courtesy Father Paul Kammen Kammen captured the iconic Half Dome at sunset in Yosemite National Park in California. This encountersurprisewith a grizzly bear came when Father Kammen was in Glacier National Park in 2016. He got this photo as the bear was coming out of the brush. It was the only time he photographedhasa grizzly.

beautiful’

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 11

brieflyhis2016theuponina perfect broadside pose. It was the first and only time he has ever photographed a grizzly, and one of those images is a favorite. The experience points to an important lesson he has learned in his years of photographing landscapes and wildlife. “Always expect the unexpected,” he said. “You never know what you’re going to see when you go out and look for a bird. Some days, you might get nothing and it might be very frustrating. Other times, you might have given up, and then all of a sudden, the bird you were looking for is there.”

He is happy when people buy his images, but said he is not viewing the website as a money maker. Rather, he likes donating framed prints to parish festivals and other fund-raising efforts, and he even gives away one family photo shoot per year — done in the outdoors, of course. Whenever he can, he encourages people to get out and experience the beauty of the natural world, with or without a camera. It is there, he believes, people will discover what is known in theology as the “natural knowledge of God.”

Smoke difficultphotographywildfiresfrommadeonthis trip to Mount Ranier National Park in Washington, but Father Kammen took advantage of some brief clearing in the early morning hours to capture Mount Ranier.

This long-eared owl is one of the tougher owl species to photograph, Father Kammen said. With a setting sun behind him, he got a photo of this owl flying over a field near Merton in southern Minnesota.

“Catholic Church ministries have long been recognized for their willingness to serve in the locations that others consider too difficult or hazardous to reach. To help the poor, Catholic mission teams will cross the roughest terrain and travel into the most remote areas you could imagine. It’s because they believe every life is precious and every person matters. The fact that poor communities often suffer most is what drives them to go further and push past every obstacle.”

Readers interested in supporting Cross Catholic Outreach’s many relief programs to help the poor can contribute through the ministry brochure inserted in this issue or send tax-deductible gifts to: Cross Catholic Outreach, Dept. AC02152, PO Box 97168, Washington, DC 20090-7168. The ministry has a special need for benefactors willing to make gifts on a monthly basis. Use the inserted brochure to become a Mission Partner or write “Monthly Mission Partner” on mailed checks to be contacted about setting up those arrangements.

Providing proper medical care requires a steady ow of effective medicines. Cross Catholic Outreach is expert at locating, acquiring and shipping these lifesaving resources to mobile medical clinics and other Catholic medical missions.

Cross Catholic Outreach Endorsed by More Than 150 Bishops, Archbishops

Cross Catholic Outreach’s efforts to bless the poor and marginalized in developing countries continues to be recognized by a growing number of Catholic leaders in the U.S. and abroad. “We’ve received more than 150 endorsements from bishops and archbishops,” explained Jim Cavnar, president of Cross Catholic Outreach. “They’re moved by the fact that we’ve launched outreach initiatives in more than 85 countries and have undertaken a variety of projects — everything from feeding malnourished children and building safe homes to supplying safe water and supporting educational opportunities for the poorest of the poor.

“Catholic prelates have also been impressed by Cross Catholic Outreach’s direct and meaningful responses to emergency situations, most recently by helping refugees fleeing Ukraine and by providing food, medicines and other resources to partners in Haiti, Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala impacted by natural disasters.”

Bishop Ronald W. Gainer of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, supports this mission. He writes, “What a joy it is to be part of the Lord’s redemptive work and to manifest his mercy on earth by caring for our neighbors in need.” In addition to praising the ministry’s accomplishments, many of the bishops and archbishops are encouraged that pontifical canonical status was conferred on the charity in September 2015, approving it as an official Catholic organization. This allows Cross Catholic Outreach to participate in the mission of the Church and to give a concrete witness to Gospel charity, in collaboration with the Holy Father. “Your work with the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development is a strong endorsement of your partnership with the work of the universal Church,” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco said. “By providing hope to the faithful overseas by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, delivering medical relief to the sick and shelter to the homeless, and through self-help projects, you are embodying the papal encyclical Deus Caritas Est.”

The commitment and compassion of Catholic medical ministries have undoubtedly had a big impact in Haiti. Thousands there who otherwise might never have seen a doctor or received treatment for their injuries and ailments are finally being helped. (See the related story on the opposite page.)

The Catholic medical ministries recording these success stories range from programs providing emergency relief after disasters to long-term missions set up to provide more routine care. Some also offer very specialized outreach initiatives that address specific issues. Examples include programs to fight malnutrition, improve sanitation or safeguard women’s health by providing breast cancer screenings. Some also offer prenatal care for pregnant women and special services for newborn babies. While priests and religious sisters are often the organizers of these outreach efforts, Cavnar made a point of commending the many compassionate American doctors, nurses and other medical volunteers who freely give of their time and talents to serve in the mission“Somefield.people revere sports figures and celebrities, but in my opinion, these medical workers are the real heroes and heroines of our age,” he said. “Their compassion and dedication are incredibly inspiring. The least we can do is support them with the medicines and other resources they need to serve in these challenging conditions.”

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“Taking people and medical services out to the patient isn’t a concept most traditional hospitals would ever consider, but it is the approach many Catholic ministries are now using — thanks to U.S. Catholic donors. Those benefactors help us fund on-site visits and mobile medical clinics,” confirmed Jim Cavnar, president of Cross Catholic Outreach, a leading Catholic relief and development ministry serving the poor of Haiti. “You can’t imagine the relief that parents in a remote village feel when a medical team comes to their community. Mothers line up to have their children examined and cared for because they know that timely medical interventions can save lives. The visiting medical teams are often able to catch serious medical problems before patients’ suffering becomes worse or the damage being done becomes irreversible.”Cavnaradded that Catholics should be proud of their Church’s dedication to serving the poor, because great sacrifices are often required.

Catholic ministry leaders in Haiti discovered a problem. Poor rural families living in remote areas had no transportation and were unable to reach medical services when they suffered a life-threatening injury or illness. What could be done, they wondered, to ensure those men, women and children received the care they desperately needed? The solution they came up with is as wise as it is compassionate. Rather than insist poor families come to them for care, Catholic clinics are taking their medical teams and services into the remote communities where they can address the need directly.

American Catholics Play Vital Role in Saving Lives, Ending Suffering in Poor Communities

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“I ask God to give me direction to protect my child, my family and me.”

Wildine Zepherin, Haitian mother from Enot How To Help To fund Cross Catholic Outreach’s effort to help the poor worldwide, use the postage-paid brochure inserted in this newspaper, or mail your gift to Cross Catholic Outreach, Dept. AC02152, PO Box 97168, Washington, DC 20090-7168. The brochure also includes instructions on becoming a Mission Partner and making regular monthly donations to this cause. If you identify an aid project, 100% of the donation will be restricted to use for that specific project. However, if more is raised for the project than needed, funds will be redirected to other urgent needs in the ministry.

As important as Catholic medical outreach is when disasters strike, Cavnar insists the more lasting value of such missions can be seen year-round as compassionate health workers address the day-in, day-out health challenges of poor“Youfamilies.haveto remember that most of these people — especially those living in remote areas — are extremely poor and have few, if any, options for care,” he said. “When they get sick or injured, there are no cars or ambulances to take them to a hospital. They often have to walk to clinics, and when they get there, most are afraid they won’t be able to afford treatment. It can be hard for Americans to understand living with those hardships and under that kind of pressure. You have to see it firsthand and hear the stories of these families to appreciate the challenges they face every day. Once you do, you realize how much these families rely on the mercy of the Church and on medical missions like Bette’s to survive.”

The story of Wildine Zepherin is a good example of the hardships Cavnar described. She is the primary caregiver for her elderly mother and young son in the community of Enot, Haiti.

Any member of Zepherin’s household who falls ill must travel to the city of Chambellan, which lies on the other side of a river. Because there is no bridge in the area, mothers like Zepherin must wade through the water, carrying their children in their arms. If it has rained recently and the river is too high, they cannot reach the hospital at all. “I ask God to give me direction to protect my child, my family and me,” Zepherin said, describing how she handles those trying situations. In reflecting on Zepherin’s hardships, Cavnar shared his concern about parents with young children who hold off on medical treatments because they either can’t afford the expense or there are no medicines available in their area. “An untreated cut or illness may seem like a minor thing, but that’s not the case when you live in a remote area with poor sanitary conditions. Untreated, a seemingly insignificant injury or burn can easily become infected, and what began as a minor issue can even become life-threatening in time,” he said. “That is why Catholic missions providing medical care are so important — and why we encourage American Catholics to support their work. With that support, the medical missions can address problems quickly and effectively, avoiding what could become greater suffering — or even the untimely death of a child.” It is Cavnar’s hope that American Catholics will again respond to this need by contributing generously to Cross Catholic Outreach’s work in Haiti and other developing countries in the world. “Church leaders are eager to provide the kind of health care these poor families need, but they must have our support to offer those services,” he said. “There are urgent medical needs in countries like Haiti, and to provide solutions, we must all get involved.”

In the hours following Haiti’s devastating 2021 earthquake, thousands of injured men, women and children were suddenly thrust into a frightening battle for survival. Even during normal times, these poor families found it extremely challenging to locate and afford medical care, so most of them expected the worst after the disaster. How, they wondered, would they survive their bleeding gashes, broken limbs and the illnesses that would likely follow from drinking unsafe water and living in makeshift shelters? These earthquake survivors had every reason to be discouraged, but through God’s grace, help came through the heroic work of Catholic medical outreaches.Forexample, in the areas surrounding the city of Jérémie, thousands received the care they desperately needed from the Grand’Anse Health and Development Association (GAHDA), led by its lay Catholic executive director, Bette Gebrian, a public health nurse and medical anthropologist. “Bette is a remarkable woman, and we’re proud to have worked with her for many years,” said Jim Cavnar, president of Cross Catholic Outreach, one of the leading Catholic relief and development ministries serving the poor in Haiti and many other developing countries around the world. “She chose to live and raise her family in Jérémie, and she has been involved in outreach to needy communities in the southwest region of Haiti for decades now. When the earthquake hit her local area, the families there knew they had a friend in Bette. Her team did everything they could to help overcome the medical challenges the people were facing in those terrible weeks following the disaster.”

Catholic Medical Outreach Is “Answer to Prayer” for Poor Families Living in Developing Countries

Haitian parents eagerly await the arrival of Catholic medical teams. Were it not for such programs, many poor families would forgo medical care entirely, either because they did not have transportation to reach a clinic or because they could not afford its treatments and more costly medicines. By taking services out to remote areas, Catholic medical ministries can save more lives.

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Though Cavnar didn’t mention it, his ministry — Cross Catholic Outreach — played a significant role in supplying medical supplies to help earthquake survivors, using donations from its Catholic supporters in the U.S. In fact, in the weeks following the 7.2-magnitude earthquake, his ministry teams airlifted 3,200 pounds of relief supplies to GAHDA alone, and those resources were distributed to more than 15 rural health clinics responding to the disaster.

Q Tell me about your childhood in Rosemount.

Q What’s your earliest memory of the outdoors?

Q Cardinals are significant to many people!

THE LARGEST PRIVATE COLLECTION OF PAPAL ARTIFACTS OUTSIDE OF ROME

By Christina Capecchi For The Catholic Spirit Deacon Mickey Friesen, 59, a St. Paul father of two, serves as director of the Center for Mission in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and as a deacon at St. Thomas Becket in Eagan. A lifelong lover of nature, his goal is to see every state park in Minnesota. He often writes and preaches about the connection between faith and the outdoors.

A After Mass, so many people come up and say, “Oh, the birds!” There’s something about birds. There’s TO FRIESEN cloud gazing and sensing God’s presence

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Q When did you first make the connection between nature and faith? A I was in the Air Force after high school, stationed in Germany, and I started jogging on this trail that goes along a babbling brook. One day, all of a sudden, the sun hit the trees and the water in a way that everything started dancing. It was so amazing I had to stop. I felt this profound presence of God in that moment. It probably lasted 30 seconds. It just took my breath away. You read a psalm like 139 — “You’ve searched me and you know me and you know when I sit and stand” — and you hear about all these places of creation giving praise to God, and all of a sudden, those words have meaning. I’ve heard it said that creation was God’s first word, the word that became flesh. The older I get, the more I understand that — (God has) been talking to us all along, forever. Just when you think you’ve heard enough, there’s more. That’s the nice thing about it: There’s more. Q I love that.

We thank all of our parishioners, past and present, and friends throughout the community who have helped create and support our vision throughout the years. Holy is a place where it is safe to tell your story. Holy is a place that creates justice. We invite you to join us on Sunday, November 13 at our 10 a.m. Mass to celebrate this significant milestone. Reception to follow Mass in our lower level Church Hall. The love we have for one another is the love we have for God. — Father John Clay St.

St. Stanislaus was established in 1872 making it the fourth oldest Catholic parish in St. Paul. The Church was dedicated to Saint Stanislaus of Kostka and served both the Czech and Polish communities who lived in the “Little Bohemia” neighborhood near West Seventh Street.

FAITH+CULTURE 14 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT AUGUST 11, 2022

celebratingisStanislausproudlyour150yearanniversary.

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A You learn how to trust yourself early. We didn’t look for help. When we played sports, you’d get 15 guys, picking teams and working out conflicts. You have problems, you get hurt — well, there’s nobody else there, so you figure it out. And there was no fear. The world was not a scary place. It was a place of adventure.

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A We lived in a cul-de-sac, and the end of our backyard was the cornfield. It was an era when we had lots of unstructured time. After breakfast my mother would say, “Get outside and don’t come back till lunch.” We used to have big baseball games there. If you hit the ball in the cornfield, it was a home run because you had to stop the game to search for the ball. The backyard was our little world. The things you could make up! That in itself was the source of many good memories. In the summertime, we’d dig around in each other’s window wells looking for salamanders.

ON PAGE 19 Fishing,

A I have a distinct memory in the summertime, when there was nothing going on in a day, I’d sit on the side of the house in a lawn chair and I would look up at the clouds. I’d be enamored. I could look up at them for an hour. There was a lot of space for that. What would you do if there was nothing to do? You sat and looked at clouds!

A My daughter gave me a bird app where you can listen to the sounds. Now, I can recognize birds by their sounds. When I was doing chaplaincy training at a nursing home, I’d visit a woman with dementia who couldn’t speak. In her room were all these holy pictures and then all these bird pictures. Cardinals everywhere. We couldn’t communicate by talking, so I turned on that little app and we listened to the birdsong. We communicated on that level. Then we would share Communion together. That’s one of the most beautiful sharing of Communion I’ve ever had. She couldn’t talk, but when I would make the Sign of the Cross, she’d chime in.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

A We were close to Risen Savior Catholic Church where Apple Valley and Burnsville meet. Where that church is (now) used to be woods and a prairie owned by a farmer. A sign said, “Do not trespass.” We’d sneak in there and play in the woods. I had a fort right where the church is. There was a big snake den right in that spot. We’d play with the snakes and go fishing in the lake — we’d dig for worms and catch bullheads — and then if the farmer would come, we’d dive into the woods to hide. Q How did that freedom benefit you?

Q That embodies what so many overscheduled kids miss out on today. A I’ve thought about that before. I do feel sad for my own children that they didn’t have more unstructured time, the freedom to be able to wander. What gets lost is that ability to explore and the sense of wonder about life. In a digital age, instead of just immersing themselves in nature, they want to take a picture or capture it, post it. There’s a desire to control the moment as opposed to just entering into it, giving yourself over to it. I wonder sometimes if not handing yourself over in little ways makes it harder to have faith and trust providence, that it’s OK, that you’re not alone. To me, that’s everything: being able to trust that presence.

Q Then you moved to Apple Valley.

A One of the things I thought I wanted to do is to be a bird watcher. I love the birds. I got binoculars and tried to find birds, but I got so stressed out. I could hear the birds, but I couldn’t see them. It got so stressful I quit. Then I met this fellow who was legally blind and he was a birder. I asked how he could be a birder if he can’t see them. He said, “I look with my ears. I know what the sounds mean.” That changed everything! I’m not a bird watcher, I’m a bird listener.

Q That feels like a metaphor for life. We get in our heads, we try to force something and it doesn’t work, then we learn to let it go and lead with our hearts.

Father Van Sloun is the clergy services director for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. This column is part of a series on the sacrament of marriage.

FATHER MICHAEL VAN SLOUN

SUNDAY SCRIPTURES | FATHER NICK FROEHLE FOCUSONFAITH

Affectionate love is warm and friendly, kind and caring, tender and gentle. It leaves no guesswork. It is outgoing and takes the initiative to speak up quickly with cheerful greetings, compliments, words of appreciation, encouragement, expressions of concern, uplifting and humorous remarks — all made in a pleasant tone of voice.

Competition can kill a marriage or cause it to flourish, depending upon the model used. There is competition American-style or competition Jesus-style as explained by St. Paul. Competition is woven into the fabric of American culture and society. Businesses compete against each other for the best products, the newest innovations, the biggest profits and the largest market share. Employees compete against each other for recognition, compensation and promotion. Athletes try to beat someone out to make the team; try to get ahead of teammates to make the starting lineup; once playing, to get a larger share of the playing time; and then to excel beyond the rest to win individual awards. There are winners, and frequently the winners step on others to get ahead, and their successes come at the expense of unfortunateCompetitorslosers.strive for excellence, which is good. God wants us to put our talents to the best possible use. But competitors try to get an edge on their opponents, and no wife or husband should try to get an edge on their spouse. When one spouse gets their way, prevails, conquers or comes in first ahead of the other — the “American competitive way,” when one wins and the other loses — the winner loses. Jesus said the two are “one body” (Mk 10:8), and St. Paul explains, “If one part of the body suffers, the other part suffers with it” (paraphrase, 1 Cor 12:26). For wives and husbands, win-win is the only acceptable way to compete. St. Paul has a formula for Jesus-style competition in a marriage and a family: “Love one another with mutual affection” (Rom 12:10a, RNAB). A relationship that is mutual is a joint venture, done together, shared back and forth, and reciprocal. It is not domineering or submissive, always getting one’s way or always giving in, but on the same level, paying attention to the other’s preferences, seeking to do what is good for the other, and desiring to please the Affectionateother.love is warm and friendly, kind and caring, tender and gentle. It leaves no guesswork. It is outgoing and takes the initiative to speak up quickly with cheerful greetings, compliments, words of appreciation, encouragement, expressions of concern, uplifting and humorous remarks — all made in a pleasant tone of voice. Affectionate love is expressive and shows itself with smiles, holding hands, snuggling side by side, an embrace or a kiss. It is open and honest, defenses down, trust up, safe, respectful, sharing what is on one’s mind and in one’s heart without holding back. It is helpful, gladly pitching in on daily duties like cooking, cleaning and laundry, often done cheerfully with each other. And it is willing to sacrifice for the sake of the other, particularly in times of hardship. St. Paul has an intriguing angle on competition in marriage and family relationships. He wrote, “Outdo one another in showing honor” (Rom 12:10b, NRSV). To “outdo” is to get a step ahead of someone or to do the person one better. It is a friendly competition that is highly recommended for married couples. If one offers a kind word, the other replies with a kinder one. If one does a favor, the other returns a bigger or better one. If one shows compassion and understanding, the other responds with heartful mercy and forgiveness. These are effective ways to honor one’s spouse, to express admiration, to hold one’s spouse in the highest possible esteem and to treat one’s spouse like a winner.

ST. MONICA (c. 332-387) This North African laywoman married Patricius; St. Augustine of Hippo was their eldest child. She tried to bring him up a Christian, but also was ambitious for his worldly success. He scorned Christianity and had a son with his mistress. In 383, Monica followed Augustine to Italy, where she was a follower of St. Ambrose. Three years later, Augustine was baptized. But Monica fell ill and died before their return to Africa. Years before, a bishop had famously counseled her: “It is not possible that the son of so many tears should be lost.” Her feast day is Aug. 27. — Catholic News Service

This weekend’s Gospel passage features some of the more perplexing words spoken by our Lord. Today, the Prince of Peace asks: “Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division” (Lk 12:51). How is it that the one who is the source of unity and peace can say that he has actively come to divide, to set the world on fire? The key to understanding this moment lies in the last phrase of Jesus’ rhetorical question: “on the earth.” Our Lord is saying that his ultimate goal is not to “establish social peace in this world and in this life” as John Bergsma, professor of theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Steubenville, Ohio, puts it in his reflections, “The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year C.” Harmony in this life is passing. Rather, Christ is interested in showing the way to salvation. He is the Way, and to enter the kingdom of heaven we must place our ultimate obedience and fidelity in Christ alone. This stalwart fidelity will necessarily lead to conflict in this life. Many of us have experienced it already. Family members and friends may deride us for adhering to Jesus and his bride, the Church. Some may have had to face outright abandonment in order to follow Jesus. It is a solace to know that we are not alone in these experiences, however. St. Francis of Assisi faced the ire of his family when he desired to give all for Christ. St. Thomas Aquinas, too, experienced division with his parents as he expressed his vocation to the Dominicans. St. John of the Cross was imprisoned by his own Carmelite community as he strove to call them to conversion. Imagine for a moment if these saints had been deterred from following Jesus totally. We may never have received St. John’s spiritual insights, Aquinas’ wisdom or Francis’ example of life. The example of the saints is what the author to the Hebrews desires to communicate to us in the second reading. Yes, following Jesus is difficult: It will involve the cross and likely rejection from those who are closest to us. Yet, others have gone before us who have experienced trials similar to ours. These holy men and women serve as great witnesses who can intercede for us, inspiring us to “persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith” (Heb 12:1-2). They took Jesus as their exemplar. He is the one who faced the ultimate rejection from us, being subjected to the cross. We consider his life and the lives of those who follow him, and this helps us to “not grow weary and lose heart” (Heb 12:3) during the struggles of life, especially divisions we may painfully experience from our friends andOurfamily.ultimate peace will be found not in this life and on this earth, but in total union to Christ. Bergsma notes in his reflection, “There is a price too high to pay for peace. And that price is infidelity to Christ.” Certainly, we work toward unity in all our relationships, but never at the expense of leaving Jesus and the path he has set for us. As we journey down the path of discipleship, let us take great encouragement that our Lord knows intimately the pain of rejection from those closest to him, and that now he reigns gloriously in heaven. Christ will bring us through the dark night of the cross into the joy of the resurrection. May we never abandon him for the sake of fleeting harmony in this life. Father Froehle is pastor of St. Michael in Farmington. He can be reached at pastor@stmichael farmington org

KNOW the SAINTS Christ offers peace that is not of this world

AUGUST 11, 2022 THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 15 Outdo anotheronein love FAITH FUNDAMENTALS |

DAILY Scriptures Sunday, Aug. 14 Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Jer 38:4-6, 8-10 Heb 12:1-4 Lk 12:49-53 Monday, Aug. 15 Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab 1 Cor 15:20-27 Lk 1:39-56 Tuesday, Aug. 16 Ez Mt28:1-1019:23-30 Wednesday, Aug. 17 Ez Mt34:1-1120:1-16 Thursday, Aug. 18 Ez Mt36:23-2822:1-14 Friday, Aug. 19 Ez Mt37:1-1422:34-40 Saturday, Aug. 20 St. Bernard, abbot and doctor of the Church Ez Mt43:1-7ab23:1-12 Sunday, Aug. 21 Twenty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Is Heb66:18-2112:5-7, 11-13 Lk 13:22-30 Monday, Aug. 22 Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary 2 Thes 1:1-5, 11-12 Mt 23:13-22 Tuesday, Aug. 23 2 Thes 2:1-3a, 14-17 Mt 23:23-26 Wednesday, Aug. 24 St. ApostleBartholomew, Rv 21:9b-14 Jn 1:45-51 Thursday, Aug. 25 1 Cor 1:1-9 Mt 24:42-51 Friday, Aug. 26 1 Cor 1:17-25 Mt 25:1-13 Saturday, Aug. 27 St. Monica 1 Cor 1:26-31 Mt 25:14-30 Sunday, Aug. 28 Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time Sir 3:17-18, 20, 28-29 Heb 12:18-19, 22-24a Lk 14:1, 7-14

It will come as no surprise to most people, even Catholics, that what we have experienced over the past 30 months has indifference:createdalack of interest, concern or empathy for the predicament of others. Even if an individual is commonly known for being compassionate, the past two-anda-half years have created exhaustion and fatigue. This condition is called “compassion fatigue” in the mental health field. It refers to the weariness providers experience because of the number of emotional appeals made by people in need. Some refer to this condition as “burnout.” You might be in some level of indifference or burnout due to the continued flair-ups of COVID-19, the economic inflation encountered every time we walk into a grocery store, or the gasoline prices that unpredictably fluctuate and prompt many of us to question the necessity of driving to any number of intended destinations. As Catholics, we have four remedies for indifference. First, our Catholic identity offers us a daily antidote to the maladies of the time. The summit of our Catholic identity is the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, which is a salvific reality, especially when we feel overwhelmed. We also venerate more than 3,000 Catholic saints, holy men and women who provide an example of the Christian life. We experience God’s presence through the seven sacraments at key moments in our lives. We honor the Virgin Mary and her obedience to bear and give birth to the Son of God. Our identity as Catholics reminds us that we form one community of faith in Jesus’ holy and precious name as we go out to transform the world. Second, our Catholic social doctrine provides specific ways for us to extend compassion to one another, which help us address indifference. It is difficult to remain indifferent toward the needs of others when we are filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, who calls us to care for others in his name. The greatest antidote when we experience indifference is to look at Jesus’ broken body and know that he went to the cross to demonstrate for us how to be one body in his name through his presence, offering compassion to others who are suffering.

Third and fourth, we are encouraged to develop our critical thinking skills and life leadership skills, which help us become virtuous, or morally good and holy. Peter Kreeft, a professor of philosophy at Boston College, explains that critical thinking skills are fundamentally a gift from God that should help us order our world. He encourages us to ask these questions: What is critical thinking? How is it God’s gift to us? How does critical thinking order our thoughts and actions? Finally, we must ask: How will critical thinking order our heavenly victory and peace when we have accomplished these earthly tasks? Life leadership skills in the Catholic tradition are often referred to as servant leadership, which is the form of leadership most often espoused by Pope Francis. John 13 teaches us that we must be servants of all, which is best modeled as bottom-up, not topdown, leadership. The servant leader puts service above self-interest, listens to affirm others, inspires trust by being trustworthy and nourishes others by helping them become whole. The best remedy for burnout or indifference is to serve others and to care about their predicament. You could offer to volunteer at the food shelf, as food insecurity has become a reality for many families. You could provide a fully-equipped backpack for a child to begin school this fall. You could offer to work at a homeless shelter in whatever capacity works best for you and your family. These few suggestions will help counteract the disease of indifference that is sabotaging our culture. Be one who makes a difference against these hardships and allow Christ to fill you with his compassion for others in need, while allowing yourself to experience the healing ointment of his touch in your own life.

The caption won the contest. What happened in the span of those three or four seconds?Inspiration struck. As a Catholic journalist, I have always been fascinated by that Eureka moment. I often ask people to describe the scene in detail: room, time of day, beverage at hand, music in the background. There’s something satisfying about painting a picture, pinning down all the elements in place when the elusive experience occurred. A criminal prosecutor told me he sets his alarm for 4 a.m. and makes Cuban coffee so he can write fiction before his kids wake up. His preferred method: paper and“Thispen.morning, right after my prayer, this story I’ve been thinking about for 18 months just kind of came together,” he said. What made it click? “Who knows?” he said. “I like to think it was grace and a bit of the Holy Spirit.” The late novelist Jon Hassler found it helpful to read his old journals. “Between novels,” he said, “I will browse through my 30 years of journal entries looking for topics to write about, and this, together with my memory and imagination, produces the fiction.” If he needed an extra boost “to get the language rolling,” he’d craft a letter to a friend. A chemist described the central role of his Catholic faith when he’s stuck in a science experiment. “Then I turn to God for guidance and I am amazed,” he said. “Things start to click in my head and problems are solved. I am very appreciative and I thank God — sometimes out loud.” Movement can shake out a new idea, getting outside your head or your office. “I get some of my best ideas in the morning when I’m thinking in the shower, rubbing my scalp,” the artistic director of an acclaimed theater told me. “Maybe it’s a scene I’m not satisfied with and I’ll rub my scalp really hard and something will pop up.”

16 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT AUGUST 11, 2022 COMMENTARY Following the path of inspiration TWENTY SOMETHING | CHRISTINA CAPECCHI Finding virtue through Catholicthefaith SIMPLE HOLINESS KATE SOUCHERAY Look for The Catholic Spirit advertising insert from THEHOPKINSGLENN in some copies of this issue. N O T I C E Look for The Catholic Spirit advertising insert from CROSSOUTREACHCATHOLIC in all copies of this issue. N O T I C Ewww.jericochristianjourneys.com Fr. Fitz Fr. Derek Fr. Doug Fr. 1Peter877 453 7426 Trips 2022 2023 Branson Jesus Christmas Show Dec 1 4 Guadalupe (Fr. Derek & Fr. Doug) Mar 1 10 Italy (Fr. Peter) Mar 13 24 Wisconsin Shrines April Alaskan Cruise (Fr. Fitz) May Ireland/Scotland May

Unloading the dishwasher helps me. My fingers are free from the keyboard, but my mind keeps turning an idea.Undertaking a different creative endeavor — especially one that doesn’t involve a deadline or any degree of mastery — can get the juices flowing. Einstein called this tactic “combinatory play” — the act of opening up one mental channel by experimenting in another. That’s why he’d play the violin when he was struggling to solve a mathematical puzzle. It worked. This underscores the Catholic belief that the body, mind and soul are intimately connected. We can spark one by tapping into another. And the health of one dimension often leads to the health of another. A long walk, a clearer mind. An active prayer life, lower blood pressure.Reflecting on creativity fills me with hope. We are creative beings, made in the image and likeness of the Creator. We are capable of beautiful things. And a brilliant new idea may arrive any second.

During his down time at work, a Minnesota surgeon often browses the New Yorker in the hospital library. One day he spotted its famed cartoon caption contest — a captionless cartoon that calls on readers to submit captions and then vote on their favorites, to be published in the following issue of the magazine. The fun is trying to explain an oddity or the juxtaposition of two disparate elements in a single sentence. The contest generates some 5,000 to 10,000 entries a week. And this doctor was intrigued by the cartoon he saw: a husband and wife lying in bed behind prison bars. “I stared at the cartoon for several minutes and typed a few duds,” he wrote. “Then I was called to start a surgery and, literally, in those few seconds before I logged off, the caption came to me.” He typed: “How about we just stay in tonight?”

Capecchi is a freelance writer from Inver Grove Heights.

Soucheray is a licensed marriage and family therapist emeritus and a member of St. Ambrose in Woodbury. Learn more at her website ifhwb com

with the weather in this instance, by seeing God’s love in all things, it helped Therese to be more truly Therese’s witness highlights an important fact: When it comes to living the Catholic faith, including its difficult moral teachings and its mysterious dogmas, pure reason is not enough. We need the imagination. Imagining is not about inventing something that isn’t there. Instead, it’s about using a God-given intellectual power to “see” what isn’t immediately visible, but is truly present. Rather than being a generator of fictitious flights of fancy, the imagination is a muscle that helps us to see reality as it really is. It helps provide us with what Servant of God Luigi Giussani calls “a unitary mentality,” “a conception of God as pertinent to all aspects of life, underlying every human experience, Furthermore, by vividly connecting what’s happening in front of us with the deeper mysteries of our faith, the imagination is compelling. St. John Henry Newman knew this when he wrote that “the heart is commonly reached, not through the reason, but through the imagination.” The English saint observed that the imagination has the capacity to stimulate action in a way that pure intellect doesn’t. Therefore, exercising our imagination isn’t trivial or an “add-on” ability. It’s how God made us: as imaginative creatures. We imagine, for instance, when we “see” Christ’s sacrifice at Calvary become present to us at the Eucharist. Exercising this ability can foster greater interior devotion and allows us to receive the sacrament with our hearts more truthfully aligned to reality. In other words, it is easier to believe and act as if the Eucharist is what we know it is — the Body of Christ — when our imagination helps. This also is the case in the moral life. Giving to the poor we encounter in downtown Minneapolis becomes that much easier when our imagination allows us to “see” Christ in them. Embracing the Church’s teaching about sexuality becomes possible when our imagination helps us imbue sexual relations with the wonder and mystery that truly define them, helping to convince us of sex’s cosmic significance as a participation in God’s creative act and an imitation of his covenantal love. Although most of the moral precepts of the Church are defensible according to reason, I’m increasingly convinced that many of us cannot live them well without a Catholic imagination. The problem is that the “unitary mentality” that Giussani spoke of has been largely unraveled in modern times. Catholic morality may exist in our head, but it doesn’t easily connect to lived reality. We struggle to see “God in all things” — in the poor, in our sexual relations, in everything. Newman observed that “many a man will live and die upon a dogma; no man will be a martyr for a conclusion.” If he’s correct, we’d do well to reflect on how we can deepen the Catholic imagination in our own homes and communities, so it can help us embrace the truths of our faith as not mere conclusions, but vivid expressions of reality.

Minnesota Catholic Conference’s election resources page at mncatholic org/electionresources is chock full of everything needed to get to know the principles of the faith and learn how to meet and get to know the candidates.Theonline resource includes links to a free, downloadable candidate questionnaire that also is available at mncatholic org/candidate questionnaire Another link presents a how-to guide for a parish town hall that can also be found at mncatholic org/townhall Catholics must take this opportunity to ask the questions that can help the faithful understand the candidates, and perhaps more important, help them understand why Catholics stand for life, dignity and the common good.

COMMENTARY THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 17

“Inside the Capitol” is a legislative update from Minnesota Catholic Conference staff.

The man laughed to himself and said, “Don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make any difference!” After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said, “I made a difference to that one.” Now, due to the SCOTUS ruling, “the surf is up!” We might not be able to save the world (aka, the lives of all of the unborn), but we can do something. We Catholics are challenged to continue to do what we can to make a difference.

Gene Delaune St. John the Baptist, New Brighton Pro-life advocates do more than protest Elizabeth Rosenwinkel’s letter (“Roe overturned, now what?” July 28) envisioned all of the societal ills which will befall the babies saved by the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision that there is no right to privacy in the U.S. Constitution, thus ending the abortion free-forall of the last 50 years. After listing every conceivable societal evil which will still exist in the lives of these children, Rosenwinkel plainly states, “The promises of pro-life advocates to take care of the babies rings hollow.” In a country with scads of government programs to address the needs she describes, in a country where the ladder to success — education — is free for a dozen years of a child’s life, why is she blaming pro-life advocates for man’s inhumanity to man? That is the same argument used by the fellow who accosted our small group of pro-lifers in front of Planned Parenthood. Middle fingers upraised, he yelled accusations at us using her same arguments. Neither he nor she seem to know what pro-lifers do behind the scenes, providing support with food, clothing and housing for troubled mothers. They are the one hand outstretched to the torn lives of these women at their ultimate moment of “choice,” and their witness has helped several women change their lives into something positive. The societal evils Rosenwinkel believes will befall the children saved from abortion are caused by one thing: individual choices by individual people to do evil to another person, through word or action. The remedy for this is Christ. And perhaps all of us can carry the blame for not being the Christian witness in the face of evil that we should be.

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 School of Divinity in St. Paul. lawmaking body that places the common good over partisan rancor. Filling that tall order begins by all of the faithful forming consciences and learning about the candidates.Thisyear, there are more candidates than usual to get to know. Redistricting following the 2020 census led to 51 retirements in the House and Senate — the largest turnover since 1972. Many legislators were no longer going to represent their current communities, while others decided they did not want to challenge a current colleague for their new district seat. Many of the Aug. 9 primaries pitted an incumbent against a newcomer who represents positions that are further to the left or right than their predecessor. This deeper entrenchment along party lines creates the potential for a very polarized Legislature in 2023. These partisan dynamics and the opportunity to engage a Legislature full of new faces is a calling for Catholics to build relationships that help advance the Fortunately, we are given a rich tradition of Catholic social teachings that are centered on creating the conditions for all to thrive. As Pope Francis has said, “good Catholics meddle in politics by offering the best of themselves.” Therefore, Catholics have a responsibility to engage with those who are seeking leadership roles in our democracy, but must do so as principled, faithful citizens — that is, the “best of ourselves”— rather than as partisans.

A chance at life

Cindy Paslawski St. Pius X, White Bear Lake, and St. Louis, King of France, St. Paul Share your perspective by emailing TheCaTholiCSpiriT@ arChSpm org Please limit your letter to the editor to 150 words and include your parish and phone number. The Commentary pages do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Catholic Spirit.

A recent letter, “Roe overturned, now what?” (July 28) puts forward a pro-life advocates’ predicament: our “fractured society” and “the promises of pro-life advocates to take care of the babies saved rings hollow.”

One is reminded of the “starfish story.” One day a man was walking along the beach, when he noticed a boy hurriedly picking up and gently throwing things into the ocean. Approaching the boy, he asked, “Young man, what are you doing?” The boy replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”

LETTERS

A previous letter writer is forgetting something when she writes of the problems that babies might face if they are saved from abortion (“Roe overturned, now what?” July 28). Yes, we do have problems in this country, but along with problems are the many good things in life that babies will enjoy if they are at least allowed to live. We don’t have the right to take these good things away from them. Also, some of the babies saved might, as adults, have helped to solve these problems. How many intelligent people, even geniuses, have we killed through abortion before they had the chance to live and contribute to this country? How many of our problems might have been corrected? And Roe overturned doesn’t mean the end of abortion — it just means it won’t be as easy to destroy someone else’s life. L.C. Carlson St. Peter, Forest Lake Doing what can be done

18 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT AUGUST 11, 2022

fter a long and very difficult experience in the Protestant church I’d grown up in, I didn’t know where to go. I knew I still believed in God, so I “church-hopped” around different congregations for a while. None of them felt right, and after my last experience I struggled to see anything but judgment wherever I went. More often than not, I didn’t go to church at Duringall. this time, I met my future husband. To my absolute horror, I learned he was Catholic. Everyone had told me Catholics were non-Christians at best and a cult at worst. I nearly broke it off with him right then and there, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Instead, I decided I would look into what exactly Catholics believe. I thought if I looked into it, I would learn things that made it obvious how incompatible his faith was with mine. Then, I would have the strength to end things. There was only one problem: The more I researched, the more I became uncomfortably aware that Catholicism was nothing like I’d been told. I needed to know more. Questions turned into more questions, and I looked for answers everywhere: Catholic sources, Lutheran sources, Baptist sources, even atheist sources. I needed to know the truth. I grilled my future husband and his Catholic best friend, and I even scheduled a meeting with our campus priest to go through a double-sided page of all my skepticisms.

Finally, I forced myself to walk into our local Catholic church. It was evening. I’d picked a time when I was sure I’d be alone. When I walked into the sanctuary, I was terrified. I didn’t even bother turning on the lights. But the moment I sat down in front of the altar, a wave of peace washed over me. It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. It felt like Jesus himself was giving me a hug. I sat there for a long, long time, basking in what I knew was God’s presence. I didn’t say a word. I didn’t even pray. I just sat and soaked it up. I left the church feeling confident that — if nothing else — Catholics couldn’t be evil, because if they were, why would I have felt God so strongly? Then I stumbled upon the article that changed my life. It explained the Catholic teaching of the real presence in the Eucharist — in the very tabernacle where I’d felt God more strongly than ever before. I knew then that despite everything I’d been told, the Catholics were right. Not just “OK,” not just “another kind of Christian.” They were right. And I never looked back. Strop, 24, is a parishioner of All Saints in Lakeville. She and her husband, Spencer, have been married for four years and have three children. When she isn’t wrangling her toddlers, she works as a special education teacher and writes fantasy novels. It was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. It felt like Jesus himself was giving me a hug.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

“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.

By Kahlan Strop Why I am Catholic

A

EVENTS WHAT ARE SECULAR FRANCISCANS? – The Secular Franciscan fraternity at the Prior Lake Retreat Center invites you to a “come and see” meal with fellowship and fun on Sunday, September 18 from 3 to 5:30 pm. It’s FREE and everyone is welcome, including children! Join us at 16385 Saint Francis Lane, Prior Lake, MN. For more information, call Mary, 952-240-1604.

tmoreCommunity org/free Store Mary as Model for Mature Christians — Aug. 11: 7 p.m. at St. Thomas More, 1079 Summit Ave., St. Paul. Ahead of the feast of the Assumption, an evening of reflection all about Mary. moreCommunity org/mary “Immaculée Ilibagiza: Faith, Hope and Forgiveness” — Sept. 22: 6:30 p.m. at Shakopee Area Catholic School, 2700 17th Ave. E., Shakopee. Presentation by Ilibagiza, Rwandan American author and speaker. Followed by 8 p.m. book signing. $10 adults, $5 students. Organized by Sts. Joachim and Anne. SSjaCS org “Care For Creation Evening of Reflection: Mitakuye Oyasin — All My Relations” — Sept. 25: 6:30–8:00 p.m. at St. Timothy, 707 89th Ave. NE, Blaine. How does an American Indian spirituality inform the call of “Laudato Si’” to an integral ecological spirituality? Led by Shawn Phillips of Gichitwaa Kateri. ChurChofSttimothy Com “Ave Verum Corpus” — Oct. 14: 7 p.m. at St. Nicholas, 51 Church St., Elko New Market. The choir of St. Nicholas invites participants to experience Christ’s peaceful presence in a unique pairing of adoration with classical sacred music. Eucharistic adoration, classical sacred music, vespers and Benediction. Reconciliation will be available. StnCC net/ave verum CorpuS WORSHIP+RETREATS

Q You’ve written about that wonderful Rainer Maria Rilke poem: “have patience with everything unresolved in your heart … and live the questions.”

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FRIESEN CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14 something very spiritual. Cardinals are symbols of messengers of God. They are known to be those who have gone before. In the Church, we have cardinals. It’s the same idea: They wear red and are messengers of God. Creation and the liturgy and our faith and our life — it all comes together in those little moments.

Q “You’re on the right track. Hang onto that question.” That’s so affirming without being a convenient or simplistic answer. A He could’ve just given me a catechism answer, but my question was deeper. It was coming from grief, my relationship with my mother, all that was together. He heard my question really well and didn’t dismiss it. “Stay with it.”

CSCoeopen Com Aim Higher Foundation’s Back-to-School Ice Cream Celebration — Aug. 28: 1:30–3 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Paul, 239 Selby Ave., St. Paul. All Aim Higher scholars and their families are invited to celebrate the beginning of a new school year in Catholic schools. Ice cream, lawn games and fellowship.

AUGUST 11, 2022 THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 19

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PARISH EVENTS St. Thomas More Free Store — through Aug. 20: 1-3 p.m. at St. Thomas More Catholic School, 1065 Summit Ave., St. Paul. New and gently used clothing, books, toys and housewares to those in need. No income limit or identification required. Use alley school entrance, store in school basement.

Full Time, Work from Home, Executive Administrative Assistant: The American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) is seeking an Executive Administrative Assistant. The ACPeds is a national medical association of licensed physicians and healthcare professionals who specialize in the care of infants, children, and adolescents. For more details and an application, Please contact Dr. Jill Simons 352-376-1877 admin@acpeds.org

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A I know for sure that God is here. God is present. So, I don’t ask the question, “Where is God?” anymore. Somewhere along the way, I stopped asking the question of “where” and the only question I ask now is “how.” That’s all that matters at this point. And I might be surprised. It might be a bird! Those early years of wonder — the older I get, in some ways you come full circle. I’m still that kid in the lawn chair, looking up and saying, “How are you present in all of this?” That’s still the one thing that I know is true.

When my son Noah was 10 or 11, he started asking all these questions about sex and becoming a man. For whatever reason, I said, “Oh, you deserve time. We should take some time.” We went on a four-day fishing trip to Glacial Lakes State Park. While you fish, you talk. Or while you’re playing cards, you talk. We went so deep. Q What do you know for sure?

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CALENDAR DEADLINE: Noon Thursday, 14 days before the anticipated Thursday date of publication. We cannot guarantee a submitted event will appear in the calendar. Priority is given to events occurring before the next issue date. LISTINGS: Accepted are brief notices of upcoming events hosted by Catholic parishes and organizations. If the Catholic connection is not clear, please emphasize it in your submission. Included in our listings are local events submitted by public sources that could be of interest to the larger Catholic community. ITEMS MUST INCLUDE the following to be considered for publication: uTime and date of event uFull street address of event uDescription of event uContact information in case of questions TheCatholiCSpirit Com/CalendarSubmiSSionS CALENDAR submissions 952.934.1525 ChanhassenDT.com NOW PLAYING! Cut loose to the rockin’ rhythm of its super-charged Top 40 score! Proof of vaccination or negative test required. Mask use required. CathSpFL-C-2022.qxp_Layout 1 1/25/22 12:31 PM Pa DISPLAY ADVERTISING 651-291-4444 Email: classifiedads@archspm.org • Phone: 651-251-7714 • Fax: 651-291-4460 Next issue: 8-25-22 • Deadline: 3 p.m. 8-17-22 • Rates: $8 per line (35-40 characters per line) • Add a photo/logo for $25 Marketplace • Message Center Classified Ads Ask aboutour 3 special!time ACCESSIBILITY SOLUTIONS STAIR LIFTS –WHEELCHAIRELEVATORSLIFTS FOR HOMES, CHURCHES & SCHOOLS Arrow Lift (763) 786-2780 ANTIQUES TOP CASH PAID For Older Furniture • Advertising Signs • Beer Items • Old Clothes • Misc. (651) 227-2469 ATTORNEYS Edward F. Gross • Wills, Trusts, Probate, Estate Planning, Real Estate. Office at 35E & Roselawn Ave., St. Paul (651) 631-0616 CAR FOR SALE ’66 GTO $7000 txt vm 651-900-0480 CEILING MichaelsTEXTUREPainting Popcorn Removal & Knock Down Texture TextureCeilings.com (763) 757-3187 CEMETERY LOTS FOR SALE Resurrection Cemetery: (Dble Niche) DiscountedDIGU007@LIVE.COM$5,000.00 Resurrection: 1 crypt $17,195; 336-929-6853 Resurrection Cemetery: Section 7; lots 1, 2, 3, & 5; $3379 each. 208-720-0919 EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES Part-time Law Office Typist in West St. Paul, Minnesota: Produce legal documents including Wills, Trusts, Briefs, Pleadings, and Reports. Administrative support to attorneys and paralegals. In addition, a paralegal or legal assistant is also needed with similar duties but expanded to include research and composition of documents and other related duties. Contact John Trojack 651-451-9696. TrojackLaw.com

A For me, I’ve only had one question in my life, and it goes back to my mother’s death. She died of colon cancer when I was 14. I was forced to ask the question: Where are you? Where was she? Where was God in all of that? When I was in the military, away from home for the first time, I was lonesome on many levels and struggling with this idea of God being really present in the Eucharist. I didn’t get it anymore. I asked the priest how is God present in this little piece of bread. He said, “Well, you know, that is such a great question! And the Church thinks this is really important. So if the Real Presence is as good as the Church says it is, it can take it. Don’t settle for a cheap answer, Mickey. Stay with the question.”

Silent Weekend Retreat for Men and Women — Aug. 19-21 at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. “The Fifth Gospel: The Land of Jesus” presented by Father Charles Lachowitzer. Looks at the geography and towns during Jesus’ time, offering insight into his life and teachings. Mass, prayer and reflection on Scripture, where the scenery is part of the message. Suggested donation: $225. kingShouSe Com Women’s Silent Weekend Retreat, a Spiritual Potpourri — Sept. 9-11, Sept. 16-18, Sept. 20-22, Sept. 27-29, Oct. 11-13 or Nov. 8-10 at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. The Preaching Team will present reflections from the Our Father, St. Paul’s favorite hymns, the Call to Bear Fruit and Pinocchio. Deposit $50 per person. Suggested donation: $160. kingShouSe Com OTHER EVENTS CSCOE Open Golf Tournament — Aug. 22: 10:30 a.m. at Southview Country Club, 239 E. Mendota Road W., St. Paul. Annual golf tournament to support preschool-eighth grade Catholic schools in Minnesota. Includes 18 holes of golf, lunch, on-course fun and games, dinner and a brief awards program.

Nativity has its iconic Nativity County Fair every September, the St. Vincent de Paul Society to help people in need, and activities for engaged and married couples. The current pastor, Father Patrick Hipwell, is only the sixth pastor at Nativity. He came after the previous pastor, Father Peter Christensen, was named bishop of Superior, Wisconsin, in 2007. Bishop Christensen now serves as the bishop of Boise, Idaho. Another bishop has ties to Nativity. Bishop Richard Pates grew up in the parish, and was the celebrant for Michel’sMichelwedding.workedon the history of Nativity with another long-time parishioner, Cathy Brennan. Brennan and her husband, Jerry, joined right after they got married 51 years ago. She said a highlight for her was when the parish built and opened a perpetual eucharistic adoration chapel in 1994. She had a weekly holy hour all the way up to several months ago when the couple moved to Mendota Heights. “I think perpetual adoration is probably the best thing we ever did,” said Brennan, 73, who for 20 years went from 10-11 p.m. on Thursdays.

Students and Dominican sisters stand in front of Annunciation School in south Minneapolis in the 1930s.

St. Stanislaus

One “amazing part” of celebrating a parish centennial is realizing that virtually no one from the early days of the parish is alive today, said Father William Deziel, pastor since 2020. “This is a powerful testament that the faith has indeed been passed from one generation to the next, and an inspiration for us to actively pass on the faith in our time,” he said.

Three Twin Cities parishes celebrate their founding before and just after the turn of the 20th century

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

D ave Bredemus, 72, has been a parishioner of St. Stanislaus near St. Paul’s West Seventh Street for more than 40 of its 150 years, most of that time under the pastorship of the late Father John Clay, whose well-known phrase, “Smile, God loves you,” remains a kind of parish motto. “It’s an accepting place,” Bredemus said of the parish founded in 1872 to serve Czech and Polish immigrants in the working-class neighborhood. Fallen away Catholics, people of all incomes, races and ethnicities are welcome, Bredemus said. It is the fifth-oldest Catholic parish founded in St. Paul, with St. Michael, now in West St. Paul, founded in St. Paul in 1868. Father Clay, pastor from 1975 to 2019, set the tone in recent years by emphasizing reconciliation, counseling and other efforts to help people know the love of God, said Bredemus, now a trustee and the parish treasurer. Such efforts continue with a book club, prayer groups, several women’s groups, a men’s Bible study and stewardship committee, he said. A 10 a.m. Mass and reception Nov. 13 will help mark the anniversary, on the feast day of St. Stanislaus of Kostka, for whom the church was named, said Kim Myers, parish administrator. The first St. Stanislaus church, a wood-frame building, was replaced in 1886 by a brick church, and the old church became the parish school. As the parish grew, so did the school, and a four-room brick school was built in The1902.school closed in 1974 due to declining enrollment and is now the MacDonald Montessori School. Fire destroyed the church in 1934, and the current brick church was completed in 1941, despite financial strain from the Great Depression. Many parishioners continue to pitch in at “St. Stan’s,” Bredemus said, through prayer, donations and volunteering. And the parish is reaching out to a new wave of 30- to 50-year-olds moving into the neighborhood as they seek less expensive but historic housing, he said.

COURTESY ANNUNCIATION

A combined 350 years of faith

20 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT AUGUST 11, 2022 THELASTWORD

By Joe Ruff

The Catholic Spirit

Annunciation By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit T he Mass at Annunciation in south Minneapolis Oct. 1, 1922, was memorable beyond being the parish’s first. It took place in the storeroom of Minneapolis’ 13th Ward Municipal Tool Shed. A freestanding church wasn’t built for another 40 years, dedicated in 1963. Before then, Mass and other services were held at Community House on Pillsbury Avenue South, in a store at 54th and Garfield Streets, and in the building housing the parish school. Many roads in the area at that time were cow paths, “and you’d better watch where you were stepping when you walked somewhere,” said one parish pioneer, Edward Owstrowski, quoted in a 1979 “Annunciation History” by Joe Marble. First staffed by Dominican sisters, Annunciation School opened in August 1923, and today serves pre-K to eighth graders. The convent was built in 1949. The former Visitation parish in Minneapolis merged with Annunciation in 2013. Today, Annunciation has a thriving youth ministry, with 60 teenagers serving this summer on a reservation in South Dakota, said Teresa Thein, business administrator. “We know how to have fun, as well,” she said, with wiffle ball leagues, Tuesday evening pickleball games and the “huge celebration of Septemberfest.” Chris Frank, 67, and her husband, Mick, 69, have been parishioners of Annunciation for 35 years. Their three children attended the parish school and she served seven years in the school’s development office. Parish families she’s known over the years have been “guiding lights,” faith-filled Christians dedicated to their Catholic faith who loved Annunciation, she said. “You look up to them and hope you can mirror their beauty.”

From recalling the first Mass in a toolshed 100 years ago at Annunciation in south Minneapolis, to a founding pastor serving more than 20 years at Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul, to priests and parishioners serving a working-class West End neighborhood for 150 years at St. Stanislaus in St. Paul, three Twin Cities parishes are marking milestone anniversaries of their foundings. The Catholic Spirit honors them in the following stories.

COURTESY TIM LUCAS, ST. STANISLAUS St. Stanislaus church in St. Paul is marking 150 years.

Father Patrick Hipwell, pastor of Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul, elevates the chalice during the Easter Vigil Mass in 2018. Father John Powers, left, was then parochial vicar, and Father Allen Kuss, right, was serving at The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul.

Nativity of Our Lord By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit M ary Michel was eager to work on creating a history booklet for the 100th anniversary celebration of Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul. Her family has 90-plus years of connection to the parish. Her mother, Carol (Stupka) Reilly, grew up in the parish, receiving her first Communion in 1931. A photo of her and another first communicant first appeared in a booklet for the 75th anniversary and will again be in the 100th anniversary booklet soon to be published. A photo of two of Michel’s granddaughters in their first Communion dresses will be right next to the 1931 photo. “It’s been a lot of fun doing the research,” said Michel, 69, who also received her first Communion at Nativity in 1959, and later married her husband, Kelly, at Nativity in 1974. All six of their children grew up in the parish, and two sons still belong with their wives andThechildren.parishopened in 1922, with its founding pastor, Father Terrence Moore, celebrating the first Mass on Sept. 17. He served all the way to 1948, and died at the age of 78 after having overseen the building of both the school (1923) and church (1939). The K-8 school has flourished throughout the years, reaching a peak enrollment of 1,040 in the 1958-59 school year and having a current enrollment of 729. An addition to the school was built in 2008, using $11 million in donations to the Our Legacy Capital Campaign.