The Catholic Spirit - February 24, 2022

February 24, 2022 • Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

INVASION OF UKRAINE Local Catholics react to Russian advance — PAGE 5

2022 FISH FRY AND LENTEN MEAL GUIDE — PAGE 6

CSAF

HAS A NEW PRESIDENT, STRONG VISION — PAGES 10-11

LENT: DRUDGE OR DREDGE? 3 | SAVED SCHOOL’S GRATITUDE 7 | STATE OF PRIESTHOOD 8 SEMINARIAN SNAPSHOT 14 | CONFESSION WHEN NOT FEELING SORRY 15 | SCHOOL CHOICE NOW 16

2 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

PAGETWO Beauty is capable of creating communion, because it unites God, humanity and creation in a single symphony.

Pope Francis, speaking Feb. 17 to a group of musicians, actors, poets, painters, dancers, sculptors and architects who are part of a movement called “Diakonia of Beauty,” created in 2012 to restore a relationship in which the Catholic Church relies on artists to share the Gospel and in which the artists seek to learn from and serve the Church.

NEWS notes The 2022 Catholic Schools Raffle is underway, as more than 13,000 Catholic school students in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota sell $5 tickets that give buyers the chance to win a 2022 Ford Escape or other prizes. Sponsored by St. Paul-based Catholic United Financial, “every penny of every ticket sold” stays with the schools, the organization said in a January press release. Since the raffle’s founding 13 years ago, it has raised more than $11 million for Catholic schools. Sales run through Feb. 27, with the grand prize drawing March 10.

PHOTO COURTESY KATIE MCNULTY

REMOTE CONTROL Archbishop Bernard Hebda tries his hand at controlling a robot Feb. 16 built by the PioNerds Green team, made up of five eighth-graders through juniors at Hill-Murray School in Maplewood.

Using the robot to pick up 3-inch blocks, 4-inch whiffle balls and rubber duckies, the team competed Feb. 12 in the state championships at Washington Technology Magnet School in S t. Paul. With Archbishop Hebda are freshman Eveny McNulty, left, eighth-grader Anna Maher and freshman Audrey Niese. The PioNerds won the Judges Award, in large part for 3D-designing and printing a leg prosthesis for American Girl dolls that could be shared with young people who wear a prosthesis.

There are two Fridays this Lent when Catholics in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis may be permitted to eat meat, according to a Feb. 10 memo from the archdiocese’s Office of Worship to clergy, parishes and Catholic institutions. March 25 is the solemnity of the Annunciation — an important feast day — so there is no obligation to abstain from meat that day. The prior Friday, March 18, is the evening before the solemnity of St. Joseph. “The obligation to abstain from meat on Fridays in Lent generally extends from midnight to midnight, and remains in force on March 18,” the memo stated.

“In Thanksgiving, however, for the graces that were received in the Year of St. Joseph, Archbishop Hebda will be granting a dispensation from that obligation to any individuals who have begun their St. Joseph celebration by either praying Evening Prayer I of the Solemnity or attending evening Mass.” The memo stated that more information about that dispensation is forthcoming.

The final stages of a $10 million renovation project recently began at St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul. The seminary is building a 20,000-square-foot addition, including a new chapel, new meeting rooms and residences for priests who live and work at the seminary. Updated residence halls, floor lounges, kitchen and dining areas and restrooms have already been completed. The project is being funded by seminary benefactors and sponsoring dioceses. SJV is one of the largest college seminaries in the United States, with about 100 undergraduate men in formation each year. SJV seminarians are full-time undergraduate students at the University of St. Thomas and live in community on campus.

A graduate of Totino-Grace High School in Fridley works in the front office of the Los Angeles Rams, which defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI Feb. 12 in Los Angeles. Tony Pastoors, who graduated from Totino-Grace in 2006 and played quarterback on a team that won two state football championships, works as the Rams’ vice president, football and business administration. He joined the team in 2010 and is its chief negotiator, working with salary cap management, contract negotiations and football operations. Pastoors was involved with the hiring of Head Coach Sean McVay in 2017, and the acquisition of several key players, including quarterback Matthew Stafford, who came to the team before this season in a trade with the Detroit Lions that sent former Rams quarterback Jared Goff to the Lions.

COURTESY CRS | CNS

TAKING STOCK A Malagasy family sorts through items from their destroyed home Feb. 8 in Mananjary, Madagascar, in the aftermath of Cyclone Batsirai, which struck Feb. 5, killing about 120 people. A Madagascar country representative for Catholic Relief Services, Carla Fajardo, traveled for five days assessing needs. She said everybody where the cyclone struck on the east coast is terrified for the next intense storm. “One woman I spoke with had left her house at 4 o’clock in the morning to run and gather the corrugated iron” sheets of her roof that had blown away, Fajardo said. “She then got straight to work nailing them back on,” with 20 people taking refuge in her home, “most of them in one room.” People’s vanilla and cinnamon businesses were wiped out along with the trees that were felled by the storm, Fajardo said. Many houses in the area are made of clay and disintegrated in the floods, she said.

In these cold winter months, The Catholic Spirit asks readers: What is your favorite Catholic podcast and why? Send responses of 200 words or less to CatholicSpirit@archspm.org with “Readers Respond” in the subject line. Your reflection may be included in a future edition of The Catholic Spirit.

ON THE COVER Father Ivan Shkumbatyuk, pastor of St. Constantine Ukrainian Catholic Church in Minneapolis and a native of Ukraine, stands next to a Ukrainian flag displayed inside the church.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

The Catholic Spirit is published semi-monthly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Vol. 27 — No. 4 MOST REVEREND BERNARD A. HEBDA, Publisher TOM HALDEN, Associate Publisher MARIA C. WIERING, Editor-in-Chief JOE RUFF, News Editor

A 90-minute pro-life webinar starting at 10 a.m. March 10 sponsored by the Minnesota Catholic Conference offers an opportunity for people to learn ways to engage in productive dialogue about abortion and other tough issues. Emily Albrecht, a speaker, writer and coach with the Equal Rights Institute, an organization dedicated to equipping people to argue persuasively about pro-life issues, will lead the webinar. She is also the former co-president of Oles for Life at St. Olaf College in Northfield, and is particularly passionate about equipping students with the tools to understand and articulate pro-life convictions. Register for the webinar under “Events” at https://tinyurl.com/yck5r44w.

PRACTICING Catholic On the Feb. 18 “Practicing Catholic” show, host Patrick Conley interviews Archbishop Bernard Hebda, who provides an update on the 2022 Archdiocesan Synod. Also featured are Deacon Nathan Allen, a judge for the Metropolitan Tribunal of the archdiocese, who discusses marriage annulments and two free annulment consultations on Ash Wednesday, and Liz Kelly and Nell O’Leary from Blessed Is She, who describe a new, year-long devotional called “Made New.” Listen each week on Fridays at 9 p.m., Saturdays at 1 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. on Relevant Radio 1330 AM. Listen to interviews after they have aired at practicingcatholicshow.com, soundcloud.com/practicingcatholic or tinyurl.com/practicing catholic.

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FEBRUARY 24, 2022

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 3

FROMTHEMODERATOROFTHECURIA ONLY JESUS | FATHER CHARLES LACHOWITZER

The Lenten dredge

A

long time ago, when I was a young man barely hearing the call to the priesthood, I was living in the mountains facing the Pacific Ocean.

I joined a crew of dozens with rakes, shovels and buckets to clean up a stream. It was called a creek but it was different from the creeks of Minnesota. This small river came out of the mountains as the snow melted. It was swift, deep and cold. The creek winded its way through a broad valley before joining another river on its way to the ocean.

Many decades had passed since salmon had spawned in its pools. With an abundance of creeks and rivers in the region, a previous generation had used this particular creek as a dump. Tires, rusted cans of all shapes and sizes, and cast-iron parts from broken farm machinery were dumped into the creek.

The garbage allowed the silt to build up, and while the creek still sparkled for picture-taking tourists, it had little oxygen and little life.

As a large crew, we each took a section and began to dredge the bottom. All the human garbage along with the submerged tree branches and leaf debris were all hauled out. For the bigger stuff that was unable to be moved with rakes and shovels, like the entire bumper of an old truck, heavy equipment had to be used that included a power winch with a strong metal cable.

I remember standing on a ridge looking down into that valley. That once bucolic creek was now a ribbon of chocolate colored mud. It looked far worse than before. But the water was flowing and carried away all that built up dirt. It was not long before the waters cleared up, revealing a rock and gravel bottom covered with oxygen bubbles rising to the surface.

The creek would later be stocked with newly hatched salmon, since none of the salmon in the ocean would have any memory of that creek. But because of the dredging, the creek was healthy and would become another nursery for thousands of salmon for many years to come.

This experience taught me that dredging is a good way to look at the Lenten season. Through a good examination of conscience and going to confession, through prayer and intentional fasting, through

La draga de Cuaresma

H

ace mucho tiempo, cuando era un joven que apenas escuchaba el llamado al sacerdocio, vivía en las montañas frente al Océano Pacífico.

Me uní a un equipo de docenas con rastrillos, palas y baldes para limpiar un arroyo. Se llamaba riachuelo pero era diferente de los riachuelos de Minnesota. Este pequeño río salió de las montañas cuando la nieve se derritió.

Fue rápido, profundo y frío. El arroyo serpenteaba a través de un amplio valle antes de unirse a otro río en su camino hacia el océano.

Habían pasado muchas décadas desde que el salmón había desovado en sus estanques. Con una gran cantidad de arroyos y ríos en la región, una generación anterior había utilizado este arroyo en particular como vertedero.

Llantas, latas oxidadas de todas las formas y tamaños, y piezas de hierro fundido de maquinaria agrícola rota fueron arrojadas al arroyo. La basura

Lent can be an eager anticipation of the greatest joy ever known in the Easter season.

iSTOCK PHOTO | ELENA-STUDIO

almsgiving and a greater attentiveness to good works, Lent is more of a dredge than just a drudge to get through.

The preparatory season of Advent is muted by the coinciding holiday celebrations with lights, music and festive gatherings. Lent, by dramatic contrast, is in the middle of a calendar desert. The weeks of winter wear on, with vacation in some distant summer. The beautiful snow of December is now getting old. It takes effort to endure the late February and early March blizzards. Perhaps this adds to the feeling that Lent is a joyless season. All desert and no water. All sin and the cold darkness within.

Lent is anything but a joyless season. There isn’t much out there to distract us from a variety of spiritual exercises that will indeed, by the grace of

God, bear much fruit. The Lenten Scripture readings are some of the richest imagery in the entire year.

Lent can be an eager anticipation of the greatest joy ever known in the Easter season. For at each Mass in the Lenten season, we already encounter the person and real presence of the risen Christ.

Lent as a dredge recognizes that we do build up all the disappointments of a less than perfect life.

There are all the little sins that may not make it to the confessional but do, nonetheless, silt up and over time, interfere with our spiritual joy. All of our Lenten disciplines can be seen as a shovel, rake and bucket to clean up the interior channels of grace. Yes, it can muddy the waters a bit. But we already know in faith that the lifeless waters of Good Friday will be transformed into the life-giving waters of Easter.

permitió que se acumulara el sedimento y, aunque el arroyo aún brillaba para los turistas que tomaban fotografías, tenía poco oxígeno y poca vida.

ese arroyo. Pero debido al dragado, el arroyo estaba saludable y se convertiría en otro criadero de miles de salmones durante muchos años.

Como un gran equipo, cada uno de nosotros tomó una sección y comenzó a dragar el fondo. Toda la basura humana junto con las ramas de los árboles sumergidos y los restos de hojas fueron sacados. Para las cosas más grandes que no se podían mover con rastrillos y palas, como todo el parachoques de un camión viejo, se tuvo que usar equipo pesado que incluía un cabrestante eléctrico con un cable de metal fuerte.

Esta experiencia me enseñó que dragar es una buena manera de mirar la temporada de Cuaresma. A través de un buen examen de conciencia y confesión, a través de la oración y el ayuno intencional, a través de la limosna y una mayor atención a las buenas obras, la Cuaresma es más una draga que una simple fatiga para pasar.

Recuerdo estar de pie en una cresta mirando hacia abajo en ese valle. Ese arroyo que alguna vez fue bucólico ahora era una cinta de lodo color chocolate. Se veía mucho peor que antes. Pero el agua corría y se llevaba toda la suciedad acumulada. No pasó mucho tiempo antes de que las aguas se aclararan revelando un fondo de roca y grava cubierto de burbujas de oxígeno que subían a la superficie. Más tarde, el arroyo se llenaría de salmones recién nacidos, ya que ninguno de los salmones en el océano recordaría

La temporada preparatoria de Adviento es silenciada por las celebraciones navideñas coincidentes con luces, música y reuniones festivas.

La Cuaresma, por contraste dramático, está en medio de un calendario desierto.

Pasan las semanas de invierno, con vacaciones en algún lejano verano. La hermosa nieve de diciembre ya está envejeciendo. Se necesita esfuerzo para soportar las tormentas de nieve de finales de febrero y principios de marzo.

Quizás esto se suma a la sensación de que la Cuaresma es una temporada sin alegría. Todo desierto y sin agua. Todo pecado y la fría oscuridad interior.

La Cuaresma es cualquier cosa menos una temporada sin alegría. No hay mucho por ahí que nos distraiga de una variedad de ejercicios espirituales que de hecho, por la gracia de Dios, darán mucho fruto.

Las lecturas de las Escrituras de Cuaresma son algunas de las imágenes más ricas de todo el año. La Cuaresma puede ser una ansiosa anticipación del mayor gozo jamás conocido en la Temporada de Pascua. Porque en cada Misa del Tiempo de Cuaresma, ya nos encontramos con la persona y la presencia real de Cristo Resucitado.

La Cuaresma como draga reconoce que acumulamos todas las decepciones de una vida menos que perfecta. Están todos los pequeños pecados que pueden no llegar al confesionario pero, sin embargo, se acumulan y con el tiempo interfieren con nuestro gozo espiritual.

Todas nuestras disciplinas cuaresmales pueden verse como una pala, un rastrillo y un balde para limpiar los canales interiores de la gracia. Sí, puede enturbiar un poco las aguas. Pero ya sabemos en la fe que las aguas sin vida del Viernes Santo se transformarán en las aguas vivificantes de la Pascua.

4 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

LOCAL

Bagfuls of love

SLICEof LIFE DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Emma Lund, left, and Lilly Beam work on gift bags to give to women in unplanned pregnancies during a gathering at St. Mark in St. Paul Feb. 11 called the Standing With You Valentine’s Day Event.

Organized by Matt Murphy, Students for Life of America’s regional coordinator for Minnesota, and Ellisha Olson, an SFLA community organizer, the gift-bag effort was part of a campaign called Abortion Free Cities, which, according to its website, aims to “reduce abortions in our communities by serving women, promoting non-violent resources, reaching out to our neighbors, and changing hearts and minds.”

Murphy, who worships at St. Mark, said the 19 people who attended the Feb. 11 event made a total of 74 gift bags. Organizers are still determining how best to distribute the bags to pregnant women who DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT are vulnerable to abortion. “I was very pleased with the turnout,” Murphy said, “and I was deeply appreciative of the efforts that our volunteers put into the gift bags and all the enthusiasm they had for the project.”

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

LOCAL

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 5

With Russia’s advance, Catholics at St. Constantine urge prayers for Ukraine

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit Weeks of tension as more than 100,000 Russian troops massed on Ukraine’s eastern border turned into what President Joe Biden called an invasion Feb. 22 after President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian forces into separatist regions of the east.

President Joe Biden and European leaders imposed economic sanctions against Russia, including hampering the ability of two major Russian banks to manage the country’s debt. Germany announced a halt to a key natural gas pipeline project in the Baltic Sea that was designed to double the flow of Russian gas into Germany. Biden said he was moving additional U.S. troops to Baltic states bordering Russia.

A priest ministering to Ukrainian Catholics in Minneapolis, Father Ivan Shkumgatyuk, told The Catholic Spirit Feb. 22 that he views Russia’s Feb. 21 move as a “full invasion into someone else’s territory.”

Urging dialogue instead of battle, Father Shkumgatyuk, a native of Ukraine and pastor of St. Constantine Ukrainian Catholic Church since 2019, said the situation was a world issue that involved war, information including propaganda, politics and economics. . DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT .

What happens next will depend on the world’s reaction, the priest said, speaking through a parishioner- Halyna Shymanska moved to the U.S. with her husband and three children from Ukraine in 2019. translator. Every Christian needs to be an apostle who supports peace, he said. themselves about what’s going on.

Father Shkumgatyuk and his parishioners at S “They do listen to news, but you never know who to t. Constantine have been closely following the news, believe or not believe,” he said. asking for prayers and staying in close contact with About three weeks ago, parishioners participated in family members and friends in Ukraine. Founded in a Zoom session at the church hall with a Ukrainian 1913, the parish has 345 members from 167 registered Catholic priest, a friend of Father Shkumbatyuk who families, said Taras Pidhayny, 43, parish treasurer. Fortyserves as a chaplain with the Ukrainian military. The one percent were born in Ukraine, 25% have parents who emigrated from Ukraine and 9% have grandparents chaplain told them, “They are not afraid,” Father Shkumbatyuk said. “They have God on their side. who emigrated, he said. The other 25% are either descendants of earlier immigrants or are non-Ukrainian. … But they’re prepared, they feel the military is well prepared — more so than they were in 2014.”

Even with the Russian troop presence but prior to From the Zoom session, parishioners felt a stronger the invasion, parishioner Halyna Shymanska, 50, said spirit of people helping each other in Ukraine, Father Feb. 10 that she was “not too fearful” for relatives who Shkumbatyuk said. “More activity, more enthusiasm to remained in Ukraine because they live in the western get together, be ready for it if there’s an invasion. They part of the country. If that changes, she said, she and feel more prepared to do what it takes.” her husband, Oleksandr, would find a way to bring Asked what Catholics and others can do, Father family members to the United States.

Shkumbatyuk’s first response was “pray.” It’s also Born in 1972, Shymanska lived her first 19 years as valuable to educate others about what’s happening a citizen of the former Soviet Union. Without even in Ukraine, he said, and contribute financially to moving from her hometown of Ternopil, she lived in humanitarian efforts when possible. the sovereign nation of Ukraine when it declared its “The most important part is that the truth comes independence in 1991. She emigrated in 2019 to the out,” Father Shkumbatyuk said, adding he sees any U.S. with her husband and their three children. news insinuating that Ukraine is the initiator behind In 1992, Shymanska served as an interpreter for current tensions as propaganda. a Minnesotan who visited Ukraine as president of a About 10% of Ukraine’s population is Catholic, humanitarian agency, when that woman explained according to Pew Research data published in December a diversity visa program to Shymanska’s family. Her 2018. Parishioners who recently spoke to The Catholic mother applied and won the chance to emigrate, and Spirit said most Catholics live in western Ukraine. she and her husband left Ukraine in 1997.

Catholic News Service reported Feb. 22 that people were Later, her parents submitted Shymanska, her fleeing eastern Ukraine, seeking refuge in the country’s husband and children to an immigration program set western side or in neighboring Poland, and that up for married children of U.S. citizens. That’s how Catholic humanitarian organizations Catholic Relief Shymanska’s family moved to Minnesota in 2019.

Services and Caritas Ukraine were preparing to help “My family … had an opportunity to experience a people displaced by the conflict. ‘different-than-surviving’ style of life and followed that Shymanska remembers, as a child, visiting her route,” said Shymanska. “God opened that door for us grandparents’ village and seeing no church. Her and we accepted it.” grandfather showed her a building that was built over When Moscow was the capital of the USSR, she a destroyed church. “The Communists did that,” he described its economy as “developed socialism,” with told her. That church was rebuilt following Ukraine’s all banks’ money concentrated in a central bank in independence. The church built in her grandmother’s Moscow. When the USSR split up in 1991, the bank hometown was not destroyed but was locked and no kept civilians’ money, she said. “Common people lost one was allowed inside. It reopened after the fall of the everything.” former Soviet Union.

Her parents lost their savings. They lived through Her grandparents had religious icons in their home days when they weren’t sure they’d be able to buy and taught her to pray, she said. But she was not food, she said. Inflation was so severe, “people making supposed to disclose her beliefs at school. millions of whatever currency we had then weren’t able She said Putin wants to invade more parts of the to afford anything but food.” world but then “does not develop anything.” “They Father Shkumbatyuk, 41, also has family in western just cut a piece of pie and let it go bad,” she said. They Ukraine. He is married with two children; Ukrainian may militarize what they take over, but never develop it Catholic men can marry before ordination. economically, she said.

Ukrainians were afraid in 2014 when Russia invaded the Crimean Peninsula, he said in a Feb. 11 interview, Parishioner Joe Kryschyshen, 69, said Feb. 22 that but they got used to it and carried on with their daily he has believed for a while that Putin would invade lives. Ukrainians pray a lot, he said, and talk among Ukraine, and that Putin made the decision a long time

WHAT’S THE UKRAINIAN RITE? While the Catholic Church is universal, it includes 23 selfgoverning churches, all in union with the pope, which are often referred to as “rites,” that include varying ritual traditions, customs and liturgies. The rite practiced by most Catholics in the U.S. is the Latin rite. St. Constantine in Minneapolis is a parish of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, which practices a Byzantine rite.

In 989, eastern Christianity took hold in Ukraine when Vladimir, prince of Kiev, was baptized in the Christian faith. The Ukrainian Catholic Church originated with The Union of Brest in 1596, when bishops with the Church in Kiev entered into communion with Rome. (Religious and political conflicts behind the Great Schism of 1054 resulted in the Eastern Orthodox Church of the Byzantine Empire in the east and the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Roman Empire in the west.)

Liturgies used by Ukrainian Catholics, based on the Divine Liturgies of St. John Chrysostom and St. Basil the Great, are different from the Roman Catholic Liturgy as reformed by the Second Vatican Council. Yet Roman Catholics can attend Ukrainian Catholic services and receive the Eucharist — just be prepared to receive the Eucharist delivered by spoon into the mouth.

Another difference Roman Rite Catholics would notice is Ukrainian Catholics crossing themselves from right to left, not left to right, using the thumb and two adjacent fingers. Married Ukrainian Catholic men can be ordained as priests or deacons, but unmarried clergy may not marry.

ago. “He calculated every possible implication of any sanctions, and … the ramifications that could take place by him doing the invasion, and he decided it’s still worth it,” he said.

“The sad thing is that Ukrainians have such a history of embracing freedom and democracy,” Kryschyshen said in Feb. 11 interview. Even in the days of Cossacks, he said, the Cossacks would elect their leader. The Ukrainian Cossacks, a group known as fierce warriors, gained their independence in 1649. They were the first to use the word Ukraine to describe their territories and they remain a cultural touchstone for Ukrainians today.

Kryschyshen, who was born in the U.S. but whose mother was from Germany and his father from Ukraine, believes Putin views an independent Ukraine as a threat to his autocratic style of government. “The real threat he sees is a functioning democratic country next to his.”

Kryschyshen also postulates that with a new U.S. president, Angela Merkel no longer running the German government, and “some dissension in NATO,” Putin may see this as a good time to stir things up. But what he sees and hears from others is that this may backfire, as NATO is stronger and the people in Ukraine are becoming more nationalistic than ever because of fears of what might happen.

Ivanna Klym was born in Ukraine and, with her husband, who serves in the U.S. military, found a home at St. Constantine. She especially feels at home every Thursday and Friday, when she comes to the church hall to make pyrohy, which are sold as a major parish fundraiser.

Klym, 46, said Feb. 11 her parents live in western Ukraine and she talks with them nearly every day.

“We need to pray,” Klym said. And she wants Putin to know “this is not the way we live in the 21st century.”

Problems should be resolved differently than “invading countries and killing people,” she said.

“You are rich men,” Klym said of Putin and his peers.

“Enjoy your life. Go fishing. Why do you think about killing people?”

At St. Constantine, parishioners pray for peace in Ukraine and for Russian aggression to stop, Shymanska said. The evening of Feb. 16, for example, parishioners participated in a rosary for Ukrainian Unity Day either at the church hall or from home via Zoom.

At the end of Mass, the congregation sings a spiritual Ukrainian anthem — something that, with the massing of Russian troops, Ukrainian Catholic bishops have asked parishes to make a focus at Mass, Shymanska said.

“It’s like a prayer for Ukraine, so that it’s always remembered,” she said.

LOCAL

6 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

Lent begins March 2, and parishes around the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis are again hosting fish fries and Lenten meals, many with carryout and curbside options, and COVID-19 precautions in place. Visit TheCatholicSpirit.com/nomeat for a fish fry map and up-to-date information, including Lenten meal information submitted past deadline. Bon appetit!

— The Catholic Spirit

Blaine St. Timothy — Fish dinner, Feb. 25 and all Fridays in Lent except Good Friday at 707 89th Ave. NE. 4:45 p.m. and 6 p.m. only. Dine-in: limited seating. Takeout: limited meals. Reservations required. $14. Includes choice of baked or fried fish, coleslaw, baked beans, potato salad, cookie and (for dine-in only) beverage. Reservations: online at churchofsttimothy.com/fish-fry-2022 or call 1-800-972-0418. Hosted by Knights of Columbus Council 5141. churchofsttimothy.com

Centerville

Forest Lake

St. Genevieve — Fish dinner, 5–8 p.m. Fridays in Lent except Good Friday. At St. John's site, 14383 Forest Blvd.

Rd. N., Hugo. $13 adults, $11 seniors (60+), $9 ages 6-12, free ages 5 and under. Includes fried Icelandic cod, baby red potatoes, French fries, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, pickle, rolls, cookie and beverage. Free bike raffle (boy and girl). A 50/50 raffle with 50% of proceeds going to local food shelves. stgens.org

St. Peter — Fish fry, 5–7 p.m. Fridays during Lent except for Good Friday at 1250 South Shore Drive.

Freewill offering (suggested donation $9 adults, $5 children). Includes fried cod, baked tilapia, fries or potatoes, coleslaw, Texas toast, beverage and dessert.

Alternative meal includes meatless pasta or grilled cheese sandwich. Takeout is available. Confessions at 6–6:45 p.m., Stations of the Cross at 7 p.m. stpeterfl.org

Chaska Guardian Angels — Fish fry, 4–7:30 p.m. March 11 and 25, and April 8 at Guardian Angels gym, First St. and Cedar St. Dine-in or curbside pick-up available. $14 adults, $6 ages 5-12, free ages 4 and under. Includes Pollock fish (breaded and beer batter), mashed potatoes, potato salad, coleslaw, dinner roll and beverage (coffee, milk and water). Sponsored by Chaska/Carver Knights of Columbus. gachaska.org

Belle Plaine

Clearwater

Our Lady of the Prairie — Baked fish dinner, 4:30–6:30 p.m. March 18 and 25, April 1 and 8 at 200 Church St. E. Freewill offering. Includes breaded and unbreaded baked fish, salad, au gratin potatoes, a roll and dessert. Hosted by Knights of Columbus Council 1503. ourladyoftheprairie.com

St. Luke — Fish dinner, 4:30–7:30 p.m. March 11 at 17545 Huber Ave. NW. Drive-thru only. $12 adults, $6 ages 12 and under. Includes fried fish, cheesy hashbrowns, vegetable, dinner roll, cookie and a bottle of water. Hosted by Clearwater Knights of Columbus. churchofstlukes.com

Bloomington Knights of Columbus Marian Council of Bloomington — Fish fry, 4:30–7:30 p.m. Fridays during Lent at 1114 American Blvd. W. Dine-in or takeout. $15. Includes fried or broiled cod fillets, lemon slice and tartar sauce on the side, coleslaw, baked potato, butter, sour cream and a cookie. Dine-in reservations: Call 952-888-1492 and follow the Lenten Fish Fry reservation prompts. For takeout: Order online for each Friday at kofcbloomington.com/order. Specify a pick-up time. No phone orders. info@bloomingtoneventcenter.com bloomingtoneventcenter.com Nativity of Mary — Fish fry festival, 4:30–8 p.m.

March 18 at 9900 Lyndale Ave. S. Dine-in or drive-thru. $12 in advance or $13 at door. Includes cod fillets or grilled cheese, French fries, baked beans, coleslaw, bun and an assortment of desserts. Beer, wine and cocktails extra (indoor dining only). Also includes meat raffle and bingo with entertainer Dan Boulay. Purchase tickets in the parish office or after Masses starting in March. nativitybloomington.org St. Edward — Fish dinner, 5–7 p.m. March 11 at 9401 Nesbitt Ave. S. Dine-in or drive-thru. $15, free ages 7 and under, $50 family four-pack. Includes beer-battered cod or macaroni and cheese, French fries, coleslaw, dessert, condiments and a beverage. Proceeds support youth ministries. Preorder online at stedwardschurch.org/signup.

Buffalo St. Francis Xavier — Fish fry, 4–8 p.m. March 18 at Bison Creek Bar and Dining, 1207 N. Highway 25. $13, $8 ages 10 and under. Hosted by the Knights of Columbus. Stations of the Cross 7 p.m. at the church, 300 First Ave. NW. March 25: 7 p.m. Living Stations of the Cross at St. Francis Xavier Catholic School, 219 19th St. NW. Pizza dinner prior to Stations 5:30–6:30 p.m. Hosted

by High School Leadership Team. All proceeds to STFX youth ministries. stfxb.org

Cannon Falls St. Pius V — Fish fry, 4:45–6:45 p.m. March 4 and April 1. Preorder only with curbside pickup at 410 Colvill St. W. $12. Includes fried or baked Alaskan pollock, rice, baked beans (all gluten-free), coleslaw, bakery bun and cookies. Stations of the Cross at 5 and 7 p.m. every Friday during Lent. Preorder at 507-263-2578 or stpiusvcf.org.

Cedar Lake St. Patrick of Cedar Lake, Jordan — Fish fry, 5–8 p.m. Feb. 25 and April 8 at 24425 Old Hwy. 13 Blvd., Jordan. $14 adults, $6 children 4-12, free ages 3 and under. Dine-in or takeout available. Includes all-you-caneat baked and fried cod, French fries, au gratin potatoes, coleslaw, baked beans, macaroni and cheese, rye bread and rolls, bars and beverage. st-patricks.org

Coon Rapids Epiphany — Fish fry, 4:30–6:30 p.m. Fridays during Lent except Good Friday at 11001 Hanson Blvd. NW. Dine-in only. $12 adults, $8 ages 5-12 and seniors (62+), free ages 5 and under, $50 immediate family. Includes baked Tilapia, battered deep fried cod, and homemade cheese pizza with choice of potato (baked or tator tots), coleslaw, cookie and beverage. epiphanymn.org.

Deephaven St. Therese — Boxed fish dinner, 5–7:30 p.m.

March 4 and 25 at 18323 Minnetonka Blvd. Take home or eat in. Advance purchases and cashless transactions recommended. $10 adults, $35 family (with small children). Includes beer-battered cod, French fries or jo-jo potatoes, macaroni and cheese and coleslaw. Stations of the Cross at 5:30 p.m. Tickets at st-therese.org.

Hopkins St. Gabriel the Archangel — Fish fry dinner, 5–7:30 p.m. March 4, 18 and April 1 at 1310 Mainstreet. $15 adults, $12 seniors and ages 5-11, free ages 4 and under. Includes fried fish, baked fish, fish tacos, potatoes, rice, mixed vegetables, coleslaw, macaroni and cheese, bread, desserts, soft drinks and coffee. Tickets at the door. stgabrielhopkins.org

Jordan St. John the Baptist — Fish fry dinner, 4:30–7 p.m. March 4 and March 18 at 313 E. Second St. $10 adults, $5 ages 4-12, free ages 3 and under. Includes fish, beans, potato salad, coleslaw, dinner rolls, dessert and beverages. Takeout orders available. Hosted by the Jordan Lions and Lionesses. Proceeds support various community projects. sjbjordan.org

Lindstrom St. Bridget of Sweden — Fish dinner, 3:30–4:30 p.m. to-go orders, 5–7 p.m. dine-in: Fridays during Lent except for Good Friday at 13060 Lake Blvd. $12 adults, $10 seniors (65+), $7 ages 6-12, free ages 5 and under. Includes all-you-can-eat pub-battered or baked cod, French fries, green beans, coleslaw, dinner rolls and dessert. Kids’ alternative meal: meatless spaghetti. Delivery to the homebound offered. For more information, call the parish office at 651-257-2474 or visit stbridgetofsweden.org/fishfry.

Lino Lakes St. Joseph — Fish dinner. 5–7 p.m., March 11, 18, 25 and April 1 at 171 Elm St. (Great Hall). Dine-in or takeout. $14 adults, $7 ages 5-10, free ages 4 and under, $40 family. Includes baked or pan-fried Icelandic cod, tomato basil soup, roasted potatoes, green beans, creamy coleslaw, bread, coffee, water and desserts.

Tickets available at the door. mystjoes.me

Delano

Lonsdale

St. Maximilian Kolbe — Seafood dinner, 4:30–7 p.m.

March 19 at St. Peter campus, 217 S. Second St. To-go and curbside available. $15 adults, $10 ages 10 and under. Stations of the Cross at 7 p.m. stmaxkolbechurch.org

Immaculate Conception — Fish dinner, 4–7 p.m., March 4 and April 1 at the Civic Center, 202 Alabama St. SE. Dine-in or takeout available. $13 adults, $8 children, free ages 6 and under. Includes fried and baked fish, au gratin potatoes, steamed vegetables, coleslaw, fresh baked dinner roll and dessert. Proceeds support local pro-life ministries. icchurch.cc

Eagan St. John Neumann — Walleye fry, 4:30–6.30 p.m.

March 11, 18, 25 and April 1, 8 at 4030 Pilot Knob Rd. Curbside pick-up only. $17 includes walleye, potato, coleslaw and roll. $4 ages 8 and under includes macaroni and cheese and animal crackers. Sponsored by St. John Neumann/Dakota County Elks and Knights of Columbus Council 7604. sjn.org

Edina Our Lady of Grace — Fish dinner, 5–8 p.m. April 8 at 5071 Eden Ave. Dine-in or drive-thru. $15 adults, $5 ages 10 and under. Includes Tin Fish-battered cod, pasta, baked potato, coleslaw, bread and butter, and cake.

Back by popular demand: Father Kevin Finnegan’s Pub in Cassidy Hall. Proceeds support OLG youth groups. olgparish.org

Farmington St. Michael — Fish fry, 5–7 p.m. March 4 and April 1 at 22120 Denmark Ave. Dine-in or curbside takeout. Freewill donation. Includes fried Alaskan pollock (lemon wedge and tartar sauce on the side), tater tots, coleslaw, dinner roll with butter and cookie. Order for dine-in or schedule take-out time slot: churchofstmichael. flocknote.com/signup/80731. Stations of the Cross, Fridays during Lent except for Good Friday at 6:30 p.m. Hosted by Knights of Columbus. stmichael-farmington.org.

iST OC KP HO TO | ANJ ELAGR

2022 FISH FRY AND LENTEN MEAL GUIDE

Loretto Sts. Peter and Paul — Fish fry, 5–7 p.m., April 8 at 150 Railway St. E. $13 adults, $11 ages 65+, $6 ages 4-10, free ages 3 and under, $50 family. Includes baked cod, deep-fried cod, baked potato, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, bread and cookies. Takeout available. Prepared

by Dobo’s Catering. Served by Knights of Columbus Council 9601. KC’s Living Stations at 7 p.m. saintsppta.org

Mahtomedi St. Jude of the Lake — Fish fry, 5:30–7:30 p.m. (or until fish is gone), April 1 at 700 Mahtomedi Ave. $12 adults, $8 seniors (65+), $5 ages 12 and under. Includes baked tilapia, baked breaded cod, potatoes, macaroni and cheese, green beans, dinner roll and dessert. Wine, beer and pop available for purchase. stjudeofthelake.org

Maplewood St. Jerome — Fish dinner, 5–7:30 p.m., April 8 at 380 Roselawn Ave. Preorder and pre-pay only.

Curbside pick-up or dine-in with time slots. $15 for 3 pieces, $13 for two pieces, $11 for one piece. Includes hand-battered, four oz. deep-fried cod, French fries, coleslaw, baked beans and dessert. Alternative dinner: $10. Includes pasta with meatless red sauce, and all of the above except fish. To order: stjeromefishfry.org

Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary — Fish dinner, 5–7 p.m. March 4, 18 and April 1 at 1725 Kennard St. Take-out only. $12 large meal; $9 small meal. Includes fried cod, baked potato, coleslaw, dinner roll, tartar sauce, butter and lemon. Alternative meal: $5 includes veggie chili or broccoli cheese soup, roll and drink. presentationofmary.org

Mendota Heights Holy Family Maronite — Lebanese Lenten dinner, 4–7 p.m. Fridays during Lent except Good Friday at 1960 Lexington Ave. S. Drive-thru/takeout only. $15. Includes fish, green beans in tomato sauce over buttered rice, fried cabbage, flat bread with garlic sauce and dessert.

Preorders at holyfamilymaronitechurch.org.

Miesville St. Joseph — Corned beef and cabbage dinner, 9:30 a.m.–1 p.m. Sunday, March 13 at 23955 Nicolai Ave. E. Takeout or dine-in available. $13 adults (advance $11); $6 ages 6-12 (advance $5), free ages 5 and under.

Includes corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, Irish soda bread, dessert (gluten-free available) and beverages. Hot dogs for the wee lads and lassies. Green beer available for purchase. Silent auction items for all ages. Sponsored

by Knights of Columbus Blessed Stanley Rother Council 17013. stjosephmiesville.com

Minneapolis Our Lady of Peace — Fish fry, 5–7 p.m. March 18 (drive-thru only) and April 8 (drive-thru or in-person, details at website) at 5426 12th Ave S. $12. Preorder only for scheduled pick-up times at 612-824-3455 or olpmn.org. Stations of the Cross at 7 p.m.

Montgomery Most Holy Redeemer — Fish bake, 11 a.m.– 1:30 p.m. and 4–7:30 p.m. March 4 at American Legion Club, 102 Elm Ave SW. $15 adults, $7 ages 5-10, free ages 4 and under. $15 for takeout orders. Includes all-you-can-eat buffet of baked and breaded cod, cheesy potatoes, green beans, bread, coleslaw, bars and coffee.

Also offered: 11 a.m.–1:30 p.m. $7 cod fish sandwich with chips or fries. Hosted by Knights of Columbus. hredeemerparish.org

Monticello St. Henry — Fish dinner, 5–7 p.m. March 4, 18 and April 1 at 1001 E. Seventh St. Dine-in or takeout. $12 adults, $8 ages 12 and under. Includes fried pollock, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, corn bread, pickle and cookie. Sponsored by Knights of Columbus Council 6825.

A portion of the proceeds will go for Coats for Kids. sthenrycatholic.info

Mound Our Lady of the Lake — Shrimp dinner, 4:30–7 p.m.

March 11, 25 and April 1 at 2385 Commerce Blvd. $14 adults, $12 seniors, $6 ages 6-12, free ages 5 and under.

Includes shrimp, baked potato or French fries, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, roll and cookie. Carry-out available. ourladyofthelake.com

New Brighton St. John the Baptist — Fish fry, 5–7 p.m. March 4 and April 8 at 835 Second Ave. NW. $10 adults, $6 ages 6-12, free ages 5 and under, $40 family maximum.

Includes fish, macaroni and cheese, tater tots, coleslaw, bun with butter, bars, cookies, lemonade, water and coffee. Checks, cash and credit cards accepted. Hosted by the Knights of Columbus Council 14250 stjohnnb.com PLEASE TURN TO FISH FRY GUIDE ON PAGE 19

LOCAL

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 7

Aim Higher president’s commitment to Catholic education began with one school

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit As a mom volunteering in the lunchroom and library at St. Agnes School in St. Paul in the early 2000s, Jean Houghton felt grateful that her three children had the gift of Catholic education.

But she knew some children didn’t have that opportunity, and her sorrow in that knowledge ignited a passion for making Catholic schools more accessible.

That became evident in 2007 as she helped St. Agnes School stay open — and it continues now as she serves as president of the Aim Higher Foundation in St. Paul, which provides scholarships to students from lowincome families to attend Catholic elementary schools in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Houghton, 58, a Cathedral of St. Paul parishioner, was honored Feb. 12 at St. Agnes’ Annual Red and White Benefit Dinner and Auction for her contributions to the preK-12 school, and to Catholic education as a whole.

“Part of the reason our school is where it is today is because Jean Houghton went out and got students and helped us secure the financial backing of supporters so we could build a new building, which we opened up in 2015,” said Kevin Ferdinandt, St. Agnes School headmaster. “We’ve got waiting lists, we’ve got a healthier financial picture, an extraordinary student culture, a terrific faculty and staff culture, and a beautiful building, and without Jean we wouldn’t have those in that same way.”

Houghton began as a volunteer, librarian and grant writer at St. Agnes. In 2007, she left a business consultant position at McDonald’s Corp., and months later she became St. Agnes’ admissions director. In 2012 she became the school’s director of advancement, a role she held until she joined Aim Higher in 2017.

When St. Agnes School faced a major financial crisis in 2007, partly due to a longstanding pattern of unpaid tuition, Houghton was very involved, said Father John

RICHARD GRANER | COURTESY ST. AGNES SCHOOL

Jean Houghton looks at artwork St. Agnes School presented her at its Red and White Benefit Dinner and Auction Feb. 12.

Ubel, Cathedral of St. Paul rector, who in 2007 was St. Agnes’ pastor and school superintendent.

That spring, the school was $1.25 million in debt and faced declining enrollment as many families were not signing up for the following academic year, Father Ubel said. The school stood to lose up to $600,000 by the end of that school year, he said. In April, Archbishop Harry Flynn authorized closing the high school. But Father Ubel and a team of staff and others, including Houghton, rallied families and supporters. They had two weeks to raise money and increase enrollment before teachers would be given notice that May, he said.

A donor offered Father Ubel $500,000, which the school needed to match in a week. He called

Houghton, who with the rest of the team and staff, redoubled efforts, encouraging families to step up again, cold-calling potential donors and continuing to recruit new students.

The school met the match. By May 8 that year, Houghton and others had raised a total of $1.5 million in cash, including $100,000 from an additional performance of the school musical. And they had registered 58 new students. Fundraising continued, and altogether the school raised just over $3 million, including endowment funds, Houghton said.

“The children, the families, everybody banded together,” Houghton said. “They stuffed envelopes, made phone calls, prayed the rosary, anything they could to make sure the school would remain in a stable position and be able to stay open.”

At Aim Higher Foundation, Houghton supervises strategic advancement, fundraising and foundation management as she continues to help bridge the gap between what some families can afford to pay for Catholic education and actual education costs.

During the 2021-2022 school year, the foundation awarded 2,076 scholarships of $1,000 at all 82 archdiocesan K-8 schools — three times as many scholarships as in 2017, said Ricky Austin, Aim Higher vice president of advancement and operations.

Houghton also has been involved in developing the Roadmap for Excellence in Catholic Education, a strategic initiative to strengthen archdiocesan Catholic education and make it more accessible and sustainable.

Seeds she planted at St. Agnes for helping low-income and working-class families seeking a Catholic education, serving others with an all-in mentality and ensuring Catholic schools thrive are bearing fruit now, Austin said. “It’s not only that Jean is able to say, ‘Yes, I believe we can make this happen,’ but that ‘I’m going to use my God-given talents to bring other people with me,’” he said. “That was transformational at St. Agnes, and it’s been transformational at Aim Higher Foundation.”

Father Paron remembered as ‘happy to help’

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit Father William Paron, who died unexpectedly Feb. 12 in Waconia, served five parishes in four decades of ministry.

People who knew him well described him as joyful, kind, generous, a leader who helped develop parish leaders. Father Paron, 78, died in the city where he had lived since his retirement, said School Sister of Notre Dame Esther Wagner. She got to know him when he served Epiphany in Coon Rapids from 1974 to 1982.

Sister Esther said she remembers Father Paron as always generous with his time and talent. He FATHER learned about finances, WILLIAM PARON she said, ran capital campaigns, and moved parishes from the red of debt to the black of financial health. “He loved doing that,” she said. “He loved the challenge and he was careful with spending.”

Father Paron believed in empowering laypeople, Sister Esther said. “Parish involvement was really important,” she said. “It was the people’s parish.” When he moved to a different assignment, he left experienced leaders in place, she said.

Father Paron was always joyful “and happy to help” parishioners or anyone else, said Sandy Rosetter, administrative assistant at St. Joseph in Waconia.

Born in Hector, Father Paron lived in Chanhassen and Shakopee before entering Nazareth Hall minor seminary in

Arden Hills, Sister Esther said.

Ordained to the priesthood in 1969, he served St. Rose of Lima in Roseville that year. In addition to Epiphany, he ministered at Holy Name in Minneapolis (1969-1974), St. Wenceslaus in New Prague (1982-1998) and St. Nicholas in Carver (1998 to retirement in 2008).

Pat and Jim Cappelleri said they knew Father Paron at Epiphany. “He was a calming presence, thoughtful and kind,” Pat said. In 2011, Jim, who had served on the finance council at Epiphany for 24 years, helped Father Paron set up the William J. Paron Endowment Fund, managed by the Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota, to benefit Catholic Relief Services and the School Sisters of Notre Dame.

Chuck and Shelly Tupy of New Prague met Father Paron when he was appointed pastor of St. Wenceslaus in 1982, and the priest was a regular guest at the Tupy family farm. Father Paron baptized the Tupy’s four children and was a “big friend of the family” for years, Chuck said.

Father Paron had a number of interests, and at one point in the 1980s he purchased a motorized railroad cart in Wisconsin. Chuck Tupy said his brother John went on a ride with the priest when the railroad gave permission to ride a car on the tracks at a designated time. Father Paron was also interested in genealogy, and tracing his family history inspired him to travel throughout the U.S. and Canada, often by rail.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda presided at his funeral Mass Feb. 18 at St. Joseph in Waconia. Interment was at Shakopee Catholic Cemetery.

Work hard, give smarter.

You’ve worked hard to save for your retirement. And maybe, you don’t need the income from your IRA required minimum distribution (RMD) just yet. Ever considered using a qualified charitable distribution (QCD) strategy?

With a QCD, you direct your RMD to your parish or favorite charity. If your parish has a permanent endowment, your QCD can easily become a legacy gift.

Call to learn more about QCDs and charitable planning.

Call 651.389.0300 or visit ccf-mn.org

Catholic Community

FOUNDATION OF MINNESOTA

8 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

NATION+WORLD Pope, cardinal look at what ails the priesthood, offer antidotes

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Opening an international conference on priesthood, Pope Francis insisted that those who are not close to God in prayer, close to their bishop and other priests, and immersed in the lives of their people are simply “‘clerical functionaries’ or ‘professionals of the sacred.’”

“A priest needs to have a heart sufficiently ‘enlarged’ to expand and embrace the pain of the people entrusted to his care while, at the same time, like a sentinel, being able to proclaim the dawning of God’s grace revealed in that very pain,” the pope said Feb. 17 as he opened the conference in the Vatican audience hall.

With some 500 people attending in person and hundreds more online, the Feb. 17-19 symposium was organized

by Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, and aimed at renewing a theological understanding of Catholic priesthood.

The cardinal told participants he understood how people could wonder about the purpose of such a conference given “the current historical context dominated by the drama of sexual abuse perpetrated by clerics.”

“Should we not rather refrain from talking about the priesthood when the sins and crimes of unworthy ministers are on the front pages of the international press for betraying their commitment or for shamefully covering

up for those guilty of such depravity?” people could ask, he said. “Shouldn’t we rather keep silent, repent and look for the causes of such misdeeds?”

A discussion of priesthood today, he said, must begin with expressing “our sincere regret and asking again for forgiveness from the victims, who suffer for their lives destroyed by abusive and criminal behavior, which has remained hidden for too long and treated lightly out of a desire to protect the institution and the perpetrators instead of the victims.”

But looking at the priesthood, including ways that it has been distorted by clericalism, could help the Church truly turn a new page, Cardinal Ouellet said.

Clericalism, he said, involves “a set of phenomena — abuse of power, spiritual abuse, abuses of conscience — of which sexual abuse is only the tip of the iceberg, visible and perverse, emerging from deeper deviations to be identified and unmasked.”

A rediscovering of the priesthood of all believers, conferred through baptism, and its relationship to the ministerial priesthood must be the starting point, he said. Beginning there also provides a way to value the role of women in the Church and the gifts that they bring.

In his talk to the conference, Pope Francis did not mention the abuse crisis specifically, but instead focused on what he said he has learned in more than 50 years of priesthood and from listening to

THE 2022 SAINT AGNES LENTEN LECTURE SERIES

DANTE ALIGHIERI'S

The Divine Comedy 4

mar

11

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Inferno: Antechamber DR. BILLY JUNKER

Inferno: Upper Hell DR. CATHERINE DEAVEL

Inferno: Lower Hell DR. PATRICK GARDNER

Purgatorio: Antepurgatory & Eden DR. MARK SPENCER

Purgatorio: Seven Terraces DR. MARY REICHARDT

Paradiso: Heaven MS. ZITA LARSON

SCHULER HALL following 7 pm Stations of the Cross The Church of Saint Agnes 535 Thomas Ave | St. Paul, MN (651) 925-8800

and assisting priests as a Jesuit provincial, archbishop and pope.

“It may be that these reflections are the ‘swan song’ of my own priestly life,” the 85-year-old pope said, “but I can assure you that they are the fruit of my own experience.”

He insisted, as he often has told priests, that “closeness” is essential to their ministry and identity: closeness to God in prayer, closeness to their bishop or superior, closeness to other priests and, especially, closeness to the people of God. Proximity, he said, allows the priest “to break all temptations of closure, self-justification and of living like a ‘bachelor.’”

Closeness in all four areas allows priests “to manage the tensions and imbalances that we experience daily,” the pope said.

They are not “an extra assignment,” but “a gift” that the Lord gives “to keep the vocation alive and fruitful.”

Closeness to God and closeness to the people are intimately and intrinsically linked, he said, “since the prayer of a shepherd is nurtured and becomes incarnate in the heart of God’s people.

When he prays, a pastor bears the marks of the sorrows and joys of his people, which he presents in silence to the Lord.”

At a time when many people experience a growing sense of being “orphaned,” Pope Francis said, a pastor who is close to his people knows how to gather them and form a community where people, including priests, grow in their sense of belonging.

“This sense of belonging will, in turn, prove an antidote to the distortion of vocation that happens whenever we forget that the priestly life is owed to others — to the Lord and to the persons he has entrusted to us,” he said. “Forgetting this is at the root of clericalism and its consequences.”

“Clericalism is a distortion because it is based not on closeness but on distance,” the pope said.

The Church is and is meant to be a community of believers who help one another, share each other’s burdens, rejoice with each other and work together to proclaim the Gospel, he insisted. Pope Francis cited the African proverb, “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go with others,”and

GLOBAL IMBALANCE The number of Catholics and of Catholic men and women who devote their lives to serving them continues to grow in Africa and Asia, Vatican statistics show, but pastoral ministry is still much more readily available to Catholics in Europe. At the end of 2020, the number of Catholics in the world reached 1.36 billion, an increase of 16 million over the previous year, according to the Vatican’s Central Office of Church Statistics, which published a brief overview of the global numbers in early February. While Catholics remained about 17.7% of the global population, their numbers grew in Africa by about 2.1% and in Asia by 1.8% while in Europe the increase was just 0.3%, said the summary, which was based on numbers reported Dec. 31, 2020. And while just over 20% of the world’s Catholics live in Europe, 40% of the world’s priests minister there. The Americas have 48% of the world’s Catholics, but only 29.3% of the world’s priests. The Vatican reported that 18.9% of the world’s Catholics live in Africa and are served by 12.3% of the world’s priests; 11% of Catholics live in Asia served by 17.3% of the world’s priests; and just under 1% of the global Catholic population lives in Oceania, where 1.1% of the world’s priests live. The Catholic Church also had 5,363 bishops at the end of 2020 with 13.4% of them ministering in Africa.

— Catholic News Service told conference participants that while “sometimes it seems that the Church is slow — and that is true — I like to think of it as the slowness of those who have chosen to walk in fraternity.”

Priests need to be “clear” and honest about how much envy exists within their ranks and how destructive it is, he said. “And there are also clerical forms of bullying.”

But “when priestly fraternity thrives and bonds of true friendship exist, it likewise becomes possible to experience with greater serenity the life of celibacy,” Pope Francis said. “Celibacy is a gift that the Latin Church preserves, yet it is a gift that, to be lived as a means of sanctification, calls for healthy relationships, relationships of true esteem and true goodness that are deeply rooted in Christ.”

Celibacy promotes holiness, speakers say

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service The requirement that most priests in the Latin rite of the Catholic Church be celibate has theological and spiritual foundations and not only practical motivations, said speakers at an international conference on priesthood.

Jesus’ chastity, poverty and obedience were not “incidental or simply functional,” but expressed his total union with God and dedication to the salvation of humanity, Jesuit Father Gianfranco Ghirlanda, a well-known canon lawyer, said Feb. 19 at the Vatican conference.

The Church has never claimed that celibacy is “intrinsic” to the priesthood, he said, and, in fact, the Eastern Catholic churches have maintained the discipline of having both celibate and

married clergy, and the Latin church has welcomed married priests coming from other denominations.

The status of married Eastern Catholic priests was raised in several of the questions posed to both Father Ghirlanda and Father Emilio Justo, a professor of theology at the Pontifical University of Salamanca, who also spoke Feb. 19.

A married priesthood “is not a secondclass priesthood,” Father Ghirlanda said, because married priests also proclaim the Gospel, lead the Christian people and celebrate the sacraments.

In his speech, Father Ghirlanda said that in the Code of Canon Law for the Latin Church, celibacy is seen as a gift from God that enables priests “to adhere more easily to Christ with an undivided heart and dedicate themselves more easily to the service of God and his people.”

NATION+WORLD

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 9

HEADLINES u Fraternity of St. Peter can continue with pre-Vatican II liturgies. Pope Francis has confirmed that members of the Fraternity of St. Peter may continue to celebrate the Mass, sacraments and Liturgy of the Hours using the pre-Vatican II texts and forms, the fraternity said. The fraternity, founded in 1988 by traditionalist priests wanting to maintain the old rites while remaining in full communion with the pope, published a copy of the pope’s decree on their website Feb. 21. In an accompanying statement, the fraternity said that Father Benoit Paul-Joseph, superior of the district of France, and Father Vincent Ribeton, rector of St. Peter’s Seminary in Wigratzbad, Germany, had met with Pope Francis Feb. 4 and discussed the pope’s apostolic letter “Traditionis Custodes” (Guardians of the Tradition), which limited celebrations of the Mass according to the rite used before the Second Vatican Council. “In the course of the audience, the pope made it clear that institutes such as the Fraternity of St. Peter are not affected by the general provisions of the motu proprio ‘Traditionis Custodes,’ since the use of the ancient liturgical books was at the origin of their existence and is provided for in their constitutions,” the fraternity said. The Fraternity of St. Peter ministers at All Saints in Minneapolis. u Pope decries warmongering, prays for Eastern Catholics in danger. Humanity seems to be a “champion in making war,” which should “make us all ashamed,” Pope Francis said. Meeting leaders of the Eastern Catholic churches — many from countries at war, facing the threat of war or dealing with the destruction left by war — the pope said human beings seem to be “attached to wars, and this is tragic.” Pope Francis made his comments and offered his encouragement and condolences Feb. 18 during a meeting with members of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, most of which are based in the Middle East,

North Africa and Eastern Europe, including Ukraine. u Priest who gave life to save teen among Spanish martyrs to be beatified. Father José Becerra Sánchez, a 61-year-old priest who stood in for a 15-year-old boy who he thought was going to be executed during Spain’s bloody civil war, will be among a group of 16 priests, seminarians and laymen who are set to be beatified in Granada, Spain. The Mass and beatification of the martyrs, including Father Becerra, will take place in the Granada cathedral Feb. 26. Tens of thousands of Catholics were killed by left-wing forces between 1936-1939 during the Spanish Civil War. More than 2,000 of the martyrs already have been beatified and a dozen have been canonized. u Grant of $3.65 million will fund network of institutes of Catholic thought. A national network of institutes of Catholic thought will soon launch as part of a new $3.65 million grant, issued by the John Templeton Foundation Feb. 1. The In Lumine Network will include six Catholic institutes, located at top university campuses across the country, to start. They include the Lumen Christi Institute at the University of Chicago; the Nova Forum at the University of Southern California; the Collegium Institute at the University of Pennsylvania; the St. Anselm Institute at the University of Virginia; COLLIS at Cornell University; and the Harvard Catholic Forum at Harvard University. Each of these institutes operates independently of the university, but serves the secular university’s faculty, students and staff with programming that sets a range of disciplines in dialogue with the Catholic intellectual tradition and forms participants in that tradition. The entire grant was awarded to the Lumen Christi Institute to administer over three years.

— Catholic News Service

Christ the King Retreat Center “King’s House” 621 First Ave S, Buffalo, MN 55313 • 763-682-1394 Register online at www.kingshouse.com

2022 Lenten Retreats

March 1-3 - Women’s Lenten Silent Midweek - Ash Wednesday Retreat March 4-6 - Married Couples Weekend March 9 – Lenten Day of Centering Prayer for Men & Women March 10 – NW Deanery CCW Day of Prayer (register through Deanery) March 11-13 – Men’s Silent Weekend March 12 – Women’s Day Retreat with Susan Stabile March 15-17 – Women’s Silent Midweek March 18-20 – “Restful Waters” Retreat for Men & Women with Fr. Greg Paffel April 1-3 – Women’s Silent Weekend

Annulment Questions?

Staff members of the Archdiocesan Metropolitan Tribunal will be available for confidential consultation and to answer questions regarding the investigation into the possibility of nullity of the marriage bond (annulment process) at The Cathedral of St. Paul 239 Selby Ave, St. Paul March 2, Ash Wednesday during and after each Mass 7:30 am to 7pm Personal administrativo del Tribunal Eclesiástico estarán a su disposición para consultar sobre el procedimiento de nulidad matrimonial a Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Miércoles de ceniza, el 2 de marzo de 8:00am a 6:30pm 651-291-4469 https://www.archspm.org/tribunal-annulments/

April 5-7 - Men & Women’s Lenten Silent Midweek Retreat April 13-16 - Holy Week Silent Retreat for Men & Women with Fr. Bob Morin Christ the King Retreat Center is a Ministry of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

MOVIE REVIEWS TheCatholicSpirit.com

CATHOLICSERVICESA

10 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

New CSAF president brings personal touch, enthusiasm

By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit

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bout 10 p.m. one recent evening Tizoc Rosales learned of a family friend who was in intensive care with heart, kidney and respiratory issues.

Learning a priest had not yet visited to administer the sacrament of the anointing of the sick, Rosales quickly texted one he knows well, who dropped everything to get to the hospital.

What stands out for Rosales, president of the Catholic Services Appeal Foundation in St. Paul, is “the selflessness and the willingness that this priest says, ‘I’ll gladly do it.’ And it’s late at night and he’s not even assigned there.”

That kind of personal, heartfelt assistance from so many in ministries across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is what Rosales, 49, is emphasizing as he takes the reins of the CSAF and kicks off the foundation’s annual appeal in all parishes Feb. 26-27 to support 20 ministries in the archdiocese.

His message to local Catholics?

“Please think about it on a real, personal level,” Rosales said. “Have you ever had a loved one that needed the anointing of the sick? Have you ever wanted your kids to be prepared for the best marriage possible? Have you heard stories of someone in prison who had a conversion because of a chaplain ministering to them? Have you ever sent your high schooler to the March for Life with other youth from the archdiocese? Have you ever known someone in an unexpected pregnancy needing help, hope and good counsel to choose life?

“Have you ever sent your child off to college, hoping, praying that they keep their faith? Have you ever known someone who has experienced the loss of a child through abortion?” he asked. “Have you ever stopped to think what we’d do without good, holy priests bringing us Jesus? Have you ever known a family that so desperately wanted a Catholic education for their kids but could not afford it?”

Resources to help in each of those situations are provided through the generosity of Catholics who give to the CSAF, which this year hopes to raise $9.8 million, Rosales said.

Guiding CSAF CSAF president since October, Rosales already has overseen moving the foundation’s offices in January from Plymouth to the Archdiocesan Catholic Center in St. Paul, which is home to many of the ministries the foundation supports. CSAF also has a new board chairperson in Yen Fasano (see sidebar), and Rosales will be hiring a new director of the appeal and a new database manager.

Moving into the ACC means free office space for the foundation, saving an estimated $1,700 a month in rent, or more than $20,000 a year — money that will be devoted to the ministries CSAF supports, Rosales said. The move, he said, also opens the door to closer collaboration among archdiocesan and ministry leaders and the CSAF. Renewed unity and energy will be key to the foundation letting people know the importance of their support, and the success of the ministries themselves, he added.

“Of course, there’s potential to grow financially,” Rosales said of his goals for the foundation’s efforts. “But more so, is the potential for the CSAF to help in galvanizing the community, uniting the community.

Tizoc Rosales, president Services Appeal Foundat the steps of the Cathedra St. Paul. The CSAF suppo ministries across the Arc St. Paul and Minneapolis

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATH

There is the potential in having CSAF be a way that people can engage in the many good things that are going on in our local Church.”

He added: “There’s just so many good things going on in our Church and community, not just in our Church, but in the local Catholic community.”

Firsthand experience Rosales, a member of St. Joseph in West St. Paul who also attends Mass closer to home at St. Peter in Mendota, said he knows many of the ministries firsthand, starting with his first memory of the priesthood as a 5-year-old boy, seeing joy-filled Father Raymond Monsour when the priest was pastor of the parish where Rosales grew up, Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Paul.

Mass was a must in his close-knit family, with Church-involved parents Francisco, an electrician in Minneapolis, and Ramona, an administrator in education, and Rosales’ younger sister and younger brother, all of whom still live in the Twin Cities.

His parents met whatever needs presented themselves at the parish, Rosales said. His parents also helped found a medical clinic, La Clinica in St. Paul, now part of Minnesota Community Care, that serves people regardless of income or insurance status. His mother was a founder of charter school Academia Cesar Chavez in St. Paul, and, as a student at the University of Minnesota, she helped convince the administration to found the Department of Chicano and Latino Studies, Rosales said.

Witnessing his parents in action and hearing their stories, he learned something about selflessness and sacrifice, he said.

Rosales attended then-St. Matthew elementary school in St. Paul, now part of Community of Saints Regional Catholic School in West St. Paul, and Humboldt High School, also in St. Paul. He was involved with Our Lady of Guadalupe’s youth group, and after high school graduation, he attended the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, for one year.

But that was expensive. During his first year in college in 1991 he landed a summer internship with a financial services firm in St. Paul. His mother was director of the Hispanic Pre-College Project at the University of St. Thomas, also in St. Paul, where he could attend with a discount on tuition. He decided to remain in the Twin Cities, and he earned a marketing degree at UST, with an eye toward graduate school at Notre Dame.

“But I met this girl (his wife, Avenna), and one marriage and six kids later … she won! I won,” Rosales said, smiling.

Financial career, Catholic ministry Rosales’ internship at Securian Financial turned into a full-time underwriting position, then management roles and his plan to stay with the company until a comfortable retirement at age 65.

“And you want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans,” Rosales said.

Rather than staying at Securian as he had expected, Rosales found that his connections, the good counsel of a priest friend and prayer led him to a sales management job at Cummins Power Generation in the Twin Cities, with accounts across the country as well as Latin America and South America, from 2005 to 2011.

During that discerning process, Rosales got to know the Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota in St. Paul, a financial investment, stewardship and philanthropic organization, and he began attending Catholic fundraisers and other functions. He realized that his financial talents, love of people and national connections could build up organizations that were created to help others, and not serve simply as a means to career advancement and corporate goals.

In 2011, Rosales said, he felt called to help young adults in the Church, and he was hired as development director for St. Paul’s Outreach, a college campus evangelization and faith formation organization now based in Inver Grove Heights. In 2014, he was named

MORE THAN A CH

Raising money for worthy causes is m relationships than it is about finances Rosales, president of the Catholic Ser Foundation in St. Paul. It includes ask gives them joy, letting them know thei difference and seeking God’s will, he

“Fundraising is not a horizontal thing, “It’s not someone cutting a check. Th transactional. It’s a linear thing, betwe donor and God. People like me, it’s ou what’s going on with the mission, to s happening and how it impacts people between the donor and God. ... When regardless of the dollar amount, there for the mission.”

senior advancement officer at Th of St. Paul, comprised of St. John College Seminary and graduate-l St. Paul Seminary, where he help more than $40 million toward th strategic funding campaign.

At SPO and later at the semina began to run into people he had college, at Securian and at Cumm had never known were Catholic, strong supporters of Catholic cau convince him he was in the righ right time, he said.

“All these people that I met ov and all these different segments o involved in Catholic causes,” Ros “The world became really small,

He wasn’t looking beyond The St. Paul when he heard that CSA searching for its first-ever preside

“Then an executive search firm and we had some conversations, thing led to another,” he said. “M were presented with the decision it, and that we did.”

APPEALFOUNDATION

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FEBRUARY 24, 2022 • 11

BOARD LEADER Yen Fasano might be familiar to people in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis as host on videos created for the Archdiocesan Synod process.

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Or for her role since September as associate director of the archdiocese’s Office for the Mission of Catholic Education’s Drexel Mission Schools Initiative, assisting Catholic schools that serve many low-income students and students of color.

Fasano, 39, a member of St. Anne-St. Joseph Hien in Minneapolis and All Saints in Lakeville, fills another high-profile role — board chair of the Catholic Services Appeal Foundation, which supports 20 ministries across the archdiocese, including Catholic school scholarships and grants, evangelization and faith formation on college campuses and in parishes, and assistance to those facing unexpected pregnancies or trying to find a home.

On CSAF’s board since 2015, Fasano assumed her new board role in September.

“My goals for the CSAF are three-fold,” Fasano told The Catholic Spirit as the foundation welcomes its new president, Tizoc Rosales, and prepares to kick off its $9.8 million annual appeal in parishes Feb. 26-27. First by leading “the board prayerfully, thoughtfully and strategically as we guide the CSAF through this next important and exciting phase.”

Fasano said she also hopes to leverage the various gifts of the seven-member board and invite new board members to help the foundation meet the needs of the local Church.

“Closest to my heart’s mission is to seek ways that the CSAF can collaborate, partner, bridge and unite, so that we may more effectively serve and support our Archbishop (Bernard Hebda) and the priorities of our archdiocese through these ministries.”

CSAF’s roots go back to 1959. Most recently it was led by an YEN FASANO executive director, Jennifer Beaudry, from 2014 to 2021. As Beaudry left the CSAF and the foundation looked to the future in light of the Archdiocesan Synod process, which involves all members of the archdiocese and an anticipated pastoral plan late in 2022 from Archbishop Hebda, the board sought a more public face for the CSAF by creating the position of president, Fasano said.

With help from Williams Executive Search Inc. in St. Louis Park, prayerful discernment, and consultation with leaders in the archdiocese, the board unanimously agreed that Rosales, who joined CSAF in October, was the person “the Holy Spirit desired for this role at this precise time,” Fasano said. “It was evident he has a passion and enthusiasm for the work of the CSAF and the ministries it supports.”

Fasano brings a wealth of experience to the CSAF board, as a former teacher in Catholic schools in Memphis, Tennessee and Chicago; a former director of evangelization at St. Anne-St. Joseph Hien; a retreat leader and mentor to young adults who for two years also helped administer scholarships to racial minorities as part of Minnesota-based Page Education Foundation; and a current member of the board of St. Paul-based Aim Higher Foundation, which provides scholarships for students in Catholic elementary schools.

And she realizes the importance of funding provided by CSAF. “Some of the ministries and the meaningful work they do would cease to exist (without the CSAF), because for some, we provide a majority, if not 100% of the funding for them to carry out their mission,” Fasano said. “There simply would not exist this crucial, impactful and collective opportunity for Catholics (and others) in the area to engage with and through these ministries.”

— Joe Ruff

GENEROSITY MULTIPLIED People across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis helped the Catholic Services Appeal Foundation obtain a net result in 2020 that allowed the foundation to distribute $330,000 for special projects in more than a dozen Catholic schools and several other ministries.

“It was an amazing display of the community helping others — which is what the CSAF is all about,” said Tizoc Rosales, president of the foundation. “Because of the generosity of those who support the CSAF, we were able to do more good that year.”

With the appeal’s $9 million goal met, CSAF’s special grants helped Abria Pregnancy Resources, which has sites in St. Paul and Minneapolis, broaden its outreach to women, teens and couples facing unexpected pregnancies, and improve security at its clinics. St. Vincent de Paul Society-Twin Cities purchased a new forklift for its food and clothing distribution efforts, and St. Paul’s Outreach in St. Paul received a grant for additional young adult work on college campuses around the country, CSAF said in a summary in its November newsletter of the extra assistance that was provided.

Building repairs at Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Columbia Heights, building renovations at Most Holy Redeemer Catholic School in Montgomery and Presentation of Mary Catholic School in Maplewood, along with sidewalk repair at Community of Saints Regional Catholic School in West St. Paul and funding a new Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program at St. Rose of Lima Catholic School in Roseville were among school projects furthered by the additional funds, CSAF said.

Rosales and other CSAF officials visited many of the sites that benefited from the funds to present oversize, symbolic checks of the financial help being provided.

“God willing, we’ll be able to do that again someday,” Rosales said. “It all depends on the success of each year’s campaign.”

— Joe Ruff

‘Together in Hope’: CSAF appeal emphasizes creating a better future for all

By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit

A

young girl, a windy day, a $100 bill and Archbishop Bernard Hebda star in this year’s video for the Catholic Services Appeal Foundation’s annual appeal to help 20 ministries across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Kicking off the $9.8 million “Together in Hope” campaign in parishes Feb. 26-27, the video’s wry humor emphasizes the importance of everyone’s giving to help such causes as scholarships for students at Catholic schools, evangelization efforts in parishes, college campus ministries, homeless shelters, second-hand stores, food shelves and emergency pregnancy centers (see sidebar).

“Literally, thousands of people are impacted through the ministries we support,” said Tizoc Rosales, CSAF’s new president. “This theme reflects the importance of working together to accomplish the mission of all the ministries we help fund.”

Just ask the young girl in the video.

Thoughtfully inspired by Archbishop Hebda’s homily that “when we share with others and give with a grateful heart, it pleases the Lord, it brings joy to others, and we become his love in the world,” the girl (played by Francesca Fasano, a student at All Saints Catholic School in Lakeville and daughter of Yen Fasano, chair of the CSAF board) rushes out of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul — and a $100 bill flies onto her nose.

Now distracted, the girl’s mind turns to the clothes, shoes and tacos she could buy with that gift from the sky.

But the archbishop’s words spring to mind again, and she considers helping Catholic schools, mothers in need, the poor and other worthy causes.

Suddenly, the $100 bill is whisked from her hand, sails down the sidewalk and lands right at the archbishop’s feet.

Taking a moment to walk, talk and re-enter the Cathedral, the archbishop and Francesca are joined by Rosales, who encourages her to give to others through the CSAF. With one common mission, Rosales says, “We can bring hope, dignity and a better future for all.”

CSAF’s message was similar in 2021, with the same theme. It is repeated this year to resonate in people’s minds, to create a sense of familiarity and recognition, Rosales said.

Last year’s goal was $9 million, and preliminary numbers indicate nearly all of that has been fulfilled — more than $8.8 million. The 2020 goal was also $9 million (see sidebar). Taking into account donations and ministry expenses, as well as the CSAF “parish sharing program” and other factors, the goal was met and more than $330,000 was distributed last year for special projects at more than a dozen Catholic schools and Catholic ministries, Rosales said.

Also last year, CSAF was recognized

by Totino-Grace High School in Fridley as one of two recipients of its annual Lasallian Legacy Award for the foundation’s commitment to Catholic

SUPPORTED MINISTRIES Abria Pregnancy Resources • American Indian Ministry • Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women • College campus ministry — Newman Center in Minneapolis and St. Paul, St. Paul’s Outreach nationwide • Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis • Deaf ministry • Elementary school funding • Catholic elementary and high school scholarships • Evangelization •Hospital chaplains • Latino ministry • Office of Marriage, Family and Life • Prison ministry • Rachel’s Vineyard Twin Cities * Seminarian tuition, room and board • The Society of St. Vincent de Paul — Twin Cities • Venezuelan Mission • Youth ministry Learn more at csafspm.org — Catholic Services Appeal Foundation education through scholarships to students in need.

“The Catholic Services Appeal Foundation helps our neediest families,” said Shari Nichols, director of enrollment and international students at Totino-Grace. “They are committed to transforming lives through the Gospel, and there is no better way to do that than by supporting a student’s Catholic education.”

The “parish sharing program” at the foundation is based on parishes exceeding their fundraising goals, which are set at 5% of their unrestricted Sunday collections if they support a school and 6% of unrestricted Sunday collections if they don’t support a school, Rosales said.

Parishes can receive 50% of what they raise above their goal, and 25% of what they raise over whatever their prior year result was.

Many of the ministries CSAF serves are part of the Archdiocesan Catholic Center in St. Paul, such as the Office of Marriage, Family and Life; and Latino, American Indian, prison and hospital chaplain ministries.

The Office of Latino Ministry alone drives more than 32 programs in 23 parishes that have active Latino ministry, including faith formation, evangelization, family life and youth, said Estela Villagran Manancero, Latino Ministry director.

Volunteers from parishes often fill the ACC’s parking lot on Saturdays to learn from programs being offered on leadership, theology, liturgy, the Bible and other topics. Once their program is completed (some require several weekly meetings, others monthly meetings for up to nine months), the volunteers can more effectively help at their parishes with prayer groups, as lectors and catechists and sacramental preparation for children, Villagran Manancero said.

After moving into the ACC from Plymouth in January, CSAF is in the Catholic Center alongside Latino Ministry and other programs, a fact that pleases Villagran Manancero.

“I am happy CSAF is in our building,” she said. “They can come on Saturday and see all the people that come through. They can see firsthand what their contributions are invested in.”

LEFT PAGE 12 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

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American Catholics Can Have a Major Impact in Haiti

by Rebuilding Lost Homes Within a few horrifying minutes, the lives of hundreds of Haitian families were literally turned upside down.

On Aug. 14, a massive earthquake struck Haiti’s Tiburon Peninsula, causing 2,248 deaths, injuring more than 12,760 people, and damaging hundreds of homes, parishes, schools and medical buildings. It was a day Jim Cavnar remembers very well. As the president of Cross Catholic Outreach, he understood exactly how the disaster would impact Haiti’s poorest families.

“There’s not a more lifetransforming gift a donor could give.”

Jim Cavnar, Cross Catholic Outreach

“The earthquake came without warning, killed indiscriminately, and left scores of shattered lives — and homes — in its wake,” he recalled.

“While it was centered in a part of Haiti that is less populated than the country’s capital city, we were on high alert that day because the Tiburon Peninsula contains a lot of makeshift homes, and we knew they would never hold up to an earthquake of that severity.” (See related story on opposite page.)

Even before roads had been cleared and damaged bridges could be repaired, Cross Catholic Outreach had found routes to provide earthquake survivors with food and other relief supplies.

The ministry continued this emergency relief work for weeks following the disaster, but it also began working with its in-country Catholic partners to determine what kinds of long-term support would be needed. It was then that Cross Catholic Outreach’s staff learned something encouraging. The

homes it had been building for poor families prior to the earthquake were among the few structures that had remained intact during the tremors; few had sustained any serious damage, while many other cement houses in the area had been reduced to rubble.

“That proved the importance of our commitment to build simple but highquality homes for the poor in Haiti,” Cavnar said. “It also inspired us to expand our plans so we could provide new homes to the families that had lost everything in the earthquake. The success of our design must have been a comfort to them too. They could be confident knowing they were receiving a house that would provide better protection from any major storm or earthquake to come.”

In recent months, Cross Catholic Outreach has worked with its Haitian ministry partners — typically leaders of local parishes and Catholic ministries — to formalize its housing project and mobilize construction teams.

As with all of its programs, Cross Catholic Outreach will approach this housing project in a way that blesses families both materially and spiritually, according to Cavnar.

“We believe in integral human development. That is a formal term used by the Catholic Church, but its meaning is actually very simple,” he said. “It means we believe spiritual and emotional support must accompany the material aid we provide. We stress that because we know true, lasting change is only possible when we address the needs of both the body and the soul.”

Cavnar added that Cross Catholic Outreach feels a sense of urgency and is eager to get its next large-scale housing project underway.

“We’ll be launching a campaign soon to get funding for this effort

ABOVE: Cross Catholic Outreach has already started replacing destroyed shelters with sturdy, multiroom, cement-block homes. With donor support, it plans to build many more houses, restoring hope to families devastated by the earthquake in 2021.

BELOW: To Haiti’s poorest families, these new homes represent an answer to prayer.

from Catholic donors in the U.S.,” he said, “and we are confident a lot of

individuals, families and even Catholic businesses will want to participate. No one wants these Haitian families to be homeless or living in tents because of this disaster. Our housing project will build quality homes at a very reasonable cost using local labor, which also helps support poor families in Haiti through job training and employment.

There’s not a more impactful or lifetransforming gift a donor could give.”

Readers interested in supporting Cross Catholic Outreach’s housing program and other ministries to the poor can contribute through the brochure inserted in this issue or by sending a tax-deductible gift to: Cross Catholic Outreach, Dept. AC01921, PO Box 97168, Washington, DC 20090-7168. The ministry has a special need for partners willing to make gifts on a monthly basis. Use the inserted brochure to become a Mission Partner, or write “Monthly Mission Partner” on mailed checks to be contacted about setting up those arrangements.

Cross Catholic Outreach Endorsed by More Than 100 Bishops, Archbishops Cross Catholic Outreach’s range of relief work to help the poor overseas continues to be recognized by a growing number of Catholic leaders in the U.S. and abroad.

“We’ve received more than 100 endorsements from bishops and archbishops,” explained Jim Cavnar, president of Cross Catholic Outreach (CCO). “They’re moved by the fact that we’ve launched outreaches in almost 40 countries and have undertaken a variety of projects — everything from feeding the hungry and housing the homeless

to supplying safe water and supporting educational opportunities for the poorest of the poor. The bishops have also been impressed by CCO’s direct and meaningful response to emergency situations, most recently by providing food, medicines and other resources to partners in Haiti, El Salvador and areas of Belize impacted by natural disasters.”

Archbishop Thomas Rodi of Mobile, Alabama, supports this mission, writing, “It is a privilege for me to support Cross Catholic Outreach. This organization funds ministries to our neighbors in need in

Africa, Asia, Central and South America, and the Pacific. Through the generosity of so many, the love of God is made visible to many who are coping with the most difficult of daily living conditions.”

In addition to praising CCO’s accomplishments, many of the bishops and archbishops are encouraged that Pontifical canonical status was conferred on the charity in September 2015, granting it approval as an official Catholic organization. This allows CCO to participate in the mission of the Church and to give a concrete witness

to Gospel charity, in collaboration with the Holy Father.

“Your work with the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development is a strong endorsement of your partnership with the work of the Universal Church,” Archbishop Cordileone of San Francisco said. “By providing hope to the faithful overseas by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, delivering medical relief to the sick and shelter to the homeless, and through self-help projects, you are embodying the Papal Encyclical Deus Caritas Est.”

FEBRUARY 24, 2022 RIGHT PAGE

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 13

PAID ADVERTISEMENT

Cross Catholic Outreach Remains Committed to Helping Haiti’s Poor Recover From Historic Disaster Is August 14 an anniversary you remember? It would be if you, your family or friends had close ties to Haiti — particularly to the country’s southwest provinces. On that day in 2021, Haiti experienced a devastating magnitude 7.2 earthquake and thousands of families were literally shaken to their core.

Lives were lost. Homes became piles of rubble. Roads and bridges were destroyed, and families were driven into the streets in fear. The temblor was even larger than the notorious 2010 earthquake that shocked the world with its widespread destruction in Haiti’s capital city.

While the destruction caused by the 2021 earthquake was staggering, most Americans were unaware of the disaster because they saw or heard very little about it on the news.

“We work in Haiti, so we understood the scale of the August 14 disaster, but very few American Catholics were aware of what had happened,” confirmed Jim Cavnar, president of Cross Catholic Outreach. “That’s probably because the earthquake occurred during the COVID19 pandemic, and because a blitz of other international news stories hit during the same week. The disconnect is understandable, but you can imagine how discouraging it was to the earthquake survivors. Thousands had lost family members, homes and possessions, and they wondered if their pleas for help were even being heard.”

Fortunately, Cross Catholic Outreach was aware of the disaster’s impact and remained vigilant, doing whatever it could to provide relief. In the months following the earthquake, it arranged shipments of food, medicines, tarps for temporary shelter, and other important supplies to the areas where the needs of the poor were greatest.

“As you might expect, we faced a lot of challenges, particularly in arranging transportation. Roads had been blocked by debris, and bridges were down. It took perseverance and teamwork, but we were able to get our relief supplies through,” Cavnar said.

“Cross Catholic Outreach also received cash contributions from our donors, so we were able to wire funds directly to in-country partners within the disaster area, enabling them to obtain food and other resources locally. In the weeks immediately after the earthquake, that combination of material aid and grants had a lifesaving impact, and we’re deeply grateful to the many U.S. donors who helped fund our relief effort.”

Eventually, the focus of Catholic leaders working in the hardest-hit areas of Haiti shifted from providing emergency aid to finding solutions to

The 2021 Haiti earthquake struck without warning, taking more than 2,000 lives and destroying hundreds of structures, including many of the area’s homes. The poor suffered most, and many families have no way to rebuild without our help.

long-term challenges. For example, families had found ways to create makeshift shelters or were huddling under tarps, but they clearly needed more substantial shelter, especially if they had children.

“That’s why constructing housing is our priority now,” Cavnar said. “Once food, water and medical needs are addressed after a disaster, it is essential that we get families out of tents and other primitive shelters and into safe, sturdy homes. The house can have a simple design, but it should be well constructed, secure and meet sanitary needs. Supplying this housing is critical because it restores hope and gives families a foundation for rebuilding their lives. The homes we build are perfectly suited to the areas we serve, and they are designed to address these poor families’ need for shelter and security.” (See related story on opposite page.)

According to Cavnar, Cross Catholic Outreach is currently finalizing a major housing reconstruction project in Haiti with the goal of restoring hope to more of the families the earthquake displaced.

When the campaign is launched, Cavnar is confident hundreds of American Catholics will want to join the cause and build homes for these displaced families.

“I have been involved in ministries to the poor for 30 years and worked on many relief projects like this before. In my experience, Catholics are deeply compassionate people and are always eager to help needy families, particularly in the wake of a disaster,” he said. “They understand how important having a safe home is to their own family, and they sympathize with parents who feel hopeless desperation when their children are suffering and there is nothing they can do to improve their situation. For some, providing a home to a poor family is also a way to show gratitude to God for the blessings he has bestowed on them. Others see it as a tangible way to respond to Christ’s call

to love others as you love yourself.”

Sponsoring a home for a needy family is also popular because it produces a tangible impact with long-term benefits, Cavnar said.

“When people give, they want to know their contribution is achieving something specific and will improve someone’s life in a profound way,” he said. “That is another reason both our disaster relief efforts and our home-building initiatives are so popular. When you donate to those causes, you know your gift is going to produce a significant benefit to the families being helped. In the case of relief efforts, it can literally save a life. With the gift of a home, you restore lost hope and bless a family for many years to come.”

How to Help To fund Cross Catholic Outreach’s effort to help the poor worldwide, use the postage-paid brochure inserted in this newspaper, or mail your gift to Cross Catholic Outreach, Dept. AC01921, PO Box 97168, Washington, DC 20090-7168. The brochure also includes instructions on becoming a Mission Partner and making a regular monthly donation to this cause.

If you identify an aid project, 100% of the donation will be restricted to be used for that specific project. However, if more is raised for the project than needed, funds will be redirected to other urgent needs in the ministry.

14 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

FAITH+CULTURE Curiosity over judgment: how a young seminarian studies humanity

By Christina Capecchi For The Catholic Spirit

Q What do you enjoy about rock

Nick Vance is a well-rounded 25-yearold who enjoys rock climbing and playing guitar. A West St. Paul native and graduate of St. Agnes School in St. Paul, he’s now a seminarian at The St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity, also in St. Paul.

A It takes engagement with every

climbing?

single part of you. You have to be strong and have good endurance, but there’s also a mental game. Not only do I have to study what I’m going to do and figure out how to navigate it, but I also have to manage the different fears I might have going into this. When I’m climbing, I have to learn how to take calculated risks and trust my fingers to grip onto this hold while I shift my footing. I have to know when I’m out of my depth, if I’m going to attempt something that’ll make me fall off the wall and end up on the mat.

I keep coming up against the edge of my comfort zone. I’m able to discover a depth to myself, a strength I didn’t know before.

Q Why do you want to be a priest?

A Because I believe God asked.

Sometimes people ask me, “Are you going to be happy?” That seems to be the wrong question. This wasn’t my idea. It was God who chose me, for some reason. God’s grace allowed me to say yes to this call. I can feel my heart loving it more and more after I learned to trust him. As I’ve learned to grow closer to the Lord, I learned to relax my grip on everything. “Alright, Lord, I just want to be with you.”

Q What’s your favorite place to hike?

Q What does that feel like?

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

A Peace. And a real sense of belonging.

Q Wow! That’s powerful.

Q You studied journalism before

A Christ’s harshest words were to

entering seminary. Does that training still influence you?

A The greatest posture I learned in

journalism was curiosity. There’s a popular quote: “Be curious, not judgmental.” Before we make all these assumptions, have a humble curiosity about the world and the people around you. I learned how to be a good journalist when I realized, “Oh yeah, I’m wrong about all sorts of stuff, all the time.”

Having this attitude of curiosity — that we can suspend that voice for a little bit and say, “I might be wrong about this person or situation” — that’s a game-changer.

Q It could settle many nasty Facebook feuds.

A When you see this division, you just have to pause. Before I engage in that debate, rather than going after this person and giving them my 30-second pitch of why I think they’re wrong, it’s asking: “Lord, how do you see this person? How can I love this person?’”

A I spend all day in theology, hearing

people who, in the name of religion, were casting all sorts of unjust judgments on people around them, like the hypocrites who wouldn’t sit with the tax collectors and the sinners. He had a gut-level reaction to that attitude.

Christ had this basic openness toward people. If I, indeed, am called all the way to priesthood, I’m going to have to read those injunctions Christ has against the hypocrites so closely, and pray to the Lord every single day that I don’t fall into the same attitude that Christ was calling out. It starts in me.

these words and phrases that get thrown around, and it comes to the point where it’s almost esoteric. To someone who is coming to church, a lot of this stuff might get lost on them — not because they’re not smart, but I wonder if it’s a failure of the preacher to translate this into human experience. Theology is meant to bring to bear upon life. I’ve been so convicted about the need to take these human experiences and use them as examples in order to illustrate the mysteries of God, to translate this from Churchspeak into real understanding and an invitation into the mysteries of God.

Q A mentor at the seminary once

Q Spending all day in theology

told you a priest is a student of humanity. I love that.

A The priest who is conforming his

heart to Christ is inexorably drawn to people. All these relationships, all these people who show up at the parish or pass him on the street — they are all loved by Christ, and he’s called to love them with the same heart.

Q How can you bring your

observations on human nature to the pulpit?

A Superior Hiking Trail up north. Can’t beat it.

Q You ran the Twin Cities Marathon

— along with your rector, Father Taphorn. Did your training teach you anything about the spiritual life?

A Primarily, just the value of showing

up. I would feel so much resistance within myself just to tie my shoes and give up another Saturday morning to do a long run, but as soon as you get into it and shake it out, you realize, “Oh, yes, I’m supposed to be here. This is fruitful and enjoyable.” The same thing is true for the spiritual life. So much of it is just showing up. Showing up, shaking off whatever is weighing us down and letting the Lord do the work.

makes exercise even more important!

Q What was it like to cross the finish

A Whether I like it or not, this is the

A I thought it would be like a movie

body that the Lord has given to me, with all of its wonderful quirks and strange groupings of freckles. Our job is to reasonably protect and nourish our bodies and put them at the service of the kingdom. For me, as a future priest — God willing — this means taking good care of my health so I can serve long and well for the people of God. Health and fitness can never be ultimate ends in and of themselves, but they certainly can’t be dismissed outright either.

Unfortunately, priests don’t always do this very well, but I want to make sure that I am consistently attentive to my physical and mental health, because my life is not my own. It’s a gift from the Lord meant to be redeemed continually by Christ and poured out for his people.

line?

scene, in slow motion. It was not at all as glorious. I spent the last four miles in so much pain. When you round the corner of the Cathedral and run straight downhill to the Capitol, you see this whole crowd gathered and hear the cheers and the band. That was the only thing that got me across the finish line. A bunch of the people cheering on the sidelines had racing cards on — they had just run it themselves. They could’ve gone off with their families, but they chose to stick around and cheer on the other runners. It reminded me of the communion of saints, the people who have already fought the fight and won the race, willfully choosing to cheer me on and intercede, to give me encouragement. I hope and pray that that’s what the end of my life looks like.

Uniting our local Church through need-to-know news and stories of faith.

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 15

FOCUSONFAITH SUNDAY SCRIPTURES | FATHER BEN WITTNEBEL

Our hearts speak

It is a joy for mothers and fathers to watch their young children begin to mouth their first syllables and words. In fact, parents not only watch and listen eagerly, they actively participate in helping their children learn and begin to speak. “Say Momma! Say Dada!”

They invite them to imitate them and give them the words to say. Beautifully, often the first words parents teach their children are profoundly relational and full of affection: mom, dad, momma, dada. And once they do speak them, parents smother their children with affection and words of praise, and invite them to do it again!

This is so instructive in light of what Jesus says in the Gospel today. He says, “From the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.” Or, another translation says, “Out of the abundance of the heart” (Lk 6:45b).

Parents speak words of relationship to their children and invite them to speak those same words of relationship back because they have an overflowing heart. They love their children, and they love being in relationship with them. “Momma!” And the mother’s heart cries, “That’s me! And I love that that’s me! I want you to know who I am in relation to you!”

This is often how we begin speaking, but it is not always how we continue speaking as we develop. As we grow and mature, we learn and speak many different words. If we are honest, sometimes what comes out of our mouths is anything but words

ASK FATHER MIKE | FATHER MICHAEL SCHMITZ

Can I go to confession if I don’t feel sorry?

Q I think that I want to go to confession, but

I worry that I don’t feel sorry enough. I don’t want to lie and say “I am sorry for all my sins” if I don’t feel sorry. Do I have to stay away from reconciliation until I feel badly?

A This is a very good question. I may have

addressed it in a previous column years ago, but it would be good to revisit it and add a few points.

It is noble of you to acknowledge that you do not want to say something that you don’t mean, especially to God! At the same time, we recognize that there is a difference between “regret” and “repentance.” It is good to have both, but we need at least one of these. Regret can help with repentance, but regret on its own does not actually “do” anything.

We can think of it like this: Both Peter and Judas felt regret over their individual denials and betrayals of Jesus. They both wept over their sin. But only Peter repented of his sin. Only Peter chose to let go of his sin and turn back to Jesus. Judas, on the other hand, clung to his sin in his sorrow and pride.

It takes humility to repent. Regret takes no humility. In fact, if one were to indulge in sorrow for their sin (and not simultaneously repent), it could easily be a massive and tragic work of pride. I know that this might seem counterintuitive, but there is no automatic humility associated with regret. One could easily feel sorry because they expected more out of themselves, or because their sins were found out, or for a dozen other reasons that have nothing to do with a willingness to acknowledge the truth. We know this in our own spiritual lives: Self-reliance often leads to self-condemnation.

This could have easily been the case with Judas. No one knows for sure, but knowing our own hearts, it isn’t difficult to imagine

of communion and relationship, anything but good. Perhaps we are a mixed bag: We say some good things and some bad things, some words that build up and others that tear down, some that heal and some that harm and hurt, some that are humble and others that are vain and proud, and so on.

All of us speak thousands of words a day. We speak to ourselves, we speak with others, and, if we pray, we speak with God. In light of what Jesus says in the Gospel, this week is an opportunity for us to examine our words and our hearts.

What kind of words are you speaking to and about yourself?

Are you harsh toward yourself? Are you mean and disrespectful toward yourself? Are you loving toward yourself in your speech?

What kind of words are you speaking to or about others, especially those closest to you — your spouse, your children, your parents and siblings, your co-workers and supervisors, your neighbors, those on social media?

And what kind of words are you speaking to God? Are you speaking with God? Jesus invites us to not live on the surface, but to go deeper and ask, “What are my words revealing about my heart, where my heart is, and what is in my heart?” We very likely began life receiving our first words and speaking our first words full of love, full of relationship, but we don’t always continue that way. What if you and I this week, in the light of God, looked at our hearts and our words and asked, “What do they reveal?” And no matter what they reveal, what if like a little child, we cried out to God, “Father! Dad!” Would God not delight you speaking such a word?

Would he not say, “That’s Me! And I love that that’s Me! Say it again!”

Father Wittnebel is parochial vicar of St. Ambrose in Woodbury.

that his regret and subsequent suicide was driven by pride and the stubborn refusal to allow God to love him in his weakness and failure.

Regret is an emotion. Sorrow is an emotion. On its own, emotion is neither good nor bad. It cannot be promised, and it cannot be demanded. For example, while love often involves emotion, love is not an emotion. Love is a choice. Love is an action. Love is a decision. That is why couples can promise to love each other for the rest of their lives. They are not promising, “I will feel this way until the day I die.” They are promising to choose the good of the other through to the end.

Similarly, regret or “feeling sorry” cannot be promised or demanded. It can often not even be willed by oneself. I can’t make myself feel sorry. But I can (and must) repent of my sins in order to receive God’s mercy. This means that I have to choose to change. I have to choose to accept God’s mercy.

One might ask, “How can one not feel sorry for committing sins when one has damaged one’s relationship to God? And what is the motivation for changing if not sorrow or regret?”

“Sorrow” for sin can truly involve the emotion of sorrow, but it must involve the action of repentance. There are times when one’s soul has been so numbed by sin that we become indifferent to how it might hurt God or others. We are not all so noble or holy as to always truly care how our actions affect others. There are times when we might repent of sin simply to save our skin.

We know about the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, and this might be the only immediate reason a person turns from sin.

Yes, this reveals our capacity for selfishness. But it also reveals God’s love. He is willing to forgive us even when we are mere “mercenaries,” even when we only come to him to avoid hell, not because we love him. This is remarkable to realize: His love for us. This is the only reason why we can hope for forgiveness — God’s unstoppable mercy.

Of course, we are meant to get to the point where we do love God for his own sake and repent of sin because it offends him.

But in the meantime, God is humble and accepts us back even when we are only coming back to avoid hell.

DAILY Scriptures Sunday, Feb. 27 Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Sir 27:4-7 1 Cor 15:54-58 Lk 6:39-45 Monday, Feb. 28 1 Pt 1:3-9 Mk 10:17-27 Tuesday, March 1 1 Pt 1:10-16 Mk 10:28-31 Wednesday, March 2 Ash Wednesday JI 2:12-18 2 Cor 5:20–6:2 Mt 6:1-6, 16-18 Thursday, March 3 Dt 30:15-20 Lk 9:22-25 Friday, March 4 Is 58:1-9a Mt 9:14-15 Saturday, March 5 Is 58:9b-14 Lk 5:27-32 Sunday, March 6 First Sunday of Lent Dt 26:4-10 Rom 10:8-13 Lk 4:1-13 Monday, March 7 Lv 19:1-2, 11-18 Mt 25:31-46 Tuesday, March 8 Is 55:10-11 Mt 6:7-15 Wednesday, March 9 Jon 3:1-10 Lk 11:29-32 Thursday, March 10 Est C:12, 14-16, 23-25 Mt 7:7-12 Friday, March 11 Ez 18:21-28 Mt 5:20-26 Saturday, March 12 Dt 26:16-19 Mt 5:43-48 Sunday, March 13 Second Sunday of Lent Gn 15:5-12, 17-18 Phil 3:17–4:1 Lk 9:28b-36

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 BLESSED DANIEL BROTTIER (1876-1936) Daniel was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Blois, France, in 1899, then taught school for three years. But the foreign missions beckoned. He joined the Congregation of the Holy Spirit and served eight years in West Africa. For health reasons he returned to France, where he raised money for a new cathedral in Dakar, Senegal. During World War I, he volunteered as a chaplain and spent 52 months at the front without being wounded. From 1923 until the end of his life, he helped restore and run an orphanage in a Paris suburb. He was beatified in 1984, and is the patron of orphans and abandoned children.

Daniel ministered always under the protection of St. Therese of Lisieux. His feast day is Feb. 28.

— Catholic News Service

16 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

COMMENTARY FAITH AT HOME | LAURA KELLY FANUCCI

Is your parish family friendly?

Who doesn’t want the Church to grow or the next generation of Catholics to embrace a deep love for their faith? One simple way we can do this is by asking how our parishes are welcoming to families — of all ages, abilities, shapes and sizes.

Start small. Are electrical outlets covered to keep out babies’ fingers? Would parents know what room to visit if they needed to soothe a toddler tantrum? Are there changing tables in both men’s and women’s restrooms?

Is child care offered during parish events? Are the sounds of children welcome in church — and not just the cries of babies, but the sounds or movements of children with disabilities? Are teenagers encouraged to serve as lectors, altar servers or extraordinary ministers of holy Communion?

Making a parish family friendly is a practical and spiritual undertaking. It requires both a checklist and an examination of conscience. Where have we done the holy work of welcoming each person as Jesus? Where have we failed to reach part of the body of Christ?

Over the years, readers have sent me examples of signs posted near church entrances, printed in parish bulletins or tucked in pews to let parents know their children are welcome.

I found one such poster on vacation years ago as I quieted a fussy baby in the back of church. “Jesus said, ‘Let the children come to me,’” it read. “Remember that the way we welcome children in church directly affects the way they respond to the church, to God, and to one another. Let them know that they are at home in this house of worship.”

The poster offered ways that parents might engage

GUEST COMMENTARY | RICKY AUSTIN

What the pandemic has taught us about school choice

In the Twin Cities, more children were educated in nonpublic and Catholic schools this year than last year, and even more than the year before that.

Why? Because some parents had the ability to move their kids to the schools that they believed would best educate them. Surveys conducted nationally indicate that if school choice — through tax credits, vouchers or education savings accounts — had been available to parents during the pandemic, even more would have moved their children.

The reality is that some parents had the freedom to give their children different educational opportunities through one of the most tumultuous times in recent history. And some parents, specifically those with less economic means, did not.

The viability of school choice legislation has been debated for more than two decades. But the pandemic has highlighted a fundamental point, which happens to be a deeply rooted, Catholic belief: Parents are the first and best educators of their children. As such, they should have the right to choose the school they believe will serve their children best.

Providing that right is a matter of dignity.

Making a parish family friendly is not just the work of the pastor or staff. It’s a charge to all of us.

iSTOCK PHOTO | RAWPIXEL

young children. Sit near the front so it’s easier to see.

Explain parts of the Mass in age-appropriate ways. Sing the hymns together. Feel free to use the gathering space if you need to leave with your child.

But the last words held the most important message to all parishioners: “The presence of children is a gift to the Church, and they are a reminder that our parish is growing! Please welcome our children and give a smile of encouragement to their parents.”

Making a parish family friendly is not just the work of the pastor or staff. It’s a charge to all of us.

I’ve heard a thousand horror stories of parents shamed during Mass who never returned. But I’ve also heard heartwarming testimonies about pastors and parishioners who went out of their way to welcome families.

We can debate pastoral approaches for addressing the variety of parishioners’ needs — from separation strategies like cry rooms, nurseries or “family Masses,” to inclusive approaches like offering religious books for children to read in the pews.

But the best way to learn what your particular parish

might need is to start asking families.

Could you organize a family holy hour of eucharistic adoration where parents or grandparents can bring children to pray without worrying about their volume?

Can you add supplies in the restrooms like baby wipes, diapers and sanitary products: a simple gesture to show that this is a church that cares for body and soul?

Could you ever offer a daily Mass outside of work or school hours to allow more families to attend?

Welcoming families is not a one-size-fits-all task, and every parish is limited in its ministries and resources.

But even the simplest approaches can make a big difference.

No matter what we do, we follow the lead of our Lord who drew children close to his side and reminded us that whenever we welcome a child, we welcome him.

No child’s hopes and dreams should be limited because their parents’ paycheck doesn’t afford them the opportunity to choose their school. And yet, too many parents do not have an alternative if their state-assigned school does not meet their child’s needs. Our society holds sacred the notions of freedom and opportunity for all, but not in education. It seems unconscionable that, during a global crisis, many parents had no true opportunity to send their children anywhere else.

The pandemic-induced chaos that many parents have experienced while trying to ensure their children get a good education has led to increased calls for school choice. Frustrated and fatigued, parents across the country have pushed lawmakers to pass more legislation than at any other time in history. Thirty-one states now offer programs that support parents who choose a nonpublic or Catholic school for their children. It’s time for Minnesota to join them. Why now? Here are two lessons from these last two years that help answer that question: 1. A one-size-fits-all approach to K-12 education does not work.

How do we make up two years of disrupted learning for a generation of children? We begin by looking at what did work during those two years.

Stability, a sense of connection and clear communication were crucial in helping children weather the pandemic. Some students found this in their public schools. But many others experienced prolonged closures and constant disruptions. Some students found these benefits through virtual learning, homeschooling, charter schools, learning pods or microschools. All these options, where they worked, should be applauded.

At the Aim Higher Foundation, where we offer tuition assistance that empowers parents to choose a Catholic education for their children, we have witnessed Catholic schools achieve at-scale successes during the pandemic

that no other system did. Unfortunately, because many families do not have the funds to pay for tuition, these successes were out of reach for so many children who would have benefited.

2. Public education doesn’t mean public schools. It means a responsibility to educate the public.

We still do not fully know the scale of the educational challenges the pandemic has created. Proficiency rates in math and reading have plummeted in Minnesota and across the country. We continue to hear widespread reports about students who are not showing up to school, or who cannot consistently attend due to frequent closures or quarantines. What will the consequences of this be in a decade? Two decades?

Will high schools and colleges need to spend precious resources on remediation? Will employers need to provide more training for entry-level positions? Will our country be able to compete globally?

We have to revisit the notion that public education means public schools. The public can and should be invested in ensuring all children can learn in a school that best meets their needs and goals.

Although Minnesota is home to some great public schools, it is also home to the country’s second-largest achievement gap between white students and students of color, many of whom’s public schools are not meeting their needs. If a nonpublic school, like one of the Catholic schools in this archdiocese, can help close that gap right now — today — we should be giving parents the option to choose that school.

Right now. Today.

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.

Austin is vice president of advancement and operations for the St. Paul-based Aim Higher Foundation, which provides tuition-assistance scholarships for students attending Catholic elementary schools in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

COMMENTARY

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 17

CATHOLIC WATCHMEN | DEACON GORDON BIRD

Treasures in ARCHheaven 9, 2017 • nobly SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA at work eal challenges. Catholics are called to respond.

In the faith journey as spiritual leaders, providers and protectors, we must take all things to prayer at home, work or elsewhere.

OTECT LIFE & MAN DIGNITY

iSTOCK | PHOTOKHANCHIT KHIRISUTCHALUAL

In earlier days when I really started working in the world, March with a special focus on the solemnity of various renditions of “what matters St. Joseph (March 19), the spouse of the blessed Virgin most” and “first things first” themes Mary, our Catholic Watchmen prayer intention were quite popular within employer embraces the nobility of work. learning and development circles.

Modeled after the greatest of earthly fathers, the Coupled with well-intended pillar of families and our patron saint, we ask for mentoring by veteran fellow his powerful intercession: that all who are actively workers on rightly ordered living (i.e., God, family, employed or seeking employment, who labor with job), I appreciated the formal training and informal dignity and in virtue, may physically and spiritually counsel to help prioritize what’s essential for a provide for their family. Furthermore, may they successful work and home life. That was especially contribute tofrom a society that it might flourish. hops, dynamic Church leaders, and 1,000+ Catholics true when I was trying to provide an enjoyable life As his litany speaks to this most just and most than just myself, one in which a noble, r a dayfor ofmore inspiration and at our State Capitol. faithful example, St. Joseph is our model for work and honest work experience was advocacy important to integrate. the glory of domestic life. St. Joseph exemplified the Young or seasoned the job, work is important s 22-and-under FREE!  onLearn the issues, hear dynamic balance of work and a spiritual life in a challenging for provisional sustenance and material growth, as speakers, and meet your legislators. world, more so, arguably, than ours today. But at a well as for our psychological and spiritual health. nch included with tough time, regardless.

Pertaining to the latter, Jesus said to “lay up for  See the newly renovated State In Capitol! the faith journey as spiritual leaders, providers yourselves treasures in heaven” versus earthly things and protectors, we must take all things to prayer that do not last — “for where your treasure is, there at home, work or elsewhere. This includes praying will be your heart also” (Mt 6:20-21). for the nobility and virtue in our work life that With the “both/and” of Catholicism at work strengthens us to take action to help the world in here, our Lord’s teaching helps us understand that which we live. A world we are often reminded as for earthly well-being, while we have the need Christians to “be in, not of, yet for.” That requires us and responsibility to take care of our physical not only to strive for excellence in the workplace, but wherewithal, it is eternally wise and more important also to help calm stormy relationships. to concurrently feed our souls spiritually.

ARCHBISwhen HOP BELent RNARD HEBDAin early BISHOP ANDREW COZpast ZENScouple of years of the pandemic is proof GLORIA URIVcoming S InPthe month, begins The Black Catholics United for Life

INSIDE THE CAPITOL | MCC

undermines the ability to form and participate in the natural family, thereby creating a society of atomized individuals beholden to the state.

These principles were the core of MCC testimony against a proposed constitutional amendment to mandate gender equality. This so-called Equal Rights Amendment (HF 726) states: “Equality under the law shall not be abridged or denied on account of gender.”

With proponents, we share the goal SPONSORS: of stopping unjust discrimination Minnesota Catholic against all persons. But making Conference staff are reasonable distinctions based on sex monitoring a flurry is often appropriate.

Further, the of bills, including state’s Human Rights Act already bans paid family leave discrimination based on sex (including and a constitutional sexual orientation). amendment that The proposed amendment aims would empower judges to empower judges to impose to create new modes of constitutional mandates in the name of discrimination based on the ambiguous equality that would be unlikely to pass concept of gender. legislatively, as well as erode conscience Rebellion against the sexes and religious liberty protections built into the Human Rights Act. There is much talk today of “identity politics.” The urgent question is what The potential impacts of the identity should guide our politics. The amendment include mandating Church proposes that our primary publicly subsidized fertility treatments identity is as children of God created or surrogacy arrangements for same-sex in his image — and created male and couples; mandating state-subsidized female. We are all brothers and sisters, gender transition therapy and and we should treat one another surgery; further entrenching abortion accordingly, living together in right as a “right”; and allowing men to relationship; that is, in justice and participate in women-only activities truth. and spaces, undermining women’s Others propose that we define safety and well-being. ourselves primarily by racial identity or Paid caregiver leave a fluid construct of “gender.” The latter Polling shows that Americans are creates an internal war on one’s human increasingly delaying or foregoing nature by manipulating, instead of receiving, God’s gift of creation. It starting a family altogether because of

working nd register at CatholicsAtTheCapitol.org families

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

Archdiocese of Saint Paul & Minneapolis

s isSupporting our moment. women Let’s and go!

STS:

that the working world needs more voices of faith and reason to help create an environment for professional dialogue on issues that can divide co-workers. Chances are your disposition to God, family and job will help resonate and disarm what can be destructive to production, efficiency and job satisfaction.

For a noble and healthy integrated work-faith life, we need to strive for excellence in all tasks and assignments on the job, we need to produce good works to serve others, and we need to create more than what we have been given — good wealth.

These tips were covered at a men’s conference talk given a few years ago by Michael Naughton, director of the Center for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas. Naughton’s talk was titled, “Fortified Man — Being Catholic in a Secular World.”

There was also an emphasis on acquiring habits of resting and receiving that included providing a capacity to have both exterior and interior silence, celebrating and protecting all of the Lord’s Day, and reaching out to serve those on the margins. As Lent approaches, these habits fit well with prayer, fasting and almsgiving — all noble for the body and spirit at work, laying up treasures in heaven.

economic insecurity. A 2018 survey by The New York Times found that 44% of respondents reported not being able to afford more children, and 39% reported not having enough paid family leave time as a barrier to growing their family.

Business trade associations and worker advocacy groups have been in gridlock for years about a family leave proposal favored by House Democrats that would use a new payroll tax to create the equivalent of a workers’ compensation style system for paid leave (HF 1200). MCC has communicated to legislators that HF 1200 is a reasonable way to create a

family leave program, but the bill has no chance of passing the Republicancontrolled Senate.

In an effort to break the logjam, MCC participated in the bill’s hearing to remind lawmakers of the matter’s urgency and encourage them to find common ground for the common good. There are multiple ways in which a paid leave program could be constructed, and for anything to pass, it must recognize the reciprocal relationship and foster solidarity between employers and employees.

“Inside the Capitol” is an update from CathSpFL-C-2022.qxp_Layout 1 1/25/22 12:31 PM Pa Minnesota Catholic Conference staff.

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18 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

Why I am Catholic Catholic

I

By Ann Manthey DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

am so blessed to be a Roman Catholic, to encounter

Jesus in person, taking him into my body in the

Blessed Sacrament at holy Mass. And being with him in adoration and in confession — receiving his

example of consecrating himself to her at SJV. I have come to love her and ask for her help being a mother of a priest. It is an honor to consider Father Kevin’s priesthood, bringing incomprehensible joy, but also knowing his pain and

mercy for my sin, meeting him through his Word and in his

sufferings. I couldn’t do it without Mary’s example, love and

children, in his creation and in so many ways — wherever he

comfort, through receiving her Son in humility.

wants to see us.

I was fortunate to be raised in a Catholic family, where

My love for God, Mary, the angels and saints is life-giving and strengthening — their love for

Dad, a lifelong Catholic, and Mom, who came to Catholicism

me is too much to comprehend. I have much

early in their marriage, embraced the faith. At different times

to learn about obedience, but I am finding it

in my life, I can admit that I was not devout and fell away for

in silence and in God’s Word, in the rosary,

a time. But I always knew it was important, when I took the

Chaplet of Divine Mercy, other prayers and

time to realize it, in getting married, having our sons, Kevin

devotions, in comfort through visits, greetings,

and Greg, baptized and preparing them for the sacraments.

concern and prayers of so many, and in God’s

Our mother Mary became personal to me after Kevin’s example of consecrating himself to her at SJV.

When Relevant Radio 1330 AM came to town, I was

words of “yes” and “no” to me. (Currently I’m

hooked. Our parish started evening Bible studies, and I

homebound, healing from a hip injury. I miss

came to understand more deeply who Jesus is and what our

attending Mass, being in adoration, seeing my

Church means, and I gained deeper friendships in Christ,

friends in Christ. I am learning to unite my yearning with

which changed me bit by bit. My involvement in pro-life

Jesus’ suffering, and share it with Mary.)

work also increased my faith in knowing the sacredness, preciousness and uniqueness of each person.

I was struck by the depth of our Catholic devotions and coming to know so many saints who are interceding for us: What a powerhouse of graces — we just have to ask! Around this time, Kevin decided to go to St. John Vianney College Seminary, in the fall after his high school graduation, and we were thrilled. Especially so were my folks, who had been praying the rosary and vocation prayer for decades. Their prayers were now answered through their grandson, thanks be to God. He attended the college seminary and The St. Paul Seminary, both in St. Paul. A member of the Emmanuel Community, he was ordained a diocesan priest on the feast of the Visitation, May 31, 2014. His brother is a software developer in Milwaukee.

Our mother Mary became personal to me after Kevin’s

Lord, help me to abandon myself to embrace your plan for my husband, me, my family and all!

Manthey, 62, has been married to Jim Manthey for 35 years and lives in Stillwater. They have two sons: Greg in Milwaukee and Father Kevin Manthey, who is serving with the Emmanuel Community at St. Thomas Aquinas in Quebec City. Manthey attends St. Michael and St. Mary in Stillwater, is current president of the Archdiocese Mothers of Priests, a member of Seven Sisters (women taking a holy hour to pray for a priest), a volunteer with pro-life ministry Marriage Material, a member of the Respect Life Committee of St. Charles in Bayport and the parishes in Stillwater, and Bible study student.

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

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

The Catholic Spirit Events Calendar will return in print in our March 10 issue. Find it online at TheCatholicSpirit.com/calendar.

FISH FRY GUIDE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6 New Prague St. Wenceslaus School — Fish fry, 11 a.m.– 1 p.m. and 4:30–7 p.m., March 11 at 227 Main St. E. Dine-in and curbside pick-up to-go. $13 in advance; $15 at door. Half-price for ages 12 and under (dine-in only). Includes fried fish, cheesy potatoes, coleslaw and a cookie. Contact a St. Wenceslaus school family for tickets, or call the school office at 952.758.3133 or email info@swsaints.org.

Norwood Young America Ascension — Fish fry, 11 a.m.–7 p.m. (or until fish is gone), March 4 at 323 North Reform St. Drive-thru only. $14. Includes crispy Alaskan pollock, baked potato, coleslaw, baked beans, water and cookies.

Sponsored by Knights of Columbus. st-bernard-cologne.org

Oak Grove St. Patrick — Fish fry, 5–7 p.m. Fridays during Lent at 19921 Nightingale St. NW. Dine-in or takeout. $14 ages 13 and up, $7 ages 7-12, free ages 6 and under. Includes all-you-can-eat fish, mashed potatoes, green beans, coleslaw, macaroni and cheese, dinner roll and dessert. Online reservations required. st-patricks.org

Oakdale Guardian Angels — Fish fry dinner, 3:30–7:15 p.m. March 11, 25 and April 8 at 8260 Fourth St. N. Curbside or carry out only. $15. Includes fried or baked fish, coleslaw, red potatoes, green beans, macaroni and cheese, roll and dessert. Must order online at guardian-angels.org/fish-fry.

Transfiguration — Fish fry and fish tacos, 5–7 p.m. March 4, 18 and April 1 at 6135 15th St. N. $10 adults, $8 seniors, $5 ages 12 and under, $30 per household. Includes fried, smoked or baked fish, fish tacos, coleslaw, grilled cheese, French fries, baked potatoes, dessert and beverage. Stations of the Cross at 7 p.m. transfigurationmn.org

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 19

Pine Island

Shieldsville

St. Michael — Fish fry, 4:30–7 p.m. Fridays during Lent except Good Friday at 451 Fifth St. SW. $12 adults, $6 ages 5-12, $40 family maximum. Includes fried or baked fish, roasted potatoes, baked beans, coleslaw, rolls, dessert and beverage. Stations of the Cross at 7:30 p.m. stpaulstmichael.com.

St. Patrick — Fish Fry, 5–7 p.m. (or until fish is gone) March 18 and April 1 at 7525 Dodd Rd. Freewill offering.

Includes baked or fried fish, potato, vegetable, salad bar and dessert. Entertainment (March 18 only) by the Charlie Sticha Band from 5–9 p.m. Proceeds support youth retreats. spshieldsville.org

Prior Lake St. Michael — Fish fry, 4:30–7 p.m., March 4 and 18 at 16400 Duluth Ave. SE. Dine-in or take out available.

Due to possible wait time for seating, masks are recommended. $15 adults, $12 seniors, $7 children.

Includes lightly breaded Alaskan pollock, baked cod, potato wedges, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, green beans, corn, rolls, coffee, milk and dessert. Sponsored by St. Michael Catholic United Financial Council. Questions: rmathiowetz@catholicunited.org. stmichael-pl.org

Robbinsdale Sacred Heart Catholic School — Fish and meatless spaghetti dinner, 4:30–7 p.m. March 11, 18, 25 and April 1 at 4087 W. Broadway Ave. Dine-in or takeout available.

Fish dinner: $17. Includes fish fillet, baked potato, green beans, garlic bread and brownie. Meatless spaghetti dinner: $15. Includes spaghetti, garlic bread and brownie.

Fish sandwich: $15. Includes fish sandwich, spaghetti and brownie. Children’s meals available for ages 4-10. Free ages 3 and under. 763-537-4561 or shrmn.org.

Rogers Mary Queen of Peace — Baked fish dinner, 4:30–6:30 p.m. March 1, 25 and April 8 at 21304 Church Ave. Dine-in (parish center) or curbside pick-up (door 8). $14. Includes baked cod, macaroni and cheese, baked potato, coleslaw, roll, cookie and beverage. Sponsored

by Knight of Columbus Council 11941. Pick-up times and dine-in time slots at bookapew.com/app/mn/mqp.

Rosemount St. Joseph — Fish dinner, 5–7 p.m. March 4 and April 1 at 13900 Biscayne Ave. W. Dine-in and takeout available. $15 includes three pieces of cod (baked or hand-battered fried), macaroni and cheese, tater tots, vegetable, roll and cookie. Beverages provided for dine-in only. Proceeds will support Kentucky Mission, Our Lady of Peace in St. Paul and Twin City Prison Ministry in St. Paul. stjosephcommunity.org

South St. Paul St. John Vianney — Fish fry, 4–6:30 p.m. Fridays in Lent except Good Friday at 840 19th Ave. N. Drive-up orders only. $12 includes fried fish (six-piece limit), French fries, green beans, corn, roll and condiments. Cash or check only. Stations of the Cross at 3:30 p.m. sjvssp.org

St Louis Park Holy Family — Fish dinner, 5–7 p.m. March 4, 11, 18 and April 1, 8 at 5900 Lake St. W. $10 adults, $5 children includes baked or fried fish, macaroni and cheese, green beans, coleslaw and cheddar biscuit. See website for special meal March 25 for the solemnity of the Annunciation. Proceeds to benefit Holy Family Academy.

Stations of the Cross at 7 p.m. hfcmn.org

St. Paul Nativity of Our Lord — Fish fry, 5–8 p.m. March 4 and 4:30–6:30 p.m. April 1 at 1900 Wellesley Ave. Dine-in: school cafeteria. $12 adult, $9 child, $40 family.

Includes fried and baked fish, potato options, coleslaw, coffee, milk and cookies. Drive-up window is available at the garage on Wellesley Avenue. Seventh and eighth grade play at 7 p.m. on April 1. Contact Ian McKiel with questions at info@nativitymen.org. nativitymen.org Our Lady of Guadalupe Archdiocesan Shrine — enchilada dinner, 11 a.m.–6 p.m. Fridays during Lent except Good Friday at 401 Concord St., St. Paul. Takeout only. $11, three enchilada meal; $9, two enchilada meal.

Meal includes delicious homemade cheese enchiladas, rice and beans. Enchiladas only at $22 dozen, $11 for half dozen. Call ahead to order 651-228-0506, or order online at olgcatholic.org.

St. Mary — Soup suppers, 5:30 p.m. Fridays during Lent except for Good Friday at 261 E. Eighth St. Freewill offering. Stations of the Cross at 7 p.m. www.stmarystpaul.org St. Pascal Baylon — Fish fry, 4:30–7 p.m. Fridays during Lent except Good Friday at 1757 Conway St. $14 ages 12 and over, $7 ages 6-11, free ages 5 and under. Includes fried or baked cod, coleslaw, steamed vegetables, macaroni and cheese, au gratin potatoes or

seasoned fries, roll, coffee and milk. Bottled water and soda extra. Cash/check/credit card accepted. Dining limit 45 minutes. Takeout available. Mask needed except when dining. stpascals.org St. Thomas More School — Fish fry, 5:30–7:30 p.m. March 11, 25 and April 8 at 1065 Summit Ave. $12 adults, $6 ages 5-12, free ages 4 and under. Includes all-you-can-eat fried cod, sides and assorted beverages.

Stations of the Cross at 5 p.m. morecommunity.org

Stillwater St. Michael — Fish fry dinners, 4:30–7 p.m. Fridays during Lent except for Good Friday at 611 Third St. S. Rose (Social) Hall. Dine-in and takeout available. Cost TBD. Includes beer-battered cod, parsley buttered red potatoes, green beans, coleslaw and dinner roll.

Sponsored by Men’s Club. stmichaelstillwater.org

Waconia St. Joseph — Fish fry, time TBD, Fridays during Lent except Good Friday at 41 East First St. Tentative menu is fish, pasta, potato, roll, coleslaw and cake. Sponsored

by St. Joseph Waconia Knights of Columbus. For information on time, menu, payment and pick-up options, visit our website stjosephwaconia.org.

West St. Paul St. Matthew — Fish fry, 4:30–7:30 p.m. 510 Hall Ave Fridays in Lent including Good Friday. $13 Includes wild caught Alaskan pollock (baked, fried or combo), potato, vegetable, coleslaw, roll and dessert. $13 alternative meal grilled cheese or spaghetti. Drive-thru only. Enter lanes off Humboldt Avenue onto Robie Street. Cash or credit card. st-matts.org

White Bear Lake St. Pius X — Fish fry, 4:30–6:30 p.m. March 4, 18, and April 1 at 3878 Highland Ave. $15 adults, $13 seniors and to-go meals, $7 ages 6-12, free 5 and under.

Includes all-you-care-to-eat fried or baked cod, baked potato, coleslaw, pasta salad, macaroni and cheese, roll, dessert and beverage. Curbside pick-up available in the northeast parking lot on Oak Knoll St. Stations of the Cross at 7 p.m. churchofstpiusx.org

Zumbrota St. Paul — St. Patrick’s ham dinner, 10:30 a.m.– 1 p.m. March 27 at the Zumbrota VFW, 25 East First St. $12 adult, $6 ages 6-12, free ages 5 and under.

Includes ham, mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, vegetables salad, buns, dessert and beverage. Takeout available. stpaulstmichael.com

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20 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

FEBRUARY 24, 2022

THELASTWORD

Inventor’s shelters Navy veteran, 90, turns his genius to sheltering homeless people

I

By Ed Langlois Catholic News Service

n a sturdy homemade woodshop amid filbert orchards not far from the Willamette River in Oregon, the gears of 90-year-old Vern Stuewe’s mind crank all day.

“What does the world need most right now?” Stuewe often asks himself.

A longtime member of St. Mary parish in Corvallis, Oregon, the inventor ruminated on the Gospels and observed the parks, paths and byways of this town 90 miles south of Portland, which in past years have been filled with the tents and tarps of people without homes.

Just over a year ago, Stuewe decided to design a better mobile shelter, marked by respect for human dignity.

One day in a grocery store parking lot in late 2020, he struck up a conversation with a woman who was homeless. She was sitting on the ground. He gave her $10, headed home and started drafting plans for the shelter.

“I got to thinking, ‘What the heck is the solution?’” Stuewe told the Catholic Sentinel, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Portland. “All I know is, they need I got something more solid. This is a kind of to thinking, partial solution for people who are living out there in the weeds. It’s better than a ‘What the tent.” heck is the Meticulously designed for efficiency and comfort, Grandpa Vern’s Homeless solution?’

Shelter prototype has the look of a Vern Stuewe lightweight wooden Conestoga wagon, including a waterproof canvas tarp that can be removed to let in sun. The home on wheels is 6 feet wide and 10 feet long with a bunk, table and a fold-out porch cover. Two people can move it with ease, even pushing it up wooden rails into a trailer.

Fine-tuned after Stuewe shared more conversations with homeless people in the Willamette Valley, the micro-shelter is made to be taken on the road or built en masse to create a village. Stuewe is seeking a manufacturer to take his plans and run with them. He spent about $800 on the prototype and figures a company could bring that cost down through volume.

Stuewe imagines the micro-shelters being made quickly, auto-assembly-line style. A great many could be manufactured at low cost, offering safe shelter for many, he said. He has created a manual for building the micro-shelter, including materials and precise measurements.

The nonagenarian grew up in southern California with four younger sisters. He found peace by going outside and riding his bicycle day after day. He also was a dedicated Mass server.

ABOVE Vern Stuewe, 90, of Corvallis, Ore., stands next to his prototype of a mobile shelter for the homeless Jan. 21.

LEFT Oregon inventor Stuewe walks amid bicycles and homemade trailers in his shop.

BELOW Stuewe shows how an arm affixed to a shelter he designed for the homeless can be extended to support a porch cover.

PHOTOS BY ED LANGLOIS, CATHOLIC SENTINEL | CNS

He came of age in the U.S. Navy in the Korean War era, becoming a tinkerer and handyman in the engine rooms of seagoing landing craft.

Stuewe and wife, Gladys, have been wed for 70 years and have lived on Kiger Island south of Corvallis since 1968. They have six children — “Every one of them is first class,” Stuewe said — and a large, glorious team of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Invention is Stuewe’s longtime passion. He has designed a house that would stand up to tornadoes. An avid daily cyclist, he has built small trailers and designed long visors for his helmets. He assembled a contraption for filtering gold out of river rocks and has a collection of dozens of variously sized tripods. He constructed a pond on his property with waterfalls, fountains and fish feeding machines, all looked over by a statue of Mary and the baby Jesus.

His hands-on approach to life hasn’t been without cost: He is missing the end of the ring finger on his right hand.

But it’s well worth it: “If you don’t keep busy, you go nuts,” Stuewe said.

He began a tree seedling container fabrication plant on his property in 1982. The business, Stuewe & Sons, did so well that it had to move to

a bigger location and is still run by son Eric on a site east of Corvallis.

For now, Stuewe’s attention is solidly on getting his homeless shelters out onto the streets.

“Vern has been going on this four to five hours per day,” said Jonah Gates, a family friend who sometimes helps Stuewe in the shop. “He has been pouring his heart and his soul into this.”