The Catholic Spirit - March 25, 2021

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

‘This is my Body’ HOLY WEEK ISSUE

• Stillwater-area converts travel varied paths to Catholic Church — Pages 12-13 • Priests reflect on COVID's first year, including strange Triduum — Pages 14-15 • Christians discuss common date for Easter — Page 16 • What's the purpose of the altar of repose? — Page 24 BASEBALL CARDS FUNDRAISER 6 | CATECHETICAL INSTITUTE 7 | TRIAL TENSION 8 VATICAN ON SAME-SEX BLESSINGS 9 | PARISH LIFE AFTER COVID 11 | ST. JOSEPH WONDERS 19

2 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

MARCH 25, 2021

PAGETWO NEWS notes Effective March 15, Gov. Tim Walz removed occupancy limits for religious services, but social distancing guidelines remained. The change was among a series of adjustments Walz announced March 12 loosening state restrictions that have been in place in various forms for nearly a year to mitigate spread of COVID-19. The restriction’s rollback also applies to weddings.

Residents, family members and employees from across Duluth-based Benedictine Living Communities gathered March 23 to remember all residents who died in the past year and to honor all employees. The virtual remembrance and renewal service was livestreamed from St. Thomas More in St. Paul. Last March, nursing homes across the country closed to visitors to reduce the threat of COVID-19. The organization operates 10 facilities in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

COURTESY ANDREA GIBBS

HOLY HALF-HOUR Associate Pastor Father Brandon Theisen holds incense for Moira Spencer as part of a special 30 minutes of prayer, learning and music March 9 for preschoolers at Divine Mercy in Faribault.

Miriam Rybolt, right, and Jeremiah Lawson are next to Spencer, and Phillip Caldera is craning his neck to see. Andrea Gibbs, steward of elementary and middle school discipleship at the parish, organized the time for preschoolers and their parents. Gibbs said a similar gathering is planned for a Saturday morning, and such gatherings are likely to become semi-regular events at the parish.

The new head coach of the University of Minnesota men’s basketball team, Ben Johnson, is a 1999 graduate of De La Salle High School in Minneapolis, where he helped the school win two state championships. He was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2016. The university announced March 22 Johnson’s return to Minnesota, where he played two seasons for the Gophers before graduating in 2005. He is currently an assistant coach for the men’s basketball team at Xavier University, a Jesuit institution in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Previously, he was an assistant under former U men’s head coach Richard Pitino from 2013-2018. “He is genuine, authentic, disciplined; he’s a great guy,” said Mike O’Keefe, who has worked in admissions and marketing at De La Salle since 1990.

St. Peter Claver in St. Paul is praying a special Stations of the Cross for overcoming racism 6 p.m. March 26. Created by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the stations are based on their 2018 statement on the sin of racism “Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love.” The stations meditation will be held in person at the parish and livestreamed at St. Peter Claver’s Facebook page, facebook.com/saintpeterclaver. “It’s Lent, so we’re supposed to think about these things,” said Father Erich Rutten, St. Peter Claver’s pastor, “and especially, racism can be one of those things we’re unconscious of, so it’s just a nice time to reflect on it and say, ‘What difference can we make?’” Read the “Stations of the Cross: Overcoming Racism” at usccb.org.

The archdiocese’s annual Chrism Mass will be held 10 a.m. April 1, Holy Thursday, at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. All are invited to the Cathedral for this Mass, where sacred oils are blessed and given to parishes to be used in sacraments over the coming year.

This year marks the 90th anniversary of the Divine Mercy apparition of Jesus to St. Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun. The Church celebrates Jesus’ message of Divine Mercy on the Sunday following Easter, the feast of Divine Mercy, this year April 11.

That day, parishes around the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis are hosting the Divine Mercy chaplet and related devotions. A listing of local Divine Mercy devotions is expected to be available at TheCatholicSpirit.com/divinemercy by April 1.

ROBERT CUNNINGHAM | COURTESY CSCOE

SHINE ON Ava Rothmund, left, holds her first-place trophy for performing arts after the third annual Shine On Catholic school talent show March 7 at Visitation School in Mendota Heights. The fifth-grade dancer from St. Peter Catholic School in North St. Paul was joined on stage by emcee Matt Birk; second-place winner Kate Borchardt, an eighth-grade violinist from Providence Academy in Plymouth; and Brian Ragatz, president of the Catholic Schools Center of Excellence, which hosted the talent show in partnership with Lundstrum Performing Arts. Also from left are third-place tie winners Meredith Kolb, a fourth-grader and ventriloquist from Frassati Catholic Academy in White Bear Lake, and a sibling violin and dance act, eighthgrader Delvin, seventh-grader Mason and fifth-grader Nora Tacheny, of Highland Catholic School in St. Paul. More photos and a recording of the show can be found at cscoe-mn.org.

If you haven’t yet registered for the April 15 Catholics at the Capitol event, today is a good time to do so: Tickets are $20 through April 8 for the in-person event, or $10 as a suggested donation to attend virtually. Anyone age 22 or younger can attend in person or virtually for free. Virtual attendees can participate in the full day’s programming, including morning Mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul and other activities at the state Capitol in the afternoon. This year’s main speakers are Archbishop José Gomez, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Obianuju Ekeocha, founder of Culture of Life Africa. Learn more and register at catholicsatthecapitol.org.

As the Church celebrates the risen Christ on Easter April 4 and into the Easter season, The Catholic Spirit staff will take a longer break between print editions. Expect the next Catholic Spirit in mailboxes April 15. News and faith stories will continue online at thecatholicspirit.com.

Many of our churches and chapels display sacred art, stained glass, statues and textiles. What sacred image at your parish inspires your faith and why? Share your response via an email to Catholic Spirit@archspm.org with “Readers Respond” in the subject This depiction of the Last Supper is from a stained glass window at St. Helena in line. Your reflection may be included in a future edition of The Minneapolis by artist Conrad Pickel. This window and 18 others designed by Pickel Catholic Spirit. were installed in the church in 1946 and 1947. Pickel was assisted in the window designs by the pastor of St. Helena at that time, Msgr. Owen Rowan.

ON the COVER

PRACTICING Catholic

On the March 19 “Practicing Catholic” show, host Patrick Conley interviews Chorbishop Sharbel Maroun, pastor of St. Maron Maronite Catholic Church in Minneapolis, about Maronite traditions for Lent and Easter. Other guests on the show are Steve Hawkins, who volunteers with Friends of Dorothy Day, and Deacon Nathan Allen, who describes a podcast for learning Latin. Listen each week on Fridays at 9 p.m., Saturdays at 1 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. on Relevant Radio 1330 AM. Listen to interviews after they have aired at practicingcatholicshow.com, soundcloud.com/practicingcatholic or tinyurl.com/practicingcatholic.

The Catholic Spirit is published semi-monthly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

United in Faith, Hope and Love

Vol. 26 — No. 6 MOST REVEREND BERNARD A. HEBDA, Publisher TOM HALDEN, Associate Publisher MARIA C. WIERING, Editor-in-Chief JOE RUFF, News Editor

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

CORRECTION The story “Woodworker to the rescue?” in the March 11 edition misidentified the artist who created a mural in the St. Joseph chapel at Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin. The artist was a religious sister, Sinsinawa Dominican Sister Teresita Kelly.

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MARCH 25, 2021

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 3

FROMTHEBISHOP ONLY JESUS | BISHOP ANDREW COZZENS

Conquering fear

I

believe that one of the reasons the COVID-19 pandemic has been so traumatic for our society is that we live in a culture that is gripped with a fear of death. It does make sense to fear death, because death appears to be the worst enemy of human life. The Bible makes clear that death was not part of God’s plan for human beings. Death came into the world as a result of sin. When someone dies, it feels wrong because it is wrong.

We have eternal souls. The bonds of friendship and affection we form with each other in this life are meant to last forever. In this way, death is against our nature, and it is natural to fear it. In fact, in all the centuries of human existence, despite applying all our best human ingenuity, there are two problems we have been unable to fix: sin and death. These are precisely the problems Jesus Christ came to save us from.

The Paschal Triduum of Easter, which we celebrate in the coming days, has something to say to this fear of death. Jesus Christ conquered death by conquering sin. When we repent from our sins and are incorporated into Christ through baptism, St. Paul says we are “baptized into his death” (Rom 6:3). This means that the effects of his death and resurrection, freedom from sin and resurrected life, are shared with us. Because of this, death has lost its power over us.

We, too, can declare as St. Paul did to the Corinthians, “Death is swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”(1 Cor 15:54-55).

This truth is meant to change everything for us as

Conquistar el miedo

C

reo que una de las razones por las que la pandemia de COVID-19 ha sido tan traumática para nuestra sociedad, es porque vivimos en una cultura dominada por el miedo a la muerte. Tiene sentido temer a la muerte, ya que parece ser el peor enemigo de la vida humana. La Biblia deja en claro que la muerte no era parte del plan de Dios para los seres humanos. La muerte vino al mundo como resultado del pecado.

Cuando alguien muere, se siente mal porque es algo triste.

Tenemos almas eternas. Los lazos de amistad y afecto que formamos entre nosotros en esta vida están destinados a durar para siempre. De esta forma, la muerte está en contra de nuestra naturaleza y es natural temerla. De hecho, en todos los siglos de existencia humana, a pesar de aplicar todo nuestro mejor ingenio humano, hay dos problemas que no hemos podido solucionar: el pecado y la muerte. Estos son precisamente los problemas de los que Jesucristo vino a salvarnos.

El Triduo Pascual de la Semana Santa o Mayor, que celebramos en los próximos días, tiene algo que decir a este miedo a la muerte. Jesucristo conquistó la muerte al conquistar el pecado. Cuando nos arrepentimos de nuestros pecados y somos incorporados a Cristo a través del bautismo, San Pablo dice que somos “bautizados en su muerte” (Rom 6, 3).

Esto significa que los efectos de su muerte y resurrección, la libertad del pecado

Christians. It means we no longer live in fear of death, but are free to give our lives completely to God. This doesn’t lead to carelessness with the gift of life — quite the opposite. It fills life with deep meaning and gives us the courage to be able to face evil and still respond to God’s call in our lives. This courage filled the saints and allowed them to risk their own lives for others.

I love the example of St. Damien of Molokai, sometimes called the “Leper Priest.” St. Damien volunteered to be the priest for the leper colony on the Island of Molokai, knowing that he would never be able to come back. He would die there with the lepers. When asked how he had the courage to do this he said, “It is the memory of having lain under the funeral pall twenty-five years ago — the day of my vows — that led me to brave the danger of contracting this terrible disease in doing my duty here and trying to die more and more to myself … the more the disease advances, I find myself content and happy.”

St. Damien’s religious community had the tradition (still practiced today by many Benedictines and others) that when the priest took his vows, as he lay on the floor during the litany of saints, they would cover him with a funeral pall as a symbol of death to the world. St. Damien was freed from the fear of death because he had surrendered himself completely to God when he took his vows.

The true Christian perspective is that sin is a worse evil than death. As Jesus said, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna” (Mt 10:28). This is why the martyrs gave their lives: They would rather die than deny Christ through a sin.

y la vida resucitada, se comparten con nosotros. Debido a esto, la muerte ha perdido su poder sobre nosotros. Nosotros también podemos declarar como San Pablo a los corintios: “La muerte es devorada por la victoria. ¿Dónde está, oh muerte, tu victoria? ¿Dónde, oh muerte, está tu aguijón? (1 Corintios 15: 54-55).

Esta verdad está destinada a cambiar todo para nosotros como cristianos.

Significa que ya no vivimos con miedo a la muerte, sino que somos libres de entregar nuestra vida completamente a Dios. Esto no significa descuidar el regalo de la vida, sino todo lo contrario. Llena la vida de un significado profundo y nos da el valor para poder enfrentar el mal y así, responder al llamado de Dios en nuestras vidas. Este valor llenó a los santos y les permitió arriesgar sus propias vidas por otros.

Me encanta el ejemplo de San Damián de Molokai, a veces llamado el “sacerdote leproso”. San Damián se ofreció como voluntario para ser el sacerdote de la colonia de leprosos en la isla de Molokai, sabiendo que nunca podría regresar. Allí moriría con los leprosos. Cuando se le preguntó cómo tuvo el coraje de hacer esto, dijo: “Es el recuerdo de haber estado bajo el manto mortuorio de funeral hace veinticinco años, el día de mis votos, lo que me llevó a enfrentar el peligro de contraer esta terrible enfermedad al cumplir con mi deber aquí y tratando de morir cada vez más para mí mismo… cuanto más avanza la enfermedad, me siento contento y feliz”.

La comunidad religiosa de San Damián tenía la tradición (todavía practicada hoy por muchos benedictinos y otras ordenes) de que cuando el sacerdote tomaba sus

So how do we deal with our natural fear of death, or with any of our natural fears? I love the line by Joseph Pieper, the 20th century German philosopher who wrote so beautifully about virtue. He said, “Courage is fear which has said its prayers.” All of us have fears, the saints had fears, it seems even Jesus in his humanity trembled in fear before the cross. What is important is that fear does not prevent us from doing God’s will. The more we grow in a daily relationship with God in prayer, the more we surrender the fears of our hearts to him, the more he fills us with his love and this gives us courage to do whatever he asks, even in the face of the fear of death. As St. Paul says, “Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:6-7).

One of the things I noticed in the Bible some years ago was that every time God calls someone in the Bible he says, “Do not be afraid.” Whether it is Abraham, Moses, the prophets, Mary or St. Peter, it seems that God tells people not to be afraid because he always calls us to more than we think we are capable of doing. Thus, it would be normal to be afraid.

However, faith changes this.

Faith gives us the knowledge “that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:35, 38-39). The more we grow in faith, the less we are ruled by fear, even the fear of death. Then we can be courageous in making a gift of our lives in whatever way God asks.

votos, mientras yacía en el suelo durante la letanía de los santos, lo cubrían con un manto fúnebre como símbolo de muerte al mundo. San Damián se liberó del miedo a la muerte porque se había entregado completamente a Dios cuando hizo sus votos.

La verdadera perspectiva cristiana es que el pecado es un mal peor que la muerte. Como dijo Jesús: “No temas a los que matan el cuerpo, pero no pueden matar el alma; más bien, teman a aquel que puede destruir el alma y el cuerpo en el Gehena” (Mt 10, 28). Por eso los mártires dieron su vida: preferirían morir antes que negar a Cristo por un pecado.

Entonces, ¿cómo lidiamos con nuestro miedo natural a la muerte, o con cualquiera de nuestros miedos naturales?

Me encanta la línea de Joseph Pieper, el filósofo alemán del siglo XX que escribió tan bellamente sobre la virtud. Dijo: "El coraje es el miedo de quien ha dicho sus oraciones”. Todos tenemos miedos, los santos tenían miedos, parece que incluso Jesús en su humanidad, tembló de miedo ante la cruz. Lo importante es que el miedo no nos impida hacer la voluntad de Dios. Cuanto más crecemos en una relación diaria con Dios en la oración, más le entregamos los miedos de nuestro corazón, más nos llena de su amor, y esto nos da valor para hacer todo lo que nos pide, incluso frente al miedo a la muerte. Como dice San Pablo: “No tengas ansiedad en absoluto, más bien en todo, con oración y súplica, con acción de gracias, da a conocer tus peticiones a Dios. Entonces la paz de Dios, que sobrepasa todo entendimiento, guardará tu corazón y tu mente en Cristo Jesús” (Fil 4: 6-7).

Una de las cosas que noté en la Biblia hace algunos años fue que cada vez que Dios llama a alguien en ella, les dice: "No temas". Ya sea Abraham, Moisés, los profetas, María o San Pedro, parece que Dios le dice a la gente que no tenga miedo; porque siempre nos llama a más de lo que creemos que somos capaces de hacer. Por tanto, sería normal tener miedo. Sin embargo, la fe cambia esto.

La fe nos da el conocimiento “que ni la muerte, ni la vida, ni los ángeles, ni los principados, ni lo presente, ni lo futuro, ni los poderes, ni lo alto, ni lo profundo, ni ninguna otra criatura; podrá separarnos del amor de Dios en Cristo Jesús, Señor nuestro” (Rom 8, 35, 38-39).

Cuanto más crecemos en la fe, menos nos domina el miedo, incluso el miedo a la muerte. Entonces podemos ser valientes al hacer de nuestras vidas un regalo de cualquier manera que Dios nos pida.

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

Effective March 22, 2021 Reverend Douglas Ebert, assigned as parochial administrator of the Parish of Saints Joachim and Anne in Shakopee.

This is a temporary assignment while the pastor, Reverend Erik Lundgren, is on a leave of absence. More information about Father Lundgren’s leave may be found here: https://ssjacs.org

4 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

MARCH 25, 2021

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SLICEof LIFE

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Celebrating citizenship

Father Bruno Nwachukwu walks through a line of students at The Way of the Shepherd Catholic Montessori School in Blaine March 10 during festivities honoring his becoming a U.S. citizen March 5. The 41-year-old priest from Nigeria came to the U.S. in 2010 and applied for citizenship in 2019. In February 2020, he was invited to take the final test and interview, which he did last month. Currently serving as a chaplain at North Memorial Health Hospital, he celebrates Mass every Wednesday morning at the school. “Being an American is great,” he said. “I feel happy, I feel joyful. Being a citizen will help me to do more in working for the country and teaching (about) God to Catholic Americans.”

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MARCH 25, 2021

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 5

Mission accomplished: COVID-19 economic task force holds last meeting Some recommendations to have lasting impact

By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit A special Economic Impact Task Force established to help parishes and Catholic schools weather the COVID-19 pandemic held its last meeting in February, certain that at least for now its mission has been accomplished.

“It was bringing together people with different experiences and backgrounds, a think tank for how we could assist through the pandemic,” said Tom Mertens, chief financial officer for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and a task force member. “We feel we accomplished the things we were set up to do.”

To get to this point took generous parishioners and organizations continuing to help the Church in difficult times, federal assistance primarily in the form of Paycheck Protection Program loans designed for small businesses and nonprofits, and the archdiocese’s task force monitoring the financial health of parishes and schools and finding resources to help them, Mertens said.

The task force was formed in mid-March 2020, as Minnesota took key steps to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. State officials, business owners and faith leaders suspended in-person gatherings in workplaces, at restaurants, movie theaters and public Masses. As clouds of illness and economic instability gathered, so did a group of experts — by teleconference — to help the archdiocese through the storm.

That first meeting, filled with unknowns, had an urgency and focus that reminded one of the Apollo 13 mission that aborted when an oxygen tank failed and NASA engineers had to get the astronauts home, said Jean Houghton, a task force member and president of St. Paul-based Aim Higher Foundation, which provides need-based tuition assistance to families sending their children to Catholic schools in the archdiocese.

“We have this situation, we know it needs to be addressed, we have some tools in the toolbox, let’s get some people in the same room” and map out a way forward, Houghton said.

Everyone worked well together, tasks were clearly

outlined and communications about funding, government assistance and other topics were streamlined to parishes and schools, Houghton said. An email was established for questions that were distributed to the best task force member to address in real time.

The seven-member task force met each Monday, Wednesday and Friday through most of the summer, then twice a week until the last several months, when it met once a week. The last meeting was Feb. 24, via Zoom. The task force updated Archbishop Bernard Hebda and his leadership team and recommended several initiatives that will continue past the task force.

One recommendation is continuing to collect data on the financial health of parishes that had not been done before the pandemic, similar to data collected from Catholic schools, and sharing that information with parishes so they can compare themselves with their peers and learn from each other, Mertens said.

“How are my neighbors doing?” he said. “What are they doing differently? We can see how each group looks and help any outliers.”

Another recommendation stemmed from the task force’s study, in light of COVID-19, of the assessments that parishes provide to the archdiocese for programs and other services. In that study it became clear that a more general review of assessments would also be wise, Mertens said. That will be undertaken by the archdiocese in the coming months, marking the first such review since 2011 or 2012, he said.

From mid-March through last summer — the height of the financial uncertainty brought on by the pandemic — task force members helped business administrators at parishes and schools find and apply for COVID-driven government help, Mertens said. The task force also worked with Catholic Finance Corp., a financial advisory firm based in Inver Grove Heights, to run financial models that tracked the trajectory of parishes and schools to help target aid where it was most needed. CFC’s managing director, Al Erickson, was a task force member.

Other members included Father Charles Lachowitzer, the archdiocese’s moderator of the curia and vicar general; Jason Slattery, director of Catholic education in the archdiocese; Doug Milroy, former chairman and CEO of G&K Services Inc.; and Dan Statsick, former chairman of the Archdiocesan Finance Council and Corporate Board.

Celebrate The Paschal Mystery

TS

T& S

In addition to CFC, organizations assisting the archdiocese through the pandemic include St. Paulbased Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota, which created a Minnesota Catholic Relief Fund that raised $1.6 million. About $325,000 went to immediate support for individuals and families identified by parishes as needing help to pay rent, purchase groceries and obtain medical supplies. The rest of the funding went to grants for parishes and schools that faced lower Sunday collections and higher costs due to the pandemic, including the need for additional cleaning, and health and safety materials and technology to enhance distance learning.

Meg Payne Nelson, the foundation’s vice president of impact, said CCF is no longer soliciting for the relief fund, but it is holding about $180,000 as it works with the archdiocese to meet parish and school needs. A special advisory committee at the foundation, which has been working in conjunction with the Economic Impact Task Force, meets again April 29 to see when and how best to distribute the remaining money.

“We didn’t want to spend it until Christmas, and across the system, people were generous at the beginning of the pandemic and at Christmas,” Nelson said. “So, we’ll get together and say, ‘OK, what is the data? Do we invite (grant) applications, is it better to wait?’”

Aim Higher opened its reserve fund and increased its scholarship donations to include students in families facing unexpected hardship such as job loss due to the pandemic, Houghton said. The application process was streamlined as well, into one paragraph describing a verifiable need, she said.

“It was very fulfilling to be part of this team,” Houghton said. And the generosity and hard work among parishioners, teachers and others through a difficult year was “nothing short of extraordinary,” she said.

Mertens said the archdiocese will continue to monitor the situation, as well as any changes in government assistance and other programs that could help parishes and schools. If it’s deemed necessary, the task force could be called back into service, he said.

“I think the (task force) really came at a critical time, when parishes had a need for that assistance and to pull together,” Mertens said. “It’s enhanced our relationship with our parishes. It gave direction.”

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6 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

MARCH 25, 2021

Cathedral rector hits home run with baseball card auction

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit Father John Ubel was wrapping up his evening prayers at 10 p.m. March 14 in the rectory of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. As he closed his breviary, he caught the final bid of the weekend auction for his baseball card collection, which he was selling as a donation to the Aim Higher Foundation, where he serves on the board of directors.

That last bid brought the final auction total to $51,039, more than double what he had anticipated when he decided several months ago to sell his cards.

The money will be used to fund annual scholarships of $1,000 to low-income students attending Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

“I’m beside myself,” Father Ubel said of his reaction to the auction total. “It’s more than I ever could have imagined. And, the generosity of the people is amazing and very humbling.”

Most of the cards sold for at or above market value, he said, with the top dollar amount for a 1948 Jackie Robinson card. It was the first year a card was made for the man who broke the color barrier in the major leagues; hence, it is called his rookie card. It sold for $35,000, about $10,000 more than Father Ubel expected. There were a total of 90 bids on that card.

Next was a Hank Aaron rookie card that sold for $8,609, with 66 bids placed. The final $7,430 in the auction came from the sale of 69 cards sold in 25 lots, or groupings of several cards each.

“I’m very grateful” for the amount raised by the auction and the support for students it will provide, Father Ubel said. “I’ve never had so much enjoyment and satisfaction out of almsgiving. But now, I do have to get back to my priestly ministry. I’m trying to stay focused, and this was a nice diversion from that.”

There’s one final piece to the event that added thousands more to the total — online donations. They

Father John Ubel, rector of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, holds his two most valuable baseball cards, featuring Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron, that were sold during an auction to benefit Aim Higher Foundation, which provides Catholic grade school scholarships to students in need.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

took place during the auction, and for several days after the auction closed. As of March 17, the combined total of donations and auction proceeds was more than $152,000. The donations included not only money, but additional items like more cards plus jerseys and an autographed baseball signed by Minnesota Twins slugger and Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew. These items were sold, with the proceeds going to Aim Higher.

“It’s been an incredible gift. This has just been huge,” said Jean Houghton, president of Aim Higher. “This is part of his (Father Ubel’s) childhood, part of his growing up. But, it’s to help other kids.”

No charges in Annunciation abuse allegation

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit Minneapolis police have concluded an investigation of an adult’s alleged inappropriate physical contact with a student at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis, and have declined to pursue charges, according to a letter that school leaders sent to school families March 10.

The school has retained an independent investigator for an internal investigation, they said.

On March 4, school leaders notified school families that a student had made an allegation against an employee March 2, and that school leaders had notified the Minneapolis Police Department and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Office for Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment. Police began an investigation, and the school placed the accused individual on administrative leave.

In the March 10 letter, school leaders said the individual’s leave continues during the internal investigation.

“Our first concern continues to be what is best for the safety and well-being of our students,” stated the March 10 letter, signed

by Principal Kari Zobel, Pastor Father William Deziel and Business Administrator Tom Konz.

“Out of justice and respect to those involved in this matter, we again ask that you be patient and respect the investigatory process. We also ask that everyone respect the sensitive and confidential nature of this situation and the investigatory process. We also respectfully ask that people refrain from engaging in rumors or speculation about what may or may not have occurred.”

They asked that anyone with information about the allegation contact them, and they asked for prayers. The south Minneapolis school has about 340 students in grades kindergarten to eight.

Raffle raises nearly $1.5 million for Catholic schools in three states

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit Michael Ahles, president and CEO of St. Paul-based Catholic United Financial, presented Joleen Olson with a ceremonial “big check” March 19 for the $20,000 grand prize she won in CUF’s annual Catholic schools raffle. Olson’s name was drawn from nearly 300,000 tickets sold to benefit Catholic schools. Her son, Zane, who sold her the winning ticket, is a seventh-grader at St. Francis Xavier in Buffalo, which was presented with a check for $14,135 — the amount its students raised for the school by selling raffle tickets.

About 13,000 Catholic school students across Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota sold $5 raffle tickets from the middle of January to Feb. 28, raising nearly $1.5 million for 82 participating Catholic schools.

CUF, a fraternal benefit company, donates everything needed to conduct the raffle so that schools can keep 100% of what their students collect in ticket sales and donations.

In its 12 years, the raffle has raised more than $11 million for Catholic schools. Olson plans to use her prize money to buy an air conditioning unit, pay off debt and give what’s left to the Church. The school said it will use its raffle money to purchase instructional materials and meet technology needs.

Father Ubel admits it was hard to part with his cards, which had built up sentimental value over more than four decades, since he started collecting in the 1970s.

But now that they’re out of his hands — and storage boxes — he has no regrets.

“I would do it over again in a heartbeat” he said of auctioning his card collection, which also included a handful of football cards. “There are a lot of them (cards) that are difficult to part with, but, ultimately, not so difficult when you consider that you can make new memories for new children in a Catholic school.”

in REMEMBRANCE Longtime priest in Bloomington dies at 82

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit Father Edmund Goldbach, a Conventual Franciscan, had a hearty laugh that spoke volumes about the joy he found in his life and the lives of others, said a priest who knew him well. A friar in residence at St. Bonaventure in Bloomington, Father Goldbach, 82, died March 14 at a hospital in Edina.

“Father Ed was a gentle, simple friar, priest and child of God,” said Father Matthew Malek, who ministered with Father Goldbach as a friar priest and counselor at St. Bonaventure, and who described the late priest’s joy. “He truly embraced the idea of the priest as a servant leader, and he endeared himself to those he served.”

A native of Cleveland, Father Goldbach “lived with FATHER EDMUND GOLDBACH a quiet, peaceful certainty that God would guide him to where he was needed, where God wanted him to be,” according to his obituary. Father Goldbach was pastor at St. Bonaventure from 1982 to 1991, where, beginning in 2014, he served as a priest in residence.

On any given day, Father Goldbach had people he was praying for and offering Masses for, as he sought to help those who were struggling or needed his guidance, Father Malek said. “He would always make time for those who needed him.”

Father Goldbach took solemn vows as a Conventual Franciscan friar a few months before he was ordained to the priesthood at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul in 1965. In addition to serving as pastor of St. Bonaventure, Father Goldbach served in parish ministry in Michigan, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ohio and Indiana. He also served in leadership and formation roles within the Conventual Franciscans’ Province of Our Lady of Consolation.

In his obituary, one of his sisters, Nancy Engle, said, “He was always checking in on us, always supportive. But also, he had friends all over the country. We always said he could travel from coast to coast and have a place to stay. He treated everybody the same, whether it was the president or a pauper.”

His funeral Mass was March 20 at St. Bonaventure. Interment was to be March 26 in Mount St. Francis, Indiana.

LOCAL

MARCH 25, 2021

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 7

Technology brings a modern-day disciple course to many

By Debbie Musser For The Catholic Spirit Hybrid learning — combining faceto-face and online teaching — is taking place in adult faith formation programs throughout the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

That includes the Archbishop Flynn Catechetical Institute in St. Paul, which was founded in 2008 as an offering for lay people from The Seminaries of St. Paul, under the auspices of The St. Paul Seminary.

The institute offers formation programs for adults who want to deepen their knowledge of the Catholic faith and further their spiritual formation.

Its efforts include a two-year Pillars Program, a course that walks students through the “Catechism of the Catholic Church,” and ongoing formation such as the School of Discipleship, School of Prayer and School of the Holy Spirit, as well as courses on the Liturgy of the Hours, Scripture and virtue.

“The goal of the Catechetical Institute is to educate the laity in the Catholic faith such that they can live and share the faith with a renewed confidence, with conviction and hope,” said Kelly Wahlquist, Catechetical Institute director.

The institute holds classes at the seminary and elsewhere around the Twin Cities. With the advances in technology and the impetus of COVID-19 precautions, it is also expanding its offerings online.

Its online outreach includes St. Stephen in Minneapolis, where 75 people ages 18 to 35 are participating in the institute’s School of Discipleship course, gathering at the church to view lessons via livestream, followed by 30 minutes of eucharistic adoration.

The School of Discipleship was launched three years ago and includes a 40-day challenge of discipleship; 1,825 students have participated, Wahlquist said. That includes a current class of 500 people who began their experience Jan. 5, either in person in St. Louis Park at Holy Family’s brand-new Crusader Hall, or via livestream in homes or at satellite sites such as St. Stephen.

About 240 of the current class are men from the Fishers of Men, an organization in the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois. Still others from that diocese are participating as part of Be Formed, a discipleship program for men and women.

“I listened to each of (the) lectures livestream at home, which was followed by a virtual discussion with my small group,” said Mark Finn, 64, a parishioner at St. Raphael in Naperville, Illinois. “It’s been an opportunity to deepen my spiritual maturity and meet new people, and through the 40-day challenge, I’ve developed some prayer and scriptural reading habits that have been beneficial.”

Wahlquist said people were encouraged to meet in groups when possible.

“Recognizing the importance of being

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SCHOOL OF DISCIPLESHIP The next School of Discipleship will be held Tuesday evenings, 7–8:30 p.m., June 22-Aug. 3, at St. Vincent de Paul in Brooklyn Park and via livestream. For more information visit semssp.org/ci. together to worship, learn and grow in our faith, we encouraged those who could gather in person to do so,” she said. “As such, we had groups in Iowa, Ohio, New Jersey and Texas meeting in parishes to watch the seven lessons via livestream.”

“We have been able to provide the great offerings of the Catechetical Institute to more people at a time when so many are yearning to grow in their faith,” Wahlquist said.

“Pre-COVID, our Pillars Program was offered via livestream to a satellite site in Wadena,” she said. “We have added more satellite sites that will host the Pillars Program and Class of St. Joseph beginning this fall, and will continue to offer the School of Discipleship via livestream.”

Jeff Cavins, who teaches the School of Discipleship course, describes a disciple as “someone who has responded positively to the call of Jesus to follow him.”

Cavins, a public speaker, author and Bible teacher, is the creator of the Great Adventure Bible Timeline study

program. He is also director emeritus and an instructor at the Catechetical Institute and a former director of evangelization for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

“I made an observation that people were coming to conferences, buying Catholic formation materials, but having difficulty putting their faith into practice on a daily basis,” Cavins said. “I noticed more of a personal relationship with theology than a personal relationship with the Lord.”

“I developed the School of Discipleship course to help others see what that relationship was 2,000 years ago — to walk with Jesus — and take that as we understand it and apply it to our modern era,” he said.

“The participants are everyday people, not super students; they need more than just learning,” Cavins said. “They want to learn how to share Christ with others, and they want their parishes to grow.

They want to learn: How do I recognize the opportunities, how do I start a conversation, how do I keep it going, how do I read body language and eyes, and how do I become a blessing to that person without being obnoxious?”

Finn said, “The overall ‘activated disciple’ is not just between us and Jesus, but how can we share that message with others. I’m continually reminded of the challenge ... when you see those opportunities, to be sensitive enough to identify them and secondly, to go for it.”

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LOCAL

MARCH 25, 2021

Chauvin trial reaction: Praying for the best, preparing for the worst Catholic leaders in places affected by last year’s rioting fear repeat

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit Just before 8 a.m. March 22, nine men and women gathered outside St. Olaf in Minneapolis in a garden dedicated to St. Francis to pray that saint’s famous prayer: “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. …”

A small, ever-changing group has been gathering for the short and simple prayer on weekdays since March 8, the day before jury selection began for the trial of former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin, who has been charged with murder in last year’s death of George Floyd.

St. Olaf’s 8 a.m. prayer meeting — and a 3 p.m. Divine Mercy Chaplet also offered every weekday — are small but significant ways the parish is responding to the trial-related tension in Minneapolis and St. Paul, said St. Olaf’s pastor, Father Kevin Kenney. In late February, he asked parishioners to pray a daily rosary for the city, “just to keep the calm,” but as jury selection got underway, he wanted to offer something more, even at a time when parish events are minimal, due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re here in the heart of it,” he said, noting that the parish is just blocks from the Hennepin County Government Center, where the trial’s opening statements are scheduled for March 29. The church is open but prepared to board its windows if necessary.

Throughout downtown Minneapolis, other buildings are protected with barricades and boards. The city just passed an ordinance allowing property owners to install retractable metal shutters and roll-up gates in anticipation of trial-related violence.

Amid fear of the unknown, Father Kenney has found praying the Prayer of St. Francis slowly and deliberately has been powerful, especially the opening line.

“Just ‘make me an instrument of your peace,’ because the anxiety and the tension are just so strong that it’s like, OK, how can I be an instrument of peace?’” he said.

Last summer, riots broke out in sections of Minneapolis and St. Paul — and around the United States — in the days following Floyd’s May 25 death, which was captured on Facebook Live livestream and shared widely on social media. The video showed 46-year-old Floyd — a Black man who had been arrested for trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store — handcuffed and lying face-down on the ground next to a police car, with Chauvin, who is white, kneeling on his neck. Floyd repeatedly said, “Please, I can’t breathe” before losing consciousness.

Protests around Floyd’s death began immediately, focused on the incident as an act of racism and police brutality. In the Twin Cities, two people were killed and rioters burned nearly 150 buildings — including a police precinct building on Lake Street about three miles from where Floyd was arrested. Rioters damaged more than 1,500 buildings total in St. Paul and Minneapolis, according to a Star Tribune analysis.

On May 28, Gov. Tim Walz activated the Minnesota National Guard in what would be its the largest deployment in its history, largely quelling the rioting.

Protests continued throughout the summer.

Chauvin and three other officers involved in Floyd’s arrest were fired from the police department and arrested. Chauvin has been charged with second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and seconddegree manslaughter. The three other former officers have been charged with aiding and abetting seconddegree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter and are expected to be tried in August.

Twin Cities residents and leaders have voiced concerns that Chauvin’s trial — whatever the outcome — could stoke a repeat of last year’s violence. On March 7, Archbishop Bernard Hebda joined other Twin Cities faith leaders in Minneapolis to pray for justice and peace outside of the Hennepin County Government Center, which was barricaded ahead of the trial.

St. Peter Claver, St. Paul’s historically African American parish, sits along the edge of St. Paul’s Midway neighborhood, which was badly damaged last year by

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

People gather to pray the Prayer of St. Francis for peace March 22 at St. Olaf in downtown Minneapolis in response to anxiety about potential rioting and violence related to the Derek Chauvin trial. vandalism and fires. Its pastor, Father Erich Rutten, said when it comes to fears of rioting, the parish is praying for the best outcome but prepared for the worst: Members saved the sheets of plywood the parish used to protect windows from last year’s looting and arson.

As the trial gets underway, the parish is calling for prayers for peace and justice. It is also turning attention to larger issues of historic police brutality against African Americans and other forms of racism. The parish is holding a special meditation on the Stations of the Cross and racism March 26. It was not planned as a response to Chauvin’s trial, Father Rutten noted, but rather to the broad problem of racism as an affront to human dignity.

One of the ways Father Rutten has encouraged parishioners to respond is by stopping for quiet prayer across Interstate 94 at nearby St. Thomas More. That St. Paul parish is offering a silent, prayerful vigil to promote peace and nonviolence from 3-5 p.m. on weekdays, at least through March 31.

Peace cannot come soon enough for Father Leo Schneider, pastor of Holy Name and nearby St. Leonard of Port Maurice in south Minneapolis. Holy Name is located five blocks from where Floyd died on the corner of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, and Father Schneider has watched as the site transitioned from a “shrine” to the center of what has been described as an “autonomous zone,” rife with criminal activity yet no longer patrolled by police.

The area has been blocked off to traffic since Floyd’s death, but neighbors now fear carjackings or walking through the area. Gunshots are commonplace, and a 30-year-old man was killed in the area March 6. “It’s really become not the memorial it was. It’s more of a crime scene,” Father Schneider said.

“I think we can say there has been a lot of darkness around us living so close to where George Floyd died,” he said in a homily March 14. “There continues to be many homicides, shootings, carjackings, robberies and destruction of property. These are all acts of darkness being hidden under the darkness of a no-go-zone.

Violence begets violence, forgiveness begets forgiveness and opens the door to love. Love replaces the fist with handshakes, divisions become unity and war turns into peace.”

Next door to Holy Name is Risen Christ Catholic School, a Spanish-English immersion school. Michael Rogers, the school’s president, said increased crime in the neighborhood has caused the school to take a few extra precautions, but that he has no new concerns about student safety. But, he and other leaders at the kindergarten-to-grade-eight school are attuned to the school community’s trial-related anxiety. About 99% of its 322 students are students of color, and most of its families are Latino, he said. Many live and work along Lake Street and were directly affected by last year’s riots.

On March 9, Rogers and Principal Joelynn Sartell sent a letter to school families letting them know the school is working with other churches, schools and law enforcement to monitor “anything which might disturb the learning environment at Risen Christ,” and emphasizing existing mental health resources.

“What we are really focused on right now is being

aware that our students may be feeling tension and anxiety and fear because they’re thinking back to what happened” last summer, Rogers told The Catholic Spirit.

“It was a scary time for them.”

The nearby memorial — known as George Floyd Square — is “a constant reminder of the tragedy that occurred right here in our neighborhood” that has sparked a worldwide reaction, he said. Even Pope Francis addressed the incident and related social unrest at the time, saying on June 3, 2020, that he joined the “Church in St. Paul and Minneapolis, and in the entire United States, in praying for the repose of the soul of George Floyd and of all those others who have lost their lives as a result of the sin of racism.”

Whether race played a role in Chauvin’s actions May 25 is in dispute, but the prosecution is expected to frame Floyd’s death in the context of historic incidents of police brutality against Black men, while the defense is expected to point to Floyd’s drug use as a contributing cause of death. On March 12, the City of Minneapolis announced it had reached a $27 million civil settlement with Floyd’s family.

As a Catholic school, Risen Christ’s leaders can address Floyd’s death and concerns around racism and other injustices with the Catholic understanding of human dignity, “plain and simple,” Rogers said.

And while it’s impossible to know an individual’s heart and intention, he said, “there’s no denying that certain injustices continue to this day” toward people of color. “In the situation that occurred here on Memorial Day, George Floyd did not deserve to die like that, or to die at all. That is a tragedy,” he said. “It should not have happened. And he should be alive today.”

Ryan Hamilton, a 40-year-old African American and lawyer, said that he’s watching police near his home in north Minneapolis fortify their building, and he’s wondering if he should be preparing his own home for rioting. Last year, he and his wife took their children to stay with grandparents away from the city during riots in their neighborhood following Floyd’s death.

“We live in a fallen world and fallen humanity, so there are individuals among us and groups that just thrive on chaos,” said Hamilton, a parishioner of Our Lady of Lourdes in Minneapolis. “So, there is going to be a group that, regardless of what happens in terms of verdict, … they’re going to flip it and spin it into an opportunity to create some chaos.”

As he mulls over the trial from a legal standpoint, he’s pondered the difference between what is morally reprehensible but not criminally punishable, and wonders if Chauvin’s actions may be found legal, although immoral. He sees the moral question to be one where Catholics can respond by speaking out against police brutality and showing solidarity with people of color who have experienced racism.

He also sees a role for the Church to offer calm in the chaos and create spaces where people can be heard in their grief, fear, anger and frustration, without agenda.

“Our duty is to think of this … as Catholics first and reaffirm our identity as Catholics,” he said regarding people’s responses to the social issues at play. “And then pray, so we root ourselves in our faith principles. Make an intentional effort to approach this as a Catholic first and pray, ‘Lord, what do I do?’ … This is beyond us as individuals.”

Rita Commodore, an African American and lifelong member of St. Peter Claver, said friends and family, especially those who live near the parish, are concerned about the potential for trial-related violence.

And while she’s convinced that racism played a role in Chauvin’s treatment of Floyd, she said the parish’s efforts to pray for peace and an end to racism are bigger than the impending trial. She wants fellow Catholics to move beyond being “Minnesota Nice” to “Minnesota real,” to take a hard look at how people of color are treated and recognize racism as evil.

“There’s a disparity in treatment,” said Commodore, 66, “so hopefully this will give people some way to look around and prayerfully examine where you stand. …

It’s more than a Sunday service of saying, ‘Let’s pray for peace in our world.’ Let’s pray for a change of heart.

Let’s all pray individually and change our hearts in the way we act and treat people who don’t look like us.”

MARCH 25, 2021

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 9

NATION+WORLD

Year dedicated to families aims to strengthen joy, hope, cardinal says

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service Families need the care and attention of the Church, but they also have so much to offer its pastoral programs and priests, said Cardinal Kevin Farrell, prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, the Family and Life.

Dedicating the next 12 months, starting March 19, to the pastoral care of families will be an important initiative, particularly at a time of pandemic and its consequences, he said March 18 during an online Vatican news conference.

Coming at a time when people need hope, outreach and solidarity, the year will be a key opportunity “to show the world that God’s plan for the family is a source of joy and hope. It is truly good news!” he said.

The cardinal and others spoke at the event to present a few details about the “Amoris Laetitia Family Year,” which is meant to strengthen the Church’s pastoral support of families and to deeper reflection on “Amoris Laetitia,” Pope Francis’ 2016 apostolic exhortation on family life.

“The pandemic has had very painful consequences for millions of people,” the cardinal said. “But it has been the family, even though it’s been hard hit in many ways, that has shown once again its face as a ‘guardian of life,’” and its

place as a home to authentic and loving relationships.

Gabriella Gambino, undersecretary of the dicastery, said at the news conference that their office would be providing some resources on the website, laityfamilylife.va, for parishes and dioceses throughout the year, and called for ongoing exchanges and ideas from everyone.

They will also release a new video each month, featuring Pope Francis and different families, talking about ways “Amoris Laetitia” can guide people’s lives, and they will publish short pastoral guides for groups or individuals for reflection, she said.

Published five years ago, “Amoris Laetitia” still needs to be fully embraced in people’s hearts, minds and lives, turning its teachings into actual practice, Cardinal Farrell said.

“Families need pastoral care and dedication,” he said, particularly when it comes to “couples and families in crisis, supporting those who have been left all alone, and poor and broken families.”

The year will offer parishes, associations and Catholic individuals the chance to reach out to families in need, the cardinal said, “not just to help them not feel alone facing difficulties, but to walk with them, listen and launch pastoral initiatives that help them to cultivate their love each day.”

One aspect of pastoral renewal requires improved formation for educators,

CNS

Pope Francis greets family members as he arrives to lead his general audience in the San Damaso courtyard at the Vatican in this Sept. 9, 2020, file photo. The “Amoris Laetitia Family Year ” called for by the pope began March 19. pastoral workers and priests, he said.

Those involved in formation must be able to show families how the grace that flows from the sacrament of marriage is what helps them be able to respond to the challenges in everyday life, he said.

It will be important that priests around the world embrace the pope’s invitation “with generosity and enthusiasm,” he said, so that they can be “brothers and

fathers, ready to help families, but also to learn from them.”

Married couples and families are a model of the grace of spousal love, showing what it means “to live love as giving.”

By being with families, priests can be enriched by this special grace so their ministry becomes more joyful and spiritually fruitful, he said.

Vatican: No blessing gay unions, as Church accompanies those with homosexual inclinations

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service While homosexual men and women must be respected, any form of blessing a same-sex union is “illicit,” said the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The negative judgment is on the blessing of unions, not the people who may still receive a blessing as individuals, it said in a statement published March 15.

The statement was a response to a question or “dubium” that came from priests and lay faithful “who require clarification and guidance concerning a controversial issue,” said an official commentary accompanying the statement.

The response to the question, “Does the Church have the power to give the blessing to unions of persons of the same sex?” was “Negative.”

“It is not licit to impart a blessing on relationships, or partnerships, even stable, that involve sexual activity outside of marriage — i.e., outside the indissoluble union of a man and a woman open in itself to the transmission of life — as is the case of the unions between persons of the same sex,” the doctrinal office said in an explanatory note accompanying the statement. Pope Francis approved both the statement and the note for publication.

“The Christian community and its pastors are called to welcome with respect and sensitivity persons with homosexual inclinations and will know how to find the most appropriate ways, consistent with Church teaching, to

proclaim to them the Gospel in its fullness,” the explanatory note said.

The clarification “does not preclude the blessings given to individual persons with homosexual inclinations, who manifest the will to live in fidelity to the revealed plans of God as proposed by Church teaching.”

“Rather, it declares illicit any form of blessing that tends to acknowledge their unions as such. In this case, in fact, the blessing would manifest not the intention to entrust such individual persons to the protection and help of God, in the sense mentioned above, but to approve and encourage a choice and a way of life that cannot be recognized as objectively ordered to the revealed plans of God,” said the doctrinal office.

The statement came days before the launch March 19 of a yearlong reflection on “Amoris Laetitia” that will focus on the family and conjugal love.

The date marks the fifth anniversary of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation “Amoris Laetitia” (“The Joy of Love”), which affirmed Church teaching on family life and marriage, but also underlined the importance of the Church meeting people where they are in order to help guide them on a path of discernment and moral decisions.

The doctrinal congregation said in its note that some Church communities had promoted “plans and proposals for blessings of unions of persons of the same sex.”

“Such projects are not infrequently motivated by a sincere desire to welcome and accompany homosexual persons, to whom are proposed paths of growth in

faith,” it said.

In fact, the question of blessing samesex unions arose from this “sincere desire to welcome and accompany homosexual persons” as indicated by Pope Francis at the conclusion of the two synodal assemblies on the family, it said.

The doctrinal congregation said the Church does not and cannot have the power to impart her blessing on such unions and, therefore, “any form of blessing that tends to acknowledge their unions as such” is illicit.

That is because a blessing “would constitute a certain imitation or analogue of the nuptial blessing invoked on the man and woman united in the sacrament of matrimony,” it said, citing paragraph 251 of “Amoris Laetitia,” which reiterated the synod members’ conclusion that “there are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family.”

Declaring “the unlawfulness of blessings of unions between persons of the same sex is not therefore, and is not intended to be, a form of unjust discrimination, but rather a reminder of the truth of the liturgical rite and of the very nature of the sacramentals, as the Church understands them,” the doctrinal office said.

The Church teaches that “men and women with homosexual tendencies ‘must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.’”

As such, the doctrinal note makes a

“fundamental and decisive distinction between persons and the union. This is so that the negative judgment on the blessing of unions of persons of the same sex does not imply a judgment on persons,” it said.

Such blessings are illicit, it said, for three reasons: uIn addition to such a blessing implying “a certain imitation or analogue of the nuptial blessing” imparted to a man and a woman united in the sacrament of matrimony, there is the nature and value of blessings. uBlessings belong to “sacramentals, which are ‘liturgical actions of the Church’ that require consonance of life with what they signify and generate,” so “a blessing on a human relationship requires that it be ordered to both receive and express the good that is pronounced and given by the blessing.” uAnd, “the order that makes one fit to receive the gift is given by the ‘designs of God inscribed in creation, and fully revealed by Christ the Lord.’” The Church does not have power over God’s designs nor is she “the arbiter of these designs and the truths they express, but their faithful interpreter and witness.”

“God himself never ceases to bless each of his pilgrim children in this world, because for him ‘we are more important to God than all of the sins that we can commit,’” the congregation said. “But he does not and cannot bless sin: he blesses sinful man, so that he may recognize that he is part of his plan of love and allow himself to be changed by him. He in fact ‘takes us as we are, but never leaves us as we are.’”

NATION+WORLD

10 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Knock parish church. The silent apparition was witnessed by 15 people, ranging from young children to the elderly.

HEADLINES u Easter church attendance likely to be far behind pre-pandemic levels. Only 3% of Catholic churches in the United States are open and having Mass as they had before the pandemic, according to a new Pew Research Center report issued March 22. The report, “Life in U.S. Religious Congregations Slowly Edges Back Toward Normal,” said 36% of Catholics said they planned to go to church for Easter. Of the Catholics interviewed by Pew, 58% said they would have gone to church on a typical Easter. Those numbers are fairly close to that of all U.S. Christians quizzed by Pew, with 39% saying they planned to go to church on Easter and 62% saying they would have attended Easter services during a normal year. In a similar Pew survey last July, 32% of Catholics said they were attending services in person. In the new survey, that rose to 38%.

u House passes two immigration bills with citizenship provisions. The U.S. House of Representatives approved two separate immigration bills March 18, clearing an initial hurdle for two groups seeking a path toward citizenship: younger unauthorized immigrants called “Dreamers” and migrant farmworkers.

The U.S. bishops were among those from various faith-based organizations, including Catholic groups such as the Franciscan Action Network and the Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach, voicing support for the bills: the American Dream and Promise Act and the Farm Modernization Workforce Act. Both measures passed in the House along party lines, for the most part, but will face greater opposition in the U.S. Senate. u Jesuits pledge $100 million to benefit descendants of enslaved people. The Jesuit order is pledging to raise $100 million for descendants of enslaved people once owned and sold by their order as a way to make reparations and help the nation move toward racial healing. The funds will be placed in a new partnership called Descendants Truth and Reconciliation Foundation formed by the Jesuit order and the GU272 Descendants Association — named after the 272 enslaved men, women and children who were sold by the Jesuit owners of Georgetown University to plantation owners in Louisiana in 1838. A news

u Pope elevates Ireland's national Knock Shrine to international status. Pope Francis has elevated the National Sanctuary of Our Lady of Knock to the status of an International Shrine of Eucharistic and Marian Devotion.

In a message delivered from the Vatican via video link March 19, the feast of St. Joseph, Pope Francis described it as an “important moment in the life of the shrine” and “a great responsibility.” The shrine honors an apparition in Knock that occurred Aug. 21, 1879, when Mary, St. Joseph and St. John the Evangelist appeared at the south gable of the

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by Jessie Bazan, M.Div. ‘17

What Mass Means: How Sacrifice and Real Presence Are Life-Changing

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release about the partnership said it was the “first of its kind” between the descendants of enslaved persons and the descendants of their enslavers. u Northern Ireland: Legislators vote to stop abortions of disabled fetuses. On March 15, members of the Legislative Assembly voted 48-12 in support of the Severe Fetal Impairment Abortion (Amendment) Bill, completing the second stage of its passage through the Belfast-based Northern Ireland Assembly. The bill must pass through committee before it can amend abortion regulations that were imposed on the U.K. province by the British Parliament in March 2020. Those regulations allow abortion up to birth in cases where the fetus is disabled. The Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Act 2019 will continue to permit abortions on demand in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and up to 24 weeks for undefined mental or physical health reasons. u Franciscan friar is shot at Mexican sanctuary.

A young Franciscan friar was shot at one of western Mexico’s most important Catholic sites in what local Church officials are calling “an isolated incident.” The unidentified friar and seminarian, 24, was shot from behind March 14 in the atrium of the Basilica of Our Lady of Zapopan in suburban Guadalajara.

A suspect has been arrested in the shooting, though no motive for the attack was given.

“This is an isolated incident,” said Father Antonio Gutiérrez, Archdiocese of Guadalajara spokesman. “It was someone who was not in his right mind.” Father Gutiérrez said the injured friar was hospitalized, though expected to recover. The assailant had been causing a scene at the basilica, he added, and shot the friar from behind, with the bullet entering in the upper back and exiting through the chest.

The Franciscans have been responsible for the Basilica of Our Lady of Zapopan since its opening in 1730. u Vatican ends practice of priests celebrating Mass alone in St. Peter’s. The Vatican is putting an end to the practice of priests going into St. Peter’s Basilica early every morning to celebrate their own Mass at a side altar with just an altar server. Concelebrated Masses still are permitted, as are Masses in the chapels in the grotto of the basilica for pilgrim groups that arrive with a priest or bishop. The Code of Canon Law allows priests to concelebrate and says, “They are completely free to celebrate the Eucharist individually, however, but not while a concelebration is taking place in the same church or oratory.” A letter dated

MARCH 25, 2021 March 12 and initialed by Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, the Vatican substitute secretary for general affairs, said that beginning March 22 “individual celebrations (of the Mass) are suppressed.” u Business executive who is gospel singer, author to receive Laetare Medal. Carla Harris, a top executive at the investment bank Morgan Stanley, and a celebrated gospel singer, speaker and author, will be awarded the University of Notre Dame’s 2021 Laetare Medal. The medal, the oldest and most prestigious honor given to American Catholics, will be awarded at the university’s May 23 graduation ceremony. The Laetare Medal is announced each year on Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent. Harris, who is Black, is vice chairman of wealth management and senior client adviser at Morgan Stanley. She began her career at a time when very few of her colleagues were Black or women. She was chair of the Morgan Stanley Foundation from 2005 to 2014 and is a member of the boards for Harvard University and Walmart. u American Rescue Plan praised for helping ‘the most vulnerable among us.’ The American Rescue Plan is “an extraordinarily practical way to help the American people,” New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan said in a statement March 11, the same day President Joe Biden signed the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package into law. “People have the right to expect that their money, in the form of tax dollars, be used to help them during a period of extreme financial strain,” the cardinal said. However, he also said he shared “the same somber concern” expressed March 10 by Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the chairmen of six USCCB committees about the relief plan being passed in Congress with no Hyde Amendment language preventing taxpayers’ money from being used to pay for abortion. Archbishop Gomez and the six chairmen in a joint statement March 10 praised “positive provisions” in the bill that “will save people from extremely desperate situations and will likely save lives.” But they called it “unconscionable” that Congress passed it “without critical protections needed to ensure that billions of taxpayer dollars are used for life-affirming health care and not for abortion.” All of the previous pandemic relief bills included Hyde Amendment language.

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MARCH 25, 2021

NATION+WORLD

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 11

Church likely to undergo a transformation in the post-pandemic era

By Chaz Muth Catholic News Service The churchgoing experience may be different once the threat of COVID-19 is minimized, and Church experts are forecasting fewer Catholics overall in the pews.

Fewer people attending church will require a radical restructuring of parish life in many parts of the U.S. in the postpandemic era, said Matthew Manion, faculty director of the Center for Church Management at Villanova University near Philadelphia.

“From what I’m seeing, the pandemic speeds along processes that were already happening,” said Timothy P. O’Malley, a theology professor at the McGrath Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

“The crisis that we’re going to experience in parishes is the rise of the nones (people who don’t identify with any religious affiliation). There is a sense of sort of a lost generation.”

People who were going through the motions of attending church basically out of obligation — but not out of a real love for the religion — dropped off during lockdowns when the churches were closed to Mass, and many of them didn’t return once the churches reopened, O’Malley told Catholic News Service.

“I think the pandemic has clearly been an accelerant of changes and trends that were happening MATTHEW in the Church MANION already,” Manion said.

By studying data from several dioceses and archdioceses throughout the U.S., the Center for Church Management had projected — before the onset of the pandemic — that church TIMOTHY P. attendance in 2030 O’MALLEY would be half of what it had been in 2010, Manion said.

“I think what the pandemic has done has brought that window way forward,” he said. “It’s not going to be 2030. It could be MASSIMO 2022, 2023.”

FAGGIOLI Manion expects to see a sweeping parish shake-up in the U.S. post-pandemic to deal with fewer people in the pews.

“We are built for a Church that no longer exists,” he said, “and we have an infrastructure for a Church that no longer exists. An infrastructure that can no longer be supported in many cases.”

Hard decisions will have to be made, including parish merging and closures, Manion said.

A smaller and more humble Church isn’t necessarily a bad outcome for this moment in Catholic Church history, said Massimo Faggioli, professor of historical theology at Villanova University.

It gives the people in Church communities the opportunity to enrich their faith in the Gospel, find new ways to worship and ultimately employ better methods of evangelization to help their

“What we saw from this Church during the pandemic was a Church that attempted every method they could think of to keep people faithful to the Gospel,” he said. “Some of it worked and some of it didn’t. I’m hoping you’re going to see that same kind of creativity and transformation in how we do church in the future. If the pandemic is any gauge, it shows the will is there.”

It’s likely that more lay-led catechesis, devotions, prayer life and evangelization will emerge with less reliance on the clergy, O’Malley said.

“We should be doing more outside and in our neighborhoods, and the laity can help lead devotional life,” he said.

“I’d love to see more outdoor processions and outdoor visible participation in religious life.”

CNS

An iPad streams live video while the Benedictine monks pray vespers at St. Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad, Ind., March 8. The monastery began livestreaming Mass in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and revised its application process so that men can join the community even during lockdown. parishes flourish, said Faggioli, who taught theology at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul from 2009 to 2016.

“We’re going to need a new approach to formation,” O’Malley said. “We’re going to need lay folk who are doing outreach, who are trained theologically and spiritually to do this kind of outreach within the parish, talk to their neighbors, be involved in conversations.

“We just can’t presume a sort of model where (the priest) stays in the parish, teaches and does catechesis,” O'Malley said. “It’s going to require a renewal of lay Catholic life.”

During the pandemic priests, women religious, members of parish councils and other members of the laity pulled together to reach Catholics through the use of technology while communities were in lockdown, said Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia.

More Masses were livestreamed, parish council members collaborated via Zoom videoconference and the creative spirit began with the production of catechetical videos for people stuck at home with more time on their hands, which helped engage people in the faith, Bishop Burbidge said.

“What we began to see is, ‘Guess what we're doing? We’re evangelizing,’” he said.

There was a missionary approach to religion in the early days of the pandemic that took priests and religious out of the rectories and into the communities to offer COVID-19-safe confessions, outdoor Mass, eucharistic adoration and community lay-led prayer groups.

When Marie Miller attended Mass in the parking lot of St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Allentown, Pennsylvania, last October, she marveled at the creativity of her parish in providing a pandemic-safe liturgy, and she really liked worshipping outside in the fresh air.

“I hope they keep something like this after this whole coronavirus pandemic is behind us,” she told CNS. “I hope they at least continue to give us an opportunity to attend Mass outside. I feel closer to God out here.”

It currently requires a dispensation from a local bishop to authorize a Mass outside, something that was done generously during the pandemic to provide safe worship spaces.

Faggioli believes Church leaders will be looking at more use of outdoor worship in the post-pandemic era, because people like Miller discovered a greater sense of her Creator while attending Mass outside.

There can be more participation in the digital space as well, such as group catechesis and even a monthly Zoom meeting with a bishop, which may be a more practical way of faith involvement, O’Malley said.

The pandemic brought an openness to try new things, which can bring necessary reforms to the post-pandemic Church, Manion said.

“I hope that we don’t immediately go back to ‘OK, good, we survived, let’s go back to the way everything was,’” he said with a laugh. “I hope we take the things that were good from before and the things that were good that were learned through this (pandemic) to continue to spark new ways of doing things.”

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12 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

For Walter, left, Beth, Penny, Luke and Lina Przybylski, joining the Church is “the right thing” to do, Luke said.

Family of five entering the Church

L

uke Przybylski grew up Presbyterian in Stillwater.

His wife, Beth, grew up Lutheran about 20 miles north in Scandia. The two met in their early 20s while working at the same restaurant. Their paths crossed again when Luke moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where Beth was going to school, and they started dating.

During college, Luke said both lived a fairly secular life, and afterward they shared a sense that something important was missing. “We were trying to figure out what’s right for us and why we were feeling this way,” Luke said.

They explored various church denominations and

Julio Garcia, who was born in El Salvador, is joining the Church after growing up a Mormon.

Mormon ‘always knew’ he wanted to be Catholic

J

ulio Garcia, 26, lives in Forest Lake and attends St. Michael in Stillwater, his fiancee’s childhood parish. He was born in the predominantly Catholic country of El Salvador, but was raised in the Mormon faith.

Garcia’s parents grew up Catholic in El Salvador, at a time when a civil war raged and changed the dynamic of the country and culture, he said. Many cities were “completely decimated.”

“When that happened, it was actually the Mormons that came and … helped rebuild,” Garcia said. “And they did a lot of conversions.”

As a teenager, his mother was under the care of an

read about beliefs and differences. They read books by Christian authors including C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton and J.R.R. Tolkien.

“That really showed me that there is a lot more intellectual fact behind everything,” Luke said. But he reached a point in what was becoming an exhaustive process to find “the right thing” when he didn’t think he could intellectualize it anymore.

“There’s so much material, so many arguments all over the place … and I kind of reached a point where I was like, I can’t really be my own priest,” he said. “I don’t want to (have) a non-intellectual approach, but I did a lot more prayer.”

Luke said he also kept thinking about his Polish Catholic grandmother in Milwaukee, whom he had visited every year or so throughout his childhood. That visit included attending Mass together. “I just felt that there was something speaking to me through her and through that experience about the Church.”

Beth said the Catholic faith just felt right. “I was always drawn to it and I just felt at home.”

Before moving from southwest Wisconsin back to Stillwater in fall 2019, Beth had a 50-mile round trip commute through the countryside. “One thing I really connected with was listening to Relevant Radio,” she said. With its phone app, she would listen to and pray the rosary. “I didn’t even know what the rosary was at the time,” she said.

Another factor in converting to Catholicism is having three children. The two oldest had attended public school, but Beth and Luke decided to move them to St. Croix Catholic School. “It just all became clear that this was the right thing to do,” Beth said.

Going through the RCIA process confirmed for them that they made the right decision. “We both are overwhelmed by feeling like this is the right thing — which is amazing for me,” Luke said. He added how loving and vital are the parishes of St. Michael, St. Mary and St. Charles in Bayport, and how the community drew them in and made them feel so at home.

Their two oldest children, Lina, 11, and Penny, 9, also are joining the Catholic Church, with their parents April 3. Walter, 2, will be baptized on Mother’s Day. aunt in El Salvador who converted to the Mormon faith.

“She was so grateful (to the Mormons), a very religious woman,” Garcia said, and she influenced his mother’s conversion. So, Garcia was baptized a Mormon.

When Garcia was 5, his parents brought him and his sister to Texas. During high school there, Garcia met Victoria Plumbo, now 26. They became engaged last March.

Last July, Garcia contracted COVID-19 and was hospitalized in Dallas for 11 days, five in intensive care, requiring a BiPAP machine to help him breathe.

“Once I was good enough to be taken off the BiPAP machine, they sent me home with a portable oxygen tank and one stationary oxygen tank,” he said.

With no preexisting conditions, Garcia was an athlete before COVID and a bodybuilder in his early 20s. He said the virus attacked his respiratory system but also affected “everything else in my body, mainly my legs. It took three months to recover and be able to walk normally again” — and six to seven months to not be out of breath from simply walking. He said every cough, every breath hurt for four months.

“My faith has been really tested this past year,” he said, “but honestly, it has brought me closer to God.” Besides COVID, a close friend was killed and he lost his grandmother.

Garcia “always knew” he would convert to Catholicism, he said. It was never “if,” but “when.”

“But I’d be lying if I said almost dying was not a factor in my decision,” he said.

His mother’s “mannerisms” remained Catholic, he said, even after she became Mormon. “So most of (what) I used to do was under the Catholic faith.” Garcia started attending Mass with his fiancee’s family when they started dating.

COVID-19 left Garcia with residual lung damage, and relatives encouraged him to live in a location better for his recovering health, which is why the couple moved to Minnesota. Plumbo grew up in Stillwater, attended St. Michael and went to the Catholic grade school. Her parents were married at St. Michael, where Garcia and Plumbo will be married this fall.

M lea

Conve to

E

verybody h every group through th Initiation o has traveled to the Church as th the Easter Vigil thi and St. Michael in Twenty-five chil preparing for full c the Catholic Churc parishes’ shared RC number includes a whose family didn Yet he said he’s kn he was born” that become Catholic. H his mother, who is with him. “I’m his said.

The class also in who survived a frig COVID-19, a youn God on a solo cam North Shore of Lak of five joining the daughter of a retire Last year, St. Ma — which share a p programming — h participants. Why jump in people en Corey Manning, formation, said he imagines several fa play. St. Croix Cath huge part of conve families,” he said.

“Some are peopl time, ‘What do I d ‘Hey, I’ve never act (sacrament) as a ch to be fully Catholic Located about 20

The Rite of Christian Children (RCIC) are p children who have re the Catholic Church.

Catechumens prepar for baptism, first Com preparing for the othe

Traditionally, RCIA ca

MARCH 25, 2021 • 13

Many roads ad to Rome

erts travel varied routes the Catholic Church

By Barb Umberger • The Catholic Spirit Photos by Dave Hrbacek • The Catholic Spirit

has a story. But not p of people going he Rite of Christian of Adults together d such varied paths hose preparing for is year at St. Mary Stillwater. ldren and adults are communion with ch through those CIA process. That a 9-year-old boy n’t practice a faith. nown “since before he wanted to He even influenced s joining the Church s first convert,” she

ncludes a Mormon ghtening bout with ng man who found mping trip to the ke Superior, a family Church and the ed Lutheran pastor. ary and St. Michael pastor and had five RCIA this year’s five-fold ntering the Church? , director of faith e isn’t certain, but he actors could be at holic School is “a ersion for many

le asking for the first do?’ Some are saying, tually received this hild and now I want ic,’” Manning said.

20 miles northeast of

St. Paul along the St. Croix River, Stillwater — with a population of almost 20,000 — is one of the oldest cities in Minnesota. St. Michael was founded in 1853, five years before Minnesota became a state, and has 2,331 members. St. Mary was founded 31 years later, and has 1,034 members.

Twenty-two of the parishes’ RCIA candidates and catechumens will receive sacraments at St. Michael April 3 at the Easter Vigil Mass — the traditional liturgy for initiating new members into the Church. The other three are children who made their profession of faith on Ash Wednesday and first reconciliation the following week. They will receive their first Communion in late April with their school classmates.

Manning cited other atypical circumstances this year, including nine people who haven’t been baptized — three children and six adults. “Usually it’s someone (who has) already been baptized in another faith and coming into the Church,” Manning said.

Last year, St. Michael was being renovated and St. Mary celebrated a livestreamed Easter Vigil because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The five participants in the RCIA process received the sacraments at a different time. This year, both parishes will celebrate the Easter Vigil, and the RCIA participants will be initiated into the Church at St. Michael. With many pews roped off to accommodate social distancing, St. Michael will largely be filled by the families of candidates and catechumens, with additional room for people in the parish social hall and school gym.

WHAT IS RCIA?

Initiation of Adults (RCIA) and the Rite of Christian Initiation of processes of education, faith sharing and rituals whereby adults and eached the age of reason are formed to join in full communion with

ring to enter the Church have never been baptized and are preparing mmunion and confirmation. Candidates are baptized Christians er sacraments.

andidates and catechumens enter the Church at the Easter Vigil.

— Barb Umberger

Minister’s daughter becomes Catholic

B

efore she married her husband, Ryan, a Catholic, Erin McAlpine remembers the late Archbishop Harry Flynn telling her never to become Catholic for a man. “He said, ‘Do it because you want to do it,’” she said. “That always resonated with me.”

The McAlpine family became acquainted with the archbishop, who died in 2019, through a close family friend, Father Charles Lachowitzer, who presided at Erin and Ryan’s wedding and baptized their three children. Erin grew up Lutheran and Presbyterian.

She was baptized at her mother’s Presbyterian Church. Her father is a retired Lutheran minister.

When Erin was a young girl, her parents divorced, so when Erin stayed with her mom or dad, she attended that parent’s church. Both support her decision to become Catholic.

“My father loves that my kids go to a Catholic school (St. Croix Catholic School), and he absolutely loves the school,” she said, noting that when he visited the school, he thanked the principal for the school’s great faith-based environment.

Erin, 41, and Ryan, 45, have been married for nine years and have three children: Jackson, 8, Neve, 6, and Brynn, 4. She called sending their children to the Catholic school “the best parenting decision we’ve ever made.”

When Erin was a child, her father took her to many different churches, from contemporary to evangelical and Baptist, but she loved the history and tradition of the Catholic Church. “It just felt right to me,” she said.

“My husband’s family just loves the Catholic faith, and I have a lot of Catholic friends and they are just amazing people,” she said.

Erin intended to begin the RCIA process years ago, but evening classes didn’t fit her work schedule. This past year, she said, “the stars aligned” for her to

As she prepares to become Catholic, Erin McAlpine is taking advice she got from the late Archbishop Harry Flynn, who told her to “do it because you want to do it.” participate Wednesday evenings. And with her second-grade son preparing for his first confession and first Communion, she said it’s even more of a special time.

Her husband, who is her sponsor, attends classes with her.

“We get to spend time together and grow in our faith together,” she said. “It’s been awesome for him, too, and for our marriage.” It’s also become a date night, as they often grab a bite to eat after class.

Erin’s younger brother has cancer, but growing in her faith and prayer life has helped her deal with her brother’s illness, she said. Learning about the Catholic faith helps her want to grow as a person and grow in her relationship with Christ. “It has helped me tremendously,” she said.

Young man finds home in Catholicism

M

ark Allen, 20, was baptized in the Lutheran faith and raised a Christian, but when he was 11 or 12, his three siblings fell away from the faith. “That had a big impact on me because I’m the youngest,” he said. His parents divorced around the same time.

Back then, Allen said, “I would have probably said I was an atheist.”

Now a junior at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul studying supply chain and operations management, Allen took solo camping trips once a year during high school to Lake Superior. One trip stands out from July 2017, between his junior and senior years at Forest Lake High School. Allen stopped at several places on the largest of the Great Lakes and remembers feeling “almost like I was in a heavenly state,” he said.

“I was just in so much peace, and it’s hard to describe. But after that … I knew that there was a God. And so, I considered myself Christian again. … I knew that I wasn’t an atheist. I knew there was something more.”

After one semester at Lake Superior College in Duluth, Allen spent the second semester of his freshman year at Century College in White Bear Lake.

He took a philosophy class, which he said helped him see more of an intellectual side to Christianity than he had realized.

His search for faith included visiting evangelical churches. One in particular felt like a rock concert with a fog machine, he said. It wasn’t what he was looking for.

“I really wanted to become part of a church so that I could grow in community and effectively volunteer,” he said. “I knew eventually I had to look into Catholicism.”

The first time he attended a Catholic Mass was for his grandfather’s funeral five or six years ago.

He contacted St. Michael and spoke with a priest. He read more about the faith. Allen values that the

Mark Allen says a camping trip in 2017 sparked his journey to the Catholic Church.

Catholic Church takes a stand on issues like abortion, and he believes it has less division than other churches because of its magisterium. “At the end of the day, we submit to the authority of the Church, which has already ruled on (an) issue,” he said.

When Allen started attending Mass at St. Michael at the end of 2018, “it was the first time I accepted Jesus again.” He looks forward to volunteering with a parish youth group — maybe even on a hiking or camping outing at some point. Getting people involved in activities like that can help people talk and open up about their feelings, he said.

Reflecting on his faith journey, Allen said that at one point he couldn’t imagine being a follower of Christ — and certainly not one submitting to the authority of the Catholic Church.

“So, when I think of my siblings or those that persecute Christians, it gives me hope to just know that God is capable of anything,” he said.

14 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

MARCH 25, 2021

FAITH+CULTURE

A ‘bizarre’ year Priests describe shepherding parishes during pandemic

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit

O

ne year ago this month, just days after Archbishop Bernard Hebda sent an email to pastors letting them know he was closing churches for public Masses due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Father James Stiles, pastor of four parishes in the southwestern corner of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, felt “a lot of confusion.”

He had spent the last three years since his arrival at those parishes, first as an associate and eventually as pastor, trying to build relationships with the rural parishioners, many of whom are aging farmers. With some of them unfamiliar with social media and platforms like Facebook and Zoom, he was worried about losing his pastoral connection with them.

He worked with his associate, Father Timothy Sandquist, to draft a letter and send it to parishioners outlining a pastoral care plan to keep them engaged while public Mass was suspended. The two priests spent hours in parish offices and the adjoining rectory in late March stuffing hundreds of envelopes containing the letter.

But it didn’t feel like enough, which was reflected in the title the two priests chose for the letter: “The Bare Essentials of Ministry.”

“It was a very trying time,” said Father Stiles, 33, who was ordained in 2015. “I remember feeling, personally as pastor, very helpless and useless, like how can I minister to my people if I can’t even see them, if I can’t even go to their homes, if I can’t have them come to church?”

Such was the burden carried by pastors throughout the archdiocese, who had to navigate the harsh reality of a pandemic that kept most people away from in-person Masses for at least two months and affected parish life in other ways since cases were first identified in the U.S. early last year. The Catholic Spirit interviewed three of those pastors to take a deeper look into what life has been like for the shepherds of local parish flocks.

‘Don’t forget the power of prayer’ The letter to parishioners was an important first step, but Father Stiles had deep concerns about the spiritual well-being of those he cared for at St. Mary in Le Center, St. Henry in nearby St. Henry, Immaculate Conception of Marysburg and Nativity in Cleveland, which have a combined total of about 750 families, and about 100 additional Latino Catholics who attend Mass but are not registered at the parishes. That led to a short walk alone in early April around the block of St. Mary, whose campus includes the rectory where he and Father Sandquist live, along with a third priest, Father Tom Niehaus, pastor of Most Holy Redeemer in nearby Montgomery.

“I was all distressed about this, and I was walking around … praying the rosary,” Father Stiles recalled.

“And, I remember just sensing the Lord speaking to me, saying, ‘The greatest thing you can do for your people is to pray for them right now. … Don’t forget the power of prayer.’”

The message went to his heart, then later to his lips and, ultimately, to the altar when he celebrated Mass.

“I would pray before Mass in preparation, and then I would say, ‘Lord, I’m bringing with you in my heart to this Mass every one of my parishioners and every single one of their needs and their cares and whatever is going on in their life,’” he said. Then, during Mass at the eucharistic prayer, “on the paten where the bread is placed, I would say, ‘Lord, I am placing now all of the intentions here of every single one of my parishioners, and all their needs.’ So, the prayers of the people and their desires would be included in that and lifted up to God.” As Father Stiles kept his parishioners bathed in prayer, he had to confront the reality of not seeing

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Father James Stiles holds a monstrance that he placed in the foyer of St. Mary in Le Center, where he serves as pastor, for drive-up eucharistic adoration last year. them in the pews.

“It’s a very bizarre and unnatural experience to celebrate Mass with a camera in front of your face and nobody in the church,” he said. “You’re used to looking out and seeing people pray with you and pray together — worshipping God together.”

Instead, he heard his words echo off empty church walls. But soon came one of his first adaptations to the pandemic — outdoor Masses held in the church parking lot. Over the next seven months, he and Father Sandquist celebrated outdoor Masses at three of the four churches, with St. Henry parishioners coming to St. Mary.

“The outdoor Mass became very popular, in large part, because it was great for people to see each other and because there was something adventurous and kind of fun about that,” Father Stiles said. “Some people had their tops down — they had a convertible.

They’d just drive up with their convertible top down. … People enjoyed that.”

He also started offering outdoor confessions, which began in the spring and continued into the fall. As the weather turned colder, he moved from the parking lot into the church entryway.

In late spring, Gov. Tim Walz and the archbishop allowed churches to reopen with limited capacity and strict protocols including wearing masks, social distancing, sanitizing hands and cleaning church pews after Mass. People hesitated at first to start coming into the church, so Father Stiles continued offering outdoor Masses plus livestreaming for those who could navigate the technology. He also broadcast Masses on a local radio channel that reached people in their cars and those who lived close by.

One of the most powerful initiatives during the pandemic came from a parish employee, who suggested offering drive-up eucharistic adoration. Father Stiles liked the idea, and he went to work setting up a monstrance and candles at St. Mary that could be viewed from the parking lot. It was offered daily Monday through Friday for two hours in the evening.

“We’ve got real big windows out here in our foyer,” Father Stiles said. “Cars would just drive up into the parking lot, and (people) would sit in their cars for an hour at a time, two hours at a time, and they would just worship the Lord in adoration. It was really neat because it had kind of an evangelistic effect. People in the city (of Le Center) would start asking, ‘What are they doing over there? Why are they all gathered in their cars looking at the golden, shiny thing, the monstrance?’”

At the end of adoration, Father Stiles carried the

monstrance from the foyer and into the parking lot to bless the people in their cars. This practice started April 6 and lasted through the end of October. Father Stiles said that, with indoor restrictions lifted due to the start of vaccinations and a decrease in COVID-19 cases across the state, he won’t be offering parking lot adoration this year.

Throughout the last year of the pandemic, Father Stiles has also had to think about his own health. As a person living with diabetes, he pondered the possibility of serious symptoms from COVID-19 if he ever became infected. Plus, there was the potential that he and his priest roommates would need to be quarantined for 14 days if any of them contracted the virus. Fortunately, he said, none of them has tested positive. And now, he is vaccinated, which provides further relief.

Still, the virus hit home when one of his parishioners contracted it and died in October — a Latino man with a wife and four sons. The tragedy became one of the greatest trials for Father Stiles during the past year.

The man, in his early 50s, was in the hospital for two months, first at a local hospital and then at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, where he died.

“It was really sad and very hard,” Father Stiles said.

“I tried very hard to anoint him … but they wouldn’t let me in. I did get a chance to at least speak to him.

He wasn’t conscious at that point. He was on the ventilator. But I did call and I spoke to him over the phone.”

Father Stiles was able to let the man know that another priest, a chaplain at the hospital, was able to anoint him. He went on to tell the man “not to worry about his family, that we would help take care of them.”

Slowly, the grief of a year struggling through a pandemic is turning to hope, as many, including Father Stiles, look forward to having a full church again.

There’s even talk of a celebration sometime in the coming months.

“People are really longing to be together again,” he said. “And, I am as well. … The longer I’m a priest, the more I realize how important that is — the fraternity, the community.”

Lights, camera, consecration Father Phil Rask, pastor of St. Odilia in Shoreview, is just over a year away from his 50th jubilee. With a long history of ministry, it would be easy to conclude he has seen it all. He might have thought so, too, in early 2020.

PLEASE TURN TO COVID ON NEXT PAGE

MARCH 25, 2021

COVID CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE Enter the COVID-19 pandemic. Its shock wave hit him the weekend of Easter in mid-April, with churches still closed to in-person Masses due to restrictions put in place by Walz and supported by Archbishop Hebda, who notified pastors of a temporary suspension of public Masses beginning March 18.

“Easter Sunday around here normally is a zoo,” said Father Rask, 74. “We have 7:30 Mass, we have two Masses at 9 (in the church and gym), two Masses at 11, one a Spanish Mass.”

But, last year, “rather than the 3,000 people we would normally have,” Father Rask celebrated Mass on Easter Sunday to a nearly empty church, save for a few liturgical volunteers helping out.

Shortly into the pandemic restrictions, Father Rask realized that his church would have to find a way to reach people’s homes.

“We realized we had to get into livestreaming as quickly as possible,” he said. A parishioner donated money to build a media center in the back of the church. Volunteers FATHER PHIL RASK who were trained by a consultant livestreamed Sunday Masses, using cameras set up throughout the church. During the two months when churches were closed to in-person worship, Father Rask had to learn a new skill — talking to an audience he couldn’t see. It was challenging.

“What do you have to do differently because you’re now on screen?” he said. “Do you speak to the camera?

But, you can’t even see it because it’s way in the back in the booth. So, you’re looking in that direction. But, do you pretend there are other people in church — speak to everybody as if they were there?”

After adjusting to this new way of celebrating Mass, he realizes that livestreaming may be here to stay.

Viewer numbers show that lots of people have been tuning in.

“We’re surprised at how many viewers we do have for our livestreamed Masses,” he said. “It’s in the hundreds.

Sometimes, it’s a thousand or two thousand. And, people have responded from all over the country.”

One benefit of keeping the connection to parishioners is maintaining a steady flow of weekly contributions. The parish saw just a 5% dip in donations in the past year, which he said was easily offset by reductions in spending. The end result was not having to lay off anyone on staff. In fact, St. Odilia was able to hire three people who had been working at other parishes and were furloughed because of the pandemic.

The school, likewise, is flourishing, with an enrollment increase of 30 to 40 students this school year, he said.

“We have nearly 700 students” in pre-K through eighth grade, Father Rask said. “And so, we’re running out of room (in the current school building). We’re thinking of adding on for … the preschool.”

Despite the economic stability and a thriving school, the pandemic did land a blow — literally. Right before Thanksgiving in November, Father Rask tested positive for COVID-19. He immediately entered quarantine with the other priest at St. Odilia, Father Tim Tran, who was ordained in May and only knows carrying out priestly ministry during a pandemic.

Father Rask had been struggling with what he thought was a mild chest cold. A few days before Thanksgiving, he decided to get tested.

“I’ve had worse (illnesses); I’ve had worse bouts with the flu than that,” said Father Rask, who expected to complete his vaccination March 26 with his second shot. “I’m thankful. I don’t need it to be any more serious.”

One group of parishioners he is especially concerned about are the elderly. Pastoral staff and volunteers have written post cards to older members, and each elderly parishioner gets a phone call every other week to check in. Also, there is a hospice facility on parish grounds run by St. Therese of New Hope. Father Rask and his staff provide pastoral care, including distribution of Communion, last rites and other services upon request.

At the top of his concerns are the isolation and loneliness he knows they have, especially those who are dying and have limited contact with family. Those

FAITH+CULTURE feelings work the other way, too, for family members who can’t spend time with their loved ones.

Aside from that, Father Rask overall is “pleasantly surprised” by how both he and the parish are faring. He called the ability to keep everyone on the staff payroll “terrific.”

“I’m glad to be able to do it because they don’t make a whole lot of money working for the church,” he said.

“A lot of people depend on that paycheck almost from week to week.”

He also has been seeing an increase in gratitude for simple things like coming to church for Mass, and for in-person learning at school. Along with schools across the state, St. Odilia School quickly switched to distance learning last March. Then, it returned to in-person this school year.

“Before the pandemic, they (students) whined about school: ‘I don’t want to go to school. How many years am I going to have to go to school?’” Father Rask said.

“Now, they realize they like being in school.”

With hope the pandemic is nearing an end, Father Rask was asked what he will most look forward to when life returns to normal: “Not wearing a mask.”

More time for prayer At the beginning of 2020, Father Dave Hennen, pastor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Hastings, was immersed in “doing the routines of parish life: daily Masses, baptisms, funerals, weddings and getting together for Bible studies and doughnuts after Mass.”

“All of a sudden, that comes to a stop, and you just have to wonder: Where is this all going?” said Father Hennen, 55, of the pandemic shutdown of churches that March. “What are we supposed to do? Because so much of our life is about these parts of being a Catholic.”

One important decision, which came out of a meeting Father Hennen had with his staff early during the pandemic, was to continue offering perpetual eucharistic adoration in the main church, and continue offering the FATHER sacrament of reconciliation six days a DAVE HENNEN week, Monday through Saturday.

There also was some deep soul searching by Father Hennen about his identity as a priest. He talked to his spiritual director and others he relied on for support as he explored his feelings and sought a meaningful response.

“So much of our priesthood is about things that we do: celebrate Mass, hear confessions and (administer) all the sacraments, and being with people,” he said.

“All of a sudden, it’s gone. You’re not doing most of those things anymore. And for me, I just had to realize my identity is not in just basically the things I do as a priest.”

Thus, the pandemic for Father Hennen opened the door to exploring things that can be easy to overlook in the midst of the busy life that priests often lead.

“Obviously, there was a lot more time for prayer,” he said. “It was just a great time for me to pray and reevaluate who I am as a priest and as a son of God.” Throughout the last year, he has spent many hours praying in a chapel inside the parish’s new rectory. In September, Father Hennen moved there with the other priest serving the parish, Father Matthew Shireman.

Father Hennen prays the rosary often, with the conviction that the Blessed Mother “loves priests, and I know she wants me to be a holy priest.”

The increased and focused prayer has been important in trying to determine how the parish should move forward. More than what technology should be used to connect with parishioners, Father Hennen has been trying to address deeper questions, like what should parish life look like, now and in the future?

“It’s been resting on my heart for months now that we need to be bold. We need to be more radical in how we live our faith,” he said. “We can’t just keep the status quo. That has been a big part of my prayer — God has been asking me to lead the people in a more profound way in terms of their faith.”

Part of that reflection has been triggered by the decrease in Mass attendance during the past year.

Even as churches have opened up again to in-person Masses, Father Hennen has noticed that a portion of

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 15 his parishioners have not returned, and he has started wondering if they ever will.

“We’re hoping they do,” he said. “But, we don’t know for sure. So, it’s me questioning: How have we been helping people have an encounter with Christ?

Do we need to do more in helping them to have that personal relationship? Because if Jesus is their all, if Jesus is their everything, they will want to come back. So, we want to be ready just in case they are questioning whether to come back.”

At the heart of his concern is trying to help people do more than just “go through the motions.” To that end, he and his staff are evaluating everything they do in trying to form people in their faith. Each program is being looked at in terms of one simple question: “Does it fall under our mission of making Jesus Christ known and loved?” he said. “Are we making disciples? And, if we’re not making disciples, why would we keep on doing what we’re doing?”

For the past three or four months, Father Hennen and parish leaders have been working on a parish mission statement to guide parish life going forward.

One thing that will be part of parish life is small groups, which started three years ago. The idea is to have every parishioner be part of a small group so they can find a personal connection with others and deepen their faith. To facilitate that goal, Father Hennen plans to hire someone who will serve as director of evangelization.

Another change is turning preparation for first Communion and first reconciliation over to the parents, which the parish did in the fall. Parents are now responsible for all of the sacramental formation for their children, guided by materials the parish provides.

“We are empowering the parents to be the first teachers of their children in the faith,” Father Hennen said. “Parents will form their children, and when their child is ready, then they will receive the sacrament” as opposed to all children receiving those sacraments together on the same day.

“It’s been a challenge,” he said. “Some parents have embraced it and love it. Some parents are hesitant because it’s new, it’s different. We’ve never done it that way before.”

One helpful thing for the parish and school is being secure economically. Finances have been good overall thanks to consistent giving, plus federal government support for employees, Father Hennen said, and there have been no layoffs at either the parish or its preschool-to-grade-eight school.

With the gradual lifting of restrictions, Father Hennen said he is seeing people respond to the opportunity to come back to church. And, he is hearing them express their feelings about worshiping in public again.

“They just wanted to get back to some routine in their life,” he said. “They wanted to come back to Mass. That’s one of the things I think parishioners have experienced — how much they long for the Mass and the relationships they built. I didn’t think people would miss doughnuts (after Sunday Mass) as much as they do, but they actually do. They miss that … fellowship and being with each other.”

Like his parishioners, Father Hennen values connection with others. He stays grounded by meeting monthly with other members of his 2005 ordination class. With 15 members, it was the largest class in recent history. So, there are plenty of other priests with whom HOW WE GOT HERE to share stories.

Find a COVID-19 timeline at “We’ve been TheCatholicSpirit.com. doing this since 2005,” he said. “We rotate the rectories that we go to. … So, every month, we’re connecting with each other just for a meal and drinks, just to share what’s been going on and support each other.”

In talking with his classmates, Father Hennen said they all have “similar experiences” in dealing with the pandemic.

For Father Hennen and his parishioners, the past year has been “kind of a death,” he said. “But… I think it can be even better once we come out of this — stronger, more faithful, more vibrant in who we are as Catholics.”

16 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

FAITH+CULTURE

MARCH 25, 2021

One faith, two calendars: Date of Easter still on ecumenical agenda

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

P

salm 148 is a cosmic hymn of praise to God who created the sun, moon and stars and “assigned them their station forever, set an order that will never change.”

Except that never-changing order is one of constant subtle change. And that can create calendar chaos.

The ever-so-slightly shifting alignment of the sun and moon relative to the Earth and to modern calendars explains why the Jewish feast of Passover and the Christian celebration of Easter seldom coincide. And why Christians celebrate Easter on different dates most years.

This year, the Jewish community celebrates Passover from the evening of March 27 to April 4. Easter for most Western Christians is April 4, but for many Eastern Christians — both Orthodox and Eastern Catholic — it is May 2.

Different Christian communities celebrated Easter on different days until the Council of Nicaea in 325 decided that for the unity of the Christian community and its witness, Easter would be celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox.

But the Julian calendar, which is what Christians used in the fourth century, was a tad out of sync with the actual solar year, so March 21 — generally assumed to be the date of the northern hemisphere’s spring equinox — gradually “drifted” away from the actual equinox.

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII, relying on the work of the best astronomers of his time, reformed the calendar, dropping 10 days and making the equinox fall on March 21 again.

CNS

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew delivers Easter eggs to priests during the Orthodox Easter service at the Cathedral of St. George in Istanbul on April 19, 2020. Although Western and Eastern Christians celebrate Easter on different dates most years, since the Second Vatican Council, the Vatican has been open to a common date for Easter.

The development of the Gregorian calendar was not primarily about being more accurate scientifically. It was to ensure the early spring celebration of Easter, the center of the Christian faith.

The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the World Council of Churches already are discussing ways to celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea in 2025.

Much of the focus is on an ecumenical reflection of the Nicene Creed, which was formulated at the council.

But Orthodox Archbishop Job of Telmessos, the representative of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople to the World Council of

Churches, proposed something concrete: honoring with action the Council of Nicaea’s efforts to set a common date for Easter. The Vatican is on board and has been since the Second Vatican Council.

Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the pontifical council, already is working with other Church leaders to prepare for the Nicene anniversary.

A common date for Easter should be part of the discussions, he told Catholic News Service March 17. “It would be a great thing if all Christians, on the same day, celebrated the fundamental truth of our faith.”

As an appendix to Vatican II’s 1963 Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, the

Vatican issued a declaration “on revision of the calendar,” saying council members “would not object if the feast of Easter were assigned to a particular Sunday of the Gregorian calendar, provided that those whom it may concern, especially the brethren who are not in communion with the Apostolic See, give their assent.”

Basically, the Vatican would agree to a change if other Christians would.

Several attempts, almost always led by Orthodox bishops, have been made over the past 100 years to push for a common date for Easter. It seems most Christians agree in principle but picking the date or the calendar or the formula has been elusive. Even Google notes an “Orthodox Easter,” which, when searched, gives a different date from just “Easter.”

At a 1997 consultation in Aleppo, Syria, representatives from all the major Christian churches recommended maintaining the Nicaea formula of Easter on the Sunday after the first vernal full moon, but said, “the astronomical data” — the vernal equinox and the full moon — should be calculated using “the most accurate possible scientific means” and using “the meridian of Jerusalem, the place of Christ’s death and resurrection,” as the basis for the calculation.

In fact, the vernal equinox that marks the official start of spring in the northern hemisphere is not a whole day, but a specific time that occurs between March 19 and March 21, depending on the place the observation is made.

In other words, as the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation said in 1998, the Council of Nicaea used contemporary scientific observations of the cosmos to set a common date for Easter. Modern Christians could do likewise.

Paschal candle program brings light to prisoners

By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service Used at the Easter Vigil and at baptisms and funerals, the paschal candle symbolizes Christ who brings light and hope to a world lost in the darkness of sin and death.

However, in an Italian prison 45 miles south of Rome, the candle’s meaning takes on a whole new dimension as inmates grab their paintbrushes and decorate paschal candles in preparation for one of the holiest celebrations in Christianity.

The “Light of Freedom” project, an initiative promoted by the Inspectorate General of Italian Prison Chaplains, aims to have hundreds of paschal candles ready for Easter.

Father Raffaele Grimaldi, inspector general of the association that represents Italy’s prison chaplains, told Catholic News Service Feb. 23 that the project not only gives inmates an opportunity to work, but also instills in them “the values of freedom and justice by affirming the dignity of the person.”

“Even while being imprisoned after having committed crimes, we cannot close the window of hope” to them, Father Grimaldi said. “We must always give a chance to those who have made a mistake to stand up once again.”

“Just as Pope Francis has said,” outreach to prisoners must be about

CNS

Paschal candles decorated by detainees are pictured at the prison in Paliano, Italy. “using mercy, not judging, not pointing the finger because none of us” is completely without sin or failures, he said.

Located in what was once a fortress built in the 16th century, the prison in Paliano houses more than 70 men and women who have testified as witnesses for the state against associates or accomplices and require special protection.

In 2017, Pope Francis visited the prison and celebrated the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper there, washing the feet of 12 inmates.

FAITH+CULTURE

MARCH 25, 2021

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 17

For the beauty of the earth: why Kathie Peterson helps out

By Christina Capecchi For The Catholic Spirit Kathie Peterson is the kind of person who writes up blurbs for the bulletin and passes along newspaper clippings. So, it came as no surprise that the 74-yearold retired computer systems analyst from Rosemount stepped up to help St. Thomas Becket in Eagan make composting organics a priority.

Q What inspired you to make St. Thomas Becket a compost parish?

A A series of happenstances got us there. A

parishioner was told that the paper cups we used for coffee and juice were recyclable. He went to the pastor and said we need to stop treating them as trash, and the pastor asked two staff people to get a group together to see what could be done. I had recently taken a Master Recycler Composter program in Dakota County, so they asked me to join the group.

Our business administrator learned that a garbage hauler in Dakota County had just started a route to collect organics recycling from businesses. I met with a representative, who happened to mention that the county had a grant program for business and nonprofits adding new recycling options. “You ought to Google it and see if it’s still going on,” he said.

I did — and it was. We received the maximum amount of $10,000!

Q Funny how one off-hand comment can lead to something big! Were there hurdles in making it happen?

A I was surprised at the number of people who aren’t concerned about taking care of the earth and, despite signage, aren’t interested in cooperating with the separation of organics, recyclables and waste. We must educate, educate, educate.

There are so many free resources. Dakota County has a newsletter on the environment. It also hosts “Fix-It Clinics” to reduce the amount of stuff thrown in the trash — and to build community.

Q What were the next steps after receiving the grant?

A We had to determine the number of compostable

items we would use in six months. The county provided a list of types of containers that were available and ordered them for us. We wanted specialized containers for our commons area that had a nice appearance since they would be very visible.

Q It’s said you can’t steward something if you

don’t first know it and love it, that that’s the starting point. How have you gotten to know and love the earth?

A I learned by osmosis from my parents. Living

through the Great Depression, they learned not to be wasteful. We used to bring our plastic sandwich bags home from school to wash them and re-use them. My father worked as a soil conservationist. Growing up, we had a garden and nice yard.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Q It sounds like you’re always learning: book

clubs, Bible studies, JustFaith Ministries, Wisdom Ways, a recent course on racism. One opens a door to the next.

A You start seeing some relationships in these things.

Q What has deepened your interest in Scripture?

A Jack Jezreel (the JustFaith founder) is just awesome.

He can make you love Scripture in 30 minutes!

His basic premise is social justice. I’ve learned how Scripture lays out all the tenets of social justice that we Catholics have.

Q You and your husband recently moved,

making the switch to one-level living. Was it an opportunity to purge?

A I had boxes of canceled checks — starting with

the process rather than fight it?

A Remaining active physically and mentally.

Accepting that it takes me longer to learn some things — especially dealing with electronics. Not being bothered by grey hair that is turning white.

Enjoying being thought of as having wisdom due to life experience.

Q Does gratitude factor in?

A Gratitude is definitely a powerful way to embrace the aging process. In the last few years, it has become a larger part of my prayer life. I try to be more cognizant of thanking people for things they have done and adding comments about something specific. I’m very old school about paper.

college, my first checking account. I was floored that they were still there. Why was I hanging onto them?

But we had this lovely, big closet and there was room!

We parted with a garage full of stuff. Some things I realized I felt attached to at the time, but I no longer do. I sold the sterling silver from my mom. I did keep our wedding china.

Q What prompted you to see gratitude in spiritual

Q Over the years, how have you learned to lean

Q What’s on your list?

A The sunshine and blue skies! A good book.

into God’s graces?

A I have an emphasis on God being a God of love.

Q How does your life reflect the promise of Easter?

A I try to live in a way in which I treat all people as equals, as Jesus did.

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Q When it comes to aging, what helps you accept

TheCatholicSpirit.com/ mn-catholic-directory

terms?

A We had this eight-week retreat on Ignatian

spirituality. In the evening, before you go to bed, you’re encouraged to think about your day and think about what you are thankful for.

Watching the Minnesota Orchestra (streamed online) from my living room. A group from church that meets every Friday morning on Zoom to discuss Scripture readings. We’re all at different stages.

Everybody feels safe. I really get fed by that.

18 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

MARCH 25, 2021

FOCUSONFAITH SUNDAY SCRIPTURES | FATHER DAN HAUGAN

The Passion: joy, sorrow, hope

The readings of Palm Sunday have always broken my heart. Before Mass, we read St. Mark’s short account of Jesus entering Jerusalem. The pilgrims in front of and behind Christ are joyfully waving palms, lining the street with their cloaks, welcoming him, shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! …

Hosanna in the highest heaven!” Then things take a turn for the worse. In Mass, during the Liturgy of the Word, at the Gospel, we read the full and tragic betrayal, passion and death of Jesus Christ. What a roller coaster of emotions!

Jesus’ triumphant entry into the capital city of Jerusalem has many parallels in history, where public adulation and welcome precedes deep tragedy, betrayal, violence and even death. One such instance in our recent memory might be the famous speech Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered in Washington, D.C., in 1963: “I have a dream, that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed; we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal.” Months later, President John F. Kennedy would be assassinated, and within a few years, King himself would senselessly be murdered.

Those murderous events of 50-plus years ago, the events in our nation’s capital a few months ago, the events in our own Twin Cities last year, and the events that took place 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem are all rife with hatred and hostility.

ASK FATHER MIKE | FATHER MICHAEL SCHMITZ

For faith to grow, keep a faith-friendly environment

Q I feel like my faith keeps failing.

I will have these moments when I feel close to God and strong in my faith, but then I always “crash” and feel nothing. What am I doing wrong?

A Last month, we looked at the first thing that we need to keep in mind: the law of undulation. C.S. Lewis coined this term in reference to the spiritual life more than 50 years ago. He noted that it is exceptionally common for us to experience highs and lows in all relationships, including our relationship with God. Not only that, but we need the lows! We

KNOW the SAINTS

There is great hostility in the story of Christ’s passion, and all of it is directed against Jesus. The religious leaders, chief priests, Roman centurions, one of the criminals being crucified with him, they all condemn and mock him. The common people, who might have joyfully welcomed him to Jerusalem just a few days before, now jeer at him as he hangs on the gibbet of the cross. Moreover, there is the failure of those who had been his Apostles, disciples and friends. They all suddenly abandon him and flee. Most tragically, Judas betrays him for 30 pieces of silver, and Peter publicly denies he even knows Jesus!

Surrounded by such fervent hostility during those dark hours, thankfully there were a few people (St. John, the Virgin Mary and a handful of holy women) at the foot of the cross who continued to faithfully and nobly respond to Jesus.

At the end of this week’s Passion narrative from St. Mark, we read of St. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses, having witnessed Christ’s cruel death, also witnessing his body being placed in the tomb. St. Mark’s account of the Passion calls us all to identify with those few followers at the foot of the cross, those few witnesses at the tomb. They saw Jesus with eyes of faith and followed him with hearts of love. They recognized with their eyes of faith the light and the love of God shining forth amid the darkness and hostility of the cross.

Hopefully, through a fruitful Lent, we too have honed our eyes of faith and deepened the love of God in our hearts. When we now look upon the passion and death of Jesus, hopefully we can see the love of God, and how that divine love is stronger than death, and how it dispels the darkness of sin in our lives.

In St. Mark’s Gospel narrative of the Passion, told in the space of just about 10 minutes, we discover the story of our salvation. Where else in such a short span of time can you have an opportunity to realize how profoundly loved you are? Have a blessed Holy Week!

ST. BENEDICT OF PALERMO Born near Messina, on the Italian island of Sicily, Benedict was the son of African slaves who, as their eldest son, was given his freedom. Growing up, he was nicknamed “il moro sante” (“the holy Moor”) for his piety and good works. He became a hermit and then the community’s superior; but, after the pope ordered them to disband in 1562, Benedict became a Franciscan lay brother.

He served as cook, but drew many visitors and supplicants with his reputation for holiness and miracles. Despite his illiteracy, Benedict was chosen as superior and also as novice master, before being allowed to return to his kitchen refuge. He is a patron saint of Palermo, Sicily, and of Blacks in the United States. His feast day is April 4. (The image above is of a statue of St. Benedict at the Minneapolis Institute of Art dated 1734 and attributed to Spanish sculptor José Montes de Oca.)

Father Haugan is pastor of Holy Spirit in St. Paul.

need those seasons of not feeling close to God in order to grow and mature in our love for God. In fact, we likely grow far more during the seasons where we feel nothing than in those seasons of consolation.

This month, I would like to address your actual question: What can I do to maintain a strong and lively faith?

I often hear this question from people who have been on retreat or have been away at a conference or are returning from a time and place in their life when they experienced a closeness with God and have experienced a zeal for his presence. They will come back home (and “come down the mountain,” so to speak) and are wondering if the only time a person can feel close to God is on retreat. While on retreat, people have placed themselves in an “oxygen-rich environment.” The things that make faith difficult to flourish have been eliminated, and the things that allow faith to grow have been introduced.

When a person is on retreat, they have placed themselves in an intentional environment. This environment is not only a place apart from necessary distractions and obligations but also one in which destructive and unnecessary distractions have been eliminated.

Too often, we tolerate “fire extinguishers” in our lives.

If we are talking about “being on fire,” then we have to be aware of what puts out the fire. There are the obvious examples, of course: returning to environments that are based on sin or that make sin easily accessible. To return to an environment like this would be like taking a candle out into a hurricane and wondering why it didn’t stay lit.

As I said, that is the obvious example. But what about those environments we have created that don’t immediately extinguish the flame?

There are many things that we Christians tolerate in our lives simply because they are considered “normal” in our culture. They might not be over-the-top awful, but they certainly take our eyes off the Lord and our hearts away from him. This could be anything from the entertainment we consume, to the things we read, to the news we seek out. These intrusions can suck the oxygen from our lives, and while they might not immediately extinguish the flame, they make it far weaker.

Another element of many retreats that helps is the fact that we are surrounded by people who are also open to pursuing the Lord. When we experience what it is to live in a community that has a life in Christ as its PLEASE TURN TO ASK FATHER MIKE ON PAGE 23

DAILY Scriptures Sunday, March 28 Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion Is 50:4-7 Phil 2:6-11 Mk 14:1–15:47 Monday, March 29 Holy Week Is 42:1-7 Jn 12:1-11 Tuesday, March 30 Holy Week Is 49:1-6 Jn 13:21-33, 36-38 Wednesday, March 31 Holy Week Is 50:4-9a Mt 26:14-25

Thursday, April 1 Mass of the Lord’s Supper Ex 12:1-8, 11-14 1 Cor 11:23-26 Jn 13:1-15 Friday, April 2 Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion Is 52:13-53:12 Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9 Jn 18:1-19:42 Saturday, April 3 Easter Vigil Gn 1:1–2:2 Gn 22:1-18 Ex 14:15–15:1 Is 54:5-14 Is 55:1-11 Bar 3:9-15, 32–4:4

Ez 36:16-17a, 18-28 Rom 6:3-11 Mark 16:1-7 Sunday, April 4 Easter Sunday, Resurrection of the Lord Acts 10:34a, 37-43 Col 3:1-4 Jn 20:1-9 Monday, April 5 Octave of Easter Acts 2:14, 22-33 Mt 28:8-15 Tuesday, April 6 Octave of Easter Acts 2:26-41 Jn 20:11-18

Wednesday, April 7 Octave of Easter Acts 3:1-10 Lk 24:13-35 Thursday, April 8 Octave of Easter Acts 3:11-26 Lk 24:35-48 Friday, April 9 Octave of Easter Acts 4:1-12 Jn 21:1-14 Saturday, April 10 Octave of Easter Acts 4:13-21 Mk 16:9-15

Sunday, April 11 Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday Acts 4:32-35 1 Jn 5:1-6 Jn 20:19-31 Monday, April 12 Acts 4:23-31 Jn 3:1-8 Tuesday, April 13 Acts 4:32-37 Jn 3:7b-15 Wednesday, April 14 Acts 5:17-26 Jn 3:16-21

Thursday, April 15 Acts 5:27-33 Jn 3:31-36 Friday, April 16 Acts 5:34-42 Jn 6:1-15 Saturday, April 17 Acts 6:1-7 Jn 6:16-21 Sunday, April 18 Third Sunday of Easter Acts 3:13-15, 17-19 1 Jn 2:1-5a Lk 24:35-48

FOCUSONFAITH

MARCH 25, 2021

CUPPA JOE | FATHER TOM MARGEVICIUS

conclusion of the Year of St. Joseph in December — 10 months — the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis will emphasize one of these wonders, inviting a local theologian to reflect on how that wonder is manifest in the life of St. Joseph. Each reflection will take place in one of the nine active parishes named in honor of St. Joseph, and the chapel of one religious order: the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondolet. Each reflection will also be recorded and available online at the “Cuppa Joe” web page, archspm.org/cuppajoe.

St. Joseph: ‘The Delight of Saints’ Editor’s Note: This is the first of 10 monthly “Cuppa Joe” reflections honoring the Year of St. Joseph and inspired by “10 wonders” of St. Joseph described by Father Donald Calloway, a priest of the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception, in his 2019 book, “Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father.” This column is a condensed version of a talk Father Margevicius gave at St. Joseph in West St. Paul, which was launched in a video March 2.

“I wish I could persuade everyone,” wrote St. Teresa of Avila in her autobiography, “to be devoted to the glorious St. Joseph, for I have great experience of the blessings which he can obtain from God. I do not remember that I have ever asked anything of him which he has failed to grant.”

Powerful words from a spiritual powerhouse!

Why would this master of the spiritual life write so convincingly about the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the foster-father of Jesus? The only place that St. Joseph shows up in Scripture is in the first chapters of the Gospels of Luke and Matthew, and even there, none of his words are recorded. Yet despite his silence, he has made a profound impact on numerous holy women and men. It seems that the more these saints meditated on the Holy Family, the greater their delight

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 19

in St. Joseph. St. Alphonsus Liguori said that “after the Blessed Mother, St. Joseph is, of all the saints, the one who is the dearest to God.” St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal, Canada, is the preeminent international center of devotion to St. Joseph, and was founded by St. André Bessette. This simple brother was famous for his devotion to St. Joseph, and he encouraged everyone else to be, too. “I have only my great devotion to St. Joseph,” he said. “This it is that guides me and gives me full confidence.”

These and countless other quotes from saints, blesseds, popes and theologians fill the pages of “Consecration to St. Joseph,” by Father Donald Calloway. The archdiocese is using his book as a roadmap as we celebrate the Year of St. Joseph. Part I of the book describes how one can go about consecrating to St. Joseph, while Part II unpacks “10 wonders,” titles applied to St. Joseph. He is the “Delight of Saints,” “Our Spiritual Father,” “Young Husband of Mary,” “Virginal Father of Jesus,” “Just and Reverent Man,” “Savior of the Savior,” “Adorer of Christ,” “Silent Witness,” “Patron of a Happy Death” and “Terror of Demons.”

Starting this month of March and ending with the

Father Calloway summons innumerable saints to demonstrate that finally the Church is beginning to render St. Joseph the attention and honor he deserves.

Pope St. John XXIII did something unheard of in 1962: He changed the Roman Canon, when he officially inserted the name of Joseph after the Blessed Virgin Mary in what we now call Eucharistic Prayer I. Pope Francis followed suit, and added his name in Eucharistic Prayers II, III and IV in 2013. Since celebration of the Eucharist is the “source and summit” of the Christian Life, as Vatican II said, and all saints were devoted to the Eucharist, inserting St. Joseph’s name in the Church’s most important prayer must certainly delight all the other saints. May our observance of the Year of St. Joseph increase our delight in him as well.

Father Margevicius is the director of worship for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Watch his whole talk at archspm.org/cuppajoe. The next talk will launch online at 4 p.m. April 6 from St. Joseph in Lino Lakes on “St. Joseph: Our Spiritual Father” by Deborah Savage.

Viewers can also watch via the archdiocese’s Facebook page facebook.com/archdiocesespm, Instagram account instagram.com/archdiocesespm and YouTube channel youtube. com/user/archdiocesespm.

St. Joseph, West St. Paul began with ‘Sloppy Joe’s’ Editor’s note: This is the first story in a monthly series on 10 places in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis with connections to St. Joseph.

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit Before sacred hymns filled what became the first church of St. Joseph in West St. Paul in 1943, the building had served as a tavern known for live country western music.

Parishioners purchased Sloppy Joe’s Tavern, a popular West St. Paul bar on Charlton Street, and renovated it for its worship space. That building served their congregation for six years, until the parish built a school a half-mile from its current site on Seminole Avenue, and moved worship there.

In the parish’s first years in that former tavern, its first pastor, Msgr.

James Foran, nurtured the faith of his fledgling congregation. It’s unclear why the parish chose to renovate a tavern for its first church, but parishioner Dorothy Miels, who once worked as Msgr. Foran’s secretary, said she wouldn’t be surprised if the tavern’s name played a role in Archbishop John Gregory Murray’s decision to name it “St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church,” the parish’s formal name.

Almost 80 years later, the parish now consists of 1,800 households, said Father Michael Creagan, its pastor since 2008.

After Archbishop Murray asked that the parish be formed in 1942, parishioners first met for Mass at a local junior high school.

The tavern renovations were completed before Easter 1943.

“Imagine the challenges of remodeling during World War II, when many items

COURTESY ST. JOSEPH ARCHIVES

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPiRIT

This statue of St. Joseph stands just inside the front entrance of St. Joseph in West St. Paul. were rationed,” Father Creagan said.

Miels, who turns 100 in November, didn’t start attending St. Joseph until after the Mass and other celebrations were moved into the parish’s school building near the current church in 1949, but she remembers going to Sloppy Joe’s Tavern for music.

She also remembers working at a dining hall the parish rented at the Minnesota State Fair during the 1950s and 1960s, selling meals to pay down parish debt.

Parishioners gathered for Mass in the parish school’s lower level from 1949 until the present church was built in 1988, following a growth spurt during the 1970s and 1980s. However, items from the original “tavern church” remain: a St. Joseph statue, a tabernacle and an image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Father Creagan said.

There are numerous images of the

parish’s patron saint in the church and school, including large wood panels of St. Joseph’s life in the main church, and a stained-glass window of the saint with Jesus. “It helps parishioners be more conscious of him,” Father Creagan said.

The parish usually honors St. Joseph by praying a 30-day novena before his March 19 feast day and holding other events. The parish decided not to hold the events this year because of the pandemic, Father Creagan said.

During the Church’s worldwide Year of St. Joseph, the parish has been remembering the saint’s joys and sorrows during the seven Sundays leading up to his feast day with prayer and videos.

Many parishioners also participated in the parish’s consecration to St. Joseph last fall, with 500 copies sold through the parish of Father Donald Calloway’s book, “Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father,” Father Creagan said.

The parish also was the first site March

A former West St. Paul tavern called Sloppy Joe’s was converted into the first church of the new parish of St. Joseph in West St. Paul.

The parish was based at the site from 1943 to 1949 before moving Mass and other services into its school building a half-mile away.

2 of 10 talks by 10 theologians at 10 sites in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on 10 wonders of St. Joseph to help mark the Year of St. Joseph. Father Tom Margevicius, the archdiocese’s director of worship, presented St. Joseph as the “Delight of Saints.” (See commentary above.)

Father Creagan said he is grateful the parish is named for St. Joseph. “We will soon celebrate 30 years of perpetual eucharistic adoration,” he said.

“St. Joseph shows us how to be quiet in the presence of Jesus.”

Because of COVID-19, Miels hasn’t been able to attend Mass or pray at her parish during the past year, but she considers her parish like family.

“It’s a church that holds people together, and I think that’s so important,” Miels said. “It’s a family church, and it still is because so many times people have brought Communion to me, and everybody who brings Communion makes me feel like I belong to them.”

20 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

MARCH 25, 2021

COMMENTARY YOUR HEART, HIS HOME | LIZ KELLY

Who will speak your name before God?

As evil as the COVID-19 pandemic has been, it has also been a blessing in at least one regard: It has heightened our awareness of the eternal value of being personally present to one another. The human person was created for and only flourishes with personal, in-theflesh encounter. So COVID-19, with its quarantines, isolation and mask mandates, in its terrible way, heightens the import of embodiment and even more specifically, the Incarnation.

Case in point: The following excerpt has been taken from an interview between Dr. Michael J. Brescia, executive medical director and co-founder of Calvary Hospitals in the Bronx and Brooklyn, and Sister Mary Margaret Hope from the Sisters of Life, also in New York. It is a remarkable account of the simple act of being present — in the flesh. Brescia recalls: “I got a call from Metropolitan Hospital. They had a woman they had found under the highway. Could they send her right to Calvary (Hospital)? She had no family; she wasn’t speaking. She was filthy, and her name was Angela. So I said, ‘OK, we’ll take her.’ And as I was leaving, Angela was coming in; she had a big tumor coming out of her back. She had chopped red hair, no teeth. She had AIDS, hepatitis and was draining all kinds of infected material. Of course, our cancer care technicians were anxious to go to work on her.

“I was in Washington for one day, fighting for funding. When I came back, I went upstairs to see her, and I couldn’t believe what they’d done. They cleaned her up, worked on her mouth, did her hair, did her nails. She didn’t look like she understood anything, but I said, ‘I’m going to promise you, Angela, that I will see you three times every day.’ I thought, ‘Three times a day I’m going to come in and touch you and tell God, “I’m going there because of my love for you.”’

“Six weeks later, I’m coming back from Washington again feeling discouraged. I think, ‘Oh, I won’t go to see her tonight; I’ll see her tomorrow.’ Then I think,

FAITH AT HOME | LAURA KELLY FANUCCI

We need rituals to mourn

Our youngest turns 1 year old today. Last night we baked a cake, hung the birthday banners and set his presents on the kitchen table.

The same rituals we do for every child, every year.

Family life is full of rituals: school pictures, special desserts, summer reunions, game nights and grace before meals.

Anthropologists and sociologists tell us that rituals are essential. We need to mark the milestones of our lives and the passage of time in order to bring meaning and coherence to changes we face.

Theologians and liturgists praise the power of rituals at the core of our faith. Rhythms of prayer and traditions of worship orient our lives toward God and set a solid foundation in an ever-shifting world.

But we’ve neglected ritual in a stark and sobering way this year.

We haven’t mourned our dead.

Recently the United States passed a terrible milestone of 500,000 lives lost to COVID-19. I watched the media coverage and the president's

If the Lord of the universe wouldn’t settle for anything less than joining us in the flesh, then how can we?

iSTOCK PHOTO | CARMENMURILLO

‘No I’d better go. I’ll feel miserable tonight if I don’t go.’ I go up to the floor and Angela is dying. So I take off my coat, and I take her hand, put it on my cheek and I say, ‘Angela, I’m staying.’ Exactly 90 minutes later, I hear, ‘Dr. Michael, Dr. Michael.’ I couldn’t believe my ears. I jump up, and I’ve got her now as tightly as I can, and I say, ‘Angela?’ She said, ‘Dr. Michael, tonight, in a few hours, I’ll speak your name to God.’ She never spoke another word. She closed her eyes and left this earth.”

We cannot underestimate the power of simply being physically present to one another, even when circumstances would suggest “It doesn’t really matter; it won’t make any difference.” Neither can we overestimate how profoundly we need this experience, as technology and social media tends to dehumanize so many of our interactions.

I thank God for the technology that allows us to

ceremony, but I saw next to nothing from our Church on national or local levels. While I'm sure there were responses I missed, I felt the ache of emptiness at so many lives lost — 2.5 million worldwide — without a loud cry of lament from the faithful.

We could change this: as individuals, families and communities.

We don’t need to make up new rituals for mourning. We can draw from the beauty of our tradition, bringing all that we have to this current crisis.

We can keep praying for the dead at each Mass, remembering in the prayers of the faithful those who have died from COVID-19, their caretakers and loved ones. Repetition is key to ritual.

We could keep a votive candle lit in vigil for those who have died during the pandemic. Constant prayer is part of our Catholic identity.

We could offer a special prayer service — virtual or in-person — to remember all the lives lost to COVID-19. As we mark the one-year milestone of the virus’ outbreak in the United States, this would be a powerful time to gather and pray during Lent.

Rituals can come home, too. What if parishes sent home a psalm of lament for parishioners to pray together? Or a small candle to light in memory of those in the parish who have died of the virus?

Every night one of our kids prays for “those who are dying from COVID and the doctors and nurses who are caring for them.” The simple act of remembering has been transformative for our family

stay “in touch” in this unprecedented moment of human history, but let’s not settle for it. If the Lord of the universe wouldn’t settle for anything less than joining us in the flesh, then how can we?

“And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14).

Thank you, Jesus, for the extraordinary condescension of joining us fully in our humanity.

When I am tempted to settle for a text, or email or Zoom call, remind me to honor my embodiment as you did.

Kelly is the award-winning author of nine books, including “Love Like A Saint: Cultivating Virtue with Holy Women,” from which this article was adapted. Visit her website at lizk.org. Find the entire account from Brescia in “Suffering and the Narrative of Redemption,” National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, Autumn 2017, by Sister Jane Dominic Laurel.

during the pandemic, as we reach out across our isolation.

Plenty of parishes make space for rituals that matter to their community: daily Masses offered for beloved dead, weekly prayers for vocations to religious life or yearly displays of crosses for babies lost to abortion.

If we believe each life is sacred, then we must also ask how to honor half a million who have died here in the past 12 months.

What we cannot do is become complacent — or worse, callous. We are called to care more, not less. We must mourn each life lost, no matter the circumstances, because each life matters to God. My youngest son turns 1 today. My faith taught me that his body and soul held infinite worth from the moment he sparked to life inside me.

As our family turns to ritual to mark this milestone, I remember those who grieve even as I rejoice. This is part of what it means to be Catholic: that my concerns are forever united to the body of Christ and my life is never mine alone.

May we as people and as parishes ask how we can remember our dead and those who grieve for them.

Rituals help us celebrate and mourn — and faith calls us to do both.

A parishioner of St. Joseph the Worker in Maple Grove, Fanucci is a writer, speaker and author of several books including "Everyday Sacrament: The Messy Grace of Parenting." Her work can be found at laurakellyfanucci.com.

MARCH 25, 2021

COMMENTARY

CATHOLIC WATCHMEN | DEACON GORDON BIRD

character of the family leader during those hidden years: “Saint Joseph was so reserved and careful in his speech that not one word ever issued from his mouth that was not good and holy, nor did he ever indulge in unnecessary or less than charitable conversation.

He was most patient and diligent in bearing fatigue; he practiced extreme poverty; he was most meek in bearing injuries; he was strong and constant against enemies; he was the faithful witness of the wonders of heaven.” Church fathers and numerous saints attest to his virtue.

The bond to the glory of domestic life

Division in the household can certainly dim the glory of domestic life. Jesus grew up in the stability of the Holy Family, and after those hidden years, later taught during his earthly ministry that a house divided cannot stand. Family, social and political life the past 12 months have given us a spiritual workout, beyond what we desired to manage. Entering Holy Week this early spring, as Lent nears its end, gives us much to consider and pray about.

The past year — with its limited activities — has taught us much about patience and understanding.

Many learned that knowing each other better through courageous conversations can close the gap on what divides us. This helps all relationships we have, and not only at home. Yet, if things are not right in home life — divided, so to speak — astute friends and colleagues will notice.

Hence, it’s wise to raise our hearts and minds in prayer to the Holy Family for assistance. Given its members are God Incarnate and the two greatest saints in their proper order — the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph, our spiritual parents — the Holy Family has much to offer. In this Year of St. Joseph, the spiritual arsenal available supports the well-deserved hype to “Go to Joseph.” His sinless spouse and Jesus

Should we not strive to model such behavior to promote unity? Granted, Joseph had the perfect Son with whom to teach and live a devout, hard-working, moral life. Jesus’ ministry speaks to the qualities he would have observed and learned perfectly as a child growing up in Jewish life. Furthermore, one in good faith could sensibly reason that these traits were in the home in which “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man” (Lk 2:52). For those who have participated recently in the “Consecration to St. Joseph,” a 33-day journey that led to his Solemnity on March 19, great! If not, target another feast day. St. Joseph the Worker is May 1.

iSTOCK PHOTO | SEDMAK

entrusted many years to his fatherly leadership during a divided, tenuous time.

To teach us important things that instill unity inside and outside of the home, it takes recalling the silent witness of St. Joseph, the Glory of Domestic Life (among his many titles). Our Lady’s words to St. Bridget in private revelation tells much of the

INSIDE THE CAPITOL | MCC

The employer/employee relationship is a reciprocal one that carries with it rights and duties on the part of both actors. Employees are responsible for fulfilling their commitments to an employer by providing honest labor that produces honorable goods and services. Employers are responsible for treating their employees justly and providing work and fair pay that is consistent with each person’s dignity and family obligations (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church §§ 2427-36).

The hospitality, travel and entertainment industries will take time to recover and may never return to pre-COVID levels. Helping to create pathways back into employment, especially for long-term employees, limits the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on vulnerable communities. Further, many hospitality industry employees lack higher education credentials, which can make transitioning to a new job or different line of work difficult. That job scarcity underscores the importance of giving displaced workers the opportunity to get their jobs back. It is not unreasonable to expect businesses reopening after the pandemic interruption to recall the career employees whose labor helped them build a successful enterprise.

In light of this, the MCC issued a letter of support for H.F. 39 (Carlson), also known as the Right to Recall bill. If passed, it would protect employees affected by COVID-19 restrictions by granting them the first right of refusal to reclaim their jobs when hospitality-related businesses rebound. After two successful committee stops, the Right to Recall bill now awaits action from the House Ways and Means Committee.

Come Holy Week, recollect the experience of the Holy Family with Jesus as “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). As Catholic Watchmen standing at the breach with family, friend and neighbor, we are called to embrace the spiritual leadership of St. Joseph. Learning about Jesus, Mary and St. Joseph in their powerful intercession can help bond that which divides us — bringing glory to domestic life.

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

LETTERS

Solidarity with hospitality workers Supporting ‘Right to Recall’

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 21

Take action Register for Catholics at the Capitol happening at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul and online April 15. This day will form participants in the faith, inform them on pertinent issues, and send them on mission to transform the state as an advocate for life and dignity. The afternoon includes Benediction outside the State Capitol. Virtual meetings with legislators will take place the next day.

Full details including speakers and tickets can be found at catholicsatthecapitol.org.

Opposition to street improvement districts In what has become a biennial tradition, MCC and a coalition of 29 religious and business organizations, including the Jewish Community Relations Council, are opposing a bill that would authorize the creation of municipal street improvement districts. Similar bills have been introduced and rejected nine times in the last 11 legislative sessions. Like its predecessors, this year’s bill, H.F. 1565 (Elkins), would give broad authority to city councils to impose an additional property tax. Under the proposal, the city would not need to prove that an affected property would benefit to justify imposing a fee. The bill is problematic for religious organizations such as Catholic churches because it fails to exempt properties identified in the Minnesota Constitution, Article X, section 1, as prohibited by state and local government from being taxed.

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

In your Feb. 25 issue, Minnesota Catholic Conference Director Jason Adkins says that the root cause of the problem of working with prochoice Catholic politicians is the prevalence of heterodox clergy and religious sisters who give aid and comfort to these politicians. Mr. Adkins continues: “Given President Biden’s policies, most notably his determination to engage in aggressive ideological colonization at home and abroad through abortion and LGBT ideology, one wonders what he has been hearing or not hearing from the Jesuits and religious sisters with whom he surrounds himself on a regular basis. Until the root cause of the problem is dealt with effectively, President Biden can effectively ignore the bishops and still feel like he is a Catholic in good standing.” It seems to me that the bishops need to step in and exercise their authority and sacred power over the heterodox clergy and religious sisters in their dioceses, as Article 894 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church advises.

Roland J. Mayer Epiphany, Coon Rapids

Share your perspective by emailing TheCatholicSpirit@archspm.org. Please limit your letter to the editor to 150 words and include your parish and phone number.

The Commentary pages do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Catholic Spirit.

22 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

MARCH 25, 2021

Why I am Catholic

By Ron McBroom

T

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

here are many reasons, but first and foremost by far, is the

enjoy both of these prayers and never tire of saying them, as

Eucharist.

they are a great tribute to Mary and Jesus.

At the consecration of the Mass, a miracle takes place with the

bread and wine actually becoming the body and blood of Jesus

Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph. I can pray to our saints for

Christ. Sometimes at Mass, during the consecration, I feel like

certain requests or protection from spiritual or physical harm for

hollering out, “Look, there is a miracle.” I do not do that, as I

myself or my loved ones.

think Father Michael Miller, my parish priest, would have a dim

“

I like the recognition given to our saints, starting with the

view of that.

Second, and most important,

Sometimes at Mass, during the consecration, I feel like hollering out, ‘Look, there is a miracle.’

Confession is so very important. One of the hardest things in life is to admit you screwed up and then tell it to another human being. Yet, by doing this through an apostle of Jesus

I have been an extraordinary

Christ, a priest, our sins are forgiven if we are sincerely sorry.

minister of the Eucharist at Mass

It is so important to take advantage of this sacrament as often

for over 40 years. What an honor

as possible. When I think of what made this possible, the

and privilege to do that. A priest or

crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins,

deacon goes through many years

this is why I am Catholic.

of schooling to be able to do this.

I was able to do that after an hour or two of classes. To be able to give my brothers and sisters the body

McBroom, 76, is an insurance agent and a member with his wife of 52 years, Kathy, of St. Patrick in Cedar Lake. They have five children, 16 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

or blood of Christ gives me much satisfaction. It does not get any better than that!

The Catholic faith gives me two

beautiful prayers, the rosary and the Divine Mercy Chaplet. I

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

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MARCH 25, 2021

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 23

CALENDAR PRAYER+RETREATS

Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. “Through the Eyes of our Crucified Savior,” with seven sessions, in person or by Zoom. $250 in person, $125 online.

Register online or call 763-682-1394 for more information. kingshouse.com

Lenten Lecture: “St. Joseph, Model of Silence” — March 26: 7:30–8:30 p.m. at St. Agnes, 535 Thomas Ave. W., St. Paul. Final Lenten Lecture on “St. Joseph, Model for Christians.” Father Timothy Cloutier speaks on Joseph as a “model of silence,” following the 7 p.m. Stations of the Cross. Free. churchofsaintagnes.org/lentenlectures Women’s silent weekend retreat “A Listening Heart” — March 26–28: At Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. $160.

Register online or call 763-682-1394 for more information. kingshouse.com “The Friendship of Women” by Susan Stabile — March 27: 9 a.m.–3 p.m. at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. For mothers, grandmothers, daughters, sisters and friends. $50, includes lunch. Register online or call 763-682-1394. kingshouse.com Men and women’s silent Holy Week retreat — March 31–April 3: At Christ the King Retreat

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

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

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

ITEMS MUST INCLUDE the following to be considered for publication: uTime and date of event uFull street address of event uDescription of event uContact information in case of questions ONLINE: TheCatholicSpirit.com/calendarsubmissions

Retrouvaille retreat: Help for struggling marriages — April 9–11: At Dakota Ridge Best Western Hotel, 3450 Washington Drive, Eagan.

Retrouvaille is a lifeline for troubled marriages.

Couples learn the tools to rediscover each other and heal their marriage. 100% confidential. helpourmarriage.org “Encountering ‘Fratelli Tutti’” series — April 27 and May 25: 7–8:30 p.m. online. Two dates of this five-part series remain. Presentations and discussions. Discern how this document from Pope Francis can influence and enrich lives. Register at centerformission.org/whats-new.

“Thou Mighty God”: Music for Lute and Soprano — March 28: 2:30–3:30 p.m. at Holy Cross, 1621 University Ave., Minneapolis. A concert of sacred devotional works of the late Renaissance and early Baroque, featuring music

by Claude LeJeune, Nicolas Vallet, John Dowland, Etienne Moulinie and Michelagnolo Galilei. Free admission, ample parking. ourholycross.org/musical-events

PARISH EVENTS Living Stations of the Cross — April 2: 10 a.m. at St. Peter, 2600 N. Margaret St., North St. Paul. The Servants of the Cross will re-enact the passion of Christ on Good Friday. Limited seating; reservations required. YouTube presentation for homebound or if unable to attend. servantsofthecrossmn.com.

St. Pascal’s Men’s Club booya — April 11:

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18

Divine Mercy Sunday service — April 11: 2–3:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Paul, 239 Selby Ave., St. Paul. In-person Divine Mercy service with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and veneration of the image of Divine Mercy, followed by eucharistic adoration, readings, music, confessions and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy at 3 p.m. Other parish Divine Mercy services are expected to be available by April 1 at TheCatholicSpirit.com/divinemercy.

FORMATION Prison ministry workshop — April 17: 9 a.m.–noon. Virtual workshop with information about opportunities and importance for prison ministry inside and outside prison walls, with a panel discussion on support to returning citizens and transitional housing. tcprisonministry.com/coming-soon

MUSIC

Living Stations of the Cross — April 2: 6 p.m. at Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 1725 Kennard St., Maplewood. The Servants of the Cross will re-enact the passion of Christ on Good Friday. Limited seating; reservations required.

YouTube presentation for homebound or if unable to attend. servantsofthecrossmn.com.

ASK FATHER MIKE

10 a.m. at St. Pascal Baylon, 1757 Conway St., St. Paul. Drive-through booya sales only until pots empty. No personal containers or dine-in. Four 12 oz. scoop containers are $17. Cash, check or card.

Come early, goes fast. Supports school and parish needs. stpascals.org or rjhoffman43@msn.com

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Level I adult formation — April 10, 17 and May 1, 15: 8:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. at St. Michael, 611 S. Third St., Stillwater. Montessori-based religious formation program rooted in Scripture and the liturgy of the Catholic Church. The method encourages fuller participation in the Holy Mass and assists children with a personal relationship with Christ, the Good Shepherd. cgsusa.org

ONGOING GROUPS Restorative Justice Groups — Monthly: 6:30– 8 p.m. via Zoom. Open to all victim-survivors. First Mondays for those sexually abused by clergy as adults. Second Tuesdays for relatives and friends of clergy abuse victims. Third Mondays, victimsurvivor support group. Third Wednesdays, survivor peace circle. Fourth Wednesdays, support group for men sexually abused by clergy or religious. Learn more at archspm.org/healing or call Paula Kaempffer at 651-291-4429.

very reason for being, why would any Christian choose anything less? Yet that is what so many do.

Notwithstanding the familial and marital obligations that most people have, we allow people in our lives who actively hinder our walk with the Lord. This is not a call to abandon all non-Christians and live in a selfselected commune somewhere, but it is an invitation to analyze if the relationships many of us have in our lives are actually worthwhile.

Just because you have been pals with someone for a long time does not mean that you need to be pals with them forever.

We need to identify what makes the flame of faith harder to keep alive and do something about it. Again, while sometimes we might be able to actually change the environment (think of the alcoholic who gets rid of all the booze in the house and chooses to no longer spend any time with drinking buddies), there are other times when we can’t do anything to change the environment. In those cases, merely identifying the obstacle can be a step forward.

If there are necessary relationships or necessary environments that are toxic to one’s faith, merely identifying that fact is already a victory. Rather than continually being blindsided by those people or those conditions that rob faith and joy, knowing that you are entering a difficult situation can be enough to help steel yourself and prepare for the struggle.

I would maintain that there are few things more important than your environment that will assist in growing (or killing) your faith.

We might wish that we were stronger than that or that our faith was more mature than that, but we don’t base our decisions on what we wish were true, we base them on what is actually true.

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.

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EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES Director of Nursing FT Little Sisters of the Poor St. Paul, MN. Immediate Opening. Duties to be performed in accordance with the Jeanne Jugan model of care. For more information, please see https://careers.archspm.org/jobs/. Applicants should send a resume and cover letter to: hrstpaul@littlesistersofthepoor.org Catholic Caregiver needed. Golden Valley.

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For more information or to submit a resume, contact Jennifer Ludtke: 608-833-2606 or jennifer@stamadison.org.

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24 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

MARCH 25, 2021

THELASTWORD

Revisiting the altar of repose Staying with Jesus in his agony: ‘Could you not keep watch for one hour?’

By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit

I

t begins with a solemn procession after the Holy Thursday Mass, the priest bearing the Eucharist in a ciborium — a special, covered vessel — with altar servers carrying candles and incense, the congregation singing hymns and following to the altar of repose.

The liturgy itself ends quietly even as the procession continues: no final blessing, no sending out of the faithful. It is in keeping with the beginning of the Triduum, which flows from Holy Thursday’s institution of the Eucharist and the priesthood, into commemorating Christ’s passion and death on the cross on Good Friday, through the quiet waiting of Holy Saturday and finally the joyous celebration of Jesus’ resurrection at Easter.

Some people leave for home after the procession to the altar of repose, which often is set up with candles and flowers in a side altar or chapel separate from the main body of the church. But others stay even until midnight, and sometimes after if they wish and the parish allows, keeping vigil with Jesus in the Eucharist at the special altar, just as the Apostles “kept watch” with Christ in his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane over the sacrifice necessary for people’s salvation.

“All of this is to live with Jesus on the way to the cross,” said Beatriz Lopez, a member of St. Francis de Sales in St. Paul and formation coordinator for the Latino Ministry office of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. “The altar of repose is part of that.”

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the altar of repose was not part of Holy Week at St. Francis de Sales last year. But the tradition will continue this year, with appropriate precautions against spread of the novel coronavirus, said Father James Adams, pastor.

“Certainly, there’s been a huge tradition in the parish,” he said. “It’s the beginning of the Triduum, the three central days of our whole year. He (Jesus) asks, ‘Could you not keep watch for one hour?’” said Father Adams, citing the Lord’s words in the Gospel of Mark’s account of the Passion.

Decorations vary for the altar of repose. At St. Dominic in Northfield, there are lilies and other spring flowers, a white altar cloth and many candles decorating a large classroom area in the basement of the church, said Claudia Bauer, a parishioner there and youth coordinator in the archdiocese’s Latino Ministry office.

The procession to the altar of repose is full of emotion as people follow the Eucharist from Holy Thursday Mass, Bauer said. “It’s impactful. And an amazing reminder that Christ was crucified. It’s very profound.”

The altar of repose at St. Jude of the Lake in Mahtomedi is set up in an altar niche honoring St. Joseph, just off the main altar, said Father Chad Van Hoose, pastor. There are flowers and an altar cloth, a procession through the church and time for adoration, he said.

“It’s important because it’s a matter of staying with the Lord in his agony,” Father Van Hoose said. “It’s a chance to console the heart of Jesus.”

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Eva Garnica and her husband, Eduardo Vega, stand in front of the altar of repose at St. Francis de Sales, which features a tabernacle built and painted by Vega.

Ancient tradition It’s an ancient tradition, one that began in about the year 800 with reception of holy Communion by the faithful added to Good Friday liturgies, which had been restricted to readings and veneration of the cross, said Johan van Parys, director of liturgy and the sacred arts at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis.

At that time, there was no ceremony around reserving the Blessed Sacrament from Holy Thursday to Good Friday. The Eucharist — which is absent from the main body of the church during the Good Friday liturgy — was simply reserved in the sacristy, van Parys said.

But rituals began to form around that simple practice, and the first written description of a procession to an altar of repose dates to the Middle Ages, in the 11th century, he said.

Also during the Middle Ages, candles and flowers were added to the altar of repose, and gradually the altar of repose was equated with the tomb of Christ, rather than a place to reserve and honor the Eucharist, van Parys said. In a time of constant wars and hunger, the plague and other sources of extreme hardship, people wanted to unite their suffering to Christ’s suffering, which led naturally to comparing the altar of repose with Jesus being laid in the tomb, he said.

By the 1600s, the idea of a tomb-like vigil was reinforced as reception of the Eucharist on Good Friday turned from the entire congregation to the priest alone, and on Holy Thursday a second host for the priest was consecrated and reserved after Holy Thursday Mass for this purpose. Over time, a third host was consecrated for the altar of repose and remained there until Easter, another reinforcement of the idea of a tomb, van Parys said.

The idea of a tomb-like vigil continued, and in 1955, Pope Pius XII reordered Holy Week, maintaining the altar of repose, but solemnly.

The pope de-emphasized flowers and candles and stressed that the altar was intended to reserve the Blessed Sacrament for Good Friday services, not be a symbol of Christ’s tomb. The Second Vatican Council continued in that direction, van Parys said.

Many people now compare time spent at the altar to that of the Apostles with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, he said.

The Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship

issued a letter in 1988 detailing doctrinal and pastoral norms for Holy Week celebrations. It reads in part: “For the reservation of the Blessed Sacrament, a place should be prepared and adorned in such a way as to be conducive to prayer and meditation; that sobriety appropriate to the liturgy of these days is enjoined, to the avoidance or suppression of all abuses.”

The tabernacle is closed, there is no monstrance for eucharistic adoration at the altar of repose, and modest candle and floral arrangements are encouraged, van Parys said. But arrangements for the altar of repose vary widely, and some may be more exuberant than others, he said.

“Liturgical documents are often very precise in how to do things,” he said. “But that will not stop people’s devotions. The Church would not stop people from offering flowers and candles.”

‘Giving back to God’ Flowers and candles, a large piece of art depicting the Eucharist, two hand-fashioned and painted tabernacles — used on alternating years — are part of the altar of repose at St. Francis de Sales. Eva Garnica, the parish’s Hispanic community coordinator, and her husband, Eduardo Vega, created several of the decorations, and they set up the altar each year.

“It is a way of giving back to God for all that he has given to our family without deserving it,” Garnica said. “I am passionate about being able to give a message through art, a message of conversion, of hope, of God’s love for us.”

One faith tradition centered on the altar of repose that is practiced in many countries, including in the United States and in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, is praying at the altar of repose at seven churches on Holy Thursday. The Seven Churches Visitation is a strong memory from Mexico for Lopez, who recalls visiting seven churches in Toluca City.

“All of the people are there,” Lopez said. “You can be there five to 10 minutes, and tradition has a small piece of bread and a bunch of chamomile, the flowers.”

The bread is blessed and symbolizes assistance to the poor and the Eucharist, and everyone is invited to take a piece, Lopez said. The chamomile also is blessed and brought home to make tea.

“It unites us with the pain of Christ,” Lopez said of Holy Week. “This is a more deeply felt time.”