The Catholic Spirit - July 3, 2014

Immigrant children 10 • Little Sisters reflection 15 • Vocations 16 – 17 July 3, 2014 Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

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Archbishop speaks to internal investigation

A WIN FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

The Catholic Spirit Archbishop John Nienstedt told priests and staff about recent allegations against him involving events alleged to have occurred a decade ago before he began serving in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, calling them “absolutely and entirely false.”

The claims do not involve minors, and they do not implicate any kind of illegal or criminal behavior.

The new allegations were made public in an article posted on Commonweal magazine’s website. The article notes an internal investigation Archbishop Nienstedt ordered after he became aware of the allegations.

“The archdiocese investigates all allegations of clergy misconduct,” Archbishop Nienstedt said in a statement sent to all priests, deacons and archdiocesan staff, and posted at archspm.org. “It would be unfair to ignore these allegations simply because I know them to be false. Since I would instruct the archdiocese to investigate similar allegations made against any priest, I had ordered the archdiocese to independently investigate the allegations made against me.”

In overseeing the investigation, which is ongoing, Bishop Lee Piché hired an outside firm unaffiliated with the archdiocese to conduct it.

The archdiocese also notified the apostolic nuncio, who oversees all bishops in the U.S., of the allegations, and will inform him of the results of the investigation once it’s completed.

Pro-life demonstrators celebrate June 30 outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington as its decision in the Hobby Lobby case is announced. The high court ruled that owners of closely held corporations can object on religious grounds to being forced by the government to provide coverage of contraceptives for their employees. CNS/Jonathan Ernst

Supreme Court: Closely held companies can’t be required to cover contraceptives

By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service The Supreme Court’s June 30 ruling that certain businesses, based on their religious objections, can be exempted from a government requirement to include contraceptives in their employee health insurance coverage means “justice has prevailed,” said two U.S. archbishops.

“We welcome the Supreme Court’s decision to recognize that Americans can continue to follow their faith when they run a family business,” said Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, Ky., president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, Please turn to COURT’S on page 11

ALSO inside

New leader at St. Thomas

Faith on the field

Powerful prayer

Catholic Charities USA president to be University’s new vice president for mission.

— Page 7

Minnesota United player finds strength in Christ.

— Page 18

The Mass brings NET Ministries staffer to tears.

— Rediscover: section

Page Two

2 in PICTURES

OVERHEARD “In this dialogue, the Church rejoices in the marvelous progress of science, seeing it as a sign of the enormous God-given potential of the human mind.”

— Pope Francis speaking to students at a month long summer school sponsored by the Vatican Observatory about the Church’s commitment to dialogue with the sciences

NEWS notes • The Catholic Spirit

Delano parishes merge effective July 1 PRAYER RALLY Martha Koenig, right, of Annunciation in Minneapolis walks with her siblings during a prayer rally near a new Planned Parenthood facility in Richfield June 30. Joining her are, front row, from left, Cia, Francis, Peter and Mary Koenig. Behind them are Father Lawrence Hubbard, Larry Koenig (the children’s grandfather) and Beatrice Koenig (behind Peter). About 100 people gathered to pray on the day the Planned Parenthood facility planned a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Leading the prayer was Brian Gibson of Pro-Life Action Ministries.

Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit

The parishes of St. Peter and St. Joseph in Delano officially merged July 1 to become St. Maximilian Kolbe. The two parishes have been clustered for nearly 25 years and have been working together as one parish for several years.

Masses will still be celebrated at both sites, and the parish will continue to operate Cherub Corner preschool and St. Peter School, which will also take the name St. Maximilian Kolbe.

Natural Family Planning event July 24 As part of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Natural Family Planning awareness week, the Office of Marriage, Family and Life of the archdiocese will host a “Mass and Reflection on Natural Family Planning” at 6 p.m. July 24 at the St. Paul Seminary.

The archdiocese has partnered with the USCCB to promote and raise awareness of Natural Family Planning as an effective method to help couples improve their communication, respect and intimacy with each other while providing them a natural and easy way to plan their family.

The event, which includes Mass with Bishop Andrew Cozzens, dinner and a reflection by Bishop Cozzens, will honor providers and teachers and celebrate the gift of NFP in the archdiocese. The cost is $20 per person. For information and to RSVP, visit events.archspm.org/nfp-mass-2014.

Risen Christ School president to retire PALLIUM MASS Pope Francis presents a pallium to Archbishop Leonard Blair of Hartford, Conn., during a Mass marking the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican June 29. Archbishop Blair was among 24 archbishops from around the world to receive the pallium, a woolen band worn around the shoulders that symbolizes an archbishop’s authority as shepherd and his communion with the pope. Archbishop John Nienstedt received his pallium during a similar Mass at the Vatican in 2007. CNS / Paul Haring

Reading, math tutors needed

WHAT’S NEW on social media A post on The Catholic Spirit’s Facebook page this week asks, what is your favorite Catholic shrine to visit in the summer?

Read the latest news about the local and universal Church by following The Catholic Spirit on Twitter @CatholicSpirit.

Following World Cup soccer action? See a short video produced by Catholic News Service about how the World Cup represents a chance to bond with people of all nations over a common love for the game. See it at: http://youtube/ X3YsOPwVElg

The Catholic Spirit is published bi-weekly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Vol. 19 — No. 14 MOST REVEREND JOHN C. NIENSTEDT, Publisher ANNE STEFFENS, Associate Publisher JESSICA TRYGSTAD, Editor

July 3, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

Risen Christ School in Minneapolis has announced that Helen Dahlman, its president for the past 14 years, will retire effective June 30, 2015. Dahlman led the school through a consolidation and renovation of two campuses into one in 2003. Under her leadership, the school’s annual fundraising total has grown from $600,000 to $900,000, and its volunteer program has reached 200-plus volunteers who give more than 7,000 hours of service to the school each year. Risen Christ has also recently become the first Catholic two-way immersion school in Minnesota, offering classes in both English and Spanish.

Minnesota Reading Corps and Math Corps is recruiting 1,300 tutors for the 2014-2015 school year to be placed in schools throughout Minnesota.

Minnesota Reading Corps and Math Corps are statewide, research-based initiatives to help every student become a successful reader by the end of third grade or become proficient in math by the end of eighth grade.

Volunteer tutors are placed at 900 sites throughout the state. To volunteer, visit MinnesotaReadingCorps.org or MinnesotaMathCorps.org, or call (866) 859-2825.

CORRECTION In the June 19 edition, the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia were incorrectly listed as the Dominican Sisters of the Wood in “Vocation Day events for young men and women.”

Materials credited to CNS copyrighted by Catholic News Service.

All other materials copyrighted by The Catholic Spirit Newspaper.

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3 At the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ General Assembly last month, it was announced that a new Catholic insurance program entitled “Catholic Benefits Association” has been established to provide employees of our non-exempt affiliates, like Catholic Charities, Catholic nursing homes, separately incorporated high schools, and the like, with health care benefits while not violating Catholic moral values.

As many readers know, the HHS contraceptive mandate requires the so-called “nonexempt” insurers and employers (organizations other than houses of worship, small THAT THEY MAY employers, and ALL BE ONE employers with Archbishop grandfathered-in John Nienstedt plans) to include contraceptives, abortion-inducing drugs and devices, sterilization, and related counseling (“CASC Services”) in their own health plans. If they don’t, the fine for refusal can be up to $36,500 per employee annually.

The so-called “accommodation” for these non-exempt ministries, so proudly touted by the current federal executive, requires such organizations to sign and deliver a form that triggers the legal duty of the organization’s third party administrator or group insurer to provide the CASC services. To sign such a form involves formal cooperation with evil.

One does not escape a moral problem by causing someone else to provide an immoral service.

On June 4, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma issued an injunction exempting all present members of

with this order — seven times the number of Catholic employers exempted in all other

“One does not escape a moral problem by causing someone else to provide an immoral service.”

lawsuits combined.

Archbishop John Nienstedt

grandfathered status (designed by the

The CBA has now filed papers asking the Court to extend its order to the second wave of CBA members. If those in affiliated ministries are not exempt or are relying upon government to be temporary), those persons should consider becoming a CBA member in

the Catholic Benefits Association from the federal CASC mandate. A copy of this order is on the CBA website. The CBA protected 420 previously non-exempt employer members

this second wave. However, one must act quickly because the hearing is likely to take

From the Archbishop

New insurance program helps Catholic affiliates

place soon.

God bless you!

Learn more For more information about the Catholic Benefits Association solution, visit its website, lifeaffirmingcare.com, or call Nancy Matthews, membership director, at (203) 913-2051. The CBA membership form is on its website.

OFFICIAL His Excellency, the Most Rev. John C. Nienstedt, has announced the following appointments in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Effective June 23, 2014 • Deacon David Nowak, appointed ad nutum episcopi to exercise the ministry of a permanent deacon at the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Bloomington, Minnesota. Deacon Nowak is returning to active ministry

after a leave of absence.

Effective July 1, 2014 • Reverend Joseph Gallatin, submitted his resignation as pastor of the Church of Saint Peter in Mendota, and assigned to academic studies at the Catholic University of America.

Effective July 15, 2014 • Reverend Terry Beeson, appointed pastor of the Church

of Saint Pius V in Cannon Falls and the Church of Saint Joseph in Miesville. This is a transfer from his current appointment as pastor of the Church of Saint John Vianney in South Saint Paul.

• Reverend Mark Joppa, appointed parochial administrator of the Church of Saint Charles in Bayport. This is a transfer from his current appointment as parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Ambrose of Woodbury.

July 3, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

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Longtime church now home to Islamic center

By Jessica Trygstad The Catholic Spirit Although the campus that for 92 years housed the former St. John parish on the east side of St. Paul no longer serves the area’s Catholics, it will be a hub for neighbors to gather for worship once again.

The church is now a mosque for the Islamic community — DarulUloom Islamic Center, which hosted an open house June 27.

Longtime St. John parishioner Greg Cosimini attended to bid farewell to his former church and to welcome the new occupants to 977 E. Fifth St. “Having this building empty was about the worst thing,” said Cosimini, who lives a few blocks away. “For the neighborhood, empty property is a bad thing to have. It just causes trouble, so I’m glad somebody moved in.”

Cosimini now attends St. Mary in downtown St. Paul because “in a lot of ways, it looks like a small version” of St. John.

Father Michael Byron is pastor of St. Pascal Baylon in St. Paul, the receiving parish of St. John. He said there is a great opportunity to partner with Darul-Uloom.

“A lot of Muslims live in the area, and that’s why they’re here,” Father Byron said. “The neighborhood is in great flux. There are a lot of social issues of common concern that we

From left, Greg Cosimini talks with Ahmed Diriye inside the former St. John church building in St. Paul June 27. A Muslim group bought the building, which is now called the Darul-Uloom Islamic Center, and had an open house to welcome people in the neighborhood, including former St. John parishioners such as Cosimini. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit could seek to cooperate on.”

Feisal Elmi, a spokesman with Darul-Uloom (Arabic for “house of knowledge”), said the group plans to open a food shelf in the basement. Next door to the church, the former St. John rectory will house the community’s imam — a religious leader — and eventually new immigrants on a temporary basis. The former school, which closed in the 1970s, will be used as a charter school and community center, hosting job fairs and youth programs.

Decommissioning a church St. John celebrated its last Mass on June 30, 2013. Since then, the altars, statues, communion rail and other sacred objects were removed and donated to parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

“Father Byron did a very good job of finding homes for almost all

of the sacred items here,” Cosimini said. “And so we know where most of them went. That was a real comfort for everybody.” Cosimini has chronicled the timeline of St. John’s at lostchurchesofstpaul.com.

Items that couldn’t be reused were disposed of appropriately.

Before Darul-Uloom moved in, the remaining Christian images had to be covered or removed, such as the large stone cross that once sat atop St. John’s exterior peak.

According to Susan Mulheron, chancellor for canonical affairs for the archdiocese, to relegate the space for secular use, Archbishop John Nienstedt issued a written decree. There is no rite to remove the dedication that made the space sacred initially, but a formerly sacred space can never be used for purposes that are “sordid,” that is, blatantly offensive to Christian sensibilities. The possibility of sordid use is a major consideration when approval is given to sell a

Please join Saint Thomas Academy in welcoming our new Headmaster, Matthew C. Mohs, Class of 1990.

The Mohs family belongs to the Saint Thomas More parish.

Since 1885, Saint Thomas Academy educators have taught boys to become respectful, thoughtful, servant leaders who contribute to their community and beyond as successful men.

STA is now accepting applications for grades 7—12.

Cadets.com/Admissions

651.683.1516

former church.

St. John merged with St. Pascal Baylon as part of the archdiocese’s strategic planning in 2010. Father George Welzbacher served as St. John’s pastor for seven years and retired after it closed. St. Pascal Baylon is about three miles from the former St. John parish. Father Byron said one of the reasons for the merge was the number of churches on the east side — 28 in a five-mile radius.

Money from the sale, which was finalized June 20, will go to St. Pascal Baylon, helping ease some of the parish’s debt, Father Byron said.

Father Byron and Cosimini shared the sentiment that the building will be preserved as a place for worship.

“I think like most religions, the vast majority of the people just want to live their life and worship in whatever way,” Cosimini said.

“So, I think it should be a good influence on the neighborhood.”

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TheCatholicSpirit.com July 3, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

5 The Catholic Spirit St. Agnes School in St. Paul will use a recent gift of $10 million to build a student activities center.

Students, parents, teachers and other supporters gathered at the K-12 school June 19 to celebrate the announcement made by staff member Jean Houghton, director of constituent relations. She told the crowd that a gift of more than $10 million had been made to the school by John Nasseff and his wife, Helene Houle. That gift, and other donations, will be used to build the $16.7 million Student Activities Center, scheduled for completion in the fall of 2015.

The donation by Nasseff and Houle is believed to be one of the largest ever to a school in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The two were unable to make it to the event, which featured remarks by Bishop Andrew Cozzens, Father Mark Moriarty, superintendent and pastor of St. Agnes parish, James Morehead, principal, and Jean Houghton, director of constituent relations.

The new activities center will be located where the current high school gymnasium (Bandas Hall) resides. It will include an

some of the 2014-15 activities while construction is underway.

“We believe in the value of Catholic education, and the leadership and vision of St. Agnes School,” Nasseff said. “We specifically wanted to make this gift in honor of our friend, Father John Ubel [former Superintendent and pastor who now is rector of the Cathedral of St. Paul], for all that he has done for the school.”

Bishop Andrew Cozzens, left, delivers remarks and a final prayer at an event June 19 announcing a gift of more than $10 million to St. Agnes School by John Nasseff and his wife, Helene Houle. Next to Bishop Cozzens are, from left, Jean Houghton, director of constituent relations, and James Morehead, principal. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit auditorium that seats more than 400, upgraded performing and fine arts spaces, additional classrooms, an expanded gymnasium and a

student commons area that will connect the two primary buildings on campus. The school is finalizing alternative locations for

Local

St. Agnes to use donation for new activities center

In 2007, declining enrollment and financial challenges forced St. Agnes to consider closing its doors.

At that time, Nasseff and Houle, along with more than 1,000 alumni and friends, stepped forward to assist. Seven years later, the school has seen a cumulative growth in enrollment of more than 40 percent, has been recognized as one of the top 50 Catholic high schools in the nation, and is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year.

“We could not be more grateful for this new activities center,” Father Moriarty said. “We believe in a well-rounded experience for our students at St. Agnes — forming the mind, body and soul.

This addition will equip us to educate young people for generations to come.”

Festival Time!

Join Us for a Complimentary

Breakfast on the Patio

Send us your festival information!

July 10, 2014 9:00 am – 11:00 am After breakfast, take a tour and register for our door prize – a $100 gift card to Bachman’s.

Senior Apartments · Assisted Living · Memory Care DayBridge Adult Day Program · Short-Term Stay Suites The Towers · 1011 Feltl Court · Hopkins, MN 55343 To RSVP, please call: 952-960-5558 952-933-3333 · www.StThereseSouthwest.com

The July 31 issue of The Catholic Spirit will feature a special section listing information about parish festivals.

To list your festival, send information by July 17 to spiritcalendar@archspm.org.

Please include the dates and location of your festival event, as well as start and end times and a short description of the festivities.

July 3, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

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Walk of

FAITH

Procession marks feast of Corpus Christi

Hundreds walk along as Archbishop John Nienstedt leads the 18th annual Archdiocesan Corpus Christi Procession from the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis, through Loring Park and back to the Basilica June 22. Photos by Jim Bovin Above left, incense bearers follow behind Archbishop Nienstedt during the procession.

Far left, several religious orders participated in the event, including the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, the Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters and the Missionaries of Charity.

The Catholic Spirit wins news awards at annual conference The Catholic Spirit The Catholic Spirit garnered three first-place awards, two second places, a third place and a cluster of honorable mentions in the annual newspaper competition of the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada.

The awards were presented June 20 at the annual Catholic Media Conference, held this year in Charlotte, N.C. First-place honors went to The Catholic Spirit’s Dave Hrbacek for best feature story and to former editor Joe Towalski for best editorial on a local issue.

“Faith in the Public Arena,” the column by members of the Minnesota Catholic Conference staff that is syndicated by The Catholic Spirit, earned first place for best regular general commentary column.

Judges praised Hrbacek’s winning story about the mother of the terminally ill Zach Sobiech, “In the quiet stillness of suffering, Mary resides,” for “a wonderful beginning that pulls readers immediately into this story that combines faith with life and death.

And the winner is faith.”

Towalski’s winning editorial, “It’s time to start looking into the faces of the poor,” was called “outstanding encouragement of Gospel values and practice.”

About the Minnesota Catholic Conference column, judges chose it as the top entry because, in their

July 3, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

words, “The Faith in the Public Arena columns address tough issues in a straight-forward, thoughtprovoking way. The graphic presentation — often with visuals, pullout quotes and subheads — attracts reader interest. Noteworthy is the call to action at the end of [Jessica] Zittlow’s column; readers often want to know, ‘What can I do?’”.

Towalski’s editorial “Society in need of flavoring with Catholic salt” which took second place for best editorial on a national or international issue, was called “a more informative and creative way to consider a good Catholic Christian life.”

The Catholic Spirit also earned second-place honors for best coverage of religious liberty for stories about the “Fortnight for Freedom.” Judges especially noted the newspaper’s suggestions for 14 ways to celebrate the fortnight.

The new look of The Catholic Spirit — as of September last year — garnered a third-place award for best redesign. The collaboration of Towalski and Catholic Spirit designer Caron Olhoft “screams ‘energy,’ ” judges noted, “which is according to strategy. Younger readers will appreciate the care you took.”

Earning honorable mention for The Catholic Spirit were: Hrbacek’s series of stories on the life and death of Stillwater teen songwriter Zach Sobiech, for best reporting on a special age group/children and teens.

Hrbacek’s “Making the right choice,” for best feature writing.

The Catholic Spirit’s “Lent” section, for best seasonal issue, produced by the staff.

Along with publishing The Catholic Spirit, the archdiocesan Office of Communications produces The Visitor newspaper for the Diocese of St. Cloud. Under editor Bob Zyskowski, The Visitor came in second in the most prestigious category, “General Excellence,” among large-circulation diocesan newspapers, along with garnering a host of additional awards.

Designer Shelley Kortuem took first place for Best Use of Art or Graphics for her creation for the cover of The Visitor’s annual “Fall Parish Festivals” section.

Kortuem also earned a third-place award for Best Promotional House Ad for her design work that supported The Visitor’s annual Christmas Poster Contest.

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A taste of rural

life

Isaac Marquette of St. Mary in Waverly checks out some vintage tractors during Rural Life Sunday June 22 near Watertown. The event took place on the farm of Vernon and Elaine Rosckes and was hosted by the parish of Immaculate Conception in Watertown. Bishop Andrew Cozzens celebrated a special polka Mass to kick off the day, which was followed by food, hay rides and other activities. About 200 people attended.

Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

Catholic Charities USA leader takes job at St. Thomas Thomas president.

“His core beliefs align beautifully with those of the St. Thomas community, and we are Father Larry excited about SNYDER the new initiatives he can develop and lead to further fulfill our mission of advancing the common good.”

Father Snyder led Catholic Charities in the Twin Cities for 14 years before leading the organization’s work at the nation’s capital, a role he said prepared him well for his new position at St. Thomas.

“As a leader at Catholic Charities, I make sure that Catholic identity drives us,” he said. “I live and breathe the mission. I know I have not done that in a university setting.

But if you look at the Church’s history in the United States, its ministries — education, health care and social services — were founded at the same time, in the mid to late 1800s, when most Catholics in this Photo by Mark Brown

Father Larry Snyder, who for the last nine years has been president of Catholic Charities USA, one of the largest social service agencies in the United States, will become vice president for mission at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, effective Feb. 1, 2015.

The 1987 St. Thomas alumnus is excited to return to Minnesota.

“It’s a huge deal for me,” he said.

“I knew at some point that I would come back to Minnesota. Even though I grew up in Illinois, my foundation of support and my friends are in the Twin Cities.”

Father Snyder succeeds Father John Malone, who retired May 31 and will serve as pastor at Assumption in St. Paul.

Mark Neuzil, who served as director of the Office for Mission at St. Thomas under Father Malone, will be interim vice president for mission until Snyder’s arrival.

“Father Snyder has been one of the most important and compelling voices over the last decade on more effective ways of collaboration to end poverty in America and provide greater opportunities for those in need to achieve their full potential,” said Julie Sullivan, University of St.

country were immigrants having a really tough time.

“In that sense, I think it will be very easy to move to a university that has the same fundamental roots as Catholic Charities. Look at the mission of St. Thomas: It’s about educating students to become morally responsible leaders who will advance the common good. That’s what I believe in. I want to make sure our Catholic identity and our sense of mission reflect who we are and what we do.”

Work fulfills sense of Church’s mission Snyder, 63, was born in Lincoln, Ill., the 10th of 12 children. He spent two years at Loras College, and its affiliated Pius X Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, and transferred to what is now Benedictine University in Lisle, Ill., where he earned a bachelor’s degree in music and lived in the Benedictine religious community.

He moved to the Twin Cities in 1983 to serve as music and adult education director at St. Joseph in New Hope.

“When I came to Minnesota, the Church was so alive, and so many

good things were happening that within a year, I knew I wanted to enter the St. Paul Seminary,” he said.

Snyder received a Master of Divinity degree from St. Thomas in 1987 and was ordained an archdiocesan priest the following spring. He has a master’s degree in public administration from Hamline University.

His first priest assignments were as associate pastor at Epiphany in Coon Rapids and at Nativity of Mary in Bloomington.

Under Snyder, Catholic Charities has become a national thought leader and policy advocate on poverty issues.

Since 2007, Snyder has served on the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, which oversees the Catholic Church’s charitable activities around the world. In 2009, President Barack Obama appointed him to a two-year term on the President’s Advisory Council of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

This article is used and edited with permission from the University of St. Thomas Newsroom.

If you or someone you know has been sexually abused, your first call should be to law enforcement.

The archdiocese’s Office of Advocacy and Victim Assistance is also here to offer you help and healing if you have been abused by a Catholic priest or another person in Church ministry.

Please call Greta Sawyer confidentially at 651.291.4497 or email sawyerg@archspm.org.

July 3, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

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Judge allows more questioning of former vicar general, but not archbishop The Catholic Spirit A Ramsey County judge will allow attorneys for an alleged victim of clergy sexual abuse to ask more questions of Father Kevin McDonough, former vicar general for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

At the June 25 hearing in Ramsey County District Court, Judge John Van de North denied a similar request from St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson and his associate Michael Finnegan to also bring in Archbishop John Nienstedt for more questioning.

Archbishop Nienstedt and Father McDonough provided depositions in April.

The rulings are part of a lawsuit involving a plaintiff known as “John Doe 1.” The plaintiff alleges that a former priest of the Diocese of Winona, Thomas Adamson, who had assignments in the archdiocese, sexually abused him in the 1970s when he was a minor.

Judge Van de North ordered that the deposition

Father Gallatin resigns as pastor of St. Peter in Mendota The Catholic Spirit Father Joseph Gallatin has resigned as pastor of St. Peter in Mendota after a file review led Archbishop John Nienstedt to restrict his ministry.

Father Gallatin had been on a leave of absence since last December after his file was referred again to the Clergy Review Board because of a boundary violation involving a teenage male in 1998. At that time, the board reviewed the incident and concluded Father Gallatin required evaluation, therapy and monitoring. According to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, he has actively participated in all requirements since that incident, and there have been no other allegations of inappropriate behavior with a minor against him.

Since late 2013, the archdiocese has been reviewing the files of all clergy who have served or are serving in its 12-county area. The Clergy Review Board was asked to revisit the 1998 allegation against Father Gallatin as part of the ongoing review.

In a June 22 statement posted at archspm.org, the archdiocese said that while the board examined the incident over the course of several months and determined that the act did not violate the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, it still recommended he remain in the monitoring program and work in ministry that doesn’t involve minors.

Father Gallatin has been assigned to Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., to pursue academic studies.

“The Clergy Review Board took many factors

of Father McDonough last for two and half hours, which includes time for breaks, citing him as a “central figure” in the handling of abuse allegations against priests.

To date, the archdiocese has provided Anderson’s firm more than 46,000 pages of clergy file documents within two months, complying with the court order. Anderson argued his firm did not receive the documents in time to fully prepare for the depositions of former archdiocesan officials.

Attorneys for the archdiocese cited the amount of time and effort it takes to be thorough and accurate in reviewing and submitting documents containing confidential information about victims.

“We’ve been clear that it is a huge undertaking,” said Tom Wieser of Meier, Kennedy and Quinn, who represents the archdiocese with Daniel Haws of Murnane Brandt. “It is unprecedented how much information we’ve had to provide in a short deadline.” into account, including Rev. Gallatin’s 16 years of good conduct and his current psychological assessments, as well as promoting a culture of abundant caution needed to restore trust,” the statement said.

Episcopal Vicar for Ministerial Standards Father Reginald Whitt, O.P., oversees the Clergy Review Board, made up of clergy and lay people with expertise in sexual abuse, health care, mental health, law and education, and includes parents and victims of abuse. The board assesses allegations of sexual abuse of minors by priests and deacons.

Deacon removed from ministry pending reopened investigation The Catholic Spirit Deacon Joseph Damiani has been temporarily removed from ministry while an investigation is reopened regarding a previous allegation of sexual abuse of a minor, as requested by the Clergy Review Board.

According to a June 22 statement from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Deacon Damiani has consistently denied the accusation, which alleges abuse to have occurred more than 40 years ago, decades before he was ordained. The accusation was brought to local law enforcement, and no criminal charges were filed.

Deacon Damiani has served as deacon at Annunciation in Minneapolis and on staff at Gichitwaa Kateri in Minneapolis in the Office of Indian Affairs since 2009.

As part of the archdiocese’s ongoing review of clergy files, the board requested the investigation be reopened in order to make sure key facts are clarified and Deacon Damiani’s suitability for ministry established.

Check the July 17 edition for

Leading With Faith honorees!

July 3, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

9

Local

FAITH OUTDOORS Dave Hrbacek

Who’s the winner in fishing tournament?

Seminarians!

The last thing I ever thought I would do is fish in a tournament.

Yet, there I was in a cluster of boats on Lake Oahe in South Dakota the morning of June 9, waiting to blast off from the boat landing and begin the search for walleyes on this huge reservoir.

Well, this wasn’t exactly a “real” tournament. I would be fishing from a pontoon boat owned by Wade Van Dover of Big Stone City, which lies just across from the western border of Minnesota. Wade, his wife, Cindy, his parents Ken and Elaine, and a local woman, Kathleen Schlachter, were my fishing partners for the day.

And, the man standing on the dock with a megaphone waiting to give the anglers the go-ahead to take off was Father Paul Rutten, vocations director for the Diocese of Sioux Falls.

Rather than stoke the competitive juices of the 90 anglers entered in the tournament, he opened with a prayer.

Now, this was the kind of event I could support wholeheartedly. It wasn’t about pounds of fish and prize money. Rather, it was about fellowship and fun.

Oh, and there was one other important component to this annual event, now in its 18th year — raising money to support seminarians of the diocese, some of whom study at our own St. Paul Seminary at the University of St. Thomas.

Serious fundraising Tournament organizers and participants are somewhat serious about doing well in the tournament, but dead serious about fundraising.

They have two such tournaments every year a week apart, one on Lake Oahe and the other on Big Stone Lake, which lies on the border of Minnesota and South Dakota.

The tournament on Big Stone, which took place June 2, raised $50,000. On Lake Oahe, the amount was identical, for a combined total of $100,000. That is enough to cover the costs for three seminarians to study for a year.

And that is what tournament organizers are most proud of, and why they keep going every year. It all started in 1996, when thenBishop Robert Carlson, who served in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and now leads the

Archdiocese of St. Louis, was approached by a Catholic couple, Dan and Janet Cronin of Gettysburg, S.D. They wondered what kind of event could bring people throughout the diocese together.

The Cronins told the bishop that fishing and hunting are big among South Dakotans, and an event involving these two favorite pastimes would be a big draw. Then, Dan and Janet went to work to start the fishing tournament, with a pheasant hunt added a few years later. Dan witnessed several tournaments before he died in 1999.

The first event took place on Lake Oahe, with about a dozen boats raising $5,000. Wade Van Dover heard about that event, and suggested adding a tournament at Big Stone, which happened the following year.

Things are cruising along now, with the Catholic Foundation for Eastern South Dakota stepping in to provide support both in promoting the event and helping on tournament days. There were lots of smiles on the faces of the anglers who got out on the water June 9, with beautiful weather to greet them.

Fishing with Wade When Wade offered me the opportunity to fish on his boat, I jumped at the chance. He has won the event numerous times and said he has fished in about 250 walleye tournaments. So, I knew there was a good chance we would do well on this body of water, which pumps out a massive amount of walleyes every year.

I first met Wade in person the day before the tournament at Blue Cloud Abbey, a beautiful retreat center about 15 or 20 miles from his home. It once was owned by a religious order, and now is in the hands of Wade, Cindy and five other couples who want to ensure that the buildings and land continue to be used for spiritual refreshment. It’s a gorgeous facility, and I hope to return for an overnight visit someday.

The fishing started off slowly on Lake Oahe, with just a few small walleyes pulled in during the first two hours. Then, Wade started working a long point just outside of a large bay. He hit paydirt at 10:40 a.m. when he landed a 26 ½-inch

Wade Van Dover of Big Stone City, S.D. holds a 26 1/2-inch walleye he caught in the Bishop’s Fishing Tournament on Lake Oahe in South Dakota June 9. That fish, plus another big one, helped his team win the tournament with a total of 12.95 pounds.

Money raised at the tournament will go to help seminarians in the Diocese of Sioux Falls, S.D. Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit walleye that weighed 5.2 pounds.

He ended up in a tie with another angler for big fish honors.

But, the best was yet to come.

Wade’s wife, Cindy, who served in NET Ministries for three years back in the 1980s, awoke from a brief nap on the pontoon about an hour later and decided it was time for prayer.

Little did we know the dividends that simple act would produce.

“We have one rule in the boat,” Wade explained. “We have to pray a rosary.”

And, with that, he turned it over to Cindy, who led us through the Apostle’s Creed to start.

But before she got to the first Hail Mary, a voice cried out, “Fish on!”

Then another. And another. And another. Four fish in just a couple of minutes, one landed by yours truly.

Wade smiled and noted that a rosary prayed in his simple watercraft “often gets interrupted by fish.”

To which Schlachter dryly responded, “We should have started the rosary earlier.”

Amen, I replied. But, the prayers to Mary hardly came too late. That brief flurry came with four hours to go before the 3 p.m. weigh-in. The fish bit steadily for the next two hours, which allowed us to amass a nice pile of walleyes to bring to the docks. The rules allow each boat to weigh in six fish, and we ended up bringing 10 ashore, with the additional four kept for eating.

Finishing first Our grand total was 12.95 pounds, which gave us the championship. We all got plaques, which will be a nice keepsake.

But, that wasn’t the best part of the event. I got to meet many great people, and I made some new friends. Wade invited me to come back for the Bishop’s Pheasant Hunt in the fall, and gave me a standing

invitation to come his way to fish and hunt any time I can make it.

I’ll be sure to take him up on that.

I have never shot a pheasant in my life, despite several attempts. I told him that bagging a pheasant is on my bucket list. Ken and Elaine own land in prime pheasant country, and assured me I could get plenty of chances at a pheasant if I came out.

I’ll have to make some time for that this fall. For now, I will savor the memories of my three days in South Dakota. Near the end of the tournament, we went back to the boat landing to pick up Bishop Paul Swain, who comes out every year and celebrates Mass after the weighin. I even helped him catch a walleye. I hooked one, then handed the rod to Bishop Swain, who gladly reeled in the fish.

That night, I stayed in a cabin owned by the Cronins, and hung out with Janet’s son Jim and a few other tournament volunteers. Jim made some fresh walleye, which he cooked in the microwave with butter and Lowry’s seasoning. It was fantastic, and a great way to cap the day. Earlier in the evening, I feasted on another tasty treat that Jim and others prepared — prime rib.

The following morning, I got to fish with another expert angler, Myron Keltgen, who lives a little ways away, but gets out to Oahe often. We caught some nice walleyes and a catfish, and he even cleaned fish for me to take home. Those walleyes ended up being a birthday dinner for my son Joe, who turned 23 on June 10.

From start to finish, I was treated like royalty by the friendly and generous folks of the Diocese of Sioux Falls. I began to wonder if we could put on a similar event here in Minnesota. With a vocations director here in the archdiocese, Father Troy Przybilla, who loves to hunt and fish, I don’t see why not.

Father Przybilla, let’s get together and talk.

July 3, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

U.S. & World

10

Texas diocese responds to surge of immigrant children

By Brenda Nettles Riojas Catholic News Service Scared, tired and hungry, immigrants, mostly mothers with their children, have been arriving at the McAllen and Brownsville bus stations at odd hours.

Most hope to travel farther to connect with waiting family members.

They are among hundreds of immigrants — mostly from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala — arriving daily, dropped off by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after being apprehended in the United States.

Because of the vast number of families and children traveling on their own who have been picked up at the border, mostly in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, ICE has been giving families permission to travel to their final destination with instructions to appear in court for deportation proceedings.

More than 52,000 minors traveling alone and 39,000 families have been picked up this fiscal year. The number of children traveling alone has doubled over a year ago and is more than seven times the number that was typical annually through 2011.

For the past two months, volunteers acting on their own have been meeting immigrants at the bus station. They provide food and help the disoriented families navigate bus travel. As the numbers escalated, Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley opened two assistance centers.

When they arrive at the bus station, “they are scared, they’re hungry, they’re tired,” said Sister Norma Pimentel, a member of the Missionaries of Jesus, who is executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley. “They don’t know who to trust. They fear someone will take advantage of them.”

She said she told the people at the bus station, “Somos de la iglesia. Estamos aqui para ayudar.” (“We are with the Church. We are here to help.”)

One center is at Sacred Heart Church, near McAllen’s bus station.

Volunteers helped approximately 200 people the first day. A second center is in the gymnasium across the street from Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Brownsville, and a third is planned in Harlingen.

“The assistance centers are an immediate and temporary response to the need,” said Sister Pimentel. “A long-term solution is needed.”

She said false information circulating in Central America has contributed to the influx. Some are under the impression that they will receive asylum if they cross into the U.S. with their children, for example. Asylum is a status available to people who have a credible fear of persecution or physical harm in their homelands.

Being released by ICE with orders to appear in immigration court is

July 3, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

Two young girls watch a World Cup soccer match on a television from a holding area where hundreds of mostly Central American immigrant children are being processed and held at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Nogales Placement Center in Nogales, Ariz., June 18. The federal agency provided media tours June 18 of two locations in Brownsville, Texas, and Nogales that have been central to processing at least 52,000 unaccompanied minors who have been detained in the U.S. this fiscal year.

CNS / Ross Franklin, pool via Reuters confusing to some, said Sister Pimentel. “They think they are being offered amnesty.” In reality, the immigration agency “is giving themselves space to breathe” because it is overwhelmed by the number of children and families being detained in the area.

One young man in his early 20s arrived from Guatemala with his infant child. His wife had been kidnapped in Mexico and he was forced to continue without her.

Another, Roger (his last name has been withheld for his safety), 14, is a U.S. citizen who was living with his aunt in Miami. He flew to Honduras to accompany his mother as she crossed illegally into the U.S. He said it took them four tries before they finally crossed the Rio Bravo in the dark. He said he would do it again.

Another teen, a 16-year-old from the department of Morazon, El Salvador, spent four days lost in the Rio Grande Valley, drinking dirty water and eating oranges to survive before he found help. He was left on his own by smugglers who were paid $3,000 to get him into the U.S. The oldest of five children, Juan was sent north by his parents, who wanted him to get an education. As the youngest of the 11 young men who were traveling in an enclosed

“The assistance centers are an immediate and temporary response to the need. A long-term solution is needed.”

Sister Norma Pimentel, Missionaries of Jesus, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley

truck, he said he was hit and teased.

He told The Valley Catholic, newspaper of the Brownsville Diocese, that he had not had anything to eat or drink during that trip.

He was found on the side of the road and brought to the assistance center at Sacred Heart. There, after a 19-day journey, he contemplated whether to turn himself in to Immigration and Customs Enforcement or figure out a way to get to New York to the uncle who was waiting for him.

Sister Pimentel said she and the other volunteers are inspired by the response from the community.

As soon as the call for donations went out, people started bringing needed items to the center. One

business donated 600 pairs of new shoes. Others have provided portable showers.

Some of the immigrants have gone weeks without a shower or change of clothes as they traveled across their home countries and Mexico.

The centers are offering food, clothing, toiletries, baby supplies and travel packets.

Sister Pimentel said one group of volunteers stays until 1 a.m. cleaning and preparing for the next day’s newcomers. Others volunteer along with their children as young as 8.

Ivania Molina Melendez, a parishioner at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in McAllen, said she was exhausted by the end of her day of helping, but that she was filled with joy from serving.

She said the volunteers are overwhelmed by the stories the women share about their journey. They see them arrive hungry and grateful for a place to rest, grateful for a bag of supplies, grateful for the prayers from strangers before their bus leaves, en route to Boston, New York City, Houston, San Antonio, Chicago.

“They come with so many hopes,” she said, “It is difficult to know what waits for them, and how long they will remain.”

11

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Pope Francis expressed his participation in the “unspeakable suffering” of the families of three kidnapped Israeli teens whose bodies were found June 30 in Hebron, West Bank.

In a statement conveying the pope’s condolences, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, called the killings “terrible and dramatic.”

“The assassination of innocent people is always an execrable and unacceptable crime and a serious obstacle on the path toward the peace for which we must tirelessly continue to strive and pray,” Father Lombardi said.

“Pope Francis participates in the unspeakable suffering of the families struck by this homicidal violence and the pain of all persons afflicted by the consequences of

hatred,” Father Lombardi said, and he “prays that God might inspire all with thoughts of compassion and peace.”

After the boys’ bodies were found, Israeli military launched what it described as “precision strikes” on 34 sites in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Defense Forces said the strikes were in response to 18 rockets fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel June 29-30.

The three teens were kidnapped in mid-June as they were hitchhiking home from their school in Gush Etzion, a cluster of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, near Bethlehem. Israeli officials accused Hamas, which recently formed a coalition government with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, of being responsible for the abduction.

Abbas condemned the kidnapping, and Palestinian

U.S. & World

Pope offers condolences to families of three Israeli teens found dead The parents and other family members of Naftali Frankel attend his funeral service July 1 in Nof Ayalon, Israel. Frankel was one of three Israeli teens found dead in a West Bank field 18 days after they disappeared trying to hitchhike home. Israel blamed the Islamist movement Hamas and launched targeted airstrikes into the Gaza Strip. CNS/Jim Hollander, EPA security forces were coordinating with the Israelis to find the kidnappers.

Auxiliary Bishop William Shomali, chancellor of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, had asked anyone with information about the kidnapping of the three teens to come forward. At the same time, June 25, he called on the Israeli army to keep its reaction and its search methods proportionate.

“Kidnapping three Israeli young

people is not fair, and is against human rights and human dignity.

We are opposed to this; this is not the right way to make peace,” he told Catholic News Service. “(But) the reaction of the Israeli army is disproportionate to what happened.”

At that point, he said, Israeli army forces had arrested some 600 Palestinians in their search for the youth; others estimated 400 were arrested.

Court’s decision ‘bodes well’ for similar pending cases Continued from page 1 chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty.

The court in its 5-4 ruling said that Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Woods, the two family-run companies that objected to the government mandate that employees be covered for a range of contraceptives, including drugs considered to be abortifacients, are protected from the requirement of the Affordable Care Act under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Activists on both sides of the issue gathered outside the U.S. Supreme Court on a hot Washington morning awaiting the decision, and when it was announced, supporters hailed it as a religious liberty issue and opponents called it a setback to women’s health care.

Jason Adkins, executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, said the Supreme Court ruled correctly in that “the free exercise of religion is not confined to the four walls of the sanctuary.”

“Religious liberty means the ability to live your faith in every aspect of your life,” Adkins said. “People do not give up their religious freedom when they open a family business. They should not have to check their values and religious convictions at the door when they enter the marketplace.”

The Minnesota Catholic Conference is the public policy voice of the Catholic Church in Minnesota.

Although Catholic leaders and other religious groups hailed the decision as a victory for religious freedom, they also said the issue is not resolved since the government mandate requires nonprofit organizations such as Catholic charities, hospitals and schools

to provide contraceptive coverage.

The USCCB statement of Archbishops Kurtz and Lori noted that the court left the door open about the cases currently winding their way through the courts objecting to the government’s accommodation that they direct a third party to provide the required contraceptive coverage.

“The court clearly did not decide whether the so-called ‘accommodation’ violates RFRA when applied to our charities, hospitals and schools, so many of which have challenged it as a burden on their religious exercise. We continue to hope that these great ministries of service, like the Little Sisters of the Poor and so many others, will prevail in their cases as well,” the statement said.

Mark Rienzi, senior counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, the religious liberty law firm that represented Hobby Lobby, the familyowned Oklahoma-based retailer, before the Supreme Court, told reporters after the ruling that the court’s decision bodes well for similar pending cases of nonprofit organizations.

He noted that the opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito includes a footnote reference to the Little Sisters of the Poor’s lawsuit, which he said indicates that the “government accommodation is not here for long.”

The Little Sisters of the Poor religious order has asked the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to extend an injunction blocking enforcement of the federal contraceptive mandate.

The Supreme Court’s decision points out how the government has “effectively exempted” some religious nonprofit groups from the contraceptive mandate and that to qualify for the accommodation, such an employer must self-certify as nonprofit

“People do not give up their religious freedom when they open a family business. They should not have to check their values and religious convictions at the door when they enter the marketplace.”

Jason Adkins, executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference

religious group with religious objections to contraceptive coverage; the selfcertification form triggers the insurance company that administers their health plan to provide the objectionable coverage to their employees.

Catholic and other groups who object to the coverage on moral grounds say even with the accommodation, they are still involved in objectionable coverage.

The ninth footnote in Alito’s opinion states that “in a separate challenge to this framework for religious nonprofit organizations, the court recently ordered that, pending appeal, the eligible organizations be permitted to opt out of the contraceptive mandate by providing written notification of their objections to the Secretary of HHS, rather than to their insurance issuers or third-party administrators.”

Rienzi’s take on that footnote is that if the government thinks something is important, it can provide it and cannot have a “compelling interest” to “crush”

groups that object to paying for it.

He said the Hobby Lobby ruling makes it clear how family-operated businesses can operate within the Affordable Care Act and said the court’s decision will likely be the “controlling opinion going forth” for nonprofit entities’ health care coverage.

John Vile, dean of the University Honors College at Middle Tennessee State University and co-editor of the Encyclopedia of the First Amendment, called the decision a “genuine win for religious freedom” and for those who wrote the RFRA and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000. He said both acts were designed to extend religious freedom beyond the narrow confines the court had previously tried to impose.

Vile told Catholic News Service in an e-mail that if “corporations can be considered persons for purposes of freedom of speech, then it is only appropriate that they be considered persons for purposes of religious freedom.”

He also pointed out that even though the court agreed that the government had an “important governmental interest” in protecting the health of women, it had not used the “least restrictive means” in accomplishing this goal since it had already made provisions for providing coverage for women who worked in nonprofit organizations with religious objections and for plans that it grandfathered in without contraceptive coverage.

Vile pointed out that Justice Alito was careful to limit the decision to the facts at hand, and his emphasis on “least restrictive means” provides leeway in cases where other means of accomplishing governmental objectives are unavailable.

July 3, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

U.S. & World

12 BRIEFLY WASHINGTON

Court gives EWTN lastminute relief from HHS contraception mandate A federal appeals court has issued a temporary injunction protecting the Eternal Word Television Network from having to comply with the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate.

EWTN, based in Irondale, Ala., has appealed a federal judge’s order from late June dismissing its lawsuit challenging the government’s requirement that most employers, including religious employers, cover contraceptives in employee health care plans.

In granting an injunction, the 11th Circuit cited the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the Hobby Lobby case issued the same day that said closely held corporations can opt out of the new health care law requirement because of religious objections.

EWTN’s appeal with the circuit court has to do with a June 17 ruling handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Callie Granada in Mobile, Ala., denying the network the protection it sought from enforcement of the Department of Health and Human Services mandate.

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which filed the lawsuit, reports that more than 100 cases against the Health and Human Services mandate have been filed since the regulation was announced in August 2011.

VATICAN CITY

Synod document cites cultural and economic threats to family The working document for the October 2014 extraordinary Synod of Bishops offers a picture of the Catholic Church today struggling to preach the Gospel and transmit moral teachings amid a “widespread cultural, social and spiritual crisis” of the family.

The 75-page “instrumentum laboris,” published by the Vatican June 26, is supposed to “provide an initial reference point” for discussion at the synod, whose theme will be the “pastoral challenges of the family in the

context of evangelization.” The document is based principally on comments solicited in a questionnaire last November from national bishops’ conferences around the world. But it also reflects comments sent directly to the Vatican by individuals and groups responding to the questionnaire, which was widely published on the Internet.

SEOUL, South Korea

Founders of Korean church among martyrs Pope Francis will beatify When Pope Francis goes to South Korea in August, he will put 124 martyrs on the path to sainthood. Many in this group established the Catholic Church in that East Asian country.

“They are . . . the fathers, of the (103) Korean martyrs, who really founded the Catholic Church with their blood, with their faith, compassion . . . their blood shed for Christ,” said Legion of Christ Father Simon Chung of Seoul.

Pope John Paul II canonized 103 Koreans 30 years ago, and Father Chung said many were the grandchildren and greatgrandchildren of the 124 up for beatification.

MANCHESTER, England

British high court rejects challenges to assisted suicide laws Britain’s highest court has thrown out three challenges to laws against assisted suicide.

Two of them involved cases in which severely disabled men said their right to privacy was being violated by the 1961 Suicide Act, which makes assisting a suicide a crime punishable by up to 14 years in jail. A third man sought clarification about whether anyone who helped him to commit suicide in Switzerland, where assisted suicide is permitted, would face prosecution in Britain. In a ruling published June 25, the Supreme Court dismissed all three — the third unanimously — and as a result exhausted a long battle by assisted suicide activists to change the law through the courts.

High court strikes down ‘buffer zones’ at abortion clinics

By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service In a June 26 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that 35-foot buffer zones around abortion clinics — meant to keep demonstrators away — violates First Amendment rights.

The decision, a victory for pro-life groups, reversed an appellate court decision upholding a 2007 Massachusetts law that made it a crime for anyone other than clinic workers to stand within the yellow semicircular lines painted 35 feet from entrances of Planned Parenthood clinics in Boston, Springfield and Worcester.

Eleanor McCullen, lead plaintiff in the case, McCullen v. Coakley, said she should be able to speak and offer advice to women going to these clinics. McCullen, 77, said when the case was brought to the Supreme Court that she had helped many women decide against abortion.

McCullen told The Catholic Free Press, newspaper of the Diocese of Worcester, she was “very elated” by the unanimous decision.

July 3, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

“It’s wonderful that they see that,” she said.

“It restores my faith in the country.”

The Supreme Court, in its opinion written

by Chief Justice John Roberts, said the state law blocked public sidewalks that have been traditionally viewed as open for free speech. It also said the government’s ability to limit speech in those places is “very limited.”

The law in question was put in place in an attempt to prevent violent demonstrations or protests outside clinic entrances. It replaced a 2000 state law that kept protesters from approaching within 6 feet of a person who was within 18 feet of an abortion clinic.

The Supreme Court’s opinion distinguished protesters from those who “seek not merely to express their opposition to abortion, but to engage in personal, caring, consensual conversations with women about various alternatives.”

The court’s decision “has affirmed the American tradition of basic constitutional rights for all,” said Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities.

Vatican laicizes former nuncio in connection with abuse allegations

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service A Vatican investigation has led to the expulsion of a former Vatican ambassador from the priesthood in response to allegations of sexually abusing minors.

Polish Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, the former nuncio to the Dominican Republic, was sentenced with laicization after a canonical process conducted by the Vatican Congregation of the Doctrine for the Faith, the Vatican declared in a written statement June 27.

The 65-year-old archbishop has two months to appeal the decision.

The Vatican City criminal Archbishop court’s own trial of the Jozef archbishop will begin once the canonical process WESOLOWSKI concludes, the statement said.

Given the fact that the archbishop has been “dismissed from the clerical state,” the Vatican said, “all measures appropriate to the gravity of the case” would be taken while he is awaiting criminal trial.

The specifics of those measures were to be decided by the former nuncio’s superiors within the Vatican Secretariat of State, said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman.

The archbishop had “enjoyed relative freedom of movement” while the canonical process was under way, the Vatican statement said. However, given the imposed censure, it was expected the archbishop’s movements would be limited, Father Lombardi said.

The Vatican statement said the first round of the canonical process against the former nuncio ended in a “conviction of dismissal from the clerical state.” As such, Archbishop Wesolowski loses all rights and duties associated with being a priest, except the obligation of celibacy. The statement did not specify if there were any other sanctions or requirements in connection with his sentencing.

Once the canonical case is closed definitively — in two months if there is no appeal — the “criminal proceedings” of Vatican City State’s own judicial system would begin, the statement said, since the archbishop was a Vatican citizen when he reportedly abused under-aged boys while serving as nuncio in the Dominican Republic.

Father Lombardi said it was not clear whether the archbishop would or could be tried under the new criminal codes Pope Francis approved in 2013. The new laws more clearly define and establish penalties for specific crimes against minors, including sexual violence against children.

The Vatican removed the archbishop from his position as apostolic nuncio to the Dominican Republic in August 2013 after he was accused of paying for sex with boys in the Caribbean country.

Archbishop Wesolowski arrived in the Dominican Republic in January 2008 after serving first as a priest in Krakow from 1972 to 1999, then as Vatican ambassador to Bolivia from 1999 to 2002 and ambassador to Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan from 2002 to 2008.

Only a few bishops have been laicized in connection with allegations of abusing minors.

13

Deacon Peter Hughes

We all need spiritual rest in our daily lives This Sunday’s Gospel rings familiar for most of us: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

But it seems that such familiar words have lost some of their potency in our lives. There are so many demands on our time and our energy. We face daily mental

and emotional stresses at our jobs or in our families. There is a constant barrage of spiritual warfare that occurs each day, often unseen, which slowly chips away at our charity and interior peace.

In order to stay rooted in the important things, and to stay firmly planted in a life of grace, it is necessary to take moments of restful prayer throughout our day.

Prayer does not need to be elaborate. When you think of it, or

maybe by scheduling a few times during your day, simply calm yourself and turn your heart to God. Think for a moment of how he looks at us full of love, like parents look at their children. And just spend a moment or two knowing that he looks at us in love, and let that stir love for him in your own heart. It doesn’t take more than a few moments. It is like the glance you share with your spouse; it sometimes lasts just a minute, but in that moment, you are both aware of each other’s love.

When we take those moments of restful prayer, we find ourselves more able and willing to endure the stresses and hardships of our daily life because we are more filled with the love of God and love for him. Love, as many of us have experienced, enables us to overcome many difficulties with ease, and sometimes even joy. This can be easily recognized with a little reflection on the lengths we

will go for those we love; cleaning toilets, cooking a meal or giving up something we want become easy.

Taking these moments of spiritual rest are important in our daily life. As St. Paul reminds us in the second reading, we are not merely beings of flesh, but we are spiritual as well. And just as our physical bodies get tired or exhausted after a long day, so, too, our spirit becomes exhausted from the spiritual battle around us, and requires the refreshment offered by our encounter with our loving God. And so let us spend some time each day resting and being rejuvenated by the love of God. Deacon Hughes is in formation for the priesthood at the St. Paul Seminary for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. His teaching parish is St. Nicholas in New Market. His home parish is St. Paul in Ham Lake.

Focus on Faith • Scripture Readings

SUNDAY SCRIPTURES

Readings Sunday, July 6 • Zechariah 9:9-10 • Romans 8:9, 11-13 • Matthew 11:25-30

Reflection What can you give up in order to make time for restful prayer?

DAILY Scriptures Sunday, July 6 Fourteenth Sunday in ordinary time Zechariah 9:9-10 Romans 8:9, 11-13 Matthew 11:25-30

Companions, martyrs Hosea 10:1-3, 7-8, 12 Matthew 10:1-7

Isaiah 55:10-11 Romans 8:18-23 Matthew 13:1-23

Thursday, July 17 Isaiah 26:7-9, 12, 16-19 Matthew 11:28-30

Thursday, July 10 Hosea 11:1-4, 8c-9 Matthew 10:7-15

Monday, July 14 St. Kateri Tekakwitha, virgin Isaiah 1:10-17 Matthew 10:34–11:1

Friday, July 18 St. Camillus de Lellis, priest Isaiah 38:1-6, 21-22, 7-8 Matthew 12:1-8

Tuesday, July 15 St. Bonaventure, bishop, doctor of the Church Isaiah 7:1-9 Matthew 11:20-24

Saturday, July 19 Micah 2:1-5 Matthew 12:14-21

Monday, July 7 Hosea 2:16, 17b-18, 21-22 Matthew 9:18-26

Friday, July 11 St. Benedict, abbot Hosea 14:2-10 Matthew 10:16-23

Tuesday, July 8 Hosea 8:4-7, 11-13 Matthew 9:32-38

Saturday, July 12 Isaiah 6:1-8 Matthew 10:24-33

Wednesday, July 9 St. Augustine Zhao Rong, priest, martyr, and his

Sunday, July 13 Fifteenth Sunday in ordinary time

Wednesday, July 16 Our Lady of Mount Carmel Isaiah 10:5-7, 13b-16 Matthew 11:25-27

Sunday, July 20 Sixteenth Sunday in ordinary time Wisdom 12:13, 16-19 Romans 8:26-27 Matthew 13:24-43

July 3, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

Focus on Faith • Seeking Answers

14 SEEKING ANSWERS Father Michael Schmitz

There’s much to consider before offering an opinion Q. When am I supposed to offer my opinion? For example, I have a friend who conceived a child through in vitro fertilization. Am I supposed to tell her that was wrong?

A. This is a really good question but also a somewhat complicated thing. So many factors go into figuring out when to speak and when to remain silent that I often find people will simply abdicate any responsibility and do nothing.

In fact, isn’t there that oddly popular bumper sticker that simply states, “coexist”?

The implication is, “keep your thoughts to yourself and live your life.” Essentially, “stay out of other people’s business.”

While that might be one way to live, it is not the Christian way to live. I recently heard someone point out this startlingly obvious fact: Christians are called not to tolerate others but to love others. While we will hopefully live in peace with all of those around us, we are called to do more than merely “coexist.”

Love is more than tolerance. Love places demands on us.

We cannot stand idly by while others hurt themselves or others.

Of course, in our pluralistic society, we ought not to impose our beliefs on others, but there is an incredible and significant difference between forcing one’s beliefs on another and lovingly proposing the truth to them.

Older Christians had a name for this. It was one of the Spiritual Works of Mercy and was called “instructing the ignorant.” A more palatable way of saying it is “leading another to the truth.”

This is hard to hear for people who don’t believe there is such a thing as truth, but it is convicting for those of us who know that reality is not merely a matter of opinion.

But we need to consider other factors as well, including context, responsibility and prudence.

“. . . there is an incredible and significant difference between forcing one’s beliefs on another and lovingly proposing the truth to them.”

Share the truth This past spring, a ferry carrying almost 300 people sank off the coast of South Korea. Roughly 280 passengers lost their lives. After this tragedy occurred, it was discovered that almost all of those lives could have been saved.

Unfortunately, the captain of the ferry ignored the reality of the situation and directed all of the passengers to return to their rooms while he got himself and most of the crew off the ship.

This captain is currently being charged with murder. He had a responsibility to tell his passengers the truth, but he was apparently content with using the truth to save himself and not concerned enough to share it with those under his protection.

This story contains the elements we need to be attentive to. The captain had the truth and was in a position to share the truth. Even more, he had a responsibility to share the truth. He was the exact person whose job it was to tell the truth.

When we are faced with whether or not we ought to share the truth with someone, we have to weigh those same factors.

What is the context of this relationship?

That is a critical factor.

If I am not in a healthy and trusting relationship with this other person, then I need to consider that when discerning if I am the right person to share this information.

If I have never had a good relationship with my sister, then I might not be the right person to offer some “brotherly advice.” If I have never said more than two words to a co-worker, maybe the first real conversation we have shouldn’t be one where I point out their faults. And if I am looking at a situation “after the fact,” I don’t need to offer any free advice.

It is like when someone asks you what you think about their new

Father Michael Schmitz

Bigstock tattoo. At this point, it is done.

Nothing that you could say would be all that helpful. In the case of the woman who conceived the child through immoral means, this moment might not be the best to point out that procreation and the sexual act ought to be kept intact.

What’s your role?

There are at least two other factors to consider.

You can ask yourself, “Do I have a responsibility to tell them the truth in this situation?” What is your role?

The captain of the ferry was the person responsible for the safety of his passengers. A parent’s role is always to teach their children. A pastor’s role is always to lead those entrusted to his care to the truth.

What about your case? Is it your role to tell your friend the truth?

While you may not have the responsibility to weigh in on every single moral issue in this person’s life, if they invite you to share your opinion, then you now have

the responsibility to tell them the truth. You have been given the open door. This usually comes after demonstrating that you are the kind of person who can be trusted to kindly and wisely offer advice.

Lastly, something that is of absolute importance is prudence.

Prudence is simply practical wisdom. A question you must ask yourself is, “Will what I want to share actually help this person?”

Whether it is immediately helpful or ultimately helpful, we must consider the final goal of the information we may be called to share. We are called to lead others closer to the truth and closer to God. Will your offering this piece of information get them closer to God? Father Schmitz is director of youth and young adult ministry for the Diocese of Duluth and chaplain of the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Reach him at fathermikeschmitz@gmail.com.

TheCatholicSpirit.com July 3, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

15

Sister Constance Veit

Challenging the culture as we celebrate Independence Day When we observed the Fortnight for Freedom in 2012, I naively thought it would be a one-time event. I assumed that the HHS Contraceptive Mandate would soon be overturned and our congregation of Little Sisters of the Poor would quickly fall out of the public eye.

But this month marks our third Fortnight, and our lawsuit against the federal government over the HHS Mandate is still pending as I write this.

In May, a group of Little Sisters attended the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty’s annual gala in New York (the Becket Fund represents us in our lawsuit). Many people commended us for our courage in taking a public stand against the HHS Contraceptive Mandate. I felt a bit embarrassed by all the attention, since we are mere newcomers to the cause of religious liberty. Interestingly, hearing so many edifying stories led me to a

new appreciation of our own history. As a 175 year-old, international community, our congregation has seen its share of ups and downs related to religious intolerance. Our history has helped us to take the long view on our current situation.

Our foundress, St. Jeanne Jugan, was born during the French Revolution and began her work among the needy elderly in its aftermath. When the first Little Sisters arrived in England in 1851, they faced jeers from a suspicious, “anti-Papist” Protestant majority.

These pioneers persevered, allowing their selfless charity and radical poverty to convert the hearts of those who were hostile toward Catholicism.

In the 1930s, anti-Catholic factions threatened the Little Sisters in Spain during that nation’s civil war. Two decades later, communist forces took over our homes in

COMMENTARY Father Robert Barron

Bill Maher and not understanding either faith or the Bible I don’t know what possesses me to watch “Real Time With Bill Maher,” for Maher is, without a doubt, the most annoying antireligionist on the scene today.

Though his show is purportedly about politics, it almost invariably includes some attack on religion, especially Christianity. Even during a recent interview with former President Jimmy Carter, whom Maher admires, the host managed to get in a sharp attack on Carter’s faith. Just last week, his program included a brief conversation with Ralph Reed, the articulate gentleman who used to run the Christian Coalition and who is now a lobbyist and activist on behalf of faith-related causes.

For the first three or four minutes, Reed and Maher discussed the social science concerning children raised

in stable vs. unstable families, and Reed was scoring quite a few points in favor of the traditional understanding of marriage. Sensing that he was making little headway, Maher decided to pull the religion card, and from that point on, things went from bad to worse. Maher said, “Now, you’re a man of faith, which means someone who consciously suspends all critical thinking and accepts things on the basis of no evidence.” Astonishingly, Reed said, “yes,” at which point, I shouted at the TV screen: “No!” Then Maher said, “And I believe that you take everything in the Bible literally,” and Reed replied, “yes,” at which point I said, “Oh God, here we go again.” Maher then did what I knew he would do: He pulled out a sheet of paper, which included references to several of the more morally

“If the government succeeds today in forcing the Little Sisters of the Poor to provide our staff with contraceptives and abortive services, we fear that they could someday compel us to participate in assisted suicide and euthanasia.”

Sister Constance Veit, Little Sisters of the Poor director of communications China, expelling the foreign Little Sisters and imprisoning the native Chinese, some of whom eventually died in captivity.

In the early 1990s, our superior general responded vigorously to a proposal before the European Parliament to legalize euthanasia.

Although the measure failed, our Little Sisters in Europe remain vigilant in protecting the frail elderly from insidious advances of the culture of death. The experience of these Little Sisters helped us to realize the importance of taking action against the HHS Mandate, because if the government succeeds today in forcing us to provide our staff with contraceptives and abortive services, we fear that they could someday compel us to participate in assisted suicide and euthanasia.

As Little Sisters of the Poor living and ministering in the United States since 1868, we thank God that we have never been confronted by war or religious oppression.

Nevertheless, we celebrate this

Independence Day under the cloud of evident religious intolerance. As I write this, I am reminded of St. John Paul II’s homily on religious freedom during his visit to Baltimore, our nation’s first Catholic diocese, in 1995: “Sometimes, witnessing to Christ will mean drawing out of a culture the full meaning of its noblest intentions, a fullness that is revealed in Christ,” he said. “At other times, witnessing to Christ means challenging that culture, especially when the truth about the human person is under assault.”

As we celebrate our independence, let us vow to do all we can to uphold the dignity of every human person, especially those most under assault. Let us vow to keep God, who is at the heart of our nation’s founding documents, at the center of our lives.

outrageous practices that the God of the Bible seems to approve of, including slavery. Pathetically, Reed tried to clear things up by distinguishing the chattel slavery of the American south from the slavery practiced in the classical world, which amounted to a kind of indentured servitude. “Oh, I get it,” Maher responded, “God approves of the good kind of slavery.” The audience roared with laughter; Reed lowered his head; Maher smirked; and the cause of religion took still another step backward.

I would like, in very brief compass, to say something simple about each of the issues that Maher raised.

Faith, rightly understood, does not involve any surrender of one’s critical intellectual powers, nor is it tantamount to the acceptance of things on the basis of no evidence.

What Bill Maher characterizes as “faith” is nothing but superstition or credulity or intellectual irresponsibility. Real faith is not infra-rational, but rather, suprarational, that is to say, not below reason but above reason and inclusive of it. It is beyond reason precisely because it is a response to the God who has revealed himself, and God is, by definition, beyond our capacity to grasp, to see, fully to understand.

As for the Bible, the moment you say, as Ralph Reed did, that you take the entirety of the Scriptures

literally, you are hopelessly vulnerable to the kind of critique that Bill Maher raises. In its marvelous statement on biblical interpretation, Dei Verbum, Vatican II says the Bible is the Word of God in the words of men. That laconic statement packs a punch, for it clarifies why the fundamentalist strategy of Scriptural interpretation is always dysfunctional. God did not dictate the Scriptures word for word to people who received the message dumbly and automatically; rather, God spoke subtly and indirectly, precisely through human agents who employed distinctive literary techniques and who were conditioned by the cultures in which they found themselves and by the audiences they addressed.

A further implication of Dei Verbum’s statement is that there is a distinction between, as William Placher put it, “what is in the Bible and what the Bible teaches.” There are lots of things that are indeed in the pages of the Scriptures but that are not essential to the overarching message of the Scriptures, things that were in the cultural milieu of the human authors but that are not ingredient in the revelation that God intends to offer.

This Catholic Life • Commentary

COMMENTARY

Sister Constance is director of communications for the Little Sisters of the Poor.

Father Barron is the founder of the global ministry Word on Fire, and the rector/president of Mundelein Seminary in the Archdiocese of Chicago.

July 3, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

Vocations

16

Lend your voice to Christ

member or someone they never met told them they would make a good priest and encouraged them to pray about it.

Jesus invites men and women in the silence of their hearts, but he also uses you and me to call and invite. Considering this, the best thing that we can do is lend our voice to Christ. I do not believe that more programs are needed to promote vocations. Rather, I believe that more people are needed to promote vocations.

I recommend a very simple model to do this:

Pray for and encourage others in discerning a religious vocation

By Father Troy Przybilla For The Catholic Spirit I have been the vocations director for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for three and a half years. In my first year, I thought that promoting vocations involved creative and flashy Father Troy advertising PR<9BILLA along with various programs to help discerners. While we have a certain degree of that in our archdiocese, Jesus soon helped me realize that he is the vocation director and that I just need to follow him. This realization was a blow to my pride, but it was exactly what I needed.

The truth is that Jesus still calls, and people still hear. I am amazed every time a young man contacts me about joining the seminary. I’m amazed because it means that

It takes

God’s voice has reached him. Our world is so full of noise, distractions, negativity, apathy, etc., that God’s voice rarely reaches people.

This is especially true in the current struggles of our archdiocese. When [news reports of the archdiocese’s purported mishandling of child sexual abuse allegations] broke last October, I was scheduled to go on retreat.

This providential gift from God helped me to process the emotional and spiritual weight I was carrying. On this retreat, God reminded me that we are in the “springtime of the Church” as Pope St. John Paul II prophetically stated. Our Lord added that just as there are clouds and rain in the spring, I should expect them in the springtime of the Church. But we know that as rain purifies, it also brings new life.

Most of the men who I talk to are not discouraged by the negative news. They hear God calling them and so they want to respond. I spoke to around 50 men this past year who thought they were being called and responded

courage to follow Jesus.

Invite someone you know (grades 9-12) to attend Team Vianney.

Prayer, pizza, Marian procession and Mass with college seminarians.

October 9, 2014

www.vianney.net July 3, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

On the web For more information about vocations, visit 10000vocations.org. by calling me. For various reasons, many of them will not be in the seminary. But nonetheless, I’m inspired by their openness to God’s call.

God’s “call” is mysterious. It is experienced uniquely for each person, but there are similarities.

One common experience is that the call came through someone else. A priest, a religious, a family

1. Recognize men and women from your parish and from your family who you think would make a good priest or religious.

2. Pull them aside or write them a note telling them, in a serious (non-joking) manner, that you see in them qualities that would make a good priest or religious.

3. Encourage them to pray about their vocation.

4. Pray for them.

I truly believe that if more people would follow these simple steps, we would have many more religious vocations.

Father Przybilla is director of vocations for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

17

The Catholic Spirit A new website aims to help single Catholic women imagine what it’s like to be a nun and discover if it could be their call in life.

Vocations

New website caters to women’s religious discernment

LifeAsASister.org is an outreach tool of the Sisters of Bon Secours, an international religious congregation of Catholic sisters based in Marriottsville, Md.

Always Christ, always faithful Benedictine Priests and Brothers of Assumption Abbey

For For more more information, information, contact: contact: Br. Br. Michael Michael Taffe, Taffe, OSB OSB Vocation Vocation Director Director vocations@assumptionabbey.com vocations@assumptionabbey.com www.assumptionabbey.com www.assumptionabbey.com 701-974-3315 701-974-3315

TheCatholicSpirit.com

Also available via smartphones, the site provides resources to understand a vocation; questions to ask throughout the process; a way to explore using professional talents in ministry; an introduction to the various ways religious communities live out their call; and suggestions for prayer, spiritual direction and selfexploration.

Sisters narrate various aspects of their life through videos, and an array of multimedia tools allows women to “journey at their own pace.”

“At a time when women can be anything they desire, we want them to know that religious life as a sister is an exciting option,” said Sister Pat Dowling, Bon Secours vocation director.

“Our site invites women from all walks of life who are passionate about their faith, and who wish to use their unique gifts in helping others to explore, ask questions, imagine and listen to the voice of God in their own hearts.”

July 3, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

Faith & Culture

18

Pro soccer player brings his faith to the field

By Dianne Towalski The Catholic Spirit Christian Ramirez brings the Apostle Paul to the soccer field.

During games, the Minnesota United FC forward wears a prayer bracelet bearing words from St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians, along with his parents’ last names.

“I have Philippians written on my wrists,” he said. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

He wears a white bracelet for home games and a black one during away games.

Ramirez, 23, has been playing soccer almost his entire life. His father was a semi-professional player in his native Colombia, but suffered a career-ending back injury. He encouraged his son to follow in his footsteps and pushed him hard.

“He wanted me to reach this level and saw that I could,” Ramirez said.

Since joining the North American Soccer League team in January, Ramirez has taken the lead in goals and assists and was named player of the month for May/ June after the United won the NASL Spring Champion trophy.

Born in Santa Ana, Calif., Ramirez spent a good part of his childhood in Colombia. Legal immigrants to the U.S., his parents were not able to find work and decided to go back home when he was a young child. His younger sister, now a sophomore in college, was born in Colombia.

He also has two younger brothers, ages 9 and 11, who have been a big influence on how he lives his life and his faith. He wants to be a good example for them.

“I’ve prided myself since my junior year of college on not cursing on the field,” he said. “Just showing that there’s a different side and a correct way of doing things, because for kids that come to the game, they hear you yell curse words and things. It’s not something that I would want my little brothers to be saying. I think that’s a big thing for me.”

Ramirez prays before he takes the field for a game and before the whistle to start the game. And he

July 3, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

Minnesota United FC forward Christian Ramirez helped the team take the North American Soccer League’s Spring Champion trophy. He leads the team in goals with five and assists with four. Photo courtesy of Minnesota United FC

now sees his younger brother doing the same. This, he says, is one of those little victories that makes him happy.

Still a member of St. Barbara parish in Santa Ana, Ramirez always lived his faith, praying before meals and before bed. But it really started to come to the forefront when he was at

Concordia University, a Lutheran college in Irvine, Calif.

Then, he joined the Charlotte Eagles. “That just kicked it up a notch,” he said.

The Eagles are a professional soccer team in Charlotte, N.C., run

by Missionary Athletes International, a nondenominational organization whose mission is to “glorify God and see lives transformed by communicating the message of Jesus Christ through the global environment of soccer,” according to its website.

“That was a great learning experience for me,” he said. “I lived with three guys who were very religious. I knew some Bible stories, but they just took it to a new level.”

Part of the ministry of the

“I think for me, it’s like I have such a great position being a professional soccer player that I can be a role model for the younger kids in the way I act and the way I speak, just the things that I do.”

Christian Ramirez

Charlotte Eagles is teaching the Bible to young soccer players.

“That was a big step for me,” he said.

He discovered that he really enjoys working with kids and being a role model for them.

“I think for me, it’s like I have such a great position being a professional soccer player that I can be a role model for the younger kids in the way I act and the way I speak, just the things that I do,” he said.

Since joining the Minnesota United this year, Ramirez is working with kids as a coach for a soccer club.

Ramirez has been watching the World Cup action in Brazil closely.

“It’s every soccer player’s dream to play on that stage,” he said.

“You see us playing out here and how much excitement we get in front of fans. We can only imagine what it feels like to get on that stage and have a whole country behind you.

“It unites countries. I think it’s the only sport that really does that. . . . For this month, everything just shuts down, and it’s just attention on that.”

For more about Christian Ramirez and soccer in Minnesota, follow the Minnesota United FC on Facebook and Twitter @MNUnitedFC.

19 Parish events

Blessed Trinity’s Dairy Days at Dairy Queen, Richfield — July 15: 2 to 6 p.m. at 7533 Lyndale Ave. S. Fifteen percent of all purchases made are donated by Dairy Queen to Blessed Trinity.

32nd annual festival at St. Mary of Czestochowa, Delano — July 20: Serving pork chops, roast beef, corn on the cob and more from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at 1867 95th St. Also features games, music and raffles.

Parish festival and chicken dinner at St. Genevieve, Centerville — August 17: 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at 6995 Centerville Road.

Features crafts, silent auction, amusements, bingo, cake walk, children’s games and more.

Cost for dinner is $10 for adults and $5 for children 10 and under.

‘Heart of the Northside’ festival at St. Bridget, Minneapolis — August 17: 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Northwest corner of Emerson and Dowling Avenues North.

Attractions include a raffle, silent auction,

Other events

Don’t miss More events online

Yard sale benefitting the non-profit Philomena House, St. Paul — July 11 and 12: Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., near the intersection of Jefferson Avenue and Mississippi River Boulevard South. Philomena House is a temporary residence for homeless, expectant mothers that provides an informal educational program aimed at independent living.

Additional parish and school events in the archdiocese can be found at TheCatholicSpirit.com/calendar.

Music Gregorian Chant for High School course at Holy Family Academy, St. Louis Park — July 15 to 17: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily at 5900 W. Lake St. This intensive course in Gregorian chant for grades 9 to 12 focuses on the Medieval repertory of Western Plainsong, in the traditional square notation of the Middle Ages. No previous experience is necessary. Attendance at all three sessions is required. Cost is $60 and includes lunch.

For information, call (952) 929-0113.

Calendar

Basilica Block Party at the Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis — July 11 and 12: The 20th annual Cities 97 Block Party. Proceeds from event go to The Basilica Landmark, which preserves, restores, and advances the historic Basilica of Saint Mary for all generations. Visit www.basilicablockparty. org.

brunch, treats, games and more. For information, visit http://www. stbridgetnorthside.org.

CALENDAR submissions DEADLINE: Noon Thursday, seven days before the anticipated Thursday date of publication. Recurring or ongoing events must be submitted each time they occur.

directions, call (612) 866-5089.

Prayer/ liturgy Vespers for the Feast of Mary Magdala at the Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis — July 20: 3 p.m. at 88 N. 17th St.

LISTINGS: Accepted are brief notices of upcoming events hosted by Catholic parishes and institutions.

If the Catholic connection is not clear, please emphasize it in your press release.

Singles Sunday Spirits walking group for 50-plus Catholic singles — ongoing Sundays: For Catholic singles to meet and make friends.

The group usually meets in St. Paul on Sunday afternoons. For information, call Mary at (763) 323-3479 or Al at (651) 482-0406.

Healing Mass at St. Gabriel the Archangel – St. Joseph campus, Hopkins — July 22: Rosary at 7 p.m. followed by Mass at 1310 Mainstreet. Father Jim Livingston will be the celebrant.

15th annual celebration of the feast of God the Father of All Mankind at St. Peter, Richfield — August 3: 11 a.m. at 6730 Nicollet Ave. The eight day consecration prayers begin on July 27th. For information or

ITEMS MUST INCLUDE the following to be considered for publication in the calendar: • Time and date of event.

• Full street address of event.

• Description of event.

• Contact information in case of questions. E-MAIL: spiritcalendar@archspm.org.

(No attachments, please.)

Singles group at St. Vincent de Paul, Brooklyn Park — ongoing second Saturday each month: 6:15 p.m. at 9100 93rd Ave. N. Gather for a potluck supper, conversation and games. For information, call (763) 425-0412.

MAIL: “Calendar,” The Catholic Spirit • 244 Dayton Ave., • St. Paul, MN 55102.

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St. Mary’s Cemetery: single lot, Value $1710; Price: $1000. Char (763) 420-9391.

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July 3, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

The Last Word

20 July 2 anniversary

Church faced challenge to embrace civil rights

By Russ Shaw Catholic News Service On Oct. 24, 1963 — a little more than eight months before President Lyndon Johnson signed the landmark Civil Rights Act into law — Bishop Robert Tracy of Baton Rouge, La., urged the Second Vatican Council to take a tough line against racism. Speaking for the American bishops, he said doing that would “greatly help the bishops to teach their people.”

The bishops of the U.S. really did need all the help they could get back home. While the hierarchy in recent years had become increasingly outspoken on the subject of race, many American Catholics remained unpersuaded.

Only in 1960, after all, had the election of John F. Kennedy as president symbolically marked the end of American Catholics’ own experience of being targets of bigotry. Long victimized in this way, the Catholic community could point to relatively few bright spots in its record on justice toward others up to then.

One bright spot was in 1948, when Archbishop — later Cardinal — Patrick O’Boyle ordered the desegregation of Catholic schools in Washington, six years before the Supreme Court did that for public schools. Culturally speaking, Washington was still a southern town, and it took courage for Archbishop O’Boyle to do what he did.

Even so, as a senior in a Jesuit high school in Washington a few years later, I listened to a heated argument over segregation between our homeroom teacher and several of my classmates. The young Jesuit insisted it was wrong.

The kids maintained it was part of the natural order of things.

Taken for granted That was hardly new. In its day, even slavery was taken for granted.

Archbishop John Carroll, the first bishop in the United States, had a black manservant named Charles whom he specified should be freed — but only after the archbishop’s death. The Jesuits in southern Maryland kept slaves to work on their plantations. So did Catholic plantation owners in Louisiana.

Prejudice against blacks flourished among Catholics at less elevated social levels. Church historian Msgr. John Tracy Ellis

July 3, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

Above, then-Archbishop Patrick O’Boyle of Washington walks with U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson following a 1968 Mass in Washington. The archbishop, who was later named a cardinal, was a vocal supporter of the Civil Rights Act, signed into law by Johnson on July 2, 1964. CNS file photo At left, members of Pax Christi are pictured in this 1952 photo outside of the St. Francis Information Center in Greenwood, Miss., with youths who came to the center. The Catholic organization was a key player in the Civil Rights Movement. CNS photo / Bishop Oliver Gerow, courtesy Diocese of Jackson Archives

says that even as their numbers grew in the U.S., the Irish tended to accept slavery where they found it, seeing no reason to disturb “a system which for the first time in their lives had placed others at the bottom of the social ladder.”

As a group, the American bishops said nothing about slavery and took neither side in the Civil War. Catholics fought in both the Union and Confederate armies.

More than 40 priests served as Union chaplains and about 30 as chaplains to the Confederates.

After the Civil War and well into the 20th century, Catholic leaders were preoccupied with the pastoral care of the huge number of new Catholic immigrants pouring into the country, leaving little time, energy and resources for evangelizing African-Americans.

The bishops’ post-World War I “Program of Social Reconstruction,” published in 1919, contained progressive proposals on matters like Social Security and labor-management relations. Many of these eventually came to fruition in America. But the document had nothing to say about racial justice and civil rights.

In time all this began to change.

While issues like workers’ rights and pacifism were the priority issues for Dorothy Day, she and her Catholic Worker movement

helped carve out a niche for social activism in American Catholicism.

Eloquent voices like that of Jesuit Father John LaFarge began to be raised on behalf of racial justice.

Revulsion at Nazi racism helped build support for equality.

Here and there, Catholic interracial groups began springing up, with more than 100 of these in existence by 1965. Bishops, individually and collectively, issued statements calling for racial justice. Desegregation of Catholic schools and other institutions spread. As the Civil Rights Movement gained traction under the leadership of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., a substantial body of American Catholics were prepared to join the effort.

Catholics on march Large numbers of Catholics took part in Rev. King’s famous March on Washington in 1963. Two years later, nearly 400 priests and scores of religious sisters and brothers as well as laypeople from all over the country took part in historic civil rights demonstrations in Selma and Montgomery, Ala. The big civil rights bills of the 1960s received the Church’s backing. And, as Louisiana’s Bishop Tracy had asked, Vatican II in 1965 delivered a strong condemnation of racism, which it called “incompatible with

God’s design.”

Nevertheless, Catholic opinion on the race issue was divided. Procivil rights sentiment encountered public resistance from Catholics in places such as Chicago, Milwaukee and later Boston. Angry rank-andfile Catholics complained that activist bishops and clergy were pushing African-Americans’ rights at their expense.

After race riots rocked Washington in 1967, Cardinal O’Boyle issued a pastoral letter that said in part, “Our efforts to eliminate segregated slum housing have been feeble. Our support of desperately needed programs and job training and job opportunities for unemployed Negroes in our ghettos has been far less than adequate. . . . Our welfare programs have too often been paternalistic, demeaning, and inadequate, and have weakened family life.”

Less than a year later, Rev. King was assassinated and violence erupted in Washington and other cities. Now the awful truth was clear: Generous words, peaceful demonstrations, and even laws and court decisions weren’t enough to undo the legacy of slavery quickly.

The nation had a long, hard slog ahead to accomplish that. And so, it appeared, did American Catholicism.

The Mass Learning more about our faith The Catholic Spirit’s 4-page Rediscover: pullout section in each issue highlights a new Rediscover: theme for you and discuss with others.

Coming up July 17: What is eucharistic adoration?

The greatest prayer of the Church

T

HEART OF THE MATTER Father Jeff CAVINS

he Mass is the greatest prayer of the Church and the greatest source of grace. It is the most repeated act for most Catholics, yet many Catholics do not understand what is happening in the Mass, nor do they understand their role in the celebration.

For many, memories of growing up Catholic are filled with hours of thinking about candles, statues and kneeling-standing-kneeling. What was happening during Mass? We probably didn’t know, but we knew that something holy was taking place. For some, the word “boring” best described their experience, and still others complained that the homily went too long, knowing that the Minnesota Vikings were about to kick off. The irony is that the weekly routine that we may know very little about is a spiritual goldmine that can change our lives for eternity.

The Mass is the only place on earth that represents, in a way that we can participate, the crucifixion and resurrection of God. This event is the focal point of all history, the most

The Catholic Spirit • July 3, 2014

important event in eternity, and we are invited to sit in the front row and participate. With a greater understanding we realize that we are not spectators. We are invited by the main character of this drama, Jesus Christ, to participate in this supreme act of love, this heavenly liturgy.

“The Mass is the only place on earth that represents, in a way that we can participate, the

Liturgy The ceremony, called “The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass” refers to actions in the liturgy. Every word, every gesture is packed with meaning that conveys and communicates a covenant relationship with God. As human beings, we are accustomed to attaching signs and symbols to those things in life that carry great meaning: a handshake, a parade, a wedding dress, school colors, or making a toast.

In the Mass, physical things such as bread and wine, and gestures such as kneeling and Please turn to PRAYER on back page of section

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resurrection of God.” Jeff Cavins

The Mass brings NET Ministries staffer t

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit Michelle Pothen grew up not appreciating the richness of the Mass. She went dutifully every Sunday to the church of her upbringing, St. Peter in North St. Paul.

But, something was missing.

“It was always boring. It wasn’t anything that I wanted to do as a kid,” she said. “I didn’t really enjoy it, didn’t really see a purpose in it, didn’t see a point in why we went to Mass.”

That all changed 10 years ago when she attended Holy Thursday Mass during her college years. At the end, the priest carried the Eucharist in a monstrance out of the sanctuary.

As he passed by her pew, she was struck with a truth that has anchored the Catholic faith for 2,000 years — Jesus is present in the Eucharist.

“I just started weeping,” said Pothen, 30, who now attends St. Joseph in West St. Paul and works for NET Ministries in West St. Paul as parish/school team administrator. “I was just crying because it was the first time I realized, ‘That’s Jesus.’ And, in my mind, I was like, ‘He’s going to the garden to pray. He’s going to offer his life to save us. That’s his physical presence with us even now today.’

“It just clicked in that moment. I was there with a friend of mine and, I think, her mom. As we processed out and followed Jesus to where they were going with him, I just kneeled down and I prayed for quite a while.

And I was just crying the whole time. I remember my friend afterwards was like, ‘Are you OK?’ I was like, ‘No, I’m great.”

Following that Holy Thursday liturgy, she started going to daily Mass, something she had never done growing up. In fact, she did not know daily Mass existed, other than the times she went while attending St. Peter School.

Something one of her elementary school teachers had told her came back to her after her Holy Thursday experience. It had to do with the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. When Pothen and her classmates walked by the tabernacle in church one day back in third grade, the teacher instructed them to genuflect because it was Jesus’ house.

“I was always so confused by that,” Pothen said. “I was like, ‘What do you mean, Jesus’ house? I don’t get it.’”

More than 10 years later, the meaning became clear.

“It took from third grade until being 20 to realize, ‘Oh, Jesus is in the tabernacle,’” she said. “That’s why

The Catholic Spirit • July 3, 2014

[the teacher] called it Jesus’ house. I look at it now and I think, ‘Oh, it’s so elementary.’ I had been told, but I just didn’t understand.”

Now, it’s her job to try to help others understand the richness of the Mass. She works with parish NET teams which, in turn, lead retreats and other events for teens.

“What I’ve always found most effective is just inviting [people] and being present with them, meeting them where they’re at,” she said. “That’s what made the difference in my life. It wasn’t so much what anybody said. It was more them inviting me and receiving me where I was at.”

A prime example of the power of invitation came in 2006-’07 when she did youth ministry for a year in Hawaii. She went with a team of adults to several parishes, working with teens and going to Mass with them.

There was a girl she worked with who went to Mass with her and the other adults regularly. Pothen wasn’t sure how their ministry affected the girl until it was time to return home.

“At the end of the year, when we left there, she left me a little note that said, ‘I hope you know the impact that you had on my life. Now, I want to go to Mass, and I didn’t before,’” Pothen said. “I don’t know what particular moment made her want to say that, [or] if there

The perfect prayer

to tears Favorite Mass prayers Michelle Pothen finds meaning in all of the prayers said during Mass, and also considers the entire Mass a prayer. Yet, she does have some prayers she finds particularly meaningful. Here are a few, along with her comments:

The Gloria “What a beautiful prayer to give praise and glory to God. He’s done so much for me in my life and we get to sing this and pray this together at Mass. I don’t have a particularly good singing voice, I’ll be honest. But, as long as I can get the tune, I love belting that prayer out. I love it because it’s beautiful and such a beautiful prayer of praise to God.”

Responsorial psalm “For me, it’s just a simple prayer of the heart.

They go all over the place, from rejoicing to being in distress. It relates so well to my life. Sometimes, I’ll be in distress and the psalm will be rejoicing, but it reminds me to rejoice. And, sometimes I’ll be rejoicing and the psalm will be calling out in distress, and reminding me that the Lord has been faithful to me through those times of distress.”

Lamb of God “That prayer always strikes me — have mercy, grant us peace. I love that it ends with, ‘Grant us peace.’ I tend to be a more scrupulous person. I get caught up on my own sinfulness and my own shortcomings. You get so caught up in that and it causes anxiety. It gets you worked up. ‘Grant us peace.’ All will be well in you, Lord. That’s always a huge reminder.”

until Christmas, I wouldn’t go with them. Second half [of the school year], I started to go. The first thing that stood out to me were the daily readings. For some reason, the Bible started to make a little sense to me.

Dave Hrbacek / The Catholic Spirit

was a particular conversation. I know she is still practicing her faith now. All we did was invite [her and other teens]: ‘Hey, we’re going to be at 5 o’clock Mass tonight, do you guys want to come? You should come.’

And then, afterwards, there was food involved and we would talk.”

That same invitation is what led to Pothen’s deeper understanding of the Mass. After spending a year with roommates at the University of Minnesota who didn’t share the faith of her upbringing, she accepted an invitation to room with a group of women from St. Paul’s Outreach.

“They invited me to go to daily Mass,” she said. “Up

“The words of the readings, especially the Gospels, were speaking to me. Then, somebody invited me to go to Holy Thursday Mass.”

From there, her faith deepened to the point where she decided to serve on a NET team, which she did in 2005-’06. Eventually, she returned to NET as a staff member last July.

As the one-year anniversary of her employment at NET nears, she is grateful for the appreciation she has developed for the Mass. But, she knows her liturgical learning experience is far from over.

“The Mass is like this awesome prayer that goes ever deeper and deeper,” she said. “I will never be able to wrap my head around all of it. And that’s why I love it.

I just love going to Mass so much.”

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It must have been 1939 or ’40 when my now deceased father went to Nazareth Hall, the old high school seminary, where he met one of his classmates, the young George Welzbacher. Just this past Christmas, Father Welzbacher was the celebrant at midnight Mass.

Having been the lector, I was kneeling in the small pew in the sanctuary. I marveled at how many things had come to pass between their first meeting and my being with Father Welzbacher at Mass more than seven decades later.

Not only did the time at Mass GUEST seem to stand still, but more than that, it had somehow condensed to COLUMN this one moment. Father was at the altar, and it felt as if no one else Alyssa was in the church – except BORMES everyone was there. With us at Mass were all our faithfully departed ancestors, the saints — including our patron saints — and the angels — including our guardian angels. Somewhere, tucked behind, was my father with his gentle grin, witnessing his old school chum, and his daughter, as they participated in the holy Mass.

Many thoughts were running through my mind, except that it was sharply focused on the consecration.

It wasn’t just a nostalgic gathering of souls; it was a time of worship. At the altar, Father Welzbacher began praying to the Father, through the Son, in unity with the Holy Spirit. The prayer included the pope, the archbishop, our dearly departed; we were praying in the name of all those dear to us. In essence, we were calling everyone to the banquet. It was as if this prayer were being said for the first time, the only time — which, of course, it was — even though it has been said for millennia.

We pray for the angels to take the gifts to heaven, and that we who receive the precious Body and Blood of Jesus would be filled with every grace and blessing.

The many people become one through the gift of the Eucharist. In a sense, it is all too much, which is exactly why after Communion, there is that moment of utter silence. There are times in life when something is so awesome that our only response is silence — Communion is just such an occasion.

The many have become one, and we dare to linger in that exquisite silence where everything has reached a perfection. The final blessing sends those who have become one to the many in the world, with the commission to go in peace, glorifying the Lord, and announcing the Gospel. We do all this in hopes of bringing the many home to the Mass, thereby making them one with us.

The Mass is a meeting point of heaven and earth, a gathering place of the whole Church, militant, suffering and triumphant, and it is as close to heaven as we will ever be on earth. It is called the Perfect Prayer, which gives us the joyful hope for the day, God willing, when we all become one with Christ in paradise.

Eucharistic prayer is action, not dialogue, focused on God making the sign of the cross become the point where eternity touches time. The Mass is the most solemn of rituals in the Catholic Church, a ritual that has been celebrated since the inception of the Church.

The holy sacrifice of the Mass is not a ceremony that we simply watch.

Correctly understood, it is a drama or a representation of the sacrifice of Christ for the sins of the world. Both God and man participate in this drama, making the mystery of the cross an interactive and grace-filled event. If one grasps the Mass in all its glory, it is anything but boring; it is charged with meaning and life.

The priest plays the critical role, as sacramentally he is in persona Christi, that is to say, the person of Christ is present in the sacrament through the priest. Jesus is the principal celebrant and the victim.

The Church teaches that if people

participate in the Mass, they must be properly disposed or worthy to receive the Lord in holy Communion. There are three requirements: 1. Incorporated into the Church through baptism.

2. Being in a state of grace.

3. Observe the law of fasting (one hour before Mass, unless one is sick or on medication). The fast is to create the hunger for the bread of life and focus one’s life on that which is essential.

Not only do we celebrate the sacramental representation of Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice on Calvary, but also the spousal relationship between Christ and the Church. The Scriptures teach that the Church is the spouse of Christ, bonded by the new covenant.

Each time we participate in the Mass, we renew our covenant with Jesus and partake in the life of the Trinity.

The Mass is divided into two major parts, the liturgy of the word and the liturgy of the Eucharist. This can be seen in Luke 24 in the road to Emmaus story.

Friday Evening, Oct. 3 & Saturday, Oct. 4, 2014 Minneapolis Convention Center Catholics from across the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis are invited to come celebrate our faith journey to the Horizon of Hope!

Friday Evening, Oct. 3 Young Adult Night 6:30 PM – 11 PM (Doors open at 5:30 PM) Friday features: Father Stan Fortuna, Father Dave Dwyer, Marie Miller, Father Mike Schmitz, Leah Darrow and more!

Saturday, Oct. 4 NEW EARLIER START TIME! 8 AM – 5:15 PM (Doors open at 7 AM) Saturday features: Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, Scott Hahn, Father Dave Dwyer, Curtis Martin, Leah Darrow, Kelly Wahlquist, Sonar, Jeff Cavins and more!

Horizon of HOPE Find out more and register at Rediscover-faith.org Friday (Adult 18+): $15.

Saturday (Includes break-out sessions for adults, Latinos, youth and children) Adult: $20.

Youth (Grades 7-10): $10.

Child (Grades K-6): $7.

Space is limited Questions? Please contact Rediscover@archspm.org or call the Rediscover: Program Support Helpline at 651-291-4411.

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The disciples heard the word of God and then participated in the Eucharist sacrifice.

Liturgy of the Word The lectern Now that hearts are purified and we are focused, the congregation will listen to the Word of God. The lectern or pulpit becomes the focus for this part of the Mass.

The Scripture readings are based on a three-year cycle, as was the ancient Jewish tradition. The Torah was carried to the bima (lectern) in a solemn procession, accompanied by the singing of the psalms.

In the Mass, the readings are taken from the lectionary, a liturgical book that arranges the prescribed readings. The first reading usually comes from the Old Testament; the second from the epistles or the book of Revelation; the third is a Gospel reading.

The beauty of the Mass is that one is exposed to most of salvation history, rather than focusing on the favorite Scriptures of the pastor. In a sense, the Mass forces us to contemplate the entirety of sacred Scripture.

Members of the congregation read the first two selections. A responsorial Psalm is sung or spoken after the first reading.

The Gospel The Gospel, read by the priest or deacon, is treated with special reverence.

Two candles that reflect Christ as the light of the world surround the sacred text.

Once the Gospel reading is announced, the congregation makes the sign of the cross on the forehead, the lips and the heart. By doing these three signs, the congregation signifies openness to the Gospel in their thinking, in their witnessing and in their actions.

The priest kisses the Gospel book , showing respect for the presence of Christ. After the reading of the Gospel, the priest or deacon gives a brief explanation of the text with some encouragement on how to put it into practice.

Liturgy of the Eucharist The second major movement of the Mass is where Christ is actually made present on the altar. There is no more important event in the life of the Church.

The holy Eucharist is the complete outpouring of Christ to his bride. During Mass, bread and wine are completely changed into the body and blood of Christ and offered to us as a sacrifice and the ultimate source of grace. In the eucharistic liturgy, the Church is joined with Christ, both on earth and in heaven. The Mass is what we look forward to and the point that allapostolic zeal derives its strength.

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The altar In biblical days, the altar was the place where sacrifice took place. Abraham, as well as other Bible figures, built an altar out of stone and prepared a sacrifice to the Lord. The altar is not merely a piece of furniture, but a holy object used for a sacrifice.

Eucharistic prayer The eucharistic prayer is the centerpiece of the liturgy, the point where the offering of bread and wine as well as our very lives are offered up to God. The eucharistic prayer has a particular structure that reviews the passion of our Lord, re-enacting the death of Jesus.

There are four eucharistic prayers. The essential elements include: 1. The Hymn of Praise.

2. Invocation of the Holy Spirit (the epiclesis), to sanctify the gifts and transform them into the Body and Blood of Christ.

3. The memorial or remembrance (the anamnesis), which renders Jesus’ past action present. “Then he took a cup, gave thanks and said, ‘Take this and share it among yourselves; for I tell you [that] from this time on I shall not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.’ Then he took the bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which will be given for you; do this in memory of me.’ And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which will be shed for you’” (Luke 22:17-20).

4. Doxology or hymn of praise of the Father through, with and in Christ, and in the unity of the Holy Spirit.

It is during the anamnesis that the bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Jesus. The Church calls this transformation “transubstantiation.”

During the eucharistic prayer, all attention should be on the altar and heaven. The prayer is not a dialogue, but an action focused on the father. This is not a time to look around or daydream.

The eucharistic prayer mentions the bishop of Rome — the pope — and the local bishop. The prayer reminds us that participation in the Eucharist is to be in union with both successors of the apostles. It is through this union with them and under their authority that the Eucharist is affected.

There is much more to learn about the Mass, but understanding the two major movements is a great beginning to understand not only that God wants to feed you his word and his body and blood, but he also loves you as a spouse and gives himself completely for you.

Cavins is the director of evangelization for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.