The Catholic Spirit - March 26, 2020

March 26 • Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

Boy Scout saint?

Twenty years after Andover teen’s tragic death, people worldwide are praying for his intercession.

thecatholicspirit.com

MASS CHANGE

— Pages 12-13

Global view U of M student accepts Pope Francis’ invite to international economics conference, now postponed until November.

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Catholics grapple with new realities DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Homelessness The end of a four-part series: COVID-19 casts new light on longstanding needs of Minnesota’s homeless.

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Unappreciated After St. Paul City Council declares Abortion Providers Appreciation Day, pro-life group meets with council members to share disdain.

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Abuse accountability Reporting system in place for accepting sexual misconduct allegations against U.S. bishops and eparchs.

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Archbishop Bernard Hebda delivers the homily in front of empty pews at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul during 5:15 p.m. Mass March 21. After suspending all public Masses in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Archbishop Hebda celebrated this Mass for video recording and later viewing by the public on the Cathedral’s website and Facebook page.

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit

I

n an almost deafening silence, Archbishop Bernard Hebda walked into the sanctuary at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul March 21 for the start of 5:15 p.m. Mass.

A church that normally seats hundreds on a given Saturday evening became a sea of emptiness before him.

After Mass, he called his view from the pulpit “startling.” As he looked out during the liturgy, he saw only a member of the Cathedral staff filming the Mass for later broadcast on its website and Facebook page.

Softening his isolation in the sanctuary were an acolyte, lector, organist and two other priests, Father John Ubel, Cathedral rector, and Father Joseph Bambenek, assistant director of the Archdiocesan Synod.

Despite the absence of a congregation, Archbishop Hebda said he was “so grateful for the opportunity to be able to celebrate Mass for people to be able to participate remotely.”

Such is the new reality in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis after the archbishop March 18 suspended all public Masses in response to concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus. He followed guidelines offered by state health officials, who advised gatherings of only 10 people or fewer.

With thousands of local Catholics undergoing a “eucharistic fast,” Archbishop Hebda acknowledged that this deprivation is “very difficult for so many people.”

Other parishes in the archdiocese followed suit, live streaming Masses to parishioners and,

in some cases, coming out into the parking lot to bless people in their cars afterward.

As he reflected on the changes brought on by the rapid spread of the coronavirus, Archbishop Hebda expressed reasons for hope.

“I trust the Lord is always working for the good of those who love him,” he said. “I know that there is great love for the Lord here. It’s certainly a time that’s going to help us to focus on our priorities. It’s going to call forth great heroism in terms of caring for our brothers and sisters who might get sick. But I think it’s also going to be a moment that really gives us that opportunity to grow in our faith, to deepen in our faith, and to be looking for the Lord’s presence, even in those non-obvious places.”

This issue of The Catholic Spirit contains stories and perspectives on the coronavirus locally, nationally and internationally.

There also will be regular updates at TheCatholicSpirit.com.

Archbishop Hebda encouraged the faithful to pray for each other, for priests and for him.

“Every day, I have to thank the Lord for the health that he’s given to me,” he said. “I know he’s given me a big responsibility here in the archdiocese, and I hope that he’ll give me the health that I need to carry that through.”

He also offered a reminder to follow state and federal health protocols to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.

“I think that’s very important,” he said. “We hope that by being strict about those things, that we’re going to be able to help flatten the curve and that we’re going to be saving lives.”

Pope announces extraordinary ‘urbi et orbi’ In response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis said he will give an extraordinary blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world) at 6 p.m. Rome time (noon Central Time) March 27.

The formal blessing — usually given only immediately after a new pope’s election and on Christmas and Easter — carries with it a plenary indulgence for all who follow by television, internet or radio, are sorry for their sins, recite a few prescribed prayers and promise to go to confession and to receive the Eucharist as soon as possible.

After reciting the Angelus prayer March 22 from the library of the Apostolic Palace, Pope Francis announced his plans for the special blessing, which, he said, would be given in an “empty” St. Peter’s Square because all of Italy is on lockdown to prevent further spread of the virus.

With the public joining him only by television, internet or radio, “we will listen to the word of God, raise our prayer (and) adore the Blessed Sacrament,” he said. “At the end, I will give the benediction ‘urbi et orbi,’ to which will be connected the possibility of receiving a plenary indulgence.”

— Catholic News Service

VIRTUAL HOLY WEEK RETREAT Online daily from Palm Sunday­to Easter Vigil

9 a.m.: Mass/Morning prayer • 7 p.m.: Retreat Conferences & Triduum Liturgies Details on page 5 and at archspm.org/holyweekretreat

2 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

MARCH 26, 2020

PAGETWO NEWS notes

240,000

The number of Catholics in the Diocese of Kitui, Kenya. Earlier this month, Pope Francis appointed Father Joseph Mwongela as the diocese’s fourth bishop.

Bishop-elect Mwongela succeeds Archbishop Anthony Muheria, who served as Kitui’s bishop from 2008-2017 until he was appointed to the Archdiocese of Nyeri, Kenya. Bishop-elect Mwongela has served as Kitui’s vicar general. Since 2004, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Kitui have been in “a partnership of solidarity,” which has included regular, alternating visits to each diocese and sharing faith and resources. Bishop-elect Mwongela led delegations from the Kitui diocese to the archdiocese in 2015 and 2018, and has played a key role in growing the relationship, said Deacon Mickey Friesen, director of the Center for Mission, which serves the archdiocese. Initiated as a result of the U.S. Bishop’s 2001 pastoral letter “A Call to Solidarity with Africa” and facilitated by Catholic Relief Services, visits are a time to exchange faith and share each other’s inner gifts, Deacon Friesen said. “We all have gifts and we all have needs. We continue to deepen the relationships and discuss how we can be of mutual support to one another on our journey,” he said.

9 a.m.

CNS EMPTY SQUARE Standing in the window of the library of the Apostolic Palace overlooking an empty St. Peter’s Square March 15, Pope Francis blesses the city of Rome, still under lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. On the same day, Pope Francis made a “mini-pilgrimage” to an icon and to a crucifix associated with miraculous interventions to save the city and its people. The icon is “Salus Populi Romani” (health of the Roman people) in the Basilica of St. Mary Major and the crucifix, which Romans call the “Miraculous Crucifix,” is housed in the Church of St. Marcellus on Via del Corso, a usually crowded street of shops leading to the central Piazza Venezia. The pope laid a bouquet of yellow and white flowers on the altar and sat in prayer in front of the chapel’s famous icon of Mary and the child Jesus.

The time Relevant Radio 1330AM airs Mass each Sunday from the 5:15 p.m. Saturday anticipatory Mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has a list of local and national resources for watching or listening to Mass, from livestreams at local parishes such as St. Michael in Prior Lake, the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis and the New Prague Area Catholic Community, to longtime TV and internet staple the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN). Find the list at archspm.org/live.

1

The number of “l”s in the American English spelling of “canceled.” And with the spread of coronavirus, many upcoming events are sharing that fate. Among the canceled archdiocesan events are: the Archdiocesan Men’s Conference (March 28), “Living God’s Love” Marriage Preparation Retreats in March and April, and the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women’s convention May 1. The 2020 Child and Youth Protection Catholic Leadership Conference, scheduled to be held April 26-29, is postponed.

80

The percentage of Catholics who stop practicing their faith in college. In cooperation with Newman Connection, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is implementing a high school outreach program. Bishop Andrew Cozzens recently appealed to pastors and school administrators to share the names of their 2020 high school graduates and where they plan to attend college. “With this information, we work to successfully connect the students to their college faith community,” wrote Bishop Cozzens, the archdiocese’s vicar for Catholic education. “The youth in our parishes and Catholic High Schools are central to our archdiocese and the Catholic Church. Let’s unite together to help keep our students connected to the Catholic Church during their time away in college.”

8

The number of weeks in the “Home for Summer” Catholic household experience for women interested in discerning their vocation while living in community. The program, for women in college up to age 27, is taking applications for the household, which is located at Bethany House, next to Holy Cross in northeast Minneapolis.

A similar program for the 2020-2021 academic year is also taking applications. For more information, visit 10000vocations.org.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

ENCHILADA FEAST Debbie Luna of Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Paul holds an order of enchiladas at the parish’s annual Enchilada Friday event March 13. It typically takes place every Friday during Lent, and Luna volunteers every year. She is involved from setup to takedown every Friday, and her role comes complete with a special outfit and nickname. “My title here for this event is Miss Lent,” said Luna, 65. “I gave myself that title when we started doing this because I wear the most purple, and purple is (the liturgical color of) Lent.” She said attendance was down March 13, likely due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus and restrictions imposed or recommended by civil and Church authorities. Parishes, including Our Lady of Guadalupe, have since canceled Lenten meals or are offering take-out.

The Catholic Spirit is published semi-monthly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Vol. 25 — No. 6 MOST REVEREND BERNARD A. HEBDA, Publisher TOM HALDEN, Associate Publisher MARIA C. WIERING, Editor-in-Chief JOE RUFF, News Editor

1

The number of weekend Mass collections each year for the Holy Land. Difficult times call for creative responses, and as uncertainty reigns around restrictions because of the coronavirus, the Center for Mission is encouraging people to visit its website to donate to the Good Friday Holy Land Appeal at centerformission.org. The collection helps the Church in the Holy Land nourish parishes, support Catholic schools, offer religious education, and provide food and housing for the poor. Donations also help maintain important Holy Land shrines of the Catholic faith. A portion of the overall collection will be designated for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ efforts to rebuild churches and the Church community in Damascus, Syria.

Materials credited to CNS copy­righted by Catholic News Service.

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MARCH 26, 2020

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 3

FROMTHEBISHOP ONLY JESUS | BISHOP ANDREW COZZENS

Surrendering to God

“I

have never seen anything like this.” This statement struck me as especially strong, since it came from a man in his 80s who had lived through the national struggle that gripped our country during the Second World War. In his mind, the national lockdown we are now experiencing is worse.

All of us are grappling with the situation that seems to worsen hourly as we face many and varied sets of fears. Will I get the virus? Will someone I love succumb and not be able to recover? What happens if I can’t go on with daily life for 30 days or more? I can’t even go to Mass! What will happen to my savings? My retirement account? My job?

For the poor, the fears are even more threatening.

Will I be able to find food for my children? Will I lose my place to live? What does this mean for my life, my future? As the world gradually shuts down in an attempt to stop the spread of this virus to save those who may be vulnerable, most of us experience a profound sense of powerlessness as our daily life is no longer in our control. When everything is out of control, it is important to focus on what we know is really true. Perhaps, there is a blessing that can come from all this pain.

In normal times, we live our daily lives pursuing various ends. We live often in a kind of bubble pretending that we can control reality. The concerns that occupy our daily lives as we seek wealth, pleasure, power or honor often seduce us into a false sense of what is important and what will bring us security.

When we enter into a crisis like the one we are facing now, we recognize that the reality we have constructed is really a false veneer. We are not in control. The events of the world, life and death, are beyond us. The

Entregarse a Dios

“N

unca he visto nada como esto.” Esta declaración me pareció especialmente fuerte, ya que provenía de un hombre de unos 80 años que había vivido la lucha nacional que se apoderó de nuestro país durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. En su mente, el cierre nacional que estamos experimentando ahora fue peor.

Todos nosotros estamos lidiando con la situación que parece empeorar cada hora a medida que nos enfrentamos a muchos y variados conjuntos de temores. ¿Conseguiré el virus? ¿Alguien a quien amo sucumbe y no podrá recuperarse? ¿Qué pasa si no puedo seguir con la vida diaria durante 30 días o más? ¡Ni siquiera puedo ir a misa! ¿Qué pasará con mis ahorros? ¿Mi cuenta de jubilación? ¿Mi trabajo? Para los pobres los temores son aún más amenazantes. ¿Podré encontrar comida para mis hijos? ¿Perderé mi lugar para vivir? ¿Qué significa esto para mi vida mi futuro? A medida que el mundo se apaga gradualmente en un intento de detener la propagación de este virus para salvar a aquellos que pueden ser vulnerables, la mayoría de nosotros experimentamos una profunda sensación de impotencia, ya que nuestra vida diaria ya no está en nuestro control.

Cuando todo está fuera de control, es importante centrarse en lo que sabemos que es realmente cierto. Tal vez haya una bendición que pueda provenir de todo este dolor.

En tiempos normales, vivimos nuestra vida cotidiana persiguiendo varios

bursting of this bubble can cause us great fear, or it can pull us into a deeper reality, a deeper place of security.

In fact, what we see in the saints is a security that astounds us because it is able to be peaceful and joyful in the face of great trials and even death. St. Paul expressed his security this way: “If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” (Rom 8:14).

St. Paul knew to whom he belonged, and who held the keys of life and death. He did not seek death, but he did not fear it, because he knew that in everything he belonged to the one who conquered death. The Church expresses this reality in her teaching by pointing out that as Christians we are pilgrims on a journey. A pleasant earthly life is not our goal; rather it is given to us to prepare for eternal life with God. This is the real end for which we were created. This deeply felt truth — that I am destined for eternal life with God forever — allows someone to live the adventure of earthly life in freedom and makes us willing to make sacrifices. It allows one to see the reality of this life with new eyes.

How do I learn to see the pain and fear of the present situation through these eyes of faith? Losing control of my life and living in insecurity normally leads to fear and can even lead to despair, but it doesn’t have to. Through prayer and the support of others, I can learn to see the present situation the way God sees it. I can come to see that God is with me in every situation and that in every situation he is working for good, even through the evil of a worldwide pandemic.

To do this, I must learn to see my life in the light of Jesus Christ and his redemption. I must come to see that he is capable of bringing good even out of evil. I must come to see that I am not alone.

This brings us to one of the central truths of our

fines. Vivimos a menudo en una especie de burbuja fingiendo que podemos controlar la realidad. Las preocupaciones que ocupan nuestra vida cotidiana al buscar riqueza, placer, poder o honor a menudo nos seducen en un falso sentido de lo que es importante y lo que nos traerá seguridad. Cuando entramos en una crisis como la que enfrentamos ahora, reconocemos que la realidad que hemos construido es realmente una chapa falsa. No tenemos el control. Los acontecimientos del mundo, la vida y la muerte, están más allá de nosotros. El estallido de esta burbuja puede causarnos un gran miedo, o puede llevarnos a una realidad más profunda, a un lugar más profundo de seguridad.

De hecho, lo que vemos en los santos es una seguridad que nos asombra porque es capaz de ser pacíficos y gozosos frente a grandes pruebas e incluso a la muerte.

San Pablo expresó su seguridad de esta manera: “Si vivimos, vivimos para el Señor, y si morimos, morimos ante el Señor; entonces, si vivimos o morimos, somos del Señor” (Rm 8, 14). San Pablo sabía a quién pertenecía y que tenía las llaves de la vida y la muerte. No buscó la muerte, pero no la temía, porque sabía que en todo pertenecía a quien conquistó la muerte. La Iglesia expresa esta realidad en su enseñanza señalando que como cristianos somos peregrinos en un camino. Una vida terrenal agradable no es nuestra meta, más bien se nos da para prepararnos para la vida eterna con Dios.

Este es el verdadero fin para el que fuimos creados. Esta verdad profundamente sentida —que estoy destinado a la vida

faith. The truth that God is capable of bringing good out of evil. St. Paul expresses it this way: “We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28).

This is a radical belief! But the love we show for each other, the peace that comes in prayer, the miracles that God works when we trust in him, all make this belief true. It is the truth that we behold on the cross. The cross was a great evil. When God the Father sent his Beloved Son to the world, we human beings rejected him and hung him up to die on a cross. But God took that evil thing and made it the source of good.

This is the heart of our faith: that through the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection, there is nothing so evil that it cannot be taken up by God and turned into a good. If we can surrender our lives to God in this present moment, if we can find ways to support each other through concrete acts of charity, we can discover that we are never alone. Then the fear and insecurity of the present moment can give way to a deeper truth: that God is with us. That he is loving us. That he is the one who is in control of the world.

That he is always seeking us and wants to show us his love, and if we discover his love it is possible that even death becomes a step closer to him. We discover that in life and death we belong to God. These are stark truths for trying times. But I believe that God is inviting the world to reorientate our lives based on reality. The truth is that God is the one who actually holds all things in his hands, and he has a plan for our life, death and eternity. When we allow our bubble to be burst, when we turn from our self-seeking ways of wealth, pleasure, power and honor and begin to seek him, then we can experience even in uncertain times that we are not alone and that the one who created us is drawing us to himself and using all things for good.

eterna con Dios para siempre— permite a alguien vivir la aventura de la vida terrenal en libertad y nos hace dispuestos a hacer sacrificios. Permite ver la realidad de esta vida con nuevos ojos. ¿Cómo aprendo a ver el dolor y el miedo de la situación actual a través de estos ojos de fe? Perder el control de mi vida y vivir en la inseguridad normalmente lleva al miedo e incluso puede llevar a la desesperación, pero no tiene que hacerlo. A través de la oración y el apoyo de los demás, puedo aprender a ver la situación actual de la manera en que Dios la ve. Puedo llegar a ver que Dios está conmigo en cada situación y que en cada situación está trabajando para bien, incluso a través del mal de una pandemia mundial. Para hacer esto, debo aprender a ver mi vida a la luz de Jesucristo y su redención. Debo llegar a ver que es capaz de sacar el bien incluso del mal. Debo llegar a ver que no estoy solo.

Esto nos lleva a una de las verdades centrales de nuestra fe. La verdad que Dios es capaz de sacar el bien del mal.

San Pablo lo expresa de esta manera: “Sabemos que todas las cosas funcionan para bien para los que aman a Dios, que son llamados según su propósito” (Rm 8, 28). ¡Esto es una creencia radical! Pero el amor que mostramos el uno por el otro, la paz que viene en la oración, los milagros que Dios obra cuando confiamos en él, hacen realidad esta creencia.

Es la verdad que contemplamos en la Cruz. La cruz era un gran mal. Cuando Dios Padre envió a su Hijo Amado al mundo, nosotros los seres humanos lo

rechazamos y lo colgó para morir en una cruz. Pero Dios tomó esa cosa malvada y la convirtió en la fuente del bien.

Este es el corazón de nuestra fe: que a través del misterio de la muerte y resurrección de Cristo, no hay nada tan malo que no pueda ser tomado por Dios y convertido en un bien. Si podemos entregar nuestra vida a Dios en este momento presente, si podemos encontrar maneras de apoyarnos mutuamente a través de actos concretos de caridad, podemos descubrir que nunca estamos solos. Entonces el miedo y la inseguridad del momento presente pueden dar paso a una verdad más profunda: que Dios está con nosotros. Que nos está amando. Que él es el que tiene el control del mundo.

Que siempre nos está buscando y quiere mostrarnos su amor, y si descubrimos su amor es posible que incluso la muerte se convierta en un paso más cerca de él. Descubrimos que en la vida y en la muerte pertenecemos a Dios.

Son verdades crudas, para tiempos difíciles. Pero creo que Dios está invitando al mundo a reorientar nuestra vida basada en la realidad. La verdad de que Dios es el que realmente tiene todas las cosas en sus manos, y tiene un plan para nuestra vida, muerte y eternidad Cuando permitimos que nuestra burbuja estalle, cuando nos apartamos de nuestros caminos de búsqueda de la riqueza, el placer, el poder y el honor y comenzamos a buscarlo, entonces podemos experimentar incluso en tiempos inciertos que no estamos solos y que el que nos creó nos está acercando y usando todo cosas para bien.

4 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

MARCH 26, 2020

LOCAL

Parking lot penance

SLICEof LIFE DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Father Dan Haugan, pastor of Holy Spirit in St. Paul, hears a confession in the church parking lot March 21. After public Masses in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis were suspended due to concerns about the coronavirus, priests such as Father Haugan looked for ways to offer the sacraments. “This is just a wonderful, amazing opportunity to give God’s grace, to be an instrument of God’s grace,” Father Haugan said. “As we go through this time period of fear for our physical health, we can avail ourselves of the opportunity to heal ourselves spiritually through ... the sacrament Jesus Christ gave to us.” He noted that 18 cars drove through for confession, and a few others stopped by with words of gratitude. Other parishes offered similar drive-through confessions. That same day, several priests administered the sacrament of reconciliation in the parking lot at St. Maron in northeast Minneapolis.

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LOCAL

MARCH 26, 2020

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 5

As coronavirus challenges mount, Catholics respond

By Joe Ruff, Dave Hrbacek and Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit

HOLY WEEK RETREAT

Parking lot confessions and eucharistic adoration, prayers for spiritual Communion as public Masses are suspended to help curb spread of a novel coronavirus that is dangerous and sometimes deadly.

These have become oddly familiar, strangely suited to Lent, in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and around the world as more people become ill with COVID-19 or fear carrying the virus to others. Church leaders have responded by taking increasingly strict measures around public gatherings and public Masses.

In the archdiocese, water was removed from holy water fonts, hymnals were stored in closets, people were encouraged to avoid physical contact during the sign of peace, and the obligation to attend Sunday Mass was suspended beginning March 12. On March 18, Archbishop Bernard Hebda suspended all Sunday and other public Masses for at least two weeks.

“I have encountered a wide variety of pastoral situations in more than 31 years of priestly ministry,” said Father John Ubel, rector of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. “However, this is an experience of the Lenten journey that is unlike any I have felt.

“The selection from the Office of Readings on Holy Saturday begins: ‘Something strange is happening — there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness.’ Indeed, this Lent every day feels a bit like Holy Saturday.”

Father Ubel joined Archbishop Hebda for the 5:15 p.m. Mass March 21 in the all-but-empty cathedral to video stream for the faithful via the parish’s website and Facebook page.

“Looking out at the empty pews was both surreal and sad,” Father Ubel said, “and yet, despite the ‘strange silence,’ I also felt a closeness to the parishioners with whom I know we remain united in prayer.”

Priests across the archdiocese took similar steps, livestreaming Masses and holding confessions in parking lots, striving to do whatever they could to reach their parishioners.

At Transfiguration in Oakdale, Cindy and Carl Krieger watched their pastor, Father John Paul Erickson, celebrate the 8 a.m. Mass March 22 as it was livestreamed from the church’s chapel. Then, they drove to the church parking lot, where Father Erickson blessed people in about 100 cars and he processed through the lot, holding the Eucharist high in a monstrance.

More than a few people stepped out of their vehicles and knelt in adoration, touched by the simple but profound ceremony.

“We missed being at church,” Cindy said. “This was wonderful.”

There’s just something about going to Mass and being with other people, she explained. “You feel so greatly uplifted in difficult times.”

HOW WE GOT HERE The novel coronavirus first appeared in late December in Wuhan, China, and now has infected people in at least 178 countries. COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, first made its appearance in the United States Jan. 21 in Washington State (although it wouldn’t get its name from the World Health Organization until Feb. 11). On March 6, a person who had been on a Grand Princess Cruise tested positive in Minnesota — the state’s first case. Since March 13, Minnesota has been under a peacetime state of emergency, and state officials have asked Minnesotans to stay home as much as possible and “socially distance” themselves from others to curb the disease’s spread.

Among the first nine known cases was the parent of a student at St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights, whose son also contracted the virus, becoming the first diagnosed teen in the state.

St. Thomas Academy and neighboring Visitation School closed their campuses March 12. Three days later, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced the closure of the state’s public schools, and Catholic schools in

In the event that the State of Minnesota’s request that residents refrain from large gatherings continues through the middle of April, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is planning a virtual Holy Week retreat and inviting all to participate. It will begin Palm Sunday and culminate with Easter Vigil Mass. Each day will include morning prayer and directed Lectio Divina on the day’s Gospel reading, and an evening talk. The retreat will also include the Triduum liturgies. All events will be livestreamed or recorded and available at archspm.org/holyweekretreat.

Palm Sunday, April 5 9 a.m. Mass from The St. Paul Seminary 7 p.m. Talk by Archbishop Bernard Hebda Holy Monday, April 6 9 a.m. Morning prayer from the Pro Ecclesia Sancta Sisters 7 p.m. Talk by Father Charles Lachowitzer Holy Tuesday, April 7 9 a.m. Morning prayer from the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist 7 p.m. Talk by Father John Ubel BARB UMBERGER | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Father John Paul Erickson, pastor of Transfiguration in Oakdale, carries a monstrance holding the Eucharist through the church’s parking lot March 22, the first Sunday after public Masses were suspended in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Maria Mann, a parishioner, kneels in adoration.

Seeing so many people come for the blessing says a lot about the parishioners and Father Erickson, she said. “To have him walk through the lot with the monstrance, I feel the Lord was in our presence. This is exactly what people needed.”

Father Erickson and Deacon Dan Brewer slowly walked up and down every row of cars in the parking lot in 32-degree weather.

Sheryl Theno also went to the church parking lot after watching the Mass livestream.

In difficult times such as we face today, Theno said, we all need to trust in God. “He tells us over and over, ‘Trust me,’ and we don’t listen,” she said. “Can’t you just imagine God smiling down at all of us making these extra efforts?”

Another reason Theno went to the blessing was to support the parish monetarily. A parishioner walked with a basket to collect weekly contributions.

Father Dan Haugan, pastor of Holy Spirit in St. Paul, pulled a chair out of the rectory and set it in the church parking lot to hear confessions on the afternoon of March 21. Scheduled from 3 to 4 p.m., he stayed a bit longer as people in 18 cars drove through to receive the sacrament.

“As we’re worried about our physical health, we should also be just as worried about our spiritual health,”

the archdiocese followed suit, closing on or before March 18.

Meanwhile, Archbishop Bernard Hebda suspended Catholics’ obligation to attend Sunday Mass the weekend of March 14-15. Across the archdiocese, some parishes reported that attendance was down by about one-third, while some observed no difference.

On social media, many Catholics said they planned to continue to attend Mass as long as possible, while others shared how they were making Sunday a holy day at home.

On March 18, a day Archbishop Hebda had asked Catholics to fast and pray to invoke “God’s help in these challenging days for our archdiocese, our country and the world,” he announced that he was suspending all public Masses in the archdiocese to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

“It pains my heart to have to make this decision since I know how many of you deeply love the Mass as I do,” Archbishop Hebda said. “This decision will be re-evaluated in two weeks’ time in light of any local developments and the latest advice of civil authorities and experts.” He praised parishes for expanding efforts to reach Catholics online and by television or

Spy Wednesday, April 8 9 a.m. Morning prayer from St. Paul’s Monastery 7 p.m. Talk by Bishop Andrew Cozzens Holy Thursday, April 9 9 a.m. Morning prayer from The St. Paul Seminary 7 p.m. Mass of the Lord’s Supper with Archbishop Hebda Good Friday, April 10 9 a.m. Morning prayer from the Cathedral of St. Paul 7 p.m. Celebration of the Lord’s Passion with Bishop Cozzens Holy Saturday, April 11 9 a.m. Morning prayer from Cathedral of St. Paul 8:30 p.m. Easter Vigil Mass with Archbishop Hebda Father Haugan said. “God heals through the grace of the sacrament that I can offer.”

Sue Johnson said she was driving down Randolph Avenue in St. Paul when she saw a sign for Father Haugan’s drive-through confessions and decided to pull in and receive the sacrament of reconciliation.

“I absolutely love this opportunity to be able to go to confession — unbelievable,” said Johnson, a parishioner of Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul, moments after receiving absolution. “I can feel the knot loosening in my stomach, being able to connect with my Church.”

She said the idea of drive-through confession “is brilliant, it gives grace, it’s brought me peace of soul.”

Father Haugan didn’t stop there. The next day, he placed the Eucharist outside for an afternoon of adoration. He said he plans to offer drive-through reconciliation every Saturday afternoon until churches are re-opened and public Mass is reinstated.

radio, and noted the importance of Catholics making a “spiritual Communion,” or prayerfully asking to receive the graces of the Eucharist without physically receiving it.

But now the archdiocese is preparing for a Holy Week and Easter Triduum without public Masses. It is creating a web-based retreat to help bring Catholics together during the sacred time. (See sidebar above.)

Across the archdiocese and the U.S., Catholic leaders are finding creative ways to make sacraments available: Priests are hearing confessions in church parking lots, blessing Catholics in their cars and holding eucharistic adoration outdoors to allow for adequate social distancing. Many parishes have leveraged social media, offering livestreamed Masses, rosaries and Stations of the Cross. Local livestreamed Masses in English and Spanish are listed at archspm.org/live.

Pastors are posting videos of their reflections and asking for prayer intentions. The Office for the Mission of Catholic Education partnered with Relevant Radio to offer a daily 11 a.m. litany of the saints, led by Archbishop Hebda and a DeLaSalle student born in Wuhan. (See story on page 6.)

Catholics also are making personal appeals to help others. Father Paul Jarvis, senior associate pastor of St. Bridget in Minneapolis, has asked people to send him their prayer intentions. Catholic liturgical composer David Haas is livestreaming morning prayer on Facebook. Father Michael Tix is connecting with the Academy of Holy Angels community, where he serves as chaplain, through virtual “Mondays with Father Mike.”

Archbishop Hebda livestreamed Stations of the Cross March 20, and he and Bishop Andrew Cozzens are offering daily videos related to COVID-19 on the archdiocese’s social media. They’re also available on the archdiocese’s website, on a new page dedicated to COVID-19 resources: archspm.org/covid19.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Community Foundation of Minnesota has launched the Minnesota Catholic Relief Fund to assist parishes and schools that risk financial crisis because of the coronavirus’ effect on fundraising and the general economy. The archdiocese also announced March 24 an Economic Impact Task Force to monitor parish and school financial situations.

— Maria Wiering

6 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

LOCAL

MARCH 26, 2020

COVID-19-inspired litany of saints airs daily on radio

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit

“How beautiful that she can pray the litany with the shepherd of the local Church,” Karin said. “It’s special for her.”

DeLaSalle High School senior JunFen Freihammer seems a perfect fit to record a prayer to lift hardships caused by the coronavirus.

Freihammer, 18, was born in Wuhan, China, considered by many researchers as the origin of the virus that has infected tens of thousands of people and disrupted lives worldwide.

She also stayed with a family in northern Italy last summer during an exchange program through her school in Minneapolis. Freihammer enjoyed her host family’s hospitality and helped teach English to children. In recent weeks, northern Italy has been hit hard

by COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. The entire country has been quarantined.

The teenager recently recorded a fiveminute “Litany in Time of Need” with Archbishop Bernard Hebda. On March 19, the feast day of St. Joseph, the litany started airing daily on Relevant Radio.

Father Francis “Rocky” Hoffman, executive director of Wisconsin-based Relevant Radio, suggested involving a student from a Catholic school. With the recording planned for the next day, Freihammer offered to do it, after hearing about it from her mother, Karin, who is Relevant Radio’s senior development director.

“It was an honor for me to be with someone praying for my home country and praying with the U.S. as we go through this national crisis,” JenFen said.

United in prayer, people can overcome adversity, she said. “Hopefully, it will

The recording will air locally at 11 a.m. seven days a week indefinitely until the pandemic subsides, Karin Freihammer said. Residents of the archdiocese can tune in live to 1330 AM or use the Relevant Radio app.

Relevant Radio stations “from Maui to Maine” will play the litany, Karin Freihammer said, reaching a potential audience of 220 million.

“This is an important moment in history for Relevant Radio to be of service to our country and our world by inviting listeners to join in prayer and to trust in the Lord together as one human family,” she said.

Jason Slattery, director of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Office for the Mission of Catholic Education, said the Church has many ways to reach people of faith, and the Litany in Time of Need is one of them.

TOM HALDEN | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

DeLasalle High School senior JunFen Freihammer records a “Litany in Time of Need” to lift hardships caused by the coronavirus with Archbishop Bernard Hebda. The litany will air on Relevant Radio seven days a week indefinitely until the pandemic subsides. touch many people.”

In a March 18 letter to archdiocesan priests and Catholic school leaders, Archbishop Hebda and Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Cozzens invited them and Catholic school students to face the challenges of the present moment through prayer.

“Throughout the ages, faced with all manner of illness and calamities,

believers have petitioned for God’s grace and assistance through litanies,” they wrote. “A litany is a prayer that we can offer when we are alone, at home together with family, or gathered as a virtual community.”

Karin Freihammer said she and her husband adopted JunFen at age 6, and with this litany, “all the dots are being connected.”

“In support of the leadership of Archbishop Hebda and Bishop Cozzens, the Office for the Mission of Catholic Education believes that the Church has an age-old tool box of tools and teachings that are essential aids in constructing a response during this national emergency,” he said. “We believe that the present moment is a good one to put these tools, like the ‘Litany in Time of Need,’ into the hands of our students and families. Trusting in the help of God, as a sign of solidarity, we ask the whole Catholic community to join us in praying for deliverance of the human family from sickness and all evil.”

If it’s the blood of Christ, how could drinking from chalice make someone sick?

As coronavirus spreads, worship director offers catechesis

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit Prior to the suspension of Mass across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis that Archbishop Bernard Hebda instituted March 18, one of the measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 he previously offered was for parishes to temporarily suspend reception of the blood of Christ at Mass.

This prompted questions from some Catholics about the nature of the Eucharist, and why it’s possible to get sick when receiving Communion from the chalice.

Father Tom Margevicius, the archdiocese’s director of worship, said that it boils down to the Church’s understanding of the Eucharist.

When bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ during transubstantiation, they retain the material qualities of bread and wine. But their substance changes from food to Jesus’ actual body and blood.

“St. Thomas Aquinas found it useful when describing the Eucharist to rely on the philosophical position of Aristotle, who described reality, real things, as being composed of stuff you can see, and stuff you can’t see,” he said.

“Stuff you can see” — color, weight, taste, chemical makeup, or otherwise experience with the senses — which Aristotle called “accidents,” don’t get to the essence of a thing, or what the thing actually is, its “substance,” Father Margevicius said.

“It’s clear in the Gospels that Jesus said, ‘This is my body, this is my blood.’ And the early Church from the beginning always understood there to be a change,” he said. “Bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. They are no longer merely bread and wine, but we always have known that it still looks and tastes like bread and wine. It has all the chemical properties of bread and wine, even after the change. So that’s why Aristotle’s categories of ‘substance’ and ‘accidents’ were found to be a helpful way to describe it.”

Since the “accidents” of the bread and wine don’t change, people who are allergic to gluten still have a reaction if they eat the body of Christ, as it retains qualities of wheat, he noted.

“So too, if there are viruses or bacteria adhering to the surface of sacred Communion, then persons are not immune from those diseases. Just because transubstantiation has changed (the bread and wine), the viruses and bacteria still behave chemically the same way.”

“So, people don’t get sick from the body and blood of Christ,” he clarified, “but they could get sick from other pathogens that are involved in receiving

the body and blood of Christ.”

Some Catholics have suggested that people who fear receiving the blood of Christ have weak faith in the power of the Eucharist or in God’s care and omnipotence.

Father Margevicius cautioned against that view, noting that preservation of bodily health wasn’t Jesus’ goal, even though he healed people with significant illnesses, even bringing them back from the dead. Everyone he cured, or resurrected, likely eventually got sick again, and certainly died, he said.

“This shows us that all of Jesus’ bodily cures were temporary, which means that Jesus’ ultimate purpose in coming was not bodily health. He must have had a deeper reason for doing these cures. … And that’s why the Gospel of John, when it talks about Jesus’ cures, often doesn’t even use the word ‘miracle.’ He prefers the word ‘signs’,” he said. “It points to a deeper truth. Jesus did these external, physical cures to point to a deeper reality, which is that he is the source of eternal life.”

Additionally, the fact that Jesus rose from the dead “changes everything, including our perspective about death,” Father Margevicius said. “Life is a terminal condition. We’re all going to die. We who believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead can face our own death with the hope of eternal life. What that means is preservation of earthly life is not the

ultimate good. It’s a fundamental … very important good, but the ultimate good is eternal life.”

This also explains why the Church honors martyrs, he said.

“They willingly sacrificed their bodily life in defense of a greater good: their faith,” he said. “Heroic saints such as St. Damien de Veuster (Damien the Leper) and Mother Teresa knowingly put their own health at risk to give pastoral care to the sick because ‘love for life did not deter them from death,’ as it says in Revelation 12:11.”

Because preservation of earthly life is not the ultimate good, Father Margevicius said, people must apply prudential judgement to their choices as they seek spiritual goods — such as receiving the blood of Christ, using communal holy water or even attending Mass — when sickness is a risk. People who have obligations to care for others, for instance, may want to reasonably exercise more caution than someone without those obligations, he said.

And, while preserving bodily health is not the ultimate goal, it’s still a “good” that God expects people to care for.

“So, you look at the proportional risk verses the proportional benefit share,” he said. “That’s part of the reason the archbishop has not made mandates. …

He’s trusting each individual to make a prudential judgment: ‘If I regard the risk too extensive for me, then I will not (take a particular risk).’”

LOCAL

MARCH 26, 2020

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 7

U of M economics student to share at pope’s conference

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit Sergio Barrera is a fourth-year doctoral candidate in economics at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Beyond his educational achievements, he will soon embark on the opportunity of a lifetime.

Barrera, 30, is one of about 2,000 young economists and entrepreneurs from more than 115 countries invited to a Nov. 19-21 conference on the economy called by Pope Francis. On Nov. 17 and 18, Barrera also will join about 500 others in finalizing details for the gathering.

Titled “The Economy of Francesco,” the conference will be in Assisi, Italy, home of St. Francis, who advocated for the poor and care of the natural world.

Originally slated for March 26-28, the conference was rescheduled because of coronavirus concerns.

Barrera, a member of Our Lady of Lourdes in Minneapolis, said he was ready to go this month. On the plus side, in addition to helping prevent spread of the virus, a fall conference will allow his wife, Keilyn, to accompany him, he said.

In a letter issued by the Vatican May 11, 2019, Pope Francis said the conference’s goal is to build and promote a different kind of economy — “one that brings life not death, one that is inclusive and not exclusive, humane and not dehumanizing, one that cares for the environment and does not despoil it.”

“He wants to think of an economy that’s life-giving, inclusive, serves the poor and cares for our planet,” Barrera said.

Pope Francis invited people under age 35 to the conference, writing in his letter, “And above all I trust you young people, capable of dreaming and ready to build, with the help of God, a fairer and more beautiful world.”

Barrera has focused on economics for years — to the point that he realizes he compartmentalized his faith and his professional life in a way that wasn’t healthy.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Sergio Barrera pauses for a photo on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis.

Participation at a 2019 conference in Jerusalem about economics and Catholic social teaching helped remedy that, he said.

“It really allowed me to think about reintegrating these two sides of my life again in a way that was whole and beneficial,” he said.

While at the conference in Jerusalem, he met Msgr.

Martin Schlag, a professor at the Center for Catholic Studies and Opus College of Business at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, who told him about the conference in Assisi and encouraged Barrera to apply.

Msgr. Schlag told The Catholic Spirit that he is not surprised Berrera was chosen by the Vatican as one of the young scholars and entrepreneurs who want to

change the world. Berrera combines economic research with religious fervor, he said.

“Since the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis has been calling for a new kind of economy that places the human person at the center, not money,” Msgr.

Schlag said in an email. “What this means in practice, however, is no easy question to answer. It needs economists who combine economic acumen and knowledge of their Catholic faith to propose practical and feasible solutions.”

Barrera said he is not certain how he earned his invitation, but his education, economic research and fluency in several languages probably played a role.

Before studying economics, he served five years in the Marine Corps as a linguist.

Barrera said he decided to study economics because he enjoys the field and he saw the difference that economic opportunities made in his family’s life, and the difference it could have made in the lives of people living in some of the poorest regions of the world.

“Growing up as the son of a Mexican immigrant, I learned at a young age the importance of economic opportunities in terms of employment — not only for livelihood but for their ability to enable people to live ‘truly human lives,’” he said.

He also saw the effects of a poor economy during his military service in Afghanistan. Because he knows Farsi and a tribal language spoken in Afghanistan, he could talk directly with Afghans and learn more about their circumstances, Barrera said.

“In addition to the violence and war, many people suffered from lack of resources and were motivated … by the need to provide for their loved ones,” he said, “whether they were village elders, politicians, soldiers in the Afghan army or members of the Taliban.”

Barrera said he wants his studies, especially in the fields of labor and education, to contribute to helping others, particularly people on the margins, who want to find their way in the global economy and have opportunities for their families.

Preparation underway for fall pre-synod parish small groups

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit At a time when COVID-19 is forcing Minnesotans to live apart, preparation is underway in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to bring Catholics together this fall for hundreds of small groups to form in parishes, as the next step in the archdiocese’s presynod process.

After holding 19 general Prayer and Listening Events and 11 more for particular groups such as seminarians, college students and parish staff, Archbishop Bernard Hebda is discerning the focus areas for the Archdiocesan Synod event, scheduled for Pentecost weekend in May 2021. He is expected to announce the topics later this spring.

From Sept. 20 to Nov. 8, Catholics around the archdiocese are invited to participate in the parish consultation part of the pre-synod process by joining small groups of five to 12 people at their parish. Over the course of six weeks, these groups will meet six times to learn what the Church teaches in today’s cultural context, listen and reflect upon how the Holy Spirit is guiding each person and small group, and share insights into the focus areas from prayer and experience.

Many parishes across the archdiocese already have some existing small groups, such as Bible studies, faith-sharing groups and marriage enrichment groups.

Archbishop Hebda is asking these small groups to take a break from their regular meeting content Sept. 20 to Nov. 8 to

discuss the synod focus areas. He has also asked parishes not to schedule any other adult faith formation activities, with the exception of classes for the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) and parish feast day activities, so that as many adults as possible will participate in the pre-synod small groups. Synod leaders are encouraging all parishioners to participate in the process to help shape the future of the archdiocese.

Patti Watkins, a member of the Synod Executive Committee and the director of faith formation at St. Ambrose in Woodbury, said she hopes her parish will have 30 small groups. Already, her parish has about a dozen groups that meet for Bible studies or faith sharing, and she hopes to form 18 more with the help of her parish’s newly formed synod small group team.

“The biggest reason that we want people to participate is that this is helping Archbishop Hebda form the future of our communities,” Watkins said. “For the larger Church to have that input and to be a part of that is pretty phenomenal.”

Although the small groups’ focus is the archdiocese’s future, discussions could shape their parishes, too, informing the allocation of parish finances and resources, she noted. “This is really going to benefit all of our parishes.”

In February and March, members of the archdiocese’s Synod Executive Committee held five in-person trainings for pastor-appointed “small group process managers,” ambassadors or other parish staff involved in the process.

After state officials recommended social

distancing to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, a sixth training was livestreamed. To continue to provide training, a webinar training is being recorded that can be viewed when convenient, and additional live Q&A webinars are being offered.

The trainings aim to give parish representatives tools they need to begin organizing small groups, starting with forming a team at their parish to manage planning, communications and logistics.

“We’re trying to help the parishes (determine) how they’re going to come together to do this,” Watkins said. “At the training, we’re talking a lot about next steps. … what do they need to do now in their parish so that next fall, they’re ready to kick them off right away.”

The archdiocese will provide small group materials developed around the yetto-be-determined focus areas. In August and September, the synod executive team plans to hold additional trainings for small group process managers, facilitators and scribes on how to use the materials and record the groups’ ideas to share with Archbishop Hebda.

Father Joseph Bambenek, the Synod’s assistant director, said he hopes that the pre-synod small groups are successful not only for generating ideas around the synod focus areas, but also for fostering friendship among participants. Some small groups may wish to evolve into a Bible study or faith-sharing group and continue meeting beyond the allotted six weeks, he said.

It’s also a good opportunity for Catholics to meet new people, engage

in meaningful conversation and, if they attended a Prayer and Listening Event, dive deeper into topics that may have surfaced during their 40-minute small group discussion, Father Bambenek said. Many Prayer and Listening Event attendees said they wished they had more time to discuss issues at their table, he noted.

The parish consultation is the natural place for those conversations to continue, he said. “The small groups are intended both to provide feedback and (to help us) grow deeper in our spirituality.”

Ken Fitzgerald, who with his wife, Emily, is a parish ambassador at Sacred Heart in Robbinsdale, has a lot of experience creating and leading small groups, from youth groups to his own men’s group. Last year, he helped Father Joseph Johnson form multiple small groups for Lent at Holy Family in St. Louis Park.

A 40-year-old textbook buyer, Fitzgerald said he’s hopeful that clergy and laity will understand the importance of the pre-synod process small groups and work to support them from the top down and bottom up.

He says small groups are important for creating meaningful connections among Catholics.

“I think small groups are such a great opportunity for communication, intimacy, creating a culture of encounter with one another, friendship,” he said.

And they’re appropriate for the presynod process, he said, “because I’d hope more people would be vocal in a small group session.”

8 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

LOCAL

Coronavirus impacts homeless shelters

MARCH 26, 2020

GRATEFUL HEARTS

Affordable housing efforts continue

By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit A day of lobbying legislators to increase assistance to the homeless and create more affordable housing in Minnesota drew more than 950 people to the State Capitol in St. Paul March 11.

“We’ve been increasing our attendance year after year because the challenge continues to grow,” said Rhonda Otteson, executive director of the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless, which organized Homeless Day on the Hill.

The event was held just two days before Gov. Tim Walz declared a peacetime emergency in Minnesota as the number of people contracting a novel coronavirus and the illness it causes, COVID-19, grew in the state.

Now, bars, restaurants and other venues are closed; groups larger than 10 are discouraged.

“We came in under the wire with this (COVID-19) breaking open,” Otteson said, adding that the homeless are among populations particularly vulnerable to the virus because they spend time in shared spaces. Being aware of their needs in this medical emergency is another part of the work of advocacy and service organizations, she said.

“It comes from compassion and helping each other,” said Otteson, whose group continues to lobby for a pre-COVID-crisis $15 million increase in the $1.7 million already allocated to help keep homeless shelters running, as well as $50 million in bonds to preserve and expand emergency shelters and $500 million in bonds for affordable housing.

Now faced with COVID-19, Otteson’s group, Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and other advocates and service providers for the homeless are urging state lawmakers to fully fund the needs they laid out for this legislative session, which opened Feb. 11, while including homeless shelters in COVID-19-related health care funding that is being afforded hospitals and other medical centers.

In a March 16 letter to legislative leadership, the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless also urged lawmakers to provide more funding during the health care crisis to the state’s homeless prevention and assistance program and to temporarily suspend evictions and utility shutoffs.

COVID-19 concerns are not expected to play into longer-term efforts to create affordable housing and the bonds needed to make that happen, Catholic Charities officials and Otteson said.

But how it all plays out this session is up in the air, she said.

“Everybody had high hopes going into the (legislative) session,” Otteson said of state lawmakers opening the second half of their two-year session expecting to adjourn May 18. “The thought now is the Legislature could move quickly or adjourn early.”

Top House and Senate leaders from both parties are scaling back activity at the State Capitol at least through April 14. In those weeks, committee meetings and floor sessions will be held on an oncall basis, and meetings needed to pass essential legislation will be held only in space that allow people to be 6 feet apart.

Compassion for the homeless and others in need drives the work done by social service agencies, builders of affordable housing, parishes and organizations such as Minnesota Catholic Conference, which represents the public policy interests of the state’s Catholic bishops. It drives members of the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition, Otteson’s group and Homes for All, a statewide coalition of those groups and more than 200 other organizations.

MCC, a co-sponsor of Homeless Day on the Hill, supports Walz’s effort to ease the financial strain of the coronavirus crisis with a one-time $500 cash payment to struggling families through the Minnesota Family Investment Program, said Jason Adkins, the conference’s executive director.

JOE RUFF | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

The state of homelessness and housing in Minnesota This is the final installment of The Catholic Spirit’s four-part series on homelessness and affordable housing in Minnesota. The series began Feb. 7, 2019, by highlighting Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Higher Ground initiatives in both cities. It continued May 16 with a look at the record number of people without a home in the state, and ways parishes help provide temporary shelter, affordable housing and meet other needs.

An Oct. 24 report detailed efforts to create affordable housing in the suburbs and the way faith-filled Catholics step up in their communities as advocates for those searching for a home. Find the series at thecatholicspirit.com.

MCC also supports the broader Homes for All agenda, which advocates for affordable housing and emergency shelters, rental assistance for adults with mental illness, and collaborative efforts among schools, local governments and housing organizations to help homeless students and their families find places to live.

“It is a broad agenda, built around the conviction that adequate housing is needed to protect the dignity of our most vulnerable citizens and create the housing stability needed to climb the ladder out of poverty,” Adkins said.

The Joint Religious Legislative Coalition held its first-ever Christ on Capitol Hill session Feb. 20 on affordable housing and homelessness, inviting priests, deacons, rabbis, men and women in religious orders and other faith leaders. The opportunity to learn about the challenges of homelessness and discuss strategies for addressing lawmakers drew 120 people from around the state, said Anne Krisnik, JRLC’s executive director and a member of Lumen Christi in St. Paul.

“If we truly believe that everyone should live with dignity, then they should have a safe place to stay and a place to live,” she said.

Krisnik knows something about the issues firsthand: For more than 20 years, she has helped make dinners once a month at Catholic Charities’ Family Shelter in Maplewood.

The governor has demonstrated commitment to helping the homeless, advocates said. Responding to the state’s growing need for affordable housing, which was highlighted by an October 2018 study showing a record 10,000 Minnesotans were without a home, Walz proposed a record $276 million in bonds for housing this session.

“I think it’s a fantastic place to start,” Otteson said of the governor’s bonding proposal. Still, Otteson’s coalition and other groups are seeking $500 million in such bonds.

In December, Walz launched the Minnesota Homeless Fund, a public and private partnership to CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Rick Fisher, left, and Nigel Sharper, a Catholic Charities case worker, at the nonprofit’s Opportunity Center in St. Paul.

Hard luck, bad choices, ill health, lost jobs.

These are among many reasons people find themselves on the street, without a home. Their stories vary every bit as much as their personalities and life experiences.

The Catholic Spirit spoke with two people who struggled with homelessness but found assistance through Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Their stories reflect some of the challenges faced by the more than 10,000 people across Minnesota who are homeless on any given night, and some of the good people who help them.

“It’s tears of joy. It’s tears of accomplishment. It’s the tears of looking back on what we’ve been through,” said Patience Kollie, who struggled to get the words out as she shared her family’s story. She and her fiancé, John Spinola, and their two young children couchhopped and lived in their car for a month last summer, seeking a place to live after their landlord in St. Paul decided to renovate and doubled their rent.

Stress and difficulties with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder led Kollie, 35, to take medical leave from her job as a personal care assistant. They couldn’t make ends meet.

“Life was so hard,” Kollie said. “I didn’t want to eat. I went into depression. I had high blood pressure. … It’s not easy out there for people who don’t know what’s going to happen next.”

Finally, they found the Family Service Center in Maplewood operated

by Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis. There they had shelter, activities for their children, life skills training and parenting tips. Kollie returned to work, they qualified for a housing program, and in December moved into a duplex, also in St. Paul.

“It’s a house!” Kollie said. “It’s a dream house. You have to see it. I’m so grateful for FSC. FSC is the root of the blessing.”

Rick Fisher, 59, has always been a bit of a scrapper, stealing cars as a youngster in St. Paul, spending time in, and escaping from, juvenile detention centers. A construction worker who worked and played hard and drank too much, he framed houses and traveled the country cleaning up and restoring homes after natural disasters.

Too often away from his wife and family, with his body beat up from work and alcohol, his life came crashing down in 2007. He lost his job, marriage, house and family.

“I totally just folded,” Fisher said. “By 2008 I was a mess.”

He nearly died in a hospital one evening after drinking enough to put his blood alcohol level at nearly 5%; legally drunk is 0.08%.

“It was in the wintertime,” Fisher said. “I almost fell over the Jackson Street bridge. I was having heart problems anyway, so when the blood alcohol level came back 4.9 percent, I said, ‘Am I going to die?’”

He found help at Catholic Charities’ Dorothy Day Place, a shelter and social services center in St. Paul for the homeless and people at risk of homelessness. He sobered up and receives government rental and medical assistance. A Catholic Charities’ case manager, Nigel Sharper, helps him keep on top of the paperwork and his many health issues, including depression, arthritis and back pain, chronic bronchitis and plantar fasciitis — severe pain in his feet.

“It’s been a humbling experience all the way around,” Fisher said.

“It keeps me focused and grounded to talk about it. A lot of people aren’t grateful or aren’t aware of what they have until they lose it.”

People at Catholic Charities treat him and others with dignity, he said.

“I never felt shamed or disregarded,” Fisher said. “They’ve treated me better than some of my friends and family. This isn’t a proud thing. But it does provide. You’re not out on the street, smelly and dirty. Just having clean clothes and a quiet conversation with someone ...”

— Joe Ruff

LOCAL

MARCH 26, 2020

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 9

Pro-life supporters oppose St. Paul abortion resolution

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit The seven-member St. Paul City Council took a stand on abortion when it voted March 4 at its weekly meeting to designate March 10 Abortion Providers Appreciation Day. The 7-0 vote upset pro-life advocates, including Archbishop Bernard Hebda, and one group took action.

Seven members of Students for Life of America visited with two of the resolution’s four sponsors March 11, right before the start of the council’s weekly meeting.

Five students and two staffers from SFLA, a national, Virginia-based college pro-life organization, presented a petition opposing the resolution with 804 signatures, then had a 30-minute conversation with council members Nelsie Yang, who joined the council in January, and Jane Prince. Members of both sides politely made their points, complete with personal anecdotes.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter did not sign the resolution. He could not be reached for comment.

Yang described being “really happy” about the resolution, and told a story about going with someone to an abortion clinic when she was 14. She said she grew up in poverty, and thinks abortion should be an option for women in poverty who have unplanned pregnancies.

SFLA’s regional coordinator, Tori Petersen, who drove up from Albert Lea in southern Minnesota, countered with her own pro-life story. Petersen, 24, said she was conceived in rape, and her mother struggled with a variety of issues that eventually led to Petersen being placed in the foster care system.

“I look at my mom as a hero because she chose life for me,” Petersen said. She described living in 12 foster homes and never being adopted by a family. She said that despite “a lot of suffering and a lot of adversity … every life does matter, every life does have intrinsic purpose because it’s a human being.”

Maddie Schulte, SFLA’s strategic partnership adviser, asked the two council members to consider creating a similar resolution to honor workers and volunteers at pro-life centers, a “Life Care Appreciation Day.” After the meeting, Schulte told The Catholic Spirit a supporter of her organization is drafting such a resolution, and Schulte plans to present it to the council for a vote.

“We know that the Abortion (Providers) Appreciation Day probably will not be revoked (next year),” she said.

“But, if we can counter that narrative and just make sure that the council members know that their

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE raise money for overnight shelters.

Supporters raised $4.82 million in a matter of weeks, and they have brought $2.6 million to bear on 25 proposals that will add 240 nightly shelter beds in the Twin Cities and 98 in other areas of Minnesota.

The issues are more complicated than putting up homes people can afford, Otteson said. Many homeless have other needs, such as mental health care, A small business getting their helps the homeless children to one cup of coffee at a school and time. Read about saving the Wildflyer Coffee at money needed TheCatholicSpirit.com. to place a down payment on a house or a deposit on an apartment, she said.

Educating the public about the plight of the homeless has taken other forms in just the past few months. On Jan. 14, St. Paul-based Catholic Community Foundation held a Giving Insights forum in Minneapolis

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Tori Petersen, left, regional coordinator for Students for Life of America, tells her story March 11 at a meeting between members of her organization and two members of the St. Paul City Council at City Hall in St. Paul, to discuss the council’s resolution to make March 10 Abortion Providers Appreciation Day. Joining in the conversation are, clockwise from left, Emily Saxton, Hayley Tschetter, Thomas Curry, Jonathan Arriola, Emilee Wondra, Maddie Schulte and city council members Nelsie Yang and Jane Prince. constituents, the people of the city, don’t agree with it, and that there are actually people standing up for human beings, standing up for women, standing up for the vulnerable, the ones in poverty, the people Yang was talking about, the people she was saying need Planned Parenthood.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey also designated March 10 Abortion Provider Appreciation Day. Schulte and Petersen said they have no plans at this time to counter the Minneapolis action.

In St. Paul, the basis for the resolution, found in the minutes of the March 4 meeting, is “to honor the memory of Dr. David Gunn and the many other abortion providers and clinic staff ... who support women’s patients’ reproductive choices.” Dr. Gunn was an abortionist in Florida who was killed March 10, 1993, by a lone gunman opposed to abortion.

Included in the full text outlining the resolution is a claim that “the National Abortion Federation’s 2018 statistics on violence and disruption found an alarming escalation in incidences of obstruction, vandalism, and

on homelessness that featured Cathy ten Broeke, assistant commissioner and executive director of the Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness, and Tim Marx, president and CEO of Catholic Charities, among others. And on Feb. 24, before Minnesota’s first confirmed case of coronavirus illness March 6, Marx wrote an opinion piece for the Minneapolis Star Tribune stating in part: “The governor is proposing a record state capital investment in housing. Let’s get it passed.”

In an interview with The Catholic Spirit before the COVID-19 pandemic, Marx said emergency shelters were stretched thin. He commended the governor’s public-private partnership to raise money, but said more is needed.

“The charitable sector is unable to ramp up enough to sustain the whole system,” he said. “We’re going to need more government help.”

Marx closed the conversation by suggesting one way that everyone, no matter their circumstances, can help. “We should not underestimate,” he said, “and we should rely on the power of prayer.”

trespassing at abortion clinics.”

Local pro-life activist Brian Gibson, executive director of Pro-Life Action Ministries in St. Paul, has a different perspective about the violence claim. For decades, Gibson, a Catholic, has regularly led prayer gatherings and done sidewalk counseling in front of abortion facilities such as Planned Parenthood in St. Paul.

“There has been zero violence — outside of the abortions taking place inside that building — at Planned Parenthood toward Planned Parenthood or any of its people,” Gibson said. “The violence that has taken place has been toward us — the sidewalk counselors, the prayer supporters, the (pro-life) people out there.”

He supports what SFLA is doing and came to City Hall March 11 to voice his solidarity with SFLA members.

Meanwhile Schulte and Petersen left the meeting hopeful and energized for future pro-life efforts.

“We can do something about this,” said Schulte, a member of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. “Truth is on our side. God is on our side and we will prevail in the end.”

HOMELESS SHELTERS AND COVID-19 Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis is one of the state’s largest providers of emergency assistance to people in need, through services including homeless shelters and food service for men, women and families, social service sites, and home visits to the elderly and disabled. All are particularly vulnerable to the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. Responses to the illness by Catholic Charities include:

u Seeking community support for volunteers to help and continued funding by the public and by government of critical resources. Private donations fund about 90% of emergency shelter operations.

u Working closely with state and county health officials.

u Planning for interruptions in supply chains including decreased access to hygiene supplies, food and personal protective equipment.

u Evaluating stock of hygiene and safety supplies.

u Preparing for high rates of staff absenteeism from sickness, school closures, governmentrecommended social isolation and fear.

uRegularly cleaning all sites against COVID-19.

u Preparing for possible increase in shelter use.

u Identifying ways direct service locations can create separate spaces to help isolate potentially infected individuals.

u Social worker visits to elderly and disabled are preceded by screening calls to see if individual is ill or has been around others who have been ill in the last 14 days.

u No plans to shut down shelter and food service, even in a worst-case scenario.

Potential changes or alterations to programs and services to be made as circumstances warrant and coordinated with public and private service partners.

u Accomplishing some home-visit assessments over the telephone.

Source: Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis

8 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

LOCAL

Coronavirus impacts homeless shelters

MARCH 26, 2020

GRATEFUL HEARTS

Affordable housing efforts continue

By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit A day of lobbying legislators to increase assistance to the homeless and create more affordable housing in Minnesota drew more than 950 people to the State Capitol in St. Paul March 11.

“We’ve been increasing our attendance year after year because the challenge continues to grow,” said Rhonda Otteson, executive director of the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless, which organized Homeless Day on the Hill.

The event was held just two days before Gov. Tim Walz declared a peacetime emergency in Minnesota as the number of people contracting a novel coronavirus and the illness it causes, COVID-19, grew in the state.

Now, bars, restaurants and other venues are closed; groups larger than 10 are discouraged.

“We came in under the wire with this (COVID-19) breaking open,” Otteson said, adding that the homeless are among populations particularly vulnerable to the virus because they spend time in shared spaces. Being aware of their needs in this medical emergency is another part of the work of advocacy and service organizations, she said.

“It comes from compassion and helping each other,” said Otteson, whose group continues to lobby for a pre-COVID-crisis $15 million increase in the $1.7 million already allocated to help keep homeless shelters running, as well as $50 million in bonds to preserve and expand emergency shelters and $500 million in bonds for affordable housing.

Now faced with COVID-19, Otteson’s group, Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and other advocates and service providers for the homeless are urging state lawmakers to fully fund the needs they laid out for this legislative session, which opened Feb. 11, while including homeless shelters in COVID-19-related health care funding that is being afforded hospitals and other medical centers.

In a March 16 letter to legislative leadership, the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless also urged lawmakers to provide more funding during the health care crisis to the state’s homeless prevention and assistance program and to temporarily suspend evictions and utility shutoffs.

COVID-19 concerns are not expected to play into longer-term efforts to create affordable housing and the bonds needed to make that happen, Catholic Charities officials and Otteson said.

But how it all plays out this session is up in the air, she said.

“Everybody had high hopes going into the (legislative) session,” Otteson said of state lawmakers opening the second half of their two-year session expecting to adjourn May 18. “The thought now is the Legislature could move quickly or adjourn early.”

Top House and Senate leaders from both parties are scaling back activity at the State Capitol at least through April 14. In those weeks, committee meetings and floor sessions will be held on an oncall basis, and meetings needed to pass essential legislation will be held only in space that allow people to be 6 feet apart.

Compassion for the homeless and others in need drives the work done by social service agencies, builders of affordable housing, parishes and organizations such as Minnesota Catholic Conference, which represents the public policy interests of the state’s Catholic bishops. It drives members of the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition, Otteson’s group and Homes for All, a statewide coalition of those groups and more than 200 other organizations.

MCC, a co-sponsor of Homeless Day on the Hill, supports Walz’s effort to ease the financial strain of the coronavirus crisis with a one-time $500 cash payment to struggling families through the Minnesota Family Investment Program, said Jason Adkins, the conference’s executive director.

JOE RUFF | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

The state of homelessness and housing in Minnesota This is the final installment of The Catholic Spirit’s four-part series on homelessness and affordable housing in Minnesota. The series began Feb. 7, 2019, by highlighting Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Higher Ground initiatives in both cities. It continued May 16 with a look at the record number of people without a home in the state, and ways parishes help provide temporary shelter, affordable housing and meet other needs.

An Oct. 24 report detailed efforts to create affordable housing in the suburbs and the way faith-filled Catholics step up in their communities as advocates for those searching for a home. Find the series at thecatholicspirit.com.

MCC also supports the broader Homes for All agenda, which advocates for affordable housing and emergency shelters, rental assistance for adults with mental illness, and collaborative efforts among schools, local governments and housing organizations to help homeless students and their families find places to live.

“It is a broad agenda, built around the conviction that adequate housing is needed to protect the dignity of our most vulnerable citizens and create the housing stability needed to climb the ladder out of poverty,” Adkins said.

The Joint Religious Legislative Coalition held its first-ever Christ on Capitol Hill session Feb. 20 on affordable housing and homelessness, inviting priests, deacons, rabbis, men and women in religious orders and other faith leaders. The opportunity to learn about the challenges of homelessness and discuss strategies for addressing lawmakers drew 120 people from around the state, said Anne Krisnik, JRLC’s executive director and a member of Lumen Christi in St. Paul.

“If we truly believe that everyone should live with dignity, then they should have a safe place to stay and a place to live,” she said.

Krisnik knows something about the issues firsthand: For more than 20 years, she has helped make dinners once a month at Catholic Charities’ Family Shelter in Maplewood.

The governor has demonstrated commitment to helping the homeless, advocates said. Responding to the state’s growing need for affordable housing, which was highlighted by an October 2018 study showing a record 10,000 Minnesotans were without a home, Walz proposed a record $276 million in bonds for housing this session.

“I think it’s a fantastic place to start,” Otteson said of the governor’s bonding proposal. Still, Otteson’s coalition and other groups are seeking $500 million in such bonds.

In December, Walz launched the Minnesota Homeless Fund, a public and private partnership to CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Rick Fisher, left, and Nigel Sharper, a Catholic Charities case worker, at the nonprofit’s Opportunity Center in St. Paul.

Hard luck, bad choices, ill health, lost jobs.

These are among many reasons people find themselves on the street, without a home. Their stories vary every bit as much as their personalities and life experiences.

The Catholic Spirit spoke with two people who struggled with homelessness but found assistance through Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Their stories reflect some of the challenges faced by the more than 10,000 people across Minnesota who are homeless on any given night, and some of the good people who help them.

“It’s tears of joy. It’s tears of accomplishment. It’s the tears of looking back on what we’ve been through,” said Patience Kollie, who struggled to get the words out as she shared her family’s story. She and her fiancé, John Spinola, and their two young children couchhopped and lived in their car for a month last summer, seeking a place to live after their landlord in St. Paul decided to renovate and doubled their rent.

Stress and difficulties with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder led Kollie, 35, to take medical leave from her job as a personal care assistant. They couldn’t make ends meet.

“Life was so hard,” Kollie said. “I didn’t want to eat. I went into depression. I had high blood pressure. … It’s not easy out there for people who don’t know what’s going to happen next.”

Finally, they found the Family Service Center in Maplewood operated

by Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis. There they had shelter, activities for their children, life skills training and parenting tips. Kollie returned to work, they qualified for a housing program, and in December moved into a duplex, also in St. Paul.

“It’s a house!” Kollie said. “It’s a dream house. You have to see it. I’m so grateful for FSC. FSC is the root of the blessing.”

Rick Fisher, 59, has always been a bit of a scrapper, stealing cars as a youngster in St. Paul, spending time in, and escaping from, juvenile detention centers. A construction worker who worked and played hard and drank too much, he framed houses and traveled the country cleaning up and restoring homes after natural disasters.

Too often away from his wife and family, with his body beat up from work and alcohol, his life came crashing down in 2007. He lost his job, marriage, house and family.

“I totally just folded,” Fisher said. “By 2008 I was a mess.”

He nearly died in a hospital one evening after drinking enough to put his blood alcohol level at nearly 5%; legally drunk is 0.08%.

“It was in the wintertime,” Fisher said. “I almost fell over the Jackson Street bridge. I was having heart problems anyway, so when the blood alcohol level came back 4.9 percent, I said, ‘Am I going to die?’”

He found help at Catholic Charities’ Dorothy Day Place, a shelter and social services center in St. Paul for the homeless and people at risk of homelessness. He sobered up and receives government rental and medical assistance. A Catholic Charities’ case manager, Nigel Sharper, helps him keep on top of the paperwork and his many health issues, including depression, arthritis and back pain, chronic bronchitis and plantar fasciitis — severe pain in his feet.

“It’s been a humbling experience all the way around,” Fisher said.

“It keeps me focused and grounded to talk about it. A lot of people aren’t grateful or aren’t aware of what they have until they lose it.”

People at Catholic Charities treat him and others with dignity, he said.

“I never felt shamed or disregarded,” Fisher said. “They’ve treated me better than some of my friends and family. This isn’t a proud thing. But it does provide. You’re not out on the street, smelly and dirty. Just having clean clothes and a quiet conversation with someone ...”

— Joe Ruff

LOCAL

MARCH 26, 2020

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 9

Pro-life supporters oppose St. Paul abortion resolution

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit The seven-member St. Paul City Council took a stand on abortion when it voted March 4 at its weekly meeting to designate March 10 Abortion Providers Appreciation Day. The 7-0 vote upset pro-life advocates, including Archbishop Bernard Hebda, and one group took action.

Seven members of Students for Life of America visited with two of the resolution’s four sponsors March 11, right before the start of the council’s weekly meeting.

Five students and two staffers from SFLA, a national, Virginia-based college pro-life organization, presented a petition opposing the resolution with 804 signatures, then had a 30-minute conversation with council members Nelsie Yang, who joined the council in January, and Jane Prince. Members of both sides politely made their points, complete with personal anecdotes.

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter did not sign the resolution. He could not be reached for comment.

Yang described being “really happy” about the resolution, and told a story about going with someone to an abortion clinic when she was 14. She said she grew up in poverty, and thinks abortion should be an option for women in poverty who have unplanned pregnancies.

SFLA’s regional coordinator, Tori Petersen, who drove up from Albert Lea in southern Minnesota, countered with her own pro-life story. Petersen, 24, said she was conceived in rape, and her mother struggled with a variety of issues that eventually led to Petersen being placed in the foster care system.

“I look at my mom as a hero because she chose life for me,” Petersen said. She described living in 12 foster homes and never being adopted by a family. She said that despite “a lot of suffering and a lot of adversity … every life does matter, every life does have intrinsic purpose because it’s a human being.”

Maddie Schulte, SFLA’s strategic partnership adviser, asked the two council members to consider creating a similar resolution to honor workers and volunteers at pro-life centers, a “Life Care Appreciation Day.” After the meeting, Schulte told The Catholic Spirit a supporter of her organization is drafting such a resolution, and Schulte plans to present it to the council for a vote.

“We know that the Abortion (Providers) Appreciation Day probably will not be revoked (next year),” she said.

“But, if we can counter that narrative and just make sure that the council members know that their

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE raise money for overnight shelters.

Supporters raised $4.82 million in a matter of weeks, and they have brought $2.6 million to bear on 25 proposals that will add 240 nightly shelter beds in the Twin Cities and 98 in other areas of Minnesota.

The issues are more complicated than putting up homes people can afford, Otteson said. Many homeless have other needs, such as mental health care, A small business getting their helps the homeless children to one cup of coffee at a school and time. Read about saving the Wildflyer Coffee at money needed TheCatholicSpirit.com. to place a down payment on a house or a deposit on an apartment, she said.

Educating the public about the plight of the homeless has taken other forms in just the past few months. On Jan. 14, St. Paul-based Catholic Community Foundation held a Giving Insights forum in Minneapolis

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Tori Petersen, left, regional coordinator for Students for Life of America, tells her story March 11 at a meeting between members of her organization and two members of the St. Paul City Council at City Hall in St. Paul, to discuss the council’s resolution to make March 10 Abortion Providers Appreciation Day. Joining in the conversation are, clockwise from left, Emily Saxton, Hayley Tschetter, Thomas Curry, Jonathan Arriola, Emilee Wondra, Maddie Schulte and city council members Nelsie Yang and Jane Prince. constituents, the people of the city, don’t agree with it, and that there are actually people standing up for human beings, standing up for women, standing up for the vulnerable, the ones in poverty, the people Yang was talking about, the people she was saying need Planned Parenthood.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey also designated March 10 Abortion Provider Appreciation Day. Schulte and Petersen said they have no plans at this time to counter the Minneapolis action.

In St. Paul, the basis for the resolution, found in the minutes of the March 4 meeting, is “to honor the memory of Dr. David Gunn and the many other abortion providers and clinic staff ... who support women’s patients’ reproductive choices.” Dr. Gunn was an abortionist in Florida who was killed March 10, 1993, by a lone gunman opposed to abortion.

Included in the full text outlining the resolution is a claim that “the National Abortion Federation’s 2018 statistics on violence and disruption found an alarming escalation in incidences of obstruction, vandalism, and

on homelessness that featured Cathy ten Broeke, assistant commissioner and executive director of the Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness, and Tim Marx, president and CEO of Catholic Charities, among others. And on Feb. 24, before Minnesota’s first confirmed case of coronavirus illness March 6, Marx wrote an opinion piece for the Minneapolis Star Tribune stating in part: “The governor is proposing a record state capital investment in housing. Let’s get it passed.”

In an interview with The Catholic Spirit before the COVID-19 pandemic, Marx said emergency shelters were stretched thin. He commended the governor’s public-private partnership to raise money, but said more is needed.

“The charitable sector is unable to ramp up enough to sustain the whole system,” he said. “We’re going to need more government help.”

Marx closed the conversation by suggesting one way that everyone, no matter their circumstances, can help. “We should not underestimate,” he said, “and we should rely on the power of prayer.”

trespassing at abortion clinics.”

Local pro-life activist Brian Gibson, executive director of Pro-Life Action Ministries in St. Paul, has a different perspective about the violence claim. For decades, Gibson, a Catholic, has regularly led prayer gatherings and done sidewalk counseling in front of abortion facilities such as Planned Parenthood in St. Paul.

“There has been zero violence — outside of the abortions taking place inside that building — at Planned Parenthood toward Planned Parenthood or any of its people,” Gibson said. “The violence that has taken place has been toward us — the sidewalk counselors, the prayer supporters, the (pro-life) people out there.”

He supports what SFLA is doing and came to City Hall March 11 to voice his solidarity with SFLA members.

Meanwhile Schulte and Petersen left the meeting hopeful and energized for future pro-life efforts.

“We can do something about this,” said Schulte, a member of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. “Truth is on our side. God is on our side and we will prevail in the end.”

HOMELESS SHELTERS AND COVID-19 Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis is one of the state’s largest providers of emergency assistance to people in need, through services including homeless shelters and food service for men, women and families, social service sites, and home visits to the elderly and disabled. All are particularly vulnerable to the illness caused by the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. Responses to the pandemic by Catholic Charities include:

u Seeking community support for volunteers to help and continued funding by the public and by government of critical resources. Private donations fund about 90% of emergency shelter operations.

u Working closely with state and county health officials.

u Planning for interruptions in supply chains including decreased access to hygiene supplies, food and personal protective equipment.

u Evaluating stock of hygiene and safety supplies.

u Preparing for high rates of staff absenteeism from sickness, school closures, governmentrecommended social isolation and fear.

uRegularly cleaning all sites against COVID-19.

u Preparing for possible increase in shelter use.

u Identifying ways direct service locations can create separate spaces to help isolate potentially infected individuals.

u Social worker visits to elderly and disabled are preceded by screening calls to see if individual is ill or has been around others who have been ill in the last 14 days.

u No plans to shut down shelter and food service, even in a worst-case scenario.

Potential changes or alterations to programs and services to be made as circumstances warrant and coordinated with public and private service partners.

u Accomplishing some home-visit assessments over the telephone.

Source: Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis

10 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

MARCH 26, 2020

NATION+WORLD Vatican says general absolution may be permissible during pandemic In places particularly hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic and with severe limits on people leaving their homes, conditions may exist to grant general absolution to the faithful without them personally confessing their sins first, the Vatican said.

The Apostolic Penitentiary, a Vatican tribunal that deals with matters of conscience, including confession, issued a notice March 20 that while individual confession and absolution is the normal means for the forgiveness of sins, “grave necessity” can lead to other solutions.

In a separate decree, the Apostolic Penitentiary also offered the spiritual assistance of special indulgences to people afflicted with COVID-19, to those in quarantine, to medical personnel caring for coronavirus patients and to all those who are praying for them.

“This Apostolic Penitentiary holds that, especially in places most impacted by the pandemic contagion and until the phenomenon subsides, there are cases of grave necessity” meeting the criteria for general absolution, the notice about confession said.

Determining what constitutes grave necessity generally is up to the local bishop in consultation with his bishops’ conference.

“If the unforeseen necessity arises to grant sacramental absolution to several faithful at the same time, the priest is obliged to forewarn the diocesan bishop as far as possible and, if it is not, to inform him as soon as possible afterward,” the decree said.

During the pandemic, it said, bishops also must tell their priests and faithful the measures that must be adopted to hear individual confessions, such as the need for them to take place in a wellaired space and not the confessional, the adoption of an appropriate distance between priest and penitent and the use of face masks.

In every case, the notice said, there must be “absolute attention to safeguarding the sacramental seal and the necessary discretion” so that no one nearby hears what is being said.

And, echoing what Pope Francis had said that morning in his homily, the Apostolic Penitentiary urged priests to remind their faithful that when they find themselves with “the painful impossibility of receiving sacramental absolution,” they can make an act of

contrition directly to God in prayer.

If they are sincere and promise to go to confession as soon as possible, they “obtain the forgiveness of sins, even mortal sins,” the notice said.

In the decree on indulgences, the Apostolic Penitentiary noted the fear, uncertainty, physical and spiritual suffering people around the world are experiencing because of the pandemic.

“This Apostolic Penitentiary, with the authority of the Supreme Pontiff, trusting in the words of Christ the Lord and looking with a spirit of faith at the epidemic underway, which should be lived in a tone of personal conversion, grants the gift of indulgences” to a variety of people in a variety of circumstances.

An indulgence is a remission of the temporal punishment a person is due for sins that have been forgiven.

Praying for the dying who cannot receive the sacrament of anointing, the decree said the Church entrusted them to God’s mercy and drew on the merits of the communion of saints to grant a plenary indulgence to Catholics on the verge of death, as long as they “habitually recited prayers during their lifetime.”

The decree granted a plenary or full indulgence to all Catholics in the hospital or under quarantine because they have tested positive for COVID-19 if they are sorry for their sins and prayerfully watch or listen to Mass, the recitation of the rosary or a pious practice such as the Way of the Cross.

If that is not possible, the decree said, they should at least recite the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer and invoke the help of Mary, “offering this trial in a spirit of faith in God and of charity toward others” and with a determination to go to confession, receive the Eucharist and pray for the intentions of the pope as soon as possible.

“Health care workers, family members and those who, following the example of the good Samaritan, assist those sick with the coronavirus, exposing themselves to the risk of contagion,” also receive the plenary indulgence, it said.

The decree also grants the indulgence to any Catholic who visits the Blessed Sacrament, “reads sacred Scripture for at least a half hour,” recites the rosary or the Divine Mercy Chaplet “to implore Almighty God for an end to the epidemic, the relief of those who are afflicted and eternal salvation for those the Lord has called to himself.”

GENERAL ABSOLUTION IF NO INDIVIDUAL CONFESSION Priests in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis should make extra efforts to hear individual confessions during the pandemic, Archbishop Hebda told them in a March 20 letter.

But if that becomes impossible, the archbishop has granted each priest who presently hears confessions in the archdiocese “the extraordinary permission to impart absolution to multiple persons without prior confession,” otherwise known as “general absolution,” until the novel coronavirus pandemic no longer has an impact on the celebration of public Mass in the archdiocese.

Archbishop Hebda was responding to two documents issued earlier that day by the Apostolic Penitentiary of the Holy See, one on general absolution and the other on a plenary indulgence.

“While I continue to stress the importance of individual confession in these challenging circumstances, actions taken today in California, New York and Illinois imposing lockdowns of one form or another have me concerned that we could soon experience a situation in which opportunities for individual confession could be severely reduced for a significant period, making it physically or morally impossible to satisfy all our penitents desiring to be absolved as we approach Easter while also facing this crisis,” Archbishop Hebda wrote. “Historically, we have relied heavily on our retired brothers to assist us in this ministry in Advent and Lent. Given

the considerable health risks, they will, quite understandably, not be available at this time.”

He encouraged priests to expand their efforts to hear individual confessions in churches or parking lots. “This can be done creatively in order to take all necessary safety precautions,” Archbishop Hebda said.

If circumstances require general absolution, Archbishop Hebda reminded the priests that while they may use equipment to amplify their voices, the priest must be physically close enough to the faithful that he could be seen and heard. “You cannot extend general absolution by text or phone or on a tape recording,” he added.

Priests must also remind the faithful that “they must be properly disposed, sorry for their sins, and resolved to avoid committing these sins again” and that the obligation of individual confession remains, meaning they must go to individual confession at their earliest opportunity and confess the grave sins for which they received general absolution.

“Whether it is through individual confession or general absolution, I ask you to encourage the faithful to celebrate this sacrament, especially as we await the possible further restrictions civil authorities may determine,” Archbishop Hebda said. “Please do not place your faithful or yourself at an unreasonable risk.”

PLENARY INDULGENCE ‘LOOSES’ EARTHLY PUNISHMENTS Father Tom Margevicius, the director of worship in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, offers the following explanation of an indulgence. Read more at archspm.org.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “sin has a double consequence. Grave sin deprives us of communion with God and therefore makes us incapable of eternal life, the privation of which is called the ‘eternal punishment’ of sin. On the other hand, every sin, even venial, entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be purified either here on earth, or after death in the state called Purgatory.

This purification frees one from what is called the ‘temporal punishment’ of sin.”

Just as the sacrament of reconciliation removes the eternal punishment of sin by sacramental absolution, so too an indulgence removes the temporal punishment of sin. The word “indulgence” comes from the Latin “indulgere,” meaning “to be kind or yield to another.”

The Lord wants to be kind to his people, and the normal channel he does so is through the Church. The Church’s authority to grant indulgences is based upon the mandate of Jesus

Christ: “Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Mt 16:19).

When the Church grants an indulgence, she “looses” someone from the temporal punishments resulting from sin, and this has heavenly consequences. The Church desires to dispense this grace generously, yet not indiscriminately. She wants the faithful to be prepared for this grace, lest it overwhelm them.

Consequently, the Church prescribes spiritual practices the faithful are asked to perform, not to earn the indulgence — no one can earn grace — but to demonstrate their readiness to receive grace. These practices can include praying certain prayers and receiving the sacraments.

Some practices are less demanding. These demonstrate a person is partially ready to be loosed and thus can receive a partial indulgence.

In extraordinary circumstances, however, the Church grants a plenary indulgence, meaning the recipient will be loosed from all (the plenitude of) temporal consequences due to sin. The Holy See has determined that the coronavirus crisis is one such extraordinary circumstance.

Honoring Catholic business leaders whose faith shapes their work.

Nominations open through April 17 at TheCatholicSpirit.com Awardee luncheon with Archbishop Bernard Hebda Aug. 13

LEADING

FAITH

with

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service

G o o d Wo r k

•

In Christ

MARCH 26, 2020

NATION+WORLD

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 11

Reporting system to record abuse complaints against bishops begins

By Dennis Sadowski Catholic News Service A reporting system accepting sexual misconduct allegations against U.S. bishops and eparchs is in place.

Called the Catholic Bishops Abuse Reporting Service, or CBAR, the system became operational March 16.

The mechanism incorporates a website and a toll-free telephone number through which individuals can file reports regarding a bishop.

The website is reportbishopabuse.org. Calls can be placed at 800-276-1562. They are taken 24 hours a day in English and Spanish.

The nationwide system is being implemented by individual dioceses under the direction of each respective cardinal, archbishop or bishop. The information gathered will be protected through enhanced encryption.

Denver-based Convercent developed the reporting system under a two-year contract with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The company specializes in ethics and compliance management for businesses and organizations.

Under the system, the company gathers information and routes reports to the appropriate Church authority consistent with canon law. It does not conduct any investigation.

Approved by the U.S. bishops in June at their spring general assembly, the reporting mechanism meets the requirements established by Pope Francis in his “motu proprio” “Vos Estis Lux Mundi” (“You are the light of the world”) to have a way of receiving reports of sexual misconduct by a bishop.

In a March 16 letter to Church leaders in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Archbishop Bernard Hebda clarified that reports could include sexual abuse or “actions or omissions intended by a bishop to interfere with or avoid civil investigation of sexual abuse by clergy or members of religious orders.”

The system works like this: uCalls initially will come into a central phone bank, where trained personnel will ask for information about the allegation being made including the name of the person making the report and his or her contact information. People also will have the option of filing a report online if they do not want to call. People will not be required to give their name if they wish to remain anonymous. uThe information gathered will be forwarded to the appropriate metropolitan, or archbishop, designated for a grouping of dioceses called a province.

(Archbishop Hebda is metropolitan of the province that includes Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.) Allegations against a metropolitan, however, will be forwarded to the senior suffragan bishop in the appropriate province. (Bishop Donald Kettler of St. Cloud is the senior suffragan in the tri-state province.) The U.S. has 32 metropolitans. Each province typically has one archdiocese and several dioceses. uThe information also will be forwarded to a layperson designated to assist the bishop in receiving allegations. uAfter review, the metropolitan or senior suffragan will send the report to the apostolic nuncio in Washington. Archbishop Hebda said that in addition to using the new reporting system, reports can be made directly to Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the current apostolic nuncio to the United States, at 202-333-7121 or nuntiususa@nuntiususa.org. uThe nuncio is required to send the report and the metropolitan’s assessment to the Vatican, which has 30 days to determine if a formal investigation is warranted. If so, a bishop will be authorized to oversee an investigation. uWhen an investigation is ordered qualified experts, including laypeople, will conduct it. An investigation is expected to be completed within 90 days and forwarded to the Vatican. uVatican officials will review the findings of the investigation and determine the appropriate process leading to a final judgment.

HEADLINES

BISHOP INVESTIGATIONS Archbishop Bernard Hebda is the first known U.S. metropolitan to investigate a fellow bishop under protocols outlined in “Vos Estis Lux Mundi.” Last year, he submitted a report to the Holy See on allegations he had received that Crookston Bishop Michael Hoeppner tried to interfere with or avoid an investigation into an accusation of sexual abuse against a priest of his diocese. In February, the Holy See asked Archbishop Hebda and his designated lay experts to continue the investigation.

Archbishop Hebda also forwarded to the Holy See a formal complaint against Archbishop John Nienstedt, who resigned as the archdiocese’s leader in 2015. It was filed in July 2019 by Tom Johnson, a Minneapolis attorney serving as an independent ombudsman for abuse survivors in the archdiocese.

Johnson argues in the complaint that Archbishop Nienstedt should be investigated for an accusation of undressing in a hotel room with minors in 2005 following a rainstorm during World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany, while Archbishop Nienstedt was bishop of the Diocese of New Ulm. Johnson said Archbishop Nienstedt should also be investigated for allegedly lying to officials about his knowledge of the past behavior of Curtis Wehmeyer, the former pastor of Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul who sexually abused three brothers before his 2012 arrest. Wehmeyer is imprisoned and was removed from the clerical state in 2015.

As first reported by Crux News March 23 and confirmed by The Catholic Spirit, Johnson is unsatisfied with the Holy See’s delay in acting on his complaint.

— Maria Wiering

As each case is filed, the person reporting an incident will be given a case number and password which can be used to follow progress of their particular case.

Individuals who file a report also will be encouraged to contact local law enforcement if they believe they have been a victim of a crime. In his March 16 announcement, Archbishop Hebda said that reports of sexual abuse should be reported first to law enforcement.

Anthony Picarello, USCCB associate general secretary, told the bishops during their fall general assembly in November the system is designed to filter complaints so that only those addressed in the “motu proprio” will be forwarded.

Under CBAR, people with complaints about any other actions of a bishop, such as diocesan assignments, church closings, liturgy or homily content, will be asked to contact the appropriate diocese or eparchy directly.

Eparchies are similar to dioceses for Eastern rite Catholic churches; their leaders are known as “eparchs.”

Allegations of sexual abuse by a priest, deacon, religious, diocesan staff member or volunteer will be directed to the local diocesan or eparchial victim assistance coordinator under the process that has been in place under the 2002 “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.”

Pope Francis released his “motu proprio” last May following a worldwide meeting of bishops’ conference leaders at the Vatican early in 2019 to discuss the Church’s response to clergy sexual abuse. The document specifically addresses allegations of sexual misconduct and other accusations of actions or omissions intended to interfere with or avoid civil or Church investigations of such misconduct by clergy. “Motu proprio” is a Latin phrase that means “on one’s own initiative.” Popes use it to signal a special personal interest in a subject.

“Please know of my gratitude for all of your efforts to create and maintain safe environments,” Archbishop Hebda said in his March 16 letter to local Church leaders. “It is only together through our vigilance that we will end the scourge of child abuse in our churches, schools and communities, and support those who have been harmed. Join me in praying for those who have been harmed, their families and friends.”

— Maria Wiering contributed to this story

u Papyrus fragments at D.C. museum not authentic pieces of Dead Sea Scrolls. Long before the privately owned Museum of the Bible opened near the U.S. Capitol in 2017, there were published doubts about the authenticity of its 16 papyrus fragments supposedly from the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were first discovered in the Qumran Caves in 1947. In 2018, the museum owned by the Green family, the billionaire founders of Hobby Lobby craft stores, announced that five fragments were likely forgeries. On March 11 of this year, the museum confirmed that all were fake. Independent researchers concluded that the fragments were probably made of ancient Roman leather artificially aged even more with chemicals, with the script added in the 20th century. Art Fraud Insights investigator Colette Loll concluded: “These fragments were manipulated with the intent to deceive.” The Green family has been collecting biblical artifacts since 2009 and now has more than 40,000. Other exhibits at the museum include holdings from the Vatican Museum and Library. u Chinese diocese donates masks to Vatican, Italy, to help fight COVID-19. A Catholic diocese in China’s Shaanxi province, Xi’an Diocese, has donated 24,000 face masks to communities in the Vatican and Italy to help them fight the coronavirus. ucanews.com reported that religious communities and dioceses in Milan and Bologna are among areas receiving the masks.

“When mainland China experienced the epidemic, the Holy See and the Italian Church group helped by sending medical masks. We have now effectively contained the virus, but Italy is now suffering. It is our turn to help them,” Father Chen Ruixue of Xi’an told ucanews.com. u Court orders Indian bishop accused of raping nun to stand trial. A trial court in southern Kerala state ordered Bishop Franco Mulakkal to appear for trial March 24 on charges of repeatedly raping a nun.

The charges led to him stepping down as bishop of Jalandhar in 2018. The bishop told Catholic News Service that he would appeal to the Kerala High Court.

The rape case against the bishop was registered in June 2018 in Kottayam district in Kerala. The nun said the rapes took place in the convent guest house of the Missionaries of Jesus congregation near Kottayam. In January, Bishop Mulakkal submitted a special discharge petition before the trial court. The bishop claimed the rape allegation was “concocted” in revenge for his disciplinary action against the nun, a former superior general of the congregation under his charge. Sister Anupama, a member of the congregation, told Catholic News Service “the court has given a clear message that there is substance in the allegation.” u Dublin cancels St. Patrick’s parade after advice from health officials. Dublin’s iconic St. Patrick’s Day parade and many similar March 17 parades in St. Paul and other cities were canceled due to fears over the spread of coronavirus. Authorities had initially insisted that the festivities in Dublin — which mark St. Patrick bringing Christianity to Ireland in 432 — would go ahead, but bowed to pressure from doctors March 9 and announced the cancellation. More than 500,000 people had been expected to travel to the Irish capital for St. Patrick’s Day parades and festivals. u COVID-19 concerns prompt Vatican to not allow public at papal Holy Week liturgies. The Vatican office that distributes free tickets to papal events posted a notice on its website that “the liturgical celebrations of Holy Week will take place without the physical presence of the faithful.” The notice said the decision was made “because of the current global public health emergency” posed by the spread of the coronavirus. Pope Francis still plans to celebrate all of the Holy Week and Easter liturgies: Palm Sunday, the chrism Mass, the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, the liturgy of the Passion of the Lord, the Easter Vigil Mass and Easter morning Mass. However, the Vatican is studying how those liturgies will take place.

— Catholic News Service

12 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

20 years after his death, Charles Untz’s life continues to inspire

T

here was something special about Charles Untz, the kid who cheerfully served at 6:30 a.m. daily Mass.

He had a kind of reverence — a quiet peace, a glowing face — that people noticed. Priests asked if he was considering religious life, and he answered with ease and confidence: yes.

There’s something special that has come from his death, too, after a tragic car accident took his life March 20, 2000.

His parents noticed immediately. As they marked the 20th anniversary at their Andover farm this month, their beloved boy’s impact has crossed the globe, compelling an ardent coalition of both priests and lay Catholics to make the case for Charles’ canonization.

They are stirred by a series of incredible events that have unfolded over the past two decades — events they consider not merely divine connections to Charles but divine actions from him.

Their unequivocal sense of his intercession — as only a saint could do — helps explain Charles’ short life. His 18 years on earth make more sense, they feel, in light of his heavenly purpose.

From the start Charles was enveloped by Catholicism.

Ellen and Steve Untz made Mass and eucharistic adoration a priority as young parents. When they lived in Vermont, they’d walk down the road to church for five minutes of adoration “to break the little kids in,” Ellen said.

Before long, Charles asked: “Can’t we stay longer, Mom?” More so than initiating matters of faith, Ellen and Steve were merely responding to something that already existed in Charles. “I almost feel like we were dragged along for the ride,” she said.

They struggled to give him a sibling, enduring years of secondary infertility. Finally, when Charles was 6, he became a big brother to Bryant.

Charles took to praying the Liturgy of the Hours at age 11, setting an example for the rest of the family and continuing the devotion faithfully throughout his life.

Pure of heart Raising Charles was easy, his parents insist. He was always obedient. They never had to ask something twice.

They didn’t realize that was unusual.

“There are a lot of kids that will do the right thing, but as I see it, they sometimes are doing the right thing out of fear or mere compliance,” said Father Tom Wilson, who was associate pastor of Epiphany in Coon Rapids when the Untzes moved to Minnesota and joined the parish in 1996. “Charles never had that. It was like: ‘No, this is just the thing to do, and I’m going to do it.’”

That perfectly formed conscience made things straightforward, uncomplicated for Charles. His adolescence was not riddled by temptations or peer pressure. Once, when helping with a retreat, a priest said to him, “I suppose you’re beginning to get a little rebellious with your parents now.”

Charles’ face was blank.

“Well, should I be?” he asked.

Ellen homeschooled Charles, a quick learner and hard worker. He anticipated needs on their farm and performed chores before being asked. His industriousness and spirit of service were encapsulated by being a Boy Scout. He proved a natural leader, becoming a senior patrol leader, the top position.

“He set a positive example for everyone he was around,” said Alan Lind, a fellow Epiphany parishioner and Boy Scout. “He was very pure hearted.”

That virtue made Charles bold and decisive, unhesitating in the face of need. In 1999, on a twoweek backpacking trip with his dad and fellow scouts at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, the group ran into a problem. Every night they had to elevate their food on a rope so bears couldn’t sniff it out. But one night, the rope got stuck on the cable and they couldn’t hang their bag. As the adults conferred and the scouts stood around, befuddled, Charles began climbing the rope, reached the cable and dangled there — 15 feet up — until he had untangled it.

“It was the right thing to do at the right time, and he was capable and he did it,” Steve said.

At summer camp, his scoutmaster Karen Theisen recalls setting her alarm early to rise before the scouts. But Charles was always awake before her, sitting alone and praying.

One morning a mom awoke upset by a storm that had passed through overnight. She asked Charles if he had checked on all the boys.

Charles didn’t understand her worry, which frustrated her.

“What if someone died?” she blurted out.

His response was calm and earnest: “Aren’t you ready?”

“Charles was always ready,” Theisen said.

“That’s just the way he was,” Ellen Untz explained. “He was not of this world.”

For his Eagle Scout Service Project, Charles wrote a manual to train altar servers. When he successfully earned that top rank, he was asked to make an Ambition and Life Purpose Statement. He wrote: “My life purpose is to do the will of God. My ambition is to become a saint. There is nothing harder to achieve than this, but I will continue to strive for it.”

Charles often expressed a holy longing, saying that he would rather be in heaven than here. In an email to a friend, he encouraged her to pray the Divine Office and rise above teenage dramas. “Don’t let yourself get caught up in that never-ending cycle,” he wrote. “Keep in mind that heaven is the ultimate goal, all other goals and things should be directed in attaining it.”

He wrote to another friend: “Don’t take God’s mercy for granted because death will come when you least expect it, so make sure you are as blameless as possible when that time comes.”

His heartfelt counsel stemmed from good listening, said his brother, Bryant, a mechanical engineer who, along with his parents, belongs to St. Patrick in Oak Grove.

“When people were talking to him, they felt like they were the focus of his attention,” Bryant said. “He wasn’t straining to look or listen to something else. He had this ability to show love through paying attention.”

Priesthood was a natural calling. It was nourished as an altar server and flowed from his love of the Mass, where he could receive the Eucharist, the source and summit of the faith. He was spurred by his devotion to the Blessed Mother, whom he affectionately called “My Lady.” Experimenting on his mom’s embroidery machine, he made a brown scapular that said “My Lady.” It became a fixture, with its two thin bands peeking out above his shirt collar.

As a senior in homeschool, Charles applied to Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio and the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, where he toured St. John Vianney College Seminary. As of that March, he had not yet announced his decision. His faith made him unworried and unrushed, Theisen said.

When she inquired about a recent visit to a monastery, he told her it wasn’t the right place for him. Then he paused and confessed his puzzlement: “I don’t understand why you adults are so concerned about what I’m going to do after I graduate.”

He would never give them an answer.

Tragedy strikes On a Monday morning in March, two weeks after his 18th birthday, Charles headed out to work at the turkey farm across the street. Ellen noticed “a different look on his face.”

A short time later she heard sirens but didn’t notice anything out front. A police officer came to the door asking if Ellen had seen something, but didn’t identify the victim. Ellen ran over to the turkey farm, finding Charles hadn’t checked in for work. Panic set in. She began frantic Hail Marys.

The worst would come to pass. Charles had been struck by a car as he walked to work. He died in the hospital later that day, after receiving last rites from Father Wilson, surrounded by his parents and brother.

Twenty years later, Father Wilson still tears up when he recalls that day. “It was one of the hardest mornings of my life,” he said.

Amid the shock and sorrow, stories began to trickle in. The man who had found Charles after the accident described the encounter as “an intense feeling of the presence of God.” He had never experienced anything like it.

The Boy

HEAV

By Christina Capecchi

A police officer reported the same sensation. When she touched Charles’ hand as he was lifted into the ambulance, she said she felt God’s presence. It changed her life.

Meanwhile, the lector who read at Epiphany the morning of the accident said she had seen Charles in the church, engrossed in Scripture before Mass — but the Untz family hadn’t attended Mass that day.

Two priests, close friends of the family from out East, gathered in the Untz home before the funeral. As they discussed Charles’ life and death, they sensed something miraculous at play and came to conclude that he had preserved his baptismal innocence.

Throughout the wake and the funeral Mass, which was held at Epiphany, Ellen and Steve were struck by the language people used. One after another said they were praying to Charles — not for him. There was a shared sense of intercession.

“It felt right,” Steve said.

Father Philippe Roux, a priest from Massachusetts who is now retired, stood at the lectern before a packed church and gave a rousing homily. He voiced the conviction that so many wondered, whispered: that Charles would be canonized a saint.

“All of us who walked with him were walking in the path of great holiness, and that’s what I weep for, because I still need that holiness around me,” he said. “But I believe now we will have it in a way we never had it when he walked with us because now, seeing the face of God, he is able to bring us closer and closer.

“This week some extraordinary things have been going on in and around the family,” the priest continued. “We keep

MARCH 26, 2020 • 13

Scout in

AVEN • For The Catholic Spirit

ABOVE Steve and Ellen Untz hold a photo of their son, Charles, March 20 near the spot where he was hit by a car and killed 20 years ago. In the background is a memorial with an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT LEFT Charles Untz’s draw to priesthood was cultivated while altar serving at Epiphany in Coon Rapids. “He had a different grace up there as an altar server that told you that he believed God was there,” said Ellen. COURTESY UNTZ FAMILY saying, ‘Charles is very much at work. He’s doing tremendous things to show us everything is OK.’ He wanted so much to be with God. He was always ready, and that’s why God could come and take him at a time that we would think is inappropriate. But I believe Charles is smiling.”

He addressed the teen’s vocation. “Someone said to me yesterday, ‘Father Philippe, it’s really kind of sad because the Church lost a priest.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, but they gained a saint.’”

After the homily, Father Wilson offered a reflection.

“Charles was blessed with a vocation that was not fulfilled on this earth but will continue to be fulfilled in the kingdom of heaven,” he said. “Now he will serve us. In an invisible way, Charles will continue. He will continue to serve us, he will continue to pray for us, he will continue to intercede for us.”

A few days later, The Catholic Spirit published a column

by Archbishop Harry Flynn of St. Paul and Minneapolis, who had celebrated Mass at Epiphany earlier that year and had been impressed by Charles’ reverent altar serving.

“His death also reminds us of the reality of the Communion of Saints,” wrote Archbishop Flynn, who died last year. “The ties that bind us in the Church do not end with bodily death. Bodily death will cancel out no one.”

The archbishop continued: “Any one of us can look at the untimely death of that young man and wonder out loud to God: ‘Why Charles? He was so good. He could have done so much.’ And the Lord’s silent reply would be: ‘He can do more good from here.’”

Traveling mercies The good Charles has done from heaven, as many see it, astounded his grieving parents, stitching together a far-

flung community in the most unlikely of ways.

Ellen and Steve heard from an EMT who had been on the scene of the accident. For the past 20 years, she told them, she had hoped to deliver a baby on the job. A month after Charles’ death, she did exactly that — some 200 feet from the site of the car accident. Stories like hers, accounts suggesting that Charles was interceding for others, kept pouring in — from different states, from people who had never met the teen.

His story spread through Catholic homeschool networks. Ellen has made thousands of scapulars based on Charles’ design that have been mailed across the globe.

Audio recordings from his funeral have circulated.

His prayer card has been slipped into passports and pockets. It shows a picture of Charles in his Eagle Scout uniform and features a prayer for teens written by Father David Engo, a family friend from Massachusetts, to call upon Charles’ intercession.

“You gave the grace of purity, prayer, obedience and fidelity to Your servant Charles,” it states. “We now ask You to glorify Your servant Charles on earth by granting the petition we now make through his intercession.”

A group of young Catholics from the Kansas City diocese decided to hand out the prayer cards at the 2016 World Youth Day in Poland. One young woman was down to her last few cards when, amid a field of 2 million people, she felt compelled to give one to a priest.

It was Father Wilson.

A young man who had known Charles through Youth2000 retreats had a similar surprise when, back in his native England, he picked up a hitchhiking priest who started telling him about an amazing American named Charles Untz.

There was something about the bright-eyed Boy Scout who was like them but set apart that spoke to other young Catholics. Father Steve Hansen, who led the Kansas City group in Poland, had observed this many times.

“Kids who want to live purity, who want to obey their parents and who want to love the Church, they imitate Charles,” said Father Hansen, pastor of the Cathedral of St. Joseph in St. Joseph, Missouri. “They ask about him.

They memorize his prayer.”

Guiding seminarians Father Hansen personally experienced Charles’ intercession and credits it for saving his priestly vocation.

The Wisconsin native learned about Charles shortly after his death while on retreat, where the young men were informed of the tragedy and asked to pray.

Later, a classmate at the Franciscan University of Steubenville circulated Archbishop Flynn’s column and shared audio cassettes from the funeral with Hansen, who was not yet a seminarian. He developed a devotion to Charles that deepened his prayer life and aided his discernment, he said.

At one juncture in seminary when he was paralyzed by doubt, Hansen heard Charles speak to him while praying in church. It gave him the confidence and clarity he needed to move forward.

He received the call-to-holy-orders letter from his bishop accepting his request on March 20, 2006 — the anniversary of Charles’ death. It happened that that year, as in 2000, March 20 was a Monday and the Feast of St. Joseph.

“I would not be a priest today if he had not helped me,” Father Hansen said. “There’s no question about it.

He’s part of the hope that kids need to navigate the many challenges to adolescent and young adult life. He’s also part of the hope that parents and grandparents need, that they can pray for their kids.”

Father Hansen has been tireless in telling Charles’ story.

Every year on the bus ride home from the National March for Life, Father Hansen hands out prayer cards and tells the passengers from his diocese about Charles. He’s talked to thousands of people, including Carolyn Anch, youth director at St. Andrew the Apostle in Gladstone, Missouri.

A devotion to Charles revived their fledgling youth group, Father Hansen said. “When they started praying to Charles, everything changed.”

Today Father Hansen estimates that 12 to 15 young men from the diocese have been inspired by Charles to pursue seminary.

Father Wilson said he believes “absolutely,

unequivocally” that Charles intercedes for seminarians.

Five years after Charles’ death, Father Wilson had identified four seminarians from Epiphany parish and several women religious candidates who were deeply influenced by Charles.

On a personal level, Father Wilson said he felt Charles’ intercession during the seven years he served the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis as its vocation director. During that tenure, he heard from the late Father William Baer, who was then rector of St. John Vianney College Seminary. Father Baer credited Charles for the creation of Team Vianney, a dynamic program that invites young men to visit the seminary once a month for prayer and fellowship.

“We believe that the people who go before us have a place to continue to pray for us, and the gift of the communion of saints is real,” Father Wilson said. “We can count on it.”

The ties between heaven and earth forged by Charles were bolstered by a seminarian from Kansas City named Wesley McKeller, who battled brain cancer for two years and offered up his sufferings to advance the cause of Charles’ canonization.

Wesley felt a special connection to Charles, said his mom, Wendy. “He was young, he wasn’t well known and he had a real heart for God from a young age, and Wes resonated with that. He used to say: ‘If the purpose of my life is to spread devotion to Charles Untz, I’m happy with that.’”

Wesley died in 2016 at age 22. Wendy has no doubt he achieved his goal, and that the two young men are now united in heaven.

“They have a beautiful connection,” she said. “They did down there and they do up there, I’m sure.”

Last year, Archbishop Bernard Hebda was updated on Charles’ continued impact. Thirty-eight “favors” — or answered prayers — attributed to his intercession have been reported to Ellen and Steve, including people returning to the Church, priestly vocations, help with personal matters, healings and guidance. They assume many more extraordinary experiences have not been relayed. They have also been told of many graces from Charles such as purity, a strengthened prayer life, consolation at death, openness to life and peace at difficult times.

Though Ellen and Steve have never campaigned for Charles’ canonization — they do not see that as their role — they have saved all the letters and emails they received chronicling his impact, most from strangers. The notes are stored in two boxes in the closet of Charles’ bedroom.

The next step in the cause for canonization is to demonstrate “sustained widespread devotion” to Charles.

“We’re just passengers on that road,” Steve said.

For his part, he will go about his quiet work on the farm.

“I’ve learned to trust in the Holy Spirit and allow him to work through me,” Steve said. “I try not to get in the way.”

Each year on March 20 the Untz family hosts a Mass in the woods behind their home to celebrate Charles’ life and commemorate the anniversary of his death. This year — the 20th anniversary — they had to change their plans due to Archbishop Hebda’s directive on suspending public Mass in light of the coronavirus.

It was a last-minute disappointment at an emotional time, but they took it in stride.

Instead, when March 20 arrived — a bright, brisk Friday — Ellen and Steve pulled on their jackets and headed to the woods, along with a few others, including Father Hansen and Ellen’s brother, Deacon Mike Carney. They did the Seven Sorrows of Mary walk, prayed the Stations of the Cross and had a private Mass, which they were permitted to do.

They believed Charles was with them, as Father Wilson had promised at the funeral. The communion of saints celebrates with us at every Mass, the priest had said. “Every time you go to Mass, Charles will be surrounding the altar with you.”

Ellen’s parting message hasn’t changed much from 20 years ago, back when she was offering her industrious son to neighbors in need — an elderly woman across the street, younger Boy Scouts in his troop. She sees he can still be useful.

“Charles is ready to help anyone deepen their faith and their relationship with God,” she said. “Put him to work!”

14 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

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MARCH 26, 2020

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As many beneficiaries have told us,

“Water is life.” It changes everything and is a fundamental necessity for bringing about long-term community transformation. By giving water, you lay the foundation for building a bright future filled with strength and blessing.

Please join us in sharing this gift of life with families in need!

Readers interested in supporting Cross Catholic Outreach can use the brochure inserted in this issue or send tax-deductible gifts to: Cross Catholic Outreach, Dept. AC01530, PO Box 97168, Washington DC 20090-7168.

The ministry has a special need for partners willing to make gifts on a monthly basis. Use the inserted brochure to become a Mission Partner or write Monthly Mission Partner on mailed checks to be contacted about setting up those arrangements.

Cross Catholic Outreach Endorsed by More Than 100 Bishops, Archbishops Cross Catholic Outreach’s range of relief work to help the poor overseas continues to be recognized by a growing number of Catholic leaders in the U.S. and abroad.

“We’ve received more than 100 endorsements from bishops and archbishops,” explained Jim Cavnar, president of Cross Catholic Outreach (CCO). “They’re moved by the fact that we’ve launched outreaches in almost 40 countries and have undertaken a variety of projects — everything from feeding the hungry and housing the homeless to supplying

safe water and supporting educational opportunities for the poorest of the poor. The bishops have also been impressed by Cross Catholic Outreach’s direct and meaningful response to emergency situations, most recently by providing food, medicines and other resources to partners in Haiti, El Salvador and areas of Belize impacted by natural disasters.”

Archbishop Thomas Rodi of Mobile, Alabama, supported this mission, writing: “It is a privilege for me to support Cross Catholic Outreach. This organization funds ministries to our

neighbors in need in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, and the Pacific. Through the generosity of so many, the love of God is made visible to many who are coping with the most difficult of daily living conditions.”

In addition to praising CCO’s accomplishments, many of the bishops and archbishops are encouraged that Pontifical canonical status was conferred on the charity in September 2015, granting it approval as an official Catholic organization. This allows CCO to participate in the mission of the Church and to give a

concrete witness to Gospel Charity, in collaboration with the Holy Father.

“Your work with the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development is a strong endorsement of your partnership with the work of the Universal Church,” Archbishop Cordileone of San Francisco said. “By providing hope to the faithful overseas by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, delivering medical relief to the sick and shelter to the homeless, and through self-help projects, you are embodying the Papal Encyclical Deus Caritas Est.”

MARCH 26, 2020

RIGHT PAGE

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 15

PAID ADVERTISEMENT

American Catholics Have Exciting Opportunities to Help Impoverished Areas With the Blessing of Safe Water “Roughly 10 percent of the world’s population lives without ready access to clean water. As a result, about 500,000 children die every year from diarrhea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation — that’s about 1,300 children a day. Worldwide, diarrheal diseases are the leading killers of children under the age of five.

“No one would deny the importance of water to sustain life, but few of us realize just how critical the need for this blessed resource has become in some parts of the developing world. It’s literally a matter of life and death.”

With his recent statement, Cross Catholic Outreach president Jim Cavnar put the stark statistics of UNICEF and the World Health Organization into terms every American Catholic can easily understand. A serious water crisis threatens the world’s poorest countries, and it should be a major concern to those of us who value the sanctity of life.

Thankfully, the Catholic Church is aware of this problem and has stepped forward to act on behalf of the poor, according to Cavnar.

“Priests and nuns serving in developing countries are identifying the areas of greatest need and are creating plans to help solve the problems,” he said. “All they lack is funding. If we can empower them with grants of aid and with other resources, amazing things can be accomplished.”

Cavnar’s own ministry, Cross Catholic Outreach, was launched in 2001 with this specific goal in mind.

It rallies American Catholics to fund specific projects overseas, and many safe water initiatives have been successfully implemented as a result.

In one case, tapping a spring in Haiti allowed Cross Catholic Outreach to reduce infant mortality in a poor, remote part of the country.

“Catholic leaders in the village of Cerca reported children were dying at an alarming rate. If you visited, you could see the funeral processions carrying the tiny coffins. They discovered contaminated water was the problem, and they asked us to help find a solution.

Working together, we were able to tap a spring and provide clean, safe water,” Cavnar explained.

Because every area’s water problem is different, Cross Catholic Outreach needs to be flexible. Over the years, its projects have included everything from digging wells to channeling water from springs to installing filtration systems to providing large holding tanks for purchased water.

They also work worldwide and have

ABOVE: Children fill their water jugs from a contaminated spring in Kenya. In many areas of the developing world, the poor depend on contaminated water sources like this for their drinking water. RIGHT: Children often miss school to collect water for their families. Catholic donors supporting Cross Catholic Outreach’s water projects can provide safe, abundant water to impoverished communities like these. done water projects in Africa, South and Central American countries, the Caribbean and elsewhere.

“This year, some of our biggest water projects are planned for Zambia, Kenya and Guatemala,” Cavnar said. “Of course, our ability to take on that work will depend on getting contributions here in the U.S.” Cavnar is clearly grateful to American Catholics who choose to support Cross Catholic Outreach’s work with their prayers and gifts, and he emphasizes their role often, describing them as the real heroes in every success story.

“Take the water project needed in the Diocese of Santa Rosa de Lima, Guatemala, for example. Drilling for water wasn’t an option due to the terrain. So it’s an ambitious plan that will develop a complex water and distribution system to pump clean water to every home in a community currently relying on contaminated lakes and streams for survival. The Catholic priest in the area desperately needs it and its impact will be profound — but it takes outside funding to turn that dream into a reality. So, when our Catholic

benefactors support a project like this, they are literally an answer to prayer.”

The same has been true in other important outreaches too. Over the years, Cross Catholic Outreach donors have built homes, schools and clinics — and have further blessed those outreaches with gifts to fund medicines, school supplies, teacher salaries and more.

“It is possible to bless people, save lives and transform communities,” Cavnar said. “It just takes concerned Catholics working together to achieve those goals.”

How to Help To fund Cross Catholic Outreach’s effort to help the poor worldwide, use the postage-paid brochure inserted in this newspaper or mail your gift to Cross Catholic Outreach, Dept. AC01530, PO Box 97168, Washington DC 20090-7168. The brochure also includes instructions on becoming a Mission Partner and making a regular monthly donation to this cause.

If you identify a specific aid project with your gift, 100% of the proceeds will be restricted to be used for that specific project. However, if more is raised for the project than needed, funds will be redirected to other urgent needs in the ministry.

16 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

MARCH 26, 2020

PARENTING+FAMILIES

Coronavirus restrictions prompt Lenten reflections

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit

A

s Catholics face uncertainty and sacrifice in navigating a world dominated by COVID-19 this Lent, they can find opportunities to grow spiritually, connect with family and better understand the purpose of our lives, several archdiocesan priests said.

“A spiritual opportunity here is to face the reality that in life we live a mystery, not a formula,” said Father Jeff Huard, 64, director of spiritual formation at St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul.

“We much often prefer a formula because it at least gives us a false sense of security, but the reality is we do live a mystery, but we don’t live it alone. God in his love has sent his Son and poured out his Holy Spirit.”

Father Huard and two other priests offered faith antidotes for fear, ideas for spiritual growth and leadership especially during Lent and Christian perspectives on death.

Many Americans have the illusion that we can control everything, said Father Jonathan Kelly, 46, formator and spiritual director at St. John Vianney College Seminary, also in St. Paul. “We don’t like not knowing what’s coming but it is spiritually fruitful to experience our dependence and lack of control,” he said.

“If we’re moving or living in faith it leads to spiritual poverty and surrender to the providence of God.” We need to surrender to the Lord in confidence rather than resigning in despair, Father Kelly said.

In times of “severe mercy” God helps us focus on what really matters rather than our fear, Father Huard said. “When your joy and peace are being rocked you have to say, ‘Where’s my hope?’” he said.

“Am I getting paralyzed with fear?”

Christ doesn’t leave us in misery, he joins us, Father Huard said, encouraging Catholics to look often at the cross and lean into the Blessed Mother and the communion of saints.

Despite the challenge of not knowing what’s ahead, it’s a good time to be Catholic because we understand the sacrifice of Lent and the abundant life of Easter, said Father James Livingston, 62, pastor of St. Paul in Ham Lake.

“I think it’s a great time for us to be leaders and not reactors — to think in terms of the common good and of the beauty of the sacrifice versus selfishness,” he said.

People can show others the difference between the long-term good that faith

“

Let’s pray that this would be a time of self-emptying love for us, in which we stay put in hope.

Father Jeff Huard

iSTOCK PHOTO | FREDERICA ABAN

SURRENDER NOVENA OFFERS ENCOURAGEMENT One act of surrender is worth more than a thousand prayers, shares an Italian priest whose cause for canonization is underway, Father Dolindo Ruotolo, in his simple “Surrender Novena.”

The novena has been a source of consolation for many who bring their needs and worries to the Lord.

Father Ruotolo, who lived in Naples, Italy, from 1882 to 1970, was a contemporary of St. Padre Pio and is now a Servant of God, one step away from beatification. He suffered greatly during his life and wrote of being visited on several occasions by Jesus, who he said gave him the novena.

It consists of short paragraphs of instruction and encouragement for each of nine days, followed by the prayer: “O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything.”

The novena and a short biography of Father Ruotolo can be found at tinyurl.com/ruotolo.

— Susan Klemond teaches us and the present moment with its limitations, Father Livingston said.

“This will be a moment when people remember in the future a moment of kindness, a moment of patience, a moment of graciousness.”

It’s also a time to be creative in using our skills and gifts to spiritually and socially support each other, such as teaching family computer skills, Father Livingston said.

Social media enables us to communicate without spreading the virus, he said. Families can deepen their spiritual connection by praying the rosary or reading the Bible together, even if they’re not in the same location.

And, if families can’t attend Mass, they can read the prayers and readings together, he said.

Families should have a prayer they say together every day — a petition to guard the family and to intercede for the health of the world, said Father Huard, recommending especially Psalms 62 and 91, and Romans 15:13, to ask God for joy, peace and hope through the Holy Spirit.

Another way to increase a spiritual connection is by enthroning in the

home the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary, based on Christ’s statements to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, Father Kelly said.

Living closely with one another rubs off our edges and offers a source of holiness, he added.

“We realize we don’t always get our own way and we can love others in their imperfections and weaknesses, and if others love us in our imperfections and weaknesses it often softens them,” he said. “We can pray together, give each other the benefit of the doubt, realize we’re under stress, and be quick to forgive and ask for forgiveness.”

Father Livingston recommended reading Romans 12 and Ephesians 4-5 to learn about practicing Christian charity.

Lessons in charity are among the life and spiritual lessons we learn during Lent and the other Church seasons, he said.

“Lent is a time for us to be reminded that God is faithful in the midst of difficult times and this abundant life that we all want, the Easter life that comes, but God is faithful while we’re in the desert,” Father Livingston said.

As the coronavirus crisis hits hard during Lent, we should be grateful every

NOTICE

Look for

The Catholic Spirit advertising insert from For the latest statements and resources on the coronavirus from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis go to

archspm.org/covid19

CROSS CATHOLIC OUTREACH

in all copies of this issue.

day for all Christ suffered in love for us, Father Huard said.

The crisis provides us with a forced retreat that aligns with what the Church asks of us anyway: to enter into Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection, Father Kelly said. It also gives us more motivation to focus on Lenten practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, he said.

We should dispose our hearts to letting God’s kingdom come and be attentive to what he’s doing, Father Kelly said.

“I think our disposition is God actively laboring, he’s working right now, he’s loving the world and we’re participating in that as his children in confidence that he wants to recreate the world,” Father Kelly said.

One way to be open to God’s will, Father Kelly said, is to pray the “Surrender Novena” of Servant of God Father Dolindo Ruotolo. (See sidebar.)

Prayer, fasting and almsgiving are the mainstays of life, ancient tools of the Church for emptying ourselves, said Father Huard, recommending Catholics read 1 Corinthians 13 and Philippians 2.

“Let’s pray that this would be a time of self-emptying love for us, in which we stay put in hope,” he said.

There are still opportunities to help the poor by practicing almsgiving, Father Huard said, even if it’s not possible to contribute financially. Giving clothes away is one option, he noted.

Along with prayer, fasting and almsgiving during Lent, this crisis is causing many to think about the four last things: death, judgment, heaven and hell, he said.

Threats to our lives help us focus our lives, Father Huard said, and according to St. John Chrysostom, one of the main ways to deal with death is to live the Christian life deeply.

St. Ignatius of Loyola instructed Catholics to imagine the end of their lives as a context for discernment, said Father Kelly. “What choice would I have wanted to make at those moments in my life, at the end of my life and recalling my life, when I meet Jesus?” he asked.

“Make that choice now and you’ll be happy and enjoy eternal life with God.” Our Catholic tradition is to remember death, Father Kelly said, and while we have a desire to preserve life it’s not bad to recall the inevitable.

Ultimately, we must remember that our lives are in God’s hands, he said.

Citing Psalm 27 and Romans 8, Father Kelly added, “Nothing happens that God can’t use for good.”

MARCH 26, 2020

PARENTING+FAMILIES

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 17

Catholic schools help families in the wake of closures

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit

A

traffic jam of sorts started at noon March 18 in the parking lot of Risen Christ Catholic School in Minneapolis.

Principal Joelynn Sartell and a handful of teachers directed dozens of vehicles that pulled up to the parking lot. They drove up near the north door and a purple tent with the school’s name. One by one, cars, minivans and SUVs with parents and students came to place orders for school supplies and food. It was part of an effort to help the many economically disadvantaged families trying to navigate the recent school closure. Already struggling families face even tougher times ahead, which the school acknowledges and is trying to soften.

“We have about 330 students; 90 percent of them fall into the category of low income,” said school President Mike Rogers, who also helped out in the parking lot. “Our families are already strapped (financially). Many of them have a situation of basically toxic stress all the time related to economic hardship.”

In just the first hour of a scheduled six-hour distribution effort at the school, 64 cars came through to get school supplies, laptops and food from The Sheridan Story, a local organization that provides meals to schools like Risen Christ once a week. Rogers noted that one of the new hardships for families is no longer having two free

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Mike Rogers, right, president of Risen Christ Catholic School in Minneapolis, and fourth-grade Spanish teacher Susana Villalobos help with distribution of school supplies and food in the school parking lot March 18. meals a day at school for their children who attend.

Other Catholic schools with families suffering from economic hardships also are responding to the needs of their families. Three inner-city schools comprise Ascension Catholic Academy, and there is a collective effort underway for the 525 students at the three schools: Ascension Catholic School and St. John Paul II Catholic

Resources for families facing new realities

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit Downloadable coloring pages with saints or psalms. Lists of favorite Catholic children’s books. Videos of Father Mike Schmitz of the Diocese of Duluth or Venerable Fulton Sheen. These appear on a list of web links to dozens of ideas for religious education at home, compiled by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Office for Marriage, Family and Life.

Bill Dill, the office’s marriage preparation and youth ministry events coordinator, asked his network of parish youth and family ministry coordinators via email March 16 what resources could help Catholic families during social distancing due to the risks associated with the novel coronavirus, with many parents working from home and children’s schools closed.

“This is a great opportunity! We’ve been trying to encourage and help families do more internal faith sharing and faith formation,” Dill said. “It makes a huge difference in kids’ faith when they hear about mom and dad’s faith and grow together in their faith with mom and dad.”

They also compiled a list of online youth ministry resources, which includes websites for religious formation programs such as Formed, YDisciple and Jeff Cavins’ “The Bible Timeline: The Story of Salvation Bible Study Program,” which can be accessed online for group or individual study. Another list with family activity ideas is forthcoming. All are available at archspm.org/online-formation.

Meanwhile, St. Agnes School in St. Paul

created a “K-6 Parents Resource Guide,” designed “to help with the transition to distance learning during the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic.” The first point of advice: “Stay calm!”

The resource guide breaks down ideas for addressing a child’s spiritual, emotional, physical and academic needs, with practical advice such as reading the Bible out loud each day, maintaining a consistent daily schedule and focusing on practicing virtues. The school is developing similar guides for grades seven and eight and nine to 12. The guides are available at saintagnesschool.org.

School in Minneapolis and St. Peter Claver Catholic School in St. Paul.

It starts with a protocol for teachers to contact each of their students at least every other day, preferably daily.

A second initiative is the creation of a helpline to assist families who have needs beyond education. People can call their child’s school, which then will connect them to someone who can help them find the resources they need

from outside agencies.

The third part of the effort will be to work with The Sheridan Story to address food insecurity of students and families. A partnership has been formed, and the school plans to start offering food to needy families soon, said Patricia Stromen, president of Ascension Academy. Families that can will drive to the school to pick up food. For those who can’t, food will be delivered.

As school staffs prepare for what could be a prolonged closure, they also are thinking of ways to address nonmaterial needs.

“We’re trying to do what we can to accommodate our communities’ spiritual needs as well,” Rogers said.

“We’re working on setting up a daily, live-streamed Spanish prayer time at a specific time every day that we will broadcast.”

As the closures continue, Stromen said her three schools will focus on continuing the learning so that students don’t experience what she calls “the summer slide.” It is especially critical because of the achievement gap she said already exists for these students.

Fortunately, students and families have one collective characteristic she said will help them through the current hardships.

“Our families are highly resilient,” she said. “Our children, our scholars, are resilient. They’re resilient outside of the pandemic. We have every expectation they’ll be resilient during a pandemic. I think that’s so important to remember.”

18 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

MARCH 26, 2020

SENIORHOUSING

Precautions help protect seniors in care facilities

By Joe Ruff and Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit

“T

his is something we can all do for one another,” Father Matthew Ehmke told the congregation at 10:30 a.m. Mass March 8 at the senior living complex St. Therese of New Hope.

Presiding at the Mass, he was addressing liturgical restrictions in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, such as not using holy water and avoiding physical contact during the sign of peace, in order to curb spread of the coronavirus.

Just 10 days later, as the virus spread across Minnesota, Archbishop Bernard Hebda suspended all public Masses.

Now, Catholic residents of St. Therese watch Mass on television in their rooms. Father Ehmke is exploring the possibility of distributing Communion to residents of the independent and assisted living facility. Visitors are not allowed in, unless a loved one is deathly ill. Then, it’s only two family members at a time. Residents can leave to go shopping and meet other needs, and many still eat in the dining area, but only two at a table, as they abide by rules for social distancing set by health officials, Father Ehmke said.

St. Therese is one example of nursing home restrictions that have gone into effect in Minnesota and many other parts of the country in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and the respiratory illness it causes, COVID-19.

Visitor restrictions are designed to keep seniors healthy.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, older adults are at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19. Eight of 10 deaths reported in the U.S. have been adults age 65 and older. The advanced age of many long-term care residents, underlying health conditions and proximity to others can increase risk.

Facility administrators and clinical staff look to ongoing guidance from organizations including the CDC, the Minnesota Department of Health, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and local and county public health agencies. The agencies regularly communicate specific guidelines on topics ranging from cleaning practices to visitor screening and restrictions.

The focus is on residents, but effective policies and procedures also help protect staff members, vendors and visitors from becoming sick or passing on illness.

Beyond compliance with policies to protect residents’ health, many facilities prioritize keeping family members informed and keeping life as normal and meaningful as possible for residents.

At St. Gertrude’s Health & Rehabilitation Center in Shakopee, part of the Benedictine Health System, restricting visitors does not mean no contact. “We do

CNS

A resident of Mount Carmel Rehabilitation & Nursing Center in Manchester, New Hampshire, speaks with a member of the staff in this recent photo. Officials at this Catholic nursing home and others around the U.S. are responding to the coronavirus pandemic with restrictions for elderly residents. understand and are very empathetic to ways to keep in touch with family members,” said Janis Hooey, Benedictine’s community relations manager.

The facility offers a hotline that includes updates for family members. Staff members also keep families informed and suggest ways they can stay in touch, from video chats to telephone calls — even writing a letter.

Epiphany Senior Housing in Coon Rapids posted a news release about the coronavirus and visitor restrictions to its website, making the information accessible 24-7. Epiphany also educates staff, residents and families on best practices for infection control and the symptoms of COVID-19, which often include shortness of breath, dry cough and fever.

Catholic Eldercare in Minneapolis uses technology in a number of ways to help residents reach loved ones and stay informed, including helping them use FaceTime to connect with family members using their own cellphones or computers, or a facility laptop or

other computer, or even a landline, said Marilyn DuBay, a registered nurse, Eldercare education coordinator and infection control specialist.

In light of state health officials’ recommendations to avoid activities in groups of 10 or more, “we are providing for meaningful dining experiences for residents, and offering opportunities for recreational and spiritual needs in small group settings of less than 10 persons,” DuBay said.

Father Ehmke, 81, has lived at St. Therese for six years, and he helps with Masses and other pastoral care. Residents and staff are calmly implementing safety procedures, he said. Many are accustomed to similar precautions, though usually not as strict, when influenza and other viruses make their seasonal appearances, he said.

“When you get old, you’ve been through a thing or two,” he said.

Pope says a united humanity will rise from pandemic-stricken world

By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service

A

s more countries continue to lockdown and isolate to stem the spread of the coronavirus, “we can only get out of this situation together as a whole humanity,” Pope Francis said.

In an interview published in the Italian newspaper La Stampa March 20, the pope said that although Christians must live this moment in history with “penance, compassion and hope,” both believers and nonbelievers “are all in the same boat” and must confront the challenge together.

“What helps us is synergy, mutual collaboration, the sense of responsibility and the spirit of sacrifice that is generated in many places,” he said.

“We do not have to make a distinction

between believers and nonbelievers; let’s go to the root: humanity. Before God, we are all his children.”

Reflecting on the Lenten season, the pope said that acts of prayer and fasting are an exercise that “trains us to look at the others with solidarity, especially those who suffer.”

The prayers being said throughout the world during this crisis, he added, were like the apostles in the boat crying out to Jesus amid the raging storm. Much like the disciples, there are many crying out today “who are drowning, who feel threatened, alone.”

“And in a difficult, desperate, situation it is important to know that there is the Lord to hold on to,” the pope said. “God supports us in many ways. God gives us strength and closeness just as he did with the disciples who asked for help in the

storm or when he gave his hand to Peter who was drowning.”

The pope was asked for his thoughts about reports that many patients with the illness caused by the virus, known as COVID-19, are dying alone in isolation without being able to say goodbye to their loved ones.

Among the many heart wrenching anecdotes, the pope said he was “struck and grieved” by the story of a nurse who lent her phone to an elderly woman so that she could say goodbye to her granddaughter.

“This is the ultimate need, to have a hand taking your hand, to have a last gesture of companionship,” he said.

“The pain of those who died without saying goodbye becomes a wound in the heart of those who remain.”

He also thanked the nurses, doctors and health care volunteers who,

“despite the extraordinary fatigue, bend down with patience and with the kindness of their heart to make up for the obligatory absence of family members.”

Pope Francis said the expressions of solidarity today amid the pandemic are a reminder that “humankind is one community,” and he hoped that when the crisis is over, much like a “postwar period, there will no longer be ‘the other,’ but rather ‘us.’”

“We will have to look at the roots even more: the grandparents, the elderly, to build a real sense of fraternity among all of us,” the pope said. “To remember this difficult experience that we all lived through together and to move forward with hope, which never disappoints. These will be the keywords for starting again: roots, memory, brotherhood and hope.”

SENIORHOUSING

MARCH 26, 2020

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 19

Proximity to Mass important to many Catholic seniors

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit

P

aul Miterko had a series of back injuries and surgeries at age 74. At one point, he needed a hoist to get him in and out of bed. Now 80, he still has pain, but he gets around using a walker.

One benefit of mobility: He can walk to Mass on his own, using a covered walkway that connects Epiphany Senior Housing where he lives to Epiphany church in Coon Rapids.

“I go every day if I can,” he said. “Going to Mass is very important to me.”

Miterko is one of many Catholic seniors who look for proximity to a Catholic church, or Mass and other sacraments at an in-house chapel, as they decide where to live in retirement, or appreciate the convenience once they move in.

Five years ago, Miterko moved to his current independent living apartment after considering another facility. Access to Mass factored into his final choice, “and this place has a great setup,” he said, referring to the walkway.

“It is very convenient,” he said. The gregarious Miterko said he also makes a point to socialize a bit in the church office on his walk back from church to his apartment.

Public Masses are temporarily suspended in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis because of the

“

I go every day if I can.

Paul Miterko

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Paul Miterko of Epiphany in Coon Rapids can walk from his housing unit to Mass without having to go outside. He lives at Epiphany Senior Housing Campus, which is connected to the church. coronavirus epidemic. In normal times public Mass is held seven days a week at Epiphany.

About 60 percent of Epiphany residents are Catholic, said Jeanette Delich, executive director of the Epiphany Senior Housing Campus. Epiphany surveys every resident one to two months after they move in and

then once a year. Many of the Catholic residents mention the campus’ proximity to the church as a factor in choosing to live there, she said.

Access to a Catholic church was a big part of Arlaine Higgins’ decision to live in an independent living apartment at a Catholic Eldercare facility in northeast Minneapolis. She appreciates the fact when she attends Mass at adjacent St. Hedwig church that she, like Miterko, can use a covered walkway.

“I don’t have to worry about the weather,” said Higgins, who moved into her apartment at RiverVillage nine years ago, shortly after the death of her husband, Donald. Before his death, they had waited more than two years on a waiting list for a new place to call home.

“That’s the way the Lord planned it,” said Higgins, 87.

“He took care of me.”

Higgins said she was familiar with her new Twin Cities neighborhood. She and her husband shared a home in the area during their 60 years of marriage.

Going to Mass was always an important part of their lives, Higgins said, and they lived two blocks from St. Boniface church. Now, with public Masses suspended, Higgins watches a televised Mass.

She also meets her three grandchildren and six greatgrandchildren at the church on Sundays. They routinely attend Mass together and then go out to breakfast.

“I always say if I can’t be in my own home, this is the place where I want to be,” she said. “I am very blessed.”

As lockdown continues in Italy, pope prays for the elderly

By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service As Italy entered its second week of lockdown, Pope Francis urged Christians to remember the elderly who are suffering not only loneliness but also fear due to the spread of the coronavirus.

“Today, I would like us to pray for the elderly who are suffering now in a particular way, with great interior solitude and sometimes great fear. Let us pray that the Lord would be close to our grandfathers and grandmothers — to all

the elderly — and give them strength,” the pope said March 17 during a live broadcast of his morning Mass.

According to a March 13 report by the Italian National Institute of Health, the median age of men and women who have died from COVID-19 is 80. As of March 23, more than 6,800 people had died in Italy from the virus.

The elderly “gave us wisdom, life, history — let us also be near them in prayer,” Pope Francis said at the beginning of his Mass.

In his homily, the pope reflected on

the day’s Gospel reading from St. Matthew, in which Peter asks Jesus how often must one forgive “if my brother sins against me.”

“I say to you, not seven times but 77 times,” Jesus replied.

“We’ve all seen families destroyed by hatred that is passed down from one generation to the next, “ the pope said.

“Brothers and sisters, who in front of a parent’s coffin, don’t even greet each other because they’re carrying past resentments.” “It seems that attachment to hatred is stronger than attachment to love and this is precisely — we may say

— the devil’s treasure.”

However, the pope continued, God does not condemn, but forgives and is “able to throw a feast for a sinner who draws near to him and he forgets everything.”

“When God forgives us, he forgets all the evil we have done. Someone has said it is God’s sickness. He doesn’t have a memory. He can lose his memory in these cases. God loses his memory regarding the ugly story of so many sinners, of our sins,” Pope Francis said.

“He only asks us to do the same, to learn how to forgive.”.

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20 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

SENIORHOUSING

MARCH 26, 2020

In the time of COVID-19, the cloistered life offers lessons for the world

By Rhina Guido Catholic News Service

P

eople often telephone Sister Maria Elena Romero, a Capuchin Franciscan Poor Clare in Wilmington, Delaware, to ask for her to pray for a personal intention, to sound out a problem, sometimes just to cry.

But lately, she’s received a phone call or two with a different kind of problem: boredom.

As people around the world are asked to work from home, limit their contact with others and introduce “social distancing” into their vocabulary and lives, the sheltering in place authorities are asking the public to observe is causing some to go stir crazy.

But for Sister Romero, limiting contact with the world is a part of life she observes as a cloistered nun. That means that like the other dozen or so sisters who live in her Capuchin Franciscan community in Wilmington, she only leaves the confines of the Veronica Giuliani monastery for limited reasons, such as a doctor’s appointment.

When it comes to limiting contact with the outside world, she’s kind of an expert, you might say.

Her advice for those struggling with the current reality of staying in place? First, make a schedule, she said.

“If you’re idle, of course you’re going to get bored,” she said in a March 16 telephone interview with Catholic News Service.

The day at the monastery for the Wilmington Poor Clares begins at 5 a.m. when they make their bed, get dressed for the day, then head to the chapel for prayer at 5:30 a.m. Though most may not want to get up at this hour, it’s a good idea to set a regular time to get up, start the day with prayer, give thanks, then organize work that needs to be done that day.

Some would be surprised, but life inside a monastery is pretty packed with activity. Though the day revolves around a scheduled set of prayers, there are clothes and

CNS

Capuchin Franciscan Sister Maria Elena Romero, in this undated photo at the Veronica Giuliani Monastery in Wilmington, Del., entered the life of a cloistered nun in 1983 when she joined the order of St. Clare. Though many are struggling with limiting contact with others as the world deals with COVID-19, this can be a time for spiritual opportunity, she said. dishes to be washed, meals for 12 to prepare, finances to sort, food and supplies that need to be ordered or purchased. Each sister is assigned a chore to tackle.

Likewise, at home, she said, make a list of chores or responsibilities that need to be accomplished that day and dole them out: whether it’s working from home, doing homework, or cleaning or fixing things. For those who don’t have other responsibilities, assign a productive chore for yourself or others, to stay busy until lunchtime.

A family member can be assigned to prepare lunch for others or each person can take up a different task:

set the table, load the dishwasher or help the person cooking to clean as lunch is prepared.

People often complain that they don’t have enough time for family. Lunch as a family, a novelty for many, can be a great opportunity to catch up with how children, spouses or another family member are dealing with confinement, to see how other family members are feeling and whether they can help others cope.

After lunch, families, much like the nuns at the monastery, can collectively help with washing the dishes as a group and to put things away before the afternoon begins. The period after lunch can be used to rest, to read, to check in with friends or co-workers by phone, she said.

Sister Romero said she has suggested to those who tell her that they’re struggling with boredom to be creative about prayer. If the home where a person lives has a patio or a yard, use the afternoon or lunch hour to eat outside or play relaxing music outdoors and meditate or pray in a garden or patio.

“Changing your setting always helps, find a place to be alone and that always helps to clear your head,” she said.

If that’s a struggle, the internet, via YouTube, offers many learning opportunities, including instruction on how to pray the rosary, she said.

A lot of people tell her how they never learned specific prayers or to pray the rosary, so “I tell them this is your opportunity,” she said. Time also can be used for self-reflection, to ask oneself whether they’ve wronged others and to seek forgiveness, to examine fears or to make a plan of how to help someone else who might be struggling — even if it’s just through a phone call.

After a bit of rest, prayer or meditation, return to work or chores, she said.

The time before dinner for the sisters includes a longer period of prayer, sometimes accompanied by reading as a community, then meditation, ending with prayer, then dinner, cleaning up, followed by what some call social time or recreation time.

MARCH 26, 2020

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 21

FOCUSONFAITH

SUNDAY SCRIPTURES | FATHER DAN HAUGAN

Tears of Jesus show he understands sorrow

Banksy, the anonymous English street artist and vandal, once said, “You die twice. One time when you stop breathing and a second time, a bit later on, when somebody says your name for the last time.” This weekend’s Gospel is about a man who actually died twice, Jesus’ friend Lazarus. The Gospel of John makes the raising of the dead man Lazarus the climax of the miracles showing the world that Jesus truly is the Son of God. The beginning of the Gospel speaks of how these miracles provoked faith in Christ’s followers, and hatred in those who opposed him.

The Gospel reminds us Jesus Christ is our brother and friend.

“Lord, the one you love is sick.” This simple message was sent to Jesus by both Mary and Martha, who were Lazarus’ sisters. Jesus didn’t need Lazarus’ name. Jesus knew who and what the sisters were talking about, and they believed Jesus would know what to do.

The writer of John’s Gospel doesn’t use Lazarus’ name in Martha and Mary’s message, nor does he use his own name when describing his personal account of being at the foot of Christ’s cross. In both cases John and Lazarus are described as individuals whom Jesus loved. John means for us to understand that at those pivotal moments in salvation history, both he and Lazarus stood for all those whom Jesus loved. In both cases, they represent all Christian believers, ourselves included.

“See how much he loved him,” the bystanders say. This is their response to the shortest verse in the Bible, “Jesus wept” (Jn 11:35).

Washington Irving once wrote, “There is a sacredness in tears.

They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love.”

We call Jesus “God made man.” It’s easy to think that means that he is part God and part man. This is wrong; Jesus is completely human and completely divine. What could be more human than Jesus’ tears at the grave of his dear friend Lazarus?

Jesus was no superman, immune to suffering, unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. When you think that no one can possibly understand what you are going through, you are wrong.

There is one who truly understands your suffering and sorrow; he is your brother, your friend, he is Jesus. Yet, Jesus is so much more than just that. He is also the eternal Son of God.

FAITH FUNDAMENTALS | FATHER MICHAEL VAN SLOUN

Confirmation: The next series on the sacraments The objective of this column is to help Catholics, in particular, as well as anyone else who has a desire to learn about our beliefs, to better understand the basic teachings of the Catholic faith. The sacraments are an excellent place to start because they have such a central role in the spiritual life. So important, in fact, that an “active Catholic” is defined as someone who is receiving the sacraments.

The sacraments were instituted by Christ and are a rich source of grace. They are at the heart of the liturgical life of the Church.

They welcome a person into the community of believers, sustain a person on the journey of life, strengthen and solidify a person’s commitment to Christ and his Church, provide forgiveness and healing, seal lifetime vocational promises and prepare a person for the final journey to God at the end of one’s life on earth.

For the past three years this column has explored two of the sacraments of initiation: baptism for the first year and Eucharist for the past two years. Over the coming months, the topic will shift to confirmation.

Future issues will provide basic information and more extensive reflections on confirmation’s spiritual value and significance. The fundamentals will include confirmation’s relationship to baptism and Eucharist, how it serves as the foundation to the sacraments of commitment, the age and conditions for reception, integral elements in the preparatory process, the confirmation name, the

DAILY Scriptures

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Jesus was raised to a new and eternal life, and he left his burial cloth behind in the tomb; for he had passed beyond death. As a man like us, Jesus wept for Lazarus, his friend. As the eternal God, he raised Lazarus from the dead. In his love for all of us, Christ gives us the sacraments to lift us up to everlasting life.

Sunday, March 29 Fifth Sunday of Lent Ez 37:12-14 Rom 8:8-11 Jn 11:1-45 Monday, March 30 Dn 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62 Jn 8:1-11 Tuesday, March 31 Nm 21:4-9 Jn 8:21-30 Wednesday, April 1 Dn 3:14-20, 91-92, 95 Jn 8:31-42 Thursday, April 2 Gn 17:3-9 Jn 8:51-59 Friday, April 3 Jer 20:10-13 Jn 10:31-42

iSTOCK PHOTO | GINOSPHOTOS

The Gospel according to John begins by saying of Christ, “In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men” (Jn 1:4). In last Sunday’s Gospel we see in the healing of a man born blind that Jesus is the giver of light. Today, as we see him raising Lazarus, Jesus is the giver of life.

However, between the resurrection of Lazarus and that of Jesus, there is a crucial difference. Lazarus was brought back to the old life, the life that you and I live every day, and he would die again, like we all will someday. Lazarus came forth from the grave still wearing his burial clothes; he would need them again many years later when he died a second time. Jesus was raised to a new and eternal life, and he left his burial cloth behind in the tomb; for he had passed beyond death. As a man like us, Jesus wept for Lazarus, his friend. As the eternal God, he raised Lazarus from the dead. In his love for all of us, Christ gives us the sacraments to lift us up to everlasting life.

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

role of the sponsors and the ordinary minister.

In subsequent months, there will be more in-depth examinations of the Church’s major teachings and core beliefs on the sacrament of confirmation. Featured topics will be the biblical basis of the sacrament, its power and effects, how it is unlike graduation, the symbols of the sacrament, the significance of the anointing with oil, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the fruits of the Holy Spirit, the role of the Holy Spirit, and how Pentecost galvanized the faith of the first Apostles.

Today, confirmation normally is the third sacrament of initiation and the fourth sacrament overall. The usual order is baptism, reconciliation, first Eucharist, and then somewhere between the ages of 12 and 18, confirmation. But this has not always been the case.

The New Testament states that the gift of the Holy Spirit accompanies the sacrament of baptism, and in the early Church there was no separate sacrament of confirmation. Baptism and the reception of the Holy Spirit were considered a single sacrament.

During the rite, the priest administered the first anointing and the bishop administered the second.

Two factors led to separating the rite into two sacraments. After St. Augustine (354-430) proposed the doctrine of original sin, it became urgent to baptize infants as quickly as possible, and many times a bishop was not available. Therefore, the second anointing was administered at a later date, usually while the recipient was still an infant or a small child and before receiving the Eucharist.

The reordering of the sacraments took place in 1910 when Pope Pius X issued a directive that first reconciliation should go before first Eucharist, and that it was appropriate to celebrate both when a child arrived at the age of reason in their seventh year, and that it was acceptable to administer the sacrament of confirmation when the young person was older.

Father Van Sloun is pastor of St. Bartholomew in Wayzata.

Saturday, April 4 Ez 37:21-28 Jn 11:45-56 Sunday, April 5 Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion Mt 21:1-11 Is 50:4-7 Phil 2:6-11 Mt 26:14–27:66 Monday, April 6 Monday of Holy Week Is 42:1-7 Jn 12:1-11 Tuesday, April 7 Tuesday of Holy Week Is 49:1-6 Jn 13:21-33, 36-38 Wednesday, April 8 Wednesday of Holy Week Is 50:4-9a Mt 26:14-25 Thursday, April 9 Mass of the Lord’s Supper Ex 12:1-8, 11-14 1 Cor 11:23-26 Jn 13:1-15 Friday, April 10 Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion Is 52:13–53:12 Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9 Jn 18:1–19:42 Saturday, April 11 Easter Vigil Gn 1:1–2:2 Gn 22:1-18 Ex 14:15–15:1 Is 54:5-14 Is 55:1-11 Bar 3:9-15, 32–4:4 Ez 36:16-17a, 18-28 Rom 6:3-11 Mt 28:1-10 Sunday, April 12 Easter Sunday The Resurrection of the Lord Acts 10:34a, 37-43 Col 3:1-4 Jn 20:1-9

COMMENTARY

22 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

FAITH IN THE PUBLIC ARENA | JACK LAWLIS

Recreational marijuana: Consider first the common good

Legalizing recreational marijuana is a major issue for consideration during Minnesota’s 2020 legislative session. Many worry that legislators and the public have not fully realized the negative consequences that would likely follow legalization.

The Minnesota Catholic Conference opposes the legalization of recreational marijuana as a threat to the flourishing of individual persons — particularly, the young, the poor, and those who struggle with either substance abuse or mental health challenges.

A spirit of solidarity requires that we reject the wishes of the small segment of the population that has the means to address the consequences of frequent marijuana use, and instead promote the common good.

Forsaking the other for oneself Colorado’s decision to legalize marijuana has prompted an increase in marijuana use accompanied by declines in mental and bodily health. People of color, youth and the poor have been disproportionately harmed by marijuana legalization. Since its decision to legalize marijuana in 2012, the state experienced an increase in traffic accidents and deaths, a higher prevalence of marijuana in toxicology screenings of youth suicides, and rising rates of arrests for underage marijuana possession among Hispanic and African American youth.

Research conducted in Colorado comprises only a

YOUR HEART, HIS HOME | LIZ KELLY

Flattening the curve — on fear

My elderly Hungarian neighbor, who is quite alone in the world except for her pet parrot, calls me and leaves me a pitiful message: “I want to say goodbye,” she says in her thick accent, “because I think this is really the end of the world.”

My husband and I have been reaching out to her in recent days, assuring her we have plenty of food, water and toilet paper, and if she needs to come and stay with us, she can.

Growing up in a communist regime, she has an especially sensitive response to any kind of crisis, especially when it involves the government. Her fear is formidable.

Yours might be as well at the moment. Fear about the virus, the economy, your own personal safety and those you love.

But the Church, through Jesus, is an expert in this area. We can lean on her.

small portion of the literature detailing the impact of recreational marijuana across the United States.

Publications link marijuana use with cognitive impairment, lung damage and an increased risk of psychotic disorders (among other concerns).

Physical ailments and increases in traffic accidents and mental illnesses can lead to expensive medical bills (shouldered by the individual or the taxpayer), higher car insurance rates, traffic fines and fees, and costs associated with mental health treatment such as medication and counseling. For instance, residents of Colorado experienced an average increase of $200 in their auto premiums in the year following the state’s legalization of recreational marijuana. These financial burdens especially harm the poor, who may struggle to finance basic expenses and cannot afford these unanticipated costs. Marijuana legalization increases financial costs for all of society.

Some of Minnesota’s transportation leaders have urged lawmakers to “hit the brakes” on marijuana legalization. Citing concerns such as increases in impaired driving and traffic deaths following marijuana legalization, they joined a growing number of community advocates and authorities opposing the drug’s legalization, including Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, the National Alliance on Mental Illness and Smart Approaches to Marijuana-Minnesota.

Despite the data nationwide, proponents continue to push for legalization — allowing a desire for temporary enjoyment to supersede the well-being of their friends, family and neighbors. They argue that marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol — and while that may be true from the vantage point of addictive properties — it is proved false by many other vantage points. Why would we legalize yet another drug that has a multitude of harmful effects?

A willingness to pursue the object of one’s desires, and fallen ones at that, at the expense of the common good is characteristic of a society fallen victim to individualism, and a result of sin’s influence on the principles of solidarity, causing us to forget one another in the pursuit of material goods (CCC 1849).

MARCH 26, 2020

Ask your legislators to oppose the legalization of recreational marijuana. Visit mncatholic.org/actioncenter to learn who represents you or call the House of Representative at 651-296-2146, or the Senate at 651-296-0504, to tell them that you oppose recreational marijuana legalization in Minnesota.

To forsake oneself for another

call to charity and solidarity. The pontiff says, “We are always capable of going out of ourselves towards the other … Disinterested concern for others, and the rejection of every form of self-centeredness and selfabsorption, are essential if we truly wish to care for our brothers and sisters and for the natural environment” (208).

By realizing this truth, we remove selfish vices, such as drug use, that harm ourselves and those around us and replace them with acts of self-sacrificial love.

Embracing this perspective is necessary when making decisions that further the common good.

Legalizing recreational marijuana is fundamentally a deliberation between individual desires and serving the common good. Attachment to a vice should never triumph over the well-being of the poor and vulnerable.

If Minnesota chooses to legalize recreational marijuana despite the overwhelming evidence and advocacy to the contrary, will we regret the decision in years to come? Very likely, yes.

As Catholics, we’re called to correct injustices as they persist in the social order, and to use our position as faithful citizens to protect the poor and vulnerable. The political process is a vehicle for that missionary discipleship, and as the legislative session continues, we must avoid the errors of other states by ensuring that harmful policy is not enacted as a result of selfish interests.

In his encyclical “Laudato Si’,” Pope Francis reminds us that a forgetfulness of self is essential to live out our

Lawlis is policy and outreach coordinator at the Minnesota Catholic Conference.

For example, Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar assures us in his treatise “The Christian and Anxiety” that “human fear has been completely and definitively conquered by the Cross.” And more than that, anxiety, human fear, might even serve God’s purposes. Like suffering, which St. John Paul II tells us “unleashes love,” maybe fear has a similar vocation. Balthasar writes, “Christ redeemed, subdued, and gave meaning to all human fear.”

Did you catch that? Your fear, right now, can have meaning and purpose.

Even Jesus was no stranger to human fear. His agony in the garden was not an act, and nothing he suffered went unused, unredeemed. His fear had to have purpose or the Father would not have allowed it.

“The anxiety of good men is a process,” writes Balthasar, “a passage, an episode between light and light ... the anxiety of the good has as its meaning and purpose to open them up to God in their cry for mercy; it is the banner of God’s grace unfurled over them.”

Could it be possible that your fear might be helpful, even a gift? That the very drops of blood Jesus sweat in his agony were somehow the declaration of the Father’s presence, the evidence of his spectacular power and poise?

Maybe becoming “fearless” is not the proper objective, but rather this stressful time is an opportunity to reorder our relationship to fear.

Maybe this time is an opportunity to

“

Christ redeemed, subdued, and gave meaning to all human fear.

Hans Urs von Balthasar

1971yes

rehabilitate our fear, to take it by the hand and walk it through Gethsemane with Jesus where he can teach it how to pray. Let this cup pass, but if not, your will be done in me, in my neighbor, in the world, oh merciful Lord.

Do not be blind to the banner of God’s grace unfurled above you, Jesus in a new and radical way, staking his claim with joy.

Another example. On writing about the Christian virtue of courage, Jesuit Father John Wickham notes that

“human life has dangerous limits. ... Everyone will at times be called upon to act courageously since serious dangers and losses are inescapable.

Hence our real question is, what resources are available to us?”

What spiritual resources are available to you? Right now? Prayer, fasting, almsgiving, spending more time in God’s word, streaming the Mass or adoration, helping a neighbor, praying for the leadership of our country, the world and the Church, making a phone call to someone who is alone. Make a list and draw from it. Draw from the graces of every sacrament you have ever received. They do not have an expiration date.

If I could take your fear from you, I would. If I can help you to bear up under it in prayer, I will. Toss it my way. Toss it to heaven, let the angels and saints and Our Man of Sorrows help lift it from your shoulders and give it meaning and purpose. Let it open your heart to God in new and surprising, transforming ways.

Lord Jesus, give us strength of soul, to open our hearts to you that you might claim them evermore fully. Take our fear and make it useful to your purposes in building your kingdom of light and truth.

Kelly is the author of seven books, including the award-winning “Jesus Approaches,” from which this article has been adapted. Visit her website at lizk.org.

COMMENTARY

MARCH 26, 2020

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 23

CATHOLIC WATCHMEN | DEACON GORDON BIRD

Onward via the dusty path of Lent

Lenten journeys often take us beyond the ordinary landmarks and horizons of our spiritual lives. The ashes we accepted a few weeks ago were cleansing — they reminded us that Lent is a time for sacrifice. They help us reflect on a salient truth: that our lives are not our own.

Lent is a time to live the fullness of life — of being fully human as Jesus taught us — despite the difficult environment that life can at times present to us.

A month has passed since we were given the signs of ashes as an element of our faith. Externally gone, the dust continues to stir internally as we make our way through this journey. It is a tension that stretches us between the present moment to the providence of God as we hope in the promise to come — eternal life with our Lord.

Lent is intended to draw us closer to God and leave behind things that distance ourselves from him. It helps us prepare to undertake the tough challenges and consequences we face. Some, no doubt, encounter more trials and tribulations than others, such as division within the family, conflict in the workplace, the bitterness of political scuffles and lack of faith in a culture left “wanting.” Not to forget that we are now deliberating and responding to the worldwide effects of a new threat to our health. Yet we journey on through Lent to seek peace, solace and absolution through personal conversion and selfsacrifice, through love of God and love of neighbor.

“God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Cor 10:13). The Apostle Paul in this passage reminds his brethren that even during the toughest challenges, there is no room for true followers of Christ to bail out on doing what is right.

The beauty of Lent is that it provides the time for us to get back to the fundamentals, to reflect upon, pray for and work through our current challenges. To

“

The beauty of Lent is that it provides the time for us to get back to the fundamentals, to reflect upon, pray for and work through our current challenges.

iSTOCK PHOTO

remember that God has provided for us in the past and he will continue to provide the strength for his people to persevere through their most troublesome times.

Notwithstanding all his divine revelations and visions, Paul witnessed his own “thorn” of affliction to keep him humble as he wrote, “Three times I begged the Lord about this, that it should leave me; but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’” (2 Cor 12:8-9).

Jesus reaffirms the importance of three traditional works of mercy: almsgiving, prayer and fasting. This is clear in the mid-part of his Sermon on the Mount discourse, where he is trying to restore the people back to God (see Mt 5–7). It is a beautiful yet trying bit to read. The new covenant comes into play, where accepting and following the teachings of the Lord present our path to heaven. It is indeed a difficult, dusty path to traverse — we know life is hard — and Jesus instructs sternly, yet with benevolence, a way for his flock to be more fully restored in their hearts.

Lent gives the opportunity to work on fundamentally sound works of spiritual and corporal mercy in the context of our own lives. There is the charitable allocation of our time, talent and treasure as we carve out of our own resources for the sake of others (almsgiving). So often they come from prayerful requests and intentions we learn about, seek out and find. And fasting teaches us that we can do

with less, so we can give more of self to those in our lives that have simple and complex needs.

As Catholic Watchmen, we try to lead in the breach and at the heights — body and spirit — in this virtue of self-gift. That is especially true now on this dusty, Lenten journey, where we can grow so much closer to God and take others with us in charity, in prayer, in fasting. Not only do our families benefit, but so do our relatives and neighbors, our parishes and the greater community in which we live — all for whom strong, faithful families are so vital.

Deacon Bird ministers at St. Joseph in Rosemount, All Saints in Lakeville, and assists the Catholic Watchmen movement. Reach him at gordonbird@ rocketmail.com. Learn about the archdiocese’s Catholic Watchmen initiative at the-catholic-watchmen.com.

PLEASE NOTE The Catholic Spirit’s event calendar will not run in this issue. Many events have been canceled or postponed in the effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19/ Coronavirus. Please check event organizers’ websites for further details. Thank you.

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24 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

MARCH 26, 2020

THELASTWORD

KEEPING WATCH

Joe Clarke and his family joined the congregation at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul on Holy Thursday last year as they made their seven-church pilgrimage.

Google map helps Catholics plan Holy Thursday Seven Churches Visitation

t

By Debbie Musser For The Catholic Spirit he Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, marking the beginning of the Paschal Triduum, concludes with a procession of the Blessed Sacrament to the altar of repose.

Catholics pause in silent adoration, remaining and keeping watch as Jesus requested his disciples to do during his night of prayer in the garden, before his death and resurrection.

For some, this after-Mass time begins a unique evening pilgrimage that involves stopping and praying at a number of churches. And a Google map developed by Joe Clarke of St. Paul in Ham Lake features more than 50 parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis that welcome the faithful during that sacred time.

Clarke, 42, an engineer and father of six who also serves as organist at St. Michael in Stillwater, created the user-friendly map as a nod to the Seven Churches Visitation, a traditional Holy Thursday devotion started and still practiced in Rome.

Clarke researches parish websites and bulletins for up-to-date information for the map, a tool people can use to design their own pilgrimage Find the Seven Churches route.

Visitation Google Map at “Churches are grouped and colortinyurl.com/7churchvisit. coded by closing time, and the map Joe Clarke plans to update includes notes about whether there the map with COVID-19are special night prayer offerings or related closures. sung vespers,” he said.

“My goal was to take the work I was already doing in planning my family’s pilgrimage and make it easier for others to try.”

Clarke learned about the Seven Churches Visitation from Father Francis Hoffman, affectionately known as Father Rocky, the executive director and CEO of Wisconsin-based Relevant Radio.

“Father Rocky spoke about his family participating in the tradition while growing up in Chicago, which included a banana split at the end before midnight and the start of Good Friday,” Clarke said.

“I was immediately intrigued because I love exploring beautiful

COURTESY JOE CLARKE

WHAT IS THE SEVEN CHURCHES VISITATION? St. Philip Neri is credited with the origin of the custom, which dates back to the 16th century. During the pilgrimage, which is also referred to as the Seven Station Churches Visitation, he and his followers visited the four major basilicas of Rome, plus the three significant minor basilicas.

John Boyle, 61, a Catholic Studies and theology professor and chair of Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, said that in modern Rome, people can now visit dozens of churches on Holy Thursday evening.

“People travel from church to church and the atmosphere is lively, vibrant and festive,” he said. “It’s a beautiful recognition of the reality of the Blessed Sacrament and our Lord in repose.”

Boyle and his wife, Dia, lead an annual pilgrimage to seven churches within a walkable distance from St. Thomas. The pilgrimage drew more than 100 participants last year. “We start at Nativity of our Lord after Mass and end up at UST’s Albertus Magnus Chapel, with doughnuts for the kids in Sitzmann Hall,” he said.

“We began with Catholic Studies’ current and former students, and now it’s grown to include neighborhood families,” he said. “This is a wonderfully reverent and social event which captures a bit of the Roman spirit.”

churches, and I knew the treat at the end would be ‘inspiring’ for my kids,” he said.

Clarke and his family have participated in the Seven Churches tradition for nearly 10 years.

“We’ve told the kids to ‘make it their own’ and suggested options, including praying a couple of Stations of the Cross at each church, saying prayers for a different friend or family member at each stop, or sitting quietly with the Lord,” he said.

Clarke notes that through the Seven Churches Visitations, his family has been enriched by the larger, archdiocesan Catholic community.

“We’ve experienced Vietnamese Catholics singing and chanting prayers in their native language at St. Adalbert in St. Paul, and seminarians chanting hymns and psalms in Latin at All Saints in Minneapolis,” he said.

“And we’ve incorporated Father Rocky’s treat tradition,” he noted, “with ice cream or French fries at a McDonald’s before midnight.”

Caroline Langfeld, 52, a resident of Blaine and who, like Clarke, is a parishioner of

St. Paul in Ham Lake, grew up in northeast Minneapolis, where she participated in the Holy Thursday church visitation tradition with her cousins, starting at her mother’s home parish of St. Boniface.

“I’m sure there were years when we only made it to a few churches because of weather or someone having a meltdown, but I encourage families to give it a try,” Langfeld said.

“Joe’s map makes this pilgrimage so accessible,” she said. “Seeing other parishes and their beautiful adoration chapels gives a feeling of the universality of the Church.”

A middle school English teacher at St. Peter Catholic School in North St. Paul, Jenny Lippert, 28, is grateful for the work Clarke has put into his Google map. She participates in the Seven Churches Visitation with her husband, Jonah.

“These have been important and beautiful moments for us,” Lippert said, “bringing to mind that we’re all journeying, and that Jesus is the reason and goal of our journey.”