The Catholic Spirit - August 26, 2021

August 26, 2021 • Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

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BIG PICTURE Archbishop asks Catholics to voice ideas for local Church’s future at Synod Small Groups, starting next month

Maritza Flores, right, a parishioner of St. Odilia in Shoreview, is filmed Aug. 11 by Zach Jansen, left, in the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul for a video being produced for the Synod Parish Consultation with Small Groups, which will be held in parishes this fall. Jansen is the videographer and digital content specialist for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Office of Communications. Flores is the host for the small group series’ Spanish-language videos.

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INSIDE THE SYNOD: SPECIAL SMALL GROUP OVERVIEW ARCHBISHOP ON SMALL GROUPS’ IMPORTANCE 2A | 12 THINGS TO KNOW 3A | ROAD TO PASTORAL PLAN 4A

2022 ARCHDIOCESAN SYNOD

2A • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

All ears

AUGUST 26, 2021

Through upcoming Synod Parish Consultation with Small Groups, Archbishop Hebda wants to hear from everyone

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hen Archbishop Bernard Hebda launched the Archdiocesan Synod in 2019, he asked Catholics to reflect on the local Church’s strengths and challenges through 30 Prayer and Listening Events held across the 12-county area. More than 8,000 Catholics attended, providing more than 35,000 comments. Last August, Archbishop Hebda shared three focus areas that emerged from that feedback. Now, starting next month, parishes are hosting a series of six events for Catholics to “dive deeper” into those focus areas through small group discussions. Ideas from the small groups will inform the Synod Assembly, scheduled for June 3-5, 2022.

Recommendations from that Assembly will shape a pastoral letter Archbishop Hebda plans to release in November 2022, followed by a pastoral plan for the future of the archdiocese. The small groups (formally called “Parish Consultation with Small Groups”) — which begin as soon as Sept. 19 in some parishes — are crucial for the success of the Synod as it aims to strengthen the local Church, Archbishop Hebda said. He has asked every parish to participate, and he has invited all Catholics — no matter current Church involvement — to attend and share their ideas and experiences. The Catholic Spirit interviewed Archbishop Hebda Aug. 9 about his hopes and expectations for this next step of the Synod process. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Interview by Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit

Archbishop Bernard Hebda speaks with students at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul during a Pre-Synod Prayer and Listening Event Oct. 15, 2019. The Prayer and Listening Events paved the way for Synod Small Groups that parishes will host this fall.

SYNOD FOCUS AREAS Small groups will discuss the three focus areas that arose from feedback given in Prayer and Listening Events.

Focus area No. 1: Forming parishes that are in the service of evangelization.

Focus area No. 2: Forming missionary disciples who know Jesus’ love and respond to his call.

Focus area No. 3: Forming youth and young adults in and for a Church that is always young.

Q Next month, the Synod’s Parish

Consultation with Small Groups begins. This is something that you’ve been promoting heavily for months.

What is the goal? Why is this so important?

A When we were planning the Synod,

we wanted to get as much input as we possibly could from the faithful of the archdiocese. In my estimation, that’s the most important part of the Synod — is getting that kind of information from a broad segment of our archdiocese and giving all of the faithful an opportunity to participate.

So, when we were putting that together, we envisioned the first step, the Prayer and Listening Events, as gathering widely input from the faithful about possible topics. All we were doing was surfacing the issues at that point, and we were very pleased with the participation that we experienced, with over 8,000 people and 35,000 comments. It was pretty amazing and very helpful for me as I set forth three focus areas for the Synod.

So, I think anybody that attended our Prayer and Listening Events would see reflected in our focus areas much of what they had heard, because there was some repetition there, for sure. There were lots of issues that were great, but these three focus areas encompass a good bit of what it is that we had discussed.

I’m hopeful that people, having seen already the importance of their input, will want to continue. Obviously, it is challenging with COVID and the delays in moving forward with the parish

consultation. But this next step allows us to go deeper into those three focus areas.

So, the Prayer and Listening Events were broad. This, we’re hoping, is going to be deeper and not just identifying issues, but also beginning to propose some possible solutions or areas of action for this local Church in addressing those questions that were raised in the Prayer and Listening Events.

We’re hoping to get even more people participating in every one of our parishes and giving everybody that opportunity to have some input on the priorities for this archdiocese in the next three to five years, as we move forward. It’s a privileged opportunity. But for me, it’s also really significant — not only to be able to get those ideas, but also to make sure that we’re hearing from as many people as possible.

Even though our archdiocese is so big in terms of territory, we have many different kinds of parishes, many different kinds of environments. To hear from our small, rural parishes as well as our large, suburban parishes and our urban parishes will be a real blessing for this local Church.

Q Why were small groups chosen to be the best vehicle for that?

A Because we were hoping that as we’re trying to go deeper, that a small group allows for a real discussion, and the opportunity and also the expectation that people would be participating. You know, sometimes when you come to a larger group, people can be somewhat

passive. But in the small group setting, while nobody will be forced to participate, we’re hoping that the situation is one that allows people that opportunity to really offer their input and to hear what others in their own parish are thinking.

Pope Francis, as he speaks about synods and synodality, has spoken about how important it is that we be listeners.

So, we’re listening for the Holy Spirit, especially in what our brothers and sisters are saying. But we really have to have that opportunity to listen, and I’m pretty sure that a small group is the best means for doing that. It’s respectful of the input that people want to offer. At the same time, it also really gives people that chance not only to listen, but also to speak.

Q These events include more than

discussion. There’s going to be prayer and teaching as part of this. Tell me why.

A We got very positive feedback at the

time of the Prayer and Listening Events from the opportunities that people had to pray. We also stressed that there is no real synodality without the presence of the Holy Spirit. So, a prayer for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit has to be a part of what it is that we’re doing.

We also wanted to be able to focus discussions somewhat to give a context for what it is that we’re doing. I’m really grateful to the Synod Executive Committee for helping us put together teaching segments for each one of our

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Small Group Consultations. They’re short. They’re insightful. They get right to the point. But they’re also intended to stimulate discussion. They should be reminders for us of what we believe as Catholics, and then give us the opportunity to respond.

I’ve been really impressed with the work that’s been done. And I think that having that opportunity for us to have videotaped teaching segments gives us some assurance that we’re all going to be on the same page, we’re all going to have the same foundation as we address the questions that will be placed before us.

Q Let’s talk about the focus areas,

which you announced last August. The first is “Forming parishes that are in the service of evangelization.”

A It really is a very, very direct response

to what we heard in the Prayer and Listening Events. We had so many people that spoke about the pain that they experience as they see people drifting from the Church, as they see their own family members who no longer participate fully in the life of the Church, and as they recognize that so many of their neighbors have no affiliation at all — that they’re in that group called “nones.” Certainly, people have that sense that what we have as Catholics is something that we need to share — and that Jesus has asked us to share.

When we were listening at the Prayer and Listening Events, we heard that very strong emphasis on evangelization. Since the parish is where most people have an experience of the Church, it seemed natural that we would speak about that evangelization in terms of parish activity.

We also were encouraged by a document that came out from the Congregation for the Clergy last year that spoke particularly about parishes and SYNOD CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

2022 ARCHDIOCESAN SYNOD

AUGUST 26, 2021

WHAT IS ‘SYNODALITY’?

Q “Synodality” is not a word we commonly use. How do you define it?

A It is a somewhat strange word for us, but I use “synodality” more now because other people are

talking about it, especially the pope. It just describes the way in which the Church can operate that’s based on prayer, consultation and discernment. The Holy Father, when he talks about “synodality” or the “synodal way of operating,” he talks about “the Church on journey together” and requiring that prayerful listening to the Holy Spirit through one another. Synodality was more present in the early Church and has always been part of the practice of the eastern churches.

There are lots of different ways of the Church being able to act, but the Holy Father is calling us to rediscover that in the Latin Church in a way that encompasses more broadly the contribution of the laity.

We’re at a time when our laity are very well educated, are very committed to the Church, very interested in seeing their Church stabilize and grow. We see the way in which the Lord continues to use laypeople to further the work of the Church. To be able to embrace a very broad synodality that includes our laypeople as well as our priests and consecrated men and women only makes sense in 2021.

SYNOD CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE evangelization (“The Pastoral Conversion of the Parish Community in the Service of the Evangelizing Mission of the Church,” July 20, 2020). That was after we had already done our consultation.

For me, that was a bit of a confirmation that was a great topic for us. We know that people who have positive experiences of their parishes are more likely to have a positive view of the Church. So, to be able to strengthen our parishes in that work of evangelization is a real goal of this whole process.

Q The second focus area is “Forming

missionary disciples to respond to his call.”

A Once again, at the Prayer and

Listening Events, we heard so many people talk about their desire personally to go deeper in their relationship with Jesus Christ. They spoke about how much they want the Church to offer opportunities to learn how to pray and to go deeper in their prayer.

As I mentioned earlier, so many people commented on the way in which they were able to pray at the Prayer and Listening Events, and that that opportunity for “lectio divina” — to pray with Scripture — was new for some of our faithful. That was something that was very positive, but it also reminded them of the hunger that they have for that personal relationship with Jesus Christ and recognizing that it’s when they know Jesus and they feel his presence, that they feel most impelled to go out and to serve.

It seemed like a flip side of the focus area on parish evangelization. It’s looking also at how we can nourish individual parishioners so that they’re able to participate in that life of the Church at the parish level, so that they’re able to be the catalyst for evangelization. They certainly are very related, the one to the other.

Q The third focus area is “Forming

youth and young adults in and for a Church that is always young.” Of the three topics, this seems the most specific.

A As we’re planning for the future, it’s

not surprising that we would look to the young. Once again, it’s a response to what we heard at the Prayer and Listening Events, as people spoke in particular about the challenges that we have already had in really capturing or keeping our young people engaged in the Church. There was a desire to know the

best thinking, the best practices, so that we’re able to really draw forth the gifts of our young people, whether it be a high school age or below that, or young adults.

At each one of our Prayer and Listening Events, there was a good bit of discussion about the importance of our Church doing a better job of reaching out to youth and to young adults.

Q Sometimes “missionary

discipleship” and “evangelization” can be reduced to Church buzzwords. Do you have concrete ideas about what achieving this would look like? Are these goals individual or corporate, of the full body of Christ?

A It’s both. That’s really where those

two focus areas come in. We want to have a better sense for where we stand in nourishing individuals. So that’s that missionary discipleship and how we give them opportunities to serve. The ideas aren’t coming from me at this point. The ideas need to come from the small groups. And I am confident that the Lord will be speaking through the people who come and giving us really concrete ideas for how we might be of greater service to individuals as they strive to be disciples of Jesus and look for opportunities to serve. I am confident that we’re going to get great ideas from those who come for the small group about that in particular.

Q And so why are these focus areas key to the future of our local Church?

A When we think about the future and

look at the challenges that we’re facing at the moment, the question about youth and young adults has to be something that we’re discussing. Statistics tell us that nationally, and indeed, globally, that there is somewhat of a rupture, in that we’re losing young people. The average age at which a young person decides not to continue in the Church is 13. So, the importance of us being able to address that matter in particular is crucial.

We also know that even our young adults who are on fire with the faith often have a hard time plugging into a parish after they complete college, or after they’ve had a positive experience at a Catholic university or Newman Center at a public university. There’s still an obstacle for them going further. We’re losing too many of our young adults who have such great gifts to give to the Church. It’s always part of God’s plan that they would be involved and engaged, and we want to make sure that that happens. So just in terms for the

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Synod small groups: 12 things to know What can participants expect when they arrive at their parishes for the Synod small groups? A carefully crafted process, for starters. That’s because this part of the Synod process is critical, said Jean Stolpestad, the archdiocese’s director of Marriage, Family and Life and a member of the Synod Executive Committee who has been co-leading small group trainings since February.

“This parish process is probably one of the most important aspects of our synodal process,” she said. “This is where we get the broadest participation and really understand those experiences that people are having. What we share in these small groups is what we’re going to be talking about in the Synod (Assembly).”

Catholics need to attend these small groups and share their ideas to ensure a complete discussion in the Synod Assembly, she said.

What follows are a dozen things to know about the Synod small groups.

1. Their formal name is Parish Consultation Process with Small Groups. Look for that on posters and promotional materials.

2. They’re a series of six small group sessions, about two hours each. People are encouraged to attend the full series, but are invited to attend whatever sessions they can.

3. The topics are the three focus areas Archbishop Hebda identified last year following data analysis of information from 30 Prayer and Listening Events held 2019-2020. (See sidebar on page 2A.) Sessions 1 and 2 are on Forming missionary disciples, Sessions 3 and 4 are on Forming parishes, and Sessions 5 and 6 are on Forming youth and young adults.

4. Every parish has been asked to host the small group sessions sometime between Sept. 19 and Nov. 14. Some are offering multiple options to meet (for example, a daytime and evening session). If you haven’t received information about your parish’s small groups, check your parish’s website or bulletin, or contact your pastor or a parish staff member, such as a director of religious education.

5. Each small group session format is guided by a video that includes prayer, a short teaching and personal testimonies related to elements of future of the Church, we really have to be passing on the faith to our youth and our young adults.

Certainly, the question of evangelization more broadly responds to the need in our society for an encounter with Jesus Christ. Helping people to come to know the “joy of the Gospel,” as Pope Francis calls it, is part of our imperative. Really, what we’re doing engaging in the work of evangelization is just being faithful to what Jesus has asked us to do. So, in every age, we have to figure out the ways in which we do that.

The faith, sadly, isn’t passed on through the genes. It’s only when each generation takes it seriously to pass on the faith to the next, and not only to young people, but to peers, that we have the opportunity to see the Church grow.

We know what a great gift the faith has been for us individually. We want other people to have that experience as well.

Q There are Catholics who think the

Synod should be addressing hot-button issues, such as same-sex marriage or ordaining women as priests. Could you speak to why these and similar topics aren’t part of the Parish Consultation with Small Groups?

a specific focus area. The format features two, half-hour allotments for small group discussion on questions related to that session’s topics.

Although the sessions use video, they are designed for in-person groups. At the sessions, participants will sit at tables of eight or fewer to make sure everyone can share.

6. No “pre-work” is necessary, and no homework will be assigned. “The reason that we’re not having any pre-work or homework is so we can really rely on the inspiration and influence of the Holy Spirit in our discussions,” Stolpestad said.

7. At the end of each topic, participants are given three minutes to complete an individual feedback form on which they can prioritize ideas for consideration and concisely write their own best idea for addressing the topic.

8. Members of the Synod Executive Committee (a group of lay women and men and clergy, including archdiocesan directors and volunteers with a variety of ministry expertise) have been training parish leaders since February on the basics of the Parish Consultation with Small Groups. More than 1,200 local Catholics attended one of more than 60 “baseline” trainings.

9. Training is underway for Parish Small Group Process Managers. Small Group Process Managers will attend one of 32 scheduled trainings and lead a core team of parishioners, who will help organize the Synod small groups at their parishes.

10. During the small groups, each table will be led by a trained table facilitator who will attend one of 32 trainings scheduled for this fall. The facilitator will help the discussion stay focused and fruitful.

11. A trained table scribe will collect feedback forms following each session and upload data for Archbishop Hebda. That information will be shared at the Deanery Consultation with Parish Representatives in early 2022, which will further hone ideas for the Synod Assembly in June 2022.

(See Synod 2022 infographic on page 4A.) 12. English and Spanish versions are available for all six sessions. All trainings have been offered in English or Spanish. Parishes determine the languages in which they’ll offer the sessions.

— Maria Wiering

A From the beginning, we were trying to

figure out what things we can do to strengthen the local Church: What are the things within our purview where we’re able to make a difference? So, it’s not pie-in-the-sky hopes, but rather it’s something that’s much more concrete.

We also have a basic trust level that the Lord continues to provide for his Church, and so we want to be completely consistent with the Magisterium, and certainly with the teachings of our Holy Father and his predecessors. We want to be in communion. That’s one of the goals for synodality — that we’re in communion with the Church universal.

We want to be able to really make sure that we’re consistent with what the Church teaches, and that we’re addressing things over which we have some control.

Certainly, we never want to impede discussion, and there are a lot of opportunities for discussion in the Church. But what makes a synod different than general discussions is that we want an action plan that emerges from what we’re discussing. That really requires that the matter that’s discussed SYNOD CONTINUED ON PAGE 4A

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is something that’s within our sphere of influence, and that we’re going to be able to take concrete steps to strengthen the Church based on what comes out of our Synod.

Q You’ve asked all parishes in the

archdiocese to clear their schedules to host these Synod small groups this fall, which is a big ask of pastors and their staffs. Meanwhile, you’re asking Catholics to attend their parish’s small groups, six two-hour sessions over six weeks. That means adjusting schedules, sacrificing work and leisure, getting childcare and overcoming whatever other personal hurdles there might be to attend. Is this an extraordinary request?

A It really is a huge ask of pastors, staffs

and parishioners. We realize that. We also think it’s a golden opportunity that people are going to want to participate in. So, we want to make sure that every pastor is giving his parishioners the opportunity to engage in this.

It’s also not the first time that the Church has done something like this.

Some of our older members could speak about RENEW, for example, as a program that would take place throughout the archdiocese, or in many parishes of the diocese, that asks people to make an exceptional gift of their time and their energy for a limited period of time — maybe for all of Lent. Many parishes already do a Lenten program where they ask people to make a commitment for that duration. This is not that different than that.

And the amazing part is, many people

2022 ARCHDIOCESAN SYNOD still speak favorably about the experience they had when they were asked to be that generous with their time. Our parishes have small groups that came out of those experiences decades ago that are still operating, because it’s been so helpful for those people. We’re hoping to provide that same kind of opportunity.

It is a huge commitment on the part of each parish and certainly a commitment on the part of our faithful. But there seems to be enough energy that people are going to want to carry this forward, and we’re trying to make it as easy as we can. Our Synod Executive Committee has done a phenomenal job in trying to help pastors in this area, training laypeople in each parish to carry the ball forward. I found that to be very helpful, very consistent with our model of collaboration between clergy and the laity, and allowing our laypeople to really use those skills that God has given to them. We’re hoping that that’s going to be the case. We want the pastor to be present to really have that same experience because we want his input as well. But we’re hoping that the bulk of the work actually is something that lay leaders will be willing to accept.

AUGUST 26, 2021 with frequency or with passion and to look at the ideas that come forward.

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We’re training scribes and have really spent some time preparing the forms for feedback. We’re hoping that the information that we get back is something that’s very helpful in going forward, in preparing the topics that will be presented at the Synod Assembly next Pentecost.

Q And that’s key — the Synod is

small groups are successful?

designed to take the discussion and discernment from the small groups into deanery gatherings and then to a three-day Synod Assembly next June 3-5, Pentecost weekend. How can people feel confident that their ideas are going to make this contribution in time and energy matter when it comes to the Assembly — and the pastoral letter and plan after that?

A I think there’ll be two things. One, it

A We already saw how valuable was the

Q What will indicate to you that these would be that we’re able to get broad input that goes deep. We’ll be looking both at the number of people that participate, and at the number of parishes that are able to do this successfully.

And then the proof will be in the pudding. It will be in the quality of what comes forward from these discussions.

input that came from the Prayer and Listening Events — at least I did, and those who were working with me. To be able to see areas of commonality in discussions in parishes around the archdiocese was extremely enlightening.

My suspicion is that we’ll be looking for those same kinds of experiences now — to see those things that are discussed

We’re trusting that the Holy Spirit is guiding this whole process and using all of us as instruments. As we come forward in prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to guide us and to guide the Synod process through those who are participating, I’m trusting that the Holy Spirit is going to shine the light on different avenues for us to move forward. This goes deeper than what we’ve done before. It should be surfacing ideas for the Synod Assembly, and allow people to prayerfully discern at that point what they think have to be the priorities, or those actions that should be taken first, as we strive to strengthen our Church.

We’ve been blessed in the past with people who have really helped us to assemble the data that comes in to analyze it. I have on my windowsill in my office a stack from the last Prayer and Listening Events that’s probably 10 inches of data that we have. And I’m trusting that the data that will come in from the Small Group Consultation will be equally helpful as we prepare for the Synod Assembly at Pentecost.

My thought is that we’ll be working between the time of the Small Group Consultation to the Synod Assembly and

putting together a series of propositions that reflect what we heard in the Small Group Consultation. Then we’ll allow people who are representing our parishes and this local Church to prayerfully discern which of those propositions they’re in agreement with, how do we prioritize them, and how do we move this from the realm of the theoretical to the realm of the practical.

August 26, 2021 • Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis • 1B

Archbishop Hebda: Vaccine exemption should not require clergy verification

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit

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ROBERT CUNNINGHAM | FOR THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

‘BEARY’ EXCITED FOR SCHOOL Students at Highland Catholic School in St. Paul dance to the Teddy Bear Band Aug. 18 as the community celebrates the 10th anniversary of the school’s preschool program. Cake and a preschool open house also were part of the festivities. More than 90 Catholic elementary and high schools are preparing for a new year, with Highland Catholic welcoming half of its K-8 students Aug. 30, and the other half Aug. 31. Preschoolers start Sept. 7.

Schools cautious as they prepare for third year with COVID-19

By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit

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atholic schools across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis are readying their own, unique COVID-19 plans, with broad guidance from archdiocesan school officials, as they prepare to open their doors to a new school year.

They are using experience gained from a year of pandemic precautions while offering in-person learning, and buoyed by high vaccination rates in Minnesota. At the same time, schools are carefully monitoring spread of the highly contagious delta variant of COVID-19, and they are prepared to do what is

necessary to keep students, teachers and staff safe.

“You know what, St. Agnes did a great job last year, and we expect you to do the same this year,” Kevin Ferdinandt, headmaster of St. Agnes School in St. Paul, said of the vibe he has picked up from parents, teachers and staff as they get ready for an Aug. 30 school start.

Among the more than 90 Catholic elementary and high schools in the archdiocese, some adjusted their schedules last year to provide natural quarantine periods after holidays, and at some schools, some classes were quarantined at home when individual cases of COVID-19 were reported.

PLEASE TURN TO COVID SCHOOLS ON PAGE 5B

Parishes, relief organizations in archdiocese help earthquake-stricken Haiti

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit

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hen a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck southwestern Haiti Aug. 14, and two days later Tropical Storm Grace slammed into the country, Haitians hadn’t fully recovered from disasters years earlier that were compounded by government instability and rising crime, friends of Haiti in the Twin Cities said.

“As soon as one tragedy happens, there’s not much time for recovery and healing and it’s the next tragedy, so they’re still definitely in shock and (have) post-traumatic stress from these things,” said Jimmy Dunn, outreach director at Annunciation in Minneapolis and president of the nonprofit Mission

Haiti Inc. As Haiti begins to rebuild after these latest disasters, leaders at parishes and relief organizations in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis are helping their Haitian friends, just as they helped after the earthquake that hit the country in 2010, followed by Hurricane Matthew in 2016.

Many provide annual support as well, and said they regret that the country’s instability prevents them from traveling right now to help.

More than 2,200 people have died in Haiti since the Aug. 14 earthquake, whose epicenter was near the coast of the country’s southern peninsula, about 80 miles west of the capital, Port-auPrince. The tropical storm that followed flooded parts of the battered country

with up to 10 inches of rain. As of Aug. 22, 344 people remained missing, 12,268 were injured and almost 53,000 homes were destroyed in the quake, according to The Associated Press.

While the death toll and damage from the earthquake were lower than the government-estimated 316,000 killed and more than $7 billion in damage in the 2010 earthquake, which hit densely populated Port-au-Prince, Haitians were also reeling from the July 7 assassination of their president, Jovenel Moise, and rising gang crime. Also, COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths have been escalating in Haiti, according to the Pan American Health Organization.

The U.S. State Department has advised PLEASE TURN TO HAITI ON PAGE 6B

Catholic has a right to seek an exemption from a vaccine requirement, but that decision shouldn’t depend on a priest’s confirmation, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said in a letter to priests Aug. 20.

He said that several priests have asked him for guidance on requests for letters in support of a religious exemption from COVID-19 vaccine requirements.

“It is an individual and personal decision whether to receive a COVID vaccine, and although the Church does support the right of a person to seek an exemption from vaccine requirements on the basis of their conscience, that is an individual decision that should not be dependent upon an attestation by a member of the clergy,” he said.

He encouraged priests to use requests for vaccine exception letters as an opportunity to share the Church’s teaching on vaccines in general, and the COVID-19 vaccines in particular. He directed the priests to the “Note on the morality of using some anti-Covid-19 vaccines” issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in December that explained that the COVID-19 vaccine “may be taken in good conscience, while noting that, as a general rule, vaccination must always be voluntary.”

He also pointed to Pope Francis’ recent video urging Catholics to get vaccinated as an act of love for others, and resources at the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ website, archspm.org.

Priests who are asked for a religious exemption letter should ask the person to confirm that their employer or school is actually requiring a letter, Archbishop Hebda said.

“I am not presently aware of concrete situations locally where a school or employer is actually requiring a letter from a pastor or member of the clergy to support a request for an exemption,” he said. “In most cases, those over 18 only need to certify that they have an issue of conscience.”

If pastors do have a “concrete request” where such a letter is actually required, Archbishop Hebda referred them to Father Michael Tix, episcopal vicar for Clergy and Parish Services.

Father Tix told The Catholic Spirit that Catholics seeking religious exemption should first confirm with their employer or institution that the employer is indeed seeking a religious exemption letter, then bring their PLEASE TURN TO EXEMPTION REQUESTS ON PAGE 5B

FATHER NOLAN REMEMBERED 5B | AFGHANISTAN COLLAPSE 7B | FIVE TEACHERS, ONE FAMILY 8B \ POLITICIZING EUCHARIST? 10B

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PAGETWO NEWS notes Sister Amata Miller, a member of Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, was among three Lifetime Achievement Award recipients from the Leadership Conference of Women Religious Aug. 13. Sister Amata, 89, is a professor emeritus of economics at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, and founding director of the university’s Myser Initiative on Catholic Identity.

A native of Czechoslovakia who fled persecution by that country’s communist regime and taught theology, ministered in parishes, and served as a military chaplain in Minnesota for nearly 30 years before being appointed a Czech Republic bishop, died Aug. 10 in California. Bishop Emeritus Peter Esterka was 85. His funeral was Aug. 20 at Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. Bishop Esterka came to Minnesota in 1967 and taught at then-College of St. Catherine, now St. Catherine University, in St. Paul until 1993.

He also wrote a book, “Never Say Comrade,” about his escape. He was ordained a bishop in 1999 and ministered to the Czech community in the U.S., Canada and Australia even after he retired in 2013.

TOM HALDEN | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

GREAT MINNESOTA GET-TOGETHER Patrick Schoen, far left, the Minnesota State Fair’s human resources manager and parishioner of Transfiguration in Oakdale, smiles as Archbishop Bernard Hebda blesses the St. Paul fairgrounds Aug. 24 ahead of the fair’s Aug. 26 opening day. The archbishop was invited to bless the grounds by Jerry Hammer, executive vice president and general manager of the Minnesota State Fair and a parishioner of nearby Holy Childhood in St. Paul. The Great Minnesota Get-Together runs through Labor Day, Sept. 6. The fair was canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been the subject of controversy this year for not requiring attendees to show proof of COVID-19 vaccines or wear face coverings. Fair leaders are encouraging people to take pandemic precautions, but is not mandating certain actions. About 20 people associated with the fair were present for the Aug. 24 blessing.

Part of Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Higher Ground homeless shelter and assistance center in Minneapolis was named Aug. 24 in honor of Bill and Joan Reiling, decades-long supporters of the nonprofit organization that helps those in need.

Bill Reiling founded Sunrise Banks. He and his wife, members of Lumen Christi in St. Paul, helped create Catholic Charities’ Dorothy Day Center in downtown St. Paul about 40 years ago and their support has never waned. Once known as the Fig House in Minneapolis — until Catholic Charities purchased it with help from the Reilings in the 1980s — the building now is named the William and Joan Reiling Residences.

Our Lady of Peace Hospice in St. Paul, the only hospice home in Minnesota to accept Medicare but otherwise delivers its services free, is celebrating its 80th anniversary and kicking off a $4 million fundraiser for an expansion that will allow it to offer private rooms, rather than double occupancy. In the early days, patients were cared for in open wards, but double rooms were created later to provide more privacy. Archbishop Bernard Hebda blessed the Franciscan Clarist sisters and others who work at the hospice, as well as patients and the facility’s expansion efforts, when he visited Aug. 12.

St. Therese in Deephaven is hosting a nine-day exhibit of posters created by Blessed Carlo Acutis of Italy depicting miracles of the Eucharist from around the world. Bishop Andrew Cozzens will celebrate a 5 p.m. Mass as part of the exhibit’s first day Sept. 11, followed by family games, a barbecue and an outdoor movie. Each day through Sept. 19 will feature something special, from a speaker to a picnic, Mass, confession and adoration of the Eucharist and a pancake breakfast. See details at st-therese.org.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

JOYFULLY JESUIT From left, David Herr, Benjamin Jansen and Min Keun Park react near the end of their First Vow Profession Mass for the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) Aug. 14 at St. Thomas More in St. Paul. These men, and six others, spent two years in formation as novices in St. Paul for the Midwest Province before making their first profession.

As summer transitions into fall, The Catholic Spirit asks, “What has creation taught you about the Creator?” Send responses of 200 words or less to CatholicSpirit@archspm.org with “Readers Respond” in the subject line. Your reflection might be included in a future edition of The Catholic Spirit.

PRACTICING Catholic On the Aug. 20 “Practicing Catholic” show, Maria Wiering, editor-in-chief of The Catholic Spirit, interviews Archbishop Bernard Hebda, who encourages archdiocesan faithful to participate in parish small groups this fall as part of the Archdiocesan Synod process. Also featured are Father Joseph Bambenek, who discusses the power of prayer and what it has meant for the Synod, and Allison Spies fr om the archdiocese’s Archives and Records Management, who describes some favorite items and what makes for a good archival donation. Listen each week on Fridays at 9 p.m., Saturdays at 1 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. on Relevant Radio 1330 AM. Find interviews after they have aired at practicingcatholicshow.com, soundcloud.com/practicingcatholic or tinyurl.com/practicingcatholic.

The Catholic Spirit is published semi-monthly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

United in Faith, Hope and Love

Vol. 26 — No. 16 MOST REVEREND BERNARD A. HEBDA, Publisher TOM HALDEN, Associate Publisher MARIA C. WIERING, Editor-in-Chief JOE RUFF, News Editor

COVID-19 precautions are being taken this year for the Cities 97.1 Basilica Block Party. As of Aug. 20, proof of full vaccination or a negative test result for the virus will be required to attend the Sept. 10 and Sept. 11, 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. music festival on the grounds of the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis. Face masks are encouraged, hand sanitizing stations will be in place and high-touch areas will be routinely sanitized. Anyone experiencing COVID-19 symptoms is asked not to attend. Full details of the protocols and ticket policy are available at basilicablockparty.org. The annual event wasn’t held last year because of the pandemic. The Block Party raises funds for the century-old Basilica’s restoration and historic preservation.

New labs for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) at Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield, Cretin-Derham Hall in St. Paul and Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Minneapolis are among facility changes that will greet students at 13 Catholic high schools in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Totino-Grace in Fridley has new synthetic turf in its stadium rather than grass, with a video scoreboard replacing an analog version installed more than 40 years ago. St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights has updated buildings original to the school’s founding in 1965, including Founders Hall, which has larger classrooms and new green space at its entrance. Learn more at TheCatholicSpirit.com.

As fall approaches, The Catholic Spirit is taking a three-week publication break. Watch for the next issue in mailboxes Sept. 16. Meanwhile, keep an eye on developments on the web at TheCatholicSpirit.com.

CORRECTION A story about the St. Joseph Oratory of Mount Royal in the July 29 edition incorrectly stated the canonization year for St. Andre Bessette.

Pope Benedict XVI canonized him in 2010.

A story in the Aug. 12 edition about artist Mark Balma’s frescoes incorrectly described the direction of Terni, Italy, from Rome. It is north.

It also incorrectly stated when Balma’s frescoes will ship to Italy. That is expected to take place in September.

Materials credited to CNS copy­righted by Catholic News Service.

All other materials copyrighted by The Cath­olic Spirit Newspaper.

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AUGUST 26, 2021

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 3B

FROMTHESYNODASSISTANTDIRECTOR ONLY JESUS | FATHER JOSEPH BAMBENEK

Synod small groups: focused on our future

M

y niece recently headed back to college. The State Fairgrounds gates open the day this paper arrives in homes.

These are among the signs that the long-awaited fall 2021 is coming quickly. I say long-awaited because life in our parishes and schools, we pray, will be back to a new normal after Labor Day. Soon thereafter the Synod Parish Consultation Process with Small Groups will begin at each parish.

Archbishop Hebda has repeatedly shared how he views it as providential that we will emerge from the strange past 18 months journeying together as an archdiocese, focused on our shared future, through the Synod Small Groups.

The archbishop has asked my brother pastors to set aside six weeks on each parish’s adult faith formation calendar solely for Synod Small Groups (with the one exception being sacramental preparation). He is also asking all ongoing small groups to hit pause on their usual materials for six weeks to use the Synod materials instead. Archbishop Hebda made those extraordinary requests desiring that adult parishioners (high school students are welcome, too) across the archdiocese focus on “synodality” — engagement, prayerful listening and discernment — to address issues crucial to our Church.

In recent months, more than a thousand volunteers have been preparing for the Synod Small Groups.

There are teams developing the materials, which Archbishop Hebda personally approves. At each parish, trained volunteers are making the necessary arrangements for the Small Groups. They are also recruiting and coordinating volunteers who will be

Grupos pequeños del Sínodo: centrados en nuestro future

M

i sobrina regresó recientemente a la universidad. Las puertas de State Fairgrounds se abren el día en que este periódico llega a los hogares.

Estos son algunos de los signos de que el tan esperado otoño de 2021 se acerca rápidamente. Digo muy esperado porque la vida en nuestras parroquias y escuelas, oramos, volverá a una nueva normalidad después del Día del Trabajo. Poco después, el Proceso de Consulta del Sínodo con Grupos Pequeños comenzará en cada parroquia. El Arzobispo Hebda ha compartido repetidamente cómo él ve como providencial que saldremos de los extraños últimos 18 meses viajando juntos como una arquidiócesis, enfocados en nuestro futuro compartido, a través de los Grupos Pequeños del Sínodo.

El arzobispo ha pedido a mis hermanos pastores que reserven seis semanas en el calendario de formación en la fe de adultos de cada parroquia únicamente para los Grupos Pequeños del Sínodo (con la única excepción de la preparación sacramental). También está pidiendo a todos los grupos pequeños en curso que hagan una pausa en sus materiales habituales durante 6 semanas para usar los materiales del Sínodo en su lugar. El

The Synod Small Groups provide each of us a first-in-a-lifetime opportunity to give this kind of input to our archbishop and, along the way, to deepen our relationship with God and with others in our parish. trained to facilitate the discussions and report back the results. The preparation process has been an encouraging example of collaboration, as bishops and priests have worked with lay volunteers and archdiocesan staff members to prepare an excellent experience for tens of thousands of Catholics this fall — hopefully including you.

What will that experience be like? Everyone in the archdiocese, including those who might have stepped away from the Church in recent years, is invited to come to their parish and participate in small groups of up to eight people during six weekly sessions. Two sessions will be devoted to each of the three focus areas that Archbishop Hebda announced at this time last year in these pages: 1. Forming parishes that are in the service of evangelization.

2. Forming missionary disciples who know Jesus’ love and respond to his call.

Arzobispo Hebda hizo esas solicitudes extraordinarias deseando que los feligreses adultos (los estudiantes de secundaria también son bienvenidos) de toda la arquidiócesis se centren en la “sinodalidad” — el compromiso, la escucha en oración y el discernimiento — para abordar temas cruciales para nuestra Iglesia.

En los últimos meses, más de mil voluntarios se han estado preparando para los Grupos Pequeños del Sínodo.

Hay equipos que desarrollan los materiales, que el Arzobispo Hebda aprueba personalmente. En cada parroquia, voluntarios capacitados están haciendo los arreglos necesarios para los Grupos Pequeños. También están reclutando y coordinando voluntarios que serán capacitados para facilitar las discusiones e informar los resultados. El proceso de preparación ha sido un ejemplo alentador de colaboración, ya que obispos y sacerdotes han trabajado con voluntarios laicos y miembros del personal arquidiocesano para preparar una experiencia excelente para decenas de miles de católicos este otoño, con suerte incluyéndote a ti. ¿Cómo será esa experiencia? Todos en la arquidiócesis, incluidos aquellos que podrían haberse alejado de la Iglesia en los últimos años, están invitados a venir a su parroquia y participar en pequeños grupos de hasta 8 personas durante 6 sesiones semanales. Se dedicarán dos sesiones a cada una de las tres áreas de enfoque que el arzobispo Hebda anunció en este momento el año pasado en estas páginas:

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

Each session will cover two subtopics of a focus area. For example, Session 3 will discuss how we can make parishes more welcoming and how to better collaborate in parish ministry, and in session 5, we will engage on the subtopics of supporting parents as the primary educators of their children, and what our parishes and schools can do to help the young know and love Jesus.

The sessions are video-based, starting with a welcome from Archbishop Hebda and an opportunity to pray together. Then the first subtopic will be teedup through a teaching, often followed by testimonies of local Catholics sharing their personal experience on the subtopic. The majority of the session is spent in the small group dialogue that follows, as the video becomes a countdown clock. The same sequence occurs for the second subtopic. At the end of each subtopic, everyone can provide the archbishop with written feedback in the form of prioritizing ideas for consideration while also concisely sharing their own best idea. The prioritization and best ideas will feed into subsequent rounds of consultation at the deanery and archdiocesan levels. Using all this input, Archbishop Hebda will set pastoral priorities to help all of us in the archdiocese grow in unity and more vigorously proclaim the good news of Jesus.

The Synod Small Groups provide each of us a firstin-a-lifetime opportunity to give this kind of input to our archbishop and, along the way, to deepen our relationship with God and with others in our parish. As you plan your fall calendar, please include participation in the Synod Small Groups; and even now pray for the Synod. I look forward to journeying with you!

1. Formar parroquias al servicio de la evangelización.

2. Formar discípulos misioneros que conozcan el amor de Jesús y respondan a su llamado.

3. Formar jóvenes y adultos jóvenes en y para una Iglesia siempre joven.

Cada sesión cubrirá dos subtemas de un área de enfoque. Por ejemplo, la sesión 3 discutirá cómo podemos hacer que las parroquias sean más acogedoras y cómo colaborar mejor en el ministerio parroquial y en la sesión 5 abordaremos los subtemas de apoyar a los padres como los principales educadores de sus hijos y lo que nuestras parroquias y escuelas puede hacer para ayudar a los jóvenes a conocer y amar a Jesús.

Las sesiones se basan en videos, comenzando con la bienvenida del Arzobispo Hebda y la oportunidad de orar juntos. Luego, el primer subtema será elaborado a través de una enseñanza, a menudo seguida por testimonios de católicos locales que comparten su experiencia personal sobre el subtema. La mayor parte de la sesión se pasa en el diálogo de grupos pequeños que sigue, ya que el video se convierte en un reloj de cuenta regresiva. La misma secuencia ocurre para el segundo subtema. Al final de cada subtema, todos pueden proporcionar al arzobispo comentarios por escrito en la forma de priorizar posibles ideas para avanzar y al mismo tiempo compartir de manera concisa su mejor idea. La priorización y las mejores ideas se incorporarán a las rondas posteriores de consulta a nivel

de decanato y arquidiocesano. Con todo este aporte, el arzobispo Hebda establecerá prioridades pastorales para ayudarnos a todos en la arquidiócesis a crecer en unidad y proclamar con más vigor las buenas nuevas de Jesús.

Los Grupos Pequeños del Sínodo nos brindan a cada uno de nosotros la primera oportunidad en la vida de brindar este tipo de aportes a nuestro Arzobispo y, en el camino, profundizar nuestra relación con Dios y con los demás en nuestra parroquia.

Al planificar su calendario de otoño, incluya la participación en los grupos pequeños del Sínodo; todos ustedes, por favor oren por el Sínodo. ¡Espero poder viajar contigo!

OFFICIAL Archbishop Bernard Hebda has announced the following appointments in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis:

Effective September 1, 2021 Reverend Clayton Forner, assigned as parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Stephen and Holy Rosary Parish in Minneapolis. Father Forner is returning to the Archdiocese after completing graduate studies in Rome.

Reverend Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson, assigned as parochial administrator of the Church of Saint Peter in Mendota while the pastor, Reverend Steven Hoffman, is on sabbatical until November 30, 2021.

4B • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

AUGUST 26, 2021

LOCAL

SLICEof LIFE Happy birthday

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Sheila Oliver receives a surprise after Archbishop Bernard Hebda, right, handed her a Leading with Faith award following a special Mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul Aug. 11. Oliver, who attended Our Lady of Grace in Edina until recently moving to Seattle to take a new position with Fox TV, turned 61 that day. The Leading with Faith award presentation emcee, KSTP reporter Tom Hauser, honored the occasion by asking those in attendance to sing “Happy Birthday.” The crowd happily obliged, with Oliver reacting to their well wishes. Oliver was among eight Twin Cities professionals The Catholic Spirit recognized with its 2021 Leading with Faith awards. The newspaper began the awards in 2002 to recognize those who apply their faith in their work. Starting next year, the event will be organized by the St. Joseph Business Guild, an organization based in North St. Paul for Catholic business professionals.

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AUGUST 26, 2021

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 5B

Parish-founder Father Nolan, 82, centered his life on the Holy Spirit

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit Just three years into his priesthood, Father Timothy Nolan was questioning his vocation and wondering if he should leave.

But a charismatic prayer meeting transformed his life and led to five more decades of Spirit-led ministry, including the founding of St. Paul in Ham Lake in 1981 and a key role in establishing a thriving retreat center. It was on the grounds of that retreat center, Pacem in Terris near Isanti (just within the boundaries of the Diocese of St. Cloud), that Father Nolan died Aug. 20. He was 82 and had been living at the retreat center in his retirement.

Funeral visitations and vigil service were set for 4-8 p.m. Aug. 27. A twohour visitation will also be held before an 11 a.m. Aug. 28 funeral Mass at St. Paul, the parish he pastored for more than two decades. An overnight vigil also was planned in the chapel. The evening vigil service and Mass will be livestreamed on the parish website.

Interment will be at Resurrection Cemetery in Mendota Heights.

In a video testimony he shared with St. Patrick in Oak Grove in October 2020, Father Nolan said he “ran out of gas” in 1970 and became “quite discouraged” about the priesthood after seeing some priests leave the ministry after the Second Vatican Council. He was “not at all a happy priest” and felt something more was needed.

He had heard about charismatic prayer meetings and the “baptism of the Holy Spirit,” and decided to find out for

COVID SCHOOLS

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B That followed the March 2020 shutdown by the state of Minnesota of all public and nonpublic campuses and the use of distance learning as the novel coronavirus first gained a foothold in the state. The next fall, many public-school campuses remained closed even as Catholic schools successfully opened, and all schools were ordered by state officials to require face masks.

The state-imposed face mask mandate is not in effect this school year, and many Catholic schools are not requiring them, even as they support students, faculty and staff who wish to wear them and encourage the unvaccinated to wear them.

The first line of defense, school officials say, is staying healthy — and staying home when ill.

“We’re encouraging people to stay home when they are ill,” said Kelly Refsnider, director of marketing and communications at Totino-Grace High School in Fridley. “That can be hard, but it is in your best interest, and in the best interest of others.”

Ferdinandt said staying home when ill is one of the most important lessons the school learned last year.

Other aids in remaining healthy at home and in school are washing hands, cleaning and disinfecting surfaces, and increasing ventilation in buildings, he said.

In this file photo from 2014, Father Timothy Nolan stands in his residence at Pacem in Terris hermitage retreat center near Isanti.

DAVE HRBACEK THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

himself. He was prayed over after a meeting that night, which sparked a lifelong ministry of living, spreading and talking about “one of my favorite subjects of all time — the Holy Spirit,” he said.

His passion for the Holy Spirit made an impression on Tim Drake, executive director of Pacem in Terris. Drake began going to retreats at Pacem about 15 years ago, then applied for the executive director job in 2017. Father Nolan, as president of the board of directors, became his boss in September of that year, and eventually became a close friend.

“Over the last several months, my wife and I would have Father over almost weekly,” said Drake, who discovered Father Nolan’s body the afternoon of Aug. 20, after the priest died that morning of natural causes.

“And, we were enjoying this program

Face coverings will not be required at St. Agnes, but the school will work to ensure that anyone wishing to wear a face mask will be treated with respect, he said.

Archdiocesan school officials are weighing in where it is helpful.

“Consistent with archdiocesan guidance, Catholic schools are developing health and safety plans that they will communicate to families and they are eager to welcome students back for another year of in-person learning,” school officials with the archdiocese said.

Jane Bona, principal of Immaculate Conception School in Columbia Heights, said she and other administrators are monitoring advice from the archdiocese, the Minnesota Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control as they prepare for the school year.

Administrators at Immaculate Conception are encouraging parents to watch for updates every two to three weeks, and to know that the situation can change, Bona said. “At this time, Aug. 10, wearing a face covering is optional,” Bona said. “But we are aware that some (public) schools around us are requiring face masks.”

Students will be encouraged to bring a face mask to school, Bona said, and all public transportation, including school buses, now require face masks.

In addition, proper social distancing and increased sanitary measures are being used at Immaculate Conception

called ‘The Chosen’ together. He just loved it because it told the story of Christ in such a vibrant, new way. And so, we found ourselves laughing together and crying together over the show. Father just had such a love for Christ. And, that is what showed in everything that he did, whether he was celebrating Mass, or just carrying on a conversation with you or sharing a meal with you.”

Drake recalled a practice Father Nolan had at staff gatherings in which he would ask employees to share “Holy Spirit moments.” For Father Nolan’s life, one of them was starting the parish of St. Paul in Ham Lake. After serving as the archdiocesan liaison for the charismatic renewal for four years, Archbishop John Roach asked him to start a new parish in Ham Lake. With parishioners working side by side, he led the building of a church in 1983-84, a

to protect against the novel coronavirus — and many other illnesses, such as the flu, Bona said.

“We stayed pretty healthy this last school year,” she said. “It did help to increase our health and safety protocols.”

Totino-Grace will hold its school orientation Aug. 27 and begin classes Aug. 30, Refsnider said. Masks will not be required but the unvaccinated are encouraged to wear them.

The high school is ready to pivot to hybrid online-in-person learning if that becomes necessary, but it is preparing to open with in-person learning as the go-to model, she said.

“It’s so important for people to learn in the classroom,” Refsnider said.

Totino-Grace also is taking the best of what it learned about online and outdoor options when indoor, in-person events could not be held — such as major fundraisers, high school graduation ceremonies and student play and concert performances — to mix, match and combine those alternatives and broaden its audience, she said.

“A lot of time and effort went into redesigning and refocusing events,” she said. “It was fun and different to have some events outdoors. We are considering across the board what was a success and a good experience. It’s important going forward to adapt some ways to make events more memorable.”

structure that continues to be the parish home.

Father Nolan led the parish until his retirement in 2004, but continued to stay connected. Trudy Swanson Schreier joined the parish at the beginning and remembers attending Mass before the church was built. After one of the first Masses at the parish, he asked her to be an extraordinary minister of holy Communion.

“Afterwards, he called me back into a quiet little spot, and said, ‘So, tell me, how was that when you were holding Jesus?’” said Swanson Schreier, 75, who now lives in Perham with her husband, Glenn. “Something just came through me that I’ll never forget. It just brought tears to my eyes, like, ‘My gosh, I really was holding Jesus, and this is amazing.’”

After his retirement, Father Nolan remained a frequent visitor to the parish, said Father Jim Livingston, who became St. Paul’s pastor nearly five years ago.

“It’s been very wonderful to have his support and his constant encouragement and presence,” Father Livingston said. “In fact, when I first arrived, I made sure I got his blessing.

And, I really felt very ready to start once I got that.”

Father Nolan, a St. Paul native, was ordained in 1967 and had three sisters who all joined the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In addition to St. Paul in Ham Lake, he ministered at Good Shepherd in Golden Valley, St. Kevin in Minneapolis and St. John Vianney College Seminary at the University of St. Thomas.

EXEMPTION REQUESTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B concerns or query to their pastor. Then, if the pastor determines there is a possible case for exemption, pastors may bring that to Father Tix’s attention.

In recent weeks, bishops across the United States have offered varied perspectives on the question of religious exemption letters as more employers and institutions, including some Catholic hospitals and universities, are requiring employees or students to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccine to participate fully in in-person work, study or community life. Such requirements generally include exemptions for medical or religious reasons. However, some employees say they fear for their jobs if they refuse the vaccination.

The Archdiocese of New York, led by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, said in July that its clergy should not provide religious exemption letters, stating that objection to the vaccine is based on one’s personal conscience but not his or her Catholic belief. Colorado’s bishops, however, provided their pastors a template for a religious exemption letter. (See page 7B.) Catholics in the U.S. who object to receiving the vaccine on religious grounds typically point to the fact that available vaccines all have a connection to tissues obtained through two abortions decades ago. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in its 2020 “Note,” explained that “when ethically irreproachable Covid-19 vaccines are not available … it is morally acceptable to receive Covid-19 vaccines that have used cell lines from aborted fetuses in their research and production process.”

LOCAL

6B • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

HAITI CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1B against traveling to Haiti, so volunteers who previously provided hands-on assistance could only help remotely.

Father Paul Shovelain traveled to the Haitian city of L’Aisle in 2019 and learned last week about extensive damage in that city, which is about four miles from the earthquake’s epicenter.

“My heart has been heavy for them,” said Father Shovelain, pastor of St. John the Baptist in New Brighton, who said the rectory and church in L’Aisle were leveled and he fears for families living in small huts.

Residents of Bouzy, about 15 miles southeast of the epicenter, suffered injuries, and homes and the rectory of Ste. Catherine d’ Alexandre in Bouzy were damaged. The church, still being rebuilt after the hurricane and previous earthquake, was also damaged, said Dave Henke, who with his wife, Lori, serves on St. Joseph the Worker in Maple Grove’s Haiti core team.

St. Joseph the Worker instituted a sister parish relationship with the Bouzy parish in 2009 and sent a team there after the 2010 earthquake. Parishioners plan to send assistance following this latest earthquake, the Henkes said.

In Marfranc, roughly 50 miles west of the epicenter, the elder care centers supported by Coon Rapids-based Reiser Relief Inc. didn’t suffer damage or loss of life, but area buildings swayed and the roofs of single-story buildings collapsed, said Joyce Getchell, board vice president of Reiser Relief, which was founded in 2006 by the late Father Bernard Reiser to create partnerships to

help Haitians.

Reiser Relief sponsors education, elder and disabled care, job creation and agriculture in regions of Haiti, and it has sponsored rebuilding after previous disasters, said Getchell, one of Father Reiser’s nieces. In April, a Marfranc school principal was kidnapped and later released, another sign of unrest in Haiti.

Reiser Relief recently appealed to Facebook supporters for disaster relief to be distributed by the Little Sisters of St. Therese of the Child Jesus who run the Marfranc ministries, Getchell said.

Parishioners from St. Mary of the Lake in White Bear Lake started their work in Haiti in 2014, and the next year a parishioner donated funds for a school in Marfranc, said Samantha Hagel, the parish’s mission director. Each year, the parish sponsors the school’s teachers, tuition and meals.

Parishioners haven’t visited Haiti since 2019, but they maintain contact with the religious sisters there, and every fall they organize a collection for Haiti support, Hagel said.

The parish is glad that the school, which they have rebuilt several times after disasters, held up during the latest earthquake, she said.

Dunn of Annunciation and Mission Haiti said another town, Leogane, located 13 miles east of the epicenter, wasn’t hit as hard by the latest earthquake as in the 2010 earthquake, which damaged an estimated 90% of its buildings. But Annunciation has partnered with the Haitian Sisters of the Companions of Jesus in Leogane for more than 23 years. In 2006, it spun the

AUGUST 26, 2021

HAITI RELIEF COLLECTION Archbishop Bernard Hebda is asking parishes to take up a special collection for Haiti at weekend Masses Aug. 28-29, as part of a national appeal by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Funds will support the Church’s pastoral and reconstruction efforts through Catholic Relief Services and Catholic Charities USA. Online donations can be made at centerformission.org/contribute-donation-form.

HENRY ROMERO, REUTERS | CNS

Manithe Simon, 68, and his wife, Wisner Desrosier, 67, walk through their collapsed home near Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 22. international mission into a nonprofit called Mission Haiti Inc., with a focus on education, elder care and sustainable farming.

Annunciation and Mission Haiti have helped finance and build two schools and they send $120,000 annually to the sisters, Dunn said. The nonprofit plans to host an Oct. 15 fundraiser to raise funds for Haiti.

When Catholics recognize a need, they’re called to do something, wherever the need is, Dunn said. And prayer is part of that response, said Getchell.

“We do what we can with the resources that are provided, and we leave the rest to God, because no one else can take this one on,” she said.

celebrating I N FA I T H & T H A N KS G I V I N G

The Legacy Society of the Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota (CCF) consists of committed Catholics who have entrusted their charitable legacies to our stewardship.

In total, more than $160 million has been committed.

When endowed, these gifts will yield more than $8 million in grants to our community every year forever.

Join us as we honor the immense generosity of the members of the Legacy Society through the celebration of the Eucharist.

SUN. SEP. 12. 2021 | 5:00 PM Cathedral of Saint Paul

Catholic Community

FOUNDATION OF MINNESOTA

It’s parish festival season!

Plan your weekend with TheCatholicSpirit.com/calendar

AUGUST 26, 2021

NATION+WORLD Archbishop concerned for Afghans’ human dignity Catholic News Service The “human dignity” of Afghanistan’s people “must be respected” amid the chaos in the country, the head of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services said Aug. 17.

“The fall of Afghanistan and the departure of its elected leaders are a cause for concern, because of the possible denial of human rights, particularly for women and girls,” said Archbishop Timothy Broglio.

The Taliban, an extremist Islamic movement that ruled Afghanistan until ousted by a U.S.-led coalition nearly 20 years ago, swiftly took control of the capital city of Kabul Aug. 15 after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. Several other major cities have fallen to the Taliban. The United Nations has called the aftermath an “absolute catastrophe” with widespread hunger and financial collapse.

President Joe Biden announced in April that he would end U.S. involvement in the war in Afghanistan, and he gave the Pentagon until Aug. 31 to complete the withdrawal of the remaining 2,500 to 3,000 troops in that country. As of mid-August, the number of U.S. troops had dropped to about 650.

But since the Taliban began taking over large swaths of the country, Biden ordered the return of several thousand U.S. troops to secure the airport in Kabul and conduct security measures to help with the evacuation of thousands of people who want to leave the country.

“My two visits to the country confirmed my impression regarding the sacrifices, even including death, made by many members of the Armed Forces and civilians striving to bring stability and peace to the people there,” Archbishop Broglio said. “At the moment, however, we can only pray for the Afghani people, support any humanitarian efforts that are in place there (especially through Catholic Relief Services), and give voice to local leadership on all sides.”

Afghan nationals who provided translation, interpretation, security, transportation and other vital services to the U.S. troops in the last two decades have feared reprisals from Afghanistan’s Taliban, even more so now as its fighters advance around the country in the absence of the U.S. military.

The New York Times reported Aug. 17 that “tens of thousands of Afghan nationals” who risked their lives to assist the U.S. military in Afghanistan “are more desperate than ever to leave.” The Biden Administration said Aug. 22 that it has ordered the use of commercial jetliners to aid evacuees who have flown from Kabul to military bases. News reports from Kabul describe thousands of people at or around the airport, some taking extreme

STAFF SGT. VICTOR MANCILLA, U.S. MARINES HANDOUT VIA REUTERS | CNS

Civilians prepare to board a plane during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 18. measures as they try to obtain a flight. At least seven Afghan civilians have been killed in “crushes” of people hoping to evacuate, according to CNN. Citing data from the International Rescue Committee, a global nongovernmental humanitarian relief agency, the Times said over 300,000 Afghan civilians “have been affiliated with the American mission over its two-decade presence in the country ... but a minority qualify for refugee protection in the United States.”

In 2006, the U.S. Congress first authorized a bipartisan humanitarian program to provide Special Immigrant Visas, or SIVs, for nationals from Afghanistan and Iraq that include resettlement services and legal permanent residence for the approved principal applicants, their spouses and children. Since the creation of the program, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services has worked with the U.S. Department of State, the Office of Refugee Resettlement and other nongovernmental organizations to provide resettlement services to some of the over 73,000 Afghan SIV holders and their families.

On July 14, the White House announced the emergency relocation of Afghan SIV applicants in their final stages of processing to the United States, with the first of that group arriving in the United States July 30.

Planeloads of Afghans arrived at Dulles International Airport in Virginia outside of Washington and they were then taken to Fort Lee, near Petersburg, Virginia.

The families were pre-vetted and able to complete the immigration process safely stateside. Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, is helping resettle the newcomers. ­­The Catholic Spirit contributed to this story.

Richest nations urged to tackle financial turmoil

By Dennis Sadowski Catholic News Service Leaders from the world’s 20 largest economies are facing “makeor-break” decisions that can boost health care, reduce poverty and address the impact of climate change in developing nations when they meet in October in Italy, said the executive director of an alliance of faith-based development and debt relief advocacy organizations.

The questions facing the Group of 20 nations, or G-20, range from charting a path to ease the debt burden of poor countries to ensuring more equitable distribution of vaccines in response to the coronavirus pandemic, said Eric LeCompte, executive director of Washington-based Jubilee USA. The key to recovery from the pandemic will be ensuring that decision-makers are accountable to follow through on what they say they are going to do, LeCompte explained during an Aug. 24 webinar, “Poverty and COVID-19: Challenges and Solutions,” sponsored by

Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs. LeCompte credited a United States plan to donate 500 million vaccines worldwide as a significant step toward the global economic recovery from the pandemic.

He also said action by the International Monetary Fund to create $650 billion in emergency reserve funds, known as Special Drawing Rights, or SDRs, will help nations recover. Over $230 billion in emergency aid became available Aug. 23 for developing countries.

At the same time, $280 billion in SDRs became available to the wealthiest nations, the Group of Seven, or G-7. In response, LeCompte called on the more than 260 religious, environmental and labor groups that his organization pulled together in advocating for SDRs to urge the richest nations to donate “currency they don’t need” to developing countries.

Other webinar participants identified additional steps they

consider necessary for developing nations to climb out of the economic morass that the pandemic has compounded. Kirsten Laursen Muth, chief executive officer of Washington-based Joint Learning Initiative on Faith & Local Communities, called for a greater voice for local organizations and community groups within the decision-making process of the complex global financial system.

She acknowledged that the pandemic has led to setbacks on gains in reducing global poverty, in part because local needs are not being heard or addressed.

“We’re behind in all of those commitments,” she said. “As we build back better, there really needs to be an intentional focus in not just the specific sectoral needs, the health, nutrition, agriculture ... but also real investment in accountability mechanisms that really show how power is being shifted, how leadership is being shifted.”

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 7B

HEADLINES u New Ulm priest among Extension’s seven finalists for its 44th annual Lumen Christi Award. Catholic Extension announced Aug. 10 that Father Brian Oestreich, a priest who leads a faith community encompassing four churches in the Diocese of New Ulm in western Minnesota, is among its Lumen Christi award finalists. The priest has worked with parishioners to create ministries that feed and clothe thousands each year. Catholic Extension has been supporting the work and ministries of the nation’s mission dioceses since its founding in 1905. This year’s finalists, chosen from 34 nominees, will each receive $10,000 to support and enhance their ministry. From among these finalists, the 2021-22 Lumen Christi Award recipient will be selected. The winner, who will be announced in September, will receive a $25,000 grant, along with an additional $25,000 grant for the nominating diocese. u Brazilian bishop resigns after inappropriate video goes viral. Bishop Tomé Ferreira da Silva of São José do Rio Preto resigned after a video of him exposing himself on an internet call went viral on social media Aug. 13.

The resignation was accepted by Pope Francis and the Brazilian bishops’ conference Aug. 18. A local paper reported that the bishop confirmed that he was the one who appears on the video but declined to comment on the case. The Vatican had previously investigated the bishop in 2015 and 2018, respectively, for allegations of embezzlement from the diocese and mishandling reports of sexual abuse. u Court ruling upholding Texas abortion law called ‘longawaited victory.’ An Aug. 18 ruling from the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, based in New Orleans, upheld the state’s 2017 Texas Dismemberment Abortion Ban, reversing previous court rulings that blocked the law. It also reversed an earlier ruling by a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit upholding a block on it. The case is expected to be appealed to the Supreme Court. The law was first passed and signed into law in 2017 but has never gone into effect because of court challenges. “Anyone can see the cruelty of dismemberment abortions, ripping a child’s body apart while her heart is still beating,” said Kimberlyn Schwartz, Texas Right to Life’s director of media and communication, who called the ruling a “longawaited victory” Texans are celebrating. u Archbishop: SNAP increase helps people meet ‘essential human needs.’ A U.S. Department of Agriculture’s recalculation of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and a major increase in the benefit for those in need “will be a meaningful improvement in the lives of millions of people who rely on SNAP for basic nutrition,” Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, said Aug. 21. His statement came in reaction to the USDA’s Aug. 16 release of a reevaluation of its Thrifty Food Plan, used to calculate benefit amounts provided to needy families through SNAP. The report prompted the Biden administration to permanently raise this benefit by over 25%, the largest single increase in the program’s history, according to news reports. The increase takes effect in October and will be available to all 42 million SNAP beneficiaries. A 15% boost in SNAP benefits for increased needs during the pandemic expires Sept. 30. u Cardinal Burke remains hospitalized, but he’s off ventilator, out of ICU. Cardinal Raymond Burke remained hospitalized for COVID-19, but as of Aug. 21 he was taken off a ventilator that he had been on for some days and taken out of the ICU to be returned to a regular hospital room, according to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in La Crosse. He announced by Twitter Aug. 10 that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and on Aug. 14 that he was using a ventilator.

Cardinal Burke is a native of Richland Center, Wisconsin, in the La Crosse Diocese, and served as bishop of that diocese from 1995 to 2004, as archbishop of St. Louis from 2004 to 2008, and as prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Signature from 2008 to 2014. While he was La Crosse’s bishop, Cardinal Burke founded the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. While the cardinal often resides in Italy, he travels extensively and was in the United States at the time of sharing the news about contracting the virus.

— Catholic News Service

8B • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Family v

Five Miley family members called t FIRST-YEAR REFLECTION Growing up, Mary Kate Miley remembers being asked what her parents did for a living. “I was always proud to answer that,” she said.

She also remembers spending time in her mother’s classroom as a child and going to work-related events for her father. In high school, she spent a lot of time in her aunt’s kindergarten classroom at Expo for Excellence Elementary in St. Paul. “I always felt so comfortable in the school,” she said.

And a strong interest in young children has made it easy to teach younger students, said Mary Kate, who is entering her second year in the kindergarten classroom at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis after teaching a class of 20 children last year.

She knew in high school that she wanted to be a teacher, and recalls her father once asking her what God was calling her to do. The idea of teaching “clicked” for her “because I feel this is more than what I ‘want’ to do,” she said. “I feel called to do it.”

Mary Kate said she had many great teachers in her life who believed in her, especially in high school, adding that it was “always about the relationship.”

“I thought that was so special,” she said. “So now, for me to have the opportunity to build these relationships with kids is awesome.”

Growing up, faith was an important part of who Mary Kate was and who her family was, she said.

“I couldn’t imagine not being able to talk about God at work and helping these little kids form their own relationship with God,” she said. “I thought that would be really special.”

At Annunciation, religion is part of the kindergartners’ daily schedule as they learn prayers, discuss situations and reflect on what God might think about it, she said.

“It’s foundational things,” she said, describing children that age “like a little ball of clay.” “And they’re handed to you and you get to help form them,” she said, something she doesn’t take lightly.

As a teacher, Mary Kate said, she believes she’s been given an opportunity to lean into her faith and into who God wants her to be.

“And for a lot of kids,” she said, “I’m their first touchpoint of building a relationship with God, so I really wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.”

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit

E

very school-day morning, Joe Miley walks into Cretin-Derham Hall high school in St. Paul to meet with students in his role as learning specialist. Above the entryway is the Lasallian crest called the “signum fidei” (sign of faith). A star in the crest symbolizes the story of the three Wise Men who followed the star to Bethlehem, trusting it would lead them to Christ, Miley said.

“It reminds me that the role of teachers is to lead their students toward God,” he said. “I think about that as I walk in the school every day. It’s pretty awesome.”

Joe, 29, isn’t the only Miley inspired by the call to serve students, academically and in their faith. His father, Frank, 59, has worked in education for 31 years and is Cretin-Derham’s president. His mother, Kathy, 59, teaches religion at Visitation School in Mendota Heights and has taught in Catholic schools for 24 years.

Joe’s roommate and best friend is Kevin, 27, one of his four brothers and a physical education teacher and athletic director at St. John the Baptist Catholic School in New Brighton, where he works with students in grades K-8. Their sister, Mary Kate, 23, is starting her second year teaching kindergarten at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis. The three siblings and their parents are parishioners of Assumption in downtown St. Paul.

The other four Miley children chose different professions: Matt, 32, works in sales in New Jersey, and Tim, 30, works in sales in Chicago. Monica, 25, is a sales representative in the Twin Cities, and Caleb, 22, works for the city of St. Paul Parks and Recreation — but part of his job involves helping children with their homework.

Growing up, all seven Miley children attended then-IHM-St. Luke’s Catholic School (now St. Thomas More Catholic School) in St. Paul, and six attended Cretin-Derham Hall; the oldest, Matt, attended St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights.

The three teacher-siblings said they chose their own paths, but they were influenced by having parents as educators and role models who love and find joy in their work and in their faith.

Joe said he started considering an education career back in high school, probably because his parents work in Catholic education, and several teachers and coaches inspired him. “It got me thinking that, hey, this could be something that maybe I could do, and maybe I could have the same impact as somebody had on me,” he said.

His role models in the classroom and on the practice field were full of energy “and just were so present and let students know they wanted the best for us,” he said.

His parents never told him to become a teacher. “I think it was just their example,” he said. “They allowed me to discern what God was calling me to do” and where he would find purpose.

Kevin agrees. “They kind of left it up to us,” he said, “but they did push us to use our gifts and find out what God was wanting us to do. And that happened to land a few of us in teaching.”

Both parents said they didn’t push their children into education careers — well, Frank admitted to pushing Joe a bit. “I thought that was totally his calling,” he said.

Frank suggested that Joe participate in a Lasallian teacher immersion program run by the Christian Brothers out of St. Mary’s University of Minnesota in Winona, where Joe transferred his sophomore year of college. “It changed his life,” Frank said.

“As parents, you just plant the seeds that education is important,” Kathy said.

Education is a doorway people can walk through to

anything they want to do in this world, she said. “Not only will you be educated, but for these three that became teachers, they now want to do that for other people.”

GOD’S CALL The essential question is, “Who is God calling you to be and are you using those gifts?” Kathy said. She sees that answered in all seven children. Among her three teachers, she said Joe’s job as a learning specialist takes patience “and he is the one that has it. So that is perfect for him.”

Mary Kate has been focused on young children since she was a young child herself, and that serves her well as a kindergarten teacher. “It takes a lot of patience and the right personality,” Kathy said.

And Kevin’s organizational skills fit those of an athletic director, making him “absolutely fabulous” for his position in physical education, she said.

“Their skills sets are perfect for what they’re doing,” she said. That’s not to say these will be their jobs for life, she said, because people grow and change, and needs for providing for families grow and change. “But for who they are right now, they’re fulfilling God’s call for who they are. And they’re providing that for many, many children.”

Mary Kate said her parents stressed the importance of education. “Growing up with that as a value, combined with faith, is such a big pillar in our family.

It just made sense for some of us to go into that field.

And seeing my parents come home from work happy was a big deal.”

Knowing her parents find joy and fulfillment in their careers also made Mary Kate feel good about her choice. She knows people whose parents tried to steer them from teaching careers because of the salary. “I’m so grateful my parents encouraged us and never tried to say ‘you can make more money doing this’ because

it’s not about that,” she said Teaching was more than “ Joe said. “It really brought m said. They talked about thin schools and they attended e “We’d get all excited abou (High School in Victoria) foo when my dad worked there “So, their jobs were very rela with students, families and t really important. And I was No strangers to large fami from families with nine and They met in New Orleans ea each brought a group of hig retreat — Kathy from a Lasa Chicago and Frank from St. he taught religion for 12 yea With their own children, stressed the importance of c “What’s your vocation?”

“When you figure that ou enjoy your work for the rest to feed you spiritually and li probably will never imagine

SERVING STUDENTS

For Joe, the spiritual and p the Lasallian program as he student populations across t In one north St. Louis mid lived in poverty and were “b academically, Joe said. Schoo were extended to help them itself provided a safe haven i the city. The group also wor city Kansas City while living learning about Catholic soci

AUGUST 26, 2021 • 9B

vocation

to teach, lead students toward God

d. “just a job” for his parents, meaning to their lives,” he ngs that happened at their events at other schools. ut going to Holy Family otball and basketball games (as president),” Joe said. ational — the relationships the larger community were really drawn to that.” ilies, Frank and Kathy are d 12 children, respectively. arly in their careers, when gh school students on allian high school near Thomas Academy, where ars.

Frank said he and his wife continually asking God,

ut, you’re going to really t of your life, and it’s going iterally in ways that you e,” he said.

practical came together in worked with diverse the United States. ddle school, many students behind the eight ball” ol days and the school year m catch up, and the school in a fairly dangerous part of rked at a day care in inner g in a homeless shelter and ial teaching.

THE RIGHT COMBINATION Back in fourth grade, Kevin Miley attended a high school basketball game with his father. When it ended, his father asked him to pick up the trash in front of him. Kevin pointed to the janitor who was going around the room, saying he would take care of it.

Wrong answer.

“I got an earful,” Kevin said. “I only had to hear that once. That showed me that he had a lot of respect for people that were working hard to make schools run, and that everyone’s job is important.”

COURTESY LAUREN CAMPBELL, CRETIN-DERHAM HALL

LEFT Five members of the Miley family serve as educators in archdiocesan Catholic schools. Left to right are Kathy Miley, a religion teacher at Visitation in Mendota Heights; Joe Miley, a learning specialist at Cretin-Derham Hall in St. Paul; Mary Kate Miley, a kindergarten teacher at Annunciation in Minneapolis; Kevin Miley, a physical education teacher and athletic director at St. John the Baptist in New Brighton; and Frank Miley, president of Cretin-Derham Hall.

ABOVE Learning specialist Joe Miley at Cretin-Derham Hall, where he helps students with diagnosed learning disabilities with their homework, organization skills and coping strategies.

He experienced the work being done at a Rhode Island school, where he saw the need for male role models and teachers in teenagers’ lives. He felt called to work with students who struggled “for whatever reason,” whether disability or family situation that “set them back a bit,” he said.

The experience with the Lasallian program led him toward special education, Joe said. And it taught him more about the Lasallian mission and the philosophies of the Christian Brothers, who founded Cretin High School long before its merger with Derham Hall, and whose values still influence the school. That includes their approach to accompanying and guiding young people from where they are to what they might be next.

“That really appealed to me,” Joe said. “And that’s central to how I work with the students. I think there’s enough people that are telling them what to do and trying to direct them. I’m more, ‘I’m with you,’ and I Iearned that from the Brothers.”

Today, Joe works with two other learning specialists at Cretin-Derham in “kind of a structured study hall.”

Many of their students have diagnosed learning disabilities. Joe helps them with homework, organization, and strategies to cope with and overcome their disabilities.

His parents were his biggest influences when it comes to treating people with dignity and caring for the outsider, “just trying to be there for people.”

“They taught us that when you leave somebody, how do you want them to feel after you just interacted with them? And the answer is, ‘loved,’” he said.

When Kathy runs into former students, she said they never talk about curriculum. “They always talk about how you made them feel or the relationships that were important, and that is what teaching is about,” she said. “And I think that’s why I became a teacher, because it is about not only the relationship you have with your student, but creating relationships between

other students.”

Kathy recalled words often attributed to St. Francis: Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words. “It’s like, how can you be the eyes, the ears, the hands of Christ among other human beings?” she said.

“How do you help your students with conflict management? How do you help them learn kindness?

How do you help them with life skills … and also teach your curriculum?”

As a teacher, Joe said he seeks his parents’ professional advice “all the time” — in challenging situations with students, communicating with students’ parents or addressing a concern with a colleague. He enjoys working with his father and watching him lead their school.

“I’m very proud to be his son,” he said. “I know his job is not easy and he has a lot of responsibilities, but at the same time, he doesn’t forget why he got into Catholic education and why he is where he is.”

For example, he knows his dad keeps a prayer list of people in the school community, when they are ill or have had cancer. “He prays for them at the start of each day,” he said, often out loud at the school’s morning service. And he stays involved in student activities with retreats and attending athletic and fine arts events.

“He’s taught me a lot as far as remembering why he got into (education)” and where one finds meaning, Joe said.

Joe also talks through situations with his mom and invites her ideas for student assignments. “As a parent of seven kids, my mom has a great perspective of a teacher’s communication with a parent,” he said.

His mom taught several of his friends, his older brother, Matt, and friends of his brothers, Joe said.

“They’ve always talked about how much they loved her as a teacher, and I was never really surprised by it because I’ve had her in my life for 29 years,” he said.

“She’s teaching me something all the time.”

Of the three Miley children who work in education, Kevin didn’t start his career there. He studied finance and sports management in college, and worked about six months in the business world before quitting.

“I knew something was missing,” he said. The biggest thing I’ve always known is that I love to work with and spend time with kids.” Growing up as one of seven meant being comfortable around children, he said.

Combining that with two core values his parents instilled in him — faith and education — meant working in a Catholic school was perfect, he said.

His position at St. John the Baptist Catholic School in New Brighton, where he has worked for five years, allows him to combine his three biggest passions: children, faith and sports.

The best part of his job is “the relationships you build with students, being there for the kids,” he said. Daily interactions with students are important, he said, in the classroom and in smaller moments, such as talking with children getting off the bus in the morning or helping younger students tie their shoes.

He enjoys watching students grow from kindergarten — not just physically or in their abilities, “but what kind of friend they are, the kind of teammate, their attitudes, things like that,” he said.

His role goes beyond leading students academically or physically, Kevin said.

“You get to help lead them toward God by being a positive role model any way you can, and giving them opportunities to challenge themselves and grow,” he said.

10B • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

AUGUST 26, 2021

FOCUSONFAITH SUNDAY SCRIPTURES | FATHER LEONARD ANDRIE

In all things, charity

For some families, a yearly tradition is to festoon their tree with ornaments at Christmas.

There is something quite delightful about a tree adorned with ornaments. Over my life, I have seen a lot of Christmas trees beautifully decorated.

Some have twinkling lights and unique ornaments, and others, well, they could use a little work. What’s essential, of course, is the tree.

A good tree is full (no big holes!), not too big or small, good color, etc. The ornaments are the extras — not necessarily essential, but they help make the tree come alive.

This weekend our Gospel gives us a window into a squabble over the tradition of washing one’s hands before eating. The squabble raises the question: What is and what is not essential in following Christ? Given that most moderns do not necessarily identify with the ritual washing of hands and cups, we could put our question into something we may know a bit better, like the liturgy. Some things are essential, while others are extra — like ornaments on a Christmas tree.

The liturgies of the Word and the Eucharist are essential. Without either part, you would not have a Mass. In addition, parishes may dress up their liturgies as much as they desire.

For example, some parishes regularly use incense at Mass as an expression of our prayers rising up to God. Other parishes use a chalice veil — or, the cloth that drapes over the chalice and paten — as a little reminder that what we celebrate in the Eucharist is a mystery. Right before the bread and wine are brought to the altar, the veil is removed, symbolizing that the sacred mystery of the Eucharist is about to be revealed. When the Eucharist is consecrated,

ASK FATHER MIKE | FATHER MICHAEL SCHMITZ

Bishops politicizing the Eucharist?

Q I am troubled by news that the

bishops of the United States might ban politicians who are openly pro-abortion from receiving holy Communion. Isn’t this politicizing the holy sacrament of the Eucharist for one’s own ends? I thought that the Eucharist was meant to be “medicine for those who are sick.”

A Your question is timely, since this has been in the

news recently. But in other ways, this is an ancient question. Even more than that, it is an issue that is much larger than politics. Politics and politicians come and go, nations rise and nations fall. But a person’s soul is going to endure forever.

some parishes ring bells to catch the faithful’s attention that the Holy Spirit is transforming the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ.

Incense, chalice veils and bells are like ornaments on a Christmas tree. While not necessarily essential, they heighten our awareness of God’s mysterious presence in the liturgy, and help the faithful enter more deeply into the beauty and transcendence of the Mass.

Unfortunately, things become a bit problematic when we remain too fixed on them and forget their purpose — to help us fall deeply in love with Christ, and inspire us to serve him in one another.

Today’s Gospel presents us with a key question when dealing with those who do things differently than ourselves. Ask yourself: What’s really essential, and what’s extra?

As Catholics, we strive to be united in what we believe (creed), our worship of God in the Mass (celebrating the sacraments), our moral life (keeping the Ten Commandments) and prayer. These are the essentials. However, we also have non-essentials (customs), the ornaments of our faith. Some people kneel when they pray. Others like to sit. Some like devotionals such as the rosary. Others like to read Scripture. Still others wear sacramentals like the scapular or medals as reminders of the heavenly intercession and protection of our Blessed Mother and the saints.

The ornaments of our faith deepen our love for Christ. Ultimately, they are meant to unite our hearts with our Lord and others. There is a classic phrase in our tradition that summarizes this weekend’s Gospel nicely: “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.”

We hold fast to what is essential, but give our brothers and sisters some freedom in Christ in what is not. And in all things, we imitate Christ in charity. In doing so, we will not only help build up the Church’s unity, but may even move a little closer to becoming a saint.

Father Andrie is pastor of St. Therese in Deephaven. He can be reached at fr.andrie@st-therese.org

Consider this: Long after the United States of America ceases to exist, every person who has ever lived will either rejoice in eternity with God or endure eternity separated from God. Because of this reality, the Church has to be more preoccupied with individuals and their souls than individuals and their politics.

Yes, the Church has an interest in justice and in the common good, which is why Church leadership will often weigh in on issues of injustice and areas where the common good is being violated. But the Church can never “impose” the Gospel on others. She can only “propose” the Gospel to the people in our culture. This is why the Church does her best to teach on issues that affect our society, issues like the rights of workers, the unborn, those in prison, immigrants, racism and any other dilemma we face as a people.

Still, if this is just about politics, then it is only relevant for those involved in politics — it only really matters for those who care about politics. Because of that, I want to take a step back and look at the real heart of what is going on here. This teaching is potentially more about what we believe about the Eucharist than it is about what we believe about politics or anything else.

Pope Francis is noted for having stated that the Eucharist is “not a prize for the perfect but a powerful

KNOW the SAINTS

ST. GREGORY THE GREAT (c. 540-604) This patrician prefect of Rome is counted among the doctors and Fathers of the Church. After his father’s death, he gave family estates to the Church, founding seven monasteries, including the one he joined in his family home in Rome. Following ordination, he served as papal nuncio in Constantinople (579-586), then was an abbot in Rome until 590, when he became the first monk elected pope. Gregory I reformed the clergy, sent missionaries to England, promoted monasticism and chant, wrote prolifically, and assumed civic duties in Rome in the face of natural disasters and the warring Lombards. He is a patron saint of choirboys, musicians, singers and England.

His feast day is Sept. 3.

— Catholic News Service

medicine and nourishment for the weak.” This is incredibly encouraging. We can never forget that every time we approach the Blessed Sacrament, we are receiving a gift we do not deserve. This is one reason why we always state, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”

The question that this issue raises is: Do we believe that? Do we truly believe that we do not deserve the gift of the Eucharist, and that every time we approach our Lord in holy Communion we are taking our lives in our hands? Are we so brazen as to think that we can do what St. Paul says is akin to murder and get away with it?

In his First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul writes that whoever “eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord.” St. Paul is highlighting the fact that, if someone has committed a mortal sin and receives holy Communion without going to confession first, they are committing the serious grave sin of violating the Eucharist.

PLEASE TURN TO ASK FATHER MIKE ON PAGE 15B

DAILY Scriptures Sunday, Aug. 29 Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time Dt 4:1-2, 6-8 Jas 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27 Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Monday, Aug. 30 1 Thes 4:13-18 Lk 4:16-30 Tuesday, Aug. 31 1 Thes 5:1-6, 9-11 Lk 4:31-37 Wednesday, Sept. 1 Col 1:1-8 Lk 4:38-44 Thursday, Sept. 2 Col 1:9-14 Lk 5:1-11

Friday, Sept. 3 St. Gregory the Great, pope and doctor of the Church Col 1:15-20 Lk 5:33-39 Saturday, Sept. 4 Col 1:21-23 Lk 6:1-5 Sunday, Sept. 5 Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time Is 35:4-7a Jas 2:1-5 Mk 7:31-37 Monday, Sept. 6 Col 1:24–2:3 Lk 6:6-11

Tuesday, Sept. 7 Col 2:6-15 Lk 6:12-19 Wednesday, Sept. 8 Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mi 5:1-4a Mt 1:1-16, 18-23 or 1:18-23 Thursday, Sept. 9 St. Peter Claver, priest Col 3:12-17 Lk 6:27-38 Friday, Sept. 10 1 Tm 1:1-2, 12-14 Lk 6:39-42 Saturday, Sept. 11 1 Tm 1:15-17 Lk 6:43-49

Sunday, Sept. 12 Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Is 50:5-9a Jas 2:14-18 Mk 8:27-35 Monday, Sept. 13 St. John Chrysostom, bishop and doctor of the Church 1 Tm 2:1-8 Lk 7:1-10 Tuesday, Sept. 14 Exaltation of the Holy Cross Nm 21:4b-9 Phil 2:6-11 Jn 3:13-17 Wednesday, Sept. 15 Our Lady of Sorrows 1 Tm 3:14-16 Jn 19:25-27 or Lk 2:33-35

Thursday, Sept. 16 Sts. Cornelius, pope, and Cyprian, bishop, martyrs 1 Tm 4:12-16 Lk 7:36-50 Friday, Sept. 17 1 Tm 6:2c-12 Lk 8:1-3 Saturday, Sept. 18 1 Tm 6:13-16 Lk 8:4-15 Sunday, Sept. 19 Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Wis 2:12, 17-20 Jas 3:16–4:3 Mk 9:30-37

FOCUSONFAITH

AUGUST 26, 2021

CUPPA JOE | DEACON JOE MICHALAK

Joseph, ‘savior of the Savior’

“Who gave life to Jesus? It was Mary. Who saved his life? It was Joseph,” declares Blessed William Joseph Chaminade. “Be silent, patriarchs; be silent, prophets; be silent, apostles, confessors and martyrs. Let St. Joseph speak, for this honor is his alone; he alone is savior

of the Savior.”

Yes, having been warned of the danger in a dream, Joseph alone stood between the murderous paranoid king, Herod, and the newborn baby. Joseph the Laborer rose, took the child and his mother and escaped by night. Thanks be to God! Honor be to Joseph!

But as I ponder this episode, I have a problem. We live in the culture of the superhero, the Marvel saviors: Hulk, Thor, Captain Marvel, Black Widow. They’re fantastic, flamboyant, futuristic. They have cosmic powers: They see through things, fly on their own, have superhuman strength, get small, get big. And they save the world for all to see how many times over. Superhero savior? That isn’t Joseph!

No, Joseph’s saving the Savior is of a different order.

Joseph is savior in his hiddenness, silence, obedient action, daily routine and embrace of suffering. “When he awoke from sleep, Joseph did as the angel of the

Lord commanded him.”

This is the pattern: Husband, father, faithful Jewish man Joseph simply does what he should do, for the sake of others, without fanfare, without grand words, without seeking his own comfort first, despite fear and weariness, without fully understanding. He simply does what is required. The “heroic moment” flows from daily routine.

And like any father, he has anxiety over the future of his children, he anticipates the suffering of his wife and son, he is pained by not being able to provide more for his family. (One translation of “carpenter” is “laborer.”

I grew up in Pittsburgh, so I think of Joseph as a tired, underpaid steel worker.) He has to take them as refugees to a land where they are misunderstood.

Perhaps Joseph’s greatest suffering? Seeing the suffering of his wife and son and not being able to do anything about it — except be there. I know this. When my own son (our first child) lay dying in my arms, the hardest thing for me was not being able to do anything.

But be there.

If we are looking for a more accurate movie image for savior of the Savior, I suggest not a Marvel superhero, but that quiet servant from J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic (and deeply Catholic) work “The Lord of the Rings.” Not Gandalf, not Aragorn, not even the ring-bearer Frodo — but humble, faithful, loyal, dutiful, simple, hardworking servant Samwise Gamgee. Sam does do a heroic act to save Frodo’s life at Cirith Ungol. And in the end Sam bodily carries Frodo to the cross (Mt. Doom). But these deeds simply flow from his daily doing, his vocation as servant, his being there in walking the long, arduous, fretful path of obedience and doing even when not wanting to.

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 11B

“Cuppa Joe” is a series of 10 talks by 10 theologians on the 10 wonders of St. Joseph taking place at 10 locations in our archdiocese entrusted to the patronage of our spiritual father.

These talks premiere the first Tuesday of the month, March through December, at 4 p.m. — just in time for your afternoon coffee. The next presentation, “Adorer of Christ,” by Liz Kelly, will be posted Sept. 7. It was recorded at St. Joseph in Waconia.

— The Catholic Spirit Who then are today’s savior of the Savior? Weary mothers, fathers, faithful in duty for family; Catholic Watchmen adoring Jesus by night; widows and widowers in daily prayer; young women and men holding fast as Catholic disciples in a world fleeing God and ridiculing his servants; deacons (the hidden vocation) everywhere; all who suffer loneliness, hardship, cost for the sake of Jesus. All who carry Jesus the Savior in their hearts with love and “save” him for others.

Deacon Michalak is director of the Institute for Diaconate Formation at The St. Paul Seminary. He adapted this essay from his August presentation for “Cuppa Joe,” available at archspm.org/cuppajoe. It was recorded at St. Joseph in Miesville.

Miesville parish honors its patron with statue, stained glass Editor’s note: This is the sixth story in a monthly series on 10 places in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis with connections to St. Joseph.

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit When Harriet Wiederholt — who turned 97 Aug. 21 — was growing up, her family sat on the “St. Joseph side” during Sunday Mass at St. Joseph in Miesville.

Her parents reserved a special pew for their family of eight by paying “pew rent” on the side of the church that faces the parish patron’s statue, to the right of the main altar. “Our Lady’s side,” Wiederholt said, is to the left.

A number of rows back, Harriet’s future husband, Cy Wiederholt, sat with his family. But she wasn’t tempted to catch his eye during Mass because as a choir member, she often had a better view from the choir loft, she said.

Pew rent is no longer collected at the parish of 365 households about 12 miles south of Hastings, but St. Joseph’s statue likely has stood in the same spot for at least a century, said Patti Kocur, the parish’s business administrator.

The parish was founded long before that, in 1873. Originally named “St. Joseph of Douglas” (Township), it began as a mission parish of then-St. Boniface in Hastings, which later merged with Guardian Angels, also in Hastings, to become St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish.

The parish name was changed in 1937 to “St. Joseph Catholic Church, Miesville, Minnesota.”

Along with the statue near the main altar, St. Joseph appears in two stained glass windows in the church, one

depicting his betrothal to Mary and the other his workshop.

On St. Joseph’s March 19 feast day, the parish holds a food drive, said the pastor, Father Terry Beeson. The parish also honors their patron with prayers, including the Litany of St. Joseph, he said.

During this special Year of St. Joseph, parishioners are attending parish family events offered monthly, including a Mudhens game — Miesville’s champion amateur baseball team, which plays near the church and parish cemetery, Kocur said.

St. Joseph supports families, said Father Beeson, who also is pastor of St. Pius V in Cannon Falls. “He’s the cornerstone of family life in the Church, and the Church is about bringing families in.”

The parish built its first church of wood the year it was founded, parishioner Rebecca Susag noted.

“There were gas lanterns (and) candles and there was a potbellied stove, and it was smoky.”

Benedictine Father George Sherer celebrated Mass at St. Joseph every second Sunday. Later, priests came from Hastings and New Trier.

It’s unclear why the parish was named for St. Joseph. One possible reason was German devotion to the saint, considering that the early parishioners were mostly German and Irish immigrants, Susag said.

The parish was incorporated in 1882, with Father Pius Schmidt as pastor.

Its historical boundaries include the Mississippi River on the east. In 1907, the growing parish built a Gothic-style brick church that seats 400. Six years later, it was nearly destroyed by fire caused by a lightning strike. Rebuilt from just the outer walls, it was rededicated in 1914 and continues to be

COURTESY ST. JOSEPH, MIESVILLE

St. Joseph in Miesville after it was struck by lightning in 1913. the parish home.

Cy and Harriet Wiederholt were married in 1946 at St. Joseph. Also that year, the parish’s newly ordained associate became ill after drinking tap water drawn from a contaminated cistern. Father James Shannon survived, and in the 1960s was ordained an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. (He famously resigned the episcopacy in 1968 and was later laicized.)

St. Joseph opened a grade school in 1954 run by Benedictine sisters, but had to close it in 1970 due to declining enrollment.

Responding to requests in 2009, the pastor, Father Jay Kythe, began allowing celebration of a Latin Mass at St. Joseph along with Mass in English. Catholics from around the archdiocese continue to attend Latin Mass on Sundays and First Fridays.

COURTESY PATTI KOCUR

This statue of St. Joseph has likely stood to the right of the main altar for a century. A statue of Our Lady stands to the left of the main altar.

12B • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

AUGUST 26, 2021

COMMENTARY YOUR HEART, HIS HOME | LIZ KELLY

Love more, work less

This year, I’ve been spending some time each day with St. Maximilian Kolbe, whose feast day we celebrated this month on the 14th. Before his martyrdom at Auschwitz (he volunteered to take the place of another in the starvation bunker) he was spiritual father to many and spent his life making his mother, “Mamuzia,” as he would refer to the Blessed Mother — that’s Polish for “Mom”— better known and loved.

“To the Sacred Heart through the Immaculata,” he would say. I pray his consecration to the Immaculata every day, which begs that we be made fit instruments to draw others to the Sacred Heart.

His letters to his spiritual sons are especially moving and packed with wisdom. One of my favorite Maximilian morsels is this: “Think more about loving than about working.”

What does that phrase call to mind?

When I was living in Nashville in my late 20s and working as a singer, I attended a very large, very “hip” Nashville church where a number of famous musicians attended, and at one point I was awarded a solo in the church choir. I had worked very hard to prove myself to the choirmaster who was, by any measure, world class. The song was especially wellsuited to my low voice and centered on loving Jesus with heart, mind and soul. (Emphasis on soul.) So, landing this little solo was a big deal to me.

I’ll never forget the first time singing it. It was the 9 a.m. Sunday service. As the song began, the great, languid cadence of a southern Gospel tune, I stepped up to the microphone and out came the first soulful phrase: “Jeeeee-sus! I love you.” In a flash, the choir director gave me this look, something like “uh-oh” spilled over his face. He could tell, even in a few notes, that I had been taken up with “performance.”

I wanted to be impressive, and ironically, it was going to ruin the song.

He stepped up to me quickly and whispered in my

FAITH AT HOME | LAURA KELLY FANUCCI

How to answer kids when prayers go unanswered When I was 11 years old, wrestling with my brother’s recent death, the new parish priest came bounding into our religion class one afternoon. He announced that he would take our questions (submitted anonymously) to answer in his next homily.

When the all-school Mass arrived and the priest approached the ambo to proclaim the Gospel, my heart started beating wildly. Which questions would he pick? Did anyone ask anything like mine?

To my shock, he pulled out a piece of paper and unfolded the loose-leaf on which I’d poured my questions: “Does God really hear us when we pray?

Then why doesn’t God answer our prayers?”

To this day I cannot remember the particulars of the priest’s response. What mattered to me most was that he heard my question and was willing to wonder about it alongside me.

He told me — and a church full of children — that

What’s the first thing you would change if you concentrated not on working but on loving? And not loving prestige or money or adulation or success, but Jesus and those he places in your path? iSTOCK PHOTO | JM_IMAGE_FACTORY

ear, “No, sing it for the Lord.” In an instant I knew exactly what he meant, and where I had gone wrong.

It would have been the same thing if St. Maximilian had whispered to me, “Don’t think about impressing people, think about loving Jesus.” My entire posture changed in that little queue; something ugly and taut and trying too hard fell away — I was completely reoriented, and it showed in my voice. I could tell that the director sensed it too because he beamed at me once that shift had taken place.

When I pray with this phrase now — think more about loving than about working — and recall this moment on stage in church (and maybe there shouldn’t be stages in churches, only altars!), I beg for the grace to be more present and more loving in my work, more mindful of loving the Lord through the work he has given me in building up the Kingdom.

What’s the first thing you would change if you

concentrated not on working but on loving? And not loving prestige or money or adulation or success, but Jesus and those he places in your path?

Mamuzia, you inspired St. Maximilian from the time he was a child to love and to serve the Lord in joy, even unto martyrdom. Pray for us, that we might learn what it means to love Jesus and others through our work, that we would concentrate on, not success or failure, but the sacredness of the souls around us.

St. Maximilian, intercede for us, that we would know your selfless courage and great love of the Blessed Mother and the Sacred Heart of her Son, and live lives that make them better known and loved.

doubting God or struggling with prayer was not a failure but held the heart of faith.

After writing about grief and loss, I often receive questions from parents. How do I explain prayer to my child, they ask, when it looks like our prayers weren’t answered?

No easy answers exist for the problem of suffering.

Countless theologians have written about theodicy (why God permits evil), yet each believer stumbles into the same thorny questions: Why doesn’t God intervene in the world in the ways we want? How could a good God let people suffer?

Scripture tells us that God will not give us bad things in response to our requests (Mt 7:9-11). Yet the gifts we are given and the fruits of our prayer are not always what we wanted. We asked for one thing but received something else. We sought one outcome and found another.

How do we reckon with these realities, let alone explain them to our children?

As caregivers, we are not meant to put children in a bubble to protect them from life’s bruises or faith’s struggles. We are called to help them grow in their relationship with God, which means praying through the same challenges that centuries of believers have faced.

Prayer is not a mathematical formula where input produces output. It is not a magical wand to wave over any situation to transform it instantly.

Prayer draws us closer to God and to each other.

Prayer invites us into humble surrender, remembering that our ways are not God’s ways. Prayer pulls us out

of ourselves and toward Christ, a conversation of conversion.

Prayer is the language of love, and love is complex.

When Catholics profess the deepest truths of our faith, we call them mysteries. We remember this at every Mass, in the heart of the Eucharist when the priest proclaims, “The mystery of faith,” and we respond with words of Christ’s death and resurrection.

We do not call this statement the “certainty” of faith, although we believe it to be true. Neither do we call these truths the “answers” of faith, although they respond to the biggest questions we ask.

But we humble ourselves before the vastness of God’s ways, knowing there is so much we cannot know.

I have prayed for good things that did not happen. I have prayed for my children to be healed, but they were not. Even harder, I have watched my own children pray for their siblings — and even that purest of prayers was not answered as we hoped.

But I have still found God’s presence amid deepest suffering. The mystery of prayer holds this, too.

What a gift — strange though it may seem — to welcome such questions from a child. We need not fear that faith will be shaken, but we may find that we enter deeper into the mystery as we walk alongside them toward God’s love.

Kelly is the award-winning author of nine books including “Love Like a Saint” and “Jesus Approaches.”

She travels, speaking and leading retreats, throughout the country. Visit her website at lizk.org.

A parishioner of St. Joseph the Worker in Maple Grove, Fanucci is a writer, speaker and author of several books including “Everyday Sacrament: The Messy Grace of Parenting.” Her work can be found at laurakellyfanucci.com.

COMMENTARY

AUGUST 26, 2021

CATHOLIC WATCHMEN | DEACON GORDON BIRD

Graces of small group fellowship

Christian fellowship is personal, prayerful and active — which is why engaging regularly in fellowship with others in small groups is so powerful. By encouraging each other with a common end in mind — eternal life in friendship with Christ — we work to better imitate Jesus the Good Shepherd in spreading the good news of the Gospels.

Building fraternity and evangelizing others in regular gatherings is the foundational premise of the Catholic Watchmen. It is the anchor discipline within the Catholic Watchmen movement that keeps men accountable as spiritual fathers. It asks men to minister to one another by engaging regularly in small groups, breaking from perhaps larger activities to dive deeply and share in their circle of influence — helping each other become better men. This happens by providing encouragement and building spiritual strength through prayer, sharing experiences, witnessing and responding to the needs of others: “Iron sharpens iron, like one man sharpens another” (Prv 27:17).

INSIDE THE CAPITOL | MCC

Fighting for pandemic Catholic teacher pay Minnesotans deserve good policies that will naturally strengthen families. Instead, our current payday lending laws allow lenders to charge sky-high interest rates that become a debt trap for borrowers.

Pope Francis denounces this modern-day usury because it takes advantage of people in desperate financial situations. He warns that weakening the family “poses a threat to the mature growth of individuals, the cultivation of community values, and the moral progress of cities and countries.”

To aid the promotion of families, the Minnesota Catholic Conference staff are continuing to advocate for reforms to payday lending policies. In midAugust, MCC joined a statewide coalition for a press conference in Duluth where we called for Minnesota’s Legislature to pass a 36% annual interest-rate cap on

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 13B

From late September through mid-November, Archbishop Hebda and Bishop Cozzens are asking for feedback for the Archdiocesan Synod from small groups that will gather regularly during that time.

This includes the faithful who may be in existing lay ministries, apostolates, movements, service organizations, etc., as well as other small group startups that may be created by parish leaders for this purpose.

Our chief shepherd asks that parishes use the strength, insights and wisdom that can come from small groups to help him discern how to approach three focus areas — his pastoral priorities — across the archdiocese. This is amplified by our upcoming Catholic Watchmen monthly prayer intention, “For the Holy Spirit to bless the faithful and all people in our archdiocese.” This ardent prayer, sincere listening and heartfelt discernment can guide all parish small groups that provide feedback for the Synod.

The talents, wit, insights and especially graces that can arise from faith-based, small group discussions can provide valuable feedback for strategic and operational “church purposes,” maintaining and gaining the spiritual value for those who gather.

Synod Small Groups, for example, are nurtured through prayer — asking God for guidance “on how we can more vigorously proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ.” Christ knew that people who create common bonds of fellowship become stronger — no matter the task. Our task is trying to make our local Church better, meanwhile making us all better in loving God and loving our neighbor.

Small groups are asked to take a deep dive into the

Synod’s focus areas: to form parishes to better serve in evangelization, form missionary disciples who know Jesus’ love and respond to his call, and form our future — youth and young adults — in ways that keep the Church young and robust in the faith. Your participation in an existing or new small group can help the Synod prosper in shaping the future of the local Church — our future. Check out the details at archspm.org/synod and talk with your parish leadership about how you can share your talents via small group input.

The Acts of the Apostles tells us that, at Pentecost, around 3,000 were evangelized and subsequently baptized by the Apostles. What followed? The power of the Holy Spirit was not idle, nor did the Spirit choose only large group, grandiose opportunities to help the evangelists help others encounter Jesus.

Witnessing, baptizing, preaching and serving those in need for the sake of spreading the Good News was much about engaging others in small group activities.

About 8,000 people gave input at select, larger-scale Synod parish events over the past couple of years, resulting in the focus areas to be further discussed and discerned. Now it is time for existing and newly developed small groups to prayerfully seize the initiative and sincerely respond to our chief shepherd who serves and represents the Good Shepherd.

payday loans — a rate that new polling shows has strong public support statewide. This rate, which is the maximum rate permitted for loans to veterans, would provide a morally acceptable borrowing option for families in desperate financial situations. uEnsuring Catholic school teachers are not forgotten.

This summer at the Capitol, lawmakers are discussing a financial boost for those who have served as frontline workers during the pandemic. The size of the check and how many people receive a check will hinge on who lawmakers decide should be considered “frontline” or “essential” workers. The Minnesota Catholic Conference is monitoring whether public school teachers and support staff will be included in the benefit program. If so, we will work to ensure that our nonpublic, Catholic school teachers and staff who courageously served our students in person all year are treated equitably in any assistance program for frontline workers.

The one-time payment is made possible through $2.8 billion in funding to Minnesota from the federal government via the American Rescue Plan (ARP). The state budget that the Minnesota Legislature passed this summer earmarked $250 million of ARP funds

for “direct financial support for frontline workers” and created a nine-member working group to create a distribution plan for the funds. The working group has until Sept. 6 to provide the governor, speaker of the House and Senate majority leader with legislative language to implement their distribution plan. uRestoring the foundational building block of religion into social studies.

Catholics statewide have spoken out against the removal of world religions from the second draft of Minnesota’s proposed K-12 social studies standards.

During the public comment period (July 30-Aug. 16) teachers, parents, grandparents and community members urged the Minnesota Department of Education’s K-12 Social Studies Standards Committee to: 1) add religion to the list of elements of a person’s social identity; 2) explicitly list a diverse range of world religions; and 3) develop two new benchmarks to ensure students graduate high school with an understanding of how religions develop over time and are embedded into all aspects of culture. We will continue to monitor future drafts of the standards.

Deacon Bird ministers at St. Joseph in Rosemount and All Saints in Lakeville, and assists the archdiocese’s Catholic Watchmen movement. Learn more about the Catholic Watchmen at archspm.org/faith-communities/men.

“Inside the Capitol” is an update from Minnesota Catholic Conference staff. For more MCC resources, join the Catholic Advocacy Network at mncatholic.org.

LETTERS Mass and evangelization The Archdiocesan Synod Small Groups are an opportunity to discuss Pope Francis’ motu proprio directive regarding Mass forms. A common understanding and commitment to magisterium of the Church is a Synod goal. Two of the three Synod focus topics are evangelization and youth and young adult formation. If the Church is to reach youth and the larger community, the Mass must be conducted in real time and in a common parlance that speaks to both new and re-engaged Catholics, and embraces the Novus Ordo as expressed in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal as the definitive Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Pope Francis’ motu proprio has made it clear that to effectively evangelize youth and young adults, it is irrelevant to speak of the “ordinary” form or “extraordinary”

form, but rather to present an active, living Church in which all worshipers are called to the table and invited to be disciples of Christ.

priesthood, a blow to racial prejudice and good counsel for the mothers of boys. In short, we liked it. Adult education people, get this to your parish!

Ted May St. Maximilian Kolbe, Delano

Lee Gilbert Milwaukie, Oregon

Beautifully handled

Latin Mass

Seeing “Tolton” at our parish in Portland last evening was a marvelous experience. “Tolton” tells the story of the rise of August Tolton from slavery to the priesthood. How could anyone, even St. Luke Productions, treat such a difficult topic so wonderfully? It was a magnificent, warm, happy evening, with much song and good humor, yet not leaving the U.S. Catholic Church of the late 1800s guiltless. It was both sobering and inspiring, a hymn of praise to the

(Re: “Mass change?” July 29) I truly dislike the thoughts of those who would return to pre-Vatican II to the Latin Mass and all that it represents. It is a return to a previous time when all seemed to be clear and beautifully peaceful: our childhood. As a recent Gospel stated, we should put aside the things of childhood when no longer a child. I lived through the changes, I had sung the wonderful old Latin Masses, mutely listened while paging through my two language missals

while the priest singularly did his thing up on the altar with his back turned. But I loved being involved in English when the changes happened. Yet I do love going to an occasional Latin Mass and hearing that music: It is a visit to the past just as we like visiting a historic village, but would we want to live and work there? It is time to go forward, with an occasional glance backward so we don’t forget it.

Shirley Schoenbauer St. Wenceslaus, New Prague 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.

14B • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

AUGUST 26, 2021

FAITH+CULTURE Four men, 40 years: the ultimate faith-sharing group

By Christina Capecchi For The Catholic Spirit When Thomas Carey and three other young dads from St. Gerard Majella in Brooklyn Park decided to form a faithsharing group back in 1982, they had no idea how much staying power it would have.

They met every Wednesday morning month after month, year after year, decade after decade. A pandemic didn’t even stop them.

Today, Carey belongs to St. Pius X in White Bear Lake, and the 83-year-old widower still sees the other three men — Bob Goligowski, Gene Hoelscher and Steve Robach — every Wednesday. They believe they are the longest-running continuous faith-sharing group in the archdiocese.

Q Your background is in education,

and you were the first recipient of the University of St. Thomas’ “Lifelong Learner” award!

A That was really neat! I always seek

opportunities to grow. Workshops, seminars, travel — I’ve been in 100 countries and all 50 states. You have to be a little bit of a risk taker. It really expanded my knowledge and awareness and led me to a deeper understanding of what life is about.

Q Now that you are living in a

retirement community, what does lifelong learning look like?

A I play tennis three days a week, I’m in charge of a bocce ball court here, I play

cards, and I’m chairman of the education committee. Bimonthly we make a presentation to the entire unit. We had a fellow talk about your iPad and your iPhone, computers and how to avoid scams. We did one on pharmacies and drugs, one on how to avoid falls, and another on taxes and insurance. Practical things. One time we had a presentation on the small towns that residents grew up in — of course many were farms.

A We don’t have a leader. Nobody’s

qualified! We all take responsibility.

We’ve read some excellent books. “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle. “Falling Upward” by Richard Rohr.

Q How has the group supported each other over the decades?

A Members have lost parents. I had

two wives pass away. The men were the readers and eucharistic ministers at the funerals. They were calling and sending notes. It meant a lot. I would be in bad shape without their support and a much longer way from God.

Q Your first wife, Joan, died in 2003,

and your second wife, Elizabeth, died last year — both from disease.

A The first time was a shocker. The

second time, it was getting in touch with the cycle of life. God was part of both experiences. I’m a pretty positive person,

Please call Dick Synstelien 763-772-6698 synstelien@comcast.net

Find out.

Theology Day events 2021-2022 Theology Day is a chance for people in our communities who are seeking a deeper understanding of their faith and its place in their everyday lives to learn from and interact with the theologians of Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary.

Emmaus Hall events are synchronous. Webinar events are live.

Participation is FREE, but registration is required. Go online to CollegevilleMN.com/Theologyday or call 320-363-3560.

Panentheism: A Way of Seeing God’s Presence in the World

Exploring the Journey of Becoming: A Look at the Relationship of Faith and Imagination

by Larry Fraher, Ph. D.

Noreen will discuss panentheism and what a panentheistic Larry will examine connections and explore thought God would imply for salvation, creation, and God’s agency about the imagination and its role in the human in the World on: experience of faith on:

September 2021

someone interested in founding a group like yours?

A Keep it small. We have a limit of 10

people. Have courage. Commit. Don’t judge the other members. And follow up on what you say you’re going to do.

pretty simple structure.

We sing at local Catholic churches, senior retirement homes, the vet’s home, and various KC functions.

We have been entertaining you since 1957.

We are critically short of members.

You do not need to be a Knight, but you must be Catholic. Interested?

Friday, September 10 - 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Emmaus Hall, Saint John’s University

Q What advice would you give to

Q Your men’s spirituality group has a

Minneapolis Knights of Columbus Male Chorus urgently needs new members.

by Noreen Herzfeld, Ph. D.

classes. I was controlling them. They encouraged me to talk to them about why I valued the classes and ask them if they considered them meaningful.

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so I don’t let the negativity keep me from trying to function adequately. The men’s group was crucial in helping me pull through. I realized I’m not alone. Now I focus on the good memories.

Q Your men’s group established a

creed, that you believe in encouraging each other, being vulnerable, keeping it confidential and “gently confronting” another if you sense “non-truths or head trips.”

A It doesn’t happen very often. But you

don’t jump out and say, “I don’t agree with you.” You say, “Tell me more” or “Where do you think that comes from in your life?” Those gentle questions allow someone to dig a little deeper. A couple times they’ve done that for me, and I’d say, “Wow, thank you!” I felt like I really grew and it helped me consider changing my position.

Q Do you recall a specific time?

A In the early days, when we all had

young kids, and I was pushing catechism

Q What’s next for your group?

A A week ago, we decided we would each write down a spiritual experience every day. And boy, that really opens you up.

And if you get near the end of the day and you can’t identify one, then you better jump in a book and start reading!

I write mine by hand in my spiritual notebook, sitting in my recliner.

Q Lovely!

A I’m in a corner unit, so I have

windows on both sides. I’m a flower person, so I save my flowers during the winter and then put them out on the deck. There are about 25 flower pots out there. It really helped after Elizabeth passed away. I would go out on the deck and look up at the clouds and I would talk to her.

Q It sounds like you stay connected to your deepest values.

A When I go to Mass, I say, “Good

morning, dear Jesus. Here I am. I want to be able to learn more and understand more.” I read all the readings and receive the Eucharist, and I don’t let the other stuff get in the way.

AUGUST 26, 2021

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 15B

CALENDAR PARISH FESTIVALS St. Victoria Sunset Fest — Aug. 28: 4–9:30 p.m. at St. Victoria, 8228 Victoria Drive, Victoria. 4 p.m. kiddie parade, 5 p.m. Mass, 6–9:30 p.m. youth games, bingo, photo booth, s’mores firepit, live music by The Selmer Effect. 6–7:30 p.m. meal catered by Buddy Boy Fine Barbeque ($15). Kids hot dog meal ($5). Pre-purchase meal tickets at website to guarantee a plate. 1 p.m. kickball tourney. stvictoria.net/sunsetfest Germanfest — Sept. 10: 5–10 p.m. at St. Mary, 423 S. Fifth St., Stillwater. Featuring live music by Dale Dahmen and the Polka Beats, games, brats, beer and more. Age 21 and older. stmarystillwater.org St. Tim’s Carnival — Sept. 10-11: St. Timothy, 707 89th Ave. NE, Blaine. Sept. 10: 5–10 p.m.; Sept.

11: Noon ­­–10 p.m. Games, pull tabs, bingo, food and beverages, entertainment and silent auction. churchofsttimothy.com Holy Family Maronite Fall Festival — Sept. 11: 11 a.m.–7 p.m. at Holy Family Maronite, 1960 Lexington Ave. S., Mendota Heights. One-day festival with authentic Lebanese cuisine, beer, wine, Lebanese coffee, music and dancing, games, bake sale, heritage bazaar, raffle and more. 4 p.m. liturgy. Free parking in Mendota City Hall parking lot (not police station). holyfamilymaronitechurch.org Presentation of Mary Parish Fall Festival — Sept. 11-12: 5 p.m., 1725 Kennard St., Maplewood.

5K walk/run, community dinner and food booths, kids’

carnival games, bonfire with outdoor movie, bingo, basket booth and silent auction. presentationofmary.org

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

St. Mary’s Fall Festival — Sept. 11-12 at St. Mary, 303 N. Sixth St., Waverly. Sept. 11: 4 p.m. Polka Mass followed by a pork chop dinner and music by Rod Cerar.

Sept. 12: Masses at 8 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. with activities all day. 5 p.m. drawings. stmarys-waverly.net

Archbishop Bernard Hebda has asked all parishes in the archdiocese to host Synod Small Groups this fall for Catholics to learn, pray and share ideas on three focus areas ahead of the 2022 Archdiocesan Synod. Focus areas are: Forming parishes that are in the service of evangelization, forming missionary disciples who know Jesus’ love and respond to his call, and forming youth and young adults in and for a Church that is always young. Small groups will meet for six 2-hour sessions between mid-September and mid-November. Watch for communications from your parish about how to participate in a small group there, and the specific dates and times they’ll meet. Learn more about the Archdiocesan Synod process at archspm.org/synod.

52nd Annual Wild Rice Festival — Sept. 12: 11 a.m.– 4 p.m. at St. Mary, 423 S. Fifth St., Stillwater.

Fellowship, fun and a delicious chicken and wild rice dinner. Festival favorites include: silent auction, bingo, kid and teen games, inflatables, Vikings game on the big screen, beer tent, homemade quilts, cakewalk and more.

Dinner tickets at stmaryswildrice.brownpapertickets.com. stmarystillwater.org Autumn Daze Festival — Sept. 17-19: 6 p.m. at St. Helena, 3204 E. 43rd St., Minneapolis. Festival with food, rides, silent auction, cash and quilt bingo (50 quilts), children's games, games of skill and chance, Friday night fireworks, Saturday morning parade, Sunday afternoon car show and more. sainthelena.us Guardian Angels Fall Festival — Sept. 17-19: 8 a.m.– 10 p.m. at Guardian Angels, 8640 4th St. N., Oakdale.

Games, dinners, raffles, craft sale, silent auction, bingo, fireworks. guardian-angels.org/fallfestival Nativity County Fair — Sept. 17-19 at Nativity of Our Lord, 1900 Stanford Ave., St. Paul. Annual County Fair (outdoors) on Sept. 17 (5–10 p.m.), Sept. 18 (10 a.m.– 10 p.m.) and Sept. 19 (10:30 Mass, 11:30 a.m.–3 p.m.).

Free. Activities for all ages. nativitystpaul.org

ASK FATHER MIKE

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10B Now, this is true regardless of which mortal sin I am guilty of.

I have heard people say, “Why are the bishops focusing on pro-abortion politicians? They ought to also include those Catholics who use contraception, or are divorced and remarried.” But that is the point: Any mortal sin (including the two just mentioned) would need to be repented of and confessed before any person (politician

St. Peter Fall Festival — Sept. 18-19 at St. Peter, 1250 South Shore Drive, Forest Lake. 5K run, bingo, beer and wine tent, cake walk, casino night, chili cook-off, coffee house, country store, $5,000 grand raffle, golf tournament, games, meat raffle, media medley, silent auction, talent show, turkey dinner. stpeterfl.org/fallfestival Annual Parish Picnic and Corn Roast — Sept. 19: 11 a.m.–1 p.m. at St. John the Baptist, 680 Mill St., Excelsior. Fun and fellowship on the back lawn after the 10 a.m. Mass for annual parish picnic. Pulled pork sandwiches, brats, hot dogs, roasted corn, potluck

or not) received holy Communion. The Catechism states it like this: Anyone “who is aware of having committed a mortal sin must not receive holy Communion … without having first received sacramental absolution” (1457).

You might ask, “But what about the Eucharist being ‘medicine for the sick’?” Yes, the Eucharist is medicine for the sick, but it is not medicine for the dead. Mortal sin is called “mortal” because there is a real sense in which it kills the life of God in the soul. Simply praying at the beginning of Mass, “I confess to almighty God” and “Lord, have mercy” is enough to forgive venial sins,

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

LISTINGS: Accepted are brief no­tices of upcoming events hosted by Catholic parishes and organizations. If the Catholic connection is not clear, please emphasize it in your submission. Included in our listings are local events submitted by public sources that could be of interest to the larger Catholic community.

ITEMS MUST INCLUDE the following to be considered for publication: uTime and date of event uFull street address of event uDescription of event uContact information in case of questions ONLINE: TheCatholicSpirit.com/calendarsubmissions sides, desserts, music, bouncy house and more. stjohns-excelsior.org St. John the Baptist Fall Festival — Sept. 19: 9:30 a.m.–4 p.m. at St. John the Baptist, 313 Second St. E., Jordan. Food, music, raffles, silent auction, Funland for kids. sjbjordan.org/fall-festival

but only confession forgives mortal sins.

My friends, this isn’t about politics. This is about your soul and my soul. If we (not some politician somewhere in Washington) receive our Lord unworthily in holy Communion, we are eating and drinking condemnation on ourselves. This is why St. Paul advises us, one “should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup” (1 Cor 11:27-28).

Father Schmitz is director of youth and young adult ministry for the Diocese of Duluth and chaplain of the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

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16B • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

AUGUST 26, 2021

THELASTWORD

Follow me

New media entertainment sets the stage for new evangelization

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service

I

t was fitting for a Catholic actor and a Christian director of a new streaming series on the life of Jesus to meet Pope Francis on the feast of St. Clare of Assisi, patron saint of televisions and screens.

Jonathan Roumie, who portrays Jesus, and Dallas Jenkins, the series’ director, creator and co-writer, were in Rome as part of an effort to expand the global reach and revenue of the multiseason, crowd-funded series “The Chosen.” They sat down with a small group of reporters, including Catholic News Service, for a few hours after the audience Aug. 11.

Jenkins said he told the pope, “I’m a Protestant, but I’m making a show about Jesus that people of all faiths appreciate.”

The pope pointed to the bearded, wavyhaired Roumie next to him, asking astutely, “Is he Jesus?”

After Jenkins said, “Yes,” the pope decided to poke some fun, asking Jenkins, “Are you Judas?” sparking a round of laughter.

But, in all seriousness, Jenkins and Roumie have said in multiple interviews, the last thing they are aiming for is to betray the beauty and truth of Jesus.

“I do want people, when they are done watching the show, to feel like they know and love Jesus more, or at least want to know and love him more,” Jenkins told reporters.

The problem with most renditions of biblical accounts, he said, is that a twoor three-hour film is not a lot of time to do a deep-dive into the characters,

CNS, THE CHOSEN

Catholic actor Jonathan Roumie, who plays Christ in the series “The Chosen,” is pictured in a scene depicting the Sermon on the Mount. The series was launched in 2019 as a media project with the aim of showing Jesus in a new way, and it became the highest crowd-funded project of all time. It is available for free on an app, thechosen.tv/app. backstories, motives, conflicts and context connected with biblical events.

Not only do the characters often come across as “stiff” on screen, he said, “you go from miracle to miracle, Bible verse to Bible verse, and you never get to know anybody Jesus actually impacted.”

“From a strictly artistic perspective, that is not really good drama, you need to see change, you want to see a character arc,” he said.

“The Chosen” was going to be different, Jenkins said, by looking at Jesus through the eyes of those he chose and changed, and to imagine what their lives and personalities were like and why they made the choices they did. The finale of season two dropped mid-July, and the plan is to make a seven-season show, giving writers and actors the time to fully explore and create “a collection of personal human moments,” he said.

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Chilean Father Felipe Herrera-Espaliat, a journalist and officer of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, told Catholic News Service Aug. 10 that the series’ approach reminds him of the way St. Ignatius of Loyola encouraged people to read the Bible and “create the scene in your mind,” activate all the senses and engage one’s feelings.

The reason, he said, is to “get involved so you can take the place of one of the people that is in that scene. I think that’s what they are doing (with the series), and that helps a lot,” because it prepares people for a deeper relationship with and understanding of the Word of God by becoming “part of that scene.”

“That is how literature and art works, you become a part of this, you are a witness of what is happening,” he said.

Seeing Scripture from various human perspectives “does not change the eternal truth of the Word of God, but helps you to live that Word and to incarnate it in your own life.”

Roumie told reporters meeting the pope was “a childhood dream realized.”

After years of struggling for success in L.A.’s film industry, his Catholic faith was strengthened after he hit “the lowest point of my life” three years ago, he said.

He decided to just “surrender” and give up trying to control every outcome and just let God lead the way.

Soon after, Jenkins gave him a call about the possibility of the new series.

Roumie had already worked with Jenkins, portraying Jesus in a few short films with limited audiences. Those projects were good “practice runs,” Roumie said, and doing “The Chosen” “has deepened my walk with Christ.”

When he’s on camera, it’s like the wristband: “What would Jesus do?”

“For me it’s trying to heighten the emotional experience that we have as humans,” he said, and imagine, “How might Christ have experienced joy and happiness and sadness and anger and solitude?”

He also tries to extend God’s qualities of love, mercy and compassion to others on set and in his own life, he said, “so

that if I’m recreating it in a scene, it’s organic, it’s real, it’s based in truth, it’s not fake.”

Viewer feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, said Neal Harmon, co-founder and CEO of Angel Studios, the series’ distributor. The show has high marks from film critics on Rottentomatoes.com, with 100% “freshness” and a five-star average rating from thousands of users.

The series opened as the largest crowdfunded media project ever, collecting more than $10 million from more than 19,000 people to make the first season. It has more than 250 million views on the app, where people can watch for free and people can “pay it forward,” donating money to keep the show free for future episodes. There are an additional 10 million views of season one on the show’s YouTube channel, which has 1.3 million subscribers.

Harmon said funding for production comes from sales for DVDs, Blu-ray Discs, partnerships, merchandise and licenses, for example, with the online streaming service, Peacock.

The studio backed “The Chosen” and helped it crowd-fund, he said, because it wanted a TV show with “high production quality like Hollywood but without Hollywood’s purse strings.”

The app (thechosen.tv/app) is available in more than 180 countries, and the series offers subtitles in more than 50 languages and voiceovers in nine, including Arabic, Hindi and Mandarin Chinese, he said. “The traditional Hollywood movie has a certain set of languages that it goes to, based off of profitability, and ‘The Chosen’ has kind of been the opposite of that” by responding to donors’ requests for which languages be made available, he said.

But Harmon said sometimes people still react to hearing about the show with an eye roll, thinking, “‘Another show about Jesus, another history show’ and they don’t think it’s going to be what it ends up being when they watch.”

Father Herrera-Espaliat said the series is “an incredible production” of high professional quality and a big investment by so many people who want to see the Bible brought to life on a screen.

“Entertainment can be a very good way to reach people,” he said. “Many people don’t have Bibles, or they have a Bible and they never open it, so maybe the only way they will have first access to the Word of God will be through these kinds of productions.”

He said people should explore the series with “an open spirit and a very mature Christian point of view in order to understand that this is not the Word of God” and nothing can substitute the Word of God. It’s important to “have critical thought” and encourage quality content, otherwise viewers will be stuck with “low budget,” dubious products that may just be pushing an agenda, he said.

But whenever there are “good translations of the Word of God into the audio-visual world, I think it’s a step forward,” said Father Herrera-Espaliat.

The series is “not pretending to be the last word or the exact interpretation of the Bible,” he said, and it can be “a very good door” to help people encounter Christ.