July 11, 2019 • Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
thecatholicspirit.com
The new Northeast Parishes adjust to changing demographics in historical area of Minneapolis. — Pages 10-11
Crowning
Insights on education Forum explores how Catholic schools help students, parishes and the broader community. — Page 5
glory
Modernist milestone St. Paul Park parishioners marking 50th anniversary of Ralph Rapsondesigned church. — Page 7
‘Right Rev. New Dealer’
Celebrating jubilees A Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet looks back on 60 years of service; other religious jubilarians listed. — Pages 13-14
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Kathryn Kueppers poses for a photo at her Mendota Heights home wearing her Miss Minnesota crown and sash, along with her mother, Vicki, who won the title in 1983.
Like mother before her, Miss Minnesota shaped by Catholic faith By Christina Capecchi For The Catholic Spirit
K
athryn Kueppers was shaking in the final moments before the 2019 Miss Minnesota was named June 22. “I was so nervous, but I had a vague sense of peace, thinking, ‘God, it’s your plan,’” said Kueppers, 21, a 2016 graduate of St. Agnes School in St. Paul and a member of St. Joseph in West St. Paul.
Prayer had been a vital part of the journey leading up to that moment, and it was soothing her nerves once again, when she needed it most. At last the announcement was made. Her name was called, and the brunette beauty dropped to her knees, pointing to heaven. As she was crowned, her eyes landed on another source of special support: her mom, who had served as the 1983 Miss Minnesota. The Kuepper women had just made history as the only mother-anddaughter titleholders in the Miss Minnesota competition, which dates to 1921. Their unique bond deepened. Now the Mendota Heights duo are busier than ever, with Vicki serving as publicist to help her daughter manage an onslaught of messages, interviews and appearances. Kathryn began competing in Miss America’s Outstanding Teen program at 13. She enjoyed the experience, welcoming the opportunity to refine her singing and public speaking while
befriending her fellow contestants. Her faith framed each venture. “I cross myself or say a Hail Mary before going on stage, just to give it to God,” said Kathryn, sitting beside her mom in their living room. “This year I prayed a lot more.” The morning of the Miss Minnesota pageant, she began her day with prayer: “God, I’m going to be smiling a lot on stage. Let it be your joy and light smiling through me. I’ll be singing tonight — hopefully, if I make it that far — let it be your voice in every note. And I’ll be speaking tonight, so please let it be your words coming through my mouth. “So when the crown went on my head, it wasn’t me,” Kathryn said, tearing up and touching her hand to her heart. “I knew I wouldn’t be doing this without the Lord.” She was interrupted in sharing her account of that day by the delivery of flowers. PLEASE TURN TO MISS MINNESOTA ON PAGE 6
Join The Catholic Spirit and Archbishop Hebda in celebrating faithful business leaders in our archdiocese with a luncheon on August 1! Visit archspm.org/leadingfaithlunch for all the details.
LEADING
FAITH
with
Msgr. John A. Ryan, born 150 years ago, applied Catholic social principles to the economic concerns of the 20th century. — Page 12
G o o d Wo r k
•
In Christ
2 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
JULY 11, 2019
PAGETWO
“
The seal of confession does not exist to protect priests or the Church. Rather, it is to allow penitents complete freedom to reveal their sins as a first step to conversion and the amendment of life. ... It is disturbing to hear of proposals for legislation that would whittle away at that privilege.
Archbishop Bernard Hebda of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in a statement to KSTP-TV in St. Paul after the Vatican published a document July 1 in response to challenges to the sacrament of penance and reconciliation, affirming the absolute secrecy of everything said in confession and calling on priests to defend it. A bill challenging the sacramental seal of confession was withdrawn from the California State Legislature July 8. The archbishop’s complete statement can be found at kstp.com/news/amid-sex-abuse-scandals-vatican-upholds-confessionsecrecy/5409273.
NEWS notes COURTESY RITA VANNETT PHOTOGRAPHY
CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION Father Joseph Williams, vicar for Latino ministry for the archdiocese, holds the monstrance during a 2-mile Corpus Christi procession June 23 from St. Nicholas in Carver to Guardian Angels in Chaska. In vestments to the left and behind Father Williams is Father Bill Deziel, pastor of both parishes, and to the right is Deacon John Cleveland of Guardian Angels. More than 150 people participated in the procession, which marked the feast day and a uniting of Spanish-speaking members of both parishes. The procession led into noon Spanish Mass at Guardian Angels and a reception of lemonade and popcorn.
21
The length in minutes of a documentary released on YouTube June 19 on the vision of Don Briel, the founder and longtime director of Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, the first program of its kind. Briel died in February 2018 at age 71. One Billion Stories — which describes itself as “a think tank of young video missionaries” — produced “Don Briel: A Life of Purpose and Joy.” Find it via onebillionstories.com.
12
The number of Catholic Press Association Awards The Catholic Spirit received during the annual Catholic Media Convention, held this year June 18-21 in St. Petersburg, Florida. The awards and links to the stories they recognize can be found at TheCatholicSpirit.com.
20
The number of bands playing July 12-13 at the Cities 97.1 Basilica Block Party in Minneapolis. Since 1995, the annual event raises funds for the Basilica Landmark, which preserves and restores the more than 100-year-old Basilica of St. Mary. Bands and ticket details are available at basilicablockparty.org.
1981
The year NET Ministries was founded. An international retreat ministry based in West St. Paul, NET Ministries recently acquired YDisciple, a resource in youth small group discipleship previously in the care of the Augustine Institute in Denver. According to a statement from NET, the organization took on YDisciple because it expects it to help expand its evangelization efforts among young people. “We think we have a game changer,” NET Ministries Founder and President Mark Berchem said in a statement. “For years we have been looking for ways to assist parishes, many of which don’t have a youth minister, after the NET team has completed their ministry at that parish. YDisciple will now enable us to give them the tools to continue to walk with their own young people.” CNS
HOMECOMING Seminarians of the Diocese of Peoria, Ill., pray over the container with the remains of Archbishop Fulton Sheen outside St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria June 27. Archbishop Sheen’s remains were transferred there from St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. Earlier in the day, Peoria Bishop Daniel Jenky announced that the sainthood cause for the famed preacher, media pioneer, author and missionary had resumed after being suspended for five years pending the resolution of a legal dispute over the location of Archbishop Sheen’s remains. On July 5, Pope Francis approved a miracle attributed to Archbishop Sheen’s intercession, paving the way for his beatification. The Peoria Diocese opened Archbishop Sheen’s cause for canonization in 2002. His heroic virtue and life of sanctity were recognized in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI, who granted him the title “venerable.” Since his death Dec. 9, 1979, at age 84, Archbishop Sheen had been interred in a basement crypt under the main altar of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Born in El Paso, Ill., and raised in Peoria, Archbishop Sheen was a brilliant academic who served on the faculty of The Catholic University of America for 24 years. He gained fame and influence with radio and early television series such as the “Catholic Hour” and “Life is Worth Living” that reached millions. He won an Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Television Personality in 1953.
The Catholic Spirit is published semi-monthly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Vol. 24 — No. 13 MOST REVEREND BERNARD A. HEBDA, Publisher TOM HALDEN, Associate Publisher MARIA C. WIERING, Editor-in-Chief
10
The length in minutes that bells rang throughout the Twin Cities at noon July 4. The event is organized by a local nonprofit called City of Bells. The Cathedral of St. Paul, St. Bernard and St. Louis, King of France, all in St. Paul, and the Basilica of St. Mary and St. Olaf in downtown Minneapolis participated. According to Rebecca Sundquist, founder of City of Bells, the Twin Cities has the largest number of bells and the largest bells of any metro area in the country. The Fourth of July event was the second of four scheduled by City of Bells. The first took place on Memorial Day. The last two will be 11 a.m. Nov. 11, Veterans Day, and noon New Year’s Day. Though these are secular holidays, Johan van Parys, director of liturgy and sacred arts at the Basilica who also serves on the board of City of Bells, said it is meaningful for churches to ring their bells to mark these occasions. “Any effort that contributes to unity among people, and people of different beliefs and of different backgrounds and races, is important, though it may not be an explicitly religious act,” he said. “It’s surely a deeply human act, and therefore, it’s important that we participate in that.”
Materials credited to CNS copyrighted by Catholic News Service. All other materials copyrighted by The Catholic Spirit Newspaper. Subscriptions: $29.95 per year: Senior 1-year: $24.95: To subscribe: (651) 291-4444: Display Advertising: (651) 291-4444; Classified Advertising: (651) 290-1631. Published semi-monthly by the Office of Communications, Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, 777 Forest Paul, MN 55106-3857 • (651) 291-4444, FAX (651) 291-4460. Periodicals postage paid at St. Paul, MN, and additional post offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Catholic Spirit, 777 Forest St., St. Paul, MN 55106-3857. TheCatholicSpirit.com • email: tcssubscriptions@archspm.org • USPS #093-580
JULY 11, 2019
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 3
FROMTHEMODERATOROFTHECURIA ONLY JESUS | FATHER CHARLES LACHOWITZER
Graciousness in division rooted in gratitude to God Editor’s note: The following is adapted from a Mass homily Father Charles Lachowitzer preached in Rochester June 18 at the presbyteral assembly, a biennial gathering of the priests of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for reflection, prayer and fellowship. Although originally presented to priests, the counsel offered is applicable to all Christian faithful.
I
n our first reading from the second letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians (2 Cor 8:1-9), Paul extolled the quality of being gracious. For him, being gracious is not just being kind, generous and community minded. It is the gratitude of the heart in response to the abundant grace of God in Jesus Christ. It is giving our entire lives to God. It is imitating Christ, who emptied himself that we may be filled with the treasures of heaven. However, sometimes the simple truth that we are to be gracious to one another
gets complicated when we try to live it out. In our Gospel from Matthew (Mt 5:4348), Jesus calls upon his followers to offer the gift of love even when we do not feel the virtue of charity as our first reaction to those who do not love us. Jesus calls us to “be perfect” — and he knows all too well that we are not. Of all the sins that sabotage love, wrath and envy fuel war, violence, hatred and division. Wrath blinds us to the will of God, and envy blinds us to our own giftedness. In these pews and in the pews of our parishes, there are those ideological battlegrounds of “friendly fire” that aren’t so friendly when they are mean spirited. We see that, for instance, in the debates over life and over love, where it often seems forgotten that a true defense of the faith and noble advocacy for social change are never without the virtue of charity. Metaphorically speaking, in our priestly service, it is not enough to hang around with birds of the same feather or preach only to the choir. We know that
Gracia en la division, arraigada en la gratitud a Dios Nota del editor: Lo siguiente está adaptado de una homilía del padre Charles Lachowitzer predicado en Rochester el 18 de junio en la asamblea presbiterio, una reunión bienal de los sacerdotes de la Arquidiócesis de St. Paul y Minneapolis para la reflexión, la oración y la comunión . Aunque originalmente se presentó a los sacerdotes, el consejo ofrecido es aplicable a todos los fieles cristianos.
E
n nuestra primera lectura de la segunda carta de San Pablo a los Corintios (2 Co 8,1-9), Pablo ensalzó la cualidad de ser amable. Para él, ser amable no es sólo ser amable, generoso y con mentalidad comunitaria. Es la gratitud del corazón en respuesta a la gracia abundante de Dios en Jesucristo. Es dar toda nuestra vida a Dios. Es imitar a Cristo, que se vació para que seamos llenos de los tesoros del cielo. Sin embargo, a veces la simple verdad de que debemos ser amables el uno con el otro se complica cuando tratamos de vivirla. En nuestro Evangelio de Mateo (Mt 5, 43-48), Jesús llama a sus seguidores a ofrecer el don del amor aun cuando no sentimos la virtud de la caridad como nuestra primera reacción a los que no nos aman. Jesús nos llama a “ser perfectos”, y sabe muy bien que no lo somos.
Hike, mountaintop Mass about praying, evangelizing, bonding By Jennifer Mauro Catholic News Service As the early morning fog lifted over the top of Mount Tammany in Knowlton Township, New Jersey, the crackle of twigs being snapped underfoot mingled with light conversation and prayer. But most often, the soft sounds of the woods were enveloped in a peaceful quiet, as about 150 men of all ages hiked to the summit in silent contemplation in
our ministry is not simply to wash those feet that are already clean. Our own feet would stand in too stark a contrast, and Jesus showed love to the unloved and the unlovable. No adjective in front of the words “human being” excuse us from the obligation to love one another. Wrath and envy may be the ways of the world, but they cannot be our way. We are called to make saints, not demons, and friends, not enemies. So how then do we love those who not only don’t love us, but actively seek to persecute us? On our own, we can’t. It is only by receiving the one we celebrate in this holy sacrifice of the Mass, the real presence of Jesus Christ, that we are transformed through the Holy Spirit to rise above what is wrong in order to do what is right. We cannot underestimate the divisions that challenge us to love one another. Nor can we overestimate how, by the grace of God, it is easier than we think when we make the effort. United in this celebration of the
De todos los pecados que sabotean el amor, la ira y la envidia alimentan la guerra, la violencia, el odio y la división. La ira nos ciega a la voluntad de Dios, y la envidia nos ciega a nuestra propia don. En estos bancos y en los bancos de nuestras parroquias, hay campos de batalla ideológicos de “fuego amistoso” que no son tan amigables cuando son malos. Vemos que, por ejemplo, en los debates sobre la vida y sobre el amor, donde a menudo parece olvidado que una verdadera defensa de la fe y la noble defensa del cambio social nunca están exentas de la virtud de la caridad. Metafóricamente hablando, en nuestro servicio sacerdotal, no basta con andar con pájaros de la misma pluma o predicar sólo al coro. Sabemos que nuestro ministerio no es simplemente lavar los pies que ya están limpios. Nuestros propios pies estarían en un contraste demasiado marcado, y Jesús mostró amor a los no amados. Ningún adjetivo frente a las palabras “ser humano” nos exime de la obligación de amarnos los unos a los otros. La ira y la envidia pueden ser los caminos del mundo, pero no pueden ser nuestro camino. Estamos llamados a hacer santos, no demonios, y amigos, no enemigos. Entonces, ¿cómo amamos a aquellos que no sólo no nos aman, sino que buscan activamente perseguirnos? Por nuestra cuenta, no podemos. Sólo al recibir al que celebramos en este santo sacrificio de la Misa, la presencia real de Jesucristo, nos transformamos a través del Espíritu Santo para elevarnos por encima de lo que está mal para hacer lo correcto.
North Jersey’s Dunnfield Creek Natural Area in Warren County. At the peak, men from the Diocese of Trenton, many of whom were joined by their sons, knelt on the rocky ground as a bilingual Mass was celebrated. Josue Arriola, director of the diocesan Department of Evangelization and Family Life, which sponsored the June 15 “Mass on Top of the Mountain” hike, said the day was about prayer, evangelization and creating bonds. “Part of the goal was to strengthen men’s groups and to help them recruit new members,” he said, explaining that in addition, at least two parishes represented that day left with plans to
Eucharist, into each of our hearts, we receive the perfect love of Jesus. We are given the grace of the very sacraments we celebrate so that we may show his love in any and all circumstances, to any and all people, including among ourselves. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, in this sacred time, we are elevated above and beyond all divisions, persecutions and whatever words or actions that might make someone our enemy. When the all-too-human drags us down as a Church, the mystical body of Christ lifts us up with a love greater than sin and a life greater than death. There are many in our world who would be sympathetic to us as Catholics and as priests if we were disheartened, disillusioned, divided and demoralized. So let us by the grace of God be gracious to one another and generous in our attention. May our fraternity in the hotel halls, elevators, and on the streets be a visible witness to the greater love of Jesus. Truly, our joyful spirit is indeed proof of the existence of God.
No podemos subestimar las divisiones que nos desafían a amarnos los unos a los otros. Tampoco podemos sobreestimar cómo, por la gracia de Dios, es más fácil de lo que pensamos cuando hacemos el esfuerzo. Unidos en esta celebración de la Eucaristía, en cada uno de nuestros corazones, recibimos el amor perfecto de Jesús. Se nos da la gracia de los mismos sacramentos que celebramos para que podamos mostrar el amor de Cristo en todas y cada una de las circunstancias, a todas y cada una de las personas, incluso entre nosotros. Por medio del poder del Espíritu Santo, en este tiempo sagrado, somos elevados por encima y más allá de todas las divisiones, persecuciones y cualquier palabra o acción que pueda hacer de alguien nuestro enemigo. Cuando el todo-humano nos arrastra hacia abajo como Iglesia, el cuerpo místico de Cristo nos eleva con un amor mayor que el pecado y una vida mayor que la muerte. Hay muchos en nuestro mundo que simpatizan con nosotros como católicos y como sacerdotes si estuviéramos desanimados, desilusionados, divididos y desmoralizados. Así que por la gracia de Dios seamos amables unos con otros y generosos en nuestra atención. Que nuestra fraternidad en los ayuntamientos, ascensores y en las calles sea un testimonio visible del mayor amor de Jesús. Verdaderamente, nuestro espíritu gozoso es ciertamente prueba de la existencia de Dios.
start their own men’s groups where one didn’t previously exist. John Muka, who helped organize the men’s group from his parish, St. Vincent de Paul in Yardville, told The Monitor, Trenton’s diocesan newspaper, that it was important to be part of a public display of faith. The men encountered other hikers who were curious about their expedition and their faith, he said. At the end of the hike, Muka said, “I kept thinking how we threw one rock in the pond, and it made some ripples. Now let’s figure out some other things to do. We have to keep throwing rocks in the pond. We have to keep making those ripples.”
CNS
Men from the Diocese of Trenton and their sons participate in a June 15 retreat and Mass on Mount Tammany in Knowlton Township, N.J.
SLICEof LIFE
4 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
LOCAL
JULY 11, 2019
Totally yours, God
SLICEof LIFE
Peyton Nguyen of Epiphany in Coon Rapids raises her voice and her hands as she sings during Totus Tuus at her parish. The program brings college students and seminarians to parishes throughout the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to offer summer catechetical programs for children and teens. The weeklong programs began June 8 and continue through July 27, with 30 parishes in the archdiocese participating. The focus of Totus Tuus, Latin for “totally yours,” is to promote understanding and love of the Eucharist, foster devotion to Mary, provide catechetical instruction and vocational discernment, and offer fun activities.
These real estate agents can help you find your Ho DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
From condos to castles, performance exceeds promise
LookingKathy forKueppers your
home sweet home?
Call Today
for all Your Buying and Selling Needs JOE CASSIDY Kathy Kueppers 612.802.4301
Cell: (651) 470-0675 kathykueppers.realtor@gmail.com
Building smiles for homes and their people Visit us at www.beckerbuildremodel.com or call 612-363-0493
From condos to castles, performance exceeds promise Kathy Kueppers
Office 651-452-3047
REALTOR®, CRS Owner/Broker Cell: (651) 470-0675 Office: (651) 365-0230 33 E. Wentworth Ave. West St. Paul, MN 55118
Realtor
Named a 2009 Super Real Estate Agent by Mpls./St. Paul Magazine and Twin Cities Business
CHARMING 2 story, hardwood floors, natural woodwork, updated kitchen, master suite, large yard. Close to St Joseph’s school, parks, easy access to shopping, West St Paul $189,900.
With historically Low Inventory of cornerstone Homes for Sale, hometomay Providing exceptional value is the of myyour service you! be worth more than you realize. Call Today for a Free Home Value. How(Bloomington can I helpandyou today? Buyers are Waiting! Eagan are most needed)
DAVE HRBACEK
kathykueppers.realtor@gmail.com
joecassidy@kw.com www.joecassidyhomes.com
kathykueppers@realtyexecutives.com
The Sue Johnson Team is now Good Company Realty Group | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT Call us today! 651-329-1264
GoodCompanyRealtyGroup.com
Cell: (651) 470-0675 5BR/4BA 3400+ sq. ft 2 story in Blaine. $359,900. 4BR/ 4BA 4200+ sq. ft story in Plymouth $539,000. 4BR/2BA 1800+ sq. ft 4 level split in Maple Grove $230,000.
Steve Conlin,like GRI to advertise If you would Direct: (651)page, 686-2033please call on this www.Steve-Conlin.com The Catholic Spirit Advertising Department at 651-291-4444
Looking for your first home? Down-sizing for March any reason? Home SELLER Seminar March 9th 7-8pm OR 25th 9-10am, Sue Sue Johnson and Team the Good Company Realty Group can help. The Johnson 651-690-8591 Call 651-329-1264 or e-mail: suejohnson@goodcorealty.com
Peggy Langeslay plangeslay@cbburnet.com Now isRealtor/Broker the best time to Now is the best time to sell home. sellyour your home. For best results, call
651-335-8515
61
1519 Central Parkway • Eagan, MN 55121
Decades of helping families just like yours have a great real estate experience.
The Edge You Need!
Top notch s large or too 612-803-430
jjoha When is the Best time to Sell Your Home? Call Now for your Personalized Real Estate Review.
If you would like to advertise in this space, please call The Catholic Spirit advertising department at 651-291-4444.
LOCAL
JULY 11, 2019
Forum touts Catholic education benefits By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit Catholic schools’ combination of quality education and faith formation brings value to students, parishes and the wider community, but financial and social barriers to Catholic education remain for some families, including a growing Latino population, experts noted at a June 25 forum on education sponsored by the Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota. While Catholic schools foster growth in parishes and greater safety in their surrounding communities, the schools, in turn, depend on those institutions for support, six local and national experts said. “The ‘value proposition’ is to break down barriers to allow those families to live a full spirituality that has then all the educational benefits, but, more importantly, has all the faith benefits that reinforce the cultural predispositions of the family,” said Luis Fraga, director of the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Titled “Why Are Catholic Schools Essential for a Strong Church and Community?” the forum was held at Cretin-Derham Hall high school in St. Paul and drew 90 pastors, donors, school administrators, educators and community leaders. It was part of CCF’s ongoing “Giving Insights” series, which explores the impact of Catholic philanthropy on the community. The discussion was organized to inform the community and inspire donors, many of whom have expressed a desire to pass on blessings they’ve received from a Catholic education, said Anne Cullen Miller, president of the St. Paul-based foundation, which financially supports spiritual, educational and social endeavors of the Catholic community. “We’ve learned a lot about how important it is to come to the table as community, that the foundation can’t do it alone, the archbishop can’t do it alone, the principal can’t do it alone, and the pastor and lay Catholics can’t do it alone, but when we come together in community we can do a lot,” she said. In the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, more than 29,000 students attended 86 Catholic elementary and secondary schools during the 2018-19 school year. Nationwide, 1.8 million children attended Catholic schools, according to the National Catholic Educational Foundation. Catholic schools provide the kind of structure and support that establish the “social capital” that students struggling academically need, said Nicole Stelle Garnett, senior policy adviser at the University of Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education. That social capital consists of overlapping circles of trust among principal, teachers, parents and students, which act like glue, binding the school community together, she said. Catholic schools also benefit the wider community, Garnett said, pointing to her research showing that when Catholic schools closed in some urban neighborhoods, crime increased as much as 33 percent. “Definitely the Catholic school closures caused
neighborhoods to socially disintegrate,” she said. Around the country, changing demographics and the fact that nearly 40 percent of U.S. Catholics are Latino underscore the need for Catholic schools to reach out to diverse communities, Fraga said. In addition to financial considerations, Latino Catholics might lack information about what the schools offer, or feel they are not welcome, he said. Other Latino parents with children in the school are sometimes the best ones to help increase understanding, he said. Word-of-mouth is also helpful in reaching parents whose children attend public schools or “nones” who don’t practice a faith, panelists said. “I think that it’s a great opportunity for us to connect with these young parents and these young children, bring them not only back into our schools, but bring them back to their home parish,” said Gail Dorn, president of the Catholic Schools Center of Excellence in Edina, which supports archdiocesan elementary schools. Parish recruitment programs can help families see the value of Catholic schools, but sometimes it works in reverse, one participant said. “It used to be that the children would come to our schools through the parish, but now our schools are of themselves in active evangelization,” said Dominican Sister John Mary Fleming, education director of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in Nashville, Tennessee, who moderated the panel. Steve Karel, 61, a school board member of St. Pascal Regional Catholic School in St. Paul, attended the forum and said he was concerned about the increasing demand for school financial aid. “That’s a real concern in terms of how do we not just get people to come, but even help them to afford Catholic school?” said Karel, a member of Assumption in St. Paul. Sara Harwood, 42, a CCF donor and mother of two children who attend St. John the Baptist Catholic Montessori School in Excelsior, asked how she and other parents can use their skills to help promote Catholic schools, suggesting the answer might be found in “inviting pastors and principals to ask for that help and reach out and get to know their families and then put us to work.” The story of Catholic education’s “value proposition” should be told, said Jean Houghton, president of the St. Paul-based Aim Higher Foundation, which provides tuition assistance for children attending archdiocesan elementary schools. “It’s OK to tell our story,” she said. “It’s OK to say the impact we’re having out there.” The effect can be far reaching, said panelist Father Kevin Finnegan, pastor of Our Lady of Grace parish and school in Edina and chaplain of St. John Paul II Catholic School in Minneapolis. “When you have a Catholic way of learning, that can impact how you are in the ‘real world,’” he said. “We want to raise a society that’s holy, and a society that’s holy loves its neighbors.”
Deacon removed from ministry By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit A deacon serving at St. Agnes in St. Paul has been removed from ministry in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis after a review by the archdiocese’s Ministerial Review Board and Tim O’Malley, director of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment. Archbishop Bernard Hebda told parishioners about the status of Deacon Joseph Damiani in the June 16 parish bulletin. The Church of Gichitwaa Kateri in Minneapolis, where Deacon Damiani had served in the past, also noted the decision in its June
16 bulletin. The decision came after the archdiocese in 2016 received information suggesting a possible misuse of funds at Gichitwaa Kateri, where Deacon Damiani was serving, the archbishop said. The archdiocese reported the information to law enforcement, which concluded in May that no charges w ould be filed. The review board and O’Malley subsequently reviewed the matter and “recommended that Deacon Damiani nonetheless not be permitted to engage in ministry at this time,” the archbishop wrote. “I agreed with their recommendation.”
Ordained in 2009, Deacon Damiani has served at St. Agnes since 2016. Prior to that assignment, he was on staff at Gichitwaa Kateri and served as a deacon at Annunciation, also in Minneapolis. In June 2014, he was temporarily removed from ministry due to an allegation of sexual abuse from 40 years prior. After a thorough investigation and extensive review, the MRB recommended in October 2014 that Deacon Damiani be reinstated to ministry. Archbishop John Nienstedt, who then led the archdiocese, accepted that recommendation.
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 5
West St. Paul parish merges with Our Lady of Guadalupe By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit A parish in West St. Paul that suspended operations nearly three years ago has merged with Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Paul, effective July 1. St. Michael also sold its campus at 335 Hurley St. E. to Community of Saints Regional Catholic School in West St. Paul. The preK-8 school has rented St. Michael’s school building since 2012 and will continue to operate at that location. As part of the merger, St. Michael’s sacramental records will transfer to Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is less than 2 miles away. But the legacy of faith and Catholic education at St. Michael, a parish that began in 1866 on St. Paul’s West Side as a mission of the Cathedral of St. Paul, will continue through the school and an adoration chapel on the campus, said Father Mike Tix, vicar for clergy and parish services for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. That legacy also will continue at Our Lady of Guadalupe, the parish to which many St. Michael parishioners gravitated when operations were suspended, Father Tix said. Deacon Steve Maier, director of parish and clergy services, said Father Andrew Brinkman, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, helped pave the way for St. Michael parishioners because he was parochial vicar of St. Michael and Our Lady of Guadalupe in 2015, and parochial administrator of Our Lady of Guadalupe in 2016 before serving as pastor beginning last year. Several Our Lady of Guadalupe parishioners also reached out in a special way to members of St. Michael by bringing coffee and rolls to St. Michael’s final Mass in November 2016, Deacon Maier said. That overture went a long way. “They (St. Michael parish leaders) haven’t forgotten that,” Father Tix said. Deacon Gregg Sroder, business administrator at Our Lady of Guadalupe, said perpetual adoration of the Eucharist will continue at the chapel as it has in the past, with people able to volunteer through a contact listed in the parish bulletin. While the merger was announced in March, final details were completed in recent weeks, said Joe Kueppers, the archdiocese’s chancellor for civil affairs. “They had to wrap up the finances, get everything in proper financial order and then finalize the merger,” he said. Getting it done as the fiscal year closed June 30 also was a “clean and practical time to complete it,” Kueppers said. Finalizing the merger is an important step in what at times was a difficult process, Deacon Sroder said.“I’m hoping it will bring closure.”
New Ulm Diocese reaches $34 million settlement with abuse survivors Catholic News Service The Diocese of New Ulm has reached a $34 million settlement with 93 survivors of clergy sexual abuse. In a June 26 letter to Catholics of the diocese, Bishop John LeVoir said he believes the settlement “we have reached is a fair one” for abuse survivors and also allows the diocese to continue its ministry to those it serves throughout south and west-central Minnesota. News reports quoted Jeff Anderson, an attorney for many of the New Ulm claimants, as saying that reaching the settlement was “a big day for survivors.” A June 26 diocesan news release on the agreement said the funds for the settlement “are made up of insurance coverage settlements and cash and property contributions from the diocese and parishes, including parishes that do not have claims against them.” It also said that approval of the settlement by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court will resolve the diocese’s Chapter 11 case. The diocese filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in early March 2017 in response to the enactment of the 2013 Minnesota Child Victims Act, which lifted the civil statute of limitations on child sexual abuse claims for three years. That three-year window ended May 25, 2016.
6 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
MISS MINNESOTA
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 “I saw you on the front page!” the delivery man said, referencing a recent issue of the Pioneer Press that included a photo of her and her mom. “Yes, yes, you did,” Kathryn said, laughing. Being recognized is a strange new reality, she said after he left. “I brushed it off because I’m not used to it yet. I wanted to give (the credit) to my mom: ‘Yeah, we were both on the front page!’” Being crowned a beauty queen at 21 brings pressure and praise. People keep telling her she is beautiful, she said. “I’ve gotten it more in the last five days since I’ve become Miss Minnesota than I’ve ever gotten it in my entire life. I have a big crown and a shiny sash with rhinestones on it, and I’ve been insanely overdressed.” While she appreciates the compliments of strangers, she’s more interested in connecting with them. “It’s such a surface-level comment, so I usually say thank you and then try to draw the conversation back to them so they know I really care about them.” Caring for others is at the heart of her career aspirations. Kathryn is studying family and consumer science education at Minnesota State University Mankato so she can teach. When she isn’t away at college, Kathryn prepares and serves meals for the homeless at Catholic Charities’ Higher Ground complex in St. Paul and cantors with her mother at St. Joseph. She also designs beaded earrings and sells them at craft sales, raising money
LOCAL for Salt Lake City-based nonprofit Children’s Miracle Network, which supports children’s hospitals, medical research and community awareness. Her mom was influential in her Miss Minnesota journey by exposing her to it early and introducing her to many former recipients of the crown. “To this day, my love for the sisterhood within Miss America stemmed from her,” Kathryn said of her mom. Kathryn’s mother also gave her a gold bracelet that says “joyfully grounded” to symbolize their ongoing conversation about being rooted in God and joyful in her identity — which does not come from a crown. The men in her life also helped her arrive at that place: her older brothers, Andrew and Robert, and her dad, Joe, who serves as the chancellor for civil affairs for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Her father models a life of prayer and encourages her growth in faith, and her brothers were “my bigsibling influences,” she said. “They paved the way for my own spiritual growth by setting an example as only older siblings can set.” Kathryn’s friends at St. Agnes played an important role too. “When you’re going through those awkward high school days and you want to get boys’ attention and be popular, I had friends that were very grounding. We had many conversations about that,” she said. As she matured, Kathryn decided to ease up on the makeup. “I went through an eyebrow phase,” she said. “I have the tiniest little eyebrows, so I started drawing these blocks on my face. But after a few weeks, I looked in the mirror
JULY 11, 2019
clothing such as the striking red gown she wore when she was crowned. “I want to be classic and modest. The modern styles are progressively getting more uncovered.” True beauty, Kathryn said, is embodied by her mom. “She’s one of the most humble people I know,” she said. “She’s never craved attention — and that’s really beautiful.” Vicki, in turn, said Kathryn’s character makes her beautiful. “I am so proud that through this all, her faith has only strengthened. She could never have accomplished this without her deep faith and prayer life,” she said. Being the mother of a Miss Minnesota is even more fun than being a Miss Minnesota, Vicki added. Kathryn is eager to seize the year ahead by forging new partnerships and bringing awareness to the Miss America Organization, which she chose as her cause while she serves as Miss Minnesota. She wants young women to understand it is a scholarship program that no longer includes a swimsuit competition, changes that are part of its 2018 re-branding. The modest young Catholic just may be the perfect person COURTESY MISS MINNESOTA | PAULA PRESTON to represent those changes. Kathryn Kueppers smiles moments after being She also will appear in the Miss named Miss Minnesota June 22 at the Eden America Competition, which will air live Prairie Performing Arts Center. Sept. 9 on ABC from Atlantic City. In the process, she said, her crown and said, ‘This is ridiculous.’ might enable her to evangelize. “Now I approach my face and hair “Hopefully people will see that my joy and clothing in a way that represents comes from my faith.” who I am. I’m not hiding my features but enhancing them.” Editor’s note: Miss Minnesota is available to That approach is evident in her make appearances (to emcee, speak, sing, etc.). penchant for demure Old Hollywood To book her, email schedule@missminnesota.org.
LOCAL
JULY 11, 2019
State abortion numbers drop
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 7
MILESTONE
St. Thomas Aquinas’ modernist church turns 50
The Catholic Spirit The number of abortions performed in Minnesota in 2018 declined by 2 percent to 9,910 from 10,134 the year before, according to an annual report on abortions released June 30 by the Minnesota Department of Health. Although the number of abortions had increased in 2017 from 9,953 in 2016, the long-term trend has been positive, with pregnancy support, ultrasound images, public education and Minnesota’s pro-life laws helping reduce the number of abortions by 48 percent since 1980 and 23 percent since 2008, said Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life in a July 1 statement. But a lawsuit challenging several of the state’s health and safety measures threatens that kind of progress, MCCL officials said. Filed May 29 in Ramsey County District Court by St. Paul-based Gender Justice and New York-based Lawyering Project, the lawsuit seeks to strike down the state’s requirements of a 24-hour waiting period before obtaining an abortion and two-parent notification for patients under 18 and its prohibiting non-physicians from performing abortions. It also seeks to end the 1998 abortion data collecting law that requires the detailed report released June 30 by the health department, MCCL officials said. “Most of our commonsense abortion-reducing laws would be eliminated if the current lawsuit is successful,” and Minnesotans would have little idea how abortion is practiced in the state, said Scott Fischbach, MCCL’s executive director, in that July 1 statement. In addition, Planned Parenthood, which now performs 63 percent of all Minnesota abortions, increased its abortion total in 2018 to a record-high 6,292. At the same time, abortions at facilities other than Planned Parenthood declined by 7 percent compared with 2017, MCCL said. “Planned Parenthood is in the business of ending human lives before they are born,” Fischbach said. “That’s what they do. They dominate the market and push their abortion numbers higher and higher.”
By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit In the southeast metro suburb of St. Paul Park, St. Thomas Aquinas is celebrating two anniversaries: the 135th year since the founding of the parish and the 50th year of its current church building, which was designed by the Minnesota modernist architect Ralph Rapson. The award-winning 1969 design is notable for a wood-beamed roof that — due to a ribbon of clerestory windows ringing the building — seemingly floats above the rest of the stucco structure. The parish was established as a mission in 1884, and a church building — still extant as the “Park Chalet” — was built at the prominent intersection of Summit and Broadway Avenues. By the early 1960s, the growing parish had moved its regular worship to the basement of its school to accommodate more people than the church building could. The parish’s pastor at the time, Father Lawrence Keller, launched a building campaign in the mid-1960s with plans for several buildings, including a new school and church. The church, however, was planned as a “basement church,” or primarily underground structure, likely due to funding. According to an unpublished master’s thesis by former parishioner and University of Minnesota architecture student Ryan Brogdon Connolly, the architects initially hired for the project never finished the church building. Father Keller realized he was “in trouble,” as he described the situation nine years later, and “that’s when you need the best — so I called Ralph Rapson.” Rapson was then the dean of the University of Minnesota’s architecture school and a notable modernist architect. Among his designs were the original 1963 Guthrie Theater, as well as the Cedar Square West complex now known as Riverside Plaza, both in Minneapolis.
PassiOn Play TOur
The church commission came just a few years after the end of the Second Vatican Council, when pastors and architects were interpreting the council document “Sacrosanctum Concilium” on the liturgy. In an interview with Connolly, Rapson confirmed he was influenced by Le Corbusier’s famous Notre Dame de Haut in Ronchamp, France, completed in 1954. Sue Kainz, the parish’s pastoral minister, said that Rapson, who died in 2008, used to bring students to tour the finished church. Although she joined the parish shortly after the new church’s construction, Kainz, 71, said she rarely thinks about its architecture as revolutionary. “It’s home to me,” she said. Under the pastorate of Father Tony Andrade, the parish has been celebrating its dual anniversaries since October with several charitable outreaches and events, including a June 23 Mass commemorating the first liturgy in the new church, followed by a picnic with food concessions at 1969 prices and an Elvis impersonator. Archbishop Bernard Hebda plans to celebrate the anniversary year’s closing Mass at the parish Oct. 6.
• Wills • Powers of Attorney • Trusts • Health Care Directives • Probate
germany • ausTria • swiTzerland July 10-22, 2020
CETA Tours • Menomonie, WI • 1-800-501-0397 • cetatours.com/adultTours.php
Minnesota modernist architect Ralph Rapson designed a church for St. Thomas Aquinas in St. Paul Park in 1969.
Trojack Law Office, P.A.
Oberammergau
Includes • Airfare from MSP • Bilingual tour manager with 20 years of experience • Admissions to all sightseeing • Category 1 seating at Passion Play • Breakfast & dinner daily • All tips for included services
MARIA WIERING | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
John E. Trojack, Attorney at Law
• Guardianships • Conservatorships
Call to attend complimentary workshops We offer tailor-made, client-focused estate planning and related services from a Catholic Perspective
Trojack Law Office, P.A. • 1549 Livingston Ave., Ste. 101 • W. St. Paul, MN 55118
Phone: 651.451.9696 • www.TrojackLaw.com
Join us on pilgrimage HOLY LAND
(Walk Where Jesus Walked) Father Leroy Scheierl – Spiritual Director February 10 – 21, 2020
FUNERAL CHAPELS, INC. Robbinsdale • Plymouth • St. Louis Park Please cut out form below and mail to: 3888 West Broadway • Robbinsdale, MN 55422
Name Address City
State
Zip
o Please mail information regarding pre-need funeral arrangements. o Please have a funeral director call me with information regarding prearrangements. My phone number is
Father Scheierl
OBERAMMERGAU 2020 + GERMANY AND AUSTRIA Father Robert Fitzpatrick (Fr. Fitz),” – Spiritual Director Retired priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis September 8-19, 2020
Father Fitzpatrick
IRELAND • September 23-October 3, 2019 • Still a few seats available Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City • March 2020 (date pending) • Details available soon Holy Land • October 2020 • pending date and final details Contact Colleen @ JeriCo Christian Journeys for details or a brochure call 1-877-453-7426
8 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
JULY 11, 2019
NATION+WORLD
Woman’s healing is part of Cardinal Newman’s sainthood cause By Joyce Duriga Catholic News Service A few prayers to Blessed John Henry Newman became a “constant dialogue” and then a desperate response to an emergency for Melissa Villalobos of Chicago. Her healing, which saved her life and the life of her unborn child, was accepted as the miracle needed for the 19thcentury British cardinal’s canonization. Pope Francis announced July 1 that he will declare Blessed John Henry Newman a saint Oct. 13. Coincidentally, the miracle accepted for his beatification in 2010 also involved someone from the United States: Deacon Jack Sullivan, 71, of Marshfield, Massachusetts, was healed of a severe spinal condition in 2001. Recounting her own story, Villalobos, 42, told Chicago Catholic that in 2011, “my husband brought home a couple of holy cards with Cardinal Newman’s picture on them. I put one in the family room and one in our master bedroom.” “I would pass his picture in the house and I would say little prayers to him for whatever our family’s needs were at the time — the children, my husband, myself. I really started to develop a very constant dialogue with him,” said Villalobos, a mother of seven. Her prayers had a miraculous result in
2013 when she started bleeding during the first trimester of a pregnancy. At the time she had four children — ages 6, 5, 3 and 1 — and a previous pregnancy that had MELISSA ended in miscarriage. VILLALOBOS “When I went to the doctor, he did an ultrasound and he said the placenta had become partially detached from the uterine wall, so there was a hole in the placenta and that hole was allowing blood to escape,” she said. Villalobos also developed a subchorionic hematoma, which is a blood clot in the fetal membrane. It was two-and-a-half times the size of the baby. The doctors recommended bed rest. On Friday, May 10, 2013, Villalobos went to the emergency room because the bleeding was worse. Again, the doctor recommended strict bed rest, which was difficult to imagine with four small children and a husband who had to work. The doctor also told the couple that a miscarriage was likely, but if the baby survived the pregnancy, she would likely be born prematurely. Meanwhile, Villalobos’ husband, David, had to leave for a mandatory business trip. “Wednesday morning I woke up in bed in a pool of blood. My
husband was already in an airplane on his way to Atlanta,” Villalobos said. She put off calling 911 because she didn’t know who would care for the kids if she was taken to the hospital. She made them breakfast and told them to stay put before going upstairs. “Now the bleeding was really bad because I had just gone up the stairs, which I really shouldn’t have done. I kind of collapsed on the bathroom floor out of weakness and desperation.” Villalobos laid there thinking she should now call 911, but she realized she didn’t have her cellphone. She also knew the force of yelling for her kids would cause more damage and bleeding. With thoughts of losing her unborn baby, worry for her children downstairs and wondering if she could die, Villalobos uttered her fateful prayer. “Then I said, ‘Please, Cardinal Newman, make the bleeding stop.’ Those were my exact words. Just then, as soon as I finished the sentence, the bleeding stopped.” She got off the floor and verified there was no more bleeding and said, “‘Thank you, Cardinal Newman. Thank you.’ Just then the scent of roses filled the bathroom,” Villalobos said. “The strongest scent of roses I’ve ever smelled.” “I thought to myself in that moment, ‘Oh my goodness! My baby is OK. I’m
OK. My four children are OK. We’re all OK.’ And I said, ‘Thank you, Cardinal Newman,’” Villalobos said. That afternoon Villalobos’ cure was confirmed during a weekly ultrasound. The doctor told her everything was “perfect” and there was no longer a hole in the placenta. Baby Gemma was born Dec. 27, 2013, after a full-term pregnancy. She had no medical problems. Officials from the Archdiocese of Chicago conducted the local study of what was then just an alleged miracle and forwarded the case to the Vatican for another series of investigations. The outcome was revealed Feb. 13 when Pope Francis announced the miracle was accepted and that Cardinal Newman would be canonized.
Bishops protest HUD proposal targeting illegal immigrants Catholic News Service The chairmen of two U.S. bishops’ committees said July 3 they oppose a proposed rule by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that they say would lead to separation or housing instability for many families. Introduced in mid-May, the rule is meant to prevent people who are in the country illegally from receiving federal housing aid, which the Trump administration has said should only be available for legal residents or citizens. The HUD proposal targets 25,000 families who currently receive such benefits because they are of “mixed” status, meaning at least one member of
the family does not have legal documents while other family members are citizens or legal residents. If implemented, the rule would make these families ineligible for HUD’s public and specified assisted housing programs, including public housing, home loan programs and housing choice vouchers. “The proposed rule would have terrible consequences for thousands of mixedstatus families,” said Bishop Joe Vasquez of Austin, Texas, chairman of the Committee on Migration. “It would force these families to make a heartbreaking choice — endure family separation so that eligible members can continue to receive critical housing assistance or stay together and forfeit
any such assistance.” “We urge HUD to withdraw this deeply concerning proposed rule,” he said in a statement released by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Bishop Vasquez was joined by Bishop Frank Dewane of Venice, Florida, chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, who said: “By proposing this rule, HUD acknowledges the need for more housing assistance so that people in need won’t have to endure long waits for programs that are overwhelmed by demand. More must be done to address housing needs in this country, but it must not be done at the expense of mixed-status families.”
Your Byline Here.
Father Dennis Dease Congratulations
The Catholic Spirit is seeking experienced, professional freelance journalists to report on Catholic life in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Interested? Email
on 50 years of Priesthood
Saint Michael Catholic High School Saint Michael, Minnesota 1961 Graduate
CatholicSpirit@archspm.org Prices starting at $2,499 ~ with Airfare Included in this price from anywhere in the USA
Several trips to different destinations: the Holy Land; Italy; France; Portugal; Spain; Poland; Medjugorje; Lourdes; Fatima; Ireland; Scotland; England; Austria; Germany; Switzerland; Turkey; Greece; Budapest; Prague; Our Lady of Guadalupe; Colombia; Brazil; Argentina; Domestic Destinations; etc. We also specialize in custom trips for Bishops, Priests, and Deacons.
Call us 24/7 508-340-9370 or 855-842-8001 www.proximotravel.com anthony@proximotravel.com (Hablamos Español)
Job Opening A for P Public ublic P Policy olicy AssociAte ssociAte D Director irector for The MinnesotaCatholic Catholic Conference The Minnesota Conference (MCC) (MCC) is seekingis seeking an associate director for public policy. The an associate director for public policy. The associate associate director assistsidentifying, in actively identifying, director assists in actively formulating, and formulating, and policy implementing public policy implementing public objectives that promote the objectives thatinpromote theMinnesota. common good in the common good the state of state of Minnesota. The associate director is MCC’s day-to-day point of The associate director is MCC’s contact with public officials and is day-to-day responsiblepoint for of contact with officialswith andlegislators is responsible facilitating goodpublic relationships on for facilitating relationships with analysis, legislators both sides ofgood the aisle. Lobbying, policy andon both sides of the aisle. Lobbying, policy duties analysis, building coalitions comprise the principal of and building coalitions comprise theassociate principaldirector duties of the associate director, though the the associate director, thoughrelationships the associatewith director is also responsible for building isparishes, also responsible for stakeholders building relationships with laity, and other in the Catholic parishes, laity, and other stakeholders in the Catholic community. community. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS Required qualifications Thorough knowledge of Catholic socialsocial teaching; Thorough knowledge of Catholic teaching; Practicing Catholic who exhibits fidelity to fidelity to Practicing Catholic who exhibits the Magisterium of the Church; An the Magisterium of Catholic the Catholic Church; An entrepreneurial and Three yearsyears of entrepreneurial andevangelical evangelicalspirit; spirit; Three legislative, lobbying, or public policypolicy experience, or of legislative, lobbying, or public experience, experience in a related Demonstrated knowledge or experience in a field; related field; Demonstrated of the legislative Strong analytical knowledge of theprocess; legislative process; Strongand analytical research skills;skills; Minimum of a bachelor’s degreedegree in a and research Minimum of a bachelor’s relevant field.field. in a relevant PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS Preferred Qualifications Law degreeororgraduate graduate degree; Spanish language Law degree degree; Spanish fluency. language fluency. Full job DESCRIPTION: description:MNCatholic.org/jobs MNCatholic.org/jobs FULL JOB Send cover letter, resumé, shortwriting writing sample, Send cover letter, resumé, short sample, andand three references to to HR@mncc.org HR@mncc.org or HR Director, three references or HR Director, Minnesota CatholicConference, Conference,475 475 University Ave. Minnesota Catholic University Ave. W St.Paul, Paul,MN MN55103. 55103. phone calls, please. W.,.,St. NoNo phone calls, please.
NATION+WORLD
JULY 11, 2019
HEADLINES uTwo schools diverge over status of teachers in same-sex unions. Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis announced June 20 it would continue the employment of a teacher in a same-sex marriage, a choice that resulted in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis no longer considering the school as Catholic. On June 23, Cathedral High School in the same city announced it had rescinded the contract of a teacher in a same-sex marriage because of the contract’s morality clause. On June 27, Archbishop Charles Thompson of Indianapolis held a news conference, stressing he has family members and friends with same-sex attraction, and he loves them unconditionally. But the issue involving the two schools, he said, “is about public witness of Church teaching on the dignity of marriage as one man and one woman. ... In this particular case we’re dealing with, those are ministers in our Church. Teachers, guidance counselors, other leaders, leaders of the schools and other leaders in the archdiocese are bound to live out these principles.” uCensus forms will not include citizenship question. The Justice Department announced July 2 it would no longer plan to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census in response to the Supreme Court’s recent decision and amid pressing deadlines to begin printing the questionnaire forms. But the Trump administration continues to look at possible options to include the question. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement that he strongly disagreed with the high court’s ruling over the planned additional
question and President Donald Trump tweeted that it was a “very sad time for America.” Earlier that day, the U.S. bishops praised the Supreme Court’s decision June 27 to block the Trump administration’s citizenship question stressing that “the inclusion of a citizenship question must ensure genuine reasons” for it. The 5-4 ruling — written by Chief Justice John Roberts — sent the case back to a lower court saying the administration’s reason for adding the citizenship question “seems to have been contrived.”
CNS
uPope gives relics of St. Peter to Orthodox patriarch. In what Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople described as a “brave and bold” gesture, Pope Francis gave the patriarch a famous reliquary containing bone fragments believed to belong to St. Peter. The only time the bronze reliquary has been displayed publicly was in November 2013, when Pope Francis had it present for public veneration as he celebrated the closing Mass for the Year of Faith, opened by Pope Benedict XVI. The bronze case contains nine of the bone fragments discovered during excavations of the necropolis under St. Peter’s Basilica that began in the 1940s. While no pope has ever
THE INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED BOYS CHOIR
2019 US TOUR SHIMMERING, MYSTICAL CHORDS, AND ECSTATIC HARMONIES SACRED, TRADITIONAL, AND CONTEMPORARY SONGS MUSIC TO UPLIFT THE SOUL
CATHEDRAL OF SAINT PAUL SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – JULY 26, 2019 7.30PM TICKETS: $11 - $55 (PLUS BOOKING FEE) AVAILABLE FROM: HTTPS://LIBERA.ORG/TICKETS
LIBERA.ORG
declared the bones to be authentic, St. Paul VI announced in 1968 that the “relics” of St. Peter had been “identified in a way which we can hold to be convincing.” uPope applauds Trump, Kim meeting in North Korea. After President Donald Trump became the first sitting U.S. president to set foot in North Korea, Pope Francis called his meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un a positive step toward world peace. After praying the Angelus with pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square June 30, the pope called the historic meeting a “good example of a culture of encounter.” He also sent greetings to Trump and Kim and prayed “that this significant gesture constitutes a further step in the path of peace, not only in that peninsula but for the whole world.” After meeting for nearly an hour June 30 in the demilitarized zone that has separated North and South since the Korean War ended in 1953, Trump and Kim agreed to set up teams to resume talks that broke down in February over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. uRichmond bishop issues new policy on naming Church buildings, ministries. Richmond Bishop Barry Knestout announced a new policy, effective June 27, directing that all diocesan institutions, schools and parish buildings will no longer be named after a bishop, pastor, founder or another individual. The policy says the Virginia diocese’s structures and institutions are to identify themselves only with “the names of saints, the mysteries of the faith, the titles of Our Lord or of Our Lady, or the place where the ministry has been established.” “Overcoming the tragedy of abuse is not just about holding
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 9 accountable those who have committed abuses, it is also about seriously examining the role and complex legacies of individuals who should have done more to address the crisis in real time,” Bishop Knestout said. The only location that requires a change because of this policy is a high school in Virginia Beach named in 2003 after Bishop Walter Sullivan, who headed the Richmond Diocese from 1974 to 2003; he was an auxiliary bishop of the diocese for four years before that. After his death in 2012, claims surfaced that as the bishop, he had covered up abuse by some priests in the diocese. The school returns to its former name of Catholic High School, which it was named in 1993. uMigrants are persons like us’: Border bishops offer prayers after deaths. Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, and Bishop Eugenio Lira Rugarcia, of the neighboring Diocese of Matamoros, Mexico, expressed condolences to the families of migrant children and parents who recently drowned trying to cross the Rio Grande into the United States. They mentioned, in particular, the deaths of Oscar Alberto Martinez Ramirez, 25, and 23-month-old Angie Valeria, a Salvadoran father and daughter whose bodies were photographed after they drowned in the river that flows across Texas and Mexico and forms part of the U.S.-Mexico border. “We invite everyone, governments and society, to be ever aware that migrants are persons like us,” the bishops said, “with dignity and rights, with needs, sorrows and hopes. We must extend a hand to help them have a better future, following the teaching that Jesus has given us: ‘Do unto others whatever you would have them do to you.’”
10 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Keeping the
faith in the new
Northeast
By Jonathan Liedl For The Catholic Spirit
L
ongtime residents of Northeast have fond memories of growing up in the historically Catholic part of Minneapolis, affectionately known as “a small town in the big city.” They share stories of games of hide-andseek with 50-plus kids in the neighborhood park. They can tell you the names of the members of every family that lived on their block. And they recall how on Sunday mornings, nearly every family in the neighborhood would walk to their respective ethnic parish, beckoned by the call of church bells that rang out from the 13 Catholic churches and chapels in or on the borders of Northeast. From the way Mike Rainville, 64, a fifthgeneration Northeaster and parishioner at Our Lady of Lourdes, speaks about the area, it’s clear that it could have never been mistaken for a simple bedroom community. “(Northeast) has never been a place where you just take a shower and keep your clothes,” he said. “It’s where you have family and where you practice your faith.”
NORTHEAST MINNEAPOLIS CHURCHES All Saints, Fourth St. NE Holy Cross Includes four campuses: Holy Cross, 1621 University Ave. NE; St. Clement, 24th Ave. NE; St. Hedwig, 129 29th Ave. NE, and St. Anthony Chapel at Catholic Eldercare, 813 Main St. NE Our Lady of Lourdes, 1 Lourdes Place Our Lady of Mount Carmel, 701 Fillmore St. NE St. Boniface, 629 Second St. NE St. Constantine (Ukranian rite), 515 University Ave. NE Sts. Cyril and Methodius, 229 13th Ave. NE St. Maron ( Maronite rite), 600 University Ave. NE St. John the Baptist ( Byzantine rite), 2215 3rd St. NE St. Charles Borromeo, 2 739 Stinson Blvd., St. Anthony (borders Northeast Minneapolis)
Today, however, the landscape is somewhat different. Millennials, not large Catholic families, are the dominant demographic in Northeast, the part of Minneapolis east of the Mississippi River and north of Hennepin Avenue. They’ve come in droves over the past 10 years, driving real estate prices up and the average age down to under 30. Northeast’s newest residents are attracted by the area’s thriving arts scene, hip bars and breweries, and trendy restaurants, many of which occupy buildings that once were factories and warehouses where Catholic immigrants who first settled in Northeast made their living. They love the area’s many trails and its proximity to downtown, as well as the fact that life here unfolds against a backdrop of gritty, urban neighborhoods. But on a Sunday morning in the new Northeast, these millennial denizens are more likely to head to a coffee shop or yoga studio than Mass. They might appreciate Northeast’s churches for their bells or architecture, but most of them aren’t darkening their doors. Statistics show that 50 percent of millennials raised Catholic no longer identify as Catholic, and only 7 percent actively practice their faith. Still, despite these and other changes in Northeast, the area’s Catholic parishes believe they have an integral part to play in the life of the community. “There’s still a spiritual longing here,” said Father Byron Hagan, parochial vicar of Holy Cross, a Northeast parish, “and this means that there’s a mission in a classic Catholic neighborhood that our local Church can’t responsibly abandon.” And in an area known for injecting old buildings with new life, it’s not surprising to see the same Catholic spirit of Northeast playing out in creative ways that build upon the past.
Immigrant legacy Long known as “the Polish Quarter,” an acknowledgment of the large number of Poles and other Eastern Europeans who settled there around the turn of the 20th century, Northeast has always been a home for immigrants looking to establish themselves. Some of those immigrants still come from Poland, and they continue to find a home at Holy Cross, which was established in 1886 at the request of the Polish immigrant community. Father Stan Poszwa, a member of the Society of Christ Fathers, a religious society dedicated to ministering to Polish communities in North America, celebrates the Polish-language Mass every
Sunday. Polish school is held every Saturday during the school year, and Polish community celebrations still take place in Kolbe Hall, named for Polish martyr St. Maximilian Kolbe. But for the most part, the current chapter of Northeast’s ongoing legacy of immigration looks different than it did in the past. For instance, while students at the St. John Paul II Catholic Preparatory School, which sits on the campus of Holy Cross, still greet visitors by singing them a Polish hymn, almost none of them have Polish ancestry; they’re mostly Ecuadorian. Others are immigrants from East Africa. Down the road at St. Boniface, a large French-speaking African community worships in a church where German was once the lingua franca. And the Ecuadorian families that send their children to St. John Paul II for school bring them to Sts. Cyril and Methodius for Mass, where the longtime Slovak parishioners joke that funerals are for the Slovaks, while the weddings and baptisms are for the Spanish-speaking newcomers. “That’s exactly how it all started,” said Tom Siwek, a third-generation Northeaster and active parishioner at Holy Cross, referring to Northeast’s legacy as a landing spot for immigrants. His grandparents established Siwek Lumber and Millwork in 1933 to serve the housing needs of newcomers. Last year, he supplied the building material and led the construction of a new playground at St. John Paul II school, where three generations of his family were educated, beginning with his father in 1939. Although the students at the school now come from a different culture, Siwek still considers them part of the same Northeast family.
‘It’s a beautiful cycle’ The passing of the baton from one community to another isn’t always
smooth. Sts. Cyril and Methodius parishioner Julio Alvarado said there were some struggles in the first years that Ecuadorians arrived at the historically Slovak parish in the 1990s. Now, however, the two groups have learned to work together as a team, he said, with the older generation helping the newcomers navigate some of the nuances of American parish life, such as getting a city permit for a religious procession. “It’s great to share their experience and culture,” Alvarado said. According to some residents, the millennials who’ve moved into the area are also a new version of the old Northeast, living out the same spirit of community and belonging. “I actually see that younger generation get into arguments on Facebook about who is ‘more Northeast,’” said Tony Lipa, a fourth-generation Northeaster and Holy Cross parishioner, referring to the neighborhood’s moniker. “It’s what you want to be a part of, which I think is great.” And despite millennials’ relative non-involvement in traditional religion, several of Northeast’s parishes are intentional about reaching out to the emerging demographic. None have been more successful than Our Lady of Lourdes, where Pastor Father Daniel Griffith said parish membership has tripled in the past six years, with millennials the most well-represented age group among new parishioners. The parish has averaged 30 weddings and 45 baptisms annually over the past three years, another sign of its appeal to young adults. “It’s kind of a two-step dance,” said Father Griffith. “We want to make sure we’re fully engaged with the young folks who are already interested,” while also reaching out to others. Lourdes has complemented its prime location just off Hennepin Avenue with compelling young adult programming such as its popular Vespers at Lourdes, a
JULY 11, 2019 • 11
Farmer, pastor of St. John the Baptist, a Byzantine Catholic parish in Northeast, who, like Pope Francis, thinks priests should “smell like their sheep.” “If you live in the neighborhood, you need to be around as if you live in the neighborhood,” he said. Both parishes have also made a concerted effort to engage Northeast’s trendy, young crowd by participating in community events like Art-a-Whirl, an annual Northeast-wide art studio tour. This past May, Holy Cross took part for the second year in a row, hosting artists, live music and food at its St. Clement campus. “Catholicism has to be interested in what Northeast is interested in if it’s going to make contact in the neighborhood and be relevant,” Father Hagan said.
Rooted in tradition
From left, Fathers Spencer Howe and Byron Hagan walk down Central Avenue in Northeast Minneapolis in this 2018 file photo. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
monthly event that bills itself as “a substantial encounter with the Living God,” combining chanted psalms and eucharistic adoration with substantive catechesis and conversation. “The thing that I really appreciate is that these events are never just about socializing,” said Katie Keller, 29, who attends Vespers as well as young adult events held at Holy Cross, where she’s been a parishioner since moving to Northeast in 2017. “Prayer is always an essential aspect of whatever they have going on.” At Holy Cross, Father Hagan, 49, said he and the pastor, Father Spencer Howe, 32, can’t help but make a statement of faith in their everyday encounters with the Northeasters they meet on the sidewalks or in restaurants, encounters that are all the more frequent in a place built for community. Seeing the young priests in their collars, millennial Northeasters are reminded that the Catholic churches in the neighborhoods are not simply marks of a bygone past, but places where a new generation of men have made a countercultural choice to live for Christ. “Frankly, it’s a lot of fun for me, and I think it’s a lot of fun for them, too,” Father Hagan said of these conversations, which he thinks can help dissolve stereotypes people might have about priests or the Catholic faith. Father Hagan said these interactions haven’t led to any “hip millennial conversions,” but they plant the relational seed for more meaningful encounters in the future, perhaps when a couple thinks about getting married or when someone goes through a hard time. It’s an approach to priestly life that’s strongly encouraged by Father Cyril
While Catholic renewal in Northeast looks toward the future, it’s also firmly planted in the Church’s tradition. This is especially clear at the Church of All Saints, a diocesan parish entrusted since 2013 to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, whose priests offer sacraments exclusively in the Extraordinary Form. Once a flagging neighborhood parish, All Saints now has parishioners who commute from across the Twin Cities to take part in its liturgies. This approach to renewal has also guided how Northeast’s parishes are utilizing some of their physical spaces. The old Holy Cross convent, once a place of prayer and rest for Franciscan sisters, is now Bethany House, a women’s discernment house run by the archdiocese’s Office of Vocations. The old rectory at St. Clement currently houses a group of Catholic men, not the parish priest. And the church and school of St. Anthony of Padua has long been home to a Catholic Eldercare community, where president and CEO Dan Johnson said the same “crisscrossing of community” that has defined the area for generations plays out among residents, many of whom grew up in the Northeast neighborhoods. The Church’s patrimony has also been an inspiration for the priests at Holy Cross, who are part of a group of diocesan priests hoping to establish an Oratory of St. Philip Neri, a form of priestly living that would allow members to live together in stability. After sharing their aspirations with Archbishop Bernard Hebda, Fathers Howe and Hagan were assigned to Holy Cross in the summer of 2017. They live at the nearby St. Boniface rectory with Father Andy Jaspers, a full-time spiritual director at St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul, and Father Bryce Evans, who was recently assigned as parochial vicar at Lourdes. “We have a desire to live the apostolic life — priests living and working together in community — while remaining true to our seminary training as ‘secular’ (diocesan) clergy,” Father Hagan said.
Collective effort Northeast’s Catholic spirit is still operative, but it’s not as pronounced or obvious as it once was. Several of the area’s priests recognize the need to represent Catholicism in Northeast in a more intentional way by fostering greater collaboration among the different communities. “Sometimes in the past, that’s been a
NORTHEAST’S CATHOLIC ROOTS Part of Northeast’s appeal to millennials is its distinct sense of place. Life unfolds in the midst of urban neighborhoods that stand out from the uniformity of suburbia, where many of the newcomers likely grew up. In the colorful, walkable, tree-covered confines of Northeast, they’ve discovered a way of life designed around community. It’s not a new development, but the continuation of a centuries-old model of urban living that fosters a sense of belonging and identity, to which the Catholic roots of the area aren’t incidental. It’s noticeable in conversations with longtime Northeast residents, who mention within the first minute what generation of Northeaster they are. Mike Rainville, 64, is steeped in the area’s stories, earning him the nickname “Mr. Northeast.” The fifth-generation Northeaster is an active parishioner at Our Lady of Lourdes, which his French-Canadian ancestors helped establish over 140 years ago. Rainville has passed his love of Northeast on to his 23-year-old son, Mike Jr., who gives tours of the area and writes for the Mill City Times, a local publication. “He’s told me that he always wants to live in Northeast,” Rainville said of his son. The neighborhood’s Catholic roots began growing in the late 19th century, Rainville explained, when waves of Catholic immigrants — French-Canadian, German, Polish, Slovakian, Ukrainian, Irish, Italian, Lebanese and others — began to make Northeast their home, taking jobs at the industrial centers that lined the river and railways. Some say Northeast, which was originally established as the village of St. Anthony before merging with Minneapolis in 1872, was the only part of a mostly Protestant city where Catholics were allowed to settle. Descendants of those immigrants are quick to point out that its nickname “Nordeast” was not an endearing term, but a slur meant to mock Eastern European newcomers who struggled to speak the English language.
The churches aren’t the only physical manifestation of the Catholic culture that flourished here. The duplex units common in Northeast, now usually rented out, were actually built to be multigenerational homes. It wasn’t uncommon to find grandparents, parents and children under one roof, with a recently immigrated relative living in the basement. The traditional zoning put residential and commercial lots in close proximity, meaning many residents shopped and worked in the same neighborhood where they lived and worshipped. Northeast began to change, with the rest of America, in the 1960s and ’70s. With the close of major local industries in the cities and the development of the interstate highway system, the suburbs became the site of the American Dream. Increasingly, descendants of the immigrants who had built Northeast moved to Fridley, Andover, Blaine and beyond. Many remember the years that followed as challenging times in Northeast. Residents grew older. Houses and stores fell into disrepair, and crime became a serious problem. Even Mr. Northeast himself, a new father in the 1990s, questioned whether he should keep his family in such a roughand-tumble part of town. The artist community played a pivotal role in reviving Northeast in the late 1990s. Pushed out from the North Loop, they turned Northeast’s abandoned industrial buildings into studio spaces, adding life, color and eventually an influx of newcomers to an area that had grown stagnant. A number of Northeast Catholics acknowledge that the area likely wouldn’t have rebounded to anywhere near what it is today without them. The community’s success in opposing Interstate 335, a planned interstate highway expansion in the 1970s that would have cut Northeast in half, was also a vital factor in preserving the physical makeup of the area.
Denied higher paying opportunities and wider societal acceptance, these original Northeasters were left to shape their neighborhoods with what they did have: their faith and their community. Those factors began to mold Northeast into a patchwork of ethnic communities, with a Catholic church usually at the center of each.
But Rainville thinks it’s also important to acknowledge the role the churches of Northeast played in keeping the area afloat. He points to Our Lady of Lourdes. The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis had considered closing it in the 1970s, he said, but Al Hofstede, Minneapolis’ mayor and a Lourdes parishioner, asked Church leaders to reconsider. The church stayed open, and it has been the center of revitalization in old St. Anthony that has taken place over the past 40 years.
“They were built by immigrants who were having a hard enough time,” but sacrificed the little savings they’d earned for the sake of their faith and community, Rainville said of Northeast’s parishes.
“At a time when other middle class neighborhoods in the city fell apart, Northeast held together because of the culture of pride, hard work, homeownership and faith,” Rainville said.
challenge for Catholic parishes,” Father Griffith said. The resulting effort is called the Northeast Catholic Collective. Father Hagen said at this point, it’s more of an “intuition than anything else” that “underneath all of the Catholic diversity in Northeast, there’s a fundamental unity” which was once obvious, but now needs to be pointed out. To do this, participating parishes have collaborated on a variety of projects, blurring the lines of what were once hard-and-fast parochial divides between the ethnically distinct parishes of Northeast. Priests from Holy Cross have participated in the Greek Catholic liturgies at St. John and taught catechesis at Lourdes. Father Farmer has led a men’s group at Holy Cross. And for the second year in a row, Our Lady of Lourdes fundraised at its annual gala to support the mission of the Northeast Catholic Collective. “We’re not rivals,” Father Hagan said. “We really do belong together.” Under the Northeast Catholic
Collective banner, the parishes have held young adult Holy Hours, speaker series at local bars and summertime garden parties. This past May, they hosted worldrenowned art historian Elizabeth Lev at Holy Cross for a presentation on St. Helena and the true cross. This fall, they’ll sponsor a series on Catholic social teaching and urban living by local expert Richard Aleman. The Collective’s collaboration certainly makes it easier on the parishes’ resources, but it’s about more than just practical efficiency. “It’s a question of how we witness,” Father Farmer said. Father Hagan said that the Collective is helping observant Catholics think about how their belonging in the Church extends beyond just the family parish, so that they in turn might be able to offer a more open welcome to non-Catholics in Northeast. “We don’t have a pocketful of solutions,” he said, “but we do see the richness of the spiritual challenge. We just want to do our best to answer it.”
12 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
JULY 11, 2019
FAITH+CULTURE
‘The Right Reverend New Dealer’: Msgr. John A. Ryan at 150 Life of Minnesota-born social reformer may hold key lessons for Catholic social justice a century-and-a-half after his birth By Jonathan Liedl For The Catholic Spirit
F
or Catholics weary of the state of politics in 2019 — especially false dichotomies between social justice and pro-life advocacy — here’s a possibly overlooked source for fresh inspiration: Msgr. John A. Ryan, the prominent early 20th century theologian and social reformer, who was born 150 years ago in Minnesota. “(Msgr.) Ryan was a moral theologian who attended to economics but he never lost his perspective on the family, on the larger questions of the moral life or on the transcendent destiny of human persons,” said Robert Kennedy, a professor in Catholic Studies and co-founder of the John A. Ryan Institute for Social Thought at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. Regarded as one of the most influential American Catholics of the first half of the 20th century, Msgr. Ryan is most known for his application of Catholic social principles to the economic concerns of his day, such as workers’ wages, labor representation and child labor policies. But the Catholic priest was also one of the American Church’s most forceful public advocates against artificial birth control, and he was a fierce opponent of Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood. Msgr. Ryan saw both economic injustice and self-centered sexual practices as threats to “right living” and the integrity of the family, a kind of consistency that made him hard to pigeonhole ideologically even in his own day. “He’s tough to categorize — and that’s not necessarily a bad thing,” said Maria Mazzenga, curator of the American Catholic History Collection at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where an inventory of Ryan’s works is maintained.
Minnesota roots Though Msgr. Ryan made his biggest contributions on the East Coast, Mazzenga said he cannot be understood apart from his Minnesota roots, which had an “outsized influence” on his theological and economic outlook. Msgr. Ryan’s concern for the plight of the working class can be traced back to Rich Valley, near Vermillion, where he was born in 1869 and grew up on a small farm. He was the oldest of 11, whose parents were Irish immigrants who’d lived through the mid-19th century potato famine. His father was a subscriber to a populist publication, “The Irish World and the American Industrial Liberator,” and one of young Msgr. Ryan’s childhood heroes was Ignatius Donnelly, a Minnesota politician who ran as the Populist Party’s candidate for president in 1892. Msgr. Ryan’s outlook was also molded by the Catholic education he received. After graduating in 1888 from Cretin High School in St. Paul, a precursor to today’s Cretin-Derham Hall, Msgr. Ryan entered seminary formation. When The St. Paul Seminary opened in 1894, he was one of its first students, and he was trained in the moral theology of St. Thomas Aquinas. Msgr. Ryan was particularly impacted by reading Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical “Rerum Novarum” (“Of new things”), which used Thomistic principles to address challenges related to business and labor. In his autobiography, the priest recalled that reading the encyclical inspired him to dedicate his life to the integration of Catholic social principles with the economic challenges facing American workers of his day. After being ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in 1898 by Archbishop John Ireland, Msgr. Ryan studied for four years at The
ABOVE Msgr. John A. Ryan, second from left, at his 70th testimonial dinner with Associate Justices of the Supreme Court Hugo Black, left, Felix Frankfurter and William Douglas May 25, 1939. Msgr. Ryan was a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and prominent social justice advocate. May 25, 2019, marked the 150th anniversary of his birth. LEFT A portrait of Msgr. Ryan. PHOTOS COURTESY THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC HISTORY RESEARCH CENTER AND THE UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES (ACUA), THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA, WASHINGTON, D.C.
Catholic University of America. He’d later return to CUA in 1915, but as a professor, after having served on the faculty of The St. Paul Seminary for more than a decade.
National impact According to Kennedy at UST, Msgr. Ryan was “a pioneer in the practical integration of moral theology with economics and politics.” He was the first doctoral student in theology at CUA to focus his dissertation on economics and theology. That work was eventually published in 1906 as “A Living Wage,” in which Msgr. Ryan combined economic analysis of family income needs (which he estimated at about $600 a year at that time) with Catholic moral teaching to ground calls for a national minimum wage. Although mischaracterized by some as a “socialist,” the priest was a strong believer in the ability of private property ownership to promote liberty and equality. “His ideas really do come out of ‘Rerum Novarum,’ where we see a strong condemnation of socialism with a consideration of the ways government might work on behalf of the impoverished,” Mazzenga said. When the U.S. bishops sought to lay out moral principles that could guide America’s post-World War I reconstruction, they turned to Msgr. Ryan to draft the document in 1919. The result, which some argue helped to shape President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal policies, included many of Msgr. Ryan’s recommendations, from stronger child labor laws to the encouragement of cooperatives owned and managed by consumers. Msgr. Ryan was also a founding director of the National Catholic Welfare Conference, which is today the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Msgr. Ryan’s views were by no means universally accepted by Catholics of his time. Father Virgil Michael, a Benedictine of St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, for instance, criticized Msgr. Ryan for moving too quickly to state-implemented solutions to economic injustices. Another priest disparaged him as
“The Right Reverend New Dealer,” highlighting Msgr. Ryan’s close ties to President Roosevelt, whom Msgr. Ryan advised and for whom he offered the benediction at the president’s 1937 inauguration. But the moniker stuck, and it even became the title of the authoritative biography on Msgr. Ryan. “That’s what he was,” said Arthur Myers, an independent scholar in Connecticut who studies Msgr. Ryan. “He was part of that revolution.”
Continuing legacy Msgr. Ryan died in 1945 in St. Paul, but his impact can still be felt, and not just through the economic reforms he helped to advance. The John A. Ryan Institute at St. Thomas, which was renamed after the Minnesota priest in 1996, takes its inspiration not so much from the specific policy work for which Msgr. Ryan advocated, but rather from his example of practically applying Catholic social teaching to economic concerns. “We have a tendency in Catholic [theology], especially Catholic social teaching, to get generic theories and principles, but what do they really mean?” said Michael Naughton, director of UST’s Center for Catholic Studies and co-founder with Kennedy of the Ryan Institute. “He translated it, he operationalized Catholic social teaching.” Today, under the leadership of Msgr. Martin Schlag, the Center applies the same approach primarily to questions of business, a topic in which Naughton believes Msgr. Ryan would be deeply interested if he were alive today. Both Kennedy and Naughton have their criticisms of some of Msgr. Ryan’s prudential policy recommendations. Kennedy suggested that the priest had a tendency “to bend the ‘flexible’ Catholic tradition to conform to his progressive leanings.” Nonetheless, both recognize him as an impactful social reformer who drew his convictions and his motivation from his Catholic faith — something Catholics in the public square today would do well to imitate. “I think he’s a towering figure whom we should be proud to claim,” Naughton said. “Holding up and rediscovering his vision is very important.”
JULY 11, 2019
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 13
RELIGIOUSJUBILEES
Reflecting on 60 years of sisterhood By Debbie Musser For The Catholic Spirit
O
NOTICE
n March 19, Sister Angela Schreiber celebrated her 60th jubilee, commemorating six decades of service as a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet. She is not alone in her devotion to service. Dozens of religious sisters, brothers and religious order priests are celebrating milestone anniversaries this year in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Her milestone, which she celebrated on the feast day of St. Joseph, holds special meaning. “Well, it means I’m much older than I was — I certainly don’t think of myself as age 82,” she said with a smile. “It’s also a good opportunity to reflect on my experiences and what I’ve done with my life as both a sister and a teacher.” Sister Angela has had a rich ministry in education, from teaching first and second graders in archdiocesan parish schools to instructing young women studying to be future teachers at the College of St. Catherine (now St. Catherine University) in St. Paul, where she went on to become chair of the education department. “Throughout my sisterhood community and in my ministries, I was asked, ‘Would you be willing to take this on?’ I always said yes, and I’m so thankful I did,” Sister Angela said.
“I would highly recommend education as a career,” she said. “I looked at each student as a child of God, and tried to do whatever was needed to help them succeed. There’s a passion that comes alive when a student catches on and you had a part in it.” Her interest in education dates back to her childhood as one of seven siblings raised in a strong Catholic family. Born in Ghent in southwest Minnesota, her family lived on two different farms before settling in nearby Minneota, where her teachers were Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. “When I was in the second grade, I pretty much decided I wanted to be a sister and a teacher,” Sister Angela said. “I was so in awe of learning, and just fell in love with what happens to a child in a school setting with encouraging and kind teachers.” Still, she struggled with whether to become a sister after she graduated from high school and headed to the College of St. Catherine to study education. “It was a hard time,” she said. “But then I had a revelation while walking across a highway bridge, looking down at those cars and wondering if they all knew where they were going. I too wondered where I was going. That was the sign I needed from God and the moment I chose to enter the convent.”
Religious men and women celebrate significant jubilees The Catholic Spirit is honored to highlight the members of women’s and men’s religious communities who are celebrating milestone jubilees this year and who are serving or who have served in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The following information was provided by the religious communities.
Christian Brothers of the Midwest Burr Ridge, Illinois DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Sister Angela Schreiber, a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet celebrating her 60th jubilee, works in a classroom June 26 teaching English to immigrants at Learning In Style in south Minneapolis. Sister Angela’s journey with her religious order began in 1958 with six months as a postulant, studying what the vows meant, what religious life looked like and the history of the community, in anticipation of her reception March 19, 1959. “We walked up to the altar railing dressed as brides and told the bishop we wanted to enter the sisterhood,” she said. “Then we went back to our rooms and changed into our habits, which we had made ourselves.” Two years as a novice followed, with more studies, including college classes, before she professed her first vows in 1961, then final vows in 1966. “Those were great times,” Sister Angela said. “I got to know my fellow sisters very well, and we became good friends.” Sister Angela went on to get
Look for The Catholic Spirit advertising insert from
AMERICA NEEDS FATIMA in all copies of this issue.
MARKING MILESTONES
a master’s degree in education from Ohio State University in 1969, and a master’s in theology from the College of St. Catherine in 1997. Today, Sister Angela leads a full life as a member of the pastoral care team at Carondelet Village. She also works with adult immigrants to enhance their reading and conversing skills. She enjoys reading, gardening, cooking, weaving and quilting. “I wish I had 48 hours in a day and more than two hands,” she said. She especially enjoys working with the residents of Carondelet Village and their families as they prepare for death and what comes after. “I think back to those days when I couldn’t decide if I should enter the sisterhood and wonder, why was that so hard? I’m so glad I said yes.”
70 years Brother Arnold McMullen 60 years Brother William Clarey Brother Michael Lee Anderson
Sisters of St. Agnes Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin
75 years Sister Loretta Meidl
Congregation of the Sons of the Immaculate Conception North American delegation, St. Paul
25 years Father Antony Skaria (25 years of priesthood) Father Benny Mekkatt (25 years of religious profession)
Dominican Fathers and Brothers Province of St. Albert the Great, Chicago
60 years Father James Barnett Father Paul Johnson
Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls Little Falls, Minnesota
75 years Sister Therese Furnstahl Sister Theodora Higgins Sister Therese Lenz 60 years Sister Julien Dirkes Sister Joanne Heim Sister Pat Imdieke PLEASE TURN TO JUBILEES ON PAGE 14
RELIGIOUSJUBILEES
14 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
JUBILEES CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 Sister Susan Knutson Sister Jeanne Lieser Sister Callista Robinson Sister Siena Wald 50 years Sister Ange Mayers Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration LaCrosse, Wisconsin
60 years Sister Annette Fernholz Sister M. Lynette Friesen Sister Francette Malecha Sister Josetta Marie Spencer Sister Shirley Steines Sister Rita Wollschlager 50 years Sister Rita Anne Kipka
Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict St. Benedict’s Monastery, St. Joseph, Minnesota
60 years Sister Jean Juenemann Sister Lucy Miller 50 years Sister Kerry O’Reilly
60 years Sister Delmarie Gibney
25 years Sister Stephanie Spandl
Sisters of St. Benedict at St. Paul’s Monastery
Little Sisters of the Poor
Servants of Mary
70 years Sister Anne Boeckers Sister Andriette Schommer Sister Andrine Schommer Sister Eleanor Wartman
Province of Chicago, Palatine, Illinois
Ladysmith, Wisconsin
50 Years Sister Mary Elizabeth Anderson
70 years Sister Doris Ann Samens (formerly Sister Mary Norbert)
Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers Central administration, Maryknoll, New York
50 years Father Kenneth Thesing
60 years Sister Cecilia Fandel (formerly Sister Mary Martin)
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
Sinsinawa Dominicans
U.S. province, Washington, D.C.
75 years Father Aloysius Svobodny 65 years Father Carl Kabat 60 years Father James Allen 50 years Father Robert Morin 25 years Father Stanislaw Zowada School Sisters of Notre Dame Central Pacific Province, St. Louis
75 years Sister Beth Haltiner Sister Thelma Vetsch 70 years Sister M. Claudette Hudalla Sister Mary Dominic Klaseus Sister Rose Emilia Schwab Sister Alice Zachmann
Sinsinawa, Wisconsin
75 years Sister Ellen Shannon 65 Years Sister Clara (Mary Ona) Blozis Sister Catherine Thomas Dwyer Sister Anna Maria Knothe Sister Marilyn (Marie Emilie) Schlosser Sister Martha (Dominic Savio) Wiegand 60 years Sister Mary Katherine Connell (died March 29) Sister Barbara Hubeny Sister Joyce Leibly Sister Jeremiah Farrell (died May 8) Sisters of Mercy West Midwest Community, Omaha, Nebraska
60 years Sister Emily Devine 50 years Sister Delores Hannon
St. Paul
60 years Sister Lucia Schwickerath Sister Joan Utecht
Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet St. Paul Province, St. Paul
75 years Sister Betty Ann Gits Sister Marie Grossman Sister Dorothy Jorgenson Sister Mary Charlene O’Keeffe
JULY 11, 2019
60 years Sister Mary Lamski Sister Colleen O’Malley Sister Angela Schreiber Sister Joanne Wieland 55 Years Sister Mary Fran Allen Sister Margaret Brown Sister Ann Diehl Sister Connie Gleason Sister Karen Hilgers
Sylvania Sisters of St. Francis Sylvania, Ohio
75 years Sister M. Ricarda Witt 60 years Sister M. Francis Jerome Serewa Sister Gretchen Faerber Sister M. Helen Frances Spears Sister M. Lois Anne Palkert Sister M. Lorena Dulas Sister Maria Pacelli Spino 50 years Sister Sharon White
70 years Sister Brigida Cassady Sister St. Luke Copeland Sister Joan Groschen Sister Mary Elizabeth Harroun
USA Midwest Province Jesuits
65 years Sister Marie Theresa Belanger Sister Anna Marie DeVos Sister Mary Hasbrouck Sister Ansgar Holmberg Sister Lucy Knoll Sister Bernadette Newton Sister Carol Podlasek Sister Marian Walstrom Sister Virginia Webb
50 years Father Douglas Leonhardt Father Cletus Pfab Father David Schultenover Father John Schwantes
Wisconsin province, Milwaukee
70 years Father Philip Dreckman
25 years Father Peter Etzel 10 years Father R. Benjamin Osborne
JULY 11, 2019
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 15
READING
Summertime and the reading is easy The Catholic Spirit Take the time. Families, teens and young children can take advantage of long summer days to relax a bit more. Spend time together. Read. And learn more about the faith. All at the same time, even! Reviewed by freelance editor Regina Lordan for Catholic News Service, the following books make for some fine summer reading. u “Road Signs for Catholic Teens,” edited by Jennessa Terraccino. Our Sunday Visitor (Huntington, Indiana, 2019). 199 pp., $21.95. Tap into your teen’s excitement at earning a driver’s license by giving them this book to accompany their new independence and freedom. Divided cleverly into chapters using road signs as titles, authors offer personal anecdotes and lessons intended to help shape a teen’s understanding of God’s role in his or her life. Each chapter includes points of discussion, making it user-friendly for summer book clubs or family catechesis. Topics include relativism, sin, purgatory, Christian charity, prayer and dating. Ages 16 and up. u “Sydney and Calvin Have a Baby” by Adrienne Thorne. Gracewatch Media (Winona, Minnesota, 2018). 212 pp., $13. Parents, brace yourselves. The concepts addressed in this book — rape, references to pornography and casual teenage sex and birth control, intentional parental deception and abortion — are not new to your teens. However, what might be new is a fictional discussion of these themes within a Catholic framework. Author Adrienne Thorne offers a compelling, albeit distressing, novel about a teen who was brutally date-raped then pressured to have an abortion. Her rapist is vile, and her only friend is pathetic. But her true hero encompasses a morally mature male teen eager to fuel her inner strength. The true promise of the Catholic faith, light and life shine over darkness and death. For mature teens, ages 16 and up. u“Stories of the Blessed Sacrament” by Francine Ray. Ignatius Press (San Francisco, 2019). 96 pp., $16.99. Young readers will be pulled into a greater understanding and love of Jesus in the Eucharist through these engaging and beautifully illustrated stories. In the Old Testament, God gave the Hebrews manna in the desert to sustain their physical and spiritual survival. In the New Testament, the Blessed Sacrament was revealed to the faithful through the story of the multiplication of the loaves, the Last Supper and more. Children also will learn about saints’ special devotion to the Eucharist and eucharistic miracles. Ages 7-12. u “The Word of the Lord,” edited by Katie Warner, illustrated by
Meg Whalen. Tan Books (Charlotte, North Carolina, 2019). 24 pp., $9.95. Many parents will agree that board books are a saving grace for occupying wiggly toddlers at Mass. Here is another to add to the lot. Within its sturdy pages, interestingly paired vivid color patterns with simple figures illustrate familiar Bible quotes. A smiling shepherd, a beaming pregnant mother and a gentlelooking Jesus help bring the Bible to life for little ones and will hold their attention. Ages 0-4. u “Little Prayers for Little Ones” by Pauline Sister Patricia Edward Jablonski, illustrated by Becky Fawson. Pauline Books and Media (Boston, 2019). 24 pp., $12.95. Here is another sturdy board book to add to the collection of quality ways to survive Mass with young children. “Little Prayers for Little Ones” taps into the innate (though sadly fleeting) ability of children to innocently see joy and God’s grace in so many things adults take for granted: bouncing raindrops, tweeting birds, tall trees or even sad friends. The characters are children with and without physical disabilities, representing many ethnicities, and they see God everywhere: in the city, at the zoo, in nature, at home and within each other. Ages 0-4.
vocabulary show attention to purpose and restraint from unnecessary superlatives. Ages 2-5. u “Mozart: Gift of God” by Demi. Ignatius Press (San Francisco, 2019). 42 pp., $15.99. Mozart is well-known for his musical talents, which he revealed to his musically gifted family as a 5-year-old prodigy. However, his faith isn’t often a topic of conversation when discussing his impressive repertoire. But indeed, Mozart and his family were Catholic: They went to Mass, prayed together and participated in liturgical celebrations and traditions. At 13, he wrote “Te Deum” in praise of God. He told his father in letters that he feared God but knew his love, mercy and compassion. Mozart also attributed his happiness to God. A children’s biography of Mozart, this book is illustrated with great detail. Ages 8-12. u “The Life of Jesus According to Luke” by Sophie de Mullenheim. Ignatius Press (San Francisco, 2019). 96 pp., $16.99.
u “Sweet Dreamers” by Isabelle Simler. Eerdmans Books for Young Readers (Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2019). 74 pp., $19.
Clear off your kitchen table for some home-grown vacation Bible school and use “The Life of Jesus According to Luke” to get you started. Although this resembles a textbook, its expert layout and design can be quite appealing to a willing younger learner. Biblical stories are expanded with foundational sidebars and visually inviting extensions to explore God’s word. Ages 7 and up.
Isabelle Simler has done it again. The author and illustrator of “Plume” and “The Blue Hour” offers children an opportunity to pause and truly escape the world in her uniquely whimsical illustrations and beautifully written prose. The colors she chooses illuminate in almost iridescence and her language and use of
Lordan, a mother of three young children, has master’s degrees in education and political science and is a former assistant international editor of Catholic News Service. She is a freelance editor for various online and print publications.
Books For Africa is the largest shipper of books to the African continent in the world. We have shipped more than 45 million books to every country on the African continent since we were founded 31 years ago! These books go to students who are hungry to read, hungry to learn. Many have been shipped thanks to churchgoers just like you. Please contact us if your church group is interested in giving the gift of literacy to African students. Books for Africa • 370 Selby Ave., Suite 305 • St. Paul, MN 55102 • 651.602.9844 • bfa@booksforafrica.org
16 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
FOCUSONFAITH SUNDAY SCRIPTURES | FATHER NELS GJENGDAHL
Love of God, love of neighbor
If you could meet God face-to-face and were given the opportunity to ask him just one question, what would you ask him? Think very carefully. In our Gospel for July 14, we find a scholar who is in this very situation. He has a brief encounter with Jesus and he asks him, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” This is a pretty good question to ask. And Jesus responds, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” That’s all the response he receives: Love God with everything and your neighbor as you would love yourself. Amazingly simple. However, the question we need to ask ourselves is this: Do I live in such a way that I love God with everything and my neighbor as myself? Notice what Jesus reveals here. The path to eternal life is not a passive one. Meaning, a person cannot simply avoid doing evil. Living the life that Jesus calls each of us to live is not merely saying “no” to doing bad things. Rather, it is a life that is active. This is the fullness of what it means to be human: to choose to go out and love God and our neighbor.
ASK FATHER MIKE | FATHER MICHAEL SCHMITZ
That document on youth from Pope Francis — worth reading? Q. I heard that the pope wrote a document on
youth recently. What are the main takeaways? Is it worth reading?
A. Since one of the roles that our bishop has given
me has been as the director of the Office of Youth Ministry, I had a vested interest in learning what the Holy Father had to say in his apostolic exhortation “Christus Vivit” (“Christ Lives”), which emerged from the 2018 Synod of Bishops on young people, the faith and vocational discernment. At first, I have to admit that I was a little put off. I often get a little “salty” when it comes to anything that strikes me as pandering to a particular audience. And at first glance, that was all that I noticed. The tone initially reminded me of the tired way that some adults try to “butter up” young people. I’m paraphrasing, but notions like “youth is the best!” kept echoing through the first chapters. (Stay gold, Ponyboy.) “You are not the Church of the future … you are the Church right now!” has been uttered so many times that I first heard it when I was a youth (that’s when it really mattered, right?). “Jesus was a young person too!” Really? No! (That note just reminded me of the section in People Magazine: “Celebrities are just like you … they pump gas into their cars too!”) Apparently, I hadn’t had my cup of coffee yet that morning. But then I noticed something about the document. It soon became obvious that the pope was teaching. Even more, he was proclaiming the Gospel. In the fourth chapter, Pope Francis offers a proclamation of God’s love in the person of Jesus Christ. It is the kerygma offered to a new generation and renewed for all generations. In three simple steps, Pope Francis uttered powerful truths: God is love, Christ saves you and the Spirit gives life. The pope proclaims that “We are saved by Jesus because he loves us and cannot go against his nature. We can do any number of things against him, yet he loves us and he saves us. For only what is loved can be saved. Only what is embraced can be transformed. The Lord’s love is greater than all our problems, frailties and flaws. Yet it is precisely through our problems, frailties and flaws that he wanted to write this love story.” I found myself “cut to the heart” by the power of his preaching. What I had initially seen only as catering to the younger demographic was nothing of the sort; he was reaching out to them.
Love of God. Seeking to love God first is an invitation to build a relationship with the one who loves perfectly. God has brought us into existence and shown that he is willing to sacrifice his life for us, even when we betrayed him through our sin. He offers us eternal life. Loving God with everything is our path to fulfillment because that is what heaven is all about: being loved by God and loving God back. The second part that Jesus speaks about for gaining eternal life is to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus gives us a very moving parable, to which we can all relate. I’m sure we can all see ourselves as the victim in the story, when we’ve felt hurt or abandoned. But we must also see ourselves in the position of the Good Samaritan, and we must see this as a privilege to serve. Jesus has given us the honor to share his love with the world. God could reach out from heaven to each person in need, but he has given us the honor and the privilege to be the ones to make his love known to a hurting world. So how can we do this? First, we need to love God. We need to pay attention to God and how he first loved us. He did this by sacrificing everything. Then, we need to pay attention to our neighbor and, as the parable reveals, everyone around us is our neighbor. Yes, this is a difficult calling, but it is a holy calling. Loving God with everything we have and our neighbor as ourselves is our path to true happiness and fulfillment. When we choose to push through our complaisance, fear and anxiety, and we love God and our neighbor as ourselves, we begin to live heaven here on earth. So let us ask God together: “What must I do to gain eternal life?” And listen to his response: Love God with your whole heart and your neighbor as yourself. Father Gjengdahl is chaplain at Holy Family Catholic High School in Victoria and sacramental minister at Sts. Joachim and Anne in Shakopee as of July 1. He previously served as pastor of Nativity of Mary in Bloomington.
I noticed that what I had first seen as pandering was actually the Holy Father making an appeal. He wasn’t praising every possible youthful, or self-involved or selfish attitude. Instead, the pope warned against wasting one’s life by spending it merely on oneself. He admonished the youth to begin living life more fully by giving of one’s youth. When he noted that Jesus too was a young person, Pope Francis highlighted that Jesus used his youth as a time of preparation; Christ’s youth “was training, being prepared to carry out the Father’s plan.” Further, Pope Francis clearly stated that “it must not be thought that Jesus was a withdrawn adolescent or a self-absorbed youth” but rather that he “shared fully in the life of his family and his people.” In chapter five, the Holy Father went even further to challenge us all: “I hope that you will be serious enough about yourselves to make an effort to grow spiritually. … Adults, too, have to mature without losing the values of youth. … Growing older means preserving and cherishing the most precious things about our youth, but it also involves having to purify those things that are not good, and receiving new gifts from God so we can develop the things that really matter.” In these brief words, Pope Francis makes it very clear that he does not see youth as the goal, but the process of purification and growth towards real maturity, which requires certain characteristics. Specifically, the pope discouraged self-centered religion by teaching that one’s “spiritual growth is expressed above all by … growth in fraternal, generous and merciful love.” God’s love must “take us out of ourselves,” he wrote. Rather than tolerating or encouraging the temptation to remain free and unattached from responsibilities, the pope instructed us that it is a gift to commit one’s youth (and one’s life) to God. This commitment must “go beyond (one’s) small groups and … build social friendship, where everyone works for the common good.’” What I had mistakenly perceived as a toothless endorsement of sentimentality about youth was, in fact, nothing of the sort. Pope Francis has sharp criticism for the way our current culture does not celebrate youth but “exploits the image of the young. Beauty is associated with a youthful appearance, cosmetic treatments that hide the traces of time. The ideal of beauty is youth, but we need to realize that this has very little to do with young people. It only means that adults want to snatch youth for themselves, not that they respect, love and care for young people.” In a few short words, Pope Francis underscores what is happening with our cultural obsession with youth: it is the sickness of adults, not the youth. He points out that “sometimes … adults try to imitate young people, thus inverting the relationship between generations.” The exhortation is a convicting and encouraging document for all of us. The heart of it is not merely for young people, but rather it is a call to rededicate all of one’s energies (regardless of age) to growth in spiritual maturity while not losing the gift of a heart that remains young in Christ. Father Schmitz is director of youth and young adult ministry for the Diocese of Duluth. Reach him at fathermikeschmitz@gmail.com.
JULY 11, 2019
DAILY Scriptures Sunday, July 14 Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time Dt 30:10-14 Col 1:15-20 Lk 10:25-37 Monday, July 15 St. Bonaventure, bishop and doctor of the Church Ex 1:8-14, 22 Mt 10:34–11:1 Tuesday, July 16 Ex 2:1-15a Mt 11:20-24 Wednesday, July 17 Ex 3:1-6, 9-12 Mt 11:25-27 Thursday, July 18 Ex 3:13-20 Mt 11:28-30 Friday, July 19 Ex 11:10–12:14 Mt 12:1-8 Saturday, July 20 Ex 12:37-42 Mt 12:14-21 Sunday, July 21 Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Gn 18:1-10a Col 1:24-28 Lk 10:38-42 Monday, July 22 St. Mary Magdalene Sgs 3:1-4b Jn 20:1-2, 11-18 Tuesday, July 23 Ex 14:21–15:1 Mt 12:46-50 Wednesday, July 24 Ex 16:1-5, 9-15 Mt 13:1-9 Thursday, July 25 St. James, apostle 2 Cor 4:7-15 Mt 20:20-28 Friday, July 26 Sts. Joachim and Anne, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ex 20:1-17 Mt 13:18-23 Saturday, July 27 Ex 24:3-8 Mt 13:24-30 Sunday, July 28 Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time Gn 18:20-32 Col 2:12-14 Lk 11:1-13
JULY 11, 2019
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 17
COMMENTARY
TWENTY SOMETHING | CHRISTINA CAPECCHI
Living in largo: in praise of a slower pace
There is an art and a science to slow living. This summer I’m trying to learn both. In music you can measure it. The tempo called “largo” — Italian for slow and broad — clocks in at 40 to 60 beats per minute. (Allegro, by contrast, doubles that pace, while presto races up to 200.) Largo as an art form comes after practice, once you turn off the metronome and play what you love. For me, that meant playing Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto with my grandpa, our horns and hearts in sync. Now 88, my grandpa has tucked away his clarinet but kept the tempo, experiencing the gift of largo as a listener, enjoying the younger music makers in his midst. Sometimes I am astonished by the pace of life: how quickly we can make online purchases, how readily we can outsource, how fully we can avoid human contact. This summer I’m being shown another way, discovering little invitations to slow down. One came as a letter from a college friend, handwritten on narrow sheets of a grocery-list pad. It was simple and newsy: a new niece, a recent trip to San Francisco, yearnings for the home she sold last year. The length surprised me, pausing me on a Tuesday night and transporting me to another time and place, the little German town where she’d been raised, where she was visiting when she wrote. “So much of the spiritual journey is simply remembering — good or bad — and seeing God’s hand in our lives,” she told me. “Writing about those memories helps me to process and learn.” The same week a package from my cousin arrived: 10 black ballpoint pens, a sampler from JetPens.com. I was bowled over by the elegance of the gift, the luxury: to try out each one and determine a favorite, comparing the ink flow and tip size and grips.
SIMPLE HOLINESS | KATE SOUCHERAY
Acting courageously in the face of fear
As we celebrate our nation’s independence from the British monarchy — won nearly 250 years ago and marked each Fourth of July — we notice flags flying boldly, proclaiming the liberty and freedom by which our self-governance is best known. If we also refer back to the readings of the season of Easter, the seven weeks between that momentous spiritual event and prior to the celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, we recall the heroic ventures of the early Christians. While these instances have differences, there are similarities. We celebrate two groups of people who stood firmly for what they believed, even to the point of sacrificing their lives. If someone asked us today what cause we would be willing to stand firmly for, even to the point of experiencing isolation, humiliation or our own death, would we have a response? If we do not have an answer to this question, perhaps we would benefit from stepping back and spending a bit of time examining our
“
In our busy modern world, to sit down and write someone a letter is a powerful affirmation of that person’s dignity. iSTOCK | NATTAKORN MANEERAT
I prefer the 0.7 mm Uni Jetstream Sport. Every letterwriting, blessing-counting person deserves a favorite pen. This is mine. In our busy modern world, to sit down and write someone a letter is a powerful affirmation of that person’s dignity. The recipient is worth each pen stroke, each thought — written for her and her alone. My cousin’s gift was the instrument by which to embrace that bedrock Catholic social teaching. There is no wrong way to write a letter. The act of connecting counts. I bought a few postcards from an antique store to remind me of that truth. One postcard, penned in 1911 and mailed to Bonfield, Illinois, with a 1-cent stamp, consisted of nine words (and zero punctuation marks): “Hello Mary How are you I am fine Carrie.” Mary, in turn, faithfully wrote dispatches from Bonfield, sending her sister an update on Oct. 27, 1914: “Boys are busy husking. It is pretty cold. Yesterday we had frost. … Lena Stehr will be buried this afternoon.”
lives and our values, investigating what is most important to us. We may find that it is our family and how we are raising our children, as well as being available for family members and grandchildren. If you are raising your children in this culture, you are certainly aware of the insidious nature of the influences that surround them at every turn — so much so, that many of these influences threaten to take away the innocence of childhood. These influences also cause adolescents to be unclear about concerns of right and wrong, confusing the use of their conscience and the development of character. Furthermore, many adults find that following a wellformed conscience is a challenge at this time, due to the many pressures that exist at work, in social situations or online. What is most important to you may be a social justice issue, such as homelessness, climate change or the poverty that is increasing in our world due to terrorism, the loss of agricultural land, the lack of clean water, the inability to secure an education or the lack of a stable government. You may decide to become actively involved in addressing one of these issues, realizing that while you may be only a small part of the solution to the problem, you are doing what you can to help alleviate the pain and suffering experienced by others, whether you know them personally or not. At the heart of this is the sense of solidarity we have with people in our world who are hurting in some way and the importance we place on our common humanity. Just as the early European settlers to America strove for freedom from Great Britain, the early followers of Christ met opposition and hardship as they
Mary also received postcards from her boyfriend, Howard. One contained a marriage proposal. Letters become breadcrumbs that are gobbled up by historians, archivists and relatives hungry for secrets and signs of life. David McCullough, the acclaimed presidential biographer, praised the exercise of letter writing as “calisthenics for the brain.” This summer I’m using my Uni Jetstream Sport to tell others — one at a time — about the mile markers and music makers in my life. I’m playing Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s humble hymn “Our House.” I’m sitting on the porch. I’m taking my time. The days are stretching out before me with blue skies and bird song. I’m trying to live in largo. I’m letting the word waltz in my mind, looking up its meaning. The Italian word, it turns out, derives from a Latin word, “largus,” meaning “abundant.” And this rings true: There is abundance to be found in slow living. Capecchi is a freelance writer from Inver Grove Heights.
ACTION CHALLENGE Take time this month to acknowledge the Holy Spirit’s voice in your heart and head. Through God’s grace, develop your spiritual ear to actively respond to the Spirit’s inspiration. continued to live out the precepts of the newly founded Christian faith. Just as the European settlers broke away from Great Britain, establishing independence and selfrule, the early Christians broke away from their Jewish roots, inaugurating a completely new relationship with God. No longer was God far away, only to be referred to as “Lord” because his name was too sacred to speak. He was now a personal God, concerned about their personal setbacks and struggles, ready to help them through the power of his Holy Spirit. As we celebrate the independence of the early European settlers from English rule, in contrast, Christians also celebrate the mystifying, inexplicable experience of God’s presence through the risen Christ, fully with them and among them, by the power of his indwelling Spirit. Throughout this month, let us place a focus on this presence within each one of us, responding to the grace that is offered to us, helping us become witnesses and examples of Christ’s holiness in our world. Soucheray is a licensed marriage and family therapist and a member of Guardian Angels in Oakdale. She holds a master’s degree in theology from The St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul.
COMMENTARY
18 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
JULY 11, 2019
FAITH AT HOME | LAURA KELLY FANUCCI
LETTER
Attention in an age of distraction
State’s abortion protections
“Behold” is my favorite word in Scripture. Every time it shows up, we’re summoned to snap to attention and take notice. God is about to do something new. Let’s not miss it. But how can we behold what God is doing when we’re caught in a culture of constant distraction at our fingertips? I could cite statistics for you; we’ve all read them. If you’re like me, your stomach sinks whenever you hear how much time we now spend on screens. I could draw from neuroscience or psychology, the latest findings on how our closest relationships and basic interactions are being reshaped by our technology habits. But instead I will tell you a story. While I was trying to finish this column on a steamy summer afternoon with a house full of children, I was interrupted every three to five minutes to witness their latest elaborate domino race. “You have to see this!” a messenger would insist at my office door. “It’s so much better than the last one.” So I’d smile, leave my work, follow them and witness what they wanted me to see. The first few rounds were delightful. But after an hour of interruption after interruption, I started to get annoyed. Agitation crept into my voice: “Guys, I have to finish this. Can I work for 10 minutes and then take a break to see what you’ve made?” Blank stares, as if I were speaking a foreign language. All they wanted was my attention in the present moment. If I couldn’t give it then, did it matter? So I sighed and left my computer to watch the same line of dominoes knock down neatly one by one as kids cheered. Right then it clicked in my mind, too: Why not ask the ones who wanted my attention what that meant to them? “Use an example from a baseball game,” suggested my oldest son. “You have to pay attention or you might get hit in the face by a foul ball.” Fair enough. But then his younger brother knocked it out of the park:
“
We have to pay attention to understand people, not just scroll by with the flick of a finger. iSTOCK | KRISTINAJOVANOVIC
“You just have to look at someone and stay focused on them.” Beholding is holy looking, the spiritual practice of paying attention. Trying to glimpse with God’s eyes. Seeking the goodness in each other and the sacredness of the present moment. You can start small. Simply stop once a day and notice those around you as they are. Not as you hope they will be in the future or as you wish they were in the past. But beholding them fully in the present and noticing God alive in them today. Beholding is one of the most profound gifts we can offer to each other — in our marriages, families and friendships. The simple act of seeing with love softens our gaze, smoothing the rough edges of our imperfections. We notice something new about our spouse or we see how our children are changing and growing. We discover the difference it makes when we offer uninterrupted attention to a friend. Our screens are slick and clear. No wonder they are dangerously alluring, when humans are difficult and sinful, muddled and messy in words and actions. We have to pay attention to understand people, not just scroll by with the flick of a finger. But if we try to behold, if we look up and set down our screens, if we let ourselves gaze upon those we love even for a few meaningful moments each day, our eyes can start to adjust to God’s light — a new way of seeing. Our attention is a holy gift. Where do we let it land? Fanucci, a parishioner of St. Joseph the Worker in Maple Grove, is a mother, writer and director of a project on vocations at the Collegeville Institute in Collegeville. She is the author of several books, including “Everyday Sacrament: The Messy Grace of Parenting,” and blogs at motheringspirit.com.
Emily & Elliot Benincasa Recently retired owners of Emily’s F&M Café Parishes: St. Joseph the Worker, Maple Grove and St. Bridget, Minneapolis
Co n
t i o a l n u s t a gr to The Catholic Spirit’s
winners
2019 Leading with Faith
In “MCC director denounces lawsuit challenging abortion measures” (June 6), it reads “Minnesota’s Constitution already states that women have a right to an abortion ... .” This is incorrect. Our Minnesota Constitution was ratified in 1858. Abortion was a felony in Minnesota until it was invalidated by Roe v. Wade in 1973. Abortion was never recognized as a right under the Minnesota Constitution until the Minnesota Supreme Court interpreted it that way, as a right of “privacy,” in the notorious 1995 case of Doe v. Gomez (which also held women receiving public medical assistance have a right to such taxpayer funding even for abortions). Regardless of whether or not Roe v. Wade is ever overturned, abortion will remain legal and taxpayer-funded in Minnesota until we overturn Doe v. Gomez, either by a future Minnesota Supreme Court decision, or by an amendment to the Minnesota Constitution. Eric C. Nelson, attorney Minneapolis Editor’s note: The Catholic Spirit apologizes for the error. Share your perspective by emailing CatholicSpirit@archspm.org. Please limit your letter to the editor to 150 words and include your parish and phone number. The Commentary page does not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Catholic Spirit. Letters may be edited for length or clarity.
Mark Novitzki President, Premier Banks Parish: St. Charles Borromeo, St. Anthony
Steve Blum Chief Financial Officer, Star Bank Parish: St. John the Baptist, New Brighton
Michael G. Richie, MD Owner and Medical Director, Richie Eye Clinic and Crossroads Surgery Center Parish: Divine Mercy, Faribault
Dr. Richard Endris Chiropractor/Doctor, Endris Chiropractic Parish: St. Joseph, West St. Paul
John E. Trojack, JD Owner/Attorney, Trojack Law Office, P.A. Parish: St. Agnes, St. Paul
Vicky Iacarella Creative Director, Target Corp. Parishes: Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Minneapolis and St. Olaf, Minneapolis
Join us as we honor the winners at the Leading With Faith Award luncheon Thursday, August 1, at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. For details, visit archspm.org/leadingfaithlunch • FREE on-campus parking Presenting Partner
Patron Partners
Hospitality Partners Duffy Development Company, Inc.
JULY 11, 2019
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 19
CALENDAR Music
FEATURED EVENTS Cana parish and school seminar — July 18: 1–2:30 p.m. and 7–8:30 p.m. at the Cana Family Institute, 7301 Bass Lake Road, Crystal. Learn about the impact The Cana Experience has had on families around the nation and how to bring it to mothers of young children in your parish or Catholic school. For more information, call 515-554-6148. canafamilyinstitute.com. “Thank God Ahead of Time: A Drama about the Life and Times of Blessed Solanus Casey” — July 28: 7 p.m. at St. Patrick, 1095 DeSoto St., St. Paul. The play, written and produced by Molly Delaney Druffner, will be performed by the John Paul II Players. Proceeds will go to the Franciscan Brothers of Peace in St. Paul to fund a roof replacement of the new Blessed Solanus Friary next door to St. Patrick. Some members of Blessed Solanus Casey’s family will be there, and those attending the play will be able to venerate a first-class relic and receive a blessing. Cost is $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and $10 ages 10 and under. For more information, call 651-646-8586. brothersofpeace.org. Sunset Benefit Cruise — July 29: 6:15–9 p.m. at Stillwater River Boats, 525 S. Main St., Stillwater. The annual event is a fundraiser for Dunrovin Christian Brothers Retreat Center near Stillwater, and proceeds are used to help underserved youth attend retreats. Archbishop Bernard Hebda will attend, and Father Jack Donohue will receive the Brother I. Damian Award for his support and priestly service to Dunrovin’s youth programs. Suggested donation is $50 per person. Boarding begins at 5:30. For more information, call Dunrovin at 651-433-2486. dunrovin.org.
Summer Concert Series: Ensemble Aventura Flies You to the Moon — July 19: 7–8:30 p.m. at Guardian Angels, 8260 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. guardian-angels.org. Libera concert — July 26: 7:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of Saint Paul, 239 Selby Ave., St Paul. Internationally-acclaimed London boys’ choir. libera.org.
Ongoing groups Calix Society — First and third Sundays: 9–10:30 a.m. at the Cathedral of St. Paul, 239 Selby Ave., St. Paul. A group of men, women, family and friends supporting the spiritual needs of recovering Catholic alcoholics. Kathy at 651-330-3387. calixsociety.com. Dementia support group — Second Tuesdays: 7–9 p.m. at St. Paul’s Monastery, 2675 Benet Road, Maplewood. RSVP sarnold@benedictinecenter.org.
Parish events St. Peter’s historic church open house — Sundays through Labor Day: Noon–2 p.m. at St. Peter, 1405 Sibley Memorial Highway, Mendota. stpetersmendota.org. Vacation Bible camp: Super Heroes of the Bible — July 7-Aug. 2: 9 a.m.–noon at Pax Christi, 12100 Pioneer Trail. Eden Prairie. paxchristi.com. OLP Day: A Neighborhood Luau — July 14: 10 a.m.– 1:30 p.m. at Our Lady of Peace, 5426 12th Ave. S., Minneapolis. olpmn.org. Ice cream social — July 21: 2–4 p.m. at St. Nicholas, 51 Church St., Elko New Market. stncc.net. Grandparents Apostolate Sts. Joachim and Anne feast day celebration — July 26: 8:45 a.m. at Nativity of Our Lord, 1938 Stanford Ave., St. Paul. nativity-mn.org. Vacation Bible school — July 29-Aug. 2: 9 a.m.–noon at Guardian Angels, 8260 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. Registration closes July 23. guardian-angels.org.
Prayer/worship Taize prayer — Third Fridays: 7–9 p.m. at St. Paul’s
Monastery, 2675 Benet Road, Maplewood. Simple chants based on Scriptures and periods of silence. Refreshments following. benedictinecenter.org.
Retreats Healing retreat for men and women — July 12-14 at Christ the King Retreat Center, 623 First Ave. S., Buffalo. “Healing Our Tired Heart.” Presenter Father Matt Linn, SJ. kingshouse.com. Women’s silent midweek retreat — July 16-18 at Christ the King Retreat Center, 624 First Ave. S., Buffalo. “Be Patient in Affliction.” Presenter King’s House Preaching Team. kingshouse.com. Condensed School of Lectio Divina — July 19-21 at St. Paul’s Monastery, 2675 Benet Road, Maplewood. benedictinecenter.org.
Conferences/workshops Order Franciscans Secular (OFS) — Third Sundays: 1 p.m. at Catholic Charities, 1200 Second Ave. S., Minneapolis. Learn about this lay group of Catholic men and women following the example of St. Francis. 952-922-5523. New Ways to Notice the Presence of God — July 12: 9 a.m.–3 p.m. at St. Paul’s Monastery, 2675 Benet Road, Maplewood. benedictinecenter.org. St. Paul Street Evangelization basic training — July 13: 9 a.m.–3 p.m. at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center, 777 Forest St., St. Paul. info@stpaulse.com or 657-777-2963.
Singles Sunday Spirits walking group for 50-plus Catholic singles — Sundays: Usually meets in St. Paul. Kay at 651-426-3103 or Al at 651-439-1203. Singles group —Second Saturdays: 6:15 p.m. at St. Vincent de Paul, 9100 93rd Ave. N., Brooklyn Park. Potluck supper, conversation and games. 763-425-0412.
Pilgrimages Grandparents’ pilgrimage to the Holy Land — Jan. 7-16: Registration open. archspm.org.
CALENDAR submissions DEADLINE: Noon Thursday, 14 days before the anticipated Thursday date of publication. We cannot guarantee a submitted event will appear in the calendar. Priority is given to events occurring before the next issue date. LISTINGS: Accepted are brief notices of upcoming events hosted by Catholic parishes and organizations. If the Catholic connection is not clear, please emphasize it in your submission. Included in our listings are local events submitted by public sources that could be of interest to the larger Catholic community. ITEMS MUST INCLUDE the following to be considered for publication: uTime and date of event uFull street address of event uDescription of event uContact information in case of questions ONLINE: thecatholicspirit.com/ calendarsubmissions
MAIL: “Calendar,” The Catholic Spirit 777 Forest St., St. Paul, MN 55106 Ad Limina pilgrimage for young adults — Jan. 9-18: Ages 21-35 apply with Enzo Randazzo. randazzov@archspm. org or 651-291-4483. archspm.org.
Other events Knights of Columbus bingo — Wednesdays: 6–9 p.m. at Solanus Casey Council Hall, 1910 S. Greeley St., Stillwater. Friday Night Youth Hang-Outs — July 12 and 19: 6–8 p.m. St. Richard, 7540 Penn Ave. S., Richfield. sbsyouth.org. Franciscan Retreat Center garden party — July 14: 1–3 p.m. at Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center, 16386 Saint Francis Lane, Prior Lake. franciscanretreats.net.
Marketplace • Message Center Classified Ads Email: classifiedads@archspm.org • Phone: 651-290-1631 • Fax: 651-291-4460 Next issue: 7-25-19 • Deadline: 3 p.m. 7-18-19 • Rates: $8 per line (35-40 characters per line) • Add a photo/logo for $25 EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
FINANCIAL ADVISOR
thecatholicspirit.com
ACCESSIBILITY SOLUTIONS STAIR LIFTS - ELEVATORS WHEELCHAIR LIFTS FOR HOMES, CHURCHES & SCHOOLS Arrow Lift (763) 786-2780
ANTIQUES TOP CASH PAID For Older Furniture Advertising Signs • Beer Items • Toys • Misc. (651) 227-2469
ATTORNEYS Edward F. Gross • Wills, Trusts, Probate, Estate Planning, Real Estate. Office at 35E & Roselawn Ave., St. Paul (651) 631-0616.
CEILING TEXTURE Michaels Painting. Popcorn Removal & Knock Down Texture: TextureCeilings.com (763) 757-3187.
CEMETERY LOTS Resurrection Mausoleum. Value $11,035.00. Spaces for 4 entombments in Crypt 105, Tier A, Queen of Peace Corridor. evjkuch@gmail.com Gethsemane Cemetery: single lot. Market $1740; Price $1400. Kelly 952-212-3957 Calvary Cemetery, single flat-marker grave (east end): value $1815; price $1000 (651) 739-8402.
CHILD CARE Prof. female seeks FT L/O nanny position. 25+ yrs. early childhood exp. 612-751-4243.
DO YOU HAVE SALES EXPERIENCE? ARE YOU WELL NETWORKED IN THE LOCAL COMMUNITY? J.S. PALUCH COMPANY NATIONAL PUBLISHER OF CHURCH BULLETINS • Full Time Positions Available with Excellent Earning Potential! • Medical Benefits, 401K, Life & AD&D Insurance Offered • Excellent Commission Compensation Program Email Resume to RECRUITING@JSPALUCH.COM www.jspaluch.com
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES A Parish Administrator is needed by the Catholic Community of St. Joseph, Red Wing, MN. This full-time, 12 month-per-year position is available now at this welcoming and hospitable Vatican II Parish. This Staff Person is responsible for supporting the ministry of the Pastor and Parish by overseeing the administration of Parish business functions to ensure consistency with the Parish’s vision ... and for being a responsive administrative liaison among the Pastor, Parish Leaders, Committees, and Parish Staff. The Administrator will be responsible for: financial reporting, budgeting, general policies and procedures, human resources, payroll, risk management, legal compliance, project management, oversight of safe environment, office operations, fundraising, and facilities & grounds management. (Cont. next Column).
CatholicHotdish.com
Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent work experience is necessary, including budgeting, other business administration functions, like vendor relations and contract negotiation, and supervision of some staff. Candidate should have: good communication skills (verbal & written), be proficient in computer accounting systems, Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Outlook, Publisher, PowerPoint), and possess Internet and website literacy. References required. Contact: Fr. Thomas M. Kommers tkommers@stjosephredwing.org. A Pastoral Minister is needed by the Catholic Community of St. Joseph, Red Wing, MN. This full-time, 12 month-per-year position is available now at this welcoming and hospitable Vatican II Parish. This Staff Person is responsible for ensuring that pastoral care, spiritual guidance, and helpful support are provided to the sick, homebound, bereaved, elderly, and financially-challenged members of the Parish and the broader Catholic community. Pastoral Minister will: supervise Volunteers in carrying out many aspects of this ministry; preside at Vigil and Graveside services; provide support to Stephen Ministry Leaders as they recruit, train, and assign care-givers; coordinate a variety of Charity and Justice outreach efforts; be responsible for a Catholic presence at the County Jail and MN Correctional Facility; assist in providing parishioner adult enrichment opportunities. Bachelor Degree necessary; MA highly desired. References required. Position description upon request. Contact: Fr. Thomas M. Kommers tkommers@stjosephredwing.org. The Trojack Law Office, P.A. is looking for a well-organized bookkeeper to work part-time in our small law firm. Please contact our office by email and request details from John E. Trojack using John.Trojack@TrojackLaw.com.
Ask a our 3 bout t speciaime l!
To advertise here, email classifiedads@archspm.org PAINTING
www.RetirementKey.solutions FURNITURE FOR SALE China cabinet 14” W x 82” H w/ accent light $250 or B/O; Fabric couch 35” deep x 78” long $100 Judy 651-636-2247
GREAT CATHOLIC SPEAKERS CD of the Month Club Lighthouse Catholic Media, Scott Hahn, Jeff Cavins and more! $5/month includes shipping. Subscribe online at http://www.lighthousecatholicmedia. org/cdclub Please Enter Code: 1195
HANDYMAN WE DO 1,162 THINGS AROUND THE HOME! Catholic Owned Handyman Business: We will fix/repair and remodel almost anything around the home. Serving entire Metro. Call today. Mention this ad and receive 10% off labor. Handyman Matters (651) 784-3777, (952) 946-0088. www.HandymanMatters.com
HARDWOOD FLOORS
Sweeney’s Hardwood Floors
IT’S SUMMER! Spruce up your home with new or refurbished hardwood floors: 10% off labor. Sweeney (651) 485-8187.
PAINTING For painting & all related services. View our website: PAINTINGBYJERRYWIND. COM or call (651) 699-6140.
Merriam Park Painting. Professional Int./ Ext. Painting. WP Hanging. Moderate Prices, Free Estimates. Call Ed (651) 224-3660. Michaels Painting. Texture and Repair. MichaelsPaintingllc.coM. (763) 757-3187. Dennis Heigl Painting Interior/Exterior Serving Mpls. & suburbs. Free Estimates. (612) 819-2438
PRAYERS NOTICE: Prayers must be submitted in advance. Payment of $8 per line must be received before publication.
VACATION/FAMILY GETAWAY Knotty Pines Resort, Park Rapids, MN. 1, 2 & 3 bdrm cabins starting at $565/week. www.knottypinesresort.com (800) 392-2410. Mention this ad for a discount!
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES HOUSEHOLD MANAGER The Stillwater Catholic Worker Community is seeking a mature woman to manage and live at Our Lady Queen of Peace House, a home for women and their children in transition. Room and board included with this volunteer position. Details available at STMICHAELSTILLWATER.ORG or by calling Kim Barnhart (651) 270-1918
WANTED TO BUY Estate & Downsizing: I buy Van Loads and Bicycles. Steve (651) 778-0571.
20 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
JULY 11, 2019
THELASTWORD LEFT Dulce Morales likes getting away from her troubled neighborhood in Chicago to spend part of her summer at Dunrovin Christian Brothers Retreat Center near Stillwater. She is spending most of this summer as a camp counselor, after visiting the previous seven years as a camper. BELOW Morales helps a camper with the rope swing.
Her ‘safe place’
G
Chicago native finds faith, fun and fellowship at Stillwater retreat center Story and photos by Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit
Growing up on the south side of Chicago, Dulce Morales said she has learned to duck when she hears gunfire. There is no need for this tactic where she is spending most of this summer — Dunrovin Christian Brothers Retreat Center near Stillwater. After spending seven summers attending five-day camps at Dunrovin from sixth through 12th grade, Morales, 19, decided to return this year as a camp counselor. She arrived May 31 and will be at Dunrovin until July 20. A few weeks later, she will head to the University of Illinois at Chicago to begin her sophomore year. Her camp experience started when she was a student at San Miguel School, an independent Catholic middle school in Chicago for students who face academic and economic challenges. Part of the curriculum involves field trips throughout the school year, including some overnights. A five-day summer camp at Dunrovin is a requirement for all students, so she joined her class of nearly 30 sixth-graders in 2012 for her first chance to experience life in a northwoods atmosphere. She has returned every summer since and is the first San Miguel student to become a counselor since the school first started sending students to Dunrovin more than 20 years ago. Dunrovin sits on 52 acres 10 miles north of Stillwater along the St. Croix River, and it has been a ministry of the De La Salle Christian Brothers since it opened in 1964. Right in front of the two-story retreat building is a small lake that gives campers a chance to swim and paddle throughout the five days they spend there. There also are wooded areas with trails, creating an outdoors experience few San Miguel students, including Morales, ever get elsewhere. Almost instantly during her first year at camp, Morales fell in love with the place. Among her numerous novel experiences was seeing a turtle in person for the first time. She also spotted other wildlife species, including whitetail deer, which freely roam the property. It all added up to a serenity she could not find in her crime-riddled neighborhood back home. “Dunrovin has become my safe place,” said Morales, who is Catholic and attends Immaculate Conception in Chicago with her parents and younger sister. “I love being here every summer. ... It’s kind of like an escape” from the urban challenges in Chicago. She said the spiritual part of the camp, including talks, small-group discussions with other girls and prayer, has strengthened her faith and fueled her resolve to keep coming back. After graduating from the eighth grade at San Miguel in 2014 and finishing her obligation to come to Dunrovin, she returned every year during high school for camps held for San Miguel graduates who wished to continue attending the camp. Last summer, she took part in a special program called DLITE (Dunrovin Leadership Intensive Training Experience), which is designed to help prepare teens to be camp counselors the following year. During that weeklong training period, Morales and the other participants worked closely with Dunrovin’s executive director, Jerome Meeds, who came to Dunrovin in 1999 with his wife, Mary, and their four children to live and work at the retreat center. Immediately, Meeds saw leadership potential — and more — in the cheerful young woman who had just graduated from high school and was looking for a chance to give
back to young campers, including those from San Miguel. “I remember a beautiful smile; she’d be glowing pretty much the whole week,” Meeds said of working with Morales at DLITE last year. “There’s something about Dulce. ... What I see it as is God, the Holy Spirit, working.” San Miguel teachers also attend camp, and one of them this year was also there when Morales was a camper during middle school. Alison Orbin is finishing her 19th year at the school, serving both as assistant principal and seventh-grade teacher. Morales came to Dunrovin as part of Orbin’s seventh-grade class in 2013. “I was really excited to see her here (this year),” said Orbin, who brought 29 seventh-graders to Dunrovin June 16-20. “I just think it’s awesome that she’s doing this and she has this opportunity, and she has an opportunity to mentor kids from her old school, but also serve as a bridge for the younger counselors that are here as well to get a perspective of the (San Miguel) kids.” Orbin and Meeds said that having someone from the same background as the San Miguel campers creates both an understanding of their lives back home and a rapport with them. It also strengthens Dunrovin’s connection with San Miguel and keeps the program going, which Orbin said is important for the school’s students. “I don’t think words can really explain how the kids feel about it,” Orbin said. “First of all, they’re just safe. They don’t have to worry about any of the things going on back home, whether it’s in the neighborhood or whatever issues they’re dealing with. They have five days away where they’re completely free. And, when you see that (stress) come away from them, then they turn into kids, and they have fun and they laugh.” The joy was evident on the last full day of camp for Orbin’s seventhgraders June 18. Sunshine, blue skies and white puffy clouds created an idyllic summer atmosphere as San Miguel students gathered on the dock at the far end of the lake to try the rope swing. They yelled and cheered as each took a turn. Morales stood in their midst, helping them climb onto a platform and handing them the rope. Her kind reassurance helped one girl make the leap after she stood on the platform for several minutes and nearly climbed back down out of fear. As the girl summoned the courage to jump, Morales joined the others in chanting her name and clapping. Cheers erupted when the girl swung off the platform and splashed into the water. This is a small example of the satisfaction Morales finds in helping the campers during their five days at Dunrovin. It affirms her reasons for becoming a counselor. “Mainly, I just wanted to come back and help out,” said Morales, who is studying psychology and wants to do graduate work in the field and become a psychologist. She hopes she can “make them feel the way I felt, and hopefully even have another student come back wanting to be a camp counselor.” Morales’ infusion of a bright smile, helpful attitude and care for the San Miguel students is all part of the overall mission of the youth camps at Dunrovin, which Meeds labels “retreats.” The goal is simple, he said: “Wowing them with God’s love.”