The Catholic Spirit - January 28, 2021

JANUARY 28, 2021 • Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

COVID-ucation How Catholic schools are making in-person instruction stick

— Pages 10-11

ALL IN At Holy Cross Catholic School in Webster, teacher Cathy Mikel talks to her seventh-grade science students in the classroom Jan. 14 while using a laptop to connect with Ray Nammeh, a student at home under quarantine with his two siblings. The school uses in-person and virtual learning to make sure all of its 119 pre-k through eighth-grade students can learn successfully.

FEATURED FOCUS

NATIONAL CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK Jan. 31-Feb. 6

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SPECIAL UPDATE ARCHBISHOP HEBDA ON ARCHDIOCESAN CATHOLIC CENTER’S MISSION AND FUTURE 3 NEW SJV RECTOR 5 | OVERCOMING ADDICTION 7 | PRESIDENT BIDEN TAKES OFFICE 8 $1 MILLION FOR TWO SCHOOLS 12 | HEADMASTER IN COWBOY BOOTS 14 | THE LAST JUDGMENT 15

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JANUARY 28, 2021

PAGETWO NEWS notes Friends and family of the late Father Patrick Griffin are donating money toward a scholarship fund at Bethlehem Academy in Faribault to honor the priest who served more than 40 years in active ministry. George and Katherine Smith, now of Rice Lake, Wisconsin, are spearheading the effort toward raising at least $10,000 to help students attend Father Griffin’s alma mater. George Smith said his family got to know Father Griffin, who died Dec. 8 at age 79, when he was pastor of St. Timothy in Blaine, and they shared the faith and social time together, along with many others in the parish.

In a reflection of Father Griffin’s service to many families, Smith said the late priest presided at the weddings of all five of the couple’s children and baptized several of their 14 grandchildren.

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VACCINATION Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, receives his first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine Jan. 21 at Providence St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif.

COVID-19 prompted WSI Sports, a cold-weather performance apparel company in Eagan, to transform their facility capabilities to make face coverings. To celebrate $1 million in donated face coverings to youth sports organizations, law enforcement, first responders and health care workers, it held a ceremony at St. Peter Claver Catholic School in St. Paul Jan. 14. At the event, former professional football player Matt Birk accepted WSI Sport’s final donation of face coverings on behalf of Edina-based Catholic Schools Center of Excellence youth athletics. “Now that winter sports have returned to schools, these masks will go a long way in keeping student athletes safe,” Birk said in a statement prior to the event. Catholic United Financial in St. Paul partners with CSCOE to support youth athletics.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s “witness continues to tug at my Catholic heart,” Archbishop Bernard Hebda said during a national 12-hour virtual tribute to the civil rights activist Jan. 17, the eve of the national holiday that commemorates him. In his eight-minute reflection, Archbishop Hebda said, “Overcoming racism is a demand of justice, but because Christian love transcends justice, the end of racism will mean that our community will bear fruit beyond simply the fair treatment of all.” He was the only Catholic cleric among nearly 100 speakers, musical artists and other presenters — including several Minnesota faith leaders — in “Justice Sunday: Service Around the Clock,” organized by the 400 Years of African-American History Commission, established

by Congress in 2018 to coordinate commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the first arrival of enslaved Africans to the American colonies in 1619.

The Aim Higher Foundation in St. Paul, which provides need-based scholarships to students attending Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, reached in September a new milestone of supporting 10% of kindergarten-to-grade-eight students in local Catholic schools. The foundation awarded 1,955 scholarships this year, and its leaders expect that number to increase in the next academic year, according to Ricky Austin, Aim Higher’s vice president of advancement and operations.

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GREAT LAKE BLESSING Father Andrew Summerson breaks through the ice and plunges a processional cross into Lake Michigan in Hammond, Ind., Jan. 10 to complete the Great Blessing of Water, a rite in the Byzantine Catholic Church that commemorates the feast of Theophany, or the Baptism of Jesus. Father Summerson is administrator of St. Mary Byzantine Catholic Church in Whiting, Ind., in the Eparchy of Parma, Ohio.

In this Year of St. Joseph, proclaimed by Pope Francis and celebrated in a special way in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis when Archbishop Bernard Hebda consecrated the archdiocese to Jesus’ earthly father Dec. 8, the question often is being asked, “What does St. Joseph mean to you?” In a new feature, The Catholic Spirit is asking the same question of its readers. Please send your response in 250 words or less to CatholicSpirit@archspm.org.

A Cathedral of St. Paul Coloring Book is the latest commemoration of the fifth largest cathedral in the country. Created by Lori Nicosia, Cathedral tour coordinator, with help from online InSehnDesigns, the book is part souvenir, part art activity and part storybook.

It features the Cathedral’s stained glass and sculptures, mosaics, an architectural drawing, detailed floor plan and colored photos, accompanied by historical notes.

The $14 book can be found at the online store of the Cathedral of St. Paul’s website, cathedralsaintpaul.org. Proceeds go to the Cathedral Heritage Foundation’s ongoing restoration and maintenance efforts.

PRACTICING Catholic On the show that aired Jan. 22, “Practicing Catholic” host Patrick Conley interviews Catherine and Dave Deavel about their Jan. 25 Faith and Culture Series presentation on sexual morality. Catherine Patros and Steven Lang share their experiences as Totus Tuus missionaries. And Andy and Deirdre Jameson from Twin Cities Retrouvaille describe an upcoming retreat focused on rediscovering a loving marriage. Listen each week on Fridays at 9 p.m., Saturdays at 1 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. on Relevant Radio 1330 AM. Find past shows at PracticingCatholicShow.com, soundcloud.com/PracticingCatholic or tinyurl.com/PracticingCatholic on Spotify.

The Catholic Spirit is published semi-monthly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Vol. 26 — No. 2 MOST REVEREND BERNARD A. HEBDA, Publisher TOM HALDEN, Associate Publisher MARIA C. WIERING, Editor-in-Chief JOE RUFF, News Editor

The Center for Mission in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has launched a monthly, five-part series of presentations and conversations around Pope Francis’ most recent encyclical, “Fratelli Tutti” (“All Brothers”). The virtual series “Encountering Fratelli Tutti” began Jan. 26 with Bernie Evans of the School of Theology and Seminary at St. John’s University in Collegeville speaking about the encyclical’s first two chapters.

It continues Feb. 24 with Catherine Orr, executive director of Catholic Roundtable of Social Action Directors. Other speakers include David Fremo, director of Catholic Education Ministries for the Diocese of St. Cloud (March 23); Kayla Jacobs, director of Laudato Si Ministries in the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois (April 27); and Lynette Graham, chair of the pastoral council and education committee at St. Peter Claver in St. Paul (May 25).

All 90-minute presentations begin at 7 p.m. via Zoom. For more information and to register, visit centerformission.org.

Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel is featured at a special exhibit through Easter, April 4, at the Mall of America in Bloomington. Its opening in November was interrupted by concerns about COVID-19, but it returned Jan. 14. The exhibit features large reproductions of the famous frescoes that grace the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel in Rome.

More details can be found at chapelsistine.com.

DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis has a new brand identity with logo, website, brand language and other applications. Featuring a “D” and “H” stylized to look like a cross, and a city skyline with waters of the Mississippi River that surround the school, the new look was created by students working with 1967 DeLaSalle graduate Joe Duffy, who went on to found Duffy design group in Minneapolis.

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SPECIAL UPDATE

JANUARY 28, 2021

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 3

FROMTHEARCHBISHOP ONLY JESUS | ARCHBISHOP BERNARD HEBDA

After consulting process, archdiocese aims to make clear central office’s mission, direction

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s we begin our new year, I thought it would be appropriate to not only thank you for your inspiring support of the archdiocesan Church during the challenging circumstances of the past year, but also to update you on the work that lies ahead.

In recent months, the archdiocese partnered with a team of extremely dedicated experts from the global management firm, McKinsey and Company, in assessing the organizational effectiveness of our operations at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center (“ACC”). The ACC includes 29 offices ranging from my office to that of the Metropolitan Tribunal (which oversees marriage annulments) to The Catholic Spirit to Parish Accounting, as well as offices for vocations, safe environment, Latino ministry and evangelization and a host of other ministries. Through a broad survey, we were blessed to have the input of nearly 800 of you, representing not only our archdiocesan employees but also a wide range of others including pastors, staff and lay leaders at our parishes, and administrators and teachers at our schools.

With the assistance of our McKinsey partners and several small teams consisting of representatives from across the archdiocese, we processed the survey results and began to set forth a plan for improving our organizational effectiveness. The plan has been dubbed “Project Isaiah.” Recalling the powerful readings from Isaiah heard throughout Advent, we desire to level our institutional mountains and fill in our institutional valleys to make straight the path for the Lord.

While we will be detailing more about those efforts in the months to come, I wanted to share with you some fruits that have already emerged from our work.

In evaluating your input, we noticed two recurring

Enderezando el camino para el Señor

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l comenzar nuestro nuevo año, pensé que sería apropiado no solo agradecerles por su apoyo inspirador a la Iglesia Arquidiocesana durante las desafiantes circunstancias del año pasado, sino también actualizarlos sobre el trabajo que les espera.

En los últimos meses, la Arquidiócesis se asoció con un equipo de expertos extremadamente dedicados de la firma de administración global, McKinsey and Company, para evaluar la efectividad organizacional de nuestras operaciones en el Centro Católico Arquidiocesano (“ACC”). El ACC incluye 29 oficinas que van desde mi oficina hasta la del Tribunal Metropolitano (que supervisa las anulaciones matrimoniales), el espíritu católico y la contabilidad parroquial, así como oficinas para vocaciones, ambiente seguro, ministerio latino y evangelización y una serie de otros ministerios. A través de una amplia encuesta, tuvimos la bendición de contar con la opinión de casi 800 de ustedes, que representan no solo a nuestros empleados de la Arquidiócesis sino también a una amplia gama de otros, incluidos pastores, personal y líderes laicos en nuestras parroquias, y administradores y maestros en nuestras escuelas. .

Con la ayuda de nuestros socios de McKinsey y varios equipos pequeños formados por representantes de toda la Arquidiócesis, procesamos los resultados de la encuesta y comenzamos a establecer un plan para mejorar nuestra efectividad

themes: There is a foundational need for greater clarity about the role of the ACC, and there is a desire for a more clearly articulated statement of the direction we as an archdiocese are heading. I am pleased to report progress on both fronts.

To provide greater clarity about the role of the ACC, we developed a working ACC Mission Statement: “To assist in the apostolic ministry entrusted to the archbishop, the ACC provides Christ-centered leadership and support to clergy, parishes, schools and other Catholic entities serving the evangelistic mission of this local Church.” The bottom line is that if my staff and I are not serving you by providing dependable leadership and effective support to fulfill the archdiocesan mission set forth in 2010 — “to make the name of Jesus Christ known and loved by promoting and proclaiming the Gospel in word and deed” — then we are not fulfilling our mission as the ACC. Secondly, to clarify our near-term direction we identified four important strategic priorities for the ACC for the next two years (for example, until we begin to carry out the priorities that will be set through the work of our Archdiocesan Synod in 2022). Let me briefly explain each one.

Not surprisingly, the first of the priorities concerns the Synod itself. It is of paramount importance that we successfully complete the Synod and prepare for its eventual implementation. Building on the very positive first-year experience of our Prayer and Listening Events, the second and third years of the Synod will help us further develop a culture of consultation and participation as we together discern how and where the Lord is calling us to serve.

The second of the priorities concerns our Catholic schools. The Roadmap for Excellence in Catholic Education, adopted in 2019, reflects the best thinking of national and local educational experts for ensuring

organizacional. El plan se ha denominado “Proyecto Isaías”. Recordando las poderosas lecturas de Isaías escuchadas durante el Adviento, deseamos nivelar nuestras montañas institucionales y llenar nuestros valles institucionales para enderezar el camino para el Señor.

Si bien detallaremos más sobre esos esfuerzos en los próximos meses, quería compartir con ustedes algunos frutos que ya han surgido de nuestro trabajo.

Al evaluar su aporte, notamos dos temas recurrentes: existe una necesidad fundamental de mayor claridad sobre el papel del ACC y existe el deseo de una declaración más claramente articulada de la dirección que nos dirigimos como Arquidiócesis. Me complace informar de los avances en ambos frentes.

Para proporcionar una mayor claridad sobre el papel de la ACC, desarrollamos una Declaración de Misión de la ACC en funcionamiento: “Para ayudar en el ministerio apostólico confiado al Arzobispo, la ACC proporciona liderazgo centrado en Cristo y apoyo al clero, parroquias, escuelas y otras entidades católicas al servicio de la misión evangelizadora de esta Iglesia local. La conclusión es que si mi personal y yo no les estamos sirviendo al brindarles un liderazgo confiable y un apoyo efectivo para cumplir con la misión arquidiocesana establecida en 2010, “hacer que el nombre de Jesucristo sea conocido y amado mediante la promoción y la proclamación del Evangelio de palabra y escritura”, entonces no estamos cumpliendo nuestra misión como ACC. En segundo lugar, para aclarar nuestra dirección a corto plazo, identificamos

that we will be able to provide effective and accessible Catholic education in this archdiocese for years to come. This priority is off to a great start, but important work remains as we address issues of talent management, curriculum and assessment, access and sustainability, and optimal models of governance.

The third priority is the implementation of Project Isaiah, improving the organizational effectiveness of the ACC in a way that increases our ability to lead and support those we serve. Pursuant to this priority, we will be working, for example, to improve key elements in our day-to-day operations to assist us in setting priorities, managing projects, making timely and appropriate decisions, communicating more effectively, introducing greater accountability, and developing talent in a way that enables individuals to best use their God-given gifts.

The fourth priority will be bringing into alignment our limited archdiocesan and parish resources (whether ministerial, financial or property) to serve the faithful through parishes that are both vibrant and viable. We have already begun the process of assessing pastoral needs across our archdiocese and projecting the human and material resources that will be available for meeting those needs. Necessary next steps are still being discerned.

Given those priorities, as well as our never-ending commitment to sustaining safe environments and assisting those who have suffered in any way from abuse in the Church, 2021 promises to be a unique opportunity for collaborating in the Lord’s plans for growing and strengthening the archdiocese. The abovementioned undertakings will require concerted efforts. Yet I am confident that together we can make substantive changes and move forward united in Christ.

Please be so kind as to remember this intention in your prayers.

cuatro prioridades estratégicas importantes para el ACC durante los próximos dos años (por ejemplo, hasta que comencemos a llevar a cabo las prioridades que se establecerán a través del trabajo de nuestro Sínodo Arquidiocesano en 2022). Déjame explicarte brevemente cada uno.

No es de extrañar que la primera de las prioridades se refiera al Sínodo mismo. Es de suma importancia que completemos con éxito el Sínodo y nos preparemos para su eventual implementación. Basándonos en la experiencia muy positiva del primer año de nuestros eventos de oración y escucha, el segundo y tercer año del Sínodo nos ayudará a desarrollar aún más una cultura de consulta y participación mientras discernimos juntos cómo y dónde el Señor nos llama a servir.

La segunda de las prioridades se refiere a nuestras escuelas católicas. La Hoja de ruta para la excelencia en la educación católica, adoptada en 2019, refleja el mejor pensamiento de los expertos en educación nacionales y locales para garantizar que seremos capaces de proporcionar una educación católica eficaz y accesible en esta Arquidiócesis en los próximos años. Esta prioridad ha tenido un gran comienzo, pero aún queda trabajo importante a medida que abordamos cuestiones de gestión del talento, plan de estudios y evaluación, acceso y sostenibilidad, y modelos óptimos de gobernanza.

La tercera prioridad es la implementación del Proyecto Isaías, mejorando la efectividad organizacional del ACC de una manera que aumente

nuestra capacidad para liderar y apoyar a aquellos a quienes servimos. De acuerdo con esta prioridad, trabajaremos, por ejemplo, para mejorar elementos clave en nuestras operaciones diarias que nos ayuden a establecer prioridades, administrar proyectos, tomar decisiones oportunas y adecuadas, comunicarnos de manera más efectiva, introducir una mayor responsabilidad y desarrollar el talento de una manera que permita a las personas utilizar mejor los dones que Dios les ha dado.

La cuarta prioridad será alinear nuestros limitados recursos arquidiocesanos y parroquiales (ya sean ministeriales, financieros o de propiedad) para servir a los fieles a través de parroquias que sean vibrantes y viables. Ya hemos comenzado el proceso de evaluar las necesidades pastorales en nuestra Arquidiócesis y proyectar los recursos humanos y materiales que estarán disponibles para satisfacer esas necesidades. Todavía se están discerniendo los próximos pasos necesarios.

Dadas esas prioridades, así como nuestro compromiso interminable de mantener entornos seguros y ayudar a aquellos que han sufrido de alguna manera el abuso en la Iglesia, 2021 promete ser una oportunidad única para colaborar en los planes del Señor para hacer crecer y fortalecer la Arquidiócesis.

Los compromisos antes mencionados requerirán esfuerzos concertados. Sin embargo, estoy seguro de que juntos podemos hacer cambios sustanciales y avanzar unidos en Cristo. Por favor, tenga la amabilidad de recordar esta intención en sus oraciones.

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JANUARY 28, 2021

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DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Lights, camera, evangelize!

Olivia Samper, right, a missionary at Ohio State University for St. Paul’s Outreach, prepares to rehearse an introduction Jan. 21 for the ministry’s second annual Ascend Conference, which went live that evening and continued for the next two evenings. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s event, “Created for Worship,” was virtual, livestreamed to an audience of more than 5,000 college students and young adults across the country. One of the event’s featured speakers was Mary Healy (on screen at right), a professor of sacred Scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit. Production team members included Ryan O’Hara, left, content director at Inver Grove Heights-based SPO, who helped organize the event, and videographer Daniel Gjengdahl, second from left. The event was broadcast from Open Window Theatre in Inver Grove Heights, owned and operated by Jeremy and Sarah Stanbary of St. Joseph in West St. Paul. With many college campuses either closed entirely to in-person learning or mostly shifted to online classes, Gordy DeMarais, president and founder of SPO, thought it was important to offer this type of event for students feeling the effects of the pandemic. “We feel like our call, our mission, our charism (at SPO) to live deep relationship is tailored exactly for the times that we live in and the fundamental need that young people are experiencing today,” DeMarais said.

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JANUARY 28, 2021

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O’Malley: Time is right for Archdiocesan Catholic Center improvement initiative

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit When Archbishop Bernard Hebda tapped Tim O’Malley to lead an organizational improvement initiative for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ central offices, he credited O’Malley’s proven abilities as a strategic thinker and change implementer.

Coming from a law enforcement background with experience practicing law and serving as a state administrative law judge, O’Malley joined the archdiocese in 2014 to build an Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment, which he continues to direct. Now he’s also tasked with overseeing a plan to improve the Archdiocesan Catholic Center’s effectiveness in executing its mission to serve Christ by providing sound leadership and improved services to parishes, schools and other Catholic entities throughout the archdiocese.

Headquartered in the Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood of St. Paul, the ACC is comprised of 29 offices with 130 staff members. Offices include those of the archbishop and auxiliary bishop; Catholic Education; Clergy Formation; Marriage, Family and Life; Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment; and Latino Ministry.

Last year, the archdiocese partnered with global consulting firm McKinsey and Company to assess its organizational health and provide a framework for improvement. The assessment began with an extensive survey sent to ACC staff, parish and school staff, and other stakeholders. The results showed that ACC employees feel they belong and their work matters.

The results also showed that many employees don’t understand the archdiocese’s direction and their role in it. The analysis also revealed there’s work to be done to better serve stakeholders, improve operational rigor and develop talent within the ACC staff.

Efforts are underway to strategically address needed improvements to organizational effectiveness, an initiative that leaders have named Project Isaiah. (See Archbishop Hebda’s related column on page 3.) The overall goal is for the ACC to provide better support to parishes, O’Malley said. “This assessment was very comprehensive, and across really all demographics, both internal and external, there were some clear

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Tim O’Malley, director of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, now will oversee a plan to improve the effectiveness of the Archdiocesan Catholic Center.

operational areas in which we could improve,” he said.

“By improving in those areas, we can deliver better to those at parishes and the schools, clergy, volunteers (and) staff who are really … doing the direct work of our Church.”

O’Malley said the time is ripe for the ACC to undergo evaluation and make necessary changes. In 2015, the archdiocese entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to mounting claims of clergy sexual abuse, and Archbishop John Nienstedt and Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piche suddenly resigned. Archbishop Hebda took leadership of the archdiocese, first in a temporary capacity, and then as its archbishop in 2016. Prior to and during bankruptcy, the ACC operated in “a crisis management approach” that was more reactive than proactive, O’Malley said. It’s been two years since the bankruptcy resolved, and the Archdiocesan Synod process is well underway, which is “adding direction and input again from a wide range of perspectives,” he said.

ACC staff is also “primed” for improvement, O’Malley said. “The assessment itself shows that employees find this to be very meaningful and

rewarding work as they support others, and that they are very sincere and motivated, and they want to do the best they can,” he said.

However, Project Isaiah “is not the kind of approach that lends itself to a quick fix,” he said. “We need to look at making some changes that are well-thoughtout and helpful. … I’m hoping that with time, the people that we work with directly will see the change, but the change for the people in the pews and the (Catholic school) students will be less direct, a little more subtle.”

A time frame for Project Isaiah is still developing, but O’Malley said he thought a year was a realistic goal.

Staffing changes in the Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment, including the January hiring of Paul Iovino as deputy director, who has 25 years of experience with the St. Paul Police Department, has made it possible for O’Malley to add overseeing Project Isaiah to his own responsibilities.

Prior to working for the archdiocese, O’Malley led successful efforts to make transformational changes in government, including in 2008 the reorganization of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s information service and integration divisions, while he was serving as BCA superintendent. That process involved input from the 60 employees in those divisions as well as from a wide range of external stakeholders, and resulted in increased accuracy, completeness and timeliness of criminal justice information, and improved service delivery to BCA customers, he said.

In a Dec. 15 letter to ACC staff, Archbishop Hebda shared his confidence that O’Malley would have similar success with Project Isaiah.

“Tim led the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis through one of the most difficult times in its history by working with the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office to address systemic deficiencies in child safety and survivor services,” he said. “He and his team have put in place processes and forged relationships so that our goal of partnering with others to keep children safe has advanced greatly.”

O’Malley said he’s excited and honored to lead the process, but he doesn’t downplay the effort and time it will take for everyone involved. “The truth is, it’s going to take some hard work. It’s going to take a while,” he said. “But I really think … the time is right to do this.”

Father Kelly to be next rector of St. John Vianney College Seminary

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit Father Jonathan Kelly has been named the ninth rector of St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul, Archbishop Bernard Hebda announced Jan. 22.

Father Kelly, 47, has served as a formator and spiritual director at SJV since 2014.

He succeeds Father Michael Becker, who concludes a 10-year term at the end of the academic year. Founded in 1968 and located at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, SJV currently has in formation 105 undergraduate seminarians from 18 dioceses across the U.S. “Father Kelly has excelled in each of his assignments,” said Archbishop Hebda in a Jan. 22 statement. “The search committee recognized his generous priestly heart, keen intellect and relevant experience. It is obvious that he is joyful in his priesthood and will provide an excellent example for the young men discerning their call at the college seminary. I am grateful for his willingness to accept this important ministry in the Church.”

Ordained a priest in 2011 for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Father Kelly ministered as parochial vicar of All Saints parish and school in Lakeville until his assignment at SJV.

He has earned a certificate in spiritual direction at the Institute for Priestly Formation in Omaha, Nebraska, where he has also served as a formator and an adjunct faculty member during its summer programs for priests and seminarians. He also has a certificate in seminary formation FATHER from the Seminary JONATHAN KELLY Formation Council in Boynton Beach, Florida.

Father Kelly has served as an adjunct faculty member in St. Thomas’ theology department and regularly directs retreats for priests and seminarians, laypeople and religious sisters. He also has led multiple groups of seminarians on mission trips to the motherhouse of the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata, India.

Father Kelly is a member of the Companions of Christ, a local fraternity of priests. “I am grateful to Archbishop Hebda for this opportunity and his support,” he said in the Jan. 22 statement.

A native of southern Minnesota, Father Kelly graduated high school at Georgetown Preparatory School in Washington, D.C., where he has family in the area. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota’s

Carlson School of Management. He also competed on the U’s Division I men’s golf team, and after graduation, he briefly played on the professional tour in South Africa and Canada. He then worked as an investment banking analyst at Piper Jaffray in Minneapolis and then worked with MidMark Capitol in New Jersey. He entered The St. Paul Seminary in 2005.

In a 2011 interview with The Catholic Spirit prior to his ordination, Father Kelly credited Father Becker with helping him discover his vocation to the priesthood.

“Father Kelly is a man of prayer and great virtue,” Father Becker said in the Jan. 22 statement. “He will remain attentive to the transformational needs of every seminarian as a true spiritual father and leader in the Church.”

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Angels and Demons: What do Scripture and Tradition Say about Them?

by Fr. Michael Patella, OSB

Fr. Michael will outline the Christian understanding of the devil, angels, demons, ghosts, and spirits in Scripture and Tradition on:

Friday, February 5 - 9:00 a.m - 11:00 a.m. (MST - Scottsdale, AZ)

Find out.

The Common Thread of Holy Saturday: How a Trauma Lens Can Unite and Strengthen our Catholic Church

by Amie Schumacher, M.Div. ‘15

Amie will explore the aftermath of trauma, and how the use of a trauma lens can serve as a powerful witness on:

Thursday, February 11 - 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Callings of Women in the Church: A Young Feminist Perspective

by Jessie Bazan, M.Div. ‘17

Jessie will discuss how to welcome people of all genders to consider how the church can grow into a more inclusive, empowering, commuity on:

Thursday, February 18 - 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

LOCAL

6 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

JANUARY 28, 2021

Youths and families learn, share at archdiocese’s pro-life Jan. 22 conference

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit Martha Donnett, 15, a freshman at Holy Spirit Academy in Monticello, traveled to St. Paul Jan. 22 — as did more than 600 other people — to participate in a March for Life: Youth and Family Conference organized by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Pro-life issues are not strictly for adults, she said. “I think it’s important to show that we care, too.”

The event, organized because the ongoing pandemic made it impossible to gather for the March for Life in Washington, D.C., or to hold the annual Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life march to the State Capitol in St. Paul, was held at three venues: two gathering areas at St. Agnes Church and School in St. Paul and one at the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Church in St. Paul. Participants were socially distanced to prevent spread of COVID-19.

Students and their families from about 20 Catholic schools in the archdiocese participated. The one-day conference with several pro-life speakers was organized by the archdiocese’s Office of Marriage, Family and Life. It was held on the 48th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

Speakers included Bishop Andrew Cozzens and Jason Adkins, executive director of Minnesota Catholic Conference, as well as three students who described their experiences praying and sidewalk counseling in front of abortion clinics. Another speaker, Angela Erickson, a mother of four who helps produce a Twin Cities radio program “Living the Gospel of Life,” presented on pro-life apologetics, giving tips on how to discuss issues related to abortion in a respectful way, avoiding emotion or argument.

CATHEDRAL SERVICE The men and women gathered Jan. 22 at the Cathedral of St. Paul were not alone in their prayers to end abortion, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said at the annual Prayer Service for Life, which took place ahead of the Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life virtual March for Life.

The archbishop noted that they were united with “so many saintly witnesses to faith and to life” such as John Paul II, Mother Teresa of Kolkata and Gianna Beretta Molla.

“We know we are united as well with the prayers of the 62 million brothers and sisters whose lives have been cut short by abortion since the passage of Roe v. Wade,” he said.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Office of Marriage, Family and Life organized the Prayer Service for Life.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Mary Marsolais of St. Joseph in West St. Paul talks about her sidewalk counselor experiences during her brief testimony at St. Agnes Jan. 22. In the background is Zachary Schmitz, a junior at St. John Vianney College Seminary at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, who likewise gave a testimony.

Donnett’s classmate, Anastasia Sis, 14, said she is the second oldest of “soonto-be-nine siblings.” She said her older brother has disabilities.

“And just to think that if my parents weren’t pro-life, he could have been aborted, and he’s my hero,” Sis said. He’s been through so much, she said, but he made it through. Again, she said, “He’s my hero.”

Bishop Cozzens said that in the last 20 years, 20% to 30% of pregnancies in the U.S. have ended in abortion.

“That means for every three of you,

there should be a fourth,” he said.

He said that’s nearly 1 million abortions in the U.S. every year.

He also referred to the human rights movement involved in ending slavery.

“What a great movement it was,” he said.

“We look at those realities now and think, how could (someone) enslave a person, perhaps just because of the color of their skin?” he asked. “And yet … in the course of our culture right now, we have to acknowledge that we treat another person as disposable because they’re not yet old enough.”

“God loves babies. … God loves life,” Archbishop Hebda said. “How could the Author of Life — the one who has a plan for every life, not only from the moment of conception but from the beginning of time, before the dawn — how could the Author of Life not love each life and desire for an end to abortion?”

Pro-life advocates “are on the right side of this battle, because it’s the Lord’s battle,” he said.

“And we can trust that victory will be his.”

He said Jesus, however, will be the one to decide how, exactly, the “battle” will be won.

“What we can do is offer our lives and humble service to the Gospel of life,” Archbishop Hebda said. “Whether Jesus chooses to win the battle by changing laws, or through the courts or simply by changing hearts, that’s his choice, but we know that whenever we are willing to defend life, no matter the stage, whenever we’re willing to witness to the dignity of each human life, it’s then that the Lord can use us to work his miracle, to change hearts and to change lives.”

— Maria Wiering

Where is truth? Faith and Culture Series panelists say look to the Catholic Church

By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit Jim Ennis, executive director of St. Paul-based Catholic Rural Life, didn’t always place Christ at the center of his life. He grew up Catholic in California, but even as a youngster found himself attending Mass “just in case.” Then came college, and the drift grew a little wider.

What helped draw him firmly back into the Catholic Church was a desire to learn its teachings and its history, and a growing faith in what he found.

Ennis shared his story with an online audience Jan. 20 in the first event of a four-part Faith and Culture Series produced by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis as part of its preparation for a 2022 Synod.

Titled “Sources of Catholic Teaching (Scripture, Tradition and Magisterium),” the 90-minute session also featured Barbara Heil, a former Pentecostal minister who converted to the Catholic Church after years of study, and Bill Stevenson, associate professor of dogmatic theology at The St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul.

Stevenson described the roots and depth of Catholic teaching through Scripture; tradition that has been built through centuries of honing an understanding of God, the human condition, faith and morality; and the magisterium, the teachings of bishops in communion with the pope.

Ennis spoke about his experience along with his wife, Sally, who grew up as a Presbyterian in Kentucky who was hungry to know more about Jesus. Now the director of admissions at a local, private Christian school, Sally

FULL SERIES Registration for the live events has reached capacity.

Archived videos will be posted following the live events at archspm.org/synod. u Jan. 20 “Sources of Catholic Teaching (Scripture, Tradition and Magisterium)” presented by Bill Stevenson u Jan. 27 “The Church’s Teaching on Sexual Morality and the Family” presented by Dave and Cathy Deavel u Feb. 4 “The Church’s Understanding on the Dignity of Women” presented by Helen Alvare u Feb. 9 “The Priesthood (both baptized and ordained)” presented by Sister Esther Mary Nickel

said that as a Protestant curious about the Catholic faith she struggled with Catholic teachings about the primacy of the pope, the intercession of Mary, the canonization of saints and the Eucharist.

In the end, realizing the reality of Christ’s presence in the Eucharist most strongly drew her to the Catholic Church, she said, and she entered the Church in April 2002.

Speaking with wonder in her voice, she said Christ is present in the Eucharist in every way that Catholics believe, “in body, blood, soul and divinity. He is present in the Mass — in every Mass.”

The event included an opportunity for viewers to submit questions to the presenters for a Q&A panel

with Archbishop Bernard Hebda that followed the three presentations. One viewer asked if to be a good Catholic one needs to believe everything the Church teaches.

“What if I doubt certain teachings?” the person asked.

Stevenson addressed the question by recognizing that the Church does speak with authority, and the truth “is not divisible. The truth is one.”

Heil advised viewers not to be afraid to ask questions about their faith and seek the answers.

“I investigated things I did not agree with,” she said.

“I would learn the ‘why’ behind the hard teachings. …

It is good to ask questions. We can be a good Catholic so long as we’re trying to get at the truth.”

Archbishop Hebda introduced the session by noting that it was being held on the same day President Joe Biden was inaugurated into office in a divisive and difficult time in the nation’s history.

“It is coincidental, not intentional, but perhaps providential that we begin this series on this day in history,” the archbishop said. Even during a time of political rancor and fake news, “through the faith, objective truth can be found,” he said.

The Faith and Culture Series was inspired by 30 Prayer and Listening Events held in 2019 and 2020, Archbishop Hebda said, as the archdiocese prepares for an Archdiocesan Synod on pastoral priorities in 2022.

More than 8,000 participants in those sessions and 35,000 written comments pointed to a desire to learn more about Catholic teaching, particularly on difficult subjects, the archbishop said. He hopes the series will help ground the faithful in Church teaching as preparation continues for the Synod.

JANUARY 28, 2021

LOCAL

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 7

Synod at Home series to help individuals, families walk with Christ

By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit Looking for ways to grow in the faith, listen more carefully to friends and family, discern the call of the Holy Spirit and be gently held accountable in daily living?

Eager to help people do just that, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has put together a five-week, online series of 45-minute segments called “Synod at Home: Tips and Tools for Growing in Faith.” The sessions begin Feb. 18 and run through March 18.

Each session will feature a presentation, reflection and formation materials. Pat and Kenna Millea, parents of seven children and parishioners of St. Joseph in West St. Paul, will be the primary presenters.

Kenna Millea is a therapist. Pat Millea is senior high youth director at his parish, and also is a member of the executive committee of the Archdiocesan Synod, which has organized the series to help families understand and live the Synod process of listening, discerning and acting. The archdiocese is doing the same in its three-year preparation for a Synod on pastoral priorities to be held Pentecost weekend, June 3-5, 2022.

After holding 30 Prayer and Listening Events across the archdiocese between September 2019 and March 2020, Archbishop Bernard Hebda determined three pastoral priorities: forming parishes in the service of evangelization, forming missionary disciples who know Jesus’ love and respond to his call, and forming youth and young adults in and for a Church that is always young. The priorities will be discussed at the Synod

ZACH JANSEN | FOR THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Pat and Kenna Millea tape a segment in New Brighton of “Synod at Home: Tips and Tools for Growing in Faith,” a five-part video series beginning Feb. 18. and further developed by the archbishop to help pave a way forward for the archdiocese.

While the archdiocese is listening and learning on a large scale, similar attention to listening and learning can take place in the home, said Pat Millea, 39.

The Synod at Home series will begin with a first-week introduction, followed by four weekly segments on ways to grow in faith — as individuals, families and ministries — through prayer and the sacraments, lifelong learning, generosity and service, and traditions and fun,

Millea said. People can go to archspm.org/ synod to learn more, sign up for emails, download the Synod app for a mobile device and access the online sessions.

Synod at Home is not a specifically Lenten exercise, and it is not a direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Millea said.

But it is timely because it falls during Lent, which begins Feb. 17, and because many families and friends, being careful not to spread COVID-19, have been more isolated at home, with additional time together, he said.

“Lent is a fruitful time for growth as Catholics,” he said. “We tend to strip away distractions and harmful practices — (excessive) media, food, that gets between us and God.” And as people experience the pandemic, it makes sense at this time of the Synod process to present something for families and individuals that can help them grow in their faith, Millea said.

A tool being offered with Synod at Home, called a Faith Plan, is designed to help people establish faith goals and stay on track. It was introduced to the executive committee by a committee member, Chris Kostelc, director of faith formation at Holy Name of Jesus in Medina. His parish used the resource after Holy Name parishioners Dave and Megan Rahe developed it in their own home.

“We measure things we find important,” Kostelc said. “If it’s important and we want to do well, we measure it. But traditionally, we don’t put a lot of measures on our faith lives.

These are actions that can be answered: ‘Did we do it, or did we not?’”

An openness to the Faith Plan’s method, a discernment about whether to offer it to the whole archdiocese, and careful thought into how to present it represent ways Archbishop Hebda and Bishop Andrew Cozzens are living out listening and discernment in the Synod process, Millea said.

“It’s been really beautiful to see how they are open to the way that laypeople experience God in their own lives,” Millea said. “They want to hear what’s in the hearts of their people and how they can lead all of us to Jesus and the Church.”

Amid COVID’s challenges for people in recovery, Calix offers Catholic-based help

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit Addiction is difficult to manage in “normal times.” But during a pandemic, extra challenges abound.

Just ask Jim, 61. “Anxious times, stressful times, COVID is certainly creating that,” Jim said, “jobs and change in structure …. For those of us who have the disease, you can go to the bottle.”

Staying closer to home, feeling isolated or bored create an extra opportunity to slip back into addictive behaviors, he said. “We’re not seeing people; we’re not connecting with people.”

Thankfully, there is help, Jim said.

A member of Alcoholics Anonymous for two years, Jim, who lives in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, also regularly meets with and benefits from the Calix Society, a Catholic-based group that he considers an additional tool to AA. Founded 74 years ago, Calix (Latin for “chalice” or “cup”) helps alcoholics and drug addicts maintain sobriety by encouraging them to practice and draw strength from their Catholic faith, as well as AA’s 12-step program. Family members and friends affected by addiction may also be members of the Calix Society.

According to the Maryland-based National Institute on Drug Abuse, COVID-19 has posed “enormous challenges” for people in addiction recovery, with “significant” increases in various drug use beginning with the

shutdowns across the U.S. in March 2020.

Greg, 65, who, like Jim, asked that his last name and parish not be used, lives in northwest Wisconsin but participates in the Twin Cities-based Calix group via Zoom. His wife is a recovering alcoholic.

He said a 12-step program helped him understand the fellowship of a recovery program, and he appreciates that Calix is clear about who God is.

“One of the (12) steps talks about … ‘a higher power,’” MARIST FATHER Greg said of AA, “but ROLAND LAJOIE we don’t know who or what that higher power is. But in Calix, I can really talk about the higher power, which happens to be God in Jesus Christ. So, I’d have to say it’s being able freely to really practice my Catholic faith in a 12-step program.”

Marist Father Roland Lajoie has served as chaplain for the archdiocesan Calix group since 2018. He said that Calix is important because people can be Catholics together, to use and talk about the sacraments, and better share their faith than at nondenominational groups.

While groups like AA are valuable, he said, Calix frees Catholics to have a meeting where they can speak about their sacramental life and their prayer life, and their attendance at Mass and how the Church is helping them through

their addictions.

“That’s the beauty of Calix,” he said.

Father Lajoie said that at AA meetings, people say, “well, whoever your God is,”

but “at Calix, they know their God is Jesus Christ, so we can talk about Jesus as the healer, the redeemer, the savior.”

To learn more, call Jim at 612-383-8232.

8 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

JANUARY 28, 2021

NATION+WORLD

Biden’s inaugural address calls for Americans to work for unity

By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service

USCCB PRES., POPE OFFER PRAYERS

In his inaugural address Jan. 20, President Joe Biden said he is committed with his “whole soul” to bring this country together.

He pleaded with Americans — having come through a bitter election, a time of racial reckoning and in the midst of a deadly pandemic — to similarly take up this cause.

“It’s time for boldness because there is so much to do,” Biden said in a 21-minute speech, urging Americans to work together for unity in this historic moment and stressing that the “American story depends not on some, but all.”

The nation’s second Catholic president also urged the nation to recognize that the American story is one of hope, not fear, light, not darkness, and said “democracy has prevailed” despite efforts to shut it down just two weeks previously in the Capitol riots, which took place when Congress was confirming the election results.

On a cold, breezy but sunny day, he spoke with a somber sense of urgency, reminding the crowd present — which was small due to both the pandemic and the security lockdown in the wake of the Jan. 6 riots — that “we have come so far, but still have far to go.”

Mixing realism with hope, he said there is much to repair and much to restore but added: “We will press forward.”

And referring to the deep divide within the country, the 46th president said sternly: “We have to be better than this” and promised that democracy will not be driven out as Americans strive to end this “uncivil war that pits us against each other.”

The president called for a moment of silence for all those who have died during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also spoke of the destructive nature of racism and the need to reject political extremism and manufactured facts.

“I will be president for all Americans,” he added, referring to those who voted for him and those who didn’t.

It was obvious from the start that this presidential inauguration was very different, with attendees wearing face masks and greeting one another with elbow bumps because of the coronavirus, and also with the increased security presence as a stark reminder of the violence at the Capitol.

In addition, although former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton were in

CNS

Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th president of the United States by Chief Justice John Roberts as Biden’s wife, Jill, holds the family Bible during his inauguration at the Capitol in Washington Jan. 20. attendance, now-former President Donald Trump was not.

Biden was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts using the family Bible he has used many times before: twice when being sworn in as vice president and seven times as senator from Delaware. It also was used by his late son Beau in his swearing-in ceremony as Delaware’s attorney general. He said in an interview in December with talk show host Stephen Colbert that this Bible has been a family heirloom since 1893.

The inauguration’s invocation was led by Jesuit Father Leo O’Donovan, former president of Georgetown University and current director of mission for Jesuit Refugee Service. The priest, a friend of the Biden family, was the main celebrant at the funeral Mass for Beau Biden in 2015. In his prayer, the priest quoted Pope Francis and stressed the need to care for one another “in word and deed, especially the least fortunate among us.”

Another Jesuit priest, Father Kevin O’Brien, president of Santa Clara University in California, gave the homily at a Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew in Washington just before the inauguration. The Mass was attended by Biden, now-Vice President Kamala Harris, family members and some members of Congress from both sides of the aisle.

In his homily, Father O’Brien also spoke of the need for healing and said the president and vice president will lead this country forward.

“Every day, you will strive to heal our nation’s

Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, expressed hope that President Joe Biden’s administration “will work with the Church and others of goodwill” to “address the complicated cultural and economic factors that are driving abortion and discouraging families.”

“If the president, with full respect for the Church’s religious freedom, were to engage in this conversation, it would go a long way toward restoring the civil balance and healing our country’s needs,” Archbishop Gomez said in a Jan. 20 statement.

For the U.S. bishops, the “continued injustice of abortion” remains the “preeminent priority,” he said, but “’preeminent’ does not mean ‘only.’ We have deep concerns about many threats to human life and dignity in our society.” The archbishop also said that he was praying for Biden as he enters office.

Likewise, Pope Francis prayed that Biden would work to heal the divisions in U.S. society and promote human dignity and peace around the globe, and offered a congratulatory message Jan. 20.

Popes traditionally have sent such messages and assurances of prayer to a new U.S. president.

“At a time when the grave crises facing our human family call for farsighted and united responses,” he wrote, “I pray that your decisions will be guided by a concern for building a society marked by authentic justice and freedom, together with unfailing respect for the rights and dignity of every person, especially the poor, the vulnerable and those who have no voice.”

— Catholic News Service wounds and reconcile differences and bring us together.

You know too well the challenges ahead and the cost of service,” the priest said. “My deepest prayer for you today, as a priest, citizen and friend, is that you always remember that the Lord is near and no matter the sound and fury around you, that God wants to give you peace, a deep-seated peace that will sustain you.”

The theme of healing a divided nation and the role everyone should play in it was prominent throughout inaugural ceremonies. It was highlighted by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota, who said in the introductory remarks of the inauguration ceremony that this day was one when “democracy picks itself up” after what it went through Jan. 6.

She emphasized that it falls to all Americans to “take up the torch of our democracy, not as a weapon of political arson, but as an instrument for good.”

Second Catholic president causes some to celebrate, gives others anxiety

By Chaz Muth Catholic News Service On Jan. 20, Joe Biden became the second Catholic to be inaugurated as president of the United States, giving some U.S. Catholics and their religious leaders a reason to rejoice and others to fear more access to abortion under his leadership.

As Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the U.S., Marie Yanulus Calderoni, a Catholic from Spring Township, Pennsylvania, said a prayer for the 78-year-old Delaware resident as he assumed the responsibility of the nation’s highest office. He becomes president at a time when the country is enduring a deadly pandemic, profound polarization, racial divisions and financial uncertainty.

For as pleased as Calderoni — a 60-yearold parishioner of St. Ignatius Loyola Catholic Church in Reading, Pennsylvania — is to see a fellow Catholic in the White House, she remains troubled by his support of legal abortion.

Many Catholics across the U.S. share her conflicted enthusiasm, and Biden

received barely half the Catholic vote in the 2020 election.

New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who read a Scripture passage at President Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration, wrote in a recent column for Catholic New York — the archdiocesan newspaper — that Biden “speaks with admirable sensitivity about protecting the rights of the weakest and most threatened,” but added the new president “ran on a platform avidly supporting this gruesome capital punishment for innocent preborn babies.” Emphasizing the rights of the unborn are equal to other human rights, he quoted Pope Francis: “We defend and promote all legitimate human rights. But what use are they if the right of the baby to be born is violated?”

Though many Catholics are celebrating Biden’s rise to the presidency, many U.S. Catholics are fuming over it, mostly because of his support for legal abortion and same-sex marriage, both sins according to Church teaching.

Social media is rife with posts from Catholics offended that Biden identifies himself as a Catholic, with some

American priests telling parishioners during the 2020 presidential campaign that it would be a sin to vote for him.

A denouncement of Biden’s Catholicism only creates more divisiveness, said Oblate Father Kevin Nadolski, vice president for mission and a professor of education at DeSales University in Center Valley, Pennsylvania.

Catholic scholars argue all humans are flawed, and Vatican leaders frequently confirm that anyone who is baptized Catholic is identified as Catholic, even if they have fallen away from the Church.

“Even people who would be well disposed to the president find it difficult to (understand how) he can conjugate his stance on (the abortion) issue — which is so important to Catholics — and this faith that has been so important to him all of his life,” said Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey. “What I don’t understand are people who use very harsh words and want to cut off all communication with the president because of this.”

The U.S. bishops and popes have

been in dialogue with all modern U.S. presidents, but it should be easier for Catholic leaders to convey their concerns to a Catholic president who understands the doctrines of the faith, Father Nadolski said. “I’m very optimistic that our U.S. Catholic leaders — specifically our bishops — can work with President Biden, despite his present position as it relates to abortion,” he said. “Pope Francis has been crystal clear about the need for dialogue.”

Biden faces an overwhelming agenda at this period of time and Catholics from the ranks of Church leadership to those in the pews should offer their prayers to help guide him, Cardinal Tobin said.

The inauguration should also be a moment of celebration among the faithful to see the second Catholic president take the oath of office, whether they supported his candidacy or not, Father Nadolski said.

It’s significant that only two of 46 presidents have been Catholic, and some have expressed hope that Biden’s election means another prejudice has been overcome.

NATION+WORLD

JANUARY 28, 2021

HEADLINES u Protesters disrupt Respect Life Mass in Ohio. Several women protesting the Catholic Church’s teaching against abortion disrupted an annual Respect Life Mass being celebrated

by Bishop Robert Brennan at a downtown Columbus, Ohio, cathedral Jan. 22. The protesters, which a video posted by The Columbus Dispatch showed to number about seven, stormed into St. Joseph Cathedral during the liturgy and marched through the sanctuary. They shouted that abortion was under attack and carried cardboard signs with messages supporting abortion.

Police and diocesan officials escorted the women out of the cathedral without incident. No arrests were made. u Bishops criticize, praise President Biden’s first executive orders, initiatives. President Joe Biden’s executive orders extending existing federal nondiscrimination protections to LGBTQ people received criticism from leadership of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, as did Biden administration plans to place into law abortion rights established by the U.S. Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade. Meanwhile, USCCB leaders applauded Biden’s Inauguration Day executive action ordering the federal government to strengthen the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and an executive order reversing a policy of the Trump administration that excluded unauthorized immigrants from the U.S. Census count. The USCCB and other Catholic leaders also welcomed Biden’s announcement that the United States would rejoin the Paris climate change agreement. u Vatican officials hold funeral for man who used to live on streets nearby. Two cardinals, an archbishop and a dozen priests concelebrated a funeral Mass Jan. 25 for Roberto Mantovani, a soccer player decades ago, who spent much of the past few years living on the streets near the Vatican. The 64-year-old died in a homeless shelter by Rome’s main train station. Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, presided over the funeral Mass at the Rome parish of St. Pius X; Cardinal George Pell, who lives near where Mantovani would sleep, concelebrated, as did Archbishop Arthur Roche, secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments. Also in attendance were: volunteers from Natale 365, which runs the shelter where he was staying; Italian state police from the station on the square

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 9

where Mantovani often slept; and members of the Community of Sant’Egidio, who run the Vatican’s newest homeless shelter and coordinate distribution of food to the homeless in many areas of the city.

and two months in prison. He was ordered to pay a fine of 8,000 euros (US $9,730). All three defendants received a lifetime ban from serving in public office. They have the right to appeal the sentence.

u Home run king Hank Aaron overcame racism to excel on and off the field. Hank Aaron, who was baseball’s home run king for 33 years and overcame racism to make his mark in the game he loved, died Jan. 22 at age 86. Aaron became a Catholic while playing for the Milwaukee Braves; he joined the Baptist faith later in life. His home run consistency allowed him to amass 755 round-trippers over 23 seasons playing for the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves, and — after he had set the record for most home runs — back to Milwaukee to play for the Brewers. Aaron and his first wife, Barbara, were received into the Catholic faith in 1959.

u Famed Carmelite Latinist dies at 81. Discalced Carmelite Father Reginald Foster — a world-renowned teacher of Latin, former longtime Vatican Latinist and colorful character who intrigued journalists — died in Milwaukee Dec. 25 at age 81. Father Michael Berry, the Wisconsin-based provincial of the Discalced Carmelites, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Father Foster had tested positive for COVID-19 in early December, and he expected the official cause of death to be related complications. In a Latin-language message to the superior general of the Discalced Carmelites, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, conveyed Pope Francis’ gratitude for Father Foster’s contributions to the Church. Father Foster’s unusual method of throwing students straight into Latin texts, designed to help them love the language before memorizing grammatical rules, brought hundreds of students to his various classrooms, particularly at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University.

u Mideast Church leaders, others urge Biden to lift Syrian sanctions. In a joint letter, a group of Church leaders and international figures appealed to U.S. President Joe Biden Jan. 21 to lift economic sanctions imposed on the Syrian people and “to help Syrians alleviate a humanitarian crisis that threatens to trigger a new wave of instability in the Middle East.” Michel Abs, secretary-general of the Middle East Council of Churches, sent the letter, signed by nearly 100 political, social and religious officials from the region and the world. The signatories included Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan; Melkite Catholic Patriarch Joseph Absi; and Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II. u Former Vatican bank president sentenced for embezzlement. A former president of the Vatican bank and his lawyer were found guilty of money laundering and embezzling millions of euros from property sales. According to a statement released by the Vatican Jan. 21, Angelo Caloia, who served as president of the Institute for the Works of Religion from 1999 to 2009, and his lawyer, Gabriele Liuzzo, were sentenced to eight years and 11 months in prison for skimming profits from the sale of Vatican properties.

Giuseppe Pignatone, president of the Vatican tribunal, handed down the sentence and ordered Caloia and Liuzzo to pay a fine of 12,500 euros (US $15,200) each as well as return to the Vatican bank millions of euros frozen in their accounts at the beginning of the investigation. Lamberto Liuzzo, Gabriele’s son, was also found guilty for his involvement and was sentenced to five years

u Vatican exonerates retired Wyoming bishop of sexual abuse, but issues rebuke. The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith exonerated retired Bishop Joseph Hart of Cheyenne of seven accusations of sexual abuse of minors and determined that five other accusations “could not be proven with moral certitude,” the Diocese of Cheyenne said. However, the congregation issued a canonical rebuke of Bishop Hart “for his flagrant lack of prudence as a priest and bishop for being alone with minors in his private residence and on various trips, which could have been potential occasions endangering the ‘obligation to observe continence’ and that would ‘give rise to scandal among the faithful,’” the diocese said Jan. 25. A news release from the diocese also said the congregation rebuked Bishop Hart, 89, “for his disregard of the urgent requests that he refrain from public engagements that would cause scandal among the faithful due to the numerous accusations against him and the civil and canonical investigations and processes being conducted in his regard.” To survivors of sexual abuse, Bishop Steven Biegler of Cheyenne said in the diocesan statement, “I support and believe you.”

— Catholic News Service

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10 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

JANUARY 28, 2021 • 11

Education checkup

BANDING TOGETHER When the COVID-19 pandemic closed the doors of Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in March 2020, school leaders immediately went to work trying to figure out how to do distance learning and decide what to do for the 2020-21 school year.

Craig Junker, president of Totino-Grace High School in Fridley, was at the time leading monthly meetings of all Catholic high school presidents. He decided to go from monthly to weekly meetings so all of the presidents could exchange ideas and work together to formulate strategies. The weekly meetings started in March and went through September, dropping to once or twice a month after that.

“At the time (weekly meetings started), the questions were: What do you think about reopening? What about contracts? What about (school) enrollment? How are you raising money? Are you raising money for emergency funds? For tuition relief? How are you taking care of your teachers? What special things are you doing to be attentive to your students?” Junker recalled.

As COVID-19 spreads anxiety on top of symptoms, Catholic schools find success with in-person learning

As the school presidents met as a group to address those questions, principals were doing the same thing, as were athletic directors and even school nurses, who would be tasked with the job of monitoring students’ health and contact tracing, and giving quarantine instructions whenever there was a positive COVID-19 test or exposure to someone who had tested positive.

C

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit

OVID-19 is real at Totino-Grace High School in Fridley.

Students have tested positive for the novel coronavirus since the school’s decision to offer mostly in-person learning for the 2020-21 school year. Teachers have contracted the virus, too.

The pandemic reached all the way to the administrative offices, with Principal Cheri Broadhead testing positive in December and carrying out the mandatory quarantine.

And, President Craig Junker has had quarantine periods as well.

His situation is different than most. His wife, Jennifer, works at the school, and all three of his children are students there. In his mind, it was only a matter of time before the illness touched home, which it did in October when one of his sons announced that a T-G soccer teammate had tested positive.

“If one of our kids goes down, we all go down,” Junker said, noting that the son entered quarantine immediately and later tested negative for the virus. “That’s on our minds. So, we are particularly careful.”

Despite the risk — and the reality — of COVID-19, Junker made the decision in June 2020, with his staff’s full support, to open Totino-Grace for in-person learning in late August. Using a long list of benefits as a motivator, Junker welcomed students, staff and teachers with confidence.

And, having just six positive tests schoolwide since that date confirmed for him and others at the school that it was the right decision.

Most Catholic elementary and high schools in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis made similar moves to in-person learning at the start of the school year, using varying models and also offering distance learning for families who preferred that approach or needed to quarantine. School leaders and teachers speak confidently of their results during the first semester, pointing to positive feedback from students and parents, and even increased enrollment. All of this is taking place in the midst of continued reluctance by public schools to open their buildings and offer in-person learning. While some public school districts are now reopening, many remain closed, citing high numbers of COVID-19 cases within their boundaries.

“Many schools just look at the county: ‘The county has bad (COVID-19) numbers, we’re all closing,’” Junker said. “A county is a good number to look at. A better number is what’s happening inside the school. What are your numbers?”

In addition to overall COVID-19 numbers at a school, he said another key statistic is what he calls “community spread.” It has to do with how much an infected student, teacher or staff member spreads the virus to others at school. In the six cases at T-G, he said only one person spread it outside of the immediate family, and no one passed it to another person at the school.

Those are results he can live with, especially when weighed against all of the advantages of learning in the classroom. Other school leaders feel the same way.

“Everybody that we’ve talked to and the feedback we’ve gotten from students and parents is they love being here,” said Jim Hansen, president of Hill-Murray School in Maplewood, the first Catholic school in the archdiocese to open this school year, on Aug. 19. “It’s impossible to provide 100% proof that this is a safe environment, but we have taken every rational step we can to make it a safe environment.”

He noted that in his public school district, No. 622, 5% of public-school teachers tested positive for COVID-19 through Dec. 31 even though all their schools use distance learning, yet only 7% percent of his teachers have tested positive while spending four days a week with students under the school’s hybrid learning format. He credits detailed planning, extensive protocols that included the recent installation of a high-tech air filtration system costing $100,000, plus the full buy-in of students, teachers and parents.

School leaders acknowledge that the effort at all Catholic elementary and high schools has involved hours of extra work and lots of creativity to provide a learning environment that is both safe for students and effective for learning. But, leaders are confident of the learning models they use, and the results they have achieved.

At Totino-Grace, classrooms are limited to 15 students per class session to

In the large and new endeavor of offering in-person learning during the pandemic, school leaders and staff found strength, support and solutions by banding together. As schools have found success in their unique strategies and approaches, leaders and staff members from the respective schools continue to meet and exchange ideas, though not as frequently.

“There’s (been) lots and lots of talking among the Catholic schools,” Junker said, noting that the high schools also have started sharing their knowledge with Catholic grade schools and even public school districts. “It was hard. It was hard to try to make decisions. What was helpful was to problem solve together, to listen to other schools, and to argue it out sometimes, or just listen. I found that incredibly valuable, and I think everybody else did, too.”

— Dave Hrbacek PHOTOS BY DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Teacher Dan Vandermyde talks with students in his senior engineering cohort at Totino-Grace High School in Fridley Dec. 17, while also engaging students online via laptop. Vandermyde is the school’s assistant principal and co-director of the E3 Engineering Institute along with Matt Thibodeau, left, seated. create the proper amount of social distancing, with the other students (up to a dozen or so) spending the classroom period in either the gymnasium or school commons.

Teachers make sure that all students rotate between in-class and virtual learning on a daily or weekly basis. Also, there are a handful of students whose families have chosen exclusively to use distance learning.

“On my desk, I have two computer screens, one that I present off of, and one with a camera in which I can see the kids who are at home or in other locations (in the school building),” said teacher Brian Litecky, 42, a T-G alumnus who has children learning in-person at St. John the Baptist School in New Brighton. “Ever since the first day of the school year, I haven’t had a full class. I’ve had kids scattered all over the place throughout the year.”

Better relationships Litecky believes having students in the classroom is best “for not just educational purposes, but for relationship purposes, too.

It’s hard to develop an authentic relationship with a student through a computer screen. …

Having conversations with their teacher face-to-face is priceless.”

Erin Schmidt, another T-G teacher — who, like Litecky, is a T-G alumnus and sends her children to St. John the Baptist — also believes in-person learning is best, even though she has had COVID-19. Her positive test came in early August, so her quarantine ended by the time school started. Schmidt, 39, considers herself a valuable resource for those who wonder what it’s like to have the illness, which, in her case, produced only mild symptoms.

As a biology teacher, she sees in-person learning being especially important when it comes to labs. She shoots videos of experiments for students who are not in the

classroom to watch, and has found creative ways to keep more kids close by, utilizing a back room off the main classroom to accommodate a few students, and even having some students observe at a safe distance from a hallway right outside the classroom.

She acknowledged that the additional planning involved in this style of learning is “definitely more work,” but she has made the adjustment since the start of the school year “when it was very stressful.”

“I think the key to it is organization,” she said. “It takes time. … I’ve put in way more hours prepping at home and on weekends than probably the last 15 years of my career.”

Like Litecky, Schmidt values the rapport she’s built with students during in-class learning.

“If I was doing distance learning this whole time, I would not have the relationships I have with some of these students,” she said.

“I had a girl crying on my shoulder the other day. She was telling me some really horrible things that she’s going through. Nobody’s going to tell you on camera, on a Google Meet, that their grandma is going through cancer.”

This leads to the faith element that some point to as the biggest reason why Catholic schools are sticking with in-person learning.

Todd Flanders, who has been headmaster at Providence Academy in Plymouth since it opened in 2000, wouldn’t have it any other way.

“We made that decision late spring that we were going to be serving (students in person) five days a week,” he said. “And then, we did something very funky. At the beginning of June, I went on video and told everybody that we will be starting in September five days a week in person or your money back.”

He made good on his promise and did not refund a single dime of tuition. In fact, the

with our community about COVID cases, about close-contact quarantining, about number of cases currently active in the school,” he said. “We have a dashboard that is live every day, showing week by week, new cases, current cases, active cases. And, currently, that is zero.”

Transformative commitment

Third-grader Vivian Harms listens during math class at Holy Cross Catholic School in Webster Jan. 14. school’s overall enrollment grew this year by 55 students, with 196 students new to the school, for a total of 829 students in preschool through 12th grade. Like other schools, Providence dealt with COVID cases and quarantines, but the school has stepped forward without missing a beat. Staying open is driven by a mission that has fueled the school since its inception.

“What we do is based on why we do it,” Flanders said. “Why are we teaching children in the first place? They’re created in the image and likeness of God. They have innate dignity. God wants to see a trajectory of their growth, and we have a vocational privilege and responsibility to be there for them, if at all possible.”

‘A risk I want to take’ This passion was encapsulated in remarks made by one teacher at a faculty summit in August addressing how educators at the school feel about in-person learning.

“I allowed them to give voice to some fears,” Flanders said. “An older faculty member with (health) vulnerabilities took

the floor, the virtual floor, and said, ‘Look, I’m probably the most vulnerable person on this faculty. … (But) I want to go do my vocation. I want to do that. I want to serve.

That’s what I do.’ And, she said, ‘I realize that there’s a heightened risk, but it’s a risk I want to take. And, I don’t want to do it alone. I want us to do it together.’”

Flanders was moved by her courage. “My heart beamed,” he said. Her remarks brought him squarely back to the mission of his school.

“We’re serving children, we’re serving families,” he said. “We’re doing what God wants us to do. We’re providing the formation, and the education and the experience. And, we are instilling courage in our students, not fear.”

At the same time, Flanders is not ignoring the potential risks and disregarding the seriousness of COVID-19 and the ways it can spread. Like leaders and staff at other Catholic schools, he and school staff work diligently to stay on top of what’s going on with the illness, and react quickly to positive test results.

“We have been completely transparent

Across the board, Catholic schools in the archdiocese are succeeding with in-person learning, according to Emily Dahdah, associate director of Catholic education in the Office for the Mission of Catholic Education.

“We at the archdiocese set up a task force to assist our Catholic schools in the planning and the implementation of these health and safety protocols (expressed by government agencies like the Centers for Disease Control),” she said. “And, our schools have implemented them extraordinarily well.

These health and safety protocols are working to keep our kids safe, keep families safe, keep faculty and staff safe for in-person learning.”

In working closely with teachers and leaders at Catholic elementary and high schools, Dahdah has been heartened by the way they all have taken on extra work to fulfill a valuable service to families that goes beyond just education.

“Especially for those families struggling through the weight of the pandemic (job loss, more children at home), this commitment to providing safe in-person learning has been transformative,” she said.

“Our Catholic school teachers know that.

Our principals know that. And, that drives them to give of themselves even more, to step up. They’ve really taken on a lot. …

That’s been so edifying to see. That’s been key, that’s been foundational to the success of this whole project of in-person learning during the pandemic.”

She credited not only school leaders, but pastors and parishes who have supported schools, especially financially. Costs have

increased for items needed to clean and disinfect classrooms, desks and everything students come in contact with. Plus, there have been personnel increases to help keep track of COVID cases and do contact tracing.

Totino-Grace, for example, hired an administrative assistant to take on that task, while Hill-Murray hired a full-time nurse. The public school district had been supplying one, but it got suspended with the onset of fully distance learning.

Yet, as expenses have gone up, tuition has either remained the same or increased only slightly. Totino-Grace has announced a tuition freeze that will stay in effect through the next school year, while Providence and Hill-Murray have had only marginal increases, with Hansen at Hill-Murray noting a longtime school policy to keep tuition hikes below the current rate of inflation.

As the second semester gets underway, students, teachers, staff and families have grown accustomed to the current reality, and even are turning some attention toward having fun. At Holy Cross Catholic School in Webster, Principal Connie Krocak, who has served in Catholic education for 40 years, is brainstorming festive activities for National Catholic Schools Week, Jan. 31-Feb. 6.

“We’re hoping to do an outdoor Olympics day,” said Krocak, who has had to quarantine entire grades in the preschool-to-grade-eight school because of the smaller number of students overall. “We have lots of yard, lots of snow. We can have fun with that.”

For people like Krocak, seeing students every day is especially rewarding. It’s what has kept her in Catholic schools for four decades. She stands by the entry doors when students arrive and when they go home.

With masks and social distancing, she is not able to see their smiles or receive their hugs.

But, she was keenly aware of the emotions students carried into the building on the first day of this school year.

“It was just thrilling,” she said. “Kids came running up to the door. … It was just like a big family reunion.”

The second semester already is having a different feel than the first. As the COVID-19 vaccine becomes available, school employees are anticipating their turn within the next few weeks. Hansen said he expects all teachers and staff at Hill-Murray will be vaccinated by the end of February.

But, with 90 Catholic schools across more than 40 public school districts, it’s hard to say when the process will be completed for all Catholic school personnel in the archdiocese.

Whenever it does end, educators like Principal Broadhead at Totino-Grace think families will know and appreciate more the commitment schools like hers have made to educate their children.

“It has opened parents’ eyes to how much teachers work, how hard teachers work,” she said. “If you’re at home trying to teach your younger kids, you realize, ‘Holy cow, this is a hard job.’ What I hope it’s done is helped people value education and value teachers.”

It’s already happening, with Junker noting that a parent recently came in and dropped off $50 gift cards for every staff member at the school. But, the biggest gift of all would simply be an end to the pandemic and a return to normal. Already, the anticipation for that is building.

“I’m so thrilled, I’m excited,” Broadhead said of the upcoming arrival of a vaccine.

“I hope that we can be back to normal next fall. … I really hope for our students’ sake that they can go back to normal and just enjoy each other, enjoy their relationships, enjoy their activities.”

And, “live their lives without such anxiety and fear.”

12 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

JANUARY 28, 2021

FAITH+CULTURE

Thanks a million Two archdiocesan schools receive $500,000 gift from anonymous donor

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit

S

ue Lovegreen, principal at Presentation of Mary Catholic School in Maplewood, said she could tell by the sound of Brian Ragatz’s voice that something was up.

“You could hear the smile in his voice,” she said about that call late last year from the president of the Catholic Schools Center of Excellence.

“It was like a little kid with a surprise he just couldn’t wait to share,” Lovegreen said. She guessed SUE LOVEGREEN it was financial help. And she was right — except for the dollar amount.

Lovegreen thought it might be word on a grant for which she applied — and could be for $10,000, $20,000, maybe even $25,000.

To Lovegreen’s surprise, Ragatz relayed that an anonymous donor had given Presentation school $500,000.

INNA Less than three miles away, Inna COLLIER PASKE Collier Paske, principal at St. Pascal Regional Catholic School in St. Paul, received a similar call from Ragatz — that the same donor had given her school a $500,000 gift.

“It was amazing,” Collier Paske said. “It definitely felt like a Christmas miracle for us.”

Flabbergasted by the amount, Lovegreen said, “We don’t get these gifts very often, and how beautiful that (the donor) wants to stay anonymous. I really want to honor that person (by) being a good steward of this gift because they want to touch the minds and hearts and the souls of our students and leave a legacy.”

Both schools are determining specifics on how the money will be used as they take a deliberative approach and plan for the future.

Presentation plans to set aside half of the gift amount in an endowment to secure the school’s financial longevity, Lovegreen said.

“We’re hoping to encourage other constituents and donors to add to that, so that our endowment grows and that, again, gives us sustainability,” she said, with the goal to revitalize and strengthen their school.

Other uses for the funds will be identified from information collected in surveys from Presentation's staff and school families, and from a comprehensive assessment, Lovegreen said. Some ideas include bringing arts back to the school and improving the science curriculum for middle school students.

“We will use feedback … to help guide our focused areas, and then we’ll be using our guiding principles to make decisions going forward,” she said.

St. Pascal formed a team with input from teachers, parents and the school board to maximize the benefit for its entire school community, Collier Paske said.

“It definitely will be a plan that will contribute to the longevity of the school and help our school thrive for the future,” she said.

While categories are not yet defined, Collier Paske said that improving programs for students would be key

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

From left, second-graders Zariah Thomas and Rory Englund work in class at Presentation of Mary Catholic School in Maplewood. “because students are the center of everything.”

“We are very grateful for this anonymous donor,” Collier Paske said. “I think that the best gift, the best thank-you to this donor is when we continue to give back … to keep paying it forward … to the families — an excellence that we can provide at the school and keep striving (for) at our school.”

“We couldn’t be more thrilled to support these two wonderful schools with such amazing traditions,” said Ragatz, who took the leadership position at Edina-based CSCOE last summer after serving as principal of St. Michael Catholic School in St. Michael. “Although there is still a need for additional financial support, this is a game-changing investment, and I know the schools will use it in game-changing ways to support the students now while building a future for generations to come.”

Educator, G.K. Chesterton scholar receives presidential appointment

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit As he takes on a new presidential appointment on the National Board of Education Sciences, Dale Ahlquist hopes to make a case for the importance of faith in all education, he said recently on a Catholic radio show.

The co-founder of Chesterton Academy in Hopkins and a G.K. Chesterton scholar is beginning a four-year position on the board, an independent body in the U.S. Department of Education. The White House announced the appointment Dec. 3.

“It … evaluates all of the data and statistics of our schools in the United

States,” Ahlquist explained during a recent interview that aired Jan. 1-3 for “Practicing Catholic” — formerly called “The Rediscover: Hour” — on Relevant Radio 1330 AM. “Practicing Catholic” is produced by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and Relevant Radio.

Ahlquist told DALE AHLQUIST “Practicing Catholic” host Patrick Conley that he expects his role to include reviewing school performance, techniques being used for teaching and how they’re evaluated. He will travel twice annually to Washington, and he will be part of a voting body that makes recommendations on current programs and policies.

Ahlquist hopes to be able to take a stand for the importance of being able to teach the faith. “There has to be a way for schools to accommodate belief as part of the development of a person,” he said.

Prohibiting faith and religion from being part of the discussion and development interferes with the wholeness of the person, he said.

“I’ll be … making a good case for why, traditionally, faith is something that’s taught along with everything else,” he said. “And I think there’s a way to do it, even in a … secular setting. And I think it could be done without violating the Constitution or anyone’s human dignity.”

Paraphrasing the British writer and Catholic convert G.K. Chesterton, Ahlquist said freedom of speech is supposed to mean that everyone is free

to discuss their religion, but in practice, it means that no one is even permitted to mention it.

Ahlquist is president of the Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton, and he was introduced on the “Practicing Catholic” episode as one of the world’s most respected Chesterton scholars.

He also is an experienced educator.

Chesterton Academy in Hopkins, a high school using a classical Catholic curriculum, has been rated one of the top 50 Catholic high schools in the U.S. He serves as president of the Chesterton Schools Network, which includes 30 high schools in the U.S. and other countries.

“We emphasize the arts and philosophy and complete thinking along with the other things … expected to be taught in school, like math and science,” Ahlquist said. “But what’s missing from most school curriculums is how to think and teaching reason.”

He continued: “And then, of course, giving it meaning by teaching faith, and faith and reason going together, but also the arts, which have been really neglected. … We teach all our kids how to paint and draw and all of them get on stage and act.”

All Chesterton Academy students participate in choir for four years, too.

Great artistic development is important for the soul, he said.

In the interview, Ahlquist noted that prior to co-founding Chesterton Academy, he worked as a lobbyist in Washington. The experience gives him insight into how politics work, he said, which he hopes serves him well in his new role.

FAITH+CULTURE

JANUARY 28, 2021

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 13

With parent guide, St. Agnes aimed to ease challenges of distance learning transition

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit A suggested schedule, daily task list and ideas on how to set family goals.

A list of virtues to practice, strategies to keep kids focused and a reminder to play.

And its first instruction: “Stay calm!”

Before many parents realized they might benefit from a guide helping them navigate the transition to distance learning, St. Agnes School in St. Paul did. As COVID-19 forced schools across Minnesota to transition to distance learning, school leaders sent it out by email: a 17-page PDF, simply titled “K-6 Parent Resource Guide.”

On Facebook, one Catholic school parent commented: “This will prove to be a lifesaver.”

Last March, as schools across Minnesota prepared to close their campuses, the faculty of St. Agnes met on a Friday to discuss the unprecedented situation and develop a plan for their students. Among the ideas was a guide to help families as they took on a new role in their children’s education.

Third-grade teacher Rose Coleman volunteered to spearhead the project.

By Sunday afternoon, the “K-6 Parent Resource Guide” was done. Some of it was gleaned from resources St. Agnes already used, like a list of 50 acts of kindness a child could do. Much of it, however, Coleman wrote for the unique circumstances.

The “K-6 Parent Resource Guide” was designed to address the whole child, with sections on spiritual, emotional, physical

Roadmap prompts schools office changes

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit The Roadmap for Excellence in Catholic Education continues to move forward, with significant changes to the Office for the Mission of Catholic Education, said Jason Slattery, director of Catholic education in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

The office announced Jan. 26 it is reorganizing into three different departments: Department of Catholic Schools, Department of Parish Catechesis, and Department of Educational Quality and Excellence.

Directors for each are experienced OMCE staff members Gayle Stoffel, Eric Pederson and Emily Dahdah, respectively.

The archdiocese founded the OMCE in 2015 after dissolving a longtime Office for Catholic Schools in an effort to refocus limited resources on the broad work of Catholic education, which includes Catholic schools, parish catechetical programs and homeschooling. The office has

collaborated with numerous community partners to meet student needs.

The new departments will help the OMCE better “drive” recommendations coming out of the Roadmap work, Slattery said. They also address governance of Catholic schools, one of the Roadmap’s five focus areas.

The others are talent management, curriculum and metrics, access and sustainability, and mission schools and their governance.

The Roadmap initiative launched in 2019 to coordinate a strategic approach to strengthen Catholic education within the archdiocese. The initiative draws from local and national leaders with expertise in various aspects of Catholic education to make quality education accessible and sustainable.

Also coming out of the Roadmap are several new OMCE positions, including a recruitment specialist to address Catholic school talent development and leadership, and another staff member to help schools navigate applying for state and federal funding available for nonpublic schools.

and academic needs, in the context of the pandemic and transition to at-home learning.

But, with its practical focus, it easily applied to ordering home life regardless of COVID-19. It spread well beyond the St. Agnes community, and some schools adapted it to share with their own communities, said Michael Adkins, St. Agnes’ lower school director.

For Coleman, creating the guide was an outgrowth of her teaching. “My role as a teacher is to support parents as the primary educators of their students,” she said.

That clearly came through for parent Emily VanHeel, 43, a mother of five with St. Agnes students in sixth, fourth and first grades. She said the guide “set us up for success for all of our family life

in that time. It wasn’t just focusing on, ‘Here’s what to do for school.’ It talks about how school was just going to be part of our day, that it was important that we have prayer time and down time, are physically active and have meals together. … I felt like that was so helpful since it was a weird time. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh, we’re doing school at home.’

Everything changed.”

With the distance learning experience of the past year, “I’ve noticed a real shift in the parents, as they are more attentive to the curriculum of our school and their child’s academic abilities,” Coleman said.

“I think there’s just been a beautiful, new collaboration that I’ve seen happening with the parents to help them put a plan into place … to be more successful,” she added.

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14 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

JANUARY 28, 2021

New St. Thomas Academy leader brings entrepreneurial spirit and cowboy boots

By Christina Capecchi For The Catholic Spirit

K

elby Woodard became headmaster at St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights last summer. He and his wife, Donna, who are parents of five (ages 9 to 24), now live a half-mile from the school. He reflected on the range of experiences that prepared him for this role, including serving two terms in the Minnesota State Legislature from 2011-2014, representing Le Sueur, Rice and Scott counties. “There is a sense of responsibility,” he said of leading St. Thomas Academy, an all-male Catholic college preparatory school with a military leadership program. “It’s such a formative time, and there are no do-overs. That’s the hardest part of the job, to not let that become overwhelming.” A Texas native, Woodard moved to Minnesota in 2009.

Q Your entry into politics was

fascinating, unseating the incumbent in your district in 2010 by just 37 votes — after a recount! Did you feel added pressure to earn the trust of your constituents?

A I don’t think so. In fact, it gave me

more leeway. I was almost identified as a dead man walking. There was no way I was going to win re-election, which kind of takes the pressure off. That’s why I carried the 2011 bill for opportunity scholarship for school choice. It was a political hot potato, but I took it on.

I was considered a one-term, and people thought I could do it.

I spent a lot of time in the areas of the district that were not very supportive of me during the election, and I got a lot of points for listening. It didn’t necessarily change the principles by which I ran, but I got to understand people’s perspectives better because I learned to listen.

Q What did you learn from your

two terms in the Minnesota House of Representatives?

ACathSpMM-Jan14-2021.qxp_Layout The interesting thing about 1

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

year, the Democrats or the Republicans could be running the House or Senate, so you develop a relationship with both sides of the aisle, recognizing that you have to treat each fairly. You’re one election away from being the minority party. It felt like a very collaborative approach.

Q You also worked in corporate

America — at Target — and as an entrepreneur, founding a global security consulting firm and an import software company. Do you view your position at STA through a fresh, entrepreneurial lens?

A Going into an entrepreneurial role,

you learn to look at things with a brandnew perspective, charging forward with things when you think they’re good ideas and taking a few risks. St. Thomas Academy has a long and storied history and is very strong in tradition. The positive piece is we’re very grounded in who we are. But the negative can be we might do things just because we’ve always done them that way. I find my role oftentimes is coming in and saying, “Well, why?” Maybe there is a good answer. It’s looking at every aspect of what we do and if we could do it better.

1/6/21 2:29 PM

Minnesota politics is that, any given

Q Can you give an example?

A I inherited a capital campaign

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that was about a third of the way through. About 80% was toward a major expansion of the campus — $30 million to create 30,000 more square feet of campus space. About 20% was toward the endowment

and financial sustainability. After evaluating it and talking to lots of donors and constituents, we decided to flip the script and devote that 80% to an endowment to make the school more accessible, raising money around making sure we have scholarships to provide to families who are perfect fits for STA but otherwise couldn’t afford to be here.

Q When you look back at the

circuitous route you took to get to this position, what do you make of it?

A It’s God’s plan! No doubt.

Q When you founded Cristo Rey,

a Catholic college prep school in Dallas in 2015, setting up corporate partnerships was vital in order to fund it. Would you consider doing something similar for STA, if not for donations, in order to mentor students and establish more robust networking?

A Absolutely! We have Cadets who are

excelling in STEM, who are excelling in areas that corporations really need help with. Our experimental vehicle team is recognized by NASA! So getting in front of Ecolab and 3M makes sense.

You want to know who the next great scientists are going to be? They’re here at St. Thomas Academy!

Q Was that kind of corporate

partnering already in place and do you plan to beef it up?

A We’re going to beef it up heavily.

We have to change how we talk to

people. It’s about collaboration, not direct support. That’s the winning relationship.

Q What a time to become headmaster, in the height of a pandemic!

A Well, the really fun part was I was

still at Cristo Rey developing our crisis response (when I was named headmaster last March) and, at the same time, being a part of what St. Thomas Academy was doing virtually. What a great way to cross-pollinate ideas! It was really powerful.

This time has crystalized the power of the Cadet experience and the blessing of being in person five days a week since day one. And the Cadets themselves are the ones teaching this lesson. Now they really understand the power of being here as a corps of Cadets, as a team. It’s not replicated on the other end of a computer, and they value it.

Q Besides your unique mix of

experience and being a father to a current Cadet, what distinguishes you?

A I’m probably the only head of a

Catholic high school in Minnesota who wears cowboy boots every day. I grew up in small-town Texas, and my first job was at a Belgian horse ranch.

Q What helps you manage stress?

A 7:15 morning Mass (at school). It’s

incredible. There are days when I can’t go, and it’s a different day.

JANUARY 28, 2021

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 15

FOCUSONFAITH SUNDAY SCRIPTURES | FATHER LEONARD ANDRIE

Our vocation is love

Many years ago, before my ordination, I spoke with a priest in confession about some trouble I was having in a relationship. The priest listened calmly. Once I finished, he looked up and said in his typical witty fashion, “Sometimes, it’s nice just to go home and look at the pictures on the wall.”

He always had a way of making me laugh.

In the readings for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, St. Paul, speaking to the Corinthians, provides sound advice to both the married and unmarried. Marriage is a noble vocation. Noble, but also challenging, because much anxiety comes with it. There are concerns not only about one’s spouse and children, but also with financial security, jobs, mortgages, and most important, keeping peace with the in-laws. I am convinced there are far more married saints in heaven over the centuries than the Church has formally recognized.

Naturally, the unmarried have their share of anxieties, too.

However, notice that St. Paul highlights a great blessing that comes with this state in life. The heart is undivided. There are some, as Jesus says, who renounce marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven (Mt 19:12). In other words, some forgo the beautiful sacrament of marriage to embrace Christ with an undivided heart, i.e., to love him generously through a life of service to his Church.

Marriage and celibacy/virginity are two ways of living and expressing our covenant with Christ. And they complement each

ASK FATHER MIKE | FATHER MICHAEL SCHMITZ

At the Last Judgment, we will know ‘The Story’ Q Thank you for the lesson on the particular judgment, Father (Dec. 3, 2020, issue). But the person wrote and asked about the Final Judgment. What is that?

A Yes, sorry. I just wanted to clarify that the first

judgment (the particular or individual judgment every person goes through) is permanent. The Last Judgment is not an “appeal” before the Judge so that maybe he reverses the original judgment. That doesn’t happen. There is no Court of Appeals in heaven; the divine judge doesn’t need one.

The Last Judgment refers to the end of time. There was a beginning of time. There was a “time” when time did not exist. The moment God determined to create all of creation, he started The Story.

When he returns, it will mark the end of The Story of this creation.

Everything about this universe (or even multi-verse, if you are into that) will be completed. There will be no more people, no more stories, no more choices in this world. The Story will be concluded, and the last page will have been written.

At the Last Judgment, all will be raised bodily. This means that, until this moment, all those who have died will experience eternal separation from God or eternal union with God outside of their bodies. But God’s plan is that we will be reunited with our bodies for eternity. We are meant to share in the resurrection of Christ. At this moment, “all who are in the tombs will hear (the Son of Man’s) voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment” (Jn 5:28-29).

What will this judgment look like?

Jesus describes it in Matthew 25 as separating the sheep from the goats. He says that the Son of Man will come “in his glory, and all the angels with him. ... Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. … And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Mt 25:31, 32, 46).

But even more, at this judgment, we will come to know fully The Story. And this is something that blows my mind. At the end of all things, God will fully reveal to all the entire story.

Consider all of the questions you might have about God. We ask why God allows certain evils to continue. We ask why God doesn’t do more to eliminate suffering. We ask where God is in the midst of our daily lives. At the Last Judgment, all of this will be known.

other well. Marriage, for its part, reveals the depths of God’s love for each and every person. In marriage, spouses invest so much of their lives in each other. There is something quite beautiful and holy about husbands and wives sacrificing for each other and their children day in and day out. Sacramentally, they give us a window into God’s love for the human race, and more particularly, Christ’s love for the Church.

Celibacy/virginity, on the other hand, reveals the breadth of God’s love for all people. St. Paul reminds us that the Lord wills everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth (1 Tim. 2:4). Priests and consecrated religious, forgoing the beauty of marriage, devote all their energy to building up God’s kingdom by generously serving his Church. As such, they give us a window into the primacy of God’s kingdom and remind us that God must be our first and deepest love.

In short, marriage reveals the depths of God’s love for each person, while celibacy/virginity reveals the breadth of God’s love for all people. Together, marriage and celibacy/virginity reveal the totality of Jesus’ love expressed on the cross, a love that conforms us to Christ.

Regardless of our vocation, St. Thérèse of Lisieux reminds us that love is at the heart of every vocation. “I understood,” she says, “that love comprised all vocations, that love was everything, that it embraced all times and all places … in a word, that it was eternal!”

In our prayers each day, we can ask Jesus for the grace to love as he loves: freely, faithfully, generously and joyously. The more we receive Christ’s love and share his love in our vocation, the more fulfilled and happier we will be. Or better, the greater saint we will become.

St. Thérèse, pray for us!

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

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “We shall know the ultimate meaning of the whole work of creation and of the entire economy of salvation and understand the marvelous ways by which his Providence led everything towards its final end” (1040).

Think of what this means. It means that the day will come when not only the meaning of life is fully revealed and fully known, but also the meaning of every single moment of history is known fully by every human being who has ever lived. We will see all of the hidden ways that God was present and was working in silence and hiddenness. We will see how he was able to bring about justice and love through all that he allowed to happen during The Story.

We know that God only allows evil to happen because he knows that he can (and will!) bring a greater good out of it. Again, the catechism states, “The Last Judgment will reveal that God’s justice triumphs over all the injustices committed by his creatures and that God’s love is stronger than death” (1040).

There is something more that many people forget about the Last Judgment. Jesus had noted that “there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known.

Whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops” (Lk 12:2-3). At the end of The Story, we will know everyone’s individual story fully. We will know every little and every grave sin that every person ever committed. We will know every act of goodness or generosity or love that they chose.

The catechism puts it like this: “In the presence of Christ, who is Truth itself, the truth of each man’s relationship with God will be laid bare” (1039). I understand if this reality is less appealing. Not many of us would get excited over the fact that people will know every one of our worst moments. But this is an incredible gift.

First, this is a gift because it is the only way that we can be fully loved: if we are fully known. You will know everyone in heaven fully — and you will be fully known. This means that you will be free to be fully loved and to fully love. The revelation of our choices is not meant to embarrass or puff anyone up. It is oriented toward one purpose: love.

What is more, because of the Last Judgment, in heaven there will be no room for shame and no room for pride. You could imagine that it might be a temptation in heaven for someone to be ashamed of all the evil they had done on earth. And you might imagine that it could be a temptation to be proud of all of the good that a person might have done on earth. But when we “fully know,” part of what we will know is all of the hidden battles every person was fighting along the way. Part of what we will know is all of the hidden graces God had supplied for those incredible moments of virtue.

So there will be no room for shame, because all will know your hidden wounds and will know how God had helped you in moments of greatness. Imagine the freedom of heaven! Completely free because you will be completely known and understood! And in that understanding, you will be completely loved.

PLEASE TURN TO ASK FATHER MIKE ON PAGE 19

DAILY Scriptures Sunday, Jan. 31 Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Dt 18:15-20 1 Cor 7:32-35 Mk 1:21-28 Monday, Feb. 1 Heb 11:32-40 Mk 5:1-20 Tuesday, Feb. 2 Feast of the Presentation of the Lord Mal 3:1-4 Heb 2:14-18 Lk 2:22-40 or 2:22-32 Wednesday, Feb. 3 Heb 12:4-7, 11-15 Mk 6:1-6 Thursday, Feb. 4 Heb 12:18-19, 21-24 Mk 6:7-13 Friday, Feb. 5 St. Agatha, virgin and martyr Heb 13:1-8 Mk 6:14-29 Saturday, Feb. 6 St. Paul Miki and companions, martyrs Heb 13:15-17, 20-21 Mk 6:30-34 Sunday, Feb. 7 Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Jb 7:1-4, 6-7 1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23 Mk 1:29-29 Monday, Feb. 8 Gn 1:1-19 Mk 6:53-56 Tuesday, Feb. 9 Gn 1:20–2:4a Mk 7:1-13 Wednesday, Feb. 10 St. Scholastica, virgin Gn 2:4b-9, 15-17 Mk 7:14-23 Thursday, Feb. 11 Gn 2:18-25 Mk 7:24-30 Friday, Feb. 12 Gn 3:1-8 Mk 7:31-37 Saturday, Feb. 13 Gn 3:9-24 Mk 8:1-10 Sunday, Feb. 14 Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Lv 13:1-2, 44-46 1 Cor 10:31–11:1

16 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

JANUARY 28, 2021

COMMENTARY FAITH AT HOME | LAURA KELLY FANUCCI

The one certain truth of 2021

“A baby is God’s way of saying the world should go on.”

My mother spoke this truth a thousand times while I was growing up. She said it every time we heard news of a friend or relative expecting a baby, but also each time the world darkened with terrible suffering or personal tragedy. She saw in each human life a great possibility: the prospect of new beginnings meeting the promise of hope.

Even in the worst times, if God was still creating, then we could keep going.

After a long, hard 2020, here we stand at the beginning of a new year. What will 2021 hold? What will happen next?

We cannot know what the next 12 months will bring, but one truth is certain: If you’re reading these words, then 2021 has arrived and brought you with it.

God has decided the world will keep going for now.

Every beginning is an urge forward. Each dawn affirms that the world is still here. The end has not yet come, and God’s mercies are new every morning, each year (Lam 3:23).

We have been given the chance to begin anew.

Family life brims with beginnings. From marriage to birth, from baptism to confirmation, from the first day of school to the last graduation, we are always beginning again as families.

Each stage brings joys and sorrows, gains and losses, hardships and holiness. Through every season, families share one truth in common: They are always changing and beginning again.

Children arrive and grow. Parents mature and age.

New callings are born as children become parents and

YOUR HEART, HIS HOME | LIZ KELLY

This year, let’s help bring others to life In 1952, a little boy named Leslie was born prematurely in the Midwest. He had brain damage, cerebral palsy and problems so severe with his eyes they had to be removed.

His birth mother put him up for adoption. The county asked a local nurse-governess, May Lemke, 52, who had already raised five children of her own, if she would take the child, warning her that he would surely die, and soon.

May’s response? “Not under my care.”

When Leslie first arrived at May’s, though he was 6 months old, he was so weak and lifeless that May couldn’t tell if he was asleep. He was unable to eat or swallow, and the first few hours under May’s care were critical. She stayed up all night nursing him with slippery elm and massaging his throat in an effort to help him eat. Neighbors and friends thought she was crazy, but she said, “I talked to God about it and he said, ‘Give it a try, May!’” And try she did. Miraculously, Leslie was soon eating — and growing stronger every day.

At 10 years old, Leslie had grown to a normal size but was still completely dependent. He was non-conversant and unable to stand. The spasticity in his limbs was so severe he couldn’t hold a utensil. But May, determined

You are one of God’s ways of saying the world should go on.

You are given this day to live into the hope of a new beginning.

iSTOCK PHOTO | THEKOPMYLIFE

parents become grandparents. Generations begin and end, each one shaping the next.

Think about your nieces or nephews, children or grandchildren, parents or grandparents, cousins, aunts or uncles. Think about your closest friends (the ones you cherish like a chosen family) or your brothers and sisters in Christ who belong to your church community.

Every family has someone who needs the hope of a new beginning right now. Not the shiny prospect of a new year, but the lasting hope of Christ’s love. The renewal that comes from remembering the unshakable truth that we are beloved by God. Scripture encourages us to keep this edge of openness to God’s love of beginnings. As St. Paul wrote, “So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: The old things have passed away; behold, new things have come” (2 Cor 5:17).

We are always becoming new in Christ. Each time we renew our baptismal vows, receive the sacrament of reconciliation or recommit to the everyday work of our callings, we reaffirm the ever-newness of life itself. Faith keeps us growing and changing, greeting each fresh year

and each day’s dawn with a prayer of gratitude for the chance to begin anew.

You are one of God’s ways of saying the world should go on. You are given this day to live into the hope of a new beginning.

The deepest truth about any year is that God has created it and God will watch over each creature within it. All earthly certainties may crumble, but eternal life and divine love will never end.

Within this assurance, we can begin again in hope.

God saw fit that creation needed each one of us and that the world should keep spinning, even through the darkest days until now. How can our families become places of faith and forgiveness where each member returns to be renewed and begin again? What resolution might we make in prayer to deepen our love for God and for each other this year?

that Leslie should have as full a life as possible, created a contraption whereby she strapped Leslie to her back — she wasn’t even 5 feet tall — and carried him. She told him, “This is what it feels like to walk, and soon you’ll be able to walk too.” By age 12, Leslie was able to hold himself up. In a priceless scene in the television movie that was made of Leslie’s life, May, jubilant at this achievement, raises her hands to heaven and says, “Thank you, Lord! But don’t think this is the last thing I’m going to ask you for!”

By age 15, Leslie was walking. He could dress himself, use the bathroom and feed himself.

Far more extraordinary was Leslie’s relationship to music. May and her husband, Joe, noted that Leslie brightened when he heard it, so they bought him a piano. In the same fashion as her walking contraption, May placed Leslie’s hands atop hers while she played simple tunes. It wasn’t long before Leslie began to play on his own, the spasticity in his hands miraculously disappearing when he touched the keys. Soon he was playing the piano and singing songs verbatim after hearing them only once, never having had a single music lesson.

In an especially memorable moment, May and Joe were awakened in the middle of the night to hear Leslie playing Tchaikovsky’s “Piano Concerto No. 1” flawlessly. It had been the theme song from a movie Leslie had listened to the previous evening. “God’s miracle,” said May, “came into full bloom that night.”

Through his music, Leslie Lemke’s personality shines, playful and creative. Now 68, he has charmed and amazed audiences around the world. And in the 1980s, when May developed Alzheimer’s, falling prey to a terrible vacant silence, it was Leslie’s music that would bring her back to life. As he played, she would revive and say, “That’s my boy.”

Whose faith will you bring to life this year? Who in your world needs a leg up, some assistance and your

determination to find their miraculous flourishing?

All-powerful Father, there is no such thing as “a hopeless case” when you are at the helm. And when I am blind to it, enliven my faith to see the delightful, surprising, generosity of your plan.

Fanucci, a parishioner of St. Joseph the Worker in Maple Grove, 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.

Kelly is the author of nine books including the award-winning “Jesus Approaches” and “Love Like A Saint: Cultivating Virtue with Holy Women” (2021).

Visit her website at lizk.org.

LETTERS Pipeline 3 Project concerns I am writing to respectfully ask you to bring to mind the conflict over the installation of Pipeline 3 in northern Minnesota. I have been raised to view this world as God’s world, and that it is our responsibility as God’s people to care for this world and all the creatures that live on it. I believe the pipeline obstructs rather than facilitates this.

All Minnesotans are joined by our love of our state, and if the pipeline were to break, we will lose a precious part of our home here on Earth.

Furthermore, the way in which our indigenous relatives’ voices have been ignored and at times even met with violence should concern those of us who call ourselves followers of Jesus. Please consider this issue carefully, and know that whatever you believe I am praying for you with love. May God lead you beside still waters.

Lynnsey Plaisance St. Timothy, Blaine CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

JANUARY 28, 2021

CATHOLIC WATCHMEN | DEACON GORDON BIRD

Journey with St. Joseph

If there were ever a year as a Catholic Christian to go on a journey with St. Joseph — most just, most chaste, most prudent, most courageous, most obedient, most faithful — to both learn and experience his litany of attributes, we are in it.

The Holy Father, our own archdiocese, Catholic multimedia, and the many movements whose apostolates support the vital necessity of family life are providing an abundance of spiritual devotions, learning resources and material goods.

And designed to help see through the lens of this “just man” as he is presented in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, Catholic Watchmen strive to emulate his spiritual fatherhood — married, single, celibate or consecrated.

Our own Catechism of the Catholic Church describes scripturally the habits and firm disposition of a life of virtue — such as one led by St. Joseph: “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is anything of excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Phil 4:8).

COMMENTARY The teachings on the virtues follow those of the moral conscience — either choosing in accord with a well-formed conscience “with reason and the divine law” or slipping into “erroneous judgment.” Decisions that the leader of the Holy Family made — albeit silent in the Scriptures — were reached through faith, hope and love. Politics, safety and the rule of government were all in play in the life of the Holy Family.

St. Joseph’s decisions were made in an environment not unlike the environment we preside in today, specifically concerning the needs of our families, our parishes, our communities and our country. To choose wisely takes hard work. Seeking the truth on issues, options and solutions, in order to act with a well-formed conscience often requires immense discipline. Skill and open-mindedness are necessary to navigate, investigate and study multiple resources. Some sources or places may not be so friendly to Christian beliefs as it relates to families, relatives and friends in some or many cases. St. Joseph gives faith and hope as we read, observe, learn and contemplate his life of virtue. What better time than now?

Feb. 15 is a great time for Watchmen groups and others to dedicate time to a consecration to St. Joseph.

This devotion is for individuals and groups of any manageable size to study, pray and integrate their lives with this virtuous man and the Holy Family. A 33-day preparation period presents itself and comes to fruition on March 19 — the feast of St. Joseph — with a prayer of consecration to this holy man for his powerful intercession. More about the preparation period and the year of St. Joseph is at archspm.org/synod/stjoseph.

As Catholic Watchmen groups move from Zoom to more personal gatherings, material for ongoing

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 17 discussions and prayer vigils based on the book the archdiocese recommends — “Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of our Spiritual Father,” by Father Donald Calloway — is abundant. To “pray with persistence and with devotion to Jesus, Mary and Joseph” and to “strive to be a spiritual father like St. Joseph” encompasses two of the three Catholic Watchmen daily disciplines. In the middle lies “encounter Jesus in sacred Scriptures.”

These disciplines are meant for all Catholic men, their families, and prayer and study groups via spiritual provision and leadership. It is paramount in helping to fight against both the spiritual and physical attacks that exist today against the dignity of life and the family.

Most of 2020 challenged our wits, patience, relationships, vocations, places to worship, the availability to serve others, educational systems, entertainment venues — and the list goes on. Yet, there are stories where many were healed and strengthened in holiness during this time.

Dedicate a time for consecration to St. Joseph — and lead others if you have already gone through one!

Continue with a monthly Holy Hour that emphasizes the litany and the virtues of St. Joseph — first Saturdays, for example. Praying with persistence with a devotion to Jesus, Mary and Joseph emulates the holiest of families, who certainly had their share of spiritual warfare.

Ite ad Ioseph! Go to St. Joseph in 2021.

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

INSIDE THE CAPITOL | MCC

LETTERS CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

Supporting Catholic schools, students

Fueling the fire

Editor’s note: “Inside the Capitol” is a new update from Minnesota Catholic Conference during the state legislative session. It replaces “Faith in the Public Arena.”

Supporting school choice National School Choice Week is underway (Jan. 24-30). Minnesota legislators have introduced multiple bills aimed at creating more educational opportunities for students. In the House, H.F. 153, authored by Reps. Robbins, Dettmer and Koznick, would make nonpublic schools a more affordable option by extending the education tax credit to include tuition as an eligible expense. In the Senate, the Education Committee chairman, Sen. Roger Chamberlain, has introduced a bill that would stimulate the creation of more opportunity scholarships by providing tax credits for donors to scholarship-granting organizations such as the Aim Higher Foundation.

House and Senate Republicans have committed to making school choice a priority this session, as many kids are falling behind during online schooling, and parents are struggling to help their kids play catchup. Low-income families, those most harmed by the absence of in-person learning, need more options.

Minnesota Catholic Conference and its school choice partner organization, Opportunity for All Kids (opportunityforallkids.org), will continue to track school choice efforts and ways you can help make these opportunities a reality for Minnesota students.

Nonpublic schools and COVID-19 As all schools, public and nonpublic alike, have borne the cost of meeting the challenges of the pandemic, there should be equitable treatment in state and federal aid programs to schools. In the most recent federal coronavirus relief bill, Congress allotted $41.9 million to nonpublic schools across Minnesota. Our state’s portion is part of a larger $2.75 billion Emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools Program (EANS). Because states must proactively

Pray for your elected officials. They need your prayers for guidance as they form decisions that impact life, dignity and the common good. Go to mncatholic.org/actioncenter to let your elected officials know you are praying for them.

apply for this nonpublic school aid, the Minnesota Catholic Conference partnered with the Minnesota Independent School Forum (MISF) and encouraged Gov. Tim Walz to submit a request to the U.S. Department of Education. We will continue to work with the administration to ensure that nonpublic schools receive the aid that was provided by Congress, and that the funds are distributed equitably across school populations.

Collaborating for the common good Meeting the challenges of the pandemic has generated an unprecedented level of collaboration in the nonpublic school community around Minnesota.

As a result, MCC and MISF are leading a formal coalition of nonpublic school stakeholders called Minnesota Nonpublic Education Partners.

The state of Minnesota provides certain forms of student aid irrespective of the school choice that families make, meaning that nonpublic school students receive things such as textbooks, counseling and transportation aid. In 2021, the Nonpublic Education Partners coalition is pursuing legislation that would add more flexibility regarding transportation aid for nonpublic students, extend guidance counseling and mental health services to nonpublic students in grades K-7, and provide nonpublic schools with the same funding that public schools may receive through a renewal of the Safe Schools Program.

I am very upset with The Catholic Spirit’s Jan. 14 edition! We are in the midst of a pandemic and a very contentious transfer of the presidency, and the opinion section and front page added to the frenzy instead of trying to create an atmosphere of reconciliation that could help us move forward. I have submitted letters to other newspapers and have always received phone calls verifying the “facts” in what I wrote about, so they would not be spreading untruths in the letters they published. Here is a sampling of what cannot be proven to be true: “Biden is … totally divisive and dishonest.” “Joe Biden is involved with China.” “President Trump’s handling of this crisis has saved many lives.” “President Trump has done a fantastic job getting our economy to work much better than any other president.” “Capital punishment is not intrinsically immoral.”

Teresa Hawkins St. Pascal Baylon, St. Paul

Do better than sound bites I was disheartened by the tone of the letters to the editor in the Jan. 14 edition of the Catholic Spirit. I was hoping our Church could begin this new chapter in our country with grace and humility, yet the letters I read were bitter and resentful towards those they did not agree with. I wrote a short prayer: Lord, may we see your truth and not fall prey to those malevolent forces who wish to manipulate us. Lord, may we acknowledge all evils in this world: racism, cruelty, xenophobia, and may we strive for a seamless garment of life from conception to natural death.

Lord, may we give grace in abundance to those we do not agree with, and may we see the full complexity of their personhood, and not make judgments based on what we see through television sound bites and Facebook posts.

Nick Hansen Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis Share your perspective by emailing TheCatholicSpirit@ Please limit your letter to the editor to 150 words and include your parish and phone number.

The Commentary pages do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Catholic Spirit. Read more letters from our readers at TheCatholicSpirit.com. archspm.org.

“Inside the Capitol” is a weekly update from Minnesota Catholic Conference staff while the Minnesota State Legislature is in session. Sign up for The Catholic Spirit’s Friday newsletter at TheCatholicSpirit.com for each update.

18 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

JANUARY 28, 2021

Why I am Catholic

By Jerry White

“

I

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

grew up Baptist in south Minneapolis and was given the

standing with the congregation outside on the plaza, I was

choice to stop attending church at the age of about 12.

looking down at the worship aid with a simple depiction

The only time I was in church after that was for weddings

of Jesus on the donkey riding into Jerusalem. It struck me

and funerals. Fast forward three-plus years, and my life

that he knew exactly what was going to happen. And I

had been taken over by addiction and alcoholism.

knew right then and there that Jesus died for me. Not us

Through that crisis I was actually introduced to faith for the very first time as an adult through Alcoholics Anonymous. Over the next 10

And I knew right then and there that Jesus died for me.

Not us — me.

— me. I wept uncontrollably for the next 10 to 15 minutes with tears of joy.

The following fall I went through RCIA, and the

years, my wife and I shared our

following spring I was baptized into the Catholic faith.

faith together through Joyce Meyer

I became Catholic because I found Jesus amidst the

Ministries, but found something

pageantry of a Catholic high Mass. Having all of my senses

lacking: a faith community we

open to God’s presence, I truly found Christ. That was

could worship with in person.

eight years ago. I’ve been asked by many, “Why on earth

So began the search for a church

would you join that Church with all of the things that

community we could worship with

have happened and are still happening? Why them?” For

and share our faith.

me it’s really simple, even with all the problems within

After several different churches

the Catholic institution: Our Catholic Mass — whether in

and denominations, my wife

English, Spanish, Italian or any other language — is where

suggested the Basilica of St. Mary in

I found Jesus. So, for me, Mass is home.

Minneapolis. She grew up Catholic and wanted to attend Mass there.

I had always loved the building

from the outside but also thought to myself, “Catholics — a lot of stand up, sit down, ‘thees,’ ‘thous’ and ‘thuses.’

But the next Sunday we went to Mass and even though

White, 57, is a member of the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis. He has served in the Minneapolis Fire Department since 1995, and was made captain in 2015.

He and his wife will celebrate their 29th anniversary on Valentine’s Day. He has a stepdaughter and two grandchildren.

I had a hard time following along, I fell in love with the Catholic Mass. I loved everything about it: the sounds, the smells and beauty of the space. It felt like this is what church is supposed to be.

The following spring at the Palm Sunday Mass, while

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

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

JANUARY 28, 2021

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 19

CALENDAR FOOD+FUN “The Upper Room” livestream — Jan. 28: 7–8 p.m. Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis livestream show features young adult leaders who traveled to Rome last January with Archbishop Bernard Hebda and Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Cozzens for the bishops’ “ad limina” visit with Pope Francis. Join live and submit questions via the archdiocese’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. archspm.org/events Pints with Priests — Feb. 2: 7:30–8 p.m. online.

Father Ben Little and Father Michael Barsness from St. John the Baptist, Savage, host a conversation via Zoom. Contact Ryian for the Zoom link at rhilpisch@stjohns-savage.org.

Winter booya — Feb. 6: 8 a.m.–1 p.m. at St. Mary, 261 E. Eighth St., St. Paul. Drive-up and carry-out only. $15/quart or $5/scoop.

651-222-2619. stmarystpaul.org

PRAYER+RETREATS How to Pray: Six-Week Series — Wednesdays through Feb. 10: 7–8 p.m. via Zoom, hosted by St. Thomas More, St. Paul. Each week includes a virtual presentation on a different form of prayer. morecommunity.org/howtopray Pro-Life Memorial Mass — Jan. 29: 6–7 p.m. at St. Charles Borromeo, 2739 Stinson Blvd., Minneapolis. Join Prolife Across America for a Memorial Mass with celebrant Father Doug Ebert, commemorating the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. prolifeacrossamerica.org Women’s silent weekend retreat “A Listening Heart” — Jan. 29-31 at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. Suggested offering $160 per person, including $30 deposit.

Call 763-682-1394 or register online. kingshouse.com Virtual Day of Discernment — Jan. 30: 9 a.m.– 3 p.m. online. Young men who are high school juniors and seniors are invited to join Archbishop

Bernard Hebda, Director of Vocations Father David Blume and archdiocesan seminarians for a virtual day of discernment. Register at 10000vocations.org.

Archdiocesan Celebration of the World Day for Consecrated Life — Feb. 2: 6:30–8 p.m. via Zoom. Women and men in consecrated life are invited to join the 2021 celebration on the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Participants will pray the Holden Evening Prayer together. To register, contact Sister Carolyn Puccio at puccioc@archspm. org.

Men’s silent weekend retreat “A Listening Heart” — Feb. 5-7 at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. Suggested offering $160 per person, including non-refundable $30 deposit. Call 763-682-1394. kingshouse.com Retrouvaille marriage help — Feb. 5-7 at Best Western Dakota Ridge Hotel, 3450 Washington Drive, Eagan. Thinking about separation or divorce?

Hurting? Angry? Feel helpless? Retrouvaille is a lifeline for troubled marriages. Couples learn the tools to rediscover each other and heal their marriage. 100% confidential. helpourmarriage.org Newly Married Retreat — Feb. 6: 9 a.m.– 2:30 p.m. online. For couples married seven years or less. Led by Brad and Libby Dupont from the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, on the topic “Communication: Talking with Purpose.” $25 per couple. Register for the link at archspm.org/nmr. Direct questions to Katie Walker at walkerk@archspm.org or 651-291-4488.

Archdiocesan World Day of the Sick Mass — Feb. 13: 10–11 a.m. online. Archbishop Bernard Hebda celebrates Mass at St. Agnes in St. Paul for people who are sick, as well as health care professionals, chaplains and caregivers.

Attendance is virtual. The event is sponsored by Curatio, the Order of Malta and the archdiocese. churchofsaintagnes.org/livestream

CALENDAR submissions DEADLINE: Noon Thursday, 14 days before the anticipated Thursday date of publication.

We cannot guarantee a submitted event will appear in the calendar. Priority is given to events occurring before the next issue date.

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

ITEMS MUST INCLUDE the following to be considered for publication: uTime and date of event uFull street address of event uDescription of event uContact information in case of questions ONLINE: T HECATHOLICSPIRIT.COM/ CALENDARSUBMISSIONS experience of people behind bars through the lens of faith. Cost is $35 for eight sessions.

Contact Kevin Connors at 952-426-8633 or kjc379@gmail.com.

“Encountering Fratelli Tutti” Series — Feb. 24, March 23, April 27 and May 25: 7–8:30 p.m. online. Five-part series of presentations and discussions that began Jan. 26 related to Pope Francis’ most recent encyclical, “Fratelli Tutti.” Discern how this document can influence and enrich lives. To receive the link, register at centerformission.org/whats-new/.

ASK FATHER MIKE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15 Finally, the catechism says this: “The Last Judgment will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life” (1039). When The Story is completely written, then all of the consequences of all decisions will be known. Every private and hidden sin (and all of the ways it radiated through the world and through generations) will be known. And every private and hidden act of kindness or love or virtue (and all of the ways that those radiated throughout the world and through generations) will be known.

This ought to enlighten our daily choices. Our decisions rarely end with us; they continue beyond us. God has given us a great dignity in being free to make eternal decisions, which is to also say that God has given us great responsibility in how we make those decisions.

These are simply a few elements of the Last Judgment.

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.

MOVIE REVIEWS TheCatholicSpirit.com

Church of the Second Chance Program — Feb. 8-March 29: 6:30–8 p.m. online, hosted by Twin Cities Prison Ministry. A small group format program of JustFaith Ministries explores the lived

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20 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

JANUARY 28, 2021

THELASTWORD

COVID creativity Ethan Hiew portrays Christopher Boone in “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” a production during the COVID-19 pandemic by the combined theater department of St. Thomas Academy and Visitation School, both in Mendota Heights.

COURTESY CHUCK NIELDS, NIELDS PHOTOGRAPHY

Visitation, St. Thomas Academy demonstrate the show must go on

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit

H

ow do two high schools that share a theater department safely stage a play during a pandemic? Artistic director Wendy Short-Hays started by choosing a play with a small cast — and a lead character who prefers to keep people at a distance.

Short-Hays directs VISTA Productions, the combined theater department for St. Thomas Academy and Visitation School, both in Mendota Heights.

The play, “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” is based on a 2003 mystery novel by British writer Mark Haddon and adapted for the stage

by Simon Stephens. The main character, teenage There’s beauty Christopher, is presumed to on the autism spectrum. in how Christopher be He is on stage the entire performance, but does not (presumed to be like to be touched, so he autistic) is made. naturally keeps a distance others.

That’s who he is. His from With a cast of only 10 — and 10 members in the crew struggles are part — students could keep a safe of his identity. And distance from one another … we don’t attempt to help prevent spread of COVID-19. “Even backstage, to erase that. we marked Xs where they could stand — just to remind Noelle Wang them not to get too close,” Short-Hays said.

The play was filmed last fall without a live audience.

Some scenes were shot weeks apart, yet the final recording appears as one take. It was released online, with school parents, patrons and others able to purchase tickets to view it over two three-day weekends in December. The school took in about onethird less from ticket sales compared with a live production, Short-Hays said.

While offering a virtual performance was a great option during the pandemic, nothing can replace live theater, and that

“

is the model the school will return to when it is possible, she said.

Students tried out for roles in person, with solo auditioning from the middle of the stage. They wore masks during rehearsals and, depending on the scene, sometimes in the final performance.

During rehearsals, four students were exposed to someone outside of school who tested positive for COVID-19, so they quarantined at home for two weeks. But Short-Hays set up a laptop in the third row facing the stage so that a quarantined student could still participate.

Challenging lead The character faces many challenges and sets off to solve a mystery when someone kills his neighbor’s dog. Even Christopher is under suspicion.

“The play not only deals with Christopher’s journey within himself, but also how other people perceive him in the community,” Short-Hays said.

It was a demanding role for the lead actor, Ethan Hiew, a senior at St. Thomas Academy.

“It involves collapsing and rolling on the floor, groaning or screaming,” Short-Hays said. “He let himself go into it and … it was really, really incredible.”

She thought it could be difficult for someone at Hiew’s age to appear like that in front of peers. In one scene, the actor playing Christopher’s father appears to strike the boy.

Short-Hays talked with Hiew’s mother before rehearsals to discuss some of the more challenging subject matter. “She was very supportive,” Short-Hays said.

Hiew said his biggest challenge was memorizing the lines, as he was on stage the entire time. “(Christopher is) intelligent and knows a lot of things,” he said, and often recites strings of facts. “He knows all the prime numbers … and a lot of stuff like space and black holes … and so he goes off on these tangents.”

One thing that helped Hiew in his role was not thinking he was playing someone

on the autism spectrum, but instead, playing someone who thinks logically.

“Christopher really likes math and science, and that’s something he really enjoys and likes talking about,” Hiew said.

“But when it comes to people, he can’t do it … because with math and science, there’s always an answer that you can figure out; with people, you can’t really do that. It’s predictable with math and science.”

Hiew said he hopes playing the character has impacted him in one significant way: growth in empathy.

Showing struggles Rehearsals last October made for long days, Hiew said, and in that same month he applied to colleges, completed a portfolio, gave his senior speech, traveled to Atlanta for a medical appointment and completed his Eagle Scout project.

Noelle Wang, a senior at Visitation, played the role of Siobhan, Christopher’s teacher and mentor. Siobhan is closer to Christopher than other adults in his life because Christopher’s mom is absent and his dad is often at work, she said.

Wang said it was interesting that her character is “really the only adult in the play who doesn’t betray Christopher in some way.” And she gives him good advice.

Asked about the play’s message, Wang said the play reveals that people are on their own journeys, and everyone has the opportunity to become a hero in their story, no matter their circumstances.

The audience is called to solidarity with Christopher because they see the world through his lens, Wang said. “And hopefully that message translates to real people in our lives who maybe just don’t fit in … or have invisible struggles … like Christopher.

“There’s beauty in how Christopher is made,” Wang added, “That’s who he is. His struggles are part of his identity. And … we don’t attempt to erase that.”