The Catholic Spirit - February 25, 2021

FEBRUARY 25, 2021 • Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

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‘Remember you are dust’ Catholics receive ashes in new ways as Lent begins and pandemic continues — Page 3 Anzley Harmon of St. Thomas More in St. Paul receives sprinkled ashes from Father R.J. Fichtinger during Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Thomas More. Harmon is the director of communications for the parish.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

CHASKA SCHOOL CLOSING 5 | CATHOLICS AT THE CAPITOL 7 | DREXEL MISSION SCHOOLS 10-11 ST. JOSEPH, HOUSE SELLER? 13 | FEELING FAR FROM GOD 15 | HOW TO HELP THOSE SUFFERING 17

2 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

PAGETWO NEWS notes St. Francis Xavier in Buffalo held a Holy Hour with rosary Feb. 11 to pray for those impacted by a Feb. 9 shooting at an Allina Health Clinic in Buffalo that killed one person and injured four others. Archbishop Bernard Hebda presided at the prayer service, saying he wanted to join his prayers with all those gathered for peace, safety and for those affected by the shooting. One suspect was arrested in the shooting. Police said he had a history of being unhappy with health care he received. St. Francis Xavier Catholic School went into a “soft lockdown” during the incident, with no one allowed to enter or exit the building. Students were dismissed at the end of the school day as usual.

The Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis honored St. Josephine Bakhita on her Feb. 8 feast day with the dedication of a new icon of her likeness created by local iconographer Deb Korluka and with the premiere of “Bakhita Hymn” by the Basilica’s composer-inresidence, Donald Krubsack. Born in Darfur, now western Sudan, in 1869, St. Josephine Bakhita was enslaved by Arabs as a girl. She was eventually brought to Venice, Italy, where Canossian Sisters introduced her to Christianity and helped secure her freedom.

She later became a Canossian sister and became well loved by people in Schio, Italy, where her convent was located. When she died in 1947, thousands of people came to pay respects before her funeral. According to the Basilica’s website, Krubsack hopes the “musical intent and message (of ‘Bakhita Hymn’) is something that can live in the hearts of the people who sing and hear it.” View the icon and listen to the composition at mary.org.

COURTESY TYLER MADDEUS, ST. THOMAS ACADEMY

ACTION PACK Daniel Creamer, a junior at St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights, and Tony Kinzler, a science teacher at the school, assemble packets of oatmeal Feb. 10 as students help Minneapolis-based nonprofit Harvest Pack supply meals and other goods to organizations that assist people in need, including Franciscan Brothers of Peace, St. Vincent de Paul and The Sanneh Foundation, all in the Twin Cities. The students packaged 67,280 meals in one hour — enough to feed 180 children one meal a day for a year. They also set a Harvest Pack record for most meals packed in an hour. Two more STA Action Pack! events are planned at the school.

in REMEMBRANCE Deacon served four Twin Cities parishes The Catholic Spirit Deacon Thomas Winninger, who served four parishes in the Twin Cities in his 15 years of ministry and was widely known as a motivational speaker, supporter of Catholic families, author and market researcher, died Feb. 11.

He was 72.

A native of Waterloo, Iowa, Deacon Winninger was a member of Our Lady of Grace in Edina, where his funeral Mass was held Feb. 23 and livestreamed on the parish website at olgparish.org/mass/dcn-thom-winninger. He was ordained in 2006 and served at Holy Spirit in St. Paul from 2006 to 2007 and St. Olaf and Our Lady of Lourdes, both in Minneapolis, from 2007 to 2013 DEACON THOMAS and 2013 to 2019, respectively. He was ministering at Nativity of the Blessed WINNINGER Virgin Mary in Bloomington when he died after a short battle with cancer.

Survivors include his wife, Lynne Marie Winninger, seven children and 13 grandchildren.

The Catholic Spirit wants your perspective. In this Year of St. Joseph, what does St. Joseph mean to you? Please send your response in 200 words or less to CatholicSpirit@archspm.org.

PRACTICING Catholic On the show that aired Feb. 19, “Practicing Catholic” host Patrick Conley interviews Father Charles Lachowitzer, who describes how to prepare our hearts for Lent and the Easter Season, and Dan Stokman discusses the impact of the pandemic on mental health.

Mary Kristjanson and Bill Brady talk with Conley about a Feb. 24 videoconference on youth hunger in Minnesota. Listen each week on Fridays at 9 p.m., Saturdays at 1 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. on Relevant Radio 1330 AM. Listen to interviews after they have been 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 Vol. 26 — No. 4 MOST REVEREND BERNARD A. HEBDA, Publisher TOM HALDEN, Associate Publisher MARIA C. WIERING, Editor-in-Chief JOE RUFF, News Editor

Charismatic groups in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and beyond will gather at St. Peter in Richfield and via livestream for a March 13 “Unity in Diversity” winter conference day. Sponsored by the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Office in the archdiocese, the daylong conference will include messages from Archbishop Hebda and Auxiliary Bishop Peter Smith of the Archdiocese of Portland. Several groups will discuss their ministries, including the Community of Christ the Redeemer, a lay community; St. Paul’s Outreach, a campus ministry; and NET Ministries, an outreach to high school students. Charismata, Emmanuel Community and People of Praise also will be represented. Register at ccro-msp.org or call 763-571-5314.

St. Thomas Academy’s innovation center director and moderator of the experimental vehicle team at the Mendota Heights school, Mark Westlake, recently completed requirements to become a National Geographic certified educator. With the certification, Westlake can advise on National Geographic content and programming, lead the nonprofit scientific and educational organization’s trainings, serve as a mentor to other educators, receive early access to National Geographic programs, contribute to its educator blog and apply for its Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship.

Assumption in Richfield celebrated the 20th anniversary of its Hispanic ministry Feb. 7, with Archbishop Hebda presiding at the 11 a.m. Spanish Mass. Archbishop Hebda also presided at Assumption’s 9 a.m. English Mass for the Rite of Acolyte Institution, part of the permanent diaconate program at The St. Paul Seminary. Assumption parishioner Adelmo de Jesus Gracia Suarez is one of seven men in the diaconate program. In the 20 years of Hispanic ministry at Assumption, Spanish-speaking parishioners have grown from 200 to more than 1,500 — 85% of all parishioners. According to officials at Assumption, pastors of the deanery at the time the ministry was founded agreed to designate Assumption as the Hispanic parish in the area.

The Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota is reconvening its Giving Insights forums — in an online format — after a hiatus of nearly a year because of COVID-19 precautions. Now in its fourth year, Giving Insights draws on local and national experts and leaders, philanthropists and others to examine critical needs in the local community.

On March 16, a Zoom webinar will focus on early childhood education and the critical brain development that takes place in the first three years of a child’s life. On April 29, the conversation will turn to the role of lay leadership in revitalizing Catholic parishes. To learn more and to register, go to ccf-mn.org/forums.

The Diocese of Winona-Rochester has reached a $21.5 million settlement with a creditors’ committee representing 145 survivors of clergy sexual abuse, the diocese said in a Feb. 10 statement. “It is my desire and hope that the compensation paid in this settlement will help the survivors heal from the pain they have felt over these many years,” said Bishop John Quinn. “We must never forget the tragic anguish caused by individuals who abused their power and positions of authority.” The settlement includes resolution of claims against parishes, schools and other Catholic entities in the diocese. It will allow the diocese to submit a plan of reorganization under its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for approval.

CORRECTION In the Feb. 11 issue, Erika Kidd’s title was misreported in “Faith and Culture Series continues with focus on sexual morality, women’s dignity.”

She is an associate professor of Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas, where she is also the director of its graduate program.

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FEBRUARY 25, 2021

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 3

FROMTHEMODERATOROFTHECURIA ONLY JESUS | FATHER CHARLES LACHOWITZER

Turn your shoes around

O

n the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord (Feb. 2), Pope Francis preached on the patience of Simeon and Anna (Lk 2:25-28). The Holy Father noted their patient waiting and words of prayer, and contrasted this with the tendency today to be impatient, with words of complaint.

None of us is immune to at least a thought or two in the complaint department. Complaining seems to span everything from crabbiness to being overly critical. Whatever the complaint is, it is a matter of tone. Constructive criticism is in the ears of the receiver.

Friends of mine once told me a story about their son who worked at a fast-food restaurant. Every day an elderly gentleman used the drive-through to pick up his food. Every day he complained about the food.

Finally, the young man said to the old man, “Sir, if you don’t like this food, then maybe you should go somewhere else.” The old man replied, “They’re all worse!”

In a world where there is so much wrong, it is with little effort that we have something to complain about. It is not just a matter of predisposition —

Dale la vuelta a tus zapatos

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n la Fiesta de la Presentación del Señor (2 de febrero), el Papa Francisco predicó sobre la paciencia de Simeón y Ana (Lucas 2: 25-28). El Santo Padre notó su espera paciente y sus palabras de oración y lo contrastó con la tendencia de hoy a la impaciencia, con palabras de queja.

Ninguno de nosotros es inmune a al menos un pensamiento o dos en el departamento de quejas. Quejarse parece abarcar todo, desde el mal humor hasta ser demasiado crítico.

Cualquiera que sea la denuncia, es cuestión de tono. La crítica constructiva está en los oídos del receptor.

Unos amigos me contaron una vez una historia sobre su hijo que trabajaba en un restaurante de comida rápida.

Todos los días, un señor mayor usaba el drive-through para recoger su comida.

Lent is not only a season of repentance; it is a time of conversion. whether we are optimists or pessimists — it is a matter of our spiritual attention. This is particularly true during the season of Lent when we examine our sins, minimally to prepare for going to confession.

Lent is more than an examen of conscience. We should not wait for one season in the year to reflect on our sins and with respectful criticism know our need for God’s mercy. Lent is more than giving up something on Ash Wednesday, difficult as some of these choices can be. Lent is not only a season of repentance; it is a time of conversion.

There are many variations of an old story about a man who complained about everything. He was a master at finding fault. One day, he set off on a journey to find the perfect place to live. He had traveled all day and when night came, he bedded down in the middle of a dense forest. To make sure he didn’t get lost, he took off his shoes and pointed them in the direction he was going. In the middle of the night, an angel came, turned his shoes around and pointed them back to his home village. The next

Todos los días se quejaba de la comida.

Finalmente, el joven le dijo al anciano: "Señor, si no le gusta esta comida, tal vez debería ir a otro lugar". El anciano respondió: "¡Son todos peores!"

En un mundo donde hay tanto mal, es con poco esfuerzo que tenemos algo de qué quejarnos. No es solo una cuestión de predisposición, seamos optimistas o pesimistas, es una cuestión de nuestra atención espiritual. Esto es particularmente cierto durante la temporada de Cuaresma cuando examinamos nuestros pecados, mínimamente para prepararnos para confesarnos. La Cuaresma es más que un examen de conciencia. No debemos esperar una temporada al año para reflexionar sobre nuestros pecados y conocer con una crítica respetuosa nuestra necesidad de la misericordia de Dios. La Cuaresma es más que renunciar a algo el Miércoles de Ceniza, por difícil que puedan ser algunas de estas opciones. La Cuaresma no es solo una temporada de arrepentimiento; es

morning, when the man awoke, he carefully put on his shoes and walked in the direction they were pointing. He found the “new” place beautiful and just perfect. He gave thanks to God for giving him a beautiful home that looked so much like his wretched old house.

To turn our shoes around is to know conversion.

No matter the chapter, we discover the blessings of God in and through all things. It is to actively seek the good by first seeing it. It is a light that leads us forward on the pilgrim path rather than the darkness that comes from seeing only the roots and boulders that trip us. If I am so caught up in the temporal matters of the Church, how can I ever experience the Mystical Body of Christ? Simply, I can’t. If I only see the sin of the world reflected in my own mirror, then how do I see the heaven that is already here? Simply, I don’t.

Yes, we are to be aware of our sins, but we are not to stop there. It would be like making our permanent home at the cross of Good Friday. Every Good Friday, by the grace of God, gives way to Easter. To be an Easter People in a Good Friday world means that we, though humiliated by all that is wrong, still take the hand of Jesus to be led to an empty tomb, where all is right.

un momento de conversión.

Hay muchas variaciones de una vieja historia sobre un hombre que se quejaba de todo. Él era un maestro en encontrar fallas. Un día, se embarcó en un viaje para encontrar el lugar perfecto para vivir. Había viajado todo el día y cuando llegó la noche, se acostó en medio de un denso bosque. Para asegurarse de no perderse, se quitó los zapatos y los señaló en la dirección en la que iba. En medio de la noche, llegó un ángel, le dio la vuelta a sus zapatos y les señaló su pueblo natal. A la mañana siguiente, cuando el hombre se despertó, se puso con cuidado los zapatos y caminó en la dirección que le indicaban. Encontró el "nuevo" lugar hermoso y simplemente perfecto. Dio gracias a Dios por darle una hermosa casa que se parecía tanto a su vieja y miserable casa.

Dar la vuelta a nuestros zapatos es conocer la conversión. No importa el capítulo, descubrimos las bendiciones de Dios en y a través de todas las

No dark cross, but ash sprinkling still significant mortification

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit Laura Haraldson usually likes to keep the smudged ash cross she receives at Ash Wednesday Mass on her forehead all day as a sign. This year, as a safety precaution during the COVID-19 pandemic, she and other worshippers at St. John the Evangelist in Little Canada were given ashes on top of their heads instead.

It was different, but it didn’t take away from the meaning, she said.

“We all change during Lent, either for the better or for the worse, so I think if we start with a little change like this, that’s a good way to set out for the better,” Haraldson said.

St. John the Evangelist was one of several parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis that opted to distribute ashes Feb. 17 by sprinkling them on the heads of the faithful. It was one of several ash distribution suggestions offered during the pandemic by the archdiocese in lieu of common practice, with the priest or other ministers touching ash recipients’ foreheads. Instead, they were encouraged to

apply the ashes with a cotton swab or trace a cross with their thumb on each recipient’s forehead, sanitizing their hands each time.

Father Tom Balluff, St. John the Evangelist’s pastor, said he chose to sprinkle ashes at the parish’s three Ash Wednesday liturgies because he thought using a swab seemed artificial. He also noted that sprinkling is a regular practice at the Vatican, and Italy and other countries.

“Although I prefer personally making the sign of the cross in ashes on the forehead, I don’t think it’s a big stretch to sprinkle the ashes on the head,” he said. “I think it’s a symbolic and wonderful penitential mortification.”

Dale Oden distributed ashes alongside Father Balluff, and said he was a little disappointed he didn’t have the witness of ashes on his forehead, but he understands that sprinkling ashes is customary elsewhere. The act is a reminder of mortality, he said. “(We) don’t get out of this world without facing death. It’s just a reminder. The cross on their forehead is that promise of the Resurrection.”

cosas. Es buscar activamente el bien viéndolo primero. Es una luz que nos lleva hacia adelante en el camino del peregrino en lugar de la oscuridad que proviene de ver solo las raíces y los cantos rodados que nos hacen tropezar.

Si estoy tan absorto en los asuntos temporales de la Iglesia, ¿cómo podré experimentar el Cuerpo Místico de Cristo? Simplemente, no puedo. Si solo veo el pecado del mundo reflejado en mi propio espejo, ¿cómo veo el cielo que ya está aquí? Simplemente, no lo hago.

Sí, debemos ser conscientes de nuestros pecados, pero no debemos detenernos allí. Sería como hacer nuestro hogar permanente en la cruz del Viernes Santo. Cada Viernes Santo, por la gracia de Dios, da paso a la Pascua. Ser un Pueblo de Pascua en un mundo de Viernes Santo significa que nosotros, aunque humillados por todo lo que está mal, todavía tomamos la mano de Jesús para ser conducidos a una tumba vacía, donde todo está bien.

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

Effective February 8, 2021 Reverend Joseph Zabinski, assigned as parochial administrator of the Church of Saint Albert in Albertville, and as Sacramental Minister to the Church of Saint Michael in Saint Michael. Father Zabinski previously served as parochial vicar to the Church of Saint Albert and the Church of Saint Michael.

Reverend Brian Park, resigned from the office of pastor of the Church of Saint Albert in Albertville. Father Park will continue to serve as pastor of the Church of Saint Michael in Saint Michael.

4 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

LOCAL

SLICEof LIFE

Reeling them in

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

David Williams of the Knights of Columbus Marian Council of Bloomington waves to passing motorists Feb. 19 while wearing a fish hat and sandwich board in front of the Bloomington Event Center (background).

His eye-catching hat and sign are part of the Knights’ efforts to advertise their fish fry each Friday in Lent.

Williams, 77, stands along American Boulevard each week from start to finish of the three-hour event, a routine he started last year.

“I get a lot of laughs,” he said of his fish fry costume.

“A lot of people come by, there’s a smile on their face. And then, I get a lot of honks and a lot of high fives, thumbs up and stuff like that as people go by. They enjoy it.” This year’s fish fries by the Bloomington Knights are takeout only, with curbside pickup.

C O ur all to pen vis da fo it! y to r T o 95 2-9 sche urs.

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FEBRUARY 25, 2021

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 5

Guardian Angels Catholic School in Chaska will not reopen next year

By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit After seeking input from parishioners and school parents, Guardian Angels Catholic School in Chaska will not reopen next school year. The school faces declining enrollment and costly building repairs, Guardian Angels officials said Feb. 18.

But leaders at the prekindergarten-to-grade-eight school and parish, as well as those at the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, are looking to the future, and they say the closing might best be understood as an indeterminate “pause” for Catholic school education in the Chaska area. The area’s population growth indicates that it could eventually again support a school.

In Feb. 18 letters to parishioners and school families, Guardian Angels pastor Father Tony VanderLoop said one possibility is a regional school supported by multiple Catholic parishes.

Guardian Angels parish and school are located in the Minnesota River bluffs southwest of the Twin Cities, but Chaska’s older housing stock and geographic location, some distance from U.S. Highway 212 and against the river in the lower reaches of the bluffs, has put the school at a disadvantage when it comes to leveraging the area’s population growth. Areas just three miles away, around St. Nicholas parish in Carver and higher in the bluffs along U.S. Highway 212, are seeing more housing development, Father VanderLoop said.

Meanwhile, Guardian Angels Catholic School’s 108-year-old building requires costly repairs, Father VanderLoop told The Catholic Spirt. One-half of the front steps is badly damaged and barricaded off. The brick façade needs repairs. The three-story building has one area for bathrooms and heating is uneven. The general perception is that the building does not fare well when compared with neighboring Catholic and public schools, Father VanderLoop said, and its state of disrepair has contributed to enrollment decline.

Lynn Arnal, business administrator at both Guardian Angels and St. Nicholas parishes, said decisions about whether to keep the school open have been difficult and emotional. What to do with the school building after it closes will be worked out in the months ahead, she said.

While the school’s challenges predated the COVID-19 pandemic, that, too, has impacted the school and parish, in part with lower offertory gifts, Arnal said. A COVID-related, $116,000 federal Paycheck Protection Program loan helped Guardian Angels pay salaries. With the school’s retention of teachers and staff and under terms of the program, the federal government forgave that loan last month.

But the school has faced a steady decline in enrollment, Arnal said. About 20 years ago, the school had 300 students. Now, there are 64 students in kindergarten through eighth grade, and 16 in preschool.

Years of operating deficits at the school prompted two parish capital campaigns in the last seven years.

Guardian Angels Catholic School in Chaska will close at the end of this school year, with families being directed to other Catholic school options in the area.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

FINANCIAL AID TO FOLLOW STUDENTS As students and teachers adjust to the announcement that Guardian Angels Catholic School in Chaska is closing, they can be assured that help is at hand.

with each teacher and staff member at Guardian Angels “to talk about the great things they have done. We are very grateful for our wonderful teachers.”

The school’s 64 kindergarten through eighth-grade students and 16 preschoolers can continue their education at Catholic schools in the area, including seven miles away at St. Hubert Catholic School in Chanhassen, which has 535 students, or Shakopee Area Catholic School in Shakopee, with 508 students. Holy Family High School in Victoria is eight miles away.

Guardian Angels marks the first school closing in the archdiocese since St. Bernard in Cologne in 2015, said Jason Slattery, director of Catholic education in the archdiocese.

Guardian Angels has one of the the lowest Catholic school tuitions in its area. To help school families transition to other Catholic schools, Guardian Angels parish is offering annual scholarships and support allowing existing students to continue paying tuition at their current levels. “The closure of Guardian Angels Catholic School does not mean the end of Catholic school education for local families,” Father Tony VanderLoop, pastor of Guardian Angels, said in letters to parish and school families.

The school’s 13 faculty and staff members can get help searching for work in Catholic schools from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Office for the Mission of Catholic Education.

Guardian Angels parish also is offering severance packages to help the teachers bridge into new jobs, Father VanderLoop said.

Two years ago, St. Mark’s Catholic School in St. Paul announced a restructuring because of rising costs and declining enrollment.

Parish and school officials suspended kindergarten through eighth grades but retained the preschool.

The closure comes amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has challenged schools across the country financially and with efforts to keep students and staff safe. But Catholic schools in the archdiocese have succeeded in safely offering in-person learning, and enrollment since March 2020 has grown 4.4% over last year, with 27,000 students currently in 91 elementary and high schools, Slattery said.

Guardian Angels’ news is difficult, and prayers are encouraged for all affected by the upcoming closure, Slattery said.

“While the parish takes a pause on operating a Catholic school, we hope that existing families will utilize the resources provided by the parish and other partners to find a home in other Catholic school options in the region,” he said.

Lynn Arnal, business administrator for Guardian Angels and St. Nicholas parish in nearby Carver, said meetings will be held Parishioners decided that both campaigns should be devoted largely to paying down debt, and not to doing more repairs at the school, Arnal said.

In January, Father VanderLoop held three town hall meetings about Guardian Angels school — two online and one in person. In a Feb. 9 letter to parishioners and Catholic school families, he summarized 97 responses received at the events.

— Joe Ruff Fifty of those responding said the school shouldn’t close, 40 said it should, and seven were undecided or had no response, Father VanderLoop said. But several comments among those who felt the school should remain open included caveats that would be difficult to meet, such as one person suggesting a minimum of 100 pre-enrolled students paying full tuition and the steps being repaired.

Ordination to Priesthood: Rev. John Siebenaler Ordination Date: February 19, 1961 First Mass: St. Mary’s; New Trier, MN Served as Pastor: St. Nicholas; New Market, MN St. John the Baptist; Dayton, MN Brothers and Sisters: Rev. Martin Siebenaler • Rev. Leonard Siebenaler • Mary Katherine Hoffman • Ms. Therese Siebenaler • Donna Neisen • Edward Siebenaler • Raymond Siebenaler • Bernard Siebenaler

Happy Anniversary and Thanks for your Years of Priestly Service

Deacon Discernment Day March 20

8:30 am – 5:00 pm

To Register:

Questions:

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sjleif@stthomas.edu (651) 962-6891

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6 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

Rachel’s Vineyard Twin Cities: Offering healing from abortion despair

By Debbie Musser For The Catholic Spirit

IMPORTANT HELP

Editor’s note: This is the second story in a threepart series highlighting some of the 20 ministries supported by the annual Catholic Services Appeal.

This year’s appeal kicked off Feb. 13-14. Learn more at csaf.org.

Maggie Larson was not a young teen when she found herself in an unwanted pregnancy in 1988.

“I was 27 years old and working as a psychotherapist,” Larson said. “I had been in a relationship for about two years and was taking the birth control pill; yet, I became pregnant.”

When she revealed this to her boyfriend, he was not at all pleased. He insisted that he was not ready to be a father and that abortion was the only answer.

“I am not placing blame on him; I was so full of fear and he was terrified, too,” she said.

Larson, 59, was raised Catholic, attending Annunciation School in Minneapolis and the Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield. She said she was fortunate to have a group of close girlfriends from those Catholic school years.

“I consider them family and love them all, but I did not share (the news of) my pregnancy at the time,” Larson said. “I was ashamed . . . so ashamed. And that’s why I didn’t go to my parents.

“Looking back now, I had it all wrong,” she said. “I think my friends and family would have helped me. But at the time, I had a boyfriend who didn’t want to help, so I thought I had no road out.”

A few weeks later, Larson, convinced she could not handle raising a child on her own and wanting to please her boyfriend, found herself in a St. Louis Park women’s clinic, seeking an abortion.

“I called in sick from work, walked in and recall all these women sitting there

Maggie Larson of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Isanti has found healing from abortion through a Rachel’s Vineyard retreat. The retreats are supported by funding from the Catholic Services Appeal.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

with dead looks on their faces,” she said.

“And the silence was deafening.”

Fast forward five years to 1993: Larson went on to marry. After seven years of marriage and one son, the couple divorced.

“I would say that the abortion was ultimately a major factor in the divorce; I was afraid of being honest about anything, I was angry and depressed, and I was sure I was condemned to hell for having an abortion,” Larson said.

Today, Larson, an active member of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Isanti, attends a prayer group, a Bible study and weekly adoration hour. She remarried in 2008 and works with her husband in a couple of family businesses.

“I met my husband in 2005 but kept the abortion secret for a long time; I was convinced he wouldn’t want me if he knew,” Larson said. “I finally told him at the kitchen table one day in a flood of tears and sorrow, and to my astonishment, he held me and consoled me.”

Larson began searching for help to

heal from her abortion. She came upon an ad for a Rachel’s Vineyard retreat in February 2015 and asked her husband to accompany her. He agreed.

“I have such deep regret, sorrow and despair about my abortion; it’s so isolating,” Larson said. “Rachel’s Vineyard helped me see that Jesus never abandoned me, and that while abortion is a grave sin, it’s not an unforgivable sin.”

Rachel’s Vineyard Twin Cities offers weekend healing retreats for mothers, fathers, grandparents and anyone struggling with abortion loss. Under the guidance of trained volunteers, using Scripture, meditations, group discussion, the sacraments, and a memorial service and Mass to honor the children lost, the retreats allow participants to deeply explore their trauma, guilt and grief in a safe, confidential environment.

Rachel’s Vineyard Ministries is an international organization founded in 1995. “Most of our participants are women in their 40s and 50s; about 12% are men and 84% are Catholic,” said Nancy Blom, 58, executive director of Rachel’s Vineyard Twin Cities. “It’s an average of 24 years from the time of their abortion to when they attend their retreat.”

Nancy Blom, executive director of Rachel’s Vineyard Twin Cities, said half of the local organization’s budget is from the Catholic Services Appeal Foundation. The funds are used for retreats and expanding its reach.

“Another very important aspect is that the Catholic Services Appeal sends a powerful message to our wounded body of Christ that the Church cares about them,” Blom said. “With healing, many of our participants become vibrant and active members of their churches, no longer feeling separated and unworthy.”

Parishes also can benefit from the appeal, said Jennifer Beaudry, CSAF executive director.

“When parishes go above their goal or even give more than last year, they receive parish sharing dollars to use wherever they need it most,” Beaudry said. “We were grateful to be able to share approximately 11%, or $1,100,000, with parishes in 2020.”

She said donors can give online, at their parish or by mail.

“We’re using a variety of tools,” Beaudry said, “so that parishes will have the flexibility to reach their parishioners however works best, and additionally this year, parishes will find an extensive tool kit on our website to help spread the word through digital and social channels.”

To learn more about the CSAF and to donate, visit csafspm.org.

— Debbie Musser

The retreat was life-changing for Larson. “My soul experienced such a release over the course of the retreat,” she said. “God led me there; he knew what I needed to come out of the prison I had been in for years. And now I have returned to my beautiful Catholic faith, with a very supportive community who reminds me to pray, seek God and listen to him.”

Priesthood — ordained and baptized — is a call to serve God and others, presenter says

By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit Priest, prophet and king. All the baptized share in these qualities, which Christ fully lived and which some, such as ordained priests, are called to live in particular ways, said Sister Esther Mary Nickel of the Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma, Michigan.

In a Feb. 9 online presentation on “The Priesthood, (Both Baptized and Ordained),” offered by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Sister Nickel said God intends everyone to cooperate and serve one another as members of the body of Christ, united in a special way by baptism, the Eucharist and other sacraments.

Priests are called to a particular task: to serve their flocks. “The ordained priesthood is at the service of the priesthood of the baptized,” Sister Nickel said.

The 90-minute presentation and discussion on the priesthood was inspired by questions raised among the faithful in 30 prayer and listening events held across the archdiocese during fall 2019 and winter 2020 to prepare for an Archdiocesan Synod in 2022 on the pastoral needs of the archdiocese.

To address some of the most frequent questions, the archdiocese produced the Faith and Culture Series, a four-part series that explored four topics: the sources of Catholic teaching; sexual morality and the family; the Church’s understanding on the dignity of women; and, finally, the priesthood, ordained and baptized.

Introducing the Feb. 9 session, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said the four installments provided an opportunity to discuss “some of the challenging topics that face the Church, as we live in a culture that is at times opposed to the teachings of Jesus.”

“It is my hope and prayer that this series has been informative and helpful in uniting us in faith as we enter the Synod consultation process next year, so that we can emerge eager and equipped to move SISTER ESTHER vigorously and credibly proclaim the MARY NICKEL good news of Jesus Christ,” he said.

Archbishop Hebda introduced Sister Nickel as a liturgist and beloved seminary professor who has modeled her own baptismal calling and helped young men prepare for ordained ministry in the Church.

Sister Nickel noted that all of the baptized share in the ministry of Christ, but the ordained priest acts in the person of Christ in the Mass and other sacraments.

“He makes Christ’s sacrifice present on the altar (in the Eucharist) so that we can join the offering of our lives with his to Christ,” she said. “A priest could only say these words because he acts in the person of Christ, the head of the Church, the bridegroom whose bride is the Church.”

The Church holds fast in faith to the fact that the ordained priesthood is reserved for men, she said.

“Some ask why,” Sister Nickel said “As the world goes toward gender neutrality, the Catholic Church adheres to the goodness of complementarity of each person, male and female, in the image and likeness of God.” The Church holds to this teaching because it declares and describes the covenant relationship between God and his people as a marriage, she said. God is the bridegroom and the people of God are the bride.

“In the New Testament, when Jesus comes as the messiah, St. John the Baptist speaks about him as the bridegroom who comes in search of his bride,” she said.

The ordained priest represents Christ, the bridegroom of the Church.

In addition, Jesus made a choice when he called men as his Apostles, Sister Nickel said.

Jesus respected women and related to them with great freedom, breaking cultural norms of his day, she said.

“No one could accuse Jesus of being discriminatory toward women,” she said. “Yet, Jesus did not choose women to be among his Twelve Apostles, whom he made his first priests when he established the priesthood and the Eucharist at the Last Supper.”

To watch Sister Nickel’s presentation, as well as a Q&A, and testimony from Father Leonard Andrie, pastor of St. Therese in Deephaven, and Sharon D’Agostino, a mother of four young adults and a parishioner of St. Ambrose in Woodbury, visit archspm.org/synod. Videos from all four presentations in the Faith and Culture Series are available there.

LOCAL

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 7

Catholics at the Capitol, April 15, aims to demystify advocacy at State Legislature

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit Back in 2019, Laura Elm, who grew up in Bloomington, had never been to the state Capitol in St. Paul. But she “stumbled upon” the Minnesota Catholic Conference’s Catholic Advocacy Network, which helps keep people up-todate on the latest legislative issues, and she learned about that year’s Catholics at the Capitol event organized by MCC. She registered, planning simply to “be quiet and learn.” Instead, Elm, a parishioner of St. Peter in Mendota, was asked to be a leader for her Senate District 51B, in Eagan, for the Catholics at the Capitol event. That required scheduling meetings for that day with each legislator in her district (she also scheduled meetings for District 51A), leading discussions with legislators, leaving a one-page summary document drafted by MCC for legislators and sending a note thanking them for their time.

“Legislative advocacy seemed kind of daunting,” she said. But in the end, she felt prepared because MCC did an “outstanding job” of providing attendees everything from worksheets defining key issues to address with lawmakers, to tips for productive conversations and even tools to set up appointments with legislators.

“It was a lot of fun,” she said, “and that’s why I wanted to go back” this year.

MCC is holding its third Catholics at the Capitol event April 15. The daylong event takes place every two years, in the first year of each legislative biennium.

This year, the event will begin at the Cathedral of St. Paul with Mass, followed by speakers, issue briefings and advocacy training. Then, as COVID-19 precautions allow, participants will transition to the Minnesota Capitol nearby for Benediction and prayers before a closing program.

Elm said the event clarifies a process that, for many Minnesotans, is unknown. It gives people a chance to get to know lawmakers and see that they are open to meeting and talking with constituents, she said.

“And … the speakers are outstanding,” she added. “And you meet with other Catholics from your district who are probably in your neighborhood.”

Two speakers — Archbishop José

MEET THE SPEAKERS

AT A GLANCE Catholics at the Capitol in St. Paul will offer both in-person and online options. Both require registration. Visit catholicsatthecapitol. org for registration and for schedule updates.

Thursday, April 15 Cathedral of St. Paul

ARCHBISHOP JOSÉ GOMEZ

OBIANUJU EKEOCHA

Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, 69, is serving a three-year term as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. He is the first Latino bishop elected to serve in that role.

A native of Monterrey, Mexico, and a priest of Opus Dei, Archbishop Gomez became a U.S. citizen in 1995 while ministering in dioceses in Texas. He was auxiliary bishop of Denver from 2001 to 2004, archbishop of San Antonio from 2004 to 2010, and coadjutor archbishop of Los Angeles in 2010 before assuming his current role in 2011. In his ministry, he has addressed moral and spiritual issues in American public life and culture, and he has played a leading role in the Catholic Church’s efforts to promote immigration reform. He is the author of the 2013 book “Immigration and the Next America: Renewing the Soul of Our Nation.” He holds a doctorate in sacred theology from the University of Navarre in Spain.

Born in 1979 and raised in Nigeria, Obianuju Ekeocha is an internationally acclaimed strategist, speaker, author, social activist and documentary filmmaker. She is founder and president of Culture of Life Africa and author of “Target Africa: Ideological Neocolonialism of the Twenty-First Century” (2018) and executive producer of the award-winning documentary “Strings Attached” (2019). Ekeocha has advised African, European and North American lawmakers on issues concerning African women’s health, youth, families, health care, foreign aid, education and culture. She has also worked with African religious leaders and co-authored a number of pro-life declarations with African Catholic episcopal conferences. She holds a master’s degree in biomedical science from the University of East London and a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from the University of Nigeria.

Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Obianuju Ekeocha, founder of Culture of Life Africa — will address this year’s attendees.

The in-person event will be limited to the first 1,000 registrants, with precautions taken because of the COVID-19 pandemic, so early registration is recommended. Plans are also in the works to offer an online version. Those wishing to attend in person or online will need to register.

The day will begin with 8 a.m. Mass, followed by speakers and advocacy training, all of which will be in person and livestreamed. The day will prepare attendees to meet with their legislators virtually the following day.

Catholics who attend, whether in person or online, will be equipped

to bring their faith into the public arena, said Katherine Szepieniec, MCC communications manager. “They will be formed in the faith, informed on issues that are facing legislators, and be sent on mission as advocates for life and dignity who can begin to transform our state.”

Catholics can influence their legislators, Szepieniec said, “but that requires building a relationship, and relationships have to start somewhere, which is why we bring Catholics to their legislators to engage them.”

Nearly every senator and one or both representatives of a district routinely have met with those gathered, she said. This year, the Minnesota House of Representatives added four Catholics to its ranks, for a total of 25, while the state Senate added six, for a total of 11 Catholic senators.

7:30 a.m. Cathedral doors open 8 a.m.

Mass 8:45 a.m. Ticketed reception with Archbishop José Gomez. Limit 10 attendees.

8:45-10 a.m. Continental breakfast, registration and exhibitors 10 a.m. Morning program

Featured speaker: Archbishop

Gomez, USCCB president

Issue briefings

Advocacy training 11:30 a.m. Lunch 12:30 p.m. Afternoon program

Featured speaker: Obianuju

Ekeocha, founder of Culture

of Life Africa

Issue briefings

Advocacy training 2 p.m. “Sending prayer” and transition from Cathedral to Capitol State Capitol 3 p.m. Benediction, prayers, program 3:30 p.m. Attendees return home Friday, April 16 1-3 p.m. Virtual legislative meetings.

Attendees will receive details

for their meeting in advance.

Bill LeMire, 57, a Vadnais Heights resident who lives in Senate District 42, participated in the 2019 event and described it as an opportunity to interact at a local level with state representatives.

“This is our community,” said LeMire, a parishioner of St. Mary of the Lake in White Bear Lake. “This is our neighborhood. And a lot of what goes on at the State Legislature has immediate impact on us here, so it was encouraging to meet the legislators that represent my … district. ... I was encouraged by it. The big message is ‘your voice can be heard.’”

MCC director addresses questions about working with pro-choice politicians

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit With Catholics at the Capitol planned for April 15 and the Catholic Church’s strong opposition to abortion, The Catholic Spirit asked Jason Adkins, executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, to reflect on the following questions.

Q Will this year’s Catholics at the

Capitol address the topic of Catholic politicians who are pro-choice? If so, how?

A If one makes abortion the litmus test for whether one talks to a politician, then one is content to let the world fall apart around them (and allow a social ecosystem to flourish where abortion becomes a more attractive choice). We have to build common ground for the

common good. There are more problems in the world than the availability of legal abortions. Abortion and related issues of the culture of death (assisted suicide, the war on the elderly and disabled, gender ideology) must be addressed, and are pre-eminent priorities, but in the political realm, we must do so with a consistent ethic of life that promotes a broader vision of human flourishing.

JASON ADKINS We rely primarily on the tools of moral suasion, so we must offer a better vision of the good life. Yes, we should elect pro-life candidates. And laypeople should be involved with elections and party politics. But that is a distinct activity from how we engage the political process

the other 364 days of the year. Once a candidate is elected, we must deal with that person and work where we can to promote human flourishing.

Q One criticism of the Church we

hear a lot is that President Biden and other pro-choice Catholics should be denied Communion, or they should be excommunicated because of their public promotion of abortion. Is that a criticism you hear in your work as the director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference? How do you respond?

A Whether President Biden is fit to

receive Communion is a question for his two bishops (in Wilmington, Delaware, and Washington, D.C.). I would note that selectively employing punitive (though meant as medicinal) measures with wayward Catholic politicians will come across as partisan. Additionally,

it does not address the root cause of the problem, which is the prevalence of heterodox clergy and religious sisters who give aid and comfort to pro-choice Catholic politicians. Given President Biden’s policies, most notably his determination to engage in aggressive ideological colonization at home and abroad through abortion and LGBT ideology, one wonders what he has been hearing or not hearing from the Jesuits and religious sisters with whom he surrounds himself on a regular basis.

Until the root cause of the problem is dealt with effectively, President Biden can effectively ignore the bishops and still feel like he is a Catholic in good standing.

The Communion question is, in fact, a distraction from the real issue, which is a latitudinal moral culture and theological milieu within the Church that creates cover for many Catholic politicians.

8 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

NATION+WORLD

Honoring suffering, building bridges: Papal trip to Iraq has dual focus

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

KEY HISTORIC SITES

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing security concerns, Pope Francis is determined to visit Iraq to pay homage to Christian and other minorities persecuted for their faith and to strengthen the commitment of the overwhelming majority of Iraqi Muslims to creating a future of peace and harmony.

As a pilgrim March 5-8, he will visit churches that were destroyed by militants of the Islamic State group, and as a global religious leader, he will hold an interreligious meeting near the ancient city of Ur, birthplace of Abraham.

“Pope Francis is truly a father because he really wants all human beings to be united — not only Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants — but he is broadening his embrace to include the Islamic world,” said Shahrzad Houshmand Zadeh, a Shiite Muslim theologian who has taught at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

Holding an interreligious meeting at the birthplace of Abraham, recognized as the patriarch of monotheistic faith by Jews, Christians and Muslims, “can shake people’s consciences to remind us of our common origin,” she said.

Jesuit Father Joseph Cassar, the Irbilbased country director for Jesuit Refugee Service, noted that the theme of Pope Francis’ visit is “You are all brothers.”

“Christians look forward to the pope’s visit to be acknowledged,” he said. But “across the board, all people of goodwill await this message of hope, of fraternity from the pope, and they long for a change in Iraq.”

The fact that rockets were launched into Irbil Feb. 15 creates additional concern, Father Cassar said. “The whole of Iraq is in a fragile situation, and the

CNS

Officials inspect the ancient archaeological site of Ur, Iraq, Feb. 18. During his March 5-8 trip to Iraq, Pope Francis will visit Ur, the birthplace of Abraham, recognized as the patriarch of faith in one God

by Jews, Christians and Muslims. outlook continues to be uncertain, but one must never lose hope,” he said. COVID-19, political tensions, economic difficulties and “ongoing, low-level attacks by ISIS,” including suicide bombings in Baghdad in January, increase insecurity.

While the events on Pope Francis’ schedule include meetings with top government leaders and leaders of other faiths, meetings with the country’s Christians are at the heart of the visit.

Michael La Civita, director of communications for the New York-based Catholic Near East Welfare Association, said the trip tells Iraqi Christians “that despite their ever-declining numbers, someone on the outside cares, and that someone happens to be the bishop of Rome,” the pope. About 80% of the Christians in Iraq are Eastern Catholics, belonging to either the Chaldean, Syriac

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or Armenian Catholic churches.

In the past 30 or 40 years, the Eastern Catholics as well as members of the Syriac Orthodox Church and the Assyrian Church of the East have given witness to the “ecumenism of blood,” their unity in martyrdom, La Civita said.

“These churches are steeped in the blood of their martyrs.”

“I think they are getting tired of being called resilient” after suffering through so many waves of persecution, he said, “but it is remarkable how resilient they are.

But they are not ‘they,’ they’re ‘we,’ our brothers and sisters.”

Regina Lynch, director of projects for the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, agreed, saying the pope’s planned visit “really shows them that they are part of the universal Church, that they are united with us and we are united with them.” Lynch was in Irbil in 2014 a week after waves of displaced Christians arrived in the city fleeing Islamic State militants. “I remember one or two people recounting how, when they were leaving their homes with the bare necessities because they had to leave really quickly, some of them were hurt — maybe even bitter — because they saw their former neighbors going into their houses and ransacking them.”

One of ACN’s big programs was to assist Christians who wanted to return to their villages and homes. ACN is now helping to restore Catholic and Orthodox churches and convents, as well as kindergartens and community halls, important gathering places for Christians and Muslims. The pope is scheduled to visit the Syriac Catholic community’s Al-Tahera Church in Qaraqosh, a church ACN helped restore.

One of the most anticipated events on the pope’s calendar is a private meeting planned for March 8 with Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, one of Shiite Islam’s most authoritative figures. The meeting will be held in Najaf, a city special to Muslims, especially Shiites, because it is the burial place of Muhammad’s son-in-law, Ali. “This is the first time a pope has gone to a country with a Shiite majority,” Houshmand Zadeh said, and to meet with al-Sistani and to do so in Najaf “is very, very important.”

“If religious leaders cannot cooperate

Pope Francis hopes to embark on the first-ever papal visit to the biblical land of Iraq in early March in a spiritual pilgrimage of sorts to the place known in Arabic as the “land of the two rivers” — the mighty Tigris and Euphrates — and once renowned as Mesopotamia, the “cradle of civilization.”

The Garden of Eden is believed possibly to have been in ancient Iraq, but certainly the famed Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Tower of Babel were located there. Jews exiled to ancient Iraq in Old Testament times, such as the prophet Daniel, experienced God’s miraculous grace; Daniel was rescued from the lion’s den and his friends from the fiery furnace.

The historically rich country is full of religious sites important to understanding the antecedents of the Christian faith, making the visit significant for Pope Francis. Here’s a snapshot of some of these places: Old Testament patriarch Abraham is recognized as the father of faith in one God by Jews, Christians and Muslims alike and was born in the southern town of Ur. The place, which dates back to 6000 B.C., lies on a former course of the Euphrates and is one of Iraq’s oldest sites.

The pope will see a dry, flat and ocher-colored plain renowned for its well-preserved stepped platform or ziggurat, which dates back to the third millennium B.C. Also, some of the earliest known writing, cuneiform, has been uncovered at Ur. Around 2000 B.C., Ur was a bustling urban center, drawing traders from both the Mediterranean and the Indian subcontinent, until its conquest by Alexander the Great a few centuries before Christ.

Pope Francis will participate in an interreligious meeting there.

Heading north, Pope Francis will meet the Christian communities of Ninevah Plain, an area overrun by the Islamic State group in 2014 until its liberation three years later. The Old Testament prophet Jonah, who asked people to repent and return to God, lived in Ninevah.

It’s the historic Christian heartland of Iraq, where Christians have lived since Jesus’ earthly ministry, when St. Thomas brought the Gospel message around A.D. 35, aided by St. Jude. The pair were thought to base themselves in the northern city of Irbil in modern-day Kurdistan, where they preached to the local people.

And it is in that city where Pope Francis will be welcomed by religious and civil leaders. Irbil and the nearby Christian enclave of Ankawa have hosted tens of thousands of Christians and other religious minorities forced to escape Islamic State atrocities.

Groups such as Aid to the Church in Need, the Knights of Columbus and Catholic Near East Welfare Association are working to help Christians remain in Iraq.

Some of those groups include Aid to the Church in Need, the Knights of Columbus and Catholic Near East Welfare Association.

— Dale Gavlak, CNS for the common good of humanity, they are not authentic or credible,” she said.

Father Cassar also welcomed news of the meeting, saying “it is of huge importance, also because it sends out the message that the pope’s visit is not only for Christians. The pope’s visit is intended to build bridges,” something which also tells the country’s Christians that that is their mission, too.

NATION+WORLD

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

HEADLINES u Catholic Extension initiative aims to help 1,000 poorest parishes in U.S. Catholic Extension has launched a new effort to help the nation’s poorest parishes and poor faith communities hit hard by COVID-19. The Catholic Kinship Initiative — Parishes United Across America — is designed to match financially stable parishes with a poor parish in another part of the country. The initiative is seeking 1,000 faith communities to raise a minimum of $1,000 each during the Lenten season and beyond to help the 1,000 poorest parishes in the country that are serving the poor. Details about the program can be found online at catholicextension.org/alms. u Cardinals Sarah, Comastri retire from Vatican posts. Pope Francis accepted the resignations of 75-year-old Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, and 77-yearold Cardinal Angelo Comastri, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica and vicar for Vatican City State. While a new prefect of the worship congregation was not announced when news of the retirements was made public Feb. 20, the pope did name Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, 55, to Cardinal Comastri’s position.

Cardinal Gambetti, whom the pope elevated to the College of Cardinals in November, is a Conventual Franciscan. Like bishops, cardinals are required to offer the pope their resignations when they turn 75. Cardinals can vote in a conclave until they are 80. u Vatican expects budget deficit for 2021. In the wake of the economic fallout due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy said it expects a multimilliondollar deficit in its budget for 2021. The Vatican said in a statement Feb. 19 that Pope Francis signed off on the Holy See’s 2021 budget, which was proposed by the secretariat and approved by the Council for the Economy, the Vatican board charged with overseeing the financial operations of all offices and entities. ”With total revenues of 260.4 million euros (US$316 million) and expenses of 310.1 million euros ($376.3 million), the Holy See expects a deficit of 49.7 million euros ($60.3 million) in 2021, heavily impacted by the economic crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the secretariat said. u S.C. governor signs abortion bill, says right to life is ’fundamental.’ Saying ”there are a lot of happy hearts beating right now,” Republican Gov. Henry McMaster of South Carolina signed a bill into law Feb. 18 that would prohibit most abortions if a fetal heartbeat is detected on ultrasound. The South Carolina Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act makes exceptions for a medical emergency, rape or incest, or the presence of ”a fetal anomaly.” The law says if an abortion provider is found guilty of not following the law, the person could receive a prison sentence of up to two years and/or be fined $10,000. A woman who receives an abortion in violation of the law could sue for $10,000 in damages. u Mars missions can inspire next generation scientists, papal astronomer says. As Perseverance, the latest probe on Mars, sends to Earth high-definition images, video and audio of its surroundings, one papal astronomer said he hopes the new discoveries will inspire future explorers. A native of Fort Worth, Texas, with advanced degrees in physics, philosophy and theology, Jesuit Brother Robert Macke said,”What really inspired me to come into this field was growing up with the results that were coming

out of the spacecraft missions, like Voyager, and all the photographs that nobody had ever seen before” of Saturn and its moons and other objects in the solar system. u Biden’s immigration plan begins what might be long journey through Congress. Democrats formally introduced one of the most ambitious plans to date to address legal and illegal immigration in the U.S., while at the same time signaling limits for those currently attempting to enter without documentation at the southern border. The Biden administration’s U.S. Citizenship Act of 2021, introduced in Congress Feb. 18, seeks to legalize some 11 million unauthorized immigrants currently in the U.S., with a special focus on reunification of families. u New document offers ways to foster Catholic-Methodist relationships. A two-part publication emerging from the most recent round of dialogue between representatives of the U.S. Catholic bishops and the United Methodist Church reflects on commonly held beliefs and areas of theological agreement while offering a guide to shared prayers

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 9

and worship services. Published in two parts, ”Catholics and Methodists Together” is ”the spiritual fruit of the pilgrimage of faith that Catholics and Methodists walk on together,” said Father Walter Kedjierski, executive director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs. The document emerged from the eighth round of a dialogue that was established in 1966 between United Methodists and Catholics. The most recent round began in 2015 and concluded in 2020. u Peru’s bishops indignant over COVID-19 vaccine scandal involving nuncio. Peru’s Catholic bishops want a thorough investigation of a COVID-19 vaccine scandal that includes the country’s papal nuncio. The bishops’ conference said Feb. 17 that the illicit use of vaccines “exposes the new face of the monster of corruption” in Peru. The scandal involves politicians and others receiving inoculations with vaccine that was intended to supplement a clinical trial in Peru with nearly 12,000 volunteers. An initial investigation of the universities that conducted the trials found that 474 people had been inoculated, including

Archbishop Nicola Girasoli, the Vatican ambassador to Peru since 2017. Archbishop Girasoli said Feb. 16 he was invited to receive the vaccine because he was a “consultant on ethical issues” for Cayetano Heredia University, which ran part of the clinical trials. u Bishop: Blanket DNR orders for Britons with learning disabilities ’immoral.’ Medical orders against attempting to resuscitate patients with learning disabilities during the latest COVID-19 lockdown in the U.K. are ”wholly unacceptable and immoral,” said the bishops of England and Wales. Bishop Richard Moth of Arundel and Brighton issued a Feb. 16 statement denouncing the practice of imposing Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) orders on such patients during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The government said it does not support the practice and has notified all health care providers to desist, threatening further action to halt the practice if necessary. The orders were issued locally by National Health Service trusts, which run public hospitals.

— Catholic News Service

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Catholic Community

FOUNDATION OF MINNESOTA

10 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

EDUCATION INVESTMENT Funding partnerships help students attend, thrive at Drexel Mission Schools

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit

P

reschool students at Community of Saints Regional Catholic School in West St. Paul patiently waited at their desks Feb. 11 for their turn to distribute Valentines from colorful Valentine’s Day boxes. As a special treat, students in lower grades could wear pink or red instead of their uniforms.

The children largely reflected the school’s overall demographics, with about 65% of the student body Hispanic, 18% white, and 11% Black or African American. Having at least 50% of students from communities of color is one of three criteria that the school meets for its designation by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis as a Drexel Mission School.

The other two criteria required of each school are having at least 100 students enrolled, and having 50% or more of the student body eligible for free or reduced lunches, a commonly used indicator of low-income families.

The archdiocese launched the Drexel Mission Schools Initiative last year and designated nine Drexel schools for the 2020-2021 school year. The current initiative rose out of the archdiocese’s Roadmap for Excellence in Catholic Education, an effort launched in 2019 to coordinate a strategic approach over the next three to five years to strengthen Catholic education within the archdiocese. Jason Slattery, archdiocesan director of education, described the Drexel Mission Schools Initiative as a collaboration between the archdiocese and foundations and individuals “who have a real heart” for making Catholic education available for low-income students and students of color.

Previous efforts have taken place in the archdiocese to identify and serve mission schools. As recently as 2015, the archdiocese was focusing special efforts on 15 urban schools.

Slattery said there’s more to the Drexel Misson Schools Initiative than money. “Funds need to be directed toward … a real commitment to advance excellence and the mission of the school,” he said.

Drexel schools receive “supports” — largely funds and program opportunities from the foundations targeted at reducing the achievement gap and providing continuous academic improvement.

What’s new with this initiative is clear eligibility criteria, Slattery said, and a way to build community

for Drexel Mission School leaders. “Part of the purpose of the initiative is to … connect them more … so they can share what’s working, what’s not working,” Slattery said, noting that includes “some of the struggles they have had through COVID.” Drexel Mission School families face greater food insecurity, he said, and for school leaders, it’s important to connect with one another as they seek solutions to their unique challenges.

“We’re trying to form minds and hearts,” Slattery said, but Drexel Mission Schools also are feeding children and making sure they’re safe. “And all of those things are important if we’re going to create an environment where you can teach.”

Overall, Slattery said, school neighborhoods and surrounding communities benefit when Drexel Mission Schools thrive and are able to remain a local anchor.

“As long as that school is there educating those kids, there’s that point of light in the community,” he said. “And it’s an opportunity for the Church to remain close to … communities with the highest concentration of people in need and to ensure … a hand up from poverty that a Catholic school offers through a good education.”

Catholic schools also educate the whole child, meaning that good test scores go hand in hand with instilling the virtues.

“Catholic schools are an antidote to that achievement opportunity gap,” Slattery said. “These are places where children are learning to read, they’re learning to write, they’re learning arithmetic. They’re learning the importance of good character. They’re learning about God’s work in the world that has a purpose for them. That’s an irreplaceable value in a community and particularly for kids who otherwise … wouldn’t have this opportunity.”

But schools designated as Drexel Mission Schools can’t depend on the same funding streams that sustain other Catholic schools. “The traditional things — tuition, parish investment — they’re just not … possible,” he said.

In order to keep a Drexel Mission School as a community anchor, “then we’re going to have to find resources far beyond its parish boundary,” he said. “So, the thinking was a Drexel initiative that works with a community of donors and individuals that work together to provide needed stability to continue to serve those families of greatest need.”

“Drexel” refers to St. Katharine Drexel, who devoted her life and fortune to serving Native American and Black populations (for more on her life, see page 15). She entered religious life in 1889 and went on to establish 50 missions for Native Americans in 16 states. By 1942, her religious congregation had a system of Black Catholic schools in more than 13 states, 40 mission centers and 23 rural schools.

Second-grader Dylan Zegarra works on his math platform, Dreambox, using a lapt Minneapolis Feb. 11. As a blended learning school, students participate in individu reading and math.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Kindergartners including Alaya Akpan, front, learn about words during class at Community of Saints in West St. Paul Feb. 11.

Teacher Brian St dissections for a class at Blessed

One benefit of the Drexel Mission Schools Initiative: More families who otherwise could not afford tuition are able to send their children to a Catholic school. Main funding sources are the Twin Cities-based GHR Foundation, the Aim Higher Foundation, the Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota and individual donors who designate funds in support of the initiative, Slattery said.

Schools apply directly to the foundations, which know the nine schools designated as Drexel Mission Schools. The three foundations have pledged about $4 million for the current school year. The Catholic Services Appeal Foundation has also made

“incredible con Slattery said.

More than 9 receive some ty Bridget Kramer links schools b programs that at-risk populati Community of programs and i living its missio include provid purchase and im cultural compe reviews” throu Being a Drex schools to be p between Boston community ag Through an on needs of every identifies resou student’s emot family backgro At Blessed Tr another Drexel coordinator ide need for succes O’Keefe. He cit shows about tw school actually happening insi On Feb. 11, d

FILLING THE GAP St. John Paul II Catholic School in northeast Minneapolis opens its doors to any child who wants to enroll, said Tricia Menzhuber, the school’s principal.

“We fill the gap between the … tuition a family can afford and what it takes to educate a child,” she said. “Our tuition income is very static, and only about 2% of that revenue comes from tuition. Partnerships, particularly from foundations, along with private donors and grants, make up the bulk of how we are able to keep our doors open and serve the families that we do.”

Beyond tuition assistance, the GHR Foundation has funded a new English and language arts reading curriculum, as well as professional development and ongoing coaching for the strong implementation of that curriculum, Menzhuber said. And the foundation just announced that it will help

with something similar for the school’s math curriculum resources, she said.

At JPII, 91% of the student body is composed of students of color, and of those, 76% are Hispanic or Latino. Seventynine percent of students are English language learners.

“Our families understand that they’re investing not just in these nine years of Catholic education — primary school — but that their students are really set up for success all the way through high school,” Menzhuber said. “One hundred percent of our (2016) eighth-grade graduates graduated from high school last year.”

Seven-year-old Rafaella is a first-grader at St. John Paul II. Her mother wanted her daughter to have a Catholic education, just as she had in her native Ecuador. “It was my dream for her,” she said. But, as a single parent, she did not think it was possible. Without a car, she looked to cut

corners where she could, like switching phone plans and minimizing energy costs. Receiving financial help from her school felt like another dream, she said.

The mother of Anthony, Rafaella’s classmate, feels the same way. Like Rafella’s mother, she asked that her name not be used.

A single parent from Guatemala, she wanted her son to go to a Catholic school for a more rigorous education and, especially, for faith-based learning. And she hoped for in-person learning in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, as online learning was difficult for their family’s situation.

Through a coworker, she heard of the financial assistance offered at St. John Paul II. “Thank God I met that ‘angel’ at my work,” she said.

— Barb Umberger

FEBRUARY 25, 2021 • 11

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DREXEL MISSION SCHOOLS

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

top at St. John Paul II Catholic School in ualized learning platforms every day in

COURTESY BLESSED TRINITY CATHOLIC SCHOOL

tock works with Crystal Ibarra Garcia on life science unit in eighth grade science Trinity in Richfield.

Ascension Catholic School has been an anchor on the north side of Minneapolis for more than 125 years. Grades K-8, 298 students.

Blessed Trinity Catholic School in Richfield has two campuses: one for preK-3 and one for grades 4-8. Grades K-8, 190 students; 23 students in preschool.

Community of Saints Regional Catholic School in West St. Paul has grown by more than 55% in the last five years with innovative programs and partnerships. Grades K-8, 213 students; 40 in preschool.

Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Columbia Heights was among the first schools in the archdiocese to adopt a blended learning model. Grades K-8, 165 students; 23 in preschool.

Risen Christ Catholic School in Minneapolis teaches students in English and Spanish as the only Catholic school in Minnesota to offer a dual-language immersion program. Grades K-8, 322 students.

St. Alphonsus Catholic School in Brooklyn Center has 139 students in K-8 and 17 in preschool. One hundred percent of current parents rate the school as good or excellent for class size; 97% rate it good or excellent for satisfaction with faculty.

St. Jerome School in Maplewood is a “school home” for refugee families seeking a Catholic education. About 50% of its students are ethnic Karen from Myanmar, formerly Burma.

Grades K-8, 160 students; 29 in preschool.

St. John Paul II Catholic School is a K-8 school in Minneapolis with 143 students. A majority of its students are from Ecuador; in its early days, many students came from Polish immigrant families.

St. Peter Claver Catholic School is rooted in African American tradition and plays an important role in its St. Paul neighborhood.

Grades K-8, 84 students. Despite its enrollment number, St. Peter Claver School met the other two Drexel Mission School criteria and is included this school year provisionally due to a structural governance change as the initiative was being launched. St. Peter Claver is a part of the Ascension Catholic Academy network, along with Ascension and St. John Paul II in Minneapolis.

Luke Bauman, FIC (763) 972-6198

www.BaumanInsure.com Luke@BaumanFinancial.com

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Number of students enrolled in all nine Drexel Mission Schools: 1,714 Percentage of students of color, on average, in a Drexel school: 84%

Catholic Services Appeal

Average tuition collected per student: $1,415 ($3,758 archdiocesan average)

The Face of the Catholic Community!

ntributions” to these nine schools,

90% of families at Community of Saints ype of tuition assistance, said Principal r. The Drexel Mission Schools Initiative both to funding sources and established benefit Catholic schools that serve ions in a range of areas. At f Saints, it has introduced key initiatives that support the school in on and vision, leaders say. Examples ding academic curriculum review, implementation; staff training in etency; and “whole child resource ugh City Connects. xel Mission School qualifies all nine part of City Connects, a collaboration n College, Catholic schools and gencies, with an arm in the Twin Cities. n-site coordinator who learns about the child in the school, the partnership urces for families based on factors like a tional and social well-being, academics, ound and health. rinity Catholic School in Richfield, l Mission School, a City Connects entifies what families and students ss at school, said principal Patrick ted research from Boston College that wo-thirds of what impacts success at y has nothing to do with what’s ide the school. down the hall from Community of

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Saints’ preschool, third graders concentrated on reading. The teacher spoke with two students at her desk using Chromebooks, while the rest of the class quietly read at their desks. A grant through a HigherPowered Learning Program partnership with the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education enabled purchasing Chromebooks for students at the school, which Kramer said has been a critical resource during the pandemic.

A Higher-Powered Learning Program grant also helped the school transition to “blended learning,” which uses student-centered, adaptive software to reinforce concepts taught in the classroom, and provides immediate feedback for students and teachers. The school also benefits from grants relating to curriculum and staff development. A cultural competency grant supported the school’s efforts to be an inclusive and welcoming environment to all families, Kramer said.

She said the school is also implementing a new English Language Arts curriculum in classrooms, thanks to a curriculum grant it received as a Drexel Mission School.

At Blessed Trinity, a significant amount of grant work is directed to student scholarships, O’Keefe said, “which is really the key … piece of access to Catholic education.”

“To be intentional and to live a Catholic faith, and … provide an exceptional education experience for our families that have these high needs, means being able to give them access to the support they need to allow their children to fully flourish,” he said.

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12 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

FAITH+CULTURE Dioceses dispute conclusions, methods of AP report on pandemic funding

By Tom Tracy Catholic News Service

LOCAL PPP LOANS

S

everal U.S. dioceses are crying foul over an investigative report on coronavirus relief funding they say grossly mischaracterized the Catholic Church’s finances and unrestricted cash flows, leaving the crass impression the Church used the 2020 CARES Act to hoard cash.

Officials of the Diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, said their diocese was among several first contacted by The Associated Press last December in advance of an investigative-style report headlined, “Sitting on billions, Catholic dioceses amass taxpayer aid.” The Charlotte Diocese provided the AP with detailed written responses and financial data related to the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP. The CARES Act, passed in March 2020, initially authorized some $350 billion in loans to small businesses through PPP, a program intended to allow them to continue to pay their employees.

In late April, statistics compiled by the Diocesan Fiscal Management Conference showed 8,000 parishes, 1,400 elementary schools, 700 high schools, 104 chanceries, 185 Catholic Charities agencies and 200 other diocesan organizations in 160 dioceses had applied for assistance at that point.

But not all dioceses, parishes and Catholic schools applied for the PPP funding, and some later returned the funds once their fiscal status was clarified in spite of the pandemic and economic downturn, according to Patrick Markey, executive director of the conference.

But the recent AP story alleges that “scores of Catholic dioceses across the U.S. received aid through the Paycheck Protection Program while sitting on well over $10 billion in cash, short-term investments or other available funds,” and that “even with that financial safety net, the 112 dioceses that shared their financial statements, along with the churches and schools they oversee, collected at least $1.5 billion in taxpayerbacked aid.

“A majority of these dioceses reported enough money on hand to cover at least six months of operating expenses, even without any new income,” the AP report states, noting at the top of the report that the Charlotte Diocese received some $8 million in Small Business Administration emergency federal funding despite sitting on “$100 million of their own cash and short-term investments available last spring.” It continued, “When the cash catastrophe church leaders feared didn’t materialize, those assets topped $110 million by summer.”

William Weldon, a certified public accountant, who is chief financial officer and chief administrative officer for the Diocese of Charlotte, told Catholic News Service Feb. 7

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is among dioceses around the country whose central offices received loans from a federal Paycheck Protection Program to help retain employees as the COVID-19 pandemic spread, said Tom Mertens, chief financial officer.

About three-quarters of the 186 parishes in the archdiocese also applied for PPP loans, he said.

“I’m not aware that anyone was denied a loan,” he said. “We had some parishes that returned loans, or that didn’t accept a loan after being approved, because the initial economic hit from the pandemic was not as bad as they expected.”

iSTOCK PHOTO | ANDRII ZORII

the AP story mischaracterizes the financial reality in Charlotte, incorrectly conflating its finances with assets owned and controlled by more than 100 separate Catholic parish and other entities within the diocese. The report, Weldon said, also grossly overstates available assets, ignores financial liabilities and erroneously suggests that restricted donations and funds could have been diverted to cover payroll, rent and utilities for other entities.

When the pandemic hit last spring, the PPP was a lifeline for many parishes, and without that assistance, parishes, schools and ministries would have had to consider layoffs, furloughs and pay cuts: the very impacts the PPP was designed to help employers avoid, he added.

The recent AP report and a previous AP report on churches and PPP funding published in July implied the Catholic entities’ success in procuring the emergency pandemic funds may have come at the expense of other community needs, faith groups and charitable agencies. All applicants were subject to the same criteria, application process and forgiveness process, Charlotte’s Weldon pointed out.

Applicants were required to provide supporting documentation to substantiate that they spent the loan funds on qualifying expenditures.

To date, all of those loans have qualified for forgiveness following compliance reviews by the entities’ financial institution and the SBA, he said of the Charlotte Diocese.

“The AP story also erroneously claims the Charlotte Diocese ‘had roughly $100 million of their own cash and short-term investments available last spring,’” Weldon said.

“This is simply not true,” he explained. “In fact, audited financial statements posted on our website for the year ending June 30, 2020, lay out our finances in detail: The report shows that, excluding parishes (which as separate entities have their own finances and report separately to their parishioners), the diocese had financial assets available for general expenditures — after subtracting current liabilities — of about $9 million, which equates to

only six weeks of operations.”

In Kentucky, the Archdiocese of Louisville, singled out in the AP report, noted last year salaries were frozen for all employees of the archdiocese, parishes and schools until Jan. 1, 2021, and there likely would have been layoffs and furloughs throughout the system without the PPP loans.

“We disagree with the analysis of the audited financials of the archdiocese and note that a June 30 report reflects the situation only a few months into the pandemic,” the Louisville statement said.

In the Diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina, Russell Elmayan, chief financial officer and chief administrative officer, said Feb. 5 in a statement to CNS that “the recent AP article as written does not provide appropriate context, in my opinion,” adding, “Parish offertory remains approximately 10% below the prior year at this time.

“Since offertory is by far the largest part of the revenue stream for any parish, the PPP loans clearly saved jobs and kept people employed, which is what they were designed to do,” Elmayan said.

In Massachusetts, the chancellor for the Archdiocese of Boston, John Straub, told CNS the archdiocese and AP reporters had several rounds of information sharing.

He said he and other archdiocesan officials went back and forth with AP about the article and their responses to questions in an effort to clarify the justification of getting the PPP funding and demonstrate that separate entities such as the statewide Catholic Schools Foundation are not an unrestricted source of funds for the archdiocese, as the article implied.

Straub said the archdiocesan financial reports available to AP at the time of its reporting only reflect the early months of the pandemic, and at a point when the PPP funds had been received but not yet spent, giving the erroneous impression those funds were being hoarded and cash flow increased due to the PPP. “It is grossly misleading at best,” Straub said in a Feb. 8 phone call.

“There is always more to the story.”

The PPP loan program was part of emergency economic relief passed by Congress early last year to assist small businesses and nonprofit organizations through the pandemic. Congress passed another round of emergency relief in late December that includes a revised PPP loan program, and it is debating a $1.9 trillion relief plan proposed by President Joe Biden.

The Archdiocesan Catholic Center — which, as an organization, employs about 140 people — does not qualify for the secondround PPP, which requires a drop in gross receipts of 25% or more in any quarter of 2020 compared with the same quarter in 2019, Mertens said.

About 20 parishes to date have applied for a second PPP loan.

Applications are due by the end of March, he said.

A recent article by The Associated Press about the Church and the PPP loan program was inaccurate, in part because it noted assets held by the Catholic Church as a whole, without recognizing that in some cases parishes are separate entities, Mertens said. In the aggregate, for example, three parishes might appear to be fine, but the healthy financials of one effectively masks the deficiency of two, he said. The article also failed to distinguish between unrestricted assets that might be used for general operations, and restricted assets, such as scholarship funds, that are not available for any purpose but tuition, Mertens said. The intention of the economic relief was so that employers would retain employees to avoid the negative impacts of unemployment to the economy.

Overall, government PPP loans have allowed the Catholic Center and parishes to avoid layoffs and furloughs during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mertens said. Keeping employees working has meant that the many community services provided by parishes have continued during these difficult times, he said.

“PPP came out when there was tremendous uncertainty and those we serve were in need,” Mertens said. No one knew how long the pandemic would last or “how long churches would be closed. That was a real issue from our perspective here at the Catholic Center,” he said.

“Our revenue stream is 80% assessment income that comes directly from parishes. And if their doors are closed, and revenue isn’t coming from them,” the Archdiocesan Catholic Center may have been out of cash in less than six months, Mertens said.

The $1.98 million loan will not have to be repaid if employees were retained, which is what has occurred at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center, Mertens said.

Thanks to generous parishioners and other donors, the downturn in the local Church thus far has not been as a bad as was initially thought it might have been, although uncertainty remains as the pandemic continues, Mertens said. Many parishioners who could afford to do so increased their giving to the Church, he said.

“We’ve had parishioners really step up, realize the situation the Church has been in and given more,” Mertens said. “We’ve been blessed by their actions.”

A summary of the Archdiocesan Catholic Center’s financial report for fiscal year 2020, from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020, with comments from Mertens and Archbishop Bernard Hebda, was printed in the Dec. 17 issue of The Catholic Spirit. For more detailed financial statements along with an independent auditor’s report, go to archspm.org/finance-accounting.

— Joe Ruff

FAITH+CULTURE

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 13

Can St. Joseph sell a house? Skip burying statue, priests say

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit

T

he folklore is well known: Need to sell a house?

Bury a statue of St. Joseph in the yard. Maybe wrapped in a cloth. But it must be upside down, near the “For Sale” sign, facing the house. Or facing away from the house, near the road. Or near flowers, because he likes that.

On what exactly is to be done, the practice’s “authorities” are conflicting. So is its provenance: Some say it goes back to St. Andre Bessette, a religious brother in Montréal at the turn of the 20th century, who “planted” St. Joseph medals in a property his monastery wanted to buy. Others say it began somehow in the 1970s.

Some realtors provide instructions on their website about how to bury the statue, with testimonials from people who say it worked for them. An entire website, st-josephstatue.com, is dedicated to the practice, with a mission “to help all believers to sell their houses.”

Amazon.com sells several statues for the purpose, including, for $6.72, a “St. Joseph Statue Home Seller Kit” made in the USA by veterans. Another seller offers 3-inch, beige, plastic St. Joseph statues in bulk.

St. Joseph has long been understood as a patron of the home, but when it comes to burying his statue: Don’t, said Father Donald Calloway, an expert on the saint, in his book “Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father.” He said the practice “concerns” him.

“Statues, unlike medals, are not made to be buried,” said the priest, who is a member of the Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary and lives in Steubenville, Ohio. “Statues represent a person, and are meant to be venerated above ground, not buried in the ground.”

iSTOCK PHOTO | ROBERTOMUSSI

He continued, “Whatever you do, never bury a statue of St. Joseph upside down. People sometimes do this bizarre practice as a form of spiritual bribery, promising to turn the statue of St. Joseph right side up only if their home is sold. Such a practice is akin to treating a statue of St. Joseph as a talisman or a good luck charm. St. Joseph is your spiritual father, not a trinket.”

Father Tom Margevicius agrees. The director of worship for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, he said the practice smacks of superstition, not faith.

“What makes me think it would happen faster if I do a ‘St. Joseph thing,’ than it would have otherwise if I just talk to God about it?” Father Margevicius asked. “So, do I not trust in God’s care for me and doing what he knows is best for me? So, instead of surrendering myself to the providential care of the Lord, I try to manipulate factors that are ordinarily beyond my control.”

Because something involving a saint may seem like a “Catholic” practice, or even a sign of devotion to St. Joseph, some Catholics have likely buried a statue in ignorance, without giving it much reflection, he said. When Father Margevicius’ parents were selling their house in Cleveland, Ohio, 15 years ago, his brother buried a statue in the yard. Father Margevicius dug it back up. When the house soon sold, his brother credited the buried statue, not knowing it had been moved from the dirt to the fireplace mantle.

For Catholics who really believe the statue would influence the course of events, Father Margevicius advises a soul search, and perhaps a conversation with a spiritual director or other faith mentor about what stands in their way of trusting God’s providence.

And when selling — or buying — a house, rather than turning to a superstition, even meant in good fun, Catholics should make their petition known to their merciful Father, Father Margevicius said. They may also consider earnest prayers for St. Joseph’s intercession, including some in Father Calloway’s book.

Those with a St. Joseph statue should put it someplace where it can be seen and honored, he said.

“Upside-down statues don’t sell houses,” Father Margevicius said. “Instead of turning away from God and going for superstitious solutions to my problems, the more intense I feel, the more intense should be my prayer to God.”

COVID still affecting parish finances

By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit Father Leo Schneider at Holy Name in south Minneapolis is preparing for his second faith-filled book study via Zoom, one way to continue reaching parishioners in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He has watched the weekend offertory go down in the first year of the pandemic, but he is grateful for a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan of about $56,000 that helped retain staff, and electronic giving at the parish is providing a steady base of funds.

“We’re behind what we were, but not bad,” said Father Schneider, who also is pastor of St. Leonard of Port Maurice in south Minneapolis. It’s difficult to see very far ahead, he said, but so far, “it’s not so bad, considering all things.”

As the pandemic enters its second year this March, Tom Mertens, chief financial officer of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, said many of the 186 parishes in the archdiocese might give similar reports on their financial condition.

Overall, plate and envelope giving at parishes, in aggregate, since March 2020 compared with 2019 has been down, but not by more than 6% in any calendar quarter, Mertens said. In the

three months ended March 2020, just as the pandemic began, it was down less than 1% compared with the year before; in the quarter ended June 2020, it was down approximately 3%; in the three months ended in September, it was down around 6%; and in the quarter ended in December, it was down less than 3%.

Some parishes have struggled, with offertory giving dropping as much as 50% to 75%, Mertens said. In the fiscal fourth quarter in 2020 — April through June — the archdiocese gave parishes a discount on assessments, money given to support programs and other efforts, which amounted to a nearly $1 million savings for parishes, Mertens said.

Another form of government assistance might help qualifying businesses and nonprofits this year: a pandemic-driven employee retention credit of up to $7,000 per employee per quarter in 2021, Mertens said.

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The 91 Catholic elementary and high schools in the archdiocese overall are doing well, with some struggling more than others, said Jason Slattery, director of education. Many elementary schools rely a great deal on parish investments and tuition payments, he said.

“Thankfully, those two levers have been, to this point, holding,” Slattery said.

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14 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

Warm meals, warm heart: How Mo McNeary feeds the poor Q How have you experienced God’s

By Christina Capecchi For The Catholic Spirit

generosity?

A God’s goodness is overwhelming, and I

For two decades, Maureen McNeary has quietly powered the high-impact Sharing and Caring Hands ministry at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Hastings. The mom of two teens, a beloved local radio personality known as Mo, shared her experiences.

Maureen McNeary, second from left, with her husband, Terry, and children Grace and Jack, plus the family dog, Nugget.

Q It sounds like you just love people

and that’s a springboard for much of your work.

A I have always been a people person

and love getting to know people because everyone has their own story to tell.

I spent 20 years in sales in corporate America and now get to talk to people all day on the radio (KDWA). My parents lived the Golden Rule and were always reaching out to people through prayer and kind works. I think the word “volunteerism” is just a formal term for what the Golden Rule really is.

Q What compelled you to first get

involved in the Sharing and Caring Hands program at your parish some three decades ago?

A I had always admired the work of

(founder) Mary Jo Copeland. I was working full time in Minneapolis and started taking one vacation day a month to volunteer for the ministry. It was so rewarding to spend time with the guests of Sharing and Caring and hear their stories.

Q How has the Sharing and Caring program at SEAS grown?

COURTESY VICTORIA MCGUIRE, VICTORIA’S V GALLERY

at Sharing and Caring Hands. What a witness to God’s call to love our neighbors!

and how impactful their donation is.

People like to give their time and talent to things they believe in.

Q What have you learned from

Q It sounds like your volunteer team

A I’ve learned how easily a person can

A We have had some major ups and

running the program?

fall through the cracks of life and that any one of us could need the services of Sharing and Caring Hands. How wonderful that a place like this exists.

I also have learned that if you want something done, just do it. Take charge!

Too many good intentions and ideas get lost and never happen if the process becomes too complicated. God calls us to love one another. It really all comes down to that.

Q You manage some 40 volunteers a month. That’s a lot of moving parts!

A Thankfully, the ministry has

continued through our local church merge, many different pastors and has adapted to the needs of the poor for over 30 years. We prepare and deliver food for about 350 meals to Sharing and Caring Hands two times per month. We also coordinate and serve the annual Thanksgiving meal. Our ministry hosts a pie drive prior to Thanksgiving to collect pies to be served on Thanksgiving.

It has turned into a local ecumenical pie drive, with people from other local churches donating 300 to 400 pies to be served at the Thanksgiving meal

A The concept of feeding the hungry

isn’t really complicated. There are hungry people at Sharing and Caring Hands, so we buy food, prepare food, transport food and then feed the people that are hungry.

This is repeated two times a day, and we are just one tiny part of the chain. We source the food ourselves to save money and be good stewards of the financial gifts people give the ministry. If people donate money, it’s used only to buy food — there’s no middle man. I think that’s why it’s been successful. People know exactly where their donations are going

Pre-Planning Seminars

has been on quite a journey.

downs as a group, health wise. Of the core nine regular meal preparers, five of us have had cancer in the last four years, and two volunteers have passed away in the last year. But our ministry has been an opportunity to pray for each other and grieve with each other and thank God for the blessing of this ministry.

Q How has cancer changed you?

A Any health diagnosis forces you to slow down and refocus on what’s important.

So many good things can come out of something perceived as bad. I’m still continuing treatment but in remission.

Q You’ve seen the connection between

faith and finance again and again — and, ultimately, how God will provide.

A God provides through the generous

financial donations and volunteerism of people who allow our local ministry to continue. It makes me smile thinking of the many times that God has shown himself in this process and how many times over the years I am absolutely sure I have met Jesus in the people we serve.

try to be so grateful every day for all God has done in my life. I wrestle with why some people struggle and suffer so much here on earth. There is so much hunger, war, sickness and suffering in the world, and you wish you could do more to help.

I know we are never closer to Jesus on the cross than when we are suffering, but it’s heartbreaking to see so many people suffer and try to understand how this is part of God’s plan.

Q What have you learned from Mary Jo Copeland?

A I honestly feel in the presence of a

living saint when I am with Mary Jo. She is not of this world — that’s the only way to explain how she can keep doing what she is doing, day in and out. She has taught me so many great lessons in surrendering and trusting God. She reminds us that hope is powerful and anything is possible with God. Also, worrying about things is useless energy because God already knows how it will all shake out. She likes to say: “If he brought you to it, he’ll get you through it.”

Mary Jo lost her husband last March in the middle of the pandemic lockdown but never missed a beat with her mission to help the poor. She promised God she would be his servant, and she keeps her promises.

Q I heard you have a huge dining

room table. What does it mean to you?

A Yes, our dining room table seats 16.

So many good laughs and tears have happened around that table! We have a large extended family, and before the pandemic, we enjoyed family dinners together every Sunday. Breaking bread with a mix of people is one of our favorite things to do. Sharing and Caring Hands guests, wonderful priests, religious sisters from all over the world — we’ve even hosted Archbishop (Bernard) Hebda! There is nothing better than to be with others, sharing all life has to offer CathSpMM-Jan14-2021.qxp_Layout 1 1/6/21 2:29 PM over a meal.

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FEBRUARY 25, 2021

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 15

FOCUSONFAITH SUNDAY SCRIPTURES | FATHER NATHANIEL MEYERS

Placing God above all things

About a month ago, a brother priest and I were discussing the importance of loving God first and foremost in life. Naturally, there are many people that we love and cherish with intense feeling, and we all have various hobbies or interests that command a powerful devotion. Yet, above all these, it is important for us to love God and to treasure our relationship with him more than anything else. Intellectually, most of us can recognize and assent to this right away, but in our fallen human state, wherein we wrestle with our own sinfulness and divided hearts, we sometimes can elevate other things above God — perhaps a family member, perhaps a sport or even perhaps our own health.

The readings at Mass this coming weekend are a wonderful opportunity for each of us to reflect upon why we should treasure God above all other things and let our love for the Lord govern everything else we value in our lives.

The Second Sunday of Lent interestingly always contains one of the Gospel passages on Jesus’ Transfiguration. As we prepare to embrace the long haul of our Lenten observances, the Transfiguration reminds us of the infinite splendor of God and why

ASK FATHER MIKE | FATHER MICHAEL SCHMITZ

What am I doing wrong when I don’t feel close to God? Q I feel like my faith keeps failing. I will have these moments when I feel close to God and strong in my faith, but then I always “crash” and feel nothing. What am I doing wrong?

A This is a great question. And I would like to

look at it in two parts. The first part is about how completely normal it is to experience what you’ve described, and the second part is about what we can do about it.

First, I will often talk with people who are in your exact situation.

And they will share your exact concern: Their feelings of closeness to God ebb and flow. Some days you feel incredibly close to God and strong in your faith, and other days God seems so distant and your faith seems weak. This can be painful on its own, but what often adds to the difficulty is the fact that many people do not anticipate these dry times. Very few people know that this is a completely normal experience for anyone in any relationship.

Think of it this way: No one actually expects to be on a constant “high” in any human relationship. No one thinks that every moment they spend with their best friend or their spouse is supposed to be one unending thrill ride. We know (and expect) that there will be many times when we “feel” nothing spectacular in these relationships. In fact, largely feeling very little is absolutely normal. We have made the decision to love the other, and we have done this regardless of how loving them makes us feel.

Even more than this, to expect a relationship to be nothing but one peak experience after another would be foolish. It would neither be realistic nor good for us. As beings made in God’s image and likeness, we have been created for love. Not for the emotion of love, but for the act of love.

Love is sometimes filled with affection. This “affect” of love is, of course, a welcome gift whenever it is given. But true love needs

these sacrifices are warranted for us to grow in love of him. This year, we are treated to hearing St. Mark’s account of the Transfiguration, which offers a few insights into this radiant revelation of Christ’s glory that we do not find in either of the accounts from St. Matthew or St. Luke.

The Markan account of the Transfiguration describes Jesus’ clothing as becoming so white that “no fuller on earth could bleach them.” In this description, we realize that Christ’s glory is something that the world cannot produce and that it is infinitely beyond the reaches of this world. As a result, we realize that even the greatest things of our material life pale in comparison to Jesus, and we should prioritize him over everything. The newborn child parents hold in their arms is a wondrous gift that uniquely manifests God’s goodness, but even this most precious of human moments and relations pales in comparison to the embrace that awaits us when we surrender ourselves to God. Following upon this point, St. Mark also is much more explicit in what the disciples are feeling when they see the Lord’s glory revealed: “They were so terrified” that Peter does not know what to say. The disciples’ reaction is produced by the overwhelming glory of God, which means they are now starting to see everything differently. Similarly, as we encounter God through our faith and the sacraments, we also must begin to see everything differently. We do not need to forswear our friends and family, or even our favorite dessert, but we do need to approach each of these things with a new question in mind — namely, how does this help me draw closer to God? Father Meyers is pastor of St. Francis Xavier in Buffalo. He can be reached at nate.meyers@stfxb.org.

to be more than affection; it is meant to be effective. This means that love is meant to “move.” It is meant to be a choice. It is more than a feeling (thank you, Boston), and reaches a certain degree of perfection when we choose to love in the absence of the positive feelings we get. Many of us have experienced the joy of being “in love.” This joy is a gift when it is present. But when we “get” something by loving another, there is a certain degree of self-love involved. That isn’t bad (at all!), but true love becomes an even greater gift when we love the other for their own sake, not for anything we get from loving them.

Being able to choose to love another without feeling anything in return is a sign of maturity and a sign of genuine self-gift. The same is true when it comes to our relationship with God. There are times when God gives us the joy of feeling close to him. There are times when we experience the grace of those peak experiences with the Lord. But he also knows that we are made for a deeper and truer love than this.

And, since he is God, he wants us to grow to the maturity and selfless love that he has made us for. Because of this, in God’s wisdom, he actually gives us seasons where we feel little to no emotion in our relationship with him. He does not do this to “test” us (in the sense that he wants to find out how long we will be able to stand the pain of feeling alone), but because it is the only way we could possibly grow into the kind of people who have a mature love.

God is never absent from us. God is never actually distant.

We merely experience what feels like absence and what feels like distance so that we can choose to love God for his own sake, and not for how it makes us feel. It is like the parent who loves and cares for their child; the child loves the parent for the good gifts they give her.

But the parents ultimately want the child to love them, not merely their gifts. This can only be done if the gifts are taken away.

In the case of our prayer lives, God is the giver of all good gifts. But he desires that we learn to love him and not merely the gifts he gives us. We can only learn to love him when he suspends our “feeling close.”

So, this is nothing to panic about. Continue to choose God as you know he has called you to. Continue to pray, to approach the sacraments, and live out your vocation with faithfulness. Next month, we will talk about the best ways you can continue to grow when it has become difficult.

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.

KNOW the SAINTS ST. KATHARINE DREXEL The daughter of a wealthy Philadelphia banker, Katharine received marriage proposals but wanted to become a contemplative nun. After inheriting a fortune, she visited the Dakotas and witnessed American Indians’ poverty, subsequently pleading with Pope Leo XIII to send them more missionaries. But he and others encouraged her to found a congregation to work among people of color. In 1891, she and 13 companions became the first Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. For more than 40 years, she led the order, using her fortune to establish numerous missions and schools for Indians and African Americans. Following a major heart attack in 1935, she retired to a life of prayer. Canonized in 2000, she is the patron saint of home missions.

— Catholic News Service

DAILY Scriptures Sunday, Feb. 28 Second Sunday of Lent Gn 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18 Rom 8:31b-34 Mk 9:2-10 Monday, March 1 Dn 9:4b-10 Lk 6:36-38 Tuesday, March 2 Is 1:10, 16-20 Mt 23:1-12 Wednesday, March 3 Jer 18:18-20 Mt 20:17-28 Thursday, March 4 Jer 17:5-10 Lk 16:19-31 Friday, March 5 Gn 37:3-4, 12-13a, 17b-28a Mt 21:33-43, 45-46 Saturday, March 6 Mi 7:14-15, 18-20 Lk 15:1-3, 11-32 Sunday, March 7 Third Sunday of Lent Ex 20:1-17 1 Cor 1:22-25 Jn 2:13-25 Monday, March 8 2 Kgs 5:1-15ab Lk 4:24-30 Tuesday, March 9 Dn 3:25, 34-43 Mt 18:21-35 Wednesday, March 10 Dt 4:1, 5-9 Mt 5:17-19 Thursday, March 11 Jer 7:23-28 Lk 11:14-23 Friday, March 12 Hos 14:2-10 Mk 12:28-34 Saturday, March 13 Hos 6:1-6 Lk 18:9-14 Sunday, March 14 Fourth Sunday of Lent 2 Chr 36:14-16, 19-23 Eph 2:4-10 Jn 3:14-21

16 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

COMMENTARY YOUR HEART, HIS HOME | LIZ KELLY

A fast from feedback and fixing it

A dear friend tells me that she is working on writing the story of her life — including a compelling and sweeping conversion that saved her and led to the conversion of many in her family. When she comes to visit, she brings a few chapters from her story to share. She has decided it is time to entrust some of it to me and to another close friend.

So, one afternoon, she situates herself on my lumpy old couch, a box of tissues close by, and turns to page one. She reads. We listen. We sit quietly and witness the earliest days of her life and some of the tragedies and losses that set her on her way — into trauma and childhood rape, into an abusive marriage to a man who dove deeper and deeper into the occult, into the crushing heartbreak of an abortion she did not want.

My friend and I sit and listen, an hour or two one day, an hour or two the next, and she just reads, quietly and with calm dignity as she reveals another loss, another sin committed against her, another sin she committed before she even knew what sin really was — that terrible breach growing between her and God. And I am struck by this recurring theme: She was so young, so naive, she didn’t know what to do, and she had no one to talk to, no one to listen, no one who understood. There was such tremendous emotional and spiritual isolation.

My friend and I listen and receive her story as reverently as we can.

While I’m driving her to the airport for her return trip home, she says, “I’m leaving here a changed woman. I think I just needed someone to hear all of that and to

THE LOCAL CHURCH | FATHER LEONARD ANDRIE

Two ships

One of my favorite icons depicting the Church is Christ with his Apostles in a boat. Our Lord holds the rudder with the sails up, completely at ease and full of confidence as he looks ahead. Along with the Apostles, the Blessed Mother prays peacefully with her eyes fixed lovingly on her Son. The idea that the Church is a ship sailing through the waters of time is nothing new. One of the most beautiful churches in the world, Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral, was built in 1163. The magnificent church is one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture.

Interestingly, it is built on a little island, reminding the faithful to stay on board the boat with Christ.

The blessings of being with Christ in the boat are extraordinary. Not only does Jesus protect, but he provides his passengers with a vision that addresses the most fundamental questions in life: Where did I come from? What’s my identity? What is happiness and how do I obtain it? Why is there evil? How do I find meaning in suffering? Why is there division and how is it resolved? Where am I going? How will the world end?

Is there life after death?

With a supernatural vision of the world, including their own place in it, Christ’s passengers joyfully “row together with him” and experience the fullness of life that only he can give.

As everyone is well aware, however, storms batter Christ’s little boat regularly, disturbing the joy and peace of passengers. In Mark’s Gospel, it is natural to identify with the Apostles in their near meltdown as the boat is nearly submerged in the violent squall. And

Maybe this year I can try to practice the gift of being present in the same way Mary and John and Mary Magdalene did at the foot of Christ’s cross: witnessing in love, sharing in the suffering of my loved ones around me, staying present and faithful through the trial.

iSTOCK PHOTO | THANASUS

still love me. I just needed to come out of hiding and to completely be myself.”

If she only knew how much she honored me, leaving a little bit of her pain there in my living room, allowing us to help carry a share of her story, to shoulder a touch of the loss. She says it changed her, it was a gift to her to be received in this way, but of course, I know it was equally a gift for me and my other listening friend. It changed us, too. Listening is not only a gift for the one being “listened”; it is of course, a gift for the listener. We honor the souls of those we listen to, but let’s not forget how their entrusting us with their story honors us.

Maybe for Lent this year, I can concentrate on fasting from feedback, from sharing my opinion and offering commentary, or from trying to “fix things” in others.

Maybe I could concentrate on listening and on simply being present without judgment to those who need to

be seen, heard and received. Maybe this year I can try to practice the gift of being present in the same way Mary and John and Mary Magdalene did at the foot of Christ’s cross: witnessing in love, sharing in the suffering of my loved ones around me, staying present and faithful through the trial.

Jesus, from the cross you cried, “My Lord, why have you abandoned me?” In this holy season, let my listening help to lift the sense of isolation and abandonment of those near me who are suffering. Let my listening be a comfort and a reminder that you are near, you will redeem, you do save, and Easter Resurrection is already yours.

yet, the divine Captain, likely fatigued from a long day’s work, rests soundly on a cushion (Mk 4:38). Waking Jesus, they plead, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” It’s an accusation we have all hurled at the Lord from time to time.

Over the centuries, Jesus’ little boat has been riddled with storms. Sometimes those storms come from the outside (e.g., persecutions, plagues, ideologies, cultural and political upheavals, etc.), while at other times they come from the inside (heretical teachings, moral failures, worldliness, etc.). And when things are really rough, as it feels in recent times, those storms come from both the outside and inside. During such unstable times, one would do well to interiorize more deeply the Lord’s words, “In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world” (Jn 16:33).

In the last 50 years, the cultural and spiritual upheavals have swept up new winds causing massive waves to beat against Jesus’ little boat, shaking the lives of his passengers. Thousands have left the Church, including many young people, a flow that continues to the present day. This, coupled with the spiritual confusion and moral corruption of bishops, priests and laity, has left the Church listless in the water. In short, during times like our own, one wonders whether Christ is asleep or in a coma.

As many passengers abandon Christ’s boat for various reasons, another ship gladly waits in the water to bring them on board. This new ship, the U.S. Secular, has much to offer with its spacious deck and captivating amenities. Admittedly, those Christians who board it may get a little homesick and restless now and then. Thanks be to God, however, the new ship has a little museum in the lower deck with a few relics, a little incense, and a page or two of sacred Scripture to alleviate their nostalgia.

But alas, they shouldn’t spend too much time there.

After all, there is much to see and do on this new ship! Passengers are no longer bound by a divinely imposed story, but instead have the privilege of creating

their own stories, i.e., of determining the meaning of their own lives. They are the directors, producers and editors of their lives. In fact, if they so choose, they can determine the very essence of who they are.

Self-creation, in short, is in vogue on this vessel. In terms of sexual expression, possibility is restricted only by one’s imagination (and a little common sense).

Additionally, the new ship has a lovely décor. Posters and signs are plenty with catchy phrases such as “imago Dei” and “Be safe,” reminding all passengers of their common values. Indeed, each person is made in the image of God, and the well-being of passengers is truly important. Of course, one should not ask too many questions. For example, it would be terribly impolite to begin an unpleasant conversation about sin and the sickness of the soul.

In our own day, then, there are two ships that sail, each carrying a different vision and reaching different destinations. The little boat of Christ, despite the storms, is heading east to the rising sun, and a land can be glimpsed there. It is the land of promise, of all true fulfillment, with sunshine breaking through and strains of music in the air.

Meanwhile, the US Secular, impressive in its immediate impact, has no instruments for navigation.

It steams along without much attention to where it’s going. The rocks in the distance, the vast waterfall ahead and the dark clouds on the horizon are of little concern. Instead, there is a simple raising of glasses and a great cheer, “To us! Live for the moment!” There is, after all, lots to do on board!

Indeed, what a gift and what a responsibility to be able to choose which vessel to sail on through the waters of time. The choice, each day, is ours.

St. Thérèse, pray for us!

Kelly is the award-winning author of nine books including “Love Like A Saint: Cultivating Virtue with Holy Women” and co-host to the podcast “Deep Down Things.” Visit her website at lizk.org.

Father Andrie is pastor of St. Therese in Deephaven. He can be reached at fr.andrie@st-therese.org. The Local Church is an occasional column featuring Catholic perspectives in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

FAITH AT HOME | LAURA KELLY FANUCCI

Add and multiply to subtract our losses The opposite of division is multiplication. The opposite of subtraction is addition.

In a time when we feel deeply divided and we’ve lost so much, what could we add or multiply to help those who need it most?

People are struggling everywhere right now. The longer the pandemic drags on, the closer many are edging to the brink. Beyond the latest headlines are real humans, suffering in flesh and blood.

This week I posed a question on social media: What’s the heaviest burden you’re carrying, the hardest part of life that you need others to hold in prayer?

Thousands of responses poured in. College students dealing with depression. New moms feeling suicidal. Older adults weary with isolation. Exhausted parents fearing burnout. Bereaved relatives mourning grandparents who died from COVID-19 or babies lost to miscarriage.

Losses piled up in the comment box: jobs, homes, health, friends — all lost to the pandemic. As I read, I realized we need to do more, to pray and act.

If we are committed to sharing the good news of the Gospel with a weary world, we are called to do whatever we can for those who are suffering. None of us is immune to the toll that the pandemic has taken. But if we each reach out to someone, we could start to make the small difference that could bring a sea change.

Here are concrete ways to help individuals, couples and families who are suffering. Let what you have meet what another needs. Trust that God will work to multiply the rest.

If you have time to offer, look for those who are stressed and overwhelmed.

Text a friend who’s grieving. Write cards to friends who need a boost of love in their mailbox. Read a book over FaceTime with your grandkids to give their parents a break.

COMMENTARY If you have money to give, let your heart lead you to share with others.

Parents are struggling to feed their kids. Marriages are fraying. Families have to pay for funerals. Contact local organizations about their greatest needs, and let the gift of your generosity help someone who’s hurting.

If you have energy to share, look for people who are depleted.

Start an online small group at your parish by brainstorming who might long to connect: homebound parishioners, new parents, empty nesters or the unemployed. Contact your local Catholic school to see if they need more substitute teachers.

If you have talents to lend, imagine who might find joy or hope in your gifts.

Could you bake a surprise for a lonely neighbor? Work out virtually with a niece or nephew? Play an instrument over Zoom for nursing home residents? Call a local parish, school or senior center to ask what community needs could be met by the gifts God has given you.

If you have a praying heart, multiply your petitions.

Pray for those who are sick or dying, especially those who are alone. Ask God to bless caregivers and protect their health. Reach out to a struggling friend and let them know you’ll pray for them in a special way each day this week.

If you have children at home, turn their energy into service.

Make new signs for your windows to cheer your neighbors. Organize a food drive or diaper donation for your local food bank. Ask kids to research a new patron saint to inspire your family’s prayer during the pandemic.

To keep going, we need God’s abundant mercy. But we also need the best of humanity: all the creativity, collaboration and compassion we can offer each other.

When we feel like we have nothing more to add or multiply, may we remember we follow Jesus who fed thousands with a few loaves and fishes.

Will God not increase even the smallest offering we can make?

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.

INSIDE THE CAPITOL | MCC

Homeless shelters, school safety, poverty Our Catholic faith calls us to shelter the homeless. Despite many charities living out this corporal work of mercy, the need continues to grow. Our partners at Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis tell us the number of people living without shelter in the Twin Cities has increased 50% between 2019 and 2020. Homelessness is also on the rise in greater Minnesota with a 32% increase over the same period of time.

Charity alone is not enough to meet this need. Thus, Minnesota Catholic Conference recently testified in support of HF42 (Howard), which would increase state funding for emergency shelter operations by $15 million. The funding to the Emergency Services Program is currently the state’s only investment that provides supplemental resources to Minnesota’s shelter providers. Increased and stable state funding for ESP will help shelter providers like Catholic Charities continue to respond to our state’s homelessness crisis.

Funding school safety. A bill that would increase funding to help keep students safe at school continues to move forward. The Senate Education Finance and Policy Committee has agreed to include SF627 (Chamberlain) in the committee’s final omnibus bill. If the omnibus bill passes, the amount of money dedicated to safe schools aid would increase to $37 per student for fiscal year 2022 and beyond. Safe schools revenue must be used to pay for safetyrelated resources and efforts such as a drug abuse prevention program, voluntary opt-in suicide prevention tools and facility security enhancements.

A specific provision to grant nonpublic schools the same level of safe schools funding as public and charter schools is

Join your voice with others advocating to uphold the dignity of those without proper shelter. Register today to participate in the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless Day on the Hill. This year’s virtual advocacy days are March 9-11. Find details and registration at mnhomelesscoalition.org. included in SF627. Often, nonpublic students are excluded from these types of special funding mechanisms and grants. Inclusion of nonpublic schools in the bill was not without dissent. MCC, as a member of Nonpublic Education Partners, is working to ensure private school students receive an equitable share of these important resources for school and student safety.

Decriminalizing poverty. Replacing criminal penalties for unpaid parking tickets and minor traffic violations with civil collections is a bipartisan proposal MCC supports. The bill, HF336 (Becker-Finn)/SF432 (Ingebrigsten), would forbid suspension of a driver’s license based on failure to pay a traffic ticket, parking fine or surcharge. Offenders would still be required to pay fines through a civil collections process.

Allowing for a civil judgment instead of a license suspension aims to protect those living in or near poverty from unequal and unjust collateral punishments, such as losing the ability to drive to and from work. Catholic conferences around the country have routinely supported similar legislative efforts to decriminalize poverty.

“Inside the Capitol” is an update from Minnesota Catholic Conference during the legislative session. MCC advocates for policy on behalf of the Catholic Church in Minnesota.

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 17

CATHOLIC WATCHMEN DEACON GORDON BIRD

The first and best adorers We often take extra time to examine, reflect and seek paths to get closer to God during the Lenten season.

Ultimately, we will find our hearts less restless and our lives more fulfilled as we approach closer union with him. Looking to Jesus during adoration can help show, discern and determine what works and what brings peace. We can give thanks, petition for help or simply gaze at him. Becoming brothers and sisters of Christ through baptism is reason alone to give Jesus thanks. Now in relationship with God, our restoration to be with him forever continues.

By encountering Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, we are encountering the Divine, helping to make us more fulfilled and more fully human — closer to God. Encountering Jesus can truly transform us to live a life of faith that is alive with a zealous love for God and an actionable love for neighbor. We encounter Christ in many ways: through the Mass, family, friendship, evangelization, prayer, Scripture, catechesis, work, works of mercy and more. All these ways and means are gifts, if union with God is the principal goal we pursue. Lent or not, regular time offered for adoration can help to recollect all these encounters with Jesus, rest in them and then simply gaze upon him in the Blessed Sacrament.

The Mother of God and St. Joseph, the first adorers of Christ, can help us along as we meditate and contemplate their lives and ask for their intercession in adoration.

Recollect and envision the experience of the Holy Family with Jesus — as “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). Journeying in their footsteps through the eyes of St. Joseph will teach us much about the supernatural virtues at play, which we can learn and put to work ourselves. As the protector of the Holy Church, he and the Blessed Mother were the first evangelists, and the first and best adorers of Jesus.

With the Year of St. Joseph, we are drawn to learn of his many virtues — starting with faith and hope. St. Joseph’s living faith prompted him to act upon his belief and have complete trust in God. Many of his actions took place in the hidden years of Jesus. During his public ministry, Jesus was acknowledged in the Scriptures as “the carpenter’s son” (cf. Mk 6:3), recognizing St. Joseph’s key presence in the Lord’s early life.

“Go to Joseph” in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament this Lent. Our Lady Seat of Wisdom and the Protector of the Holy Church were the first to adore our Lord when he came into the world. Joseph’s leadership compels us to protect marriage and the family — by consecrating our lives to him and his family. Through regular monthly prayer vigils, Catholic Watchmen aim to elicit the intercession of the best of adorers: Mary and Joseph.

Deacon Bird ministers at St. Joseph in Rosemount and All Saints in Lakeville, and assists the archdiocese’s Catholic Watchmen movement.

18 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

B

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

elieving in a God who loves me and wants a relationship

Several years ago, I was diagnosed with an ocular melanoma,

with me, who wants what’s best for me, and who sends

a form of eye cancer. Once again, I turned to my Catholic faith

the Holy Spirit to help me — that’s my God and that is

to sustain me and give me strength. I received the sacrament

whom I have found in the Catholic Church.

“

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

I have been Catholic all my life. Initially, it was just what

I did, without question, without thought. But through some bumps in the road, I have taken a more serious look at the faith tradition I have now chosen

Many years ago, our 11-year-old son was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

That brings you to your knees pretty quickly.

to embrace and to own. The more I have learned, the more convinced I am that Catholicism is the route for me.

Many years ago, our

of anointing of the sick, which brought me grace and comfort before my surgery. I spent five days in a hospital where from my bed I could see a crucifix on the wall, a reminder that I have a God who understands pain and fear. Each day, I walked to the chapel, where I saw statues and sacramentals and felt peace in God’s holy presence. I was told I would be blind in that eye within two years. Five years later, I still have vision. God is good.

I share this not because my story is extraordinary, but because it is not. We all have bumps and detours on our journey. We all have a story to tell. My faith in God has given me strength, peace and healing. My Catholic faith has given me many

11-year-old son was diagnosed

avenues to grow in that faith, lean on that faith and grow in my

with a brain tumor. That brings

relationship with our God. God is good.

you to your knees pretty quickly.

In our case, we turned to our

Schoenecker, 61, is the director of religious education at

Catholic faith to help get us

St. Wenceslaus in New Prague. She and her husband, Ron, are

through some tough times. We

lifelong members of the parish, and two of their grown daughters

found comfort in the Mass,

and their families are parishioners. Their son and his family live in

with its rituals, traditions and

Richfield. The Schoeneckers have seven grandchildren.

Scripture. We were nourished by the Eucharist. I remember sitting in a reconciliation service with tears streaming down my face, being overwhelmed but feeling God’s love and presence with me. Our faith taught us that no matter the outcome, our God would get us through. Our son is doing great today, and he and his wife have a baby of their own, Reese Marie. God is good.

“Why I am Catholic” is a new ongoing series in The Catholic Spirit. Want to share why you are Catholic?

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

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 19

CALENDAR “Synod at Home: Tips and Tools for Growing in Faith” — Thursdays Feb. 18–March 18: Weekly video series to help families listen to one another, pray and discuss in order to determine priorities.

The series focuses on the four pillars of Prayer and Sacraments, Lifelong Learning, Generosity and Service, and Traditions and Fun. Videos and materials for family or individual use will be posted each Thursday at archspm.org/synod.

“St. Joseph, Model for Christians” Lenten Lectures — Ongoing Fridays in Lent. 7:30–8:30 p.m. at St. Agnes, 535 Thomas Ave. W., St. Paul. Next two events: Feb. 26: “Model for Youth” by Father Joseph Kuharski. March 5: “Model for Parents” by Deacon Joseph Michalak. Speakers follow 7 p.m. Stations of the Cross in the upper church. Free. churchofsaintagnes.org/lentenlectures Chesterton Academy open house — March 2: 6:30–8 p.m. at Chesterton Academy of the Twin Cities, 1320 Mainstreet, Hopkins. Learn about

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.

Chesterton’s integrated, classical curriculum and meet faculty, students and parents. Light refreshments will be served. chestertonacademy.org St. Patrick’s Day Annual Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner — March 14: 9:30 a.m.–1 p.m. at St. Joseph, 23955 Nicolai Ave E., Miesville. Corned beef, cabbage, potato, homemade Irish soda bread and dessert (regular and gluten-free). $12. Pre-order and takeout only. Order and pay online at stjosephmiesville.com.

“The Sacred Secret of the 17th of March” — March 17 and 18: 7–8:30 p.m. at St. Patrick, 6820 St. Patrick’s Lane, Edina. This 85-minute show, written by music director Tim Smith and his wife, Julie Barrett, features 14 songs and highlights several Irish saints including Patrick and Brigid. Broadway-style music makes it family friendly and fun. stpatrick-edina.org Our Lady of Guadalupe cheese enchilada meals — Fridays during Lent except Good Friday: 11 a.m.–6 p.m. at 401 Concord St., St. Paul. Takeout $20 dozen, $10 half-dozen. Preorders encouraged. olgcatholic.org St. Matthew fish fry — Fridays in Lent: 4:30– 7:30 p.m. at 490 Hall Ave., St. Paul. Drive-up, takeout. $10. Baked and/or fried fish, potato, vegetable, coleslaw, roll and dessert. Instead of fish, grilled cheese and spaghetti also available. Orders taken on Hall Avenue in front of the church or at the social hall entrance at the rear of the church. st-matts.org

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

Priest remembered for love of skiing, kayaking

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit A priest known by at least one family member as “Uncle Father Jim” died on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17. Father James Himmelsbach, a longtime military chaplain who served around the world and was a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, suffered a short battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 72.

He was born in Washington, D.C., the second-oldest of five whose father served in the military. Eventually, the family settled in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, where he attended Catholic elementary and high schools. He enlisted in the Army in 1970 after receiving a draft notice for the Vietnam War. Eventually, he crossed paths with Father Martin Fleming, a priest of the archdiocese who was serving as a military chaplain in Germany at the time. The two got to know each other, and Father Fleming had a strong influence on his calling to the priesthood.

Father Fleming, who died in 2018, “saw a keen young mind exploring where God would take him,” Loretta Himmelsbach, his younger sister, wrote in the eulogy for her brother, who was ordained in 1977. “On one particular leave skiing in the Alps, Jim felt God’s presence surrounding the natural beauty. As he marveled at the greatness, he heard a gentle whisper calling him to the priesthood — to build bridges, not to blow them up.”

Father Himmelsbach spent a lot of time skiing while in Germany, then taught it for a year in Pennsylvania before answering God’s call and

enrolling at The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul. In his fourth year, he met a first-year seminarian, Father Michael Skluzacek. They became friends and, later, “kayak buddies.” They went on numerous trips, including an annual visit to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in northern Minnesota. Their last trip was in August 2020.

After his ordination, Father Himmelsbach served as associate pastor of the Cathedral of St. Paul FATHER JAMES in St. Paul from 1977HIMMELSBACH 80. He then became a military chaplain in the Army and served for 21 years, including two tours in South Korea. He was an airborne paratrooper.

He retired from the Army in 2001 as a lieutenant colonel and returned to the archdiocese, where he served at two parishes from 2002 until his retirement in 2015: St. Joseph in Waconia (20022006) and Annunciation in south Minneapolis (2006-2015).

The pancreatic cancer discovered in November progressed quickly, with Father Himmelsbach eventually moving to the hospice ward at the VA Hospital in Minneapolis. In his final days, Loretta and other siblings spent time with him, and Father Skluzacek gave his friend of 45 years last rites the day before he died in what he called “the most beautiful experience.”

The funeral Mass will be 11 a.m.

Feb. 26 at Annunciation. Interment will be at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis.

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The Saint John’s University School of Theology and Seminary invites applications for the part-time (.50 FTE), benefit-eligible position of Director, Spiritual Direction Program.

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20 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

FEBRUARY 25, 2021

THELASTWORD

Catholic school tuition help? It’s in the cards!

Priest prepares to sell his coveted collection to raise money for low-income students

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit

A

baseball card collection worth thousands of dollars was a split second away from being dropped into a trash can and disappearing forever in a landfill.

Father John Ubel, rector of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, recalled that moment, which took place more than 15 years ago when he was transferred to a different priestly assignment and wanted to purge some of his belongings. He wasn’t sure what to do with a box containing hundreds of cards in mint condition from the 1970s, including Minnesota Twins players like Tony Oliva and Rod Carew.

“Every time you move assignments, it’s a great opportunity to divest yourself a bit,” he said. “I literally had them out at the trash, and changed my mind and brought them back in.”

Eventually, he began to add more to the collection, and now estimates its value at more than $25,000. Soon, he will make good on his urge to get rid of the cards. But this time, instead of a trash can, they will go to avid collectors, and the proceeds given to the Aim Higher Foundation, where he serves on the board of directors. The nonprofit organization gives scholarships to low-income students at Catholic elementary schools in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Students are chosen to receive $1,000 every year they are enrolled in a Catholic school, all the way through eighth grade. The total per student can be as high as $9,000 if they qualify when they are in kindergarten.

Father Ubel is organizing an online auction for the weekend of March 12-14, the fourth Sunday of Lent, Laetare Sunday.

He was inspired to sell his collection after watching how Catholic schools have courageously offered in-person learning despite the global COVID-19 pandemic, which has kept many public schools’ doors closed since it spread into Minnesota in March 2020. After closing last spring and converting to distance learning, schools in the archdiocese opened up for in-person learning at the start of this school year.

Teachers, administrators, students and parents share the passion and the extra work and expense needed to teach students in the classroom.

Father Ubel has not only noticed their efforts, but stepped up to the plate to support them.

“I thought to myself, (Catholic) schools are hitting it out of the park,” he said. “And, I thought, it’s time to give something back.”

He has more than 2,000 cards, but will focus on the most valuable — about 50 — at the auction. Two big sellers are expected to be a 1948 Jackie Robinson rookie card and a 1954 Hank Aaron rookie card. Father Ubel said the Robinson card is worth more than

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Father John Ubel shows baseball cards he will be selling at an auction in March to raise money for the Aim Higher Foundation. In his hands are the two most valuable — Jackie Robinson, left, and Hank Aaron. $15,000 and the Aaron card about $6,000, although the latter figure is continuing to climb since the slugger’s death Jan. 22. Nicknamed “Hammerin’ Hank,” Aaron played for 23 seasons and set the all-time home run record with 755 career round-trippers.

Robinson was known for breaking the color barrier in becoming the first African American player in the Major Leagues (in 1947 with the Brooklyn Dodgers). Father Ubel especially cherishes the card for that reason, and notes that Aaron, likewise, faced racial discrimination, most notably while chasing Babe Ruth’s record of 714 home runs, which had stood for nearly four decades and was thought impossible to break. But, break it Aaron did April 8, 1974, on his home field in Atlanta against the Los Angeles Dodgers. There were baseball fans who did not want a Black player breaking Babe Ruth’s home run record, which had become sacred.

That fateful night in Atlanta created controversy.

“I watched that game,” recalled Father Ubel, who was 10 years old at the time.

“I remember it very well. I’m glad that he hit it in the fourth inning because I probably would have had to get to bed if it was much later than that. And, to think that he had death threats and people leaving (hateful) messages.”

Father Ubel first started collecting cards in 1970 while in the first grade at Visitation School in Mendota Heights.

He bought most of his cards between 1970 and 1974. After transferring to St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights, his interest waned. The cards were stored in a Girl Scout cookie box in the attic of his home for a number of years before he eventually

retrieved them and started taking them wherever he went. He later “acquired” his brother’s football card collection, which is why he has Terry Bradshaw (Pittsburgh Steelers) and Joe Namath (New York Jets) cards, both of which will be sold at the auction.

After graduating from St. Thomas Academy in 1981, Father Ubel, 57, went on to St. John Vianney College Seminary at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, and, eventually, the St. Paul Seminary, as he followed his call to the priesthood. He was ordained in 1989 and made stops to different assignments with the cards still stored in the same cardboard box.

He added the Aaron card in 2009 and the Robinson card in 2010, as he chose to step up his interest in collecting. He eventually placed his most valuable cards in plastic sleeves, and they are in mint condition today.

The reason he fell in love with baseball is simple.

“It’s the only sport I ever really played,” he said. “I like to joke that my claim to fame is we won the city championship at Nativity in ’77. I sat on the bench, but I coached first base and nobody got picked off whenever I was coaching first base.”

The reason he fell in love with baseball cards is equally simple.

“This is nostalgia, and it brings you right back,” he said. “I can look at this Nolan Ryan (Hall of Fame pitcher) card and remember watching (him play). He’s the first one I remember (throwing a) 100-mile-an-hour fastball. … And, I’ve got his card. So, there’s something about nostalgia and memory. And, I think memory is very powerful, and memory

is very compelling. It brings us back to a simpler time.”

In a matter of seconds, as Father Ubel peruses his cards, he is transported back to the days when the Twins played at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, which was torn down in 1985 and replaced with the Mall of America in 1992.

“These are my heroes,” he said of Twins players from that era. “I remember I was in eighth grade when Rod Carew was chasing .400 (batting average). He hit .388 in 1977. That whole summer, I was listening to (Twins games on) WCCO Radio every day. Back then, they didn’t have the games on TV all the time.

You had to go to the radio. … Listening to a game on the radio forced you to have a mental image. It helped with your imagination. It was a simpler time.”

For sentimental reasons, it would be understandable for Father Ubel to want to keep his collection. He does admit there’s a tug on his heart to do so, which creates tension surrounding his decision to let go.

“On a human level, I don’t want to part with these,” he said, “but I also think there are other needs right now that in my life are more important. And, the benefit I received from a Catholic education is really immeasurable to me — my whole life, from kindergarten all the way through seminary and beyond.

And, to me, it’s time (to sell the cards).

I just felt the Lord speaking to me. You know, Matthew 19 (verse 21): ‘Go, sell what you have.’ It’s time. It’s time to do something and to give back.”

For more information on the auction, visit aimhigherfoundation.org.