The Catholic Spirit - March 26, 2015

March 26, 2015 thecatholicspirit.com

Holy Week 2015

Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

from

DEATH

to LIFE One of the Stations of the Cross at St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony. Dave Hrbacek/ The Catholic Spirit

U of M converts 12-13 • Ideas for families 14-15 • Roman art and local music 16-17 ALSO inside

Minneapolis church at risk

Farewell, Franciscans

Praising a pastor

Our Lady of Lourdes leaders fight plans for high-rise next door.

After 106 years, order relinquishing responsibility for St. Paul parish.

NCEA honors Father Tix of St. John the Baptist in Savage for his role in school.

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Page Two

2 in PICTURES

“. . . in the education of the heart, women are the world’s professors.”

Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Holy See’s permanent observer to the United Nations, opening a March 18 Vatican mission-sponsored U.N. forum on Women Promoting Human Dignity

NEWS notes • The Catholic Spirit

Cathedral to celebrate anniversary Mass Palm Sunday The Cathedral of St. Paul will commemorate the 100th anniversary of its first Mass on Palm Sunday at the 10 a.m. Mass. Archbishop John Nienstedt will preside.

ACCW announces volunteer awards, convention FOUR-PEAT FOR ISLANDERS DeLaSalle High School basketball players Samm Jones, left, Austin McGeheran, Eli Brimacomb, Jeffery Daubanton, Gabe Kalscheur and Sacar Anim begin the celebration at the end of their 82-64 win over St. Paul Johnson in the Class AAA boys basketball finals March 14 at Target Center in Minneapolis. It was the fourth consecutive state title for the Islanders, who finished the season with a record of 27-4. Brimacomb, Daubanton and Anim are seniors, Jones and McGeheran are juniors and Kalscheur is a freshman. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

The Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women named five 2015 Lay Women Volunteer Award Winners: Mary Becker, St. Michael in St. Michael; Mary Lou Hilgers, St. Boniface in St. Bonifacius; Patricia Keepers, St. Odilia in Shoreview; Ann Koenig, New Prague Catholic Community; and Peg Johnston, St. Patrick in Inver Grove Heights. The women will be honored at the 2015 ACCW convention at St. Dominic in Northfield April 17-18, which is open to all Catholic women in the archdiocese. For more information, visit www.accwarchspm.org.

Catholic United schools fundraiser tops $1 million The 2015 Catholic Schools Raffle organized by Catholic United Financial raised more than $1 million for Catholic schools in Minnesota and the Dakotas, the St. Paul-based fraternal life insurance company announced March 23. Because Catholic United covers the fundraiser’s costs, 100 percent of the money raised returns to the 86 participating schools, including 22 in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

UST launches Institute for Catholicism and Citizenship

ART FOR JUSTICE Reagan Simek, left, Jennifer Simek and Charlie Anhut view artwork at the 2015 Catholic Campaign for Human Development Art Contest Reception March 18 at St. John Neumann in Eagan. Reagan was a second-place winner in the grades six-nine category. The CCHD Multimedia Youth Art Contest “combines social justice, artistic expression and faith into a moving reflection on our call to serve our neighbors in need,” said Angela Butel, diocesan coordinator for CCHD and community engagement specialist at Catholic Charities’ Office for Social Justice. Of the 14 displayed, two winning artworks will enter the CCHD national art competition. Photo courtesy Angela Butel

Joan Evans, a parishioner of St. Joseph in West St. Paul, shared the story of grieving the loss of her daughter when she joined the Handmaids of the Heart of Jesus, a religious community in New Ulm, at The New York Times blog “Motherlode” March 22.

The best pizza delivery ever? Check out a video on our Facebook page of a man handing Pope Francis a personal pie during the pontiff’s recent trip to Naples, pizza’s legendary birthplace. Earlier in March, Pope Francis remarked, “The one thing that I would like is to go out, without anyone recognizing me, and go to a pizzeria to eat pizza.”

Anthony Gockowski, The Catholic Spirit intern and University of St. Thomas senior, shares his raw observations of the 2015 Archdiocesan Catholic Men’s Conference.

The Catholic Spirit is published bi-weekly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Vol. 20 — No. 6 MOST REVEREND JOHN C. NIENSTEDT, Publisher ANNE STEFFENS, Associate Publisher

March 26, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

St. Agnes names new headmaster St. Agnes School in St. Paul named Kevin Ferdinandt its new headmaster March 11, effective July 1. He replaces Principal James Morehead, who has served the school for eight years. Ferdinandt was a founding administrator and is currently the assistant headmaster of Providence Academy in Plymouth, where he has worked for 14 years.

FROM our readers

WHAT’S NEW on social media

United in Faith, Hope and Love

The theology department at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul announced March 13 a new Institute for Catholicism and Citizenship under the direction of Massimo Faggioli, an assistant professor of theology. For its inaugural event, the institute will host John Carr, director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University, April 23 for a 7 p.m. presentation titled “Pope Francis on Politics: Faithful Citizenship in a Time of Polarization.”

MARIA WIERING, Editor

I have been a Catholic all my life, and an unabashed liberal.

Flaming, I have often described myself. How astonished I was to find out that liberal Catholics are the ones against Pope Francis (“UST historian unpacks pushback against pope,” March 12). This is very confusing, as practically all my views on social justice mirror those of the pope, making him my favorite pope of all time. So. Am I a liberal Catholic, or a liberal and a Catholic? Or has the term “liberal” really become the four-letter word it has been made out to be in the media?

Regardless, Pope Francis is just a huge breath of fresh air, reminding me of Jesus’ message in our lives. Call me what you will, I’m thankful he’s pope.

Elizabeth Rosenwinkel St. Albert the Great, Minneapolis

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am not one to watch much television with the exception of the evening news. Yet, even I am aware of the tremendous popularity that reality TV is experiencing in today’s culture. Viewers are being drawn into live experiences with shows like “Dancing with the Stars” or “Survivor,” “The Bachelor” or “American Idol.”

In the celebration of Holy Week, we are called to participate in the Church’s liturgies in a way that is every bit as intense as our commitment to reality TV, and every bit as “real” as the participation in these popular shows. Rather than being passive spectators, we are invited to be drawn into this drama, the drama of our salvation. These are not just great events that happened long ago, but they are events that we truly commemorate, that is to say, ongoing and enduring realities that have implications for the here and now. And so the purpose of our liturgical commemoration is to allow ourselves to become active participants in the drama of Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection. We enter with mind and heart into the Passion of Jesus, experiencing both his joy and sorrow, his loneliness and his prayerfulness, his humiliation and his exaltation in such a way as to be moved toward genuine conversion and transformation.

Palm Sunday is a perfect example of this “being drawn in,” for as we arrive at church, we are handed palm branches with which we process into the house of God. They are held again during the proclamation of the Gospel.

This year on Palm Sunday, we have the opportunity to hear the Passion according to St. Mark. Historically speaking, St. Mark’s account of Christ’s death and resurrection is the oldest part of this first Gospel. Thus, these passages present the experience of the earliest Church. St. Mark, in a particularly intense way, focuses on the physical and psychological suffering of Jesus as well as the utter betrayal and failure of his apostles.

THAT THEY MAY On Holy Thursday, we find ourselves ALL BE ONE seated among the Twelve, including Judas, as Jesus moves from one to another in the Archbishop washing of our feet. Then we watch John Nienstedt intently as Jesus takes bread, blesses and

Como en reality TV, las liturgias de la Semana Santa nos invitan a ser participantes en el drama Yo no soy de los que ven mucha televisión con la excepción de las noticias de la tarde. Sin embargo, yo estoy consciente de la enorme popularidad que la reality TV está experimentando en la cultura actual.

Los espectadores están siendo arrastrados a vivir experiencias con programas como “Bailando con las estrellas” o “Survivor”, “The Bachelor” o “American Idol”.

En la celebración de la Semana Santa, estamos llamados a participar en las liturgias de la Iglesia de una manera que es tan intensa como nuestro compromiso con la reality TV y tan “real” como la participación en estos programas populares. En lugar de ser espectadores pasivos, se nos invita a ser arrastrados a este drama, el drama de nuestra salvación. Estos no son sólo grandes acontecimientos que sucedieron

distributes it, saying, “Take and eat, this is my Body.” Then at the end of the meal, we observe him taking the cup into his hands and saying, “Take and drink, this is my Blood.” At the end of this liturgy, there is a beautiful procession with the Blessed Sacrament to another altar prepared in the church. Then all is quiet in prayer as we follow Jesus and the apostles into Gethsemane to experience with him his hours of agony.

On Good Friday, we find ourselves at the foot of the cross with our Blessed Lady, St. John and the holy women, listening to Jesus cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” As we hear those words ring in our ears, the mystery of Christ’s cross resonates in our hearts once more. Then we are invited forward to venerate the cross with a kiss. In the procession, we know that we have entered spiritually into this drama in a very powerful and moving way.

Holy Saturday is marked by an eerie silence as if all the world has gone to sleep. The church stands empty until nightfall when the Holy Saturday vigil begins with the blessing of the new fire, the lighting of the paschal candle and the joyful strains of the Exsultet. Next comes the reading of the Scriptures chronicling the highlights of God’s interventions with our forbearers, culminating in the celebration of the Easter sacraments, that is, baptism, confirmation and first “These are not just great events that holy Eucharist. Here, like that holy morning happened long ago, but they are events over 2,000 years ago, we discover anew the that we truly commemorate, that is to mystery of new life offered in Christ’s say, ongoing and enduring realities that resurrection from the dead. have implications for the here and now.”

And so, we are invited this Holy Week to relive with Jesus his terrible suffering and ignominious death, but also to experience his new life, which is the path to our salvation.

Holy Week is so much more than reality TV. It is the mystery of salvation, a mystery into which we are called and invited. Let us allow ourselves to hear this call, and to respond with generous, personal attention.

God bless you!

hace mucho tiempo, pero son eventos que verdaderamente conmemoramos, es decir, realidades continuas y duraderas que tienen implicaciones en el aquí y en el ahora. Por lo que el propósito de nuestra conmemoración litúrgica es permitirnos llegar a ser participantes activos en el drama del sufrimiento, la muerte y la resurrección de Jesús.

Entramos con la mente y el corazón en la Pasión de Jesús, experimentando tanto su alegría y tristeza, su soledad y su espíritu de oración, su humillación y exaltación de una manera tal que nos lleva hacia una verdadera conversión y transformación.

El Domingo de Ramos es un ejemplo perfecto de “ese llamado” por lo que, cuando llegamos a la iglesia, se nos entregan ramos de palmas con los que procedemos hacia la casa de Dios. Estos son sostenidos una vez más durante la proclamación del Evangelio.

Este año el Domingo de Ramos, tenemos la oportunidad de escuchar la Pasión según San Marcos.

Históricamente hablando, el relato de la muerte y resurrección de Cristo en San Marcos es la parte más antigua de este primer Evangelio. Por consiguiente, estos pasajes presentan la experiencia de Iglesia Primitiva. San Marcos, de una manera particularmente intensa, se centra en el sufrimiento físico y

psicológico de Jesús, así como la traición absoluta y el fallo de sus apóstoles.

El Jueves Santo, nos encontramos sentados entre los Doce, incluyendo a Judas, vemos como Jesús se mueve de uno a otro al lavarnos los pies. Después miramos con atención mientras Jesús toma el pan, lo bendice y lo distribuye, diciendo: “Tome y coman, esto es mi cuerpo.” Luego, al final de la comida, lo observamos tomando la copa en sus manos y diciendo: “Tomen y beban, esta es mi sangre.” Al final de esta liturgia, hay una hermosa procesión con el Santísimo Sacramento a otro altar preparado en la iglesia. Entonces todo está tranquilo en la oración mientras seguimos a Jesús y los apóstoles en Getsemaní para experimentar con Él sus horas de agonía.

El Viernes Santo, nos encontramos al pie de la Cruz con la Santísima Virgen, San Juan y las santas mujeres, escuchando el grito de Jesús: “Dios mío, Dios mío, ¿por qué me has abandonado?” Al escuchar esas palabras resonar en nuestros oídos, el misterio de la cruz de Cristo resuena en nuestros corazones una vez más. Entonces se nos invita a acercarnos para venerar la Cruz con un beso. En la procesión, sabemos que hemos entrado espiritualmente en este drama de una manera muy poderosa y conmovedora.

From the Archbishop

Like reality TV, Holy Week liturgies invite participants into the drama

El Sábado Santo está marcado por un estremecedor silencio, como si todo el mundo se hubiera ido a dormir. La iglesia se encuentra vacía hasta el anochecer cuando comienza la Vigilia del Sábado Santo con la bendición del fuego nuevo, la iluminación del Cirio Pascual y cantando con alegría el Pregón Pascual. Luego viene la lectura de las Escrituras que relata los aspectos más destacados de las intervenciones de Dios con nuestros antepasados, que culminó con la celebración de los sacramentos de la Pascua, que son, el Bautismo, la Confirmación y la Primera Eucaristía. Aquí, al igual que en la santa mañana hace más de 2.000 años, descubrimos de nuevo el misterio de la nueva vida que se ofrece en la resurrección de Cristo de entre los muertos.

Así se nos invita esta Semana Santa a revivir con Jesús su terrible sufrimiento y su muerte degradante, sino también a experimentar su nueva vida, que es el camino para nuestra salvación.

La Semana Santa es mucho más que un reality TV. Es el misterio de la salvación, un misterio al que hemos sido llamados e invitados.

Permitámonos escuchar este llamado y responder con generosidad, y de manera personal. ¡Que Dios los Bendiga!

March 26, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Local

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Father Dan Griffith, pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes in Minneapolis, stands outside the church, which opposes a proposed 300-foot high-rise development less than a block down the hill at Nye’s Polonaise Room, slated to close by fall.

Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

Minneapolis church opposes high-rise as potential neighbor

By Jessica Trygstad The Catholic Spirit A 65-year-old northeast Minneapolis restaurant is closing, and parishioners of a 158-year-old Catholic church 200 feet away are concerned about what will take its place.

Our Lady of Lourdes, home to 1,080 families and Minneapolis’ oldest church building in continuous use, hosted a meeting March 19 to address the 29-story mixed-use high-rise development proposed for Nye’s Polonaise Room, which announced in December its

Architectural rendering from Schafer Richardson plans to vacate in late summer or early fall. The restaurant is working with Minneapolis firm Schafer Richardson.

“Our Lady of Lourdes has long been a proponent of development in the neighborhood,” said Our Lady of Lourdes pastor Father Dan Griffith, noting that previous pastors worked with developers and city planners to ensure proper consideration of the church. “But we want to make sure that any development is prudent and

March 26, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

sensible. This development obliterates the zoning code by 25 floors. It’s completely out of place.”

Our Lady of Lourdes church and rectory are officially designated historic structures in the St. Anthony Falls Historic District, which has specific land-use guidelines. According to a fact sheet from the church, two of Nye’s buildings maintain the same historical standing in the district.

The church attests that the proposal doesn’t meet those guidelines and also those of the Nicollet Island East Bank Neighborhood Association’s 2014 plan.

Schafer Richardson project manager Maureen Michalski said two buildings in the neighborhood set precedence in allowing the development to progress as planned, noting the firm met with historical consultants and Our Lady of Lourdes from the onset.

Father Griffith said past development around the church has been done to highlight its historical significance; the height of adjacent townhomes was limited to maintain clear views of the church.

Aesthetics aside, given the proximity to Nye’s, the church doesn’t want to repeat an expensive consequence of nearby construction. When the Riverplace development was built in the 1980s, more than $230,000 worth of damage was done to the church basement. In recent years, the church has invested more than $5 million to preserve its structure for future generations.

What’s more, Father Griffith said, the process has sped along without considering the impacts on the neighborhood and environment.

A 12-member task group of the Nicollet Island East Bank

Neighborhood Association in February recommended that its board support the project, including any zoning variances and conditional use permits necessary for construction. Although the association’s support has no official influence on the development, it does tell the Minneapolis City Council that a neighborhood group approves.

In a statement, association president Victor Grambsch said the proposed design “generally meets the ideas” of its own plan, and with “careful engineering and construction techniques, the probability [of damage] can be minimalized.”

“In any event, Lourdes Church will receive full indemnification,” he wrote.

Michalski said any construction would include vibration monitoring, and that a bigger building doesn’t mean more damage. She added that in response to the church’s concerns, a level of underground parking was eliminated from the design.

“Ultimately, we hope that the church will benefit from having new residents and more activity in the neighborhood,” she said.

According to Grambsch, the association supports the proposal because members believe the neighborhood needs high-density development in order to thrive.

Father Griffith said the group didn’t give the neighborhood enough time to weigh in, even while parishioners and area residents were asking the group to consider what’s at stake and slow the process.

Not a done deal Thus far, Schafer Richardson has

only presented the proposal to the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission at an information session. No formal proposal has yet gone before the Minneapolis City Council.

To make sure the proposed development doesn’t get the green light, Our Lady of Lourdes has formed an advisory committee, began work with a public relations firm and sought legal counsel.

Parishioner and 18-year neighborhood resident Dale Herron, who chairs the advisory committee, said committee members were surprised by and disappointed in the association’s support. The advisory committee, along with neighborhood residents, have filed a grievance with the association, asking it to rescind support. The grievance was on the agenda for the association’s regular monthly meeting March 25.

“We’re not trying to dictate to Schafer Richardson or to the owners of Nye’s that they can’t develop on the site,” said Herron, adding that he personally likes the design.

“We’re simply saying that we would like to work with them to have it done in a manner that’s consistent with the accepted guidelines, zoning codes, small area plan . . . that it is consistent with all agreed upon rules for the neighborhood.”

Father Griffith said the church is not alone in opposing the plan as it stands. Preserve Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Heritage Preservation Commission also have concerns.

“As one member of HPC said, ‘It’s a nice building; it’s on the wrong corner,’” Father Griffith told the group of about 200, consisting of parishioners and neighbors.

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By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit Responsibility for the pastoral care of Sacred Heart in St. Paul will transfer from Franciscan priests to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, church leaders announced March 15. Sacred Heart’s pastor, Franciscan Father Eugene Michel, said he plans to leave the parish for health reasons, and his Franciscan community does not have a priest available to replace him.

Franciscans of the St. Louis-based Sacred Heart Province have served the Dayton’s Bluff parish for 106 years. Father Michel, 79, has been Sacred Heart’s pastor for 12 years.

At Mass March 15, parishioners received three letters: one from Father Michel, the second from Provincial Minister Franciscan Father William Spencer, and the third from Archbishop John Nienstedt.

In his letter, Archbishop Nienstedt called the Franciscans’ departure “a loss” and thanked Father Michel and the Franciscan order for their service.

“The archdiocese has begun the process of appointing another pastor for Sacred Heart, which I hope can be done without much

Staffed by Franciscan priests since 1909, Sacred Heart in St. Paul will return to pastoral care of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis this summer.

Dave Hrbacek/ The Catholic Spirit delay,” he wrote.

The Franciscans’ official relinquishment is expected to occur this summer. In addition to Father Michel, two other Franciscans live at the friary: Brother Robert Gross, who serves as the guardian but is not involved in ministry at Sacred Heart, and Father Raymond Rickles, who works as a counselor at Hazelden addiction treatment center.

Sacred Heart was founded in 1881 to serve German Catholic immigrants. Diocesan priests staffed the parish before it was

entrusted to the Franciscan Friars in 1909. The parish officially began serving St. Paul’s Hispanic community in 1998 and offers two Masses in Spanish in addition to two English Masses each weekend.

The parish includes about 1,000 Catholics, Father Michel told The Catholic Spirit; about 850 are Spanish-speaking Catholics from Central and South America.

“In the more than 100 years that we have been your parish clergy, we have always wanted what is best for the Sacred Heart Church community. We’re sure that

Archbishop Nienstedt shares that desire,” Father Spencer wrote in his letter. “When all is said and done, everything is in God’s hands, but I can promise you that the archbishop and Father Eugene will do their very best to make sure your next pastor will be someone you’ll be glad and grateful to welcome and work with.”

Local

After 106 years, Franciscans leaving St. Paul parish

Father Spencer and Archbishop Nienstedt decided in mid-January that pastoral responsibility for the parish would return to the archdiocese, Father Michel said.

In a separate letter, Father Michel assured his parishioners of his love for the parish and emphasized that the Franciscan spirit would remain.

“The Franciscan way of doing ministry has been stamped all over this parish, and this Franciscan way can never be erased or deleted, for it is present in each and every one of you,” he said.

He added: “I promise to serve the very best I can until the moment we will have to bid farewell, and Sacred Heart will turn a new page in its incredible history, and move into the future with the hope of continuing the longstanding tradition of being an outstanding parish.”

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Revised budget includes MCC-backed efforts

By Bob Zyskowski The Catholic Spirit Funding for programs that address the urgent needs of Minnesota’s poor and low-income workers are among the items in Gov. Mark Dayton’s supplemental budget plan, and many are just what the state’s Catholic leaders have been advocating for.

Dayton released his revised budget March 17, proposing that an additional $865 million be added to his initial $42 billion plan released in January. The proposal is now before the Legislature for approval.

“We’re very encouraged by the governor’s supplemental budget proposals,” said Jason Adkins, executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, the voice of the state’s bishops on public policy matters.

“Many of the items Gov. Dayton is proposing are those that the Catholic bishops called for when they met with him recently.”

Catholic bishops from the state’s six dioceses met with the governor and members of the Legislature March 5.

Among the items Adkins highlighted as especially encouraging in the revised budget are: • A $100 per month increase in state assistance to working families and people living in poverty, which, frozen at $532 per month, has not been increased since 1986.

“The state’s budget should reflect the priorities and principles of the people of the state.”

Jason Adkins

According to Dayton’s office, the increase would positively impact an estimated 29,000 adults and 70,000 children across the state.

• Expansion of the workingfamily tax credit. “For lowincome workers, this is essentially a subsidy so that they will retain more of their wages,” Adkins explained.

• Funding to provide emergency shelters, transitional housing and drop-in centers for homeless youth. Adkins pointed out that on any given night 2,500 young people are homeless in Minnesota.

• “Safe harbor” funding for an anti-human trafficking program that treats those under age 18 who are mired in sexual exploitation not as criminals, but as victims.

• Continuation of the state tax credit for non-tuition education items such as

textbooks, tutoring, transportation, computers and other educational materials.

• Additional funding for nursing homes, which is particularly important for the state’s rural areas. The money would help nursing homes increase employee salaries and retain qualified workers.

Adkins said the MCC staff is seeing a lot of overlap in areas the legislative leaders of both parties find worthy of funding, and while there is room for debate about details and amounts, he is optimistic at this point in the legislative session.

“Budgets are moral documents,” he said, “and much like a family budget, the state’s budget should reflect the priorities and principles of the people of the state.”

Funding for programs that assist those with the most urgent needs is consistent with Catholic teaching that stresses a preferential option for the poor, Adkins added.

Leaders field planning process questions The Catholic Spirit The following Q-and-A with Father John Bauer and Marilou Eldred, co-chairs of the 2014-2015 Strategic Planning Task Force, addresses the status of the strategic planning process, challenges and opportunities parishes currently face, and the timeline for recommendations.

Q. What is the status of the current strategic planning process?

A. Input is currently being gathered at meetings for each of the 15 geographic deaneries and from the Latino Ministry deanery to help inform this round of strategic Marilou ELDRED planning. The Strategic Planning Task Force is now hearing briefings based on these meetings and other feedback from pastors, ordained and lay personnel, and parishioners on how better to meet the sacramental and spiritual needs of Catholics within their deaneries.

Q. What strategic planning topics are being discussed at deanery meetings?

March 26, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

A. Deaneries were asked to discuss

changes that have taken place since 20092010 Strategic Planning related to the following: demographics, finances, personnel, condition of buildings, Mass schedules, religious education and Catholic schools. Other topics included current or upcoming collaborating and clustering among clergy, personnel or programs, feedback on past collaborations and clusters, and other input from the prior round of strategic planning.

Q. Based on these deanery briefings, what issues are parishes in our archdiocese facing today?

A. The sincere, heartfelt responses given at these briefings have clearly outlined the challenges some parishes are facing, as well as some opportunities.

Demographics present both an opportunity and a challenge for many parishes. Those with changing demographics see the blessings this diversity brings to our Catholic communities, but may face challenges in caring for their needs.

Additional challenges include geographic challenges, particularly in rural areas; decreases in financial contributions; aging buildings and other structural needs; limited personnel or personnel changes; and shortages of other resources. Parishes that are currently self-sustaining and not

facing some of the challenges described above are unlikely to be affected by this round of strategic planning.

Q. What recommendations are being considered for this round of strategic planning? When will I know if or how my parish will be affected?

A. At the conclusion of the deanery briefings, the task force will develop recommendations informed by the input received as well as other baseline data from parish visitations and the GROW pastoral planning process. The task force hopes to share its report and recommendations with the bishops in spring 2015.

Q. Whom do I contact to learn more about the strategic planning process or to offer my input?

A. The best way to find out more or to have your voice heard is to contact your pastor, who is in contact with your dean regarding the process. You may also call the archdiocese at (651) 291-4435 or email PlanningProcess@archspm.org.

See additional FAQs and other information regarding the 2014-2015 Strategic Planning process by visiting archspm.org and clicking on “Archdiocesan Planning Update.”

Local conference serves as precursor to World Meeting of Families

By Jessica Trygstad The Catholic Spirit Ahead of October’s World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia with Pope Francis, a local conference will address issues families face and what the Church is saying about them.

The LiveFamily! 2015 Expo Family Conference is slated for April 10-12 at St. Raphael in Crystal and will feature speakers and workshops aimed to help attendees strengthen family life in a complicated secular culture, said Jean Stolpestad, director of Marriage, Family and Life for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Brooklyn Park-based Cana Family Institute and the Diocese of St. Cloud are sponsoring the event with the archdiocese.

“It’s not a retreat experience, it’s an opportunity to learn about and embrace the Church and family culture,” Stolpestad said. “We’re going to be looking at the tough issues,” divorce and same-sex attraction among them.

“If you can imagine it, it’s on the docket,” she added.

Friday evening, Fellowship of Catholic University Students founder and president Curtis Martin will speak about families’ role in the new evangelization.

Father Thomas Loya, a Byzantine rite priest from Illinois, will cover what’s next for families — relevant issues families are encountering such as theology of the body, and the Church’s response to people with same-sex attraction.

The event also will introduce an apostolate in the Twin Cities for people who are separated or divorced.

Stolpestad said the support group began last fall as a pilot program to help people with the accompaniment and encouragement of others in similar situations.

“We’re really trying to move forward for what’s best for the family,” she said.

Bishop Andrew Cozzens will celebrate Mass Friday evening.

Stolpestad said the key takeaway from the conference will be the tools used to equip and help people think practically and with the “heart of the Church.”

For more information, visit the events page at www.archspm.org.

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Father Keefe remembered as gifted spiritual director

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit

By Bob Zyskowski The Catholic Spirit

Archbishop Emeritus Harry Flynn had a simple comment about the death of Dominican Sister Dominica Brennan, who formerly served in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis as the chancellor for canonical affairs.

“The Church has lost a great woman,” the archbishop said, of Sister Dominica, who died March 18 at the age of 77.

“She worked very, very well with her colleagues and she will be remembered Sister Dominica by all of our priests and BRENNAN religious with whom she came in contact as an extraordinary woman.”

Sister Dominica grew up in Springfield, Ill., and joined the Dominican Sisters of Springfield in 1957. She was a teacher and later studied canon law.

She came to the archdiocese in 1992 and, four years later, became the chancellor for canonical affairs, a position she held until 2008, when she left to become director of mission integration for her community in Springfield. Sister

Dominica also served as the director of the Office of Conciliation until 2008. In addition, she served in parish adult faith formation, and was an accomplished pianist and choir director.

“She had a splendid knowledge of canon law, but she had a pastoral heart,” Archbishop Flynn said. “She combined the two to make a very effective chancellor for canonical affairs.”

Archbishop Flynn said he had a “deep friendship” with Sister Dominica, and he was able to visit her a few weeks before she died. He also had one final phone conversation with her.

“It meant a great deal,” he said.

“I was able to tell her once again of my promise of prayer. I have been praying to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton that some kind of miracle would occur, but the Lord had other plans. When I was with her the last time, I asked if she was at peace with the prognosis, and she was not at peace yet, but she promised me that she would get there. I believe she had that peace before she died.”

Visitation and funeral were to be held March 25 in Springfield.

Archbishop Flynn was to preside.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Dominican Sisters Retirement Fund, 1237 W. Monroe, Springfield IL 62074.

Father Gerald Keefe, who died March 19 at the age of 93, is being remembered as a kind and humble priest, pastor and spiritual director.

Mass of Christian Burial was to be celebrated March 25 at Holy Trinity Church in Winsted by Archbishop John Nienstedt.

“His kindness and humility radiated from him wherever he went,” remembered Father Eugene Pouliot, a retired priest of the archdiocese.

“He was a priest’s priest,” added Father Kenneth Pierre, who recalled that he was a schoolboy at St. Andrew School in St. Paul when he first saw Father Keefe. “He was an assistant pastor at St. Mark [in St. Paul, his first priestly assignment] then, and he would attend all their sports games.”

Born Jan. 28, 1922, in Minneapolis to Daniel and Mary (Heiling) Keefe, Gerry Keefe attended Nazareth Hall and the St. Paul Seminary before being ordained in 1947.

While still serving at St. Mark, Father Keefe did what Father Pierre called “his flagship work” as spiritual director at the St. Paul Seminary in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

In 1963 he was named the founding pastor of St. William in

Fridley. He also served briefly at St. Olaf in Minneapolis and St. Joseph the Worker in Maple Grove.

He joined Father Gerard Rowan as co-pastor of St. Rita in Cottage Grove, where, from 1980 to 1987, the quieter Father Keefe was Father Gerald lovingly KEEFE referred to as “Mr. Inside” to Father Rowan’s “Mr. Outside,” a reflection of how the two priests divided ministry responsibilities in a way that fit their personalities.

He later was pastor of St. Mary of the Lake, Plymouth, and St. Bernard, Cologne. In retirement he assisted at St. Joseph in Hopkins (now St. Gabriel Archangel).

“He was an inspiration to me as a priest,” Father Pierre said. “He was an original spiritual thinker.”

Father Keefewas preceded in death by his parents; brothers Gervais, Jerome and Daniel Keefe; and sisters Mary Stifter and Dorothy Fasching. He is survived by his sister Evelyn Sexton of Weskan, Kan.; sister-in-law Angie Keefe of St. Paul, and numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces and nephews.

Obituaries

Sister Dominica Brennan admired for ‘pastoral heart’

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March 26, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Schools

8

Presence a priority for award-winning pastor

By Anthony Gockowski For The Catholic Spirit On a recent Tuesday, Father Michael Tix walked through the quiet hallways of St. John the Baptist School in Savage, greeting students by name between periods and talking with teachers during the lunch hour.

He made his way down a long corridor connecting the parish church, where students sat quietly in prayer as they prepared for their next class.

“We keep it quiet. It’s focused,” Father Tix said.

The architectural design reflects the intimate connection between the spiritual and intellectual lives, he noted. “The church becomes the classroom.”

Father Tix’s pastoral approach to Catholic education is part of the reason the National Catholic Educational Association has named him a recipient of its Distinguished Pastor Award, which he will receive April 7 at the organization’s annual convention in Orlando, Fla. He is one of 12 pastors in the United States selected to receive the award this year.

He sees St. John the Baptist School as a model of Catholic education in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. “He believes the school is truly a legacy of the parish,” said Cheri Gardner, director of education at St. John the Baptist.

It is at St. John the Baptist that Father Tix began his priestly ministry. Now, two decades later, he has returned to his old friends, including Gardner, who nominated Father Tix for the NCEA award.

“It was a big surprise,” Father Tix said. “She [Gardner] told me about it after she pressed ‘send.’

I never really thought much would come of it.”

Father Michael Tix, pastor of St. John the Baptist in Savage, reads to fifthgraders at St. John the Baptist School. Photo courtesy St. John the Baptist

Visible presence Gardner’s nomination makes clear that Father Tix is committed to Catholic education, and being part of that work.

“Father Mike will often call on students by name or refer to them by name when noting a good example to share with the community. He is visible in the hallways, classrooms and lunchroom,” Gardner wrote.

Father Tix’s involvement doesn’t end with the school day, she added.

“You will find Father Mike at school plays, band and choral concerts, retreats and athletic events. In addition, he participates in school community building and fundraising events such as the Marathon for Nonpublic Education and [the] annual school Mission Carnival,” Gardner wrote.

But Father Tix acknowledged leading a school and a parish

isn’t easy.

“I liken it to doing triage in an emergency room,” he said.

“Some days you’ll do exactly what you planned, others none of it.”

Prayer, he said, gives him a sense of peace as he navigates a busy, ever-changing schedule. So does getting out of the office.

“We need to serve as Jesus served,” said Father Tix, who also serves as a school chaplain at Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield, “but sometimes just to clear my head I say: It’s time to go for a drive.”

St. John the Baptist is home to 600 students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, and staffed by 32 teachers.

For several years, Father Tix and Gardner have directed the school’s mission.

“We’ve been working together since he started,” said Gardner, who won a NCEA distinguished principal award in 1998. “We both bleed Catholic education.”

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Support CYC while having fun!

March 26, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

9 Wyoming college says declining federal funds protects Catholic identity Wyoming Catholic College, a Catholic university founded in 2005 in Lander, announced in late February that it “shall not participate in federal student loan programs.” The decision came after months of analysis and deliberations by the college and its board of directors. “While the financial benefits are undeniable,” said a news release, “the increasingly burdensome regulatory requirements are clearly troubling for faithbased institutions.”

WASHINGTON

Latin American bishops testify in D.C. against extractive industries U.S. and Canadian bishops joined their Latin American counterparts who came to Washington to testify over the environmental and social ills wrought by extractive industries such as mining and logging. The bishops testified March 19 before the InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights in a bid to heighten awareness of the degradation of land, water — and people’s lives — brought about by companies, most of them foreign-owned, taking resources from the earth to boost their profits. Bishop Roque Paloschi of Roraima said before the hearing that “the large financial companies” must bear some of the responsibility, as they finance the operations of transnational mining and logging firms.

WASHINGTON

Senator group filibusters trafficking measure over abortion issue Ten Senate Democrats voted March 17 to filibuster the Justice for Victims of Sex Trafficking Act over inclusion of Hyde Amendment provisions, which forbids federal funding for most abortions or abortion-related care. The long-standing Hyde Amendment has exceptions for abortions in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the woman would be endangered.

The language in the trafficking measure, known as S. 178, accounts for the fact because the federal grants it creates would be funded by fees rather than taxes.

Despite low Catholic marriage numbers, some see trend turning around

By Nate Madden Catholic News Service The number of Catholic marriages in the United States is at its lowest point since 1965.

Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate keeps records of Catholic Church statistics going back to 1965, tracking such things as the total number of priests, the Catholic population of the United States, and the number of baptisms and marriages per year.

The statistics show that while there were over 420,000 Catholic marriages in 1970, that number has dwindled to just more than 154,000 for the year 2014.

“There’s no definitive answer” for this trend, according to Mark Gray, a senior research associate and poll director at the center. He cited some of the leading hypotheses about the decrease.

“We’re seeing an increase in cohabitation,” he said, which can “create a hurdle to receiving the sacrament of marriage, depending on the parish or diocese’s policies,” Gray said in an interview with Catholic News Service.

“There’s also the notion of a destination wedding trumping the traditional notion of getting married within the Church.”

And there has been “no increase in Catholics marrying non-Catholics that might lead us to believe that they’re marrying in other churches,” he explained.

“Some things have changed culturally. . . . The Church just isn’t seen as important” to many young Catholics.

Tim Staples, director of apologetics at Catholic Answers in El Cajon, California, told CNS that “though a particular bishop may grant permission for a Catholic to be married outside of an actual Catholic church, the law of the Church does not permit it, ordinarily speaking.

“And this is fitting,” he said. “For Catholics, there must be an official representative of the Church present (or a proper dispensation given) in order for there to be a valid marriage, or, we could say, for one to be married ‘in the Church.’ Thus, it is fitting that one be married ‘in a church’ in order to be properly married ‘in the Church.’”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “the celebration of marriage between two Catholic faithful normally takes place during holy Mass, because of the connection of all the sacraments with the paschal mystery of Christ.”

The United States also sees “a very large share (of annulments) that occur in the church globally,”

U.S. & World

LANDER, Wyo.

according to Gray. “It’s a process that takes some effort, sometimes some investment. It’s a quasi-legal process, which is simply not practical in some parts of the world like it is in the U.S.,” he explained.

However, even the United States is seeing a lower number of annulments, which have dropped from 60,691 in 1985, the earliest data available, to 18,558 last year. “Divorce is becoming less common” in the U.S., according to Gray. “In aggregate terms, fewer marriages means fewer divorces.”

Despite these numbers, Gray remains optimistic about the future of the sacrament of matrimony. “We’ve historically seen changes in the past . . . much like the baby-boomer generation. Things were different before World War II. Mass attendance was down, as were baptisms and (sacramental) marriage rates, but the babyboomer generation saw a time of cultural change, so it’s difficult to predict what’s going to happen.”

With regard to young people in the Church, Gray said that “millennials are a little more traditional, a little more romantic and more interested in marrying in the Church. They’re looking for their soulmate . . . so we’re starting to see that sort of a cultural shift among the youngest generation of Catholics.”

Last October, Jeff and Alice Heinzen, a married couple from Wisconsin, served as auditors to the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family. There they “observed a reverence for marriage, a profound love for families and a grave concern for the pastoral challenges that families face across the globe,” they said. “All of the testimonies, discussions and personal stories gave witness to the light and darkness of family life in every corner of the world.”

However, like Gray, the Heinzens also see a cultural A groom and bride hold hands on their wedding renewal emerging on the day. Catholic marriages in the United States are Catholic marriage front. at their lowest point since 1965. CNS “One of the most positive cultural trends that we see is a shift in catechesis from a child-centered focus to a parent-centered focus,” they said. “This . . . is bearing great results because parents are learning how to become primary educators for their children.”

With world meeting planning, papal visit in higher gear

By Matthew Gambino Catholic News Service Organizing for the World Meeting of Families and the visit by Pope Francis to Philadelphia in September has taken a major step forward with the announcement of the 15 committees and leadership charged with spearheading operations in hospitality, liturgy, volunteers and more.

Executives for the events including Philadelphia Auxiliary Bishop John McIntyre and Independence Blue Cross CEO Daniel Hilferty, who is a cochairman of the World Meeting of Families-Philadelphia, unveiled the committees and introduced their chairpersons at the IBX headquarters.

The congress has already registered approximately 7,500 attendees, according to officials. Between 10,000 and 15,000 people from the United States and 150 countries are expected to register for the Sept. 22-25 congress. Up to 2 million people are also anticipated for the papal

events, including a cultural celebration and Mass celebrated by the pope, Sept.

26-27.

To manage such big crowds, planners intend the committees to begin working now on multiple issues six months ahead of the September events.

The World Meeting of Families, held every three years, will come to the United States for the first time since it was begun

by St. John Paul II in 1994.

The aim of the congress is to strengthen the bonds of family life and highlight its value to society throughout the world.

Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput said in a statement that he was grateful to the people serving on the committees. “I’m confident that we will create a beautiful and memorable week for our families here in the Philadelphia region — and for families from around the world,” he said.

The archbishop praised “the willingness of business, civic and cultural

Want to go?

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is coordinating a pilgrimage to the World Meeting of Families. Pilgrims will attend the congress, tour Philadelphia and see Pope Francis. For more information, visit www.archspm.org/WMF. leaders to become engaged. Whether Catholic or of another faith tradition, they have responded equally with open hearts, great enthusiasm and strong commitment,” he said.

A key leader of the Philadelphia congress, executive director Donna Crilley Farrell, called the meeting and papal visit a “once-in-a-generation event” and thanked the committee leaders for giving their time and talent.

“It is encouraging to see our community come together to deliver such an important event for our city, our state and our nation,” she said.

March 26, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

U.S. & World

10

Saint’s blood liquefies during pope’s visit

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service At the end of Pope Francis’ spontaneity-filled meeting with priests, seminarians and religious in the cathedral of Naples, the vial of dried blood of the city’s patron saint appeared to miraculously liquefy.

After Pope Francis blessed the congregation with the reliquary holding the vial, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe of Naples announced, “As a sign that St. Januarius loves the pope, who is Neapolitan like us, the blood is already half liquefied.”

The thousands of people present in the cathedral applauded, but the pope insisted on taking the microphone. “The bishop said the blood is half liquefied,” he said. “It means the saint loves us halfway; we must all convert a bit more, so that he would love us more.”

The blood of the fourth-century martyr is Naples’ most precious relic. The townspeople gauge the saints’ pleasure with them by awaiting the blood’s liquefaction three times a year: in the spring during celebrations of the feast of the transfer of the saint’s relics to Naples; Sept. 19, his feast day; and Dec. 16, the local feast commemorating the averting of a threatened eruption of Mount Vesuvius through the intervention of the saint.

When Pope Benedict XVI visited in 2007 and the blood did not liquefy, Msgr. Vincenzo de Gregorio, custodian of the relic, told reporters the miracle had never occurred when a pope visited on a day other than the feast day.

Entering the cathedral, Pope Francis’ white cassock and his arms were yanked repeatedly by priests, seminarians and nuns wanting to touch him or attract his attention.

Calmed reigned briefly after the pope reached the altar, but then Cardinal Sepe told the pope that, in accordance with canon law, he

Pope Francis goes to confession during a Lenten penance service in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican March 13. During the service the pope announced an extraordinary jubilee, a Holy Year of Mercy, to be celebrated from Dec. 8, 2015, until Nov. 20, 2016. CNS

Pope Francis kisses a reliquary containing what is believed to be the blood of St. Januarius during a meeting with religious at the cathedral in Naples, Italy, March 21. The dried blood of the saint is said to liquefy several times a year. After the pope handled the relic, the blood apparently liquefied. CNS photo/Paul Haring had given formal permission for the nuns in Naples’ seven cloistered convents to go out for the day.

The nuns, who had been seated in the sanctuary, broke free, running to the pope, surrounding him, hugging him, kissing his ring and piling gifts on his lap.

“Sisters, sisters, not now, later!” the cardinal shouted over the microphone to no avail. “Look what I have done,” he said, exasperated. “And these are the cloistered ones, imagine what the non-cloistered ones are like! Ay. They’re going to eat him alive.”

When order was restored, Pope Francis stood with several sheets of paper and told the congregation, “I prepared a speech, but speeches are boring.” So, he put the papers aside, sat down and began talking about how Jesus must be at the center of a consecrated person’s life, about life in community, about poverty and mercy.

“The center of your life must be Jesus,” he said. Too often, people — including priests and religious — have a difficulty with a superior

or a confrere and that problem becomes the real center of their lives, robbing them and their witness of joy.

Addressing seminarians, he said, “if you do not have Jesus at the center, delay your ordination. If you are not sure Jesus is the center of your life, wait a while in order to be sure.”

Money definitely cannot be the center of the life of a priest or nun, he said. Even a diocesan priest, who does not take vows of poverty, must make sure “his heart is not there” in money.

The pope told the story of a religious woman he knew in Argentina who was so concerned about raising money for her school that she subconsciously preferred the company of people with money. One day, in the faculty room, she fainted. In the teachers’ attempt to revive her, the pope said, one suggested putting “a 100 peso note” under her nose to revive her, “but the poor woman was already dead and this was the last word said about her when no one knew if she had died or not.”

Patriarch: No to outside military in Syria

By Laura Ieraci Catholic News Service The head of the Melkite Catholic Church rejected outright all calls for an international military intervention in Syria and urged Pope Francis and all Christian churches to “promote a concrete and realistic road map” to peace in the beleaguered nation.

“It is reckless to think of military interventions, conducted from the outside, to defend Christians in Syria and the Middle East,” said Melkite Patriarch Gregoire III Laham, who is based in Damascus, Syria.

“If we really want to bring an end to the tragedy of the Syrian people, there is only one way: enough war, enough arms, money and ploys used to attack

March 26, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Syria,” he told the Vatican’s Fides news agency.

The patriarch presided over a prayer vigil for peace at the Melkite Cathedral of the Dormition of Our Lady in Damascus March 16. Through prayer, the patriarch told Fides, Christians demonstrate that they are “the true promoters of peace in Syria.”

The patriarch said he was “calling on Pope Francis, and on all churches and Christian communities, so that the 2 billion Christians worldwide, speaking with one voice, promote a concrete and realistic road map, asking all the forces in the field to put aside their calculations for power and the causes that fuel war.”

“Only in this way can the suffering of our people end,” he said. He noted the

power of prayer, recalling how, after Pope Francis had called for a universal day of prayer and fasting for peace in Syria in September 2013, naval ships that were heading to Syria turned back.

“While we were in prayer these past days, we heard news that Western countries will reopen negotiations with (Syrian President Bashar) Assad,” the patriarch told Fides, the news agency of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. “This is now the realistic path to follow, if we really want peace.”

The Melkite cathedral in Damascus was full for the March 16 prayer vigil, and the bishops of the various Catholic and Orthodox churches were present.

Archbishop Cyril Vasil, secretary of the Vatican Congregation for Eastern Churches, also attended.

Pope announces Holy Year of Mercy

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Pope Francis announced an extraordinary jubilee, a Holy Year of Mercy, to highlight the Catholic Church’s “mission to be a witness of mercy.”

“No one can be excluded from God’s mercy,” the pope said March 13, marking the second anniversary of his pontificate by leading a Lenten penance service in St. Peter’s Basilica.

“I frequently have thought about how the church can make more evident its mission to be a witness of mercy,” he said during his homily; that is why he decided to call a special Holy Year, which will be celebrated from Dec. 8, 2015, until Nov. 20, 2016.

The biblical theme of the year, he said, will be “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful,” an admonition that applies “especially to confessors,” the pope said with a smile.

Traditionally, every 25 years the popes proclaim a holy year, which features special celebrations and pilgrimages, strong calls for conversion and repentance, and the offer of special opportunities to experience God’s grace through the sacraments, especially confession.

Extraordinary holy years, like the Holy Year of Mercy, are less frequent, but offer the same opportunities for spiritual growth.

The doors of the church “are wide open so that all those who are touched by grace can find the certainty of forgiveness,” Pope Francis said at the penance service, which featured individual confessions. It was part of a worldwide celebration of “24 Hours for the Lord,” in which Catholic churches were staying open for prayer, eucharistic adoration and confession.

11

By Judith Sudilovsky Catholic News Service Several pilgrim groups gathered in a sunny courtyard in Jerusalem’s Old City. They were preparing to follow a tradition reaching back at least to the fifth century: walking along the Via Dolorosa, through the cobbled streets of Jerusalem’s Old City.

The Via Dolorosa represents the route taken by Jesus on the way to his crucifixion, until he was laid in the tomb. Although the route followed for this devotion has changed over the centuries, the need and desire of the Christian faithful to walk in Jesus’ footsteps has not. The current route was probably formalized in the 18th century.

“To follow the actual footsteps of Jesus is pretty amazing. It brings his message even more into our hearts,” said Marilyn McDonough, 64, a Catholic from Santa Clara, Calif. “I keep thinking about all the suffering he did for us and what he went through mentally and physically. It is overwhelming for me to be here.”

At the same time, she said, she is aware that no one knows for certain the exact places where Jesus walked.

The restored 12th-century Chapel of the Flagellation that stands in the

courtyard today was built on the location of a fifth-century church.

“If you take the whole area of Jerusalem, I know Jesus walked in this area. Did he step in this very spot? Maybe not, but I know he walked in other spots, and if I walk around here I can feel it in my heart,” she said.

There is no clear consensus among biblical scholars that this current Via Dolorosa tradition is the actual route taken by Jesus. It is based on the assumption that the Pretorium, where Pontius Pilate judged Jesus, would have been at that time the Antonia Fortress, built

by King Herod.

With no hard archaeological evidence of where the Pretorium was, where Jesus’ trial took place and which path he took to his own crucifixion, scholars of biblical history base their assumptions upon what they know of the layout and social mores of the Roman-occupied city of Jerusalem at that time.

Some, like archaeologist Amit Reem, believe that one possibility is that the Roman governor would have stayed in the palace of the Judean king during his stays in Jerusalem, and he would have judged Jesus from there. The palace is thought to have been in what is today’s Tower of David Museum

Catholics carry a large cross on the Via Dolorosa in the Old City of Jerusalem April 18. CNS just inside Jaffa Gate.

Reem, who works for the Israel Antiquities Authority, noted that early Christians did not follow the current Via Dolorosa route. He said the Via Dolorosa was south of Jaffa Gate, starting from Mt. Zion, where Christians from the fifth and sixth centuries identified the Pretorium, leading from near Dung Gate to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

“Though we do not find any actual evidence that (Herod’s Palace) is the place where Jesus’ trial was held, it is a logical, theoretical estimation that it could’ve been here,” he said.

Franciscan Father Eugenio Alliata,

U.S. & World

Via Dolorosa pilgrims accept uncertainty about Jesus’ exact route

professor of Christian archaeology at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, is not convinced.

In his thinking, the Roman governor would have needed to stay near the place of most importance for Judaism to be on guard for any unrest during the Jewish pilgrimage holiday of Passover, when thousands of Jews, including Jesus, would ascend to the Temple Mount to give the required offerings. That would place him in Herod’s Antonia Fortress which, according to Franciscan tradition, stood at the site of the modern Franciscan chapels.

For most pilgrims, debates over the original route do not matter.

As his group prepared Wonder what to leave the Franciscan walking the Via compound and begin Dolorosa would look the procession, Benevil and sound like? Watch Rosa, a Catholic from a video of pilgrims Brazil, noted that walking along the path retracing the route of would help transform Jesus’ passion in the love of Jesus into a Jerusalem at http:// spiritual reality. youtu.be/kUoZAf2YH2c.

“It brings the love into practice,” Rosa said.

“What people feel in their hearts and what they do in reality is more important than the actual location.”

Following Jesus’ steps

Solemn Vespers for the Third Sunday of Easter An evening of music presented by The Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity Chorale, the UST Schola Cantorum and the Beacon Hill Brass

7 p.m. Sunday, April 19 St. Mary’s Chapel 2260 Summit Ave., St. Paul, Minnesota Featuring music from Bach’s cantata “Christ Lag in Todesbanden” and the Magnificat setting by Kevin Vogt. Free and open to the public.

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March 26, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Holy Week

12

‘An

answer

for

every cry of the

human heart’ U of M parish to usher 17 into Church at Easter

Q

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit uang Trang knew he needed to do something about his anger, especially a festering hate he felt toward his older brother.

It is that problem that is leading him to join the Catholic Church. Quang, 23 and a first-year law student at the University of Minnesota, is a catechumen at St. Lawrence Catholic Church and Newman Center and will join the Church at the Easter Vigil April 4. Along with him are eight candidates (those who have been baptized in other denominations) and eight more who grew up Catholic but were never confirmed, for a total of 17 people completing their sacramental journey into the Church.

“I was interested in the Catholic Church mainly because of the idea of confession,” Trang said. “I’ve always been drawn to the idea of confession because I feel that is such an important part of confronting your sins and becoming closer to Christ. I feel like if you don’t confess, there’s a barrier between you and Christ.”

He still feels the barrier because of the longtime anger he has felt toward his brother, Baochau. Two years younger, Trang said he developed a rivalry with his brother, who was not only older, but physically stronger and more athletic.

March 26, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

“We got into a lot of fist fights,” Quang said. “It was bad. Him being the older person and the stronger person, I always lost, but I was too dumb to give up. I would always come back for more. I was bitter and couldn’t do anything about it. So, I just got more angry and never forgave him for it.

Basically, all throughout high school I was working out so that, if that ever happened again, I would be able to fight back.”

Change of heart After graduating from high school in his hometown of Naperville, Ill., Trang went to college at the University of Illinois, which is where his brother also was a student. Even though the two were on the same campus, they never spoke, Trang said. In fact, he was working out intensely in the gym awaiting the day his brother would provoke him yet again.

This time, Trang resolved, he would be ready for the attack.

But, he was not at all prepared for the bombshell Baochau would drop on him during a visit Trang’s sophomore year.

“One day he called me up and he drove to my apartment,” said Trang, who was born in Vietnam and moved to the U.S. with his parents and brother when he was 1. “He took me out for lunch, and during lunch, he apologized: ‘I’ve

been a bad big brother and I’m very sorry. I should have treated you better. I was the older one, I should have known better.’ At that point, I didn’t know what to say. That caught me completely off guard.

“I never said I forgave him because I knew I didn’t, I knew I couldn’t. At that point, there was 20 years of bad history between us, and I just couldn’t say I forgive you in good faith. So, I didn’t. We just left it at that.”

In the meantime, Trang started going to Mass with his girlfriend, Bethany DiGiovanni, who is Catholic. A pivotal moment came at a Christmas Eve Mass not long after the meeting with his brother. During one of the hymns, he thought about his brother and recalled the good things he had done for him, like walking him home from school, trying to teach him sports and generally looking out for him.

The floodgates began to open.

“I was crying throughout the entire time,” he said. “I realized that this is something I have to confront. This is my sin. I hated my brother for no reason. I haven’t gotten to the point where I can say, 100 percent, I forgive him. This is something I have to work through myself. Then, I can come with an open heart, open arms. What I want to say is not that I forgive him, but that I

13

Holy Week Far left University of Minnesota law student Quang Trang looks forward to joining the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil at St. Lawrence-Newman April 4.

He was especially drawn to the Church because of the sacrament of reconciliation, which he says will help resolve anger he has had toward his brother.

Above Cher Ling Tong, right, talks with her sponsor, Shawna Zielinski, at St. LawrenceNewman. Tong will be confirmed at the Easter Vigil and complete her journey into the Church.

Photos by Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit hope he forgives me. Eventually I want to get to that point, and I’m working towards that, and I realize it’s going to be a process. It’s going to take a while to take away 20 years of pure anger.”

Catholicism holds answers Trang knows confession is the answer, and that is precisely why he is excited to join the Church.

It’s one example of how a class of 21 RCIA students at St. Lawrence-Newman are discovering in the Church answers to their questions and problems.

Someone who carefully scrutinized Church teachings to arrive at that conclusion is Shawna Zielinski, a catechumen last year and a sponsor this year for Cher Ling Tong, a 21-year-old biochemistry undergraduate student from Malaysia. In her younger years, Zielinski, 23, and a doctoral student in Hispanic linguistics, was more than skeptical about the Catholic Church.

“I was quite anti-religion,” she said. “I was pretty vocal about it actually. I was pretty angry, and especially with the Catholic Church.”

That was in high school. With no religious upbringing, she began dating someone she later discovered was a Christian. She saw his passion for his faith, and was drawn to it. Then, when she went to college at the U of M after graduating from high school in Sullivan, Wis., she started

exploring more intensely.

She looked at several Christian denominations before deciding on the Catholic Church. She joined a year ago during her senior year at the U. “I had all these questions,” she said, “and in my search, the Catholic Church was the only one that had an answer for every one of my questions.”

Now, her task is to help Tong in her journey into the Church. Tong became Catholic when she was 10, but was never confirmed. She is one of the eight who will receive this sacrament at the Easter Vigil.

“Since my first Communion, I kept finding excuses for not going to church,” Tong said.

“Then, I came here. I decided to go home. The Church is my home. I’m supposed to go home and receive my confirmation.”

Shared journeys Four students in the RCIA class are still considering the Church, but not ready to join.

Thomas Krumel is sponsoring one of them. He joined the Church a year ago in Iowa and is one of the older people in the RCIA class at 27. He started going to Mass while his mother was terminally ill with a lung disease. After she died in 2013, he was referred to a parish in Iowa not far from where he worked near the Iowa/Nebraska

border.

“There was this amazing priest there,” he said, and he ended up joining RCIA. Now, he wants to turn around and help someone else on their faith journey, even though the person he is sponsoring is not ready to join at this time.

“I wanted to be a sponsor because I wanted to continue to grow in my relationship with Christ while I was here,” he said.

Watching all 21 students in the RCIA class with delight is RCIA director Jane Rea, who is in her second year of running the program after being asked by the pastor of St. Lawrence-Newman, Father Jon Vander Ploeg.

“I love this class. I can’t imagine having a better class,” she said. “They’re just beautiful souls, and each has a beautiful journey and they are all very, very sincere.”

She’s even excited about having a non-Christian in the class. She thinks he was dared to join by some friends, but is slowly being drawn in.

“He would ask great questions,” Rea said. “It gave me a chance to answer them. Catholic thought is so utterly consistent and beautiful. It does have an answer for every cry of the human heart and every question of the human mind. He knows that, he has realized that. I suspect he knows it’s the truth.”

March 26, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

14

Holy Week

10 ways for families to observe Holy Week Good Friday

By Bob Zyskowski The Catholic Spirit

Ideas for observing Holy Week as a family adapted from the faith formation team of St. Edward in Bloomington.

General suggestions 1. Give up technology from Good Friday until Easter Sunday morning.

2. Sit down as a family (or group) each night of Holy Week and plan a spring party for April or May for those of all ages.

3. Daily Bible study. (It’s easy for only one week!)

4. Attend Triduum liturgies, going each day to a different parish.

5. Check Pinterest and blogs for online ideas for crafts for each day and display (See crown of thorns bread recipe at right.)

Holy Thursday 1. Host an at-home foot washing ceremony.

It is really powerful to wash someone else’s feet, and especially for children to wash their parents’ feet and each other’s. Use the account of the Lord’s supper in John 13:1-11.

2. To connect with the Last Supper and Jesus’ blessing of bread and his offering it to the Apostles as his body, bake bread for Holy Thursday’s evening meal. Follow the simple recipe on this page. (Even though it contains a rising element — the baking powder — it does not contain yeast, the leavening agent, in accordance with the Passover.) The bread can be used in prayer or just as a snack with honey or butter.

1. Create your own crown of thorns. Use the same bread recipe, but instead of forming a loaf, cut the dough into three 18-inch ropes and braid them into a circle. Add toothpicks and bake per the recipe on this page. Use the crown of thorns as a centerpiece for prayer.

2. Host a movie night. Watch “The Passion of the Christ” starring Jim Caviezel as Jesus.

3. With a group or family members, create “freeze-frame” Stations of the Cross. Form small groups and ask each to create a scene that illustrates a certain part of the Passion.

Once groups are ready, have someone read the Passion narrative, allowing groups to do their freeze frame during the appropriate part of the story.

4. Have pretzels for dinner or snack and share the history of the symbolism of the pretzel as representing the Trinity.

5. Make a simple cross from two sticks gathered in the yard and tied with leather straps or twine and use for prayer.

Easter 1. Put religious items such as small books and gifts in the Easter basket, not just candy.

2. Read “The Legend of the Easter Egg” by Lori Walburg (Zondervan, 2011), which presents the egg as a symbol of new life and the resurrection.

3. Search online for activities, crafts and games that help children focus on the meaning of Easter.

Celebrate The Paschal Mystery at

The Basilica of Saint Mary Holy Thursday, April 2 Celebration of the Lord’s Supper - 7:00 PM Good Friday, April 3

Stations of the Cross - Noon Celebration of the Lord’s Passion - 3:00 PM Tenebrae - 7:00 PM

Holy Saturday, April 4 Easter Vigil - 7:00 PM

Eucharist at Sunrise Solemn Eucharist Solemn Eucharist Eucharist

1/2 cup of white flour 3/4 cup whole wheat flour 3/8 tsp salt 3/8 tsp baking powder 3 tbsp vegetable oil 3/8 cup warm water 2-3 tbsp honey Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Do not over stir.

Pat dough into a circle on a greased cookie sheet, about 3/8 inch thick, about 5 inches round.

Score top of loaf. (Cut lightly into eight sections, not all the way through.)

Bake about 15 minutes at 400 degrees.

Celebrate 2015 Holy Week Courtesy of Sue Fast, director of faith formation, St. Peter, Forest Lake

Palm Sunday

March 29—10:30 a.m.

Easter Triduum Holy Thursday

April 2—7:30 p.m.

Easter Sunday, April 5 7:00 AM 9:30 AM Noon 4:30 PM

Recipe for unleavened bread

organ, cantor, soprano, violin organ, cathedral choir, brass organ, cathedral choir, brass contemporary & youth ensembles

Hennepin at North Sixteenth, Minneapolis 612.333.1381 - www.mary.org

Good Friday

April 3—7:30 p.m.

Easter Vigil

April 4—8 p.m.

Easter Sunday April 5—10:30 a.m.

Our Lady of Victory Chapel

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Look for The Catholic Spirit advertising insert from

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in all copies of this issue.

March 26, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

2004 Randolph Avenue, St. Paul 651.690.6724 • stkate.edu

10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Holy Week, preschool style From left, Bernadette, Augustine, Nancy and Dominic Bandzuch look at a homemade cross from one of Nancy’s “Quiet Books.” Nancy uses the felt creations to help make Holy Week more meaningful for her kids.

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Church of the Holy Spirit 515 S. Albert Street, Saint Paul Holy Thursday, April 2, 7 p.m.

Blessing of Easter food, April 4, 10 a.m.

Good Friday, April 3, Confessions, 2 p.m.

Stations of the Cross, 3 p.m.

Service, 7 p.m.

Easter Vigil, April 4, 8 p.m.

Easter Mass, April 5, 8:30 a.m. & 10:30 a.m.

Resurrexit Sicut Dixit – He has risen as he said!

Holy Week Schedule

St. Casimir & St. Patrick Cluster Parishes of East St. Paul

Holy Thursday, April 2 • St. Casimir & St. Patrick 7pm Good Friday, April 3 • St. Casimir Communion Service 3pm / St. Patrick Mass 7pm Holy Saturday, April 4 • St. Casimir Basket Blessing 2pm / St. Casimir & St. Patrick 7pm Easter Sunday, April 5 • St. Casimir 9am / St. Patrick 10:30am St. Casimir • 929 E. Jessamine Ave. • St. Paul, MN 55106 • 651-774-0365 St. Patrick • 1095 Desoto St. • St. Paul, MN 55130 • 651-774-8675

Holy Week/Easter Mass Times Holy Thursday: 7 p.m.

Good Friday: Celebration of The Lord’s Passion 7 p.m.

Holy Saturday: Easter Vigil 8 p.m.

Easter Sunday: 8:30, 10:30 a.m.

The Church of Saint Paul 1740 Bunker Lake Blvd. NE, Ham Lake, MN

By Bob Zyskowski The Catholic Spirit Nancy Bandzuch mixes her talent for crafts with her desire to teach her Catholic faith with her young family.

And she willingly shares her ideas.

“I’m no expert,” admitted Bandzuch, but she does have a background in education. She taught English in Minneapolis public schools before staying at home to raise her children.

She and her husband, William, members of Sacred Heart in Robbinsdale, are the parents of three under the age of 4, so Bandzuch uses simple means and storytelling to get across ideas.

“It’s a beautiful thing to teach your children,” Bandzuch said, and she knows she has gotten through to her oldest, Augustine.

“Gus will talk about ‘the bad guys hurting Jesus,’ and he has questions later” about the story, she said.

“It’s really powerful to be reminded how real these things are,” Bandzuch added.

“Sometimes as an adult you forget — this all happened so long ago and far away. But when my son hears it, it’s real, it’s the present in his mind.”

Some of the approaches she has used during Lent which could be adapted by other families to make Holy Week more meaningful, especially for preschool-age children, include: • Pray one Station of the

Holy Week

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15

Cross each night.

Bandzuch made felt finger puppets of 13 of the major characters in the Passion — Jesus, Peter, Judas, Pontius Pilate, Veronica, Roman soldiers, etc. — so that the children could act out the story.

• Pray one decade of the rosary each night.

Bandzuch has made what she calls “Quiet Books,” felt creations that include beads and simple activities on every page to teach children to pray and enjoy the rosary.

For her Quiet Book about the sorrowful mysteries, for example, her 3-year-old is able to remove the cross and carry it just as did Simon of Cyrene.

• Take children to the Easter Vigil liturgy.

Although the vigil Mass often is late in the day for young ones, Bandzuch said children sense the interacting with water and the drama of the lights darkening and brightening, which help to keep them attentive.

“The Easter Vigil is the one Mass you don’t have to understand a word,” she said.

“You can feel the meaning.”

Nancy Banzuch writes a blog at DoSmallThingsWithLove.com, and sells patterns for her creations, including Quiet Books and finger puppets.

Monday - Wednesday in Holy Week, March 30 -April 1 Confessions from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m.

– – – –

Holy Thursday, April 2 Sung Morning Prayer (Lauds) at 7:30 a.m.

Confessions from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m.

Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 7:00 p.m.

Adoration concludes with Sung Night Prayer (Compline) at 10:00 p.m.

–

Holy Week at the Cathedral of Saint Paul

Good Friday, April 3 Sung Morning Prayer (Lauds) at 7:30 a.m.

Confessions from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.

Stations of the Cross at 12:00 p.m.

Celebration of the Lord’s Passion at 3:00 p.m. (Solemn) Celebration of the Lord’s Passion at 7:00 p.m. (Simple) Holy Saturday, April 4 Sung Morning Prayer (Lauds) at 8:00 a.m.

Confessions from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.

Blessing of Easter Foods at 11:30 a.m.

The Easter Vigil in the Holy Night at 8:00 p.m.

Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord, April 5 Masses at 8:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m. (Solemn), Noon, & 5:00 p.m.

March 26, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Faith & Culture

16

Church art is catechetical storybook of faith

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service Having so much world-famous art housed in Rome’s churches and chapels has risked turning the city’s sacred spaces into sightseer circuses.

A hushed, prayerful atmosphere for the faithful is often broken by clicking cameras and tourists exchanging guidebook details.

But one Rome attraction has managed to hold on to its spiritual side, according to the rector of the Pontifical Sanctuary of the Holy Stairs.

Located across a busy street from the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the sanctuary remains “a place of prayer” even as thousands of people stream through its doors every day, Passionist Father Francesco Guerra said.

It is felt to be a sacred place not just by Catholics and Orthodox Christians, but even people of other faiths like Hindus and Buddhists as they are drawn to the sanctuary’s spiritual atmosphere.

“Our job is to keep the Holy Stairs a holy place,” he whispered as he pointed to what he saw as a sign of success: two tourists quietly and respectfully walking through a chapel while a dozen faithful were seated or standing in prayer.

Art and prayer The Gospel story of Jesus driving the money-changers out of the temple is a kind of mandate about the importance of keeping these spaces focused on the sacred, he said. “Even if it’s a place of great art, a church is always a place of prayer,” Father Guerra said.

The Holy Stairs, according to tradition, are the ones Jesus climbed when Pontius Pilate brought him before the crowd and handed him over to be crucified.

The 28 marble steps, some spattered with droplets of blood, are covered with thick wood panels, now worn smooth from centuries of human traffic. It’s said that Constantine’s mother, St. Helen, brought the stairs to Rome from Jerusalem in 326 A.D. From the moment people walk into the sanctuary they are surrounded by images and symbols associated with the Passion.

Overhead in the atrium, frescoed angels carry the cross, ladder, nails, spear, sponge and chalice.

Standing at each stairwell are life-sized marble statues: Jesus weeping in the Garden of Gethsemane; Judas confidently pulling a pensive Jesus close for a kiss; Pontius Pilate presenting Jesus bound and crowned with thorns to the people; and Jesus tied to a column for flagellation. With the statues’ pedestals at shoulder-level, people kiss or touch Jesus’ feet.

“People need this concreteness” as part of entering into a deeper form of self-examination and meditation, Father Guerra said.

March 26, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Paschal candle makers shine light on ancient craft

By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service

People pray on the Holy Stairs at the Pontifical Sanctuary of the Holy Stairs in Rome March 10. Tradition maintains that Jesus climbed the stairs when Pilate brought him before the crowd. It’s believed that Constantine’s mother, St. Helen, brought the stairs to Rome from Jerusalem in 326. CNS photo/Paul Haring

Mind and body The Sanctuary of the Holy Stairs is like a catechetical storybook whose wall-to-ceiling frescoes take pilgrims on a visual journey of Christ’s passage from the Last Supper to his passion, death, resurrection and ascension into heaven.

A unique feature of the sanctuary is that pilgrims climb the Holy Stairs on their knees in silent prayer.

Advancing up the relic on one’s knees and seeing the images around them “help the pilgrims enter into the spirituality of those events” and focus on Jesus’ passion, Father Guerra said.

“They physically take on a condition that is outside the norm, they’re not walking, but laboring, sacrificing to get up the stairs, which helps the spirit” engage in the penitential and sacrificial aspects of the Passion, he said.

“We don’t just have minds, we also have bodies, which here become part of the act of prayer,” he said.

“Today we read the Gospel and reflect on the Gospel, but in the Middle Ages, people didn’t read, they went to church, they saw the images and prayed,” Father Guerra said.

“Now there is much emphasis on study and reason, but before it was

all about participation,” he said.

Lent and Holy Week often offered very powerful experiences for the laity as the processions, especially the Way of the Cross, and other devotional practices gave people the opportunity to “re-live events” in the Bible and church tradition, he said. It was more than acting in or watching a scene, “but was identifying oneself with” Christ, following in his footsteps and “incarnating” his journey, he said.

‘Breathe in the spirituality, With the help of private donors and the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums, the Vatican Museums have been overseeing a decade-long piecemeal restoration of the sanctuary, starting with the chapels dedicated to St. Sylvester and to St. Lawrence.

Father Guerra, who studied art history in Florence, said Western culture has lost touch with the theological and religious inspiration of Europe’s Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque art and literature. Today’s guidebooks and even education “removes art from its roots, which is faith, spirituality and humanity,” he said.

“My dream is that the faithful can come here and they can absorb, breathe in the spirituality that this art expresses.”

Martin Marklin has been fascinated by paschal candles — the candles lit during the Easter Vigil at Catholic churches — since he was an altar server at Holy Cross Parish in St. Louis.

As an 8-year-old, he was impressed by the candle’s intricate wax design. But years later he was surprised to see that the traditional paschal candle at his parish had been replaced by one far less artistic: one adorned with a mere decal. He learned that the woman who had been making them had died and no one else in the parish knew the craft.

So in 1975, Marklin took it upon himself to create a paschal candle, turning his parents’ kitchen table into his workshop. Today the company he and his wife, Christine, operate — Marklin Candles based in Contoocook, N.H. — is one of about seven companies making liturgical candles in the United States. He said his is by far the smallest and also the youngest and sells directly to churches unlike some bigger companies that sell to church suppliers.

About 300 miles away in Syracuse, N.Y., the Steigerwald family continues a church candlemaking business, Cathedral Candle Co., started by Jacob Steigerwald in 1897 who learned the trade in Germany’s Bavaria region.

Both companies — one in its original city factory with 70 employees, and the other tucked away on New England farmland with 25 workers and its own bees to produce beeswax — practice an ancient craft and supply a key element to Easter liturgies across the country.

Although candles have long played an important part in church services, the paschal candle is clearly the superstar. The word paschal comes from “Pesach,” the Hebrew word for Passover. The paschal candle, by church rule, is the biggest in the church space and plays a major role in the Easter triduum liturgy — symbolizing the Resurrection and the Christian mission to spread Christ’s light.

The candle’s flame is lit and blessed outdoors at the start of the Easter Vigil and that light is passed on to candles held by those in the congregation who then proceed into the darkened church. Once the church is full, the lights are turned on for the reading or chanting of a special Easter proclamation, or Exsultet.

The paschal candle is used during services throughout the Easter season and then only for baptisms and funeral Masses.

Typical paschal candle designs include a cross, the Greek letters alpha and omega, and the year.

17

By Bob Zyskowski The Catholic Spirit El Pinito Market/Carniceria/ Abarrotes, a butcher shop and grocery store, is just up Forest Street from St. Casimir Church on St. Paul’s east side.

Across Maryland Avenue is Asian Auto Tech, and a short walk away is Vogel’s Lounge, the venerable watering hole on Arcade Street.

South of St. Casimir a block or two on Forest is Sab Zoo Trading.

The neighborhood Burger King competes with several taquerias.

It’s that kind of ethnic diversity in the Payne-Phalen area that surrounds St. Casimir and its Polish tradition, and why hymns from a variety of cultures will ring out at St. Casimir Palm Sunday afternoon.

Community voices Bob Hindel’s piano pours over the empty pews at St. Casimir on a March Saturday morning as the Cantabile chamber singers begin to gather for the first rehearsal of “The King of Love: A Musical Passion Play,” which they will perform at the church 3 p.m.

March 29.

Members of the ensemble are veterans who sing at several local parishes, and they’ve worked with Hindel before. They have the voices, to be sure, but they don’t usually sing in Polish or Spanish.

Hindel, who arranged all the music, first goes through the pronunciation of the words to “Bogurodzica,” a medieval hymn to the mother of God, the oldest hymn in the Polish language.

“You get a feeling of the different culture when you play and sing their music.”

Bob Hindel

Watch and listen to musicians and vocalists at St. Casimir practice a dramatic and haunting piece in Polish for “The King of Love: A Musical Passion Play” at http://thecatholicspirit. com/?p=46994.

He pronounces each word, and the ensemble repeats it. Then they do it again.

After an initial run-through with just piano and voice, Hindel explains what they are singing.

The song is a plea to Mary to intercede so that Jesus will: Listen to the prayer we say, For what we ask, give us today: Life on earth free of vice; After life: paradise!

Musicians join Hindel’s piano now — flute, oboe and the deep vibrations of electric bass guitar — then it’s on to the portion of the Passion in Spanish.

Again the group hears the pronunciation, sings the hymn, and Hindel explains what they are singing.

Translated to English, the

closing lines of the Spanish hymn capture the essence of this multilanguage production: Your song is my song, the song of everyone is my song.

Varied ‘Imago Dei’ This year, blending in with the Polish and Hispanic hymns will be Hmong voices and songs from the Karen community that worships at St. Casimir.

“That’s the demographic in our area,” said Hindel, a composer and pianist who plays professionally for groups such as the Classical Ballet Academy.

“You get a feeling of the different culture when you play and sing their music,” he said. “The hymns in the Passion Play are all songs of praise to Jesus because through his passion and death he saved our

souls.”

Hindel, who volunteers his piano skills at St. Casimir’s daily Mass, said the members of Cantabile seem to enjoy learning pieces in other languages.

“The over-arching theme of what our ensemble does is ‘Imago Dei’ — the image of God,” he noted.

“We try to draw that out of those cultures — how they praise God and the dignity of humanity.”

Faith & Culture

Multicultural repertoire reflects St. Paul’s east side

Reaches out to all Emilia Godinez expects the church to be filled again for the Passion Play this year.

A St. Casimir parishioner whose heritage is Mexican, Godinez is the narrator for the production. She gets excited talking about the “raw beauty” of the work, as she put it.

“It takes us to a place above and beyond,” Godinez said. “It speaks about the depth and power of God that reaches out to every person and culture.

“All of them have found ways to honor their God, so why not incorporate their music into the Passion,” she said.

Voices and instruments powered over the walls of St. Casimir as the rehearsal continued, a sadness and foreboding in the music making the passion of Jesus Christ almost palpable.

“It’s a lovely way to honor God on Palm Sunday,” Godinez added.

St. Casimir Church is located at 929 E. Jessamine Ave., St. Paul.

Admission is free; donations to St. Casimir Parish accepted.

Refreshments will follow the performance.

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March 26, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Focus on Faith • Scripture Readings

18 SUNDAY SCRIPTURES Deacon Andrew Windschitl

Choosing meekness leads us toward union with Trinity The Roman soldiers, who among their other acts of violence against Jesus placed a crown of thorns on his head, were correct about one thing: He is a king. This painful irony is not lost on us, especially when we pray the third sorrowful mystery of the rosary.

Of course, there is nothing normal about a king being crowned with thorns. But Jesus’ kingship has not been normal according to any human standards.

In the Gospel on Palm Sunday, Jesus advises two of his disciples to obtain for him a colt in a nearby village. St. Mark does not specify what kind of colt this animal is, but according to St. Matthew, it is a donkey. Why do we make the distinction?

Consider that a young horse is also called a colt, and Jesus could choose to ride into Jerusalem on one as opposed to a donkey.

However, it is a triumphant warrior king returning to his kingdom after conquering an opponent who rides a horse. This was the kind of king that the other Jews of his time were expecting — somebody to deliver them from Rome. But Jesus, triumphant though he is, chooses

to ride a donkey, an animal that is often seen as humble.

The connection is unmistakable: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). He sends the message that all he has done and all that he is about to do is not for his glory as much as it is to glorify the Father, who sent him on this mission.

And the goal of this mission is not to conquer the world but to save it.

As both the Son of God and the son of man, Jesus Christ is the only person who can accomplish such a task. The fact that he requests a colt on which no one has ever sat attests to his unique role as the Messiah. Up to his time, there has not been anyone like him, regardless of the popularity that his ancestor King David enjoyed.

By contrast, Jesus Christ’s victory is not measured so easily in worldly terms because the sin and death that he conquered are not so easily quantified.

There are a couple questions with which we might pray: Do we choose to ride the horse, seeking glory for ourselves, instead of the God who gave us our very life and

Sunday, March 29

Palm Sunday – Passion of the Lord

Readings

• Mark 11:1-10 • Isaiah 50:4-7

• Philippians 2:6-11 • Mark 14:1–15:47

holds out to us the gift of eternal life? Or do we choose to ride the donkey, humbling ourselves in the sight of God, knowing by whom it has already been ridden?

One of the first things that Pope Francis said after his election was, “The Lord never tires of forgiving.”

So even if we have chosen the horse, we can get off and get on the donkey. Doing so sets us, like Jesus, on a path toward many

challenges, but also ultimately to union with him and the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Deacon Windschitl is in formation for the priesthood at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity for the Diocese of Des Moines, Iowa. His teaching parish is St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Hastings. His home parish is St. Francis of Assisi in West Des Moines.

DAILY Scriptures Sunday, March 29 Palm Sunday – Passion of the Lord Mark 11:1-10 Isaiah 50:4-7 Philippians 2:6-11 Mark 14:1–15:47 Monday, March 30 Monday of Holy Week Isaiah 42:1-7 John 12:1-11 Tuesday, March 31 Tuesday of Holy Week Isaiah 49:1-6 John 13:21-33, 36-38

Wednesday, April 1 Wednesday of Holy Week Isaiah 50:4-9a Matthew 26:14-25 Thursday, April 2 Holy Thursday – Mass of the Lord’s Supper Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 John 13:1-15 Friday, April 3 Good Friday – Passion of the Lord Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12 Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9 John 18:1 –19:42

Saturday, April 4 Holy Saturday – Easter Vigil in the Holy Night Genesis 1:1 – 2:2 Genesis 22:1-18 Exodus 14:15 – 15:1 Isaiah 54:5-14 Isaiah 55:1-11 Baruch 3:9-15, 32 – 4:4 Ezekiel 36:16-17a, 18-28 Romans 6:3-11 Mark 16:1-7 Sunday, April 5 Easter Sunday – Resurrection of the Lord Acts 10:34a, 37-43 Colossians 3:1-4 John 20:1-9

Monday, April 6 Monday within the Octave of Easter Acts 2:14, 22-33 Matthew 28:8-15

Friday, April 10 Friday within the Octave of Easter Acts 4:1-12 John 21:1-14

Tuesday, April 7 Tuesday within the Octave of Easter Acts 2:36-41 John 20:11-18

Saturday, April 11 Saturday within the Octave of Easter Acts 4:13-21 Mark 16:9-15

Wednesday, April 8 Wednesday within the Octave of Easter Acts 3:1-10 Luke 24:13-35

Sunday, April 12 Divine Mercy Sunday Acts 4:32-35 1 John 5:1-6 John 20:19-31

Thursday, April 9 Thursday within the Octave of Easter Acts 3:11-26 Luke 24:35-48

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March 26, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

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Father Kenneth Doyle

“The only real rule is that whatever is done be done with respect for the sacredness of the event. “

Can a felon enter holy orders?

Acceptable to chew the host?

Q. I am currently incarcerated in federal prison. My question may seem strange, but I am wondering whether it would ever be possible for an exconvict, a felon, to be accepted into holy orders.

When I was a child, I was never baptized or brought up in any particular religion, but I had a strong sense of the closeness of God. Later, as I got older, I fell away from the Lord and began to lead a sinful life, which resulted in my imprisonment.

While in prison, I began going to Catholic Mass, and shortly I will be baptized by our Catholic prison chaplain.

I read the Catholic paper regularly and find it helpful and uplifting. Here in prison, it’s easy to lose hope, to feel lonely and forgotten. But with the Lord I get stronger every day. I reflect on God’s word, feel his strength and know that he is with me.

Through Jesus, I can wake each day with a sense of lightness and freedom — even though I am surrounded by bars, concrete, fences and chains — and I thank God for this. It gives me joy to share my faith with fellow prisoners, some of whom feel unlovable. I hope you can tell me whether anything would prevent me from becoming a priest or deacon once I am released from prison. And meanwhile, please pray for me.

A. First, let me say how grateful I am to you for telling the story of this remarkable reawakening to God’s presence in your life. I find your words inspiring. I’m sure others will say the same.

As for your becoming a priest or a deacon, it would not be unprecedented for someone to move from prison cell to pulpit. I have read, for example, of Father Donald Calloway.

As a young man, he led a life of delinquency and drug use and was jailed multiple times. Now he is a priest of the Congregation of Marians of the Immaculate Conception and a much-sought speaker who tells of his conversion through the mercy of God. Realistically, though, I think it depends a lot on the nature of the crime for which you are serving time.

In the interest of transparency, that background would have to be shared with the people whom you were to serve. If your crime were one of violence, people might feel uncomfortable accepting you as a minister of the Gospel, and your work would be compromised. If, on the other hand, it were something such as drug use from which you had clearly repented and recovered, the way might be open.

What I think you should do is talk with your prison chaplain, whom you already know and trust.

Get his take on the matter and, perhaps, ask him to put you in

touch with the vocation director of a diocese or religious order.

Even if a future in religious ministry is not in the cards, know that there are many ways to serve the Lord. Far more people do this as members of the laity, ministering to those they live and work with by showing their kindness and sharing their faith.

Meanwhile, please be assured that you have my prayers, and I ask for yours.

Q. I attended Catholic schools for 12 years and remember most of my catechism lessons. There is one thing, though, that bothers me. After receiving Communion, I often notice people returning to their pews while visibly chewing the host. I always thought — in fact, I think I was taught this — that you should either let the host dissolve in your mouth as a sign of reverence or swallow it quickly. Please explain.

But there is not — and never was — a rule that says this.

In fact, Scripture scholars point out that in Christ’s eucharistic discourse in the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel, the Greek word used for “eat” actually does mean “chew.”

So it depends to some extent on the circumstances. When I am celebrating Mass, I consume a large host and find it necessary to chew it. When I am on vacation, though, and attending Mass, I revert to the habit of my boyhood and let the host start to dissolve in my mouth before swallowing it.

Today, hosts meant for the congregation vary in size and consistency. Thicker whole-wheat hosts are more often chewed. The only real rule is that whatever is done be done with respect for the sacredness of the event. (If one chooses to chew the host, it should of course be done with the mouth closed and noiselessly.)

A. I have no doubt that, as a child, you were taught not to chew the host — because I was taught that, too. This was seen as a sign of greater reverence for the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

Father Doyle writes for Catholic News Service. A priest of the Diocese of Albany, N.Y., he previously served as director of media relations for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

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March 26, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

This Catholic Life • Commentary

20 EDITORIAL Maria Wiering

What death with dignity looks like, and it’s not physician-assisted suicide On March 22, Kara Tippetts died of cancer. She was a 38-year-old mother of four, a pastor’s wife and a writer in Colorado Springs. She chronicled her illness at her blog, Mundane Faithfulness, where she presented to the world not only the ups and downs of living with cancer, but also the deep Christian faith that grounded her. Her final post, written by a loved one, was an obituary. Its title: “Homecoming.”

Last fall Kara published a memoir, “The Hardest Peace,” but it was another piece, a letter, that put her name in the Washington Post.

That open letter was to 29-yearold Brittany Maynard, who announced in October that she

planned to commit suicide Nov. 1 — with the help of her doctor — to escape dying from terminal brain cancer. She had moved from California to Oregon in order to access its Death with Dignity law that permits physician-assisted suicide.

“Dear heart,” Kara wrote Brittany Oct. 8, “we simply disagree.

Suffering is not the absence of goodness, it is not the absence of beauty, but perhaps it can be the place where true beauty can be known. . . . You have been told a lie. A horrible lie, that your dying will not be beautiful. That the suffering will be too great.”

As we all know, Maynard did end her life Nov. 1, although in her final days she suggested she might

FAITH IN THE PUBLIC ARENA Jason Adkins Minnesota Catholic Conference staff is often asked to describe a typical day at the office. Though every day is different, we are blessed that it is only the rare occasion on which MCC’s policy team spends the whole day behind a desk. This is how it should be, because public policy advocacy requires an entrepreneurial spirit and lots of relationship building — which is not much different from the dynamics of those who work in sales.

Fortunately, we get to pitch a good product that we truly believe in: public policy guided by the perennial principles of Catholic social teaching. This makes every day a blessing and an adventure.

And though our proposals can sometimes meet strong (and not necessarily rational or kind) resistance, we press on with hopeful spirits, knowing that today’s opponent might be tomorrow’s ally. It requires constant reminders to be civil, a great deal of patience and prayer and, admittedly, the occasional stiff drink. Here is a brief look at highlights from March 16-20: Monday: An interview with Relevant Radio St. Cloud affiliate KYES; testify on religious liberty bill; work with legislative committee administrator to secure bill hearing; draft revised bill language; prepare with bill author for meetings with the legislation’s potential opponents; update Catholic Advocacy Network bill tracker with latest bills we support or oppose.

March 26, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Tuesday: Restore the Vote MN legislative subcommittee meeting; secure committee hearing for Prenatal Trisomy Diagnosis Awareness Act; send out Catholic Advocacy Network communication encouraging members to attend a legislator’s town hall gathering; create legislation fact sheets necessary for upcoming committee hearings; correspond with national and global surrogacy awareness partners on recent United Nation discussions surrounding need to study surrogacy.

Wednesday: Emcee Restore the Vote MN coalition press conference; meet with emerging surrogacy awareness partners; correspond with coalition of churches and educational organizations opposing the imposition of property taxes on private schools and houses of worship (bill defeated!); interview with The Catholic Spirit about Gov. Mark Dayton’s supplemental budget proposal; arrange editorial board meeting with major media outlet on voter restoration legislation.

Thursday: Host Minnesota Non-public Education Day on the Hill to inform and train private school leaders to advocate for public policies that offer families more educational options; prepare with bill author for upcoming committee hearing; meet with Legislative Revisor’s office to discuss new bill language;

reconsider. Death with dignity proponents have since exalted her as a martyr, someone to put a beautiful face on a dark issue.

Expect Maynard’s case to play a role in Minnesota’s debate on the question — ignited March 19 with the introduction of a bill, S.F. 1880 — of whether to legalize physicianassisted suicide in our state. It’s called the “Minnesota Compassionate Care Act of 2015,” adopting the same euphemistic flair as the cause’s biggest national backer, Compassion and Choices, once more appropriately known as the Hemlock Society.

The Minnesota Catholic Conference warned that the legislation could be added to the state’s omnibus bill, overturning the state’s current law prohibiting physician-assisted suicide.

As written, however, S.F. 1880 doesn’t simply present a go-gentleinto-that-good-night option for people who think that is their right. It opens the door to abuse and coercion. Enacting the law would tell Minnesotans that it’s OK to think some people are better off dead, even if it’s themselves. It would plant the idea in some great-grandmother’s mind that if she only took a pill, she could stop burdening her children with her health problems and their cost. It would allow another young adult

who fears that cancer will ravage his energy and pride to escape the love his family could have shown him as they walked a difficult journey together.

Perhaps worse, it could compel someone to suggest quiety to another that he take the fatal pill; after all, it’s been hard for the family to watch his health decline.

To affirm anyone seeking to expedite his death is to send a message to everyone in a similar situation: “Your life is worth less because you are ill.” That message doesn’t liberate; it only causes people to question their life’s value. It applies a utilitarian standard that measures lives by health and ultimately people’s ability to produce.

Certainly, the Minnesota bill tries to build in a few safeguards to prevent abuse, but no amount of safeguarding could protect the vulnerable from the message that some lives are worth more than others.

Minnesotans would do well to listen to Kara — not Brittany — on the matter of what death with real dignity looks like: a life poured out for others until her last breath, leaving a family not in tears, but with joy to have known their mother’s courage, love and hope until the moment God took her to himself.

prepare for upcoming hearing on surrogacy study commission bill with legislative allies.

Friday: Opportunity for All Kids education coalition weekly conference call; testify in support of surrogacy study commission in House Government Operations Committee; Minnesotans for Surrogacy Awareness coalition strategy meeting; meet with diocesan communications directors and newspaper editors to coordinate media opportunities; distribute Catholic Advocacy Network monthly e-update; meet with legislative allies to coordinate outreach and messaging for physicianassisted suicide committee hearing; correspond with policymakers about marriage and family legislation.

Saturday: Host a table at the Archdiocesan Men’s Conference.

This past week, MCC’s team had 50 meetings with legislators, not including meetings with their assistants or other legislative staff. Some days we feel like we are selling encyclopedias.

I have not listed the meeting preparation, scheduling and follow-up correspondence, or the daily business duties necessary to keep our wheels rolling. And while our small staff of five is busy, the work of witnessing our faith individually and in solidarity as Catholics never ends.

Ultimately, the success or failure of our efforts in many instances depends on your witness, your prayers and your personal follow-up with your legislator after we leave his or her office. Please join us in living your “faith in the public

Contact your legislators Urge them to support the following bills by sharing the highlighted messages: SF 348/HF 437: Support a legislative commission on surrogacy “Please support SF 348/HF 437, which would establish a legislative commission for surrogacy. Our state has already identified the need to take a more serious, in-depth look at the many concerns associated with gestational agreements like surrogacy contracts. A legislative commission to study surrogacy is the next step to help ensure Minnesota is protecting potentially vulnerable women, children and families from the unintended consequences of some surrogacy arrangements.”

For Catholic teaching and more legislative background on these bills, or for easy instructions on how to contact your legislators quickly, visit www.mncc.org/actioncenter.

The Catholic Advocacy Network is an initiative of the Minnesota Catholic Conference, the public policy voice of the Catholic Church in Minnesota. arena.” As Pope Francis says, “a good Catholic meddles in politics.”

Adkins is executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference.

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This Catholic Life • Commentary

‘A.D.: The Bible Continues’ admirable but flawed

By Christopher Heffron Catholic News Service The opportunity to watch a biblical interpretation on the big or small screen can be a mixed blessing.

It’s certainly something of a novelty, given the current television culture, to see the story of Jesus’ earthly life — or its aftermath — unfold in a massmedia format. Yet audiences are at the mercy of the vision TV review directors’ of the New Testament — and of its leading personalities.

Franco Zeffirelli’s sweeping 1977 miniseries “Jesus of Nazareth” artfully told the story of the Savior’s birth, ministry, death and resurrection. But some critics at the time bemoaned its mostly lilywhite roster of stars.

Director Mel Gibson’s 2004 movie, “The Passion of the Christ,” may have wooed audiences to the tune of $600 million worldwide.

Yet it was met with controversy over its harsh violence and what many considered the anti-Semitic lens through which Gibson focused on the events he recounted.

For most of the following decade, there was a lull in Scripture-related offerings — and faith-hungry television viewers felt it. Producers Mark Burnett and Roma Downey have devoted the last few years of their careers to changing that.

With their production company, LightWorkers Media, they produced 2013’s “The Bible,” a 10-hour History Channel miniseries watched by over 13 million viewers, according to Nielsen. “Son of God,” a feature film based on footage originally shot for the miniseries, was released to theaters a year later.

Now Burnett and Downey have given us the 12-week miniseries “A.D.: The Bible Continues,” premiering on NBC Easter Sunday, April 5, 8-9 p.m. CDT. While the project will obviously be welcomed by audiences looking for faithaffirming television, the results are uneven.

Character strength ranges “A.D.” begins as Jesus (Juan Pablo Di Pace) is condemned to the cross by Pontius Pilate (scenery chewer Vincent Regan). In the immediate wake of his death, the apostles, though united in mourning, are otherwise divided, aimless and scared. Relations between Jewish leaders and Roman officials are worsening by the day — a dynamic of mounting tension that the series captures well.

Much of the action in the first two episodes centers on Peter (Adam Levy), John (Babou Ceesay) and Simon the Zealot (Fraser Ayres) who are in hiding as they await

Scenes from the 12-week miniseries “A.D.: The Bible Continues,” premiering on NBC Easter Sunday, April 5, 8-9 p.m.

CDT. Above, Juan Pablo Di Pace portrays Jesus; At right, John (Babou Ceesay), left, Mary the mother of God (Greta Scacchi) and Mary Magdalene (Chipo Chung) stand amid an angry crowd. CNS photos/courtesy Arenas Group Jesus’ resurrection. Peter, struggling with doubts over his master’s promised return, is also wrestling with the shame of having denied him.

In these early moments, Levy is given the creative space to paint a portrait of a man crippled by despair and exhaustion, but clinging to shards of hope — and the actor never makes a false move.

The remaining apostles — many of them portrayed by unknown players — realistically convey a kind of fight-or-flight panic.

Mary Magdalene (a powerful Chipo Chung) and Mary the mother of God (Greta Scacchi, who rises above her own miscasting) are unwavering in their faith in the Lord’s promise. And it’s that subtle push-and-pull between the believers and the doubters that generates moments of truth and discovery.

But not all of the story lines are captured quite so well. Pilate, in a total departure from the Gospel figure, isn’t a morally conflicted leader trying to keep the peace with the turbulent masses. Instead he’s a cartoonish, sepia-lit villain straight out of the “300” franchise.

Hampered by a lazy script, Regan, no slouch of an actor, is given little more to do in the series than oscillate between lethargy and rage. The latter is directed mostly at the high priest, Caiaphas (Richard Coyle), Jesus’ primary antagonist.

Some of Pilate and Caiaphas’ heated exchanges — so

overwrought they feel as though they’ve been lifted from an old episode of the 1980s nighttime soap “Dynasty” — disrupt from the central narrative.

Simplicity speaks volumes Jesus’ initial return is handled with admirable restraint. But when he departs again at the Ascension, the darkened skies open to a light show resembling an aurora borealis on steroids.

Such overdone special effects only complicate a simple story.

Jesus came to redeem, after all, not to dazzle.

Indeed, it’s precisely the least garish moments that are most effective: Mary Magdalene’s almost wordless reunion with the risen Lord is simply stunning; Peter’s inner battles are conveyed beautifully in Levy’s pained face; and Ceesay’s representation of John’s quiet indignation provides some of the series’ most memorable scenes. In these moments, “A.D.” will truly resonate with audiences.

Burnett and Downey should be commended for presenting Christian audiences with spiritually rich programming. Even so, they would be wise to apply a less-is-more approach as the series progresses. There are a handful of intense moments that might be too graphic for viewers.

The series, to its credit, encourages us to consider the sheer gravity of Jesus’ sacrifice — which is a powerful tool for Lenten reflection. Similarly, as the risen Jesus appeals to his brothers to go out into the world and risk death to share the Good News, viewers are likely to feel an inner spiritual urge to apply this missionary command to the circumstances of their own lives.

Burnett and Downey’s project is, in sum, an admirable — though flawed — glimpse into fledgling Christianity as the first evangelizers bravely move forward, their hope renewed by the Resurrection.

The miniseries continues Sundays through June 21, 8-9 p.m.

CDT.

March 26, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

22

Calendar

Dining out KC Door County-style fish boil — March 27: 4:30-6:30 p.m., St. Joseph of the Lakes, 171 Elm St., Lino Lakes. $16. Information: (651) 784-3015.

Fish fries and lenten dinners

Passion Play — March 29: “The King of Love”

by Bob Hindel, 3 p.m., St. Casimir Church, 929 E. Jessamine, St. Paul.

March 27

Feast of the Golden Fork — April 11: 6:30 p.m., “Una Fiesta Latinoamericana,” Holy Childhood, 1435 Midway Parkway, St. Paul. $60 for one, $100 for two. Information, reservations: (651) 644-7495.

Reduce-Reuse rummage sale — April 9-11: pre-sale April 9, 4-7 p.m., $2 entry fee; April 10, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. no fee; April 11, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

St. John Vianney, 1815 Bromley, South St. Paul.

Good Shepherd, Golden Valley — 5-7 p.m. fish fry, 1145 Jersey Ave. S.

CCW spring salad luncheon — April 11: 11:30 a.m., Holy Name Church, 3637 11th Ave. S., Minneapolis. Entertainment by the Southside Singers. $10 adults, $3 children.

Spring/summer children’s clothing and toy sale — April 11-12: 9 a.m.-2 p.m. April 11; 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. April 12: St. Joseph the Worker Church, 7180 Hemlock Lane N., Maple Grove.

Holy Name of Jesus, Wayzata — 5-7:30 p.m., Asian seafood buffet, 155 County Road 24.

Ladies English Garden and High Tea — April 18: 11 a.m., St. Peter Church, 6730 Nicollet Ave. S., Richfield. $15. Reservations in advance at www.stpetersrichfield or (612) 866-5089.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Paul — 11:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m., enchilada dinner, 401 Concord St.

Auction gala — April 25: 6-11 p.m., St. Charles Borromeo School Gymnasium, 2727 Stinson Blvd., Minneapolis. $20 per person. Auction list and registration: stchb.weshareonline.org/ auctiongala.

St. Bonaventure, Bloomington — 4:30-7 p.m., fish fry, 901 E. 90th St.

Prayer and liturgy

St. Mary, St. Paul — 6 p.m. Lenten dinner following Stations of the Cross, 261 E. Eighth St.

Living Stations of the Cross — three dates: March 27, 6:45 p.m.; March 29, 1:30 p.m., April 12, noon, St. Andrew, 4125 Woodbury Dr., Woodbury.

St. Michael, Prior Lake — 4:30-7:30 p.m. fish fry, 16311 Duluth Ave. SE

Divine Mercy Sunday devotions, programs St. John the Baptist, Excelsior — April 12: 3 p.m.

Holy Family, St. Louis Park — April 11: 9 a.m., preparation retreat with Margarett Schlientz. Free.

Music and entertainment Priests vs. seminarians basketball tournament — April 10: Barbecue 5 p.m., games 6:30 p.m., Totino-Grace High School, 1350 Gardena Ave. NE, Fridley.

Acoustic Cafe — April 11: 6:30-9 p.m., Carolyn Hall, across the street from St. Mark Church, 2001 Dayton Ave., St. Paul. Catholic musicians Connor Flanagan, Sarah Kalonick, John Rosensteel. $5.

St. Catherine University Women’s Choir home concert — April 12: 3 p.m., Our Lady of Victory Chapel on the campus at 2004 Randolph Ave., St. Paul. Free.

More events online

p.m. March 29, St. Odilia, 3495 N. Victoria, Shoreview.

Parish events Lenten cross exhibit — through April 5: “Stumbling Stone Crosses” by Rick Brack, Pax Christi, 12100 Pioneer Trail, Eden Prairie.

Ham It Up Bingo ‚ March 27: 6:30-9 p.m., St. Odilia, 3495 N. Victoria St., Shoreview.

Easter boutique — March 28: 11 a.m.-2 p.m., St. Boniface, 629 Second St. NE, Minneapolis.

Spring bake sale and boutique — March 28-29: Noon-6 p.m. March 28, 8 a.m.-12:30

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

Recurring or ongoing events must be submitted each time they occur.

LISTINGS: Accepted are brief notices of upcoming events hosted by Catholic parishes and institutions. If the Catholic connection is not clear, please emphasize it in your press release.

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

• Full street address of event.

• Description of event.

• Contact information in case of questions.

EMAIL: spiritcalendar@archspm.org.

(No attachments, please.)

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

March 26, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Living Stations of the Cross by Servants of the Cross youth group: March 29, 3 p.m., St. Peter Church, 2600 N. Margaret St., North St. Paul; three locations April 3: noon, Presentation BVM, 1725 Kennard St., Maplewood; 3 p.m., St. Jude of the Lake, 700 Mahtomedi Ave., Mahtomedi; 7 p.m., Blessed Sacrament (formerly St. Thomas the Apostle Church), 2119 Stillwater Ave. E., St. Paul. For information, visit www. servantsofthecrossmn.com.

Jesus’ Last Word — March 30: 6:30 p.m., St. Patrick Church, 6820 St. Patrick Lane, Edina.

Prayer and reflection with Art Zannoni. Preregister: sosacho@stpatrick-edina.org or (952) 767-0956.

Taizé prayer — March 31: 5:30 p.m., Basilica of St. Mary, 88 N. 17th St., Minneapolis.

Good Friday Taizé prayer — April 3: 7:30 p.m., St. Richard Church, 7540 Penn Ave. S., Richfield.

Retreats “A Guided Journey through the Triduum” — April 2-4: With Benedictine Sister Carol Rennie. $160, includes meals and lodging. To register online, visit www.stpaulsmonastery.org and follow the link to the Benedictine Center. For more information, call (651) 777-7251 or email: benedictinecenter@stpaulsmonastery.org. 2675 Benet Road, Maplewood.

Hermitage retreat — April 10-12: A taste of living as a hermit plus one-on-one retreat. $150, includes meals and lodging. Register online at www.stpaulsmonastery.org and follow the link to the Benedictine Center. For more information, call (651) 777-7251 or email: benedictinecenter@stpaulsmonastery.org. 2675 Benet Road, Maplewood.

Day of quiet and solitude — April 11: 9 a.m.4 p.m. Learn what a retreat is all about. $25.

Register online at www.stpaulsmonastery.org and follow the link to the Benedictine Center. For more information, call (651) 777-7251 or email:

Epiphany, Coon Rapids — 4:30-6:30 p.m., fish fry, 11001 Hanson Blvd. NW.

Holy Cross, Minneapolis — 5-7 p.m. fish fry, 17th Ave. and Fourth St. NE. Holy Family Maronite, Mendota Heights — 4:30-7 p.m., fish fry, 1960 Lexington Ave., S.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, Minnetonka — 5-7 p.m. fish dinner, 13505 Excelsior Blvd.

K of C Hall, Bloomington — 5-9 p.m., fish fry, 1114 W. American Blvd..

Sacred Heart, Robbinsdale — 4:30-7 p.m. fish fry, 4087 W. Broadway Ave. N. St. Albert the Great, Minneapolis — 4:30-7:30 p.m. fish fry, live music and bingo, East 29th St. at 32nd Ave. S. St. John the Baptist, Hugo — 5-8 p.m., fish fry, 14383 Forest Blvd. N, (Corner of Hwy 61 and Cty. 14).

St. Joseph, Rosemount — 6 p.m., fish fry, 13900 Biscayne Ave. St. Matthew, St. Paul — 4:30-7:30 p.m. fish fry, 507 Hall Ave. St. Michael, Stillwater — 4:30-7 p.m., fish fry, 611 S. Third St. St. Peter, Forest Lake — 5-7 p.m. fish fry, 1250 S. Shore Dr. St. Peter, North St. Paul — 4-7 p.m. fish fry, 2620 N. Margaret St..

St. Raphael, Crystal — 5-7 p.m. fish fry, 7301 Bass Lake Road.

St. Stephen, Anoka — 5:30-7 p.m. fish dinner, 525 Jackson St. St. Timothy, Blaine — 5-7 p.m. fish fry, 707 89th Ave. NE.

April 3 Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Paul — 11:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m., enchilada dinner, 401 Concord St. benedictinecenter@stpaulsmonastery.org. 2675 Benet Road, Maplewood.

Rachel’s Vineyard retreat — May 8-10: For women recovering from abortion. Contact rachels@rvineyardmn.org or (763) 250-9313 for location, information, registration.

Celebrate women retreat — April 24-26: Villa Maria Retreat and Conference Center, 29847 County 2 Blvd., Frontenac. Keynote speaker Ursuline Sister Pauline Lorch. For information or to register, call (651) 345-4582.

Schools Bingo fun day — April 12: 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m., St. John the Baptist School, 111 W. Main St., Vermillion.

St. Helena kindergarten roundup — April 15: 6:30 p.m. at St. Helena School, 3200 E. 44th St., Minneapolis. For more information, contact (612) 729-9301 or school@sainthelenaschool.us.

Other events Passion presentations by Deacon Mickey Friesen — March 26 and 27: 7-9 p.m. March 26, 9:30-11:30 a.m. March 27, Mary, Mother of the Church, 3333 E. Cliff Rd., Burnsville.

Called and Gifted workshop — March 27-28: St. Joseph Church, 1154 Seminole Ave., West St. Paul. Register online at www. churchofstjoseph.org.

Growing Through Loss series — five Tuesdays, April 7-May 5: 6:30-9 p.m., St. Joseph Church, 13900 Biscayne Ave. W., Rosemount. Sponsored by Interdenominational Coalition of South Suburban Churches.

For information: (952) 890-0045 or growingthoughloss@gmail.com.

“Aquinas and Why the New Atheists Are Right” — April 9: 7 p.m., lecture by Father Robert Barron, OEC Woulfe Auditorium at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul.

Human Life Alliance Hot Topics — April 16: 4-7 p.m., adult reception celebrating 10th anniversary of teen chastity magazine “Just for Girls/Just for Guys,” speaker Vicki Thorne. $10.

Rose Vine Hall, 2801 Snelling Ave, Roseville.

Art exhibit, “The Paschal Mystery” — through April 5: Paintings by James B. Janknegt and Koffi Mbairamadgi, John XXIII Gallery, Basilica of St. Mary, 88 N. 17th St., Minneapolis.

Grief support — Thursdays through May 28: 4 p.m., West Suburban Grief Coalition, Holy Name of Jesus, 155 Cty. Road 24. Free-will offering. For information: (952) 473-7901.

ACCW annual convention — April 17-18: St. Dominic Church, 114 N. Linden St., Northfield. $30 for one day; $50 for both. For information or to register, call (651) 291-4545 or email events.archspm.org/accw2015conv.

23

Hermits to raise money for public chapel Continued from page 24 baptized in the chapel at the nuns’ monastery.

He believes it was the Carmelites’ prayer intercessions that made him and his wife able to conceive after some difficulty. Brother Joseph is the godfather.

Raised Catholic, Canning attends daily Mass with the hermits and said it’s through them that he also has come to appreciate the sacredness of the Mass.

Father Peter “I didn’t get it until I came out here, truthfully,” PEACH he said. “It’s the slowness of it, the pace and the focus of it. You can see what God does on a daily basis by just slowing down and being with people who live it.”

Canning’s wife was raised in communist Russia with no faith tradition. He said because

of his experience with the Carmelites, she now shares his devotion.

“She has come to see, believe and witness the power of God,” he said.

Canning said that until he became acquainted with the Carmelites, he didn’t realize what monastic life meant.

“Taking it from a personal standpoint, you see this and you think, OK, well, these guys are just trying to get to heaven and be first in line.

But that’s not the case,” he said. “It’s not so self-serving. It’s a sacrifice for all of us. We give up certain things in order to have a family, but we stay in the community. They give up the community in order for us to be closer to God.”

Potential growth While anyone is welcome to visit the hermits’ monastery for prayer and spiritual direction, they hope to offer more to the larger community by building a public chapel adjacent to their hermitage.

This spring, they’ll begin a $3 million fundraising campaign for the chapel, where people would be able to join them for daily Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours and private prayer. Father Burns said their chapel is too small to accommodate the many people who ask to pray with them. The hermits hope to begin construction in 2016 or 2017.

“When you need a personal connection with God for either a tragedy or for thanksgiving,

The cloister of the Carmelite Hermits of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the spring. Photo courtesy the Carmelite Hermits this is the place to do it, because the solemnity here focuses you so much,” Canning said. “It’s not about the community, it’s about you and God. And that’s what this place does, it gives you a personal connection with God that you can’t get anywhere else, even in a parish setting. It’s that connection that is powerful.”

For more information about the Carmelite Hermits, visit www.decorcarmeli.com.

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The Last Word

24

Pray, work, pray, repeat Carmelite Hermits look to St. Teresa of Avila in their life of prayer for the people

By Jessica Trygstad The Catholic Spirit What many people consider a retreat experience is a way of life for the Carmelite Hermits of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

At their cloistered monastery tucked away on DeMontreville Trail near Lake Elmo, two priests and five brothers — one of whom is studying at the St. Paul Seminary — dedicate their lives to praying for others, looking to many great saints of the Carmelite tradition, St. Therese of Lisieux and St. John of the Cross among them. But one in particular guides them through their days not just of prayer, but also of study, outreach and craftwork, by which they support themselves.

St. Teresa of Avila, in what the Carmelites called her “down-toearth” ways and “deep love for Jesus,” has taught for five centuries how to live prayerfully. March 28 marks her 500th birthday.

Father Peter Peach, who made his solemn profession with the Carmelite community last August, said St. Teresa has remained

An icon of St. Teresa of Avila painted by Carmelite Brother Christopher Burnside. The Carmelite Hermits sell a variety of icons, wood carvings, books and more in their gift shop, open from 9:30-11:30 a.m. Monday through Saturday. Photo courtesy the Carmelite Hermits

St. Teresa of Avila (aka St. Teresa of Jesus) March 28, 1515 – Oct. 4, 1582 • First woman named a doctor of the Church (universal teacher) • Foundress of the Discalced Carmelites; founded 17 monasteries of Carmelite nuns in Spain • Author of four major works: “The Life” “The Way of Perfection” “The Interior Castle” “The Foundations” – Carmelite Hermits of the Blessed Virgin Mary

March 26, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Carmelite Brother Joseph Bubanko uses hand tools to work on a carving that will be displayed in the order’s monastery in Lake Elmo. The wood he uses comes from trees harvested on the grounds. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit relatable throughout the centuries because her teachings are so practical. Reading her works is like entering into conversation with her, he said.

“She had an aptitude for friendships. Among her great friends were lay men and lay women,” he said. “She loved to discuss prayer with them, [saying] it’s possible for everyone to pray, not just those who are called to the cloister.”

St. Teresa explains prayer simply: It’s a conversation between two friends.

“You go to prayer knowing that you are loved and knowing that the one whom you’re seeking is already there waiting for you, and that the conversation just simply begins,” Father Peter said. “And there doesn’t have to be any kind of method, you just have to make time for him.”

Father John Burns, prior, said his community’s contemplative prayer is central to that relationship with God. “Unfortunately, most of us have no experience of that, no awareness of that,” he said of Catholics in general. “We have an idea of our faith and hopefully are guided by our faith and the commandments of God, but in terms of having some kind of a personal experience of God’s presence within us, that’s not very common. And so what contemplative prayer or meditation is about is a desire to make some contact with this God who dwells within us, who calls us to friendship with himself.”

The Carmelites will celebrate a

special Mass March 28 for minds as we go through the day.”

St. Teresa’s 500th birthday at the That’s what Michael Canning Carmelite nuns’ monastery, discovered about a year ago when located on their shared acreage. he began working on the Since Oct. 15, 2014 monastery grounds.

— St. Teresa’s feast “Personally, I’ve day — the had prayers community has answered out here been “We give up that I couldn’t get commemorating the anywhere else,” he year of St. Teresa, certain things said. which will end Canning, a Oct. 15 this year. in order to have parishioner of Her presence at St. Michael in a family, but the monastery goes Stillwater, had beyond the six worked at a St. Paul we stay in the hours the men hardware store until spend in prayer it closed last year. community. each day.

Brother Joseph “We have an hour Bubanko, the They give up of recreation every community’s night, and it’s as if woodcarver, got to the community she’s at recreation,” know Canning Father Peach said. during his stops for in order for us “She’s one of those supplies and offered ever-present figures him work at the to be closer in our life. We speak monastery. of her as our holy to God.” “I’m more at peace mother. She teaches now than I’ve ever how to live the life.”

Michael Canning been, and it’s because I’m out here,” Canning said.

Simple life, “And I’m able to great calling bring that back The hermits’ interactions with home. My wife and I value that the world beyond their gates is more than anything else. I don’t limited, but their spiritual carry the aggravation, the connection to the Church and its headache, the anger I had when I faithful is great. was working out in the public. I bring the peace of God home, and “We never forget the Church on it really reflects.” the outside,” said Father Peach, When Canning isn’t at the adding that people regularly call monastery, he’s a stay-at-home dad them with prayer intentions. to his daughter, born Jan. 23 and “Despite our silence and solitude, we always have our brothers and sisters in our hearts and in our Please turn to HERMITS on page 23