The Catholic Spirit - May 21, 2015

St. Paul school saved 6 • Sisters relate to Mary 23 • Homeless veteran memorialized 24 May 21, 2015 Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

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Catholics leaving pews; new initiatives aim to be antidotes

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit

E

ach week, Brad Parent goes to Mass on Sunday, but he also attends one weekday Mass and spends an hour in eucharistic adoration.

He tries to pray a daily rosary, often splitting the five decades between his short commute to and from work as an actuary in downtown St. Paul. He meets with a spiritual director about once a month, and is an active member of his parish, St. Mark in St. Paul.

NET Ministries team leader Erika Christopher, left, of the St. Peter, Forest Lake, team prays during a Lifeline Mass at the NET Center Feb. 7. Next to her is Jessica Nieters, plus other teens from St. Peter. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

For sale: church offices Archdiocesan properties go on the market

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit For sale signs are expected to soon appear in front of 244 Dayton Ave., home to the offices of The Catholic Spirit and one of four St. Paul properties the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis plans to sell as part of its Reorganization process.

The other properties include the archbishop’s residence and chancery offices at 226 Summit Ave., the Hayden Center at 328 W. Kellogg Blvd. and a vacant lot at 250 Dayton Ave. Three of the buildings are located adjacent to the Cathedral of St. Paul and house archdiocesan offices.

The archdiocese decided to sell the buildings after filing for Chapter 11 Reorganization in

Parent is 25, which makes his dedication to his faith increasingly unusual among young adults, especially those who identify as Catholic. According to a Pew Research Center study released May 12, more than a third of America’s Millennials — adults aged 18-33 — are religiously unaffiliated. Only 16 percent of Miliennials are Catholic, compared to 21 percent of Americans born 1965-1980, and 24 percent born 1928-1945.

Catholicism, the study shows, has experienced the greatest loss of adherents without replacing them with converts. “No other religious group in the survey has such a lopsided ratio of losses to gains,” Pew reported.

Few, if any, experts have found the numbers surprising, but they’re startling nonetheless, said Jean Stolpestad, director of the Office for Marriage, Family and Life for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

January. The bankruptcy court has not ordered the archdiocese to sell the properties.

“The reason we’re looking to sell our buildings is that we understand there’s a need for cash, whether it’s cash that goes into a fund for victims or for operational needs,” said Tom Mertens, the archdiocese’s chief financial officer.

The cost of owning the buildings, including maintenance, repairs and capital improvements, exceeds the estimated costs of leasing a building, Mertens said. The archdiocese plans to lease property for its new offices.

The impact of the archdiocesan offices losing Please turn to VIEWS on page 4

“Our archdiocese has been aware of these concerns for years and has been trying to craft a means to address the underlying issues,” she said. “We need to help families connect in more meaningful ways. We also need to help build a culture within our parishes that better serves the discovery and integration of faith.”

Archdiocesan leaders hope two new initiatives can play a key role in keeping Catholics in the Church through fostering an authentic relationship with Christ.

Both aim to change longstanding catechetical models for children and teenagers by placing the responsibility for faith formation on parents, making catechesis less about requirement checkboxes and more about learning to live as Christian families.

Please turn to EXPERTS on page 7

Built in 1963 by Minneapolis-based Cerny Associates, the chancery’s modern design contrasts the Beaux Arts Cathedral of St. Paul across the street. It is one of five properties the archdiocese plans to sell. Dave Hrbacek/ The Catholic Spirit

ALSO inside

Housing the homeless Catholic Charities’ Dorothy Day Center expanding to meet need for larger space, improved services.

— Page 4

Remembering Romero Songwriter records tribute.

— Page 8

Magnificent seven Ahead of May 30 ordination, transitional deacons share vocation stories, hopes for priesthood; instructors describe formation process.

— Pages 11-22

Page Two

2 in PICTURES

“How important it is, then, a coach be an example of integrity, consistency, correct judgment, impartiality, but also joy for life, patience, ability (to show) esteem and kindness toward everyone and especially those most disadvantaged.”

Pope Francis in a May 14 written message to participants at an international seminar on the role of coaches and trainers as educators of human and Christian values sponsored by the Pontifical Council for the Laity’s church and sport office

NEWS notes • The Catholic Spirit

Archdiocesan Marriage Day set for June 6

WOUNDED WARRIOR Disabled military veteran Jeremy Johnson, front, joins with Father Paul Shovelain of St. Peter in Forest Lake on a candlelight rosary procession in Lourdes, France, May 16 as part of the 57th annual International Military Pilgrimage to Lourdes. Father Shovelain served as one of the chaplains for the group of 200 pilgrims who made the trip, sponsored by the Archdiocese for the Military Services and the Knights of Columbus. Photo courtesy Father Paul Shovelain

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

pastor of the Church of Mary, Queen of Peace in Rogers. Father Kaluza has been serving as parochial administrator of the same parish since February 2015.

Effective June 1, 2015

• Reverend Cole Kracke, appointed pastor of the Church of Saint John the Baptist in Vermillion, the Church of Saint Mathias in Hampton, and the Church of Saint Mary in New Trier. This is a transfer from his current appointment as parochial vicar of the Church of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton in Hastings.

• Reverend Benny Mekkatt Varghese, CFIC, appointed pastor of the Church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Maplewood. Father Varghese has been serving as parochial administrator of the same parish since January 2014.

Effective June 10, 2015 • Reverend Leonard Andrie, appointed temporary parochial administrator of the Church of Saint Joseph in West Saint Paul, until the current pastor, Reverend Michael Creagan, returns from military deployment.

Effective July 1, 2015 • Reverend Kevin Finnegan, appointed canonical administrator of Pope John Paul II Catholic School in Minneapolis. This is in addition to his current appointment as pastor of the Church of Our Lady of Grace in Edina.

• Reverend Michael Kaluza, appointed

• Reverend Michael Reding, appointed canonical administrator of Carondelet Catholic School in Minneapolis. This is in addition to his current appointment as pastor of the Church of Saint Thomas the Apostle in Minneapolis.

Father Reding is also appointed temporary parochial administrator of the Church of Christ the King in Minneapolis from May 6-31, 2015, until the current pastor, Reverend Dale Korogi, returns from sabbatical.

• Reverend Michael Rudolph, appointed pastor of the Church of Saint Raphael in Crystal.

This is a transfer from his current appointment as pastor of the Church of Saint Michael in West Saint Paul and the Church of Saint Matthew in Saint Paul.

WHAT’S NEW on social media On Instagram, see scenes from across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, including a video of a fireworks display in Cologne.

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

The Catholic Spirit is published bi-weekly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Vol. 20 — No. 10 MOST REVEREND JOHN C. NIENSTEDT, Publisher TOM HALDEN, Associate Publisher United in Faith, Hope and Love

May 21, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

MARIA WIERING, Editor

Married couples in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis are invited to celebrate their vocation at a 10 a.m. Mass June 6 at the Cathedral of St. Paul. Archbishop John Nienstedt will preside at the annual Archdiocesan Marriage Day Celebration Mass. Couples celebrating silver and golden anniversaries will be honored in a special way. Couples may submit a request for a special certificate by May 30 to: flomos@archspm.org or Office of Marriage, Family and Life, Marriage Certificates, 328 Kellogg Blvd. W., St. Paul, MN 55102. For more information, call (651) 291-4488.

Reilly to leave post as archdiocese’s superintendent Jill Reilly, superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, will leave her position July 2. Reilly’s goal during her two-year tenure was to help Catholic schools through a time of transition with compassion, vigor, collaboration and innovation. She wrote in an email to school administrators, “Catholic schools are now on the verge of a new era, and the time of transition is drawing to a close. My work as superintendent has brought me much joy in serving our Church, our dedicated school leaders, and ultimately the beautiful and blossoming students and their families. It has been an honor and a blessing to engage in this work.”

Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Cozzens, vicar of education for the archdiocese, has worked closely with Reilly over the past 18 months. He stated, “Dr. Reilly’s passion and expertise have been great assets to the whole archdiocese in this time of transition, and we are grateful for the generosity with which she has served.”

In April, Bishop Cozzens announced a new Office for the Mission of Catholic Education, which will become more focused on its Catholic mission of evangelizing and less diversified in providing a wide variety of services of a quasi-school district. “Dr. Reilly has helped us move in that direction, and I am grateful for her service and her dedication to Catholic education,” he said.

Reilly plans to return to consulting on more focused projects that will advance the mission of Catholic education.

Naughton named Catholic Studies director at UST After a national search, Michael Naughton, a University of St. Thomas faculty member since 1991, has been named director of the university’s Center for Catholic Studies. He is the second director of the St. Paul-based center, having just served as its interim director.

At St. Thomas, Naughton co-founded the Center for Christian Social Thought and Management, now called the John A. Ryan Institute for Catholic Social Thought, within the Center for Catholic Studies. Naughton also has worked with the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

CORRECTION The Catholic Spirit unintentionally omitted mention in the May 7 issue of the ordination of Deacon Charles Mugabi for the Diocese of Kabale, Uganda. He was ordained by Archbishop John Nienstedt May 2 with nine other transitional deacons at the Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis. The Catholic Spirit regrets the omission.

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3 In my last column, I devoted some thoughts to the celebration of the sacrament of confirmation, its origin and its meaning. I would like to continue those reflections again this week by focusing on the effects of this great sacrament.

As was earlier pointed out, the chrism used for the anointing during the confirmation rite derives its name from the same root word as “Christ” and “Christian,” that is to say; “the Anointed One.” Through the grace of baptism, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us, helping us to become Christlike in thought, word and deed. As St. Augustine taught in the fifth century: “We have not only become Christians, but Christ himself! . . . Stand in awe and rejoice: We have become Christ!” The gift of the Holy Spirit, then, allows us to participate not only in his perfect human life, but also to share in Jesus’ own divine life.

The prophet Isaiah, writing eight centuries before Jesus, predicted what the specific seven-fold gifts of the Holy Spirit would be: “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety, the spirit of the fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:1-46).

For the past eight years, I have been asking during my homily who can name the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. I do so not to put the candidates on the spot, but to emphasize how important it is to know these powerful gifts that they receive in the sacrament. If a candidate doesn’t know and appreciate what is given, how will that candidate make use of those gifts during the critical moments of life?

One way to remember the gifts is that wisdom and understanding help me to know who I am and why God made me.

Wisdom helps me discern God’s plan for my life. Understanding allows me insight into God’s providential vocation.

Counsel and fortitude, also known as right judgment and courage, assist me in my THAT THEY MAY relations with my neighbor. Counsel helps me discern right from wrong. Fortitude ALL BE ONE allows me to do the right and avoid the wrong.

Archbishop Knowledge, piety (reverence) and fear of the Lord (wonder and awe) are gifts that John Nienstedt

Los dones del Espiritu Santo y los santos patrones, re-enfuerzan las vidas de los confirmandos En mi última columna, he dedicado algunas reflexiones acerca de la celebración del sacramento de la confirmación, su origen y su significado. Me gustaría continuar esas reflexiones nuevamente esta semana, centrándome en los efectos de este gran sacramento.

Como lo señalé antes, el crisma utilizado para la unción durante el rito de la confirmación deriva su nombre de la misma palabra raíz como “Cristo” y “Cristiano”, es decir; “el ungido.” A través de la gracia del bautismo, el Espíritu Santo viene a morar en nosotros, ayudándonos a ser como Cristo en pensamiento, palabra y obra. Como enseñaba San Agustín en el siglo quinto: “¡No sólo somos cristianos, sino Cristo mismo!. . . ¡Veamos con asombro y regocijo: nos hemos convertido en Cristo!” El don del Espíritu Santo, entonces, nos permite participar no sólo en su vida humana perfecta, sino incluso a compartir en la vida divina de Jesús.

El profeta Isaías, ocho siglos antes de Jesús, predijo cuales serían los siete dones del Espíritu Santo: “Allí saldrá un retoño desde el tronco de Jabes, y un rama crecerá de sus raíces. Y el espíritu del Señor reposará sobre él, el espíritu de sabiduría e

encourage me to keep God at the center of my life. The gift of knowledge helps me to see reality in its relation to God. Piety reverences God as my father. Fear of the Lord allows me to acknowledge the difference between God and myself, motivating me to repent of my sins.

It is regrettable that many Catholics forget or fail to use the gifts given at confirmation. Frequently, our lives are challenged by the secular, material and hedonistic forces that surround us. It is important to remind myself, even on a daily basis, that I have been strengthened by the seven-fold gifts of the Holy Spirit precisely so that I can overcome the temptations that arise.

Another dimension of preparing oneself for confirmation is the selection of a saint’s name. Being young is a time in life when one has heroes to look up to and emulate. I believe it is extremely important for candidates to be introduced to the lives of the saints and to be encouraged to find a saint who can inspire the candidate with his or her virtues.

When I was bishop of New Ulm, candidates would write me letters telling me why they felt prepared to receive confirmation and share with me their confirmation name and the reason behind their choice. I have not made that a requirement in the archdiocese, though I am certainly open to receiving such correspondence.

Finally, I am aware that some dioceses permit the reception of the sacrament at the age of reason, arguing that the proper ordering of the sacraments of initiation places confirmation in second place. This was certainly the case in the early Church, but then candidates were mainly adults.

My first pastorate did mandate confirmation in the second grade and, by and large, I found the policy to be a catechetical nightmare. Instead of preparing for two sacraments (first reconciliation and first holy Eucharist), catechesis was also required for confirmation, which proved more abstract for a second-grader’s young mind. By the time those second-graders got to eighth grade, only two of them were still going to religious education.

Grace builds on nature and so I found the practice in New Ulm of confirming in the 10th or 11th grade allowed for a certain maturing to take place.

Here, we permit candidates to receive after the eighth grade, which has the advantage of making sure they receive the sacrament before high school. I find that this practice is not ideal, but it seems to work in many cases.

Again, I am grateful to pastors, parents and catechists who take seriously the preparation of candidates with a thorough catechesis for confirmation.

The moment of its celebration ought to be memorable for the candidate whose spiritual life is utterly transformed with the outpouring of the fullness of the Holy Spirit’s seven-fold gifts.

God bless you!

inteligencia, el espíritu de consejo y fortaleza, el espíritu de conocimiento y de piedad, y el espíritu del temor de Dios” (Is. 11,1-46).

Durante los últimos ocho años, he estado preguntando en mi homilía quien puede nombrar los siete dones del Espíritu Santo.

No lo hago para intimidar a los candidatos, sino para hacer hincapié en lo importante que es conocer estos poderosos dones que se reciben en el Sacramento. Si los candidatos no conocen y aprecian lo que se les da, ¿Cómo podrán esos candidatos hacer uso de los dones durante los momentos críticos de la vida?

Es lamentable que muchos católicos olvidan o dejan de utilizar los dones dados en la Confirmación. Con frecuencia, nuestras vidas son desafiadas por lo secular, lo material y las fuerzas sensualistas que nos rodean. Es importante recordar, incluso diariamente, que he sido fortalecido por los siete dones del Espíritu Santo, precisamente para que pueda vencer las tentaciones que me acechan.

Otra dimensión de la preparación de uno mismo para la Confirmación es la selección del nombre de un Santo. Ser joven es un momento en la vida cuando uno tiene héroes para admirar y emular. Creo que es muy importante para los candidatos que se familiaricen con las vidas de los Santos y alentarlos a encontrar a un santo que pueda inspirar al candidato con sus virtudes.

Lea una versión más extensiva de esta columna en español en TheCatholicSpirit.com.

From the Archbishop

Holy Spirit’s gifts, patron saints bolster confirmandi’s lives

ARCHBISHOP’S schedule Friday, May 22 11 a.m., St. Paul University of St. Thomas: St. John Vianney College Seminary senior lunch banquet 4 p.m., St. Paul Chancery: meeting with Society of Jesus Wisconsin Province and Chicago-Detroit Province of Jesuits 7:30 p.m., St. Paul Cathedral of St. Paul: Graduation Mass for University of St. Thomas Sunday, May 24 10 a.m., St. Paul Cathedral of St. Paul: Sunday liturgy for Pentecost Monday, May 25 5 p.m., St. Paul Jesuit Novitiate of St. Alberto Hurtado: Mass and dinner with Jesuit novitiates Tuesday, May 26 Noon, St. Paul Archbishop’s residence: luncheon with ordinands Wednesday, May 27 11:30 a.m., Roseville Midland Hills Country Club: Catholic Community Foundation board meeting and retreat Thursday, May 28 10 a.m., St. Paul Archbishop’s residence: Mass and blessing of ordinands’ chalices and luncheon with ordinands and their parents

6 p.m., Minneapolis Church of St. Olaf: welcome dinner for ordinands Friday, May 29 4 p.m., Minneapolis Basilica of St. Mary: Baccalaureate Mass for Providence Academy Saturday, May 30 10 a.m., St. Paul Cathedral of St. Paul: priesthood ordination Monday, June 1 Noon, St. Paul Archbishop’s residence: luncheon with presbyterate Tuesday, June 2 Noon, St. Paul Archbishop’s residence: luncheon with presbyterate 4 p.m., St. Paul Chancery: St. Thomas Academy board of trustees’ annual board meeting Wednesday, June 3 8 a.m., St. Paul Chancery: retreat with Catholic health care organizations and Minnesota Catholic Conference board meeting 6 p.m., Edina Edina Country Club: archbishop’s dinner with Knights and Ladies of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem Thursday, June 4 Noon, St. Paul Archbishop’s residence: luncheon with presbyterate

May 21, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

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Local

New home in the works for the homeless

By Bob Zyskowski The Catholic Spirit Father Rick Mertz wouldn’t have liked seeing 250 people sleeping on the floor at the Dorothy Day Center in St. Paul.

The late Assumption parish pastor’s name was invoked early May 8 when Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis launched a capital campaign to add muchneeded housing and dignified emergency shelter to the ministry that was Father Mertz’s idea 34 years ago.

Tim Marx mentioned the priest, who died in 2010, at a breakfast for community leaders in the dining room at Dorothy Day. Marx, Catholic Charities’ president and chief executive officer, pointed to a photo on two screens in the room.

“Ninety minutes before the doors opened for this breakfast, 250 people were sleeping on thin mats on the floor where we are eating,” Marx said.

Assumption parish honored for supporting care for homeless Assumption parish in St. Paul received the 2015 Dorothy Day Center Community Service Award during the center’s community breakfast May 8.

Tim Marx, president and chief executive officer of Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis, presented the award to recognize the support the parish staff and parishioners have offered the center and its guests since Dorothy Day’s founding.

Father John Malone, Assumption pastor, accepted the award.

Providing a place for the homeless was a goal of the late Father Frederick Mertz from the time he was a young priest, Father Malone said. Later, when Father Mertz was pastor of Assumption, he suggested the center to Catholic Charities, and it opened in a storefront within a block of Assumption.

Father Malone said he accepted the award on behalf of the priests, staff and parishioners of Assumption. “The parishioners have been on board from the very beginning,” he said, “and still are.”

New parish creditors committee forms The Catholic Spirit A bankruptcy judge has appointed a committee of parish creditors with claims against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis separate from sexual abuse claimants to work toward a plan for Reorganization with the archdiocese, claimants and the archdiocese’s insurers. Judge Robert Kressel made the ruling following a May 7 hearing.

“It is anticipated that the committee will also pursue insurance coverage that may be available to parishes in order to negotiate a global resolution with those individuals with claims of clergy sexual abuse against the archdiocese and parishes,” said Charles Rogers, an attorney for Briggs and Morgan representing the archdiocese. “Parish involvement is necessary in order to negotiate a final global resolution of these claims and to further the healing process.”

May 21, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Richfield priest on leave from ministry The Catholic Spirit

Artist’s conception of Catholic Charities’ planned new Dorothy Day Center on the edge of downtown St. Paul, with the Cathedral of St. Paul in the background.

Courtesy Cermak Rhoades Architects “Homelessness,” he added, “was thought to be a temporary problem when Father Frederick Mertz first reached out to Catholic Charities to begin the Dorothy Day Center.”

What started June 1, 1981, as a drop-in center for who were then called “street people,” Dorothy Day has grown from a place where those with nowhere to go could get a meal and sit for awhile to a critical haven for the homeless. It offers a variety of services to help people rebuild their lives.

It has evolved into an emergency shelter as well, Marx said, and overcrowding reluctantly forces its staff to turn people away at times.

Two-building project Additions to the Dorothy Day campus that the $40 million fundraising effort will help pay for will include a St. Paul version of Higher Ground, the successful model of emergency and permanent housing options that Catholic Charities operates in Minneapolis, plus a Connections Center, where those in need can be connected to services to improve their health, income, housing stability and well-being.

The $40 million being sought from private parties will join public funds from the state, county and city to build the $100 million project.

The campaign has already raised

more than $11.1 million from private sources, including a $5 million lead grant from the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation; $1 million grants from the Frey Foundation and the Pohlad Foundation; and a combined $1.1 million from the St. Paul Foundation, the F.R. Bigelow Foundation and the Mardag Foundation.

In the first phase, construction is expected to start in June on Higher Ground St. Paul on the triangle of land bounded by I-35E, West 5th Street and North Main Street. It’s expected to open in 2016.

The Connections Center will be phase two, projected to be open in 2018. It will be built east across Main St. from Higher Ground, adjacent to the current Dorothy Day Center, which is kitty-corner from the Excel Energy Center on West 7th Street at Old Sixth Street.

At the May 8 breakfast, Ecolab CEO Douglas Baker, one of the co-chairs of the capital campaign, spoke of driving by homeless people on the way to and from Ecolab’s corporate headquarters in downtown St. Paul.

“The need is there,” Baker said, “and it’s growing. We now have a great example of being able to do something about it.

“We’ve got the need, we’ve got a plan, we know what we need for resources.”

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis released the following statement May 19: “The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has received a credible allegation that the Rev. Gerald Dvorak, pastor of St. Peter in Richfield, sexually abused a minor in the 1970s. A ‘credible allegation’ is one that is ‘not manifestly false or frivolous.’ It is not a presumption of guilt. Law enforcement has been notified and, per our protocol, Rev. Dvorak is on a leave of absence and will not exercise priestly Father Gerald ministry DVORAK during the investigation.

We are in the process of notifying the previous parishes where he was assigned. Rev. Dvorak has never had any other allegation against him during his ministry.”

Father Dvorak was assigned to St. Peter in July 2011. Prior assignments include canonical administrator, Blessed Trinity Catholic School, Richfield, July 2011 to July 2014; pastor, St. Joseph, Hopkins, September 2002 to July 2011; pastor, St. Michael, West St. Paul, June 1989 to September 2002; parochial administrator, St. Andrew, St. Paul, January 1989 to June 1989; parochial administrator, Holy Cross, Minneapolis, October 1987 to June 1989; spiritual director, Legion of Mary, St. Paul Comitium, North Minneapolis Curia, March 1987 to June 1989; parochial administrator, St. Cyril, Minneapolis, June 1986 to March 1987; assistant priest, Holy Cross, Minneapolis, June 1984 to June 1989; assistant priest, Cathedral of St. Paul, June 1979 to June 1984; teaching parish seminarian, St. Matthew, St. Paul, 1978 to 1979.

Views, location, history may attract buyers Continued from page 1 immediate proximity to the Cathedral of St. Paul is more symbolic than key for operations, Mertens said.

While selling the buildings is a prudent business decision, it’s also a difficult one, Mertens said, because of the history of the buildings’ use by the archdiocese.

“There will be much more efficiency having everybody housed in one location,” Mertens added.

“Accessibility will be much more enhanced. I really don’t see any downsides to having all departments in one building.”

According to Richard Anderson, an attorney from Briggs and Morgan representing the archdiocese, any real estate sale will require the bankruptcy court’s approval and be subject to “higher and better offers.”

The archdiocese has not listed asking prices, and Mertens said he does not have a timeline in mind for

Read building histories online Did you know 244 Dayton once held the archbishop’s offices, or that one of St. Paul’s most impressive mansions was razed to build the chancery? Read about the history of the properties for sale at www.TheCatholicSpirit.com. the buildings’ sale. The archdiocese is also selling a private residence in Northfield.

According to an offering memorandum prepared by Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq, the real estate firm listing the St. Paul buildings, all three buildings may be eligible for historic tax credits or preservation-related grants. Their locations, nearby amenities and preservation incentives add to their appeal, it stated.

5

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA In re: The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Case No. 15-30125 YOU MAY HAVE A CLAIM AGAINST THE ARCHDIOCESE OF SAINT PAUL AND MINNEAPOLIS On January 16, 2015, The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis filed for protection under Chapter 11 of Title 11 of the United States Code.

The last day to file a SEXUAL ABUSE CLAIM, GENERAL CLAIM, or GOVERNMENT CLAIM against the Debtor is August 3, 2015.

• If you were sexually abused by any person connected with the debtor, then you must file a claim by August 3, 2015. Sexual abuse, as used in this notice, includes molestation, rape, undue familiarity, sexually-related physical, psychological or emotional harm, or contacts or interactions of a sexual nature between a child and an adult, or a non-consenting adult and another adult.

• If you are a person, entity, or Governmental Unit (as defined by Bankruptcy Code § 101(27)), and claim any right to payment or to an equitable remedy for breach of performance if such breach gives rise to a right to payment, then you must file a claim by August 3, 2015.

YOU MUST ACT NOW TO PRESERVE YOUR RIGHTS For more information on how to obtain and file a proof of claim and associated documents please: (a) visit the debtor’s website at information.archspm. org/; (b) visit the website of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota at www.mnb.uscourts.gov; (c) call the Debtor’s toll-free hotline at 866-868 4808; or (d) call the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors appointed in this case at 612-335-1407.

May 21, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Local

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Grants steer East Side school from brink of closure

By Bob Zyskowski The Catholic Spirit In an area of St. Paul that Father Michael Byron described as “more needy, less Catholic and more diverse” today than it has been in its 65-year history, St. Pascal Baylon Catholic School intends not only to remain open, but also to be an anchor of Catholic education in the east metro of the Twin Cities.

A plan to finance and market the school, plus grants from several foundations and an anonymous donor, are the keys to St. Pascal fighting off the wolf at the door that has threatened in the past few years to force it to close or consolidate with other parish schools.

“I don’t think our parishioners were aware we were close to the brink with the school,” said Father Byron, pastor of St. Pascal Baylon parish at the corner of White Bear Avenue and East Third Street.

Funding for St. Pascal’s school was draining the parish, taking 55 percent of the parish budget, he said, higher than the recommended 30-35 percent.

Until just a few weeks ago there was still a $100,000 gap in the school’s financing, Father Byron said, and it was either going to run out of cash or close. But an anonymous donation of $50,000

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ST. PAUL SEMINARY AND SCHOOL OF DIVINITY in all copies of this issue.

that I’ve never heard resistance from any of our parishioners to welcoming our new neighbors.”

In a statement about the grants, Father Byron wrote, “St. Pascal School will have a much greater ability to reach out to families who struggle with the costs of non-public education.”

From left, kindergarteners Sam Sandquist and Mikal Goitom listen during a math lesson at St. Pascal Baylon School in St. Paul.

Dave Hrbacek/ The Catholic Spirit came in, was matched by the Catholic Community Foundation, and all the pieces of St. Pascal’s plan were finally in order.

It’s a seven-year plan — created with the help of Catholic Finance Corporation — that includes a new governance model, development of a first-ever advancement program, funding for new educational initiatives including STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and STREAM (science, technology, religion, engineering application and math) models, pro bono consultation assistance, and, importantly, scholarship money to

help families with low incomes pay tuition.

Of its current students, 27 percent receive subsidized lunch, and the number is growing.

When the school opened in 1950 with almost 200 students, the neighborhood was home to predominately white, blue-collar families. Now the school is racially diverse; about 41 percent of the students are non-Caucasian.

“This is the neighborhood now,” Father Byron told The Catholic Spirit. “The demographics are changing, and that doesn’t have to be scary. What’s so positive for me is

A large grant from the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation is helping put the school’s finances on firm footing, and the foundation is offering consulting services at no cost to help establish the school board of volunteers with expertise in needed areas. Additional grants from the GHR Foundation and the Catholic Community Foundation will help underwrite new initiatives, including a development effort aimed at alumni.

Laurie Jennrich, a veteran educator with administration experience at Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul and Epiphany in Coon Rapids, came on board as principal of St. Pascal during the current school year. She said she has found the 175-student, pre-kindergarten-through-gradeeight school to be full of life.

“It’s a great school and serves a great number of students with great needs, she said. “What better way to live out our Catholic mission?”

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Congratulations, Fr. Michael Joncas, on the release of your new hymnary,

We Contemplate the Mystery!

All are invited to a celebration hymn festival.

June 1 | 7:00 PM St. Bartholomew Catholic Faith Community 630 E. Wayzata Blvd.

Wayzata, MN No admission fee Sponsored by OCP

May 21, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

1-800-LITURGY (548-8749) | ocp.org

7 Continued from page 1 “Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than teachers,” Sean Dalton told a group of about 70 youth ministers gathered at St. Peter in North St. Paul May 8. He was quoting St. John Paul II from a 1979 general audience.

Connecting youth with Christian witnesses is part of an emerging model of youth ministry known as discipleship. Dalton directs YDisciple, a discipleship “process” — as opposed to “program” — out of the Augustine Institute in Denver, Colorado. He calls discipleship an “apprenticeship in Christian living.”

It’s a direction Ellen Bauman wants to take faith formation at St. Maximilian Kolbe in Delano. The director of faith formation for senior high students, Bauman sensed something lacking in the youthgroup-based ministry model and began shadowing parishes in other dioceses doing youth ministry differently.

One of the parishes she visited, Immaculate Conception in Watertown, South Dakota, implemented discipleship groups and saw “an explosion” of interest from parents, she said.

For Bauman, this indicated youth groups’ disconnect from parents was part of their failure. “We try to motivate adult leaders and adult catechists for a very set amount of time — a school year — and it doesn’t serve well the family when it’s a lifestyle we live as disciples of Christ 365 days a year.”

Discipleship groups are typically small, single-sex and include teenagers with common interests.

They’re formed by parents, led by mentors from the parish and meet in the youths’ homes. The youth form strong relationships with each other and their mentors, feel supported by their parents, and learn through conversation, prayer and example what it means to live a Christ-centered life.

“If we can make the family vibrant, go after the parents, renew their hearts, and go into the home . . . that kid is going to take notice of the parent. And that’s going to grow Mass attendance and the Church,” Bauman said. “It’s more of an organic, right-ordered way that embraces the role of the family and the responsibility of the family.”

Annie Grandell, director of youth ministry at St. Michael and St. Mary in Stillwater, began implementing discipleship groups at her parishes several years ago. This fall she is “taking the plunge” and ending the separate youth group program.

“The kids aren’t interested in it anymore,” said Grandell, who has been in her position for 10 years.

“What was working for us three years ago just isn’t working anymore. The numbers aren’t there.

The kids that are coming are coming because it’s where their

stupid in front of their kids because they’re learning alongside of them.”

Bill Dill, the archdiocese’s marriage preparation and youth ministry events coordinator, called discipleship “totally the way to go” because it encourages small groups and the “integration of parents and youth ministry.”

“If people don’t know the Lord, why would they want to know more about him?” he asked. “This is a great way to introduce people to the Lord so that they desire to know more about him.”

Brad PARENT friends are hanging out, but the nights we do discipleship . . . are blowing up [in attendance], and the kids that are invested are really, really invested.”

For years, Grandell’s persistent question for her work was how to get more kids to youth group.

When a three-month hiatus from work allowed her to reflect on the goal, she realized the question needed to change to “Is youth group working?”

She discerned it wasn’t meeting the students’ needs, and she was willing to upend her work to make sure it did.

No denying ‘fruit’ Andrew Wagenbach describes the discipleship model as “going smaller and with more intention.” The youth minister at St. Peter in North St. Paul, Wagenbach said his parish is moving toward a family-based discipleship model.

Observing Catholics with lackluster faith convinced Wagenbach and several of his colleagues to move toward the discipleship model. “There wasn’t a desire, a zeal or a fire” among Catholics involved in conventional ministry, he said, which is not the case with families engaged in discipleship groups.

“How can you deny the fruit of something?” he asked.

Discipleship also passes the ball back to the parents, he said, even those who feel unprepared to teach their kids about the faith. “Go after the parent, and you’ll get the kid,” he said. “It’s saying, ‘It’s necessary for you to educate your child.’ . . .

Until you have that zeal and desire for your own personal faith, how would you ever pass that zeal and desire on to your kids?”

It’s not enough for parents to send their children to Catholic schools; they have to dedicate time to fostering their children’s faith, he said.

However, Wagenbach knows many parents don’t feel equipped to do so. Because discipleship’s model allows parents to learn with their kids, it “fulfills a desire that most parents have, but don’t know how to do it,” he added. “They get to catechize themselves and not look

Capturing the young For Dalton, parents are the key to discipleship. “I don’t want us to underestimate the importance parents can make,” he told the group at St. Peter.

That was the case for Brad Parent, who points to his mother, Cindy, as the key to his steadfast faith.

“Even when we weren’t Catholic, we loved Jesus and we had a great relationship with him, and she would always tell us, the thing she wanted most in life was for her boys to love Jesus,” Parent said.

His parents left the Catholic Church when they were young adults, and raised him and his brother, Greg, as Episcopalians.

They came back to the Church when Parent was a freshman in high school, and he went through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.

When the family began considering Catholicism, his mom led the charge. He recalls complaining when she played recordings of Catholic apologists on car rides, but he listened and noted his mother’s enthusiasm.

Once Catholic, Parent attended confirmation classes, but wasn’t impressed. The teacher was nice, but not compelling, and his fellow public-school students goofed off.

With Protestant friends, he started a small Bible study at his school, and when he graduated, passed leadership to Greg, who is now a seminarian for the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin.

That engagement with Scripture is something Emily Cavins and three colleagues hope to instill in Catholic children well before their teenage years with “Gen2Rev Storybook: A Walk through the Catholic Bible.”

Ten years in the making, the forthcoming book and curriculum are designed for guiding gradeschool-aged children through Scripture.

The book is designed to help children — and their parents — understand not only the chronology of biblical stories, but also how they reveal salvation history, or God’s relationship with the human race.

“It’s a missing portion of faith formation and the Catholic understanding of the Bible, because [Catholics] never hear it from beginning to end. They hear it in

chunks from liturgical seasons and faith formation,” Cavins said. “Our storybook takes all the historical narratives in the Bible and walks you through it from Genesis to Revelation.”

Emily Cavins is married to Jeff Cavins, archdiocesan director of evangelization and catechesis and author of the Great Adventure Bible Timeline. Jeff Cavins plans to use “Gen2Rev” as the basis for a new initiative called “Every Child Reads the Bible.” It aims to encourage adults — especially fathers and grandparents — to read Scripture to children.

“Unless you capture them while they’re young, the world will capture them, and you will fight to get them back,” Jeff Cavins said.

Local

Experts: Parents, small groups key to faith formation

Aspiring to holiness Unlike many of his peers, Parent never felt pulled away from the Catholic Church, he said. “I was at a place when I left high school that I was going to go to Mass,” he said. “I was going to take my faith seriously.”

Beyond his parents, Parent credits experiences on prayer-rooted trips led by Catholic Youth Expeditions, a then-fledgling Wisconsin-based camping organization that has since blossomed into a robust outdoors ministry. In college, a demanding track team schedule kept him on the fringes of St. Paul’s Outreach, but he found in its young adult missionaries Catholic community and examples of the Christian life.

Now a young adult leader at St. Mark, Parent gives considerable thought to ways to attract his peers to the Church. He has plenty of friends who grew up Catholic and attended Catholic schools, but who don’t know what it means to be Catholic, he said. They’re nice people, he said, but the Church makes no impact on how they live their lives, and it may be because they’re following their parents’ examples.

“When you don’t see it being the most important thing to your parents,” he said, “then it doesn’t become the most important thing to you.”

More online Jeff Cavins reacts to the Pew Research Center report “America’s Changing Religious Landscape.” Read a Q-and-A with the archdiocese’s director of Jeff evangelization and learn more about “Gen2Rev” CAVINS and “Every Child Reads the Bible” at www.

TheCatholicSpirit.com.

The entire report, including Pew’s analysis, can be found at www.pewresearch.com.

May 21, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Before beatification, local guitarist pays tribute to Archbishop Romero in song

By Bridget Ryder For The Catholic Spirit

Pope Francis and local musician Rob Hahn have both “put an exclamation point” on the life of Archbishop Oscar Romero. Pope Francis named the Salvadoran a martyr for the faith earlier this year, inspiring Hahn to offer his own tribute through music.

Hahn, a parishioner at Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul, learned about the life and death of Romero in 1991 during a theology class at the University of Notre Dame. Back in his college dorm, the character of the Latin American prelate inspired the self-taught guitarist to write “Romero.”

“This was a guy who was made archbishop of El Salvador, and they thought he was going to be a tool in supporting the right wing government,” Hahn said. “But he saw the suffering of the poor. Then he saw a priest get shot and he began to speak out. He was in a position to use his voice, and he used it knowing he could be shot. It was that moxy that he showed.”

A native of El Salvador, Romero was ordained a priest in 1942. As bishop of Santiago de María, one of El Salvador’s poorest regions, Romero became aware Archbishop of the sufferings of the poor and the Oscar ROMERO government persecution of those who worked for social reforms. Still, he did not speak out against government oppression. In 1977, he became archbishop of San Salvador and shortly thereafter, his friend, Jesuit Father Rutilio Grande, was killed for supporting the cause of the poor. Romero broke his silence. His radio show and homilies drew thousands of listeners and earned him the title “Voice of the Voiceless.”

On March 23, 1980, in response to increasing violence, Archbishop Romero gave a homily in which he told soldiers to follow the law of God and disobey orders to fire on unarmed civilians.

The next day he was shot by an assassin while saying Mass. He will be beatified May 23.

Over the years, Hahn has mostly played the

CNS

Faith & Culture

8

song that traces the life of Romero for himself and close friends and family. When Pope Francis declared Romero a martyr in February and opened the way for his beatification, Hahn decided to round up a band and record the song.

“It was one of those unique experiences,” Hahn said. “Most of all, I wanted it to be fun, but it was emotional, too. We were dealing with some heavy stuff, so I wanted [the song] to be an upbeat rock song. It’s the celebration of a life.”

The rock rhythm well carries the message of Romero’s life that culminates in the line, “He stayed among them/ alive in their souls/ given the courage a martyr bestows,” a reference to Romero’s legacy and sacrifice. Hahn hopes the life of Oscar Romero will inspire Church leaders to engage in conversations about social injustice.

For Hahn, the example of Romero reinforces “the need for people to take a stand.”

Rob Hahn recently recorded his 24-year-old song “Romero” to celebrate Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero’s beatification. It’s available at www.romerosong.com.

Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

Wayzata festival to honor Father Joncas’ new hymn volume The Catholic Spirit A hymn festival featuring the work of local composers and the voices and accompaniment of local choirs and musicians will be held from 7-8 p.m. June 1 at St. Bartholomew in Wayzata.

The free event honors the publication of “We Contemplate the Mystery,” the second volume of hymn texts by Father Michael Joncas, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and an artist in residence at the University of St. Thomas’ Center for Catholic Studies in St. Paul.

“I would hope that parish music directors, cantors, choir members and instrumentalists, fellow composers, members of the Association of Liturgical Ministers and the National Association of Pastoral Musicians, as well as folks in the pew who enjoy praising God in song, will come,” Father Joncas said.

Adult choirs of St. Bartholomew and St. Therese, Deephaven, accompanied by guest instrumentalists, will lead the congregation in a program of hymns for Advent, Christmastide, Lent, Triduum and Eastertide, with commentary

by Father Joncas. Richard Clarke and Rob Glover will direct. David Haas will participate as a special guest musician.

May 21, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Q & A: Why do hymns matter?

By Bob Zyskowski The Catholic Spirit On the occasion of the publication of Father Michael Joncas’ second volume of hymns, “We Contemplate the Mystery,” The Catholic Spirit sought to tap his expertise in sacred music. The following is excerpted from an email interview. It has been edited for length.

Q. Is there a need for more

hymns? It seems as though we regularly sing a small portion of the pieces in “Gather” or “Worship.”

A. In a certain sense the same

question could be asked about homilies: Do we really need any more since we’ve been hearing Father Michael them every time we go to Mass?

(Smiley-face emoticon inserted.)

JONCAS I believe that hymns, when they are well-chosen, can offer the congregation a chance to meditate on the scriptural texts proclaimed at a particular celebration and affirm

their faith in the proclaimed and preached Word of God.

Q. How do you see contemporary hymns speaking to people of this age differently from the faithful of other eras, the pre-Vatican II Church and the postVatican II/St. Louis Jesuits/guitar Mass-era, for example?

A. Most of the hymns Roman Catholics sang prior to

the Second Vatican Council were associated with paraliturgies or devotions — “At the Cross Her Station Keeping” for Stations of the Cross, “Tantum ergo” for Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, “On This Day O Beautiful Mother” for May Crowning — rather than for the liturgy, although some catechists from the 1930s on encouraged the singing of entrance, offertory, Communion and exit hymns at “low” Mass.

Much of the music created for the vernacular postVatican II liturgy set either the liturgical texts or scriptural texts. Although a few metrical hymns by text writers such as Omer Westendorf and Jesuit Father James Quinn appeared during this era, the real explosion of Catholic hymn-text writing has taken place in the last 15 years or so, with authors such as Benedictine Sister Genevieve Glen and Benedictine Fathers Ralph Wright and Henry Hagen.

9

By Mark Pattison Catholic News Service

Reaction was mixed to the May 15 jury sentencing of death for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev for his role in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.

Tsarnaev had been convicted April 8 of all 30 counts lodged against him in the bombing, which killed three people and injured hundreds.

Of those 30 counts, 17 carried the death penalty, and jurors imposed the death sentence on six of those — all in connection with placing a bomb on Boylston Street along the marathon route.

“Catholic Mobilizing Network prays for the victims of the Boston marathon bombing, their families, and all those whose lives have been touched by violence,” said a May 15 statement by the Catholic Mobilizing Network to End the Use of the Death Penalty. “We believe in the dignity of all human life. Our faith calls us to be hopeful for the salvation of all. We stand with our Church and with Pope Francis, who reminds us that ‘God is in everyone’s life. Even if the life of a person has been a disaster.’ We should never deny the opportunity for God to transform the lives of even those who have committed heinous acts. We cannot teach that killing is wrong by killing.”

The death sentence levied against Tsarnaev “perpetuates the use of an unfair, unjust practice that is disproportionately used on poor people and people of color,” said a May 15 statement from Diann RustTierney, executive director of the National Coalition Against the Death Penalty.

“We had held out hope for a different punishment, given that the majority of people in Massachusetts, including many of the victims’ family members, oppose the death penalty and have outlawed it in their state. We express our sincerest condolences for the victims of the attack and their families.”

Sister Helen did not sway The penalty phase of the trial was highlighted by the struggle between the prosecution and the defense over whether Sister Helen Prejean, a Sister of St. Joseph, author of “Dead Man Walking” and longtime opponent of capital punishment, should be allowed to testify. The defense won that skirmish, but Sister Helen’s assertion that Tsarnaev was “genuinely sorry” for his actions did not sway the jury.

“My mother and I think that NOW he will go away and we will be able to move on. Justice,” Sydney Corcoran wrote May 15 on her Twitter account. Corcoran was severely injured in the bombing; her mother lost both legs.

Heather Abbott, who lost a leg in

Catholic News Service

In this courtroom sketch, convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzokhar Tsarnaev stands as he is sentenced to death at the U.S. courthouse in Boston May 15. CNS the bombing, wrote May 15 on her foundation’s Facebook page that the verdict “doesn’t bring me peace.”

Instead, she said, “it brings sadness and cause to reflect, again, on just how senseless all of the deaths and injuries resulting from this situation are.”

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch, in a May 15 statement, called Tsarnaev’s sentence “fitting punishment” for a “coldly and callously perpetuated attack that injured hundreds of Americans and ultimately took the lives of three individuals.” Lynch added she hoped the verdict “will bring some measure of closure to the victims and their families.”

The Boston Marathon bombings were termed the worst terror attack on U.S. soil since the 9/11 attacks. It was also the first time federal prosecutors had successfully sought the death sentence for terrorism since the 9/11 attacks.

‘No winners today’ Liz Norden, whose two adult sons each lost a leg, told the Boston Globe she was reminded of the bombings every day. “There are no winners today, but I feel justice for my family,” said Norden, who followed the trial. “I have to watch my two sons put on a leg every day.

So, I don’t know about closure. But I can tell you it feels like a weight has been pulled off my shoulders.”

In early April the Catholic bishops of Massachusetts released a statement reiterating the Church’s teaching on the death penalty.

The Catholic Church opposes the death penalty except “if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor,” but such cases “are very rare, if not practically nonexistent.”

In Tsarnaev’s case, the Massachusetts bishops said, the defendant “has been neutralized and will never again have the ability to cause harm. Because of this, we . . . believe that society can do better than the death penalty.”

U.S. House passage May 13 of a measure that would ban most abortions after 20 weeks is “long overdue and one of the most common sense laws under consideration,” said the president and CEO of Americans United for Life.

“There is a war on women in abortion clinics today, where they are exposed to tremendous risks for profit from a secretive, taxpayer-funded, billion-dollar industry,” Charmaine Yoest said in a statement. “It’s time to protect women from dangerous conditions and the unborn from a torturous death.”

In a 242-184 vote mostly along party lines, the House approved the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. It prohibits abortion after 20 weeks unless the life of the mother is in danger. The measure’s sponsors cited what they say is substantial medical and scientific evidence that unborn children can feel pain at 20 weeks gestation.

“It is fitting that the House of Representatives debated and passed a bill that would protect unborn children from late-term abortion as well as their mothers on the second anniversary of Dr. Kermit Gosnell’s conviction for killing a young woman and countless newborns in his clinic,” Yoest added.

On May 13, 2013, a Philadelphia jury found Gosnell guilty of murder in the deaths of three babies born alive during abortions and acquitted him of a fourth similar charge. He also was

convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death by a drug overdose of a patient who had an abortion.

On the House floor May 13, Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, noted that “the news of Gosnell’s child slaughter was largely suppressed by the mainstream media” at the time, but said there are “Gosnells all over America, dismembering and decapitating pain-capable babies for profit.”

U.S. & World

Across U.S., reaction mixed Pro-lifers hail passage of to Tsarnaev death sentence Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act

“The pro-life movement is working to end all abortion, but until then, we have a moral imperative to save the lives we can.”

Father Frank Pavone, director of Priests for Life

The Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act also requires, he said, “that a late abortion permitted under limited circumstances provide the ‘best opportunity for the unborn child to survive’ and that ‘a second physician trained in neonatal resuscitation’ be ‘present and prepared to provide care to a child’ consistent with the Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002.”

Father Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, said in a statement that “The pro-life movement is working to end all abortion, but until then, we have a moral imperative to save the lives we can save.”

Bishops’ scathing report calls for dismantling immigrant detention system

By Patricia Zapor Catholic News Service A scathing new report on the conditions under which immigrants are detained concludes with the U.S. bishops’ recommendation that the current system be dismantled and replaced with less drastic approaches for keeping track of people whose immigration cases are pending.

Drawing on international law, analyses of who is detained, how the mostly for-profit prison industry manages detention and bishops’ personal experiences with people in detention, the report called instead for more supervised release, better case management and community support programs to ensure that people show up for court appearances or deportation orders.

The report released May 11, “Unlocking Human Dignity: A Plan to Transform the U.S. Immigrant Detention System,” was a joint project of the Migration and Refugee

Services of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Center for Migration Studies, a Catholic migration policy think tank.

In a teleconference about the report that same day, two bishops said they expect Pope Francis will address the topic when he visits the United States in September.

Among the events on the pope’s agenda are speeches to a joint meeting of Congress and the United Nations.

The bishops said the report outlines unacceptable detention practices, especially for mothers and children.

Read the report “Unlocking Human Dignity” can be found at www.usccb.org/about/migration-andrefugee-services/upload/unlocking-humandignity.pdf.

May 21, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

U.S. & World

10

Wail of sirens calls priest, religious to crash site

By Lou Baldwin Catholic News Service The wailing of sirens called Father Tom Higgins from his parish rectory and Sisters Linda Lukiewski and Julie Sertsch from their convent to the scene of the Amtrak train derailment the evening of May 12.

At about 9:30 p.m., the TV news reported the wreck of Amtrak’s Northeast Regional Train 188, which started in Washington and was headed for New York City.

Aboard were 238 passengers and five crew members.

The crash left eight people dead and injured more than 200 others, with at least eight in critical condition. Most of the injured were treated at nearby hospitals and released.

Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter described the crash scene to reporters as “an absolute, disastrous mess. I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.”

The train’s engine and two of the cars were left standing upright.

Three other cars fell on their sides, and a sixth car was flipped over almost on its roof.

A team from the National Transportation Safety Board arrived by early morning May 13 to lead an investigation into the cause of the accident. AP reported that information retrieved from the train’s data recorder indicated the

Report: Only ‘full recognition of religious freedom’ will protect people

By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service

Men walk toward the site of a derailed Amtrak train in Philadelphia May 13.

Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput urged prayers for all affected by the May 12 derailment in the city’s Port Richmond neighborhood that left eight people dead and injured more than 200 others. CNS train was going 106 mph in an 80-mph zone before it entered a sharp curve, where the top speed allowed is 50 mph.

The immediate area where the train derailed is also the junction where trains headed to southern New Jersey are switched to other tracks.

“That’s only two blocks from here,” Sister Linda exclaimed when she heard the location, near St. Joan of Arc Convent in Philadelphia’s Harrogate area. She and Sister Julie, both Sisters of St. Joseph, hurried over to get as close as they could and try to help.

Meanwhile, Father Higgins, also mystified by the persistent sirens, heard the same news report, and realizing he was now the closest priest to the scene, decided to drive over.

Pastor at Holy Innocents Parish in the Juniata Park section of Philadelphia, the priest could only drive halfway to the crash site before hitting roadblocks, so he walked the rest of the way.

It was chaotic when he arrived as close as he was permitted. A police officer directed him to a spot where some passengers whose injuries did not require immediate transportation to a hospital were to be placed on buses to be taken to a

triage point, in this case the nearby Webster Public School.

Father Higgins went to the school and found Sisters Linda and Julie already there, assisting as best they could.

He was able to talk to some of the families and comfort them.

Sisters Linda and Julie had arrived just as the Red Cross and paramedics were setting up.

“We brought them water, cookies and coffee,” Sister Linda said.

Those people who did not have injuries sufficient to require further treatment were free to go, and while Amtrak would eventually provide transportation to their destination, it was not immediately forthcoming because the railroad was shut down. Without hesitation Sister Julie drove a group of people to Trenton and then New Brunswick, New Jersey, before returning to her convent for a scheduled 7 a.m. departure on a planned trip to Vermont.

For all three — Father Tom, Sister Linda and Sister Julie — there wasn’t a need to put their lives at risk although they would have done so. “We didn’t do anything spectacular,” Sister Linda said. “We just tried to do what we could and it was no more than as Christians we should do.”

In Nepal, fresh quake rattles confidence

By Anto Akkara Catholic News Service The second major earthquake in less than three weeks in Nepal spread renewed fears and dented the confidence of people, said Church and charity workers.

“The death and devastation may be less, but the psychological impact is very high,” Bishop Paul Simick of Nepal told Catholic News Service May 13. “They were slowly recovering from the shock and the trauma and (were) trying to restart (their lives).

Now they have been stunned by this unprecedented quake.”

More than 60 people, most of them trying to recover valuables from the debris of collapsed houses and buildings, died and more than 1,200 were injured when the magnitude-7.3 quake hit at 12:50 p.m.

“The fear is back and everyone is worried about the future.

Many are sleeping in the open,” said Bishop Simick.

Josh Niraula, former coordinator of Caritas Asia, told CNS, “The massive quake has shattered more Nepalese minds and hearts and has generated more fear and worry for the future.”

“Those who were brave enough to come back to normal life are now hesitant, and fear of further quakes has dented their confidence,” Niraula said.

The May 12 quake seemed to contradict seismologists’ theory that the intensity of aftershocks would decline steadily while tremors could continue to persist after powerful quakes.

May 21, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Father Ignatius Rai, vicar of Assumption parish in Lalitpur, Nepal, chats May 9 with 85-year-old Padam Kumari Magar, who had crawled out unscathed from the rubble of her stone home on Baretol Mountain after the April 25 earthquake. CNS It occurred after more than 150 minor aftershocks from the April 25 quake that killed more than 8,000 and destroyed or damaged more than half a million homes, in addition to commercial and other structures.

The cover photograph on a new 232-page report outlining religious freedom violations around the world last year pretty much says it all.

The image is of Yezidis of all ages walking on a sandy, dusty terrain with sheep. Thousands of members of this religious minority had been executed and assaulted last year while others were forced to flee their ancient homeland in the Nineveh plains of Iraq by actions of the Islamic State, known as ISIS. The horrors inflicted upon the Yezidis illustrate a key point of the 2015 report by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, namely that religious freedom violations not only occurred worldwide in 2014 but that the world also witnessed “violence masquerading as religious devotion.”

The Yezidis, Kurds, Christians and Shiite Muslims were the focus of ISIS attacks as part of the militant group’s claims that it was purifying the world by killing or displacing those who did not adhere to its radical interpretation of Islam beliefs.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, formed in 1998 as a watchdog group to monitor religious freedom violations and make recommendations to the president, State Department and Congress, highlighted the vast numbers of people displaced because of their religion in this year’s report.

It said 2 million people were internally displaced in Iraq last year

by ISIS threats. More than 6.5 million of Syria’s pre-civil-war population is internally displaced and 3.3 million more are refugees in neighboring states.

The report’s introduction also singles out Boko Haram in Nigeria for its attacks on Muslims and Christians including mass murders at churches and mosques, kidnappings of children from schools and displacement of more than 1 million people. It also said 140,000 Rohingya Muslims and at least 100,000 largely Kachin Christians were displaced in Burma.

“By any measure, the horrors of the past year speak volumes about how and why religious freedom and the protection of the rights of vulnerable religious communities matter. Those responsible for the horrors have made the case better than anybody can,” the report states.

The report recommended the U.S. designate Iraq, Syria, Nigeria, Central African Republic and Burma as countries of particular concern, or CPCs, under the International Religious Freedom Act.

Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

A PRIEST FOREVER “Christ the Lord, a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek, offered bread and wine.” The prayer, adapted from a verse in Hebrews, is chanted in the ritual for priestly ordination during the investiture with a stole and chasuble.

It is a reminder of priests’ imaging of Christ, and visually appears in the Cathedral of St. Paul sacristy with an image of Christ the High Priest over the bishops’ vesting cabinet.

On May 30, seven men will vest in that sacristy as deacons of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, only to return as priests.

The following pages share their paths to the priesthood, one family’s reflection on the vocation of its son and brother, and advice from Pope Francis to new priests, which includes no boring homilies! The men are to receive their pastoral assignments from Archbishop John Nienstedt May 26.

Above, the archdiocese’s soon-to-be newest priests are, from left, Deacon Peter Hughes, Deacon T.J. McKenzie, Deacon Bruno Nwachukwu, Deacon Jake Anderson, Deacon James Stiles, Deacon Byron Hagan and Deacon John Powers. Ordained with them will be Deacon Alvaro Perez Silva, a member of a religious order, Pro Ecclesia Sancta, that serves St. Mark in St. Paul.

The Catholic Spirit • May 21, 2015 • Page 11

12 • Ordination

The Catholic Spirit • May 21, 2015

Pope to new priests: No boring homilies, never tire of mercy

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Ordaining 19 men to the priesthood, Pope Francis not only told them to make sure their homilies were not boring, but he offered them advice on how to ensure their preaching would touch people: Speak from your heart.

Priests are called to nourish the faithful, he said, so they must ensure “that your homilies are not boring, that your homilies arrive directly in people’s hearts because they flow from your heart, because what you tell them is what you have in your heart.”

Celebrating the Mass April 26, the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, Pope Francis planned to use the set homily given in the ritual book for priestly ordinations; but as he has done in the past, he added his own reflections as well, including his homily tips.

The prepared homily speaks of the effectiveness of a holy priest’s example.

The pope added, “examples edify, but words without examples are empty words. They are just ideas that never reach the heart and, in fact, they can harm. They are no good!”

Pope Francis told the thousands of people gathered for the Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica that the men were accepted and put forward by their bishops. “And the bishop risks — he risks! — and chooses them, just as the Father has risked for each one of us.”

Reading the prepared homily’s exhortation for priests to be mindful always of the mystery they celebrate when they preside at Mass, Pope Francis told them, “Never rush it!”

And, he read, you will bring new faithful into the people of God through baptism. But he added, “never refuse baptism to those who request it.”

In the sacrament of reconciliation, he

said, “you will remit sins in the name of Christ and of the Church. And I — in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord and his spouse, the holy Church — ask you never to tire of being merciful. You will be in the confessional to forgive, not to condemn. Imitate the Father, who never tires of forgiving.”

A priest, the prepared homily says, must be intent only on pleasing God and not himself. “It is ugly to see a priest who lives to please himself, who acts like a peacock” strutting around, the pope said.

The 19 new priests included 13 for the Diocese of Rome and six for other dioceses around the world. As bishop of Rome, Pope Francis asked the 13 if they promised “me and my successors your filial respect and devotion.” But for the other six, he asked, “Do you promise your ordinary filial respect and devotion?”

After they had knelt before him and he placed his hands upon their heads, the 19 were vested as priests. They again went up to the pope and he lavished oil all over their palms, consecrating their hands.

Moving to the window of the Apostolic Palace for the midday recitation of the “Regina Coeli” prayer, Pope Francis brought two of the newly ordained priests with him to thank people for their prayers and to offer a blessing with him.

The pope spoke briefly about the day’s Gospel reading about Jesus as the Good Shepherd. “The bad shepherd,” he said, “thinks about himself and exploits the sheep. The good shepherd thinks about the sheep and gives himself for them.”

The only aim of a good shepherd, the pope said, is “that of leading, nourishing and protecting his sheep.”

By sending Jesus to lay down his life for all humanity, he said, God showed

Pope Francis greets one of 19 new priests during an ordination Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican April 26. In his homily, the pope told the new priests to make sure their homilies were not boring. CNS

“Those who have the mission of guiding in the Church — priests, bishops, popes — are called to not assume the mentality of a manager, but that of a servant in imitation of Jesus.”

Pope Francis the depths of his love for each person.

“His is the highest and purest kind of love because it is not motivated by any need, it is not conditioned by any calculation” and is not looking for anything in return.

“It is not enough to contemplate and

thank him,” the pope said. “We must follow the Good Shepherd. In particular, those who have the mission of guiding in the Church — priests, bishops, popes — are called to not assume the mentality of a manager, but that of a servant in imitation of Jesus.”

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Deacons John Powers (left) and Peter Hughes have a brief exchange during a class on liturgy at the St. Paul Seminary. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

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Ordination• 13

May 21, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

With eclectic interests, Hughes brings strong prayer life into priesthood

By Bob Zyskowski The Catholic Spirit Check for a Roman collar on that bearded guy on the motorcycle. He could be your next associate pastor.

Folks at the parish where Deacon Peter Hughes will be assigned after his ordination to the priesthood May 30 will find behind the bushy beard a thoughtful, prayerful man with eclectic interests.

Along with riding a motorcycle, he hunts, hikes, likes “Dr. Who,” enjoys all styles of music but especially jazz and bluegrass, and has gained a reputation as a cook. When he sat for an interview and was asked if he had any hobbies, cooking and baking were the first things he mentioned.

His favorite dish to make?

“Ravioli from scratch.”

Deacon Hughes, 26, was raised in the St. Paul parish in Ham Lake, where his parents, Greg and Sheila, were involved in the faith formation program, he said.

The idea of priesthood surfaced in a significant way when he was a ninthgrader.

“We had to write about what career we thought we might go into,” he said, “and I put down either being a genetic engineer in botany or a priest. I tried to evangelize with my school work.”

He went straight from high school to St. John Vianney, the archdiocese’s college seminary, then to the St. Paul

Dennis Hoffman, a cousin who is a priest in the Diocese of Duluth, and his former pastor in Ham Lake, Father Tim Nolan, “as well as other good priests, and being true to myself.”

He said he prays best at Mass and with the Liturgy of the Hours, and by making a holy hour every day.

As a seminarian, he took advantage of adoration from 6 to 7 each morning in the chapel at the St. Paul Seminary.

“It’s important to me to get that focus at the beginning of the day and to keep perspective on the rest of the day,” he said.

As he takes the step into priestly ministry, Deacon Hughes is “anxious but excited,” he admitted, feeling confident and well prepared.

“There was a wide range of academics covered in the seminaries,” he said, crediting St. John Vianney College Seminary for giving him a sound foundation, one he said he was able to continue to work on across Summit Avenue at the St. Paul Seminary.

Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

Deacon Peter Hughes Seminary.

He took a semester off — “I had a lot of questions along the way,” he explained — and worked as a sous chef at a restaurant in Andover.

“Falling in love with the Lord who

loves us most,” is how he describes his call to the priesthood. “I enjoy serving other people,” Deacon Hughes said.

“My way of expressing love is serving.”

He said he’ll be taking inspiration from two priests in his life, Father

People have asked him why he’d want to be a priest, considering the crises the Church has been going through, and he shared this answer: “The Lord calls us to enter now,” Deacon Hughes said. “Priests today have to be willing to bear that cross, and I’m willing to bear it. I hope to bring healing to those who are hurting.”

Congratulations Fr. Byron Hagan, Fr. Peter Hughes, Fr. Bruno Nwachukwu, Fr. T.J. McKenzie, Fr. James Stiles, Fr. John Powers, and Fr. Jake Anderson From the priests, faculty and staff of The Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity

www.saintpaulseminary.org

14 • Ordination

The Catholic Spirit • May 21, 2015

Nigerian native desires to serve the poor, communicate well

By Jessica Trygstad The Catholic Spirit As a self-described “new chicken” to the United States, Deacon Bruno Nwachukwu tries to learn something from each person he encounters. While studying to become a priest, Deacon Nwachukwu, 35, has also had to acclimate to American culture.

“Back home, you see chickens that are roaming around,” said Deacon Nwachukwu, who came to the U.S. in 2011. “If you buy a chicken to be a free-range chicken at your home, the chicken will stand on one leg to get used to the environment before you see it running around.”

Growing up in southeast Nigeria, each day his parents would wake up early to bring him and his two sisters and three brothers to Mass before school. Every night, they prayed the rosary.

His interest in becoming a priest started when he was 5. He admired Father Charles Noel, a Carmelite priest from Ireland who would carry sacramentals in his pockets to give to children after Mass.

“One day I told him, ‘Father I want to be a priest.’

And he said, ‘If you want to be a priest, you first have to receive the sacraments.’”

After graduating from high school, which was a minor seminary, he started seriously discerning his path to the priesthood. He joined prayer groups and became a member of the Legionaries of Mary. But he still couldn’t decide between becoming an order priest or a diocesan priest.

Thanks to his uncle, Father Peter Njoku, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis who died in 2006, and one of his older brothers, who lived in the U.S. and spoke of the need for more priests, Deacon Nwachukwu decided he could best serve in a U.S. diocese.

At that time, all of his brothers and one of his sisters were living in the U.S. Praying before the Eucharist only deepened his desire. That’s when he started praying for a visa. Former University of St. Thomas president Father Dennis Dease helped him come to the U.S. to begin the process of entering the seminary.

“I always tell people, coming from a developing country with a lot of poor people, I want to serve the poor.”

Deacon Bruno Nwachukwu

“There is great power in language, because if you’re able to learn the culture of the people, learn the language very well, that will help you to communicate and to bring Christ to the people,” he said. “Because if people don’t understand you, they won’t know what your mission is.”

Because of persistent desire to succeed in his ministry, he asks his advisors, parishioners and fellow seminarians for feedback and is grateful for their support and guidance.

Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

Deacon Bruno Nwachukwu “I always tell people, coming from a developing country with a lot of poor people, I want to serve the poor,” he said. “That’s one of the things I really love about Pope Francis — his great love for the poor. He can’t say anything without mentioning the poor in society.”

From Deacon Nwachukwu’s start at the seminary, he’s been aware of challenges he’d face — including adjusting to life in Minnesota. To him that meant erratic weather and a foreign dialect. Because of his accent, he said he strives to improve his communication skills.

Another challenge that his advisors specifically addressed was racism.

“That used to worry me, but I keep saying, ‘God, since you have made me to get this far, I believe that you’ll give me the strength not to think anything about color or race. . . . But to make people to understand that we are all the same — we are all here to serve Christ.’ I will do my best as a priest.”

Challenges aside, Deacon Nwachukwu said he hopes to walk with the people of the archdiocese and bring them closer to God, and vice versa, because “we need each other to grow.”

“I’m very much looking forward to serving the people with my whole heart,” he said. “And to always give a smile to people. Because when you smile, it heals.”

Daily Mass during college years paved road to priesthood

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit The light of faith grew gradually brighter in Deacon Thomas (T.J.) McKenzie’s life until, as a college senior, he could see his vocation to the priesthood clearly enough to pursue it.

Deacon McKenzie, 28, grew up in Maple Grove, the oldest of Tom and Lori McKenzie’s four children. He wasn’t an altar server at his parish, St. Joseph the Worker in Maple Grove, because he feared making a mistake at Mass. He did, however, teach CCD. When Deacon McKenzie was a high school senior, he watched St. John Paul II’s funeral liturgy and was inspired to read some of the late pontiff’s works.

“I was seeing all these things on television, and all of a sudden a brand new aspect of the Catholic faith was emerging from that,” he said. “I started seeing the beauty of the liturgy and how strong the Catholic faith was in the whole world.”

That summer, he encountered God while praying in a cathedral in Germany and decided he would live his Catholic faith intentionally.

While studying at the University of Minnesota on a scholarship he received because he had been a golf caddie, Deacon McKenzie lived with other caddies near the university’s Newman Center (now St. Lawrence Catholic Church and Newman Center). He attended Mass, began praying the rosary and reading the Bible. Eventually, he arranged his course schedule so he could attend daily Mass.

Though he planned to study physical therapy after graduation, he wondered if God might be calling him instead to the priesthood.

“Through the gradual process of going to Mass [at

“I started seeing the beauty of the liturgy and how strong the Catholic faith was in the whole world.”

Deacon T. J. McKenzie

seminary was Archbishop Emeritus Harry Flynn’s 2009 St. Patrick’s Day homily at the Cathedral of St. Paul about how priests deliver God to the people.

As he entered the St. Paul Seminary that fall with his parents’ support, Deacon McKenzie faced the challenge of living in a community of men zealous for Christ.

One thing that is no longer challenging as he approaches ordination is handling altar vessels — for two years he was responsible for them as the emcee at seminary Masses.

Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

Deacon T.J. McKenzie

Deacon McKenzie said he is awed by the idea that priests serve as Christ’s ambassadors in the lives of Catholics, and looks forward to taking on that role.

the Newman Center], I began thinking about the priesthood,” he said. “I had been wrestling with that idea, but no one had really posed it as an option at all when I was in high school.”

What convinced Deacon McKenzie to apply to

“One thing I’ve come to appreciate more and more is the incarnational aspect of our faith,” he said. “How Jesus himself came in the form of a human person, and for us to realize that we can’t let go of our own humanity while ministering to people.”

Ordination• 15

May 21, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Members of this year’s ordination class for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, plus other seminary students, listen to a lecture on liturgy in the chapel of the St. Paul Seminary by Father Tom Margevicius, back center, a faculty member at the seminary.

Dave Hrbacek/ The Catholic Spirit

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16 • Ordination

‘Hands for work, hearts for love’ At the St. Paul Seminary, priest hopefuls learn what it means to be wedded to the Church and be experts in the spiritual life

By Jessica Trygstad The Catholic Spirit

T

he seven men who will be ordained priests for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis May 30 will leave the St. Paul Seminary with a Master of Divinity degree, some also with a master’s degree in theology. They all will have completed four years of learning the ins and outs of parish life under the direction of a pastor at their teaching parish.

And most will have traveled to Central and South America to help prepare them to meet the needs of Spanish-speaking Catholics.

But there are other prerequisites for the priesthood.

“You have to be a gentleman before you can be a priest.”

So says Msgr. Aloysius Callaghan, rector of the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity. Of the seminary’s four pillars — human, intellectual, spiritual and pastoral — it emphasizes the human pillar as the one that ensures future priests are healthy, balanced and fit for ministry — “men of God who can preach, teach and sanctify,” said Msgr. Callaghan, who has served as rector for 10 years.

This year’s ordinands and those who’ve come before them are wedded to the local Church, and the people are their primary love, said Msgr. Callaghan. As such, the seminary’s role is to facilitate that.

“I feel that seminary work today is preparing a new springtime for the Church,” he said. “It takes time and needs energy, but these men are getting the tools they need to be good shepherds.”

‘A bridge to Jesus’ From the start of seminary, each man is entrusted to a team that includes someone representing each pillar: a priest formator, an academic advisor, a spiritual director and a teaching parish supervisor.

Father Peter Williams, vice rector at the seminary, said there are expectations and an order to the men’s community life. Priest formators of all the men meet weekly to discuss each man in seminary, from first year students to those preparing for ordination.

“It’s about how people grow. That’s what we want these men to do,” Father Williams said. “We wouldn’t accept them in seminary if we were trying to ‘find them out.’ They don’t grow just by critique and challenge; they also grow by affirmation.”

The formation team also gathers annually to evaluate the men to see “what kind of priests are we saying we’re producing, and let’s back it up,” Father Williams said, adding that spiritual directors aren’t Father Peter evaluating the men in any way, just serving their relationship with the Lord. The work of the Holy Spirit WILLIAMS is apparent when the formators see the men take steps not just to be a priest, but to flourish as a priest.

“The work they do is hard,” said Father Williams, who went through the St. Paul Seminary from 2000-2004. “When seminary is working well, it’s a very therapeutic environment. Truly, it’s all about trust.”

The seminary looks for the men’s confidence in the activities they’re called to do as a priest and in their identity as a public person, and if they have a passion for the priesthood when they talk about it.

“They can’t really fake that,” Father Williams said.

Six months after Father Williams took the helm as vice rector, he added a psychologist to the staff, Paul Ruff, who serves as assistant director of human formation.

“That’s an extra benefit for us because he’s gifted at what he

does,” Father Williams said. “I’m just convinced that given our culture [and] society, human formation has become that much more important. You can’t assume things.”

The men can choose to visit with Ruff, or the seminary staff can recommend they visit with him. Father Williams said Ruff’s work can help fill out the big picture of each man’s formation, although the seminary doesn’t completely rely on that information to gain perspective.

“We need to journey with them, even in counseling,” he said.

“We don’t need to know every last thing they share in counseling, but we need to have some sense of how they’re addressing things and how they’re growing. It’s a very fine line.”

Because the men go through several screenings even before entering seminary, once they’re accepted, it’s the formators’ role to go deeper to learn more. Namely, Father Williams said, they ask whether the men understand their call in terms of serving the people of God and look at what their relationships are like at the parish and with fellow seminarians.

Paraphrasing Pope Francis, Father Williams said the seminary isn’t a refuge and that it’s essential for the seminary to root out a notion some men have that entering a religious vocation would provide shelter from the complexities of the world.

“The priest is a bridge to Jesus, and that means people have to actually be able to go through him to the Lord,” Father Williams said. “Msgr. Callaghan has this great line; he says: ‘Are there eccentrics in the priesthood? Yes. But as a seminary, we don’t have the luxury to cultivate them.’ So, a guy doesn’t get to be that kind of priest. He’s here to be converted so that he can actually be an effective, healthy instrument.”

A large part of that healthy piece is addressing celibacy, which is talked about from day one and revisited regularly, Father Williams said.

“Celibacy has to be treated as something positive,” he said. “It never is not a sacrifice. But the sacrifice becomes just a fraction of what it all is. Celibacy is a gift. It’s a way to love like Christ.”

take on many roles in the parishes leave the seminary knowing every parish. Father Williams said admin they’re ordained and when it’s an “They have so much that’s requ Williams said. “At this point, it’s n about becoming pastors, but they’ going to have to get out there and rhythm of preaching, the other sac but you’re limited because of the n Father Patrick Hipwell, pastor of said in his roughly 20 years as a tea observed men of prayer who bring themselves in the ministry.

Spending Wednesdays and some parish, seminarians learn the daily responsibilities and the schedule, w “might be a little shocking to see.” have different concentrations.

“Basically, they’re exposed to all Hipwell said, adding that the key i experience to establish a foundatio important for the mere fact that th the seminary is applied in the pari While priests don’t need to be ex Williams said they do have to be e to help people find God. “We’re not forming administrato why parishes have a professional s brothers and shepherds.

“To be a good pastor, surround y continued. “And they’re all there. are committed . . . good things hap

Men of many hats

Sister Katarina Schuth, a Sister o the seminary for 24 years, said the documents in forming its priests: t

From bridge-builder to fundraiser to school administrator, priests

Hitting the books

The Catholic Spirit • May 21, 2015

Deacon James Stiles, center, walks to the main building at the St. Paul Seminary with Msgr. Aloysius Callaghan, rector of the seminary, and Father Scott Carl, a faculty member. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

Deacon Byron Hagan, right, practices singing during a class at the St. Paul Seminary. At far left observing is Deacon Jake Anderson.

Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

s they serve. But priests don’t ything about what it takes to run a nistration is best learned after “impending reality.” uired of them here,” Father not that they’re not thinking ’re just becoming priests. They’re d learn how to say the Mass, their craments. . . . So, we focus on it, nature of seminary.” f Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul, eaching parish supervisor, he’s g unique gifts that manifest

l the different aspects,” Father is giving seminarians enough on they can build on. “It’s hey see how the education from ish.” xperts in everything, Father experts in the spiritual life in order

ors,” Father Williams said. “That’s staff. We’re forming fathers and

of St. Francis who has taught at e seminary uses two important the “Program of Priestly

ministry. To prepare them further, she gathers statistics from the dioceses where the men will serve and has them complete a project based on a relevant issue, from parish mergers and school funding to promoting vocations and the Latino community.

“This has been more urgent in the last 10 years,” Sister Katarina said. “There’s a necessity of understanding cultures and backgrounds.”

Because approximately 75 percent of “The priest parish workers are women, according to Sister Katarina, she said she considers her is a bridge to work with seminarians “extremely important and necessary that they gain knowledge, and Jesus, and that also understand how to work with women.”

“It’s really a privilege, and I hope that it means people does some good,” she said. “It’s an opportunity to convey some spirituality.” have to actually

Ongoing formation

e Sundays at their teaching y life of a priest — the which, Father Hipwell said, ” Over the years, the seminarians

yourself with good people,” he If you get the right people who ppen, and you just shepherd.”

Ordination • 17

Deacon Jake Anderson takes a moment to pray before Mass at the St. Paul Seminary chapel. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit Formation” from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and “Pastores Dabo Vobis” (“I will give you shepherds”) by St. John Paul II. Teaching in the areas of pastoral ministry to primarily first-year seminarians, Sister Katarina said their coursework begins with understanding the concept of evangelization and culture in

be able to go through him to the Lord.”

Monsignor Callaghan said formation doesn’t stop with ordination. The seminary has in the works programs for young priests to share the progress, challenges, struggles Father Peter Williams, and joys in their ministry. vice rector of the In any profession, ongoing education is St. Paul Seminary expected, Father Williams said, and the Church is aware of the need to find ways to foster its priests. As for the seminary, it needs to find ways to carry the four pillars into each man’s priesthood.

Any program “will never be as rigorous as seminary — it shouldn’t be,” Father Williams said. “[The priest] is out to serve. But how does it stay fresh? How does his relationship with the Lord stay fresh? How does he keep learning? How does he become a better preacher? If we build something really good there, it’s actually going to just relieve a little pressure of seminary.”

Father Williams said that in the archdiocese, every priest is expected to make an annual retreat and take sabbaticals. Many priests are part of fraternal groups.

“But we can always do more,” he said.

Because strengthening their friendship with Jesus is at the core of everything else the men learn at seminary, the most important takeaway is becoming more authentic disciples of Jesus, Father Williams said.

“In some ways, that’s the thing that the man will always have to go back to, and that will be the thing that carries him wherever he’s assigned and however difficult it gets,” he said.

“I marvel at how God can mold and form these men,” Msgr.

Callaghan said. “I’m delighted these men will be dynamic, energetic and joyful instruments of the Lord. That’s what I see in each one of them — hands for work, hearts for love.”

18 • Ordination

The Catholic Spirit • May 21, 2015

Deacon Powers takes cues from father, a permanent deacon

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit John Powers was a junior at St. John’s University in Collegeville when he jumped at the chance to spend a three-day weekend within the abbey of the Benedictine monks who founded the school. He wasn’t thinking about joining their community, he said; he was simply intrigued by their life and knew it might be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Although the monastery sat in the heart of campus, students weren’t ordinarily permitted in its confines.

Now 27, he credits that weekend with opening his heart to the priesthood.

“I was really impressed with the sense of fraternity and community they had as monks,” he said, but he didn’t think he was supposed to become a Benedictine.

Instead, he felt drawn to parish life. But considering the priesthood meant rethinking his well-planned career path. For Powers, that wasn’t easy.

A history buff, Powers had mapped out a path to his goal of working as an archivist. His senior year, however, as he applied to graduate school, he was surprised to find his heart wasn’t in it. After graduating from St. John’s in 2009, he decided to try seminary and “stay until they told me I should go.”

That moment never came.

Seminary was a challenge, he admitted, especially the first two years. At times he thought he should join the monastery, he said, because life there might be easier.

He persevered, convinced he was following God’s will. His teaching parish is St. Hubert in Chanhassen, but he has also served at St. Peter, Forest Lake; St. Jude of the Lake, Mahtomedi, and St. Joseph, West St. Paul.

He spent his hospital chaplaincy at the VA hospital.

As he pursued his vocation, he looked to another man who had answered a call: his father, Deacon Mike Powers, who was ordained in 2001. Deacon John Powers said his father’s best advice originated with

Deacon John Powers

Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

Archbishop Emeritus Harry Flynn: “Be kind. Be kind.

Be kind.”

“In this day and age, people come to the Church because they want things from you, and they want to reach God. Just the importance of respecting where they’re at and being kind to them,” Deacon John

Powers said.

It was advice Deacon Mike Powers received during his own diaconate training. He ministers at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in northeast Minneapolis, where the younger Deacon Powers and his older sister — a social worker in Nashville — grew up. His mother, Marge, is business administrator at St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony.

The future Father Powers attended Pope John Paul II Catholic School and St. Anthony Village High School in Minneapolis.

“My parents were always open about vocations,” he said, adding they told him he should do whatever he felt God was calling him to do.

Deacon Mike Powers said he and Marge “are immensely proud that he [Deacon John Powers] has chosen to answer God’s call in this way.”

The father looks forward to serving at the altar with his son, he said. Already, they’ve ministered as deacons together at several Masses.

“It’s been a blessing. It really has,” Deacon Mike Powers said of sharing the diaconate with his son. “It’s created a bond that goes beyond that of a father and son.”

He added: “We have a common faith, common ministry, common experience. Both of us have both become more aware of the unity of the diaconate between the permanent diaconate and the transitional diaconate. So many times in archdiocesan programs they’re separated, but this has helped us see the unity between the two.”

An organizer by nature, Deacon John Powers likes to bring his classmates together for board games and cards, he said. He expects to take that unifying impulse into his parish work.

“My goal is to be a good link in a chain,” Deacon Powers said. “I want to be a good, solid priest that helps connect one generation to the next generation of faith.

I want to help the people of God live out their lives.”

Diabetes suffering nearly derailed vocation, now enhances it

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit Deacon James Stiles’ journey to the priesthood nearly ended before it began.

It happened right before the start of his senior year at the University of St. Thomas in August 2008. He had decided to enroll at St. John Vianney College Seminary on campus and take a serious look at the priesthood.

“I applied to SJV, I was accepted, I was all excited,” he said.

A trip to Rome the year before drew him to ministry, especially after spending time there with a Jesuit priest, Father Joseph Carola.

“There’s a small chapel at this house where we stayed in Rome,” said Deacon Stiles, 27, who grew up in Owatonna and belongs to St. Mark in St. Paul.

“There’s one part where he was elevating the Eucharist [during Mass], and I remember just being taken by that moment. There was something so beautiful about that, and I asked myself, ‘Can I do that?’ There was a desire welling up within me: I want to do that. I remember asking him after Mass, ‘What’s it like holding God in your hands each and every time you celebrate Mass?’”

Deacon Stiles wanted to know personally the answer to that question, and the first step was tasting life as a seminarian at SJV. Only one last detail needed to be taken care of before starting the school year — a physical examination.

What he thought would be a routine checkup revealed something abnormal: a high blood-sugar level. So, doctors followed up with more tests. Then, he got some bad news — he had diabetes.

No problem, he thought. He went to the rector of SJV at the time, Father Bill Baer, and asked if he still could join. Father Baer gave his approval, so long as

Deacon James Stiles

Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

Stiles could take care of his health.

“I thought I could learn how to manage the disease, as well as become a seminarian all at once,” he said. “I entered in and just couldn’t do it. I got too sick and had to leave. I had to take a whole semester off of school to be able to figure out how to live with this disease. It was a real cross at that time in my life.”

But, with a cross can come a blessing, and time

showed how God’s hand was at work, using that experience to reach into the soul of a man who was opening his heart to God’s plan.

“During this time, I was drawn closer to God,” Stiles said, “because as I was suffering through this, I reached out to God and was calling upon him and praying a whole lot more and really asking for help.”

Though he never made it back to SJV, he graduated from St. Thomas with degrees in philosophy and Catholic Studies near the end of 2010. Then, he got a job as a custodian at the St. Paul Seminary, which lasted for about five months.

That put him into contact with seminarians, and essentially sealed the deal. He applied to the seminary and started in the fall of 2011. He hasn’t looked back, and his diabetes has not caused a problem. In fact, he thinks having the disease may make him a better priest.

“I’ve got a sense of what it’s like to suffer with an illness, a chronic illness that doesn’t just go away when you wake up in the morning,” he said. “One of the toughest things about it is that you just have to, day by day, be patient and you have to learn to live with it.”

He now claims the disease is under control and his health is fine. With ordination just around the corner, he already is looking forward to his priestly ministry.

“I certainly think of celebrating Mass, the great joy that it will be to celebrate Mass,” he said. “I’m very excited to hear confessions, to be able to absolve people of their sins and participate in that gift of mercy.”

He also feels a strong call to evangelization, taking his cue from Pope Francis.

“There’s a great need in our time to spread the good news,” he said. “I think it’s hugely important that the priest be doing this. All that he says and does should be geared toward this mission of inviting people to Jesus Christ, [and] into the Church.”

Ordination• 19

May 21, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

For Anderson, childhood Bible jump-starts journey to priesthood

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit An accidental glance at a Bible atop a stack of cardboard moving boxes was the turning point in Jake Anderson’s spiritual life.

Now a transitional deacon, he was on a much different path in 2008, fresh out of college and ready to start a career in business management consulting in the Twin Cities.

He was moving into a new apartment in St. Paul the day before his employment was to start.

“I was unpacking all my boxes; I was by myself,” said Deacon Anderson, who spent a good chunk of his childhood near Baldwin, Wisconsin, and graduated from Franciscan University in Steubenville in May 2008. “All my stuff was laying everywhere. I was taking a little breather from moving, and I saw on my stack of books, my Bible. I had never actually picked up this Bible and read it personally up until that point. I got it for my first Communion.”

A thought flashed through his mind.

He remembered hearing people talk about opening up a Bible and randomly putting their finger down on a verse, then reading the verse to see if God had a message in it for them.

Anderson decided it was worth a try, so he pulled it open and let his finger do the walking. It landed on Luke 9:23, in which Jesus instructs those who would be his followers to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him.

“In that moment, it was as if Jesus had entered the room and was speaking those words to me off the page,” said Deacon Anderson, 29. “It was as if he was sitting there and saying, ‘Jake, if you want to be a Christian, if you want

Deacon Jake Anderson to be my disciple, I’m all or nothing.’ It was a simultaneous challenge, but with such a love that I was weeping when I read it. . . . In that moment, I realized that God was real.”

He decided to break open his Bible daily, and he credits the Word of God for eventually directing him toward the priesthood. He enjoyed his job and career, but wasn’t satisfied.

He eventually left his field and enrolled in the St. Paul Seminary to

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begin a path that will lead to his ordination to the priesthood on May 30, along with six other men.

As he imagines what it will be like being a priest, he reflects on one joyful priest he met shortly after that fateful moving day when he was 22.

“I started going to Mass at St. Olaf in downtown Minneapolis, the 7 a.m.

Mass,” said Deacon Anderson, who grew up Catholic but considered himself lukewarm to the faith

throughout his teens and early 20s.

“That’s where I met this priest who was a very big influence on me, Father Martin Fleming. I was always so struck with how he was . . . full of joy, loved Jesus and had a sense of humor.

“He had a big smile on his face and loved to preach the Gospel. That really was a great start to my day.”

Like others who pursue the priesthood, Deacon Anderson is drawn to the Eucharist and looks forward to being able to celebrate Mass and pray the prayer of consecration. He also enjoys spending time in the outdoors and hopes he will be able to continue a pastime that began when he spent time as a child hunting and fishing with his father, Mark.

He has gone way beyond those boyhood experiences and now bow hunts, even making his own bows.

However, he no longer is able to hunt with his father. Mark died from a fall down the basement stairs in September 2007. Jake was a senior in college at the time, and came home immediately after getting the news.

“Everything changes after something like that,” said Deacon Anderson, the fourth of 10 children. “I really shifted priorities in life and started thinking about things differently.”

That opened the door to receiving God’s Word a year later, when he decided to open his boyhood Bible. It also created the opportunity for the Holy Spirit to come alive in his life.

And, that is what led him to the priesthood.

“The Holy Spirit has been such an influence on my life of dispelling fear, of pouring love and encouragement in my heart,” he said. “You come alive where you once were stale.”

Congratulations Deacon Kyle Kowalczyk!

We rejoice with you in your ordination to the transitional diaconate.

We wish you many blessings as you continue your journey with Our Lord to your May 2016 ordination.

The Parishioners, Staff and Faculty of Saint Joseph’s Church and School of West Saint Paul, Minnesota

20 • Ordination

The Catholic Spirit • May 21, 2015

Former musician, relatively new Catholic, follows Christ into priesthood

By Bob Zyskowski The Catholic Spirit Byron Hagan’s self-described 10-year “journey of intellectual discovery” led him not only to join the Catholic Church, but also to seek to serve it as a priest.

The son of an Evangelical minister, he studied philosophy and theology “trying to find my place in Christianity,” Hagan said. “That path kept leading me closer and closer to the Catholic Church.”

He was received into the Church in 2006 (his two sisters followed him into the Church two years later) and shortly after began another journey that will culminate in his ordination as a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis May 30.

He grew up in upstate New York, the son of Morris and Wylodean Hagan, and pursued a career in music after high school. A pianist by profession, Hagan worked for years in Nashville and Los Angeles playing all kinds of music, he said.

Like others in the entertainment industry he confessed, “I had made an idol out of my career.”

Spending some time in St. Paul with a friend, he was impressed by the strength of the Catholic Studies program at the University of St. Thomas.

“By the time I moved to the Cities, priesthood was already on my heart,” Hagan said.

The priesthood wasn’t ready for him yet, however.

He had no college degree, so before he could enter the seminary he had to earn a bachelor’s degree.

Hagan majored in philosophy and Catholic Studies at St. Thomas, and, because he was older than traditional college-age men discerning the priesthood, a place was made for him to live at the Companions of Christ’s house near campus.

“I knew so little about priesthood in the concrete when I came into the Church,” Hagan said. “I began

Deacon Byron Hagan

Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

to realize the depth and beauty and seriousness of Catholicism . . . the bringing of redemption and light and curing us of sin.”

And he saw men who were good priests who were “putting flesh and blood on Christianity. The idea of priesthood began to take on a real attraction. I think that’s what’s at the heart of my vocation,” he said.

“I was taken by the way they were being priests and the way the ministry of the Gospel had completely defined them,” he added. “The priesthood had really

made them into the men they had always desired to be — really living a vocation and not just engaged in a profession.”

Hagan spent five years at the St. Paul Seminary, completing two masters degrees. Having had a career before entering the seminary, he said the only people older than him in class typically were the professors.

He’ll be ordained at age 45.

He credits people at his teaching parish, St. Vincent de Paul in Brooklyn Park, for helping him through challenges in learning to preach.

And, while he admires a number of living priests, he pointed to the late Jesuit Father John Hardon, writer of a popular post-Vatican II catechism and the Modern Catholic Dictionary, both major reference works, as a role model.

“He was a theologian and yet close to the people,” Hagan said. “That’s a model I find attractive and I’d like to emulate.”

During his seminary years, he said he has tried to keep up with his music and do a little composing as well. He enjoys contemporary classical music, jazz and American composers like Aaron Copeland and Phillip Glass, as well as Estonian Arvo Pärt, a modernist who Hagan said “has turned a lot of people on to sacred music.”

He added, “I haven’t given up music, just the profession of music.”

He described himself as “a Catholic Christian before I’m anything else” and said he’s come to priesthood “because I’m following Christ.”

Concerns about the priesthood that have made the news the past few years “are all the more reason for me to know why I’m doing what I’m doing,” Hagan said, “not to become a celebrated public figure, but to follow Christ — and not to expect an easier time than Christ had.”

Congratulations Fr. John Powers

We rejoice with you in your ordination to the holy priesthood and we wish you many blessings as you continue your journey with Our Lord.

St. Hubert Catholic Community Chanhassen, MN

Congratulations Fr. Peter Hughes and Fr. Bruno Nwachukwu

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Ordination• 21

May 21, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Parents of future priest say they don’t fit the mold

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit Tom and Lori McKenzie like to go to rock concerts and watch Minnesota Wild games, and they’re not sure they act much like the parents of a future priest.

“We don’t fit the stereotype of priests’ parents — whatever they think, we’re not that,” said Tom as the couple relaxed with a beer on the deck of their Maple Grove home on a recent May evening.

Their son, Deacon Thomas (T.J.) McKenzie, is one of seven men who will be ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis May 30 at the Cathedral of St. Paul.

It’s not clear whether Tom and Lori, members of St. Vincent de Paul in Brooklyn Park, are “typical” priest’s parents, but there’s no doubt they’ve been involved and supportive of their son and other seminarians at the St. Paul Seminary throughout his six years there.

In the process, the couple says they’ve grown in their own faith.

As ordination approaches, along with their daughter and two other sons, they look forward to having a priest in their close-knit family, though they doubt it will change much.

The McKenzies have few visible signs of the faith in their home, but they’ve tried to pass on lasting values, Tom said.

“In our house, we don’t have religious icons everywhere,” he said. “Doing the right thing and leading a good life were probably the most important things we

Congratulations Father Jake Anderson

he’ll be able to do more work through God’s hands in that realm and use more of his talents,” she said.

The McKenzies had no qualms about their son going to seminary, but they wanted to make sure he was ready.

Lori found peace at a seminary Mass during Deacon McKenzie’s first year. “Just being there with all those boys, hearing them singing, I just had this peace come over me that that was where he’s supposed to be,” she said. “I thought to myself that I’m giving him over to God.” Tom and Lori have learned from what their son shares about the faith. “We’re always learning something new,” Lori said. “Sometimes I don’t know if I’m holy enough to be a priest’s mom.”

Lori and Tom McKenzie pose with their son, Deacon T.J. McKenzie, upon his ordination to the transitional diaconate in May 2014. He’ll be ordained a priest for the archdiocese with six other men May 30 at the Cathedral of St. Paul. Photo courtesy of the McKenzies wanted to preach to the kids, and T.J. kind of followed that perfectly.”

When Deacon McKenzie was in grade school, Lori remembers bringing up the idea of priesthood.

“I think it was always in the back of his mind,” she said. “He had that calling, but it just wasn’t there yet.”

From the time their children were small, the couple encouraged them to find their calling, but didn’t force them, Tom said. “This is just kind of a natural

May God bless you as you begin your priestly ministry to God’s people in the Church!

From the parishioners of the Cathedral of Saint Paul

progression for [him].”

Deacon McKenzie’s sister, Cortney, who lives in Dayton, Ohio, said he was her first friend. “I definitely was in his shadow,” she said. “It made me a better person. I wouldn’t have asked for anything different.”

While considering seminary, Deacon McKenzie also applied to study physical therapy — also Cortney’s field.

“He would have been a great [physical therapist], but definitely being a priest

They often attend seminary liturgies and events, said Lori, who is known as “the cookie mom” because she brings treats. “We just wanted to be there and be involved with him.”

When the couple travels, they now explore Catholic churches. “Now, no matter where we are on either a Saturday night or a Sunday, we’ll find a church to go to,” Lori said, adding that they always pray for their son and seminarians.

In August, the future Father McKenzie will preside at his brother Riley’s wedding. “We expect that he’s going to have an awesome homily and will do a wonderful job at my brother’s wedding,” Cortney said.

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22 • Ordination

The Catholic Spirit • May 21, 2015

Masses of Thanksgiving The seven men who will be ordained to the priesthood on May 30 at the Cathedral of St. Paul will celebrate their Masses of Thanksgiving that weekend. The following are each of their Mass times and places, according to information the men supplied to The Catholic Spirit: Deacon Jake Anderson: St. Mary, River Falls, Wisconsin, 10:30 a.m. May 31.

Deacon Byron Hagan: St. Agnes, St. Paul, 10 a.m. May 31.

Deacon Peter Hughes: St. Paul, Ham Lake, 10:30 a.m. May 31.

Deacon T. J. McKenzie: Cathedral of St. Paul, St. Paul, 5 p.m. May 30.

Deacon Bruno Nwachukwu: St. Joseph, West St. Paul, 11 a.m. May 31.

Deacon John Powers: St. Hubert, Chanhassen, 10:30 a.m. May 31.

Deacon James Stiles: St. Charles Borromeo, St. Anthony, 10 a.m. May 31.

Members of the 2015 ordination class for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis are, from left, Deacons John Powers, T. J. McKenzie, Bruno Nwachukwu, Byron Hagan, James Stiles, Jake Anderson and Peter Hughes.

Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

The parishioners and families of Saint Agnes are grateful for your witness and service as a priest of Jesus Christ.

May God who has begun the good work in you bring it to fulfillment.

Congratulations Father Bruno Nwachukwu!

We rejoice with you in your ordination to the holy priesthood.

We wish you many blessings as you continue your journey with Our Lord beyond your May 2015 ordination.

The Parishioners, Staff and Faculty of Saint Joseph’s Church and School of West Saint Paul, Minnesota

Congratulations FATHER PETER HUGHES

FR. JAKE ANDERSON PHOTO

ON YOUR ORDINATION TO THE PRIESTHOOD

From the parishioners at your teaching parish

Maternity of the Blessed Virgin

To ADVERTISE in The Catholic Spirit call or Email our sales representatives Dick Martens The Catholic Spirit Phone: 651-251-7717 or Email: martensr@archspm.org

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on your and your fellow priests’ ordinations to the priesthood.

From St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Elko New Market

23

By Jessica Trygstad The Catholic Spirit

A statue of Mary is seen in 2011 outside St. James Church in Medjugorje, BosniaHerzegovina. CNS/Paul Haring

Faith is expressed in charity, unity, pope says at four religious sisters’ canonization Mass

Consecrated Life

Calling on Mary: Presentation Sisters look to the Blessed Mother in good times and bad

Sisters Michelle Meyers and Kay O’Neil, Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, begin and end each day with prayers for Mary’s intercession.

They rely on the Blessed Mother throughout the day, too.

“Our car runs on gas and Hail Marys,” Sister Kay said.

The sisters, former professors at St. Mary’s University of Minnesota in Winona who live in LeSueur and still present on peace and justice issues, see Mary as a role model for women of any age.

As a young girl, Sister Kay’s devotion to Mary included deal-making. When on the brink of adolescent trouble she would say, “Mary, if you get me out of this one . . . .”

But jokes aside, “From my childhood to my life as a Presentation Sister . . . Mary has always been there as mother of Jesus and one who helps me through a car crash, cancer, family alcoholism, and hope in my prayer and work for peace and justice,” said Sister Kay, who looked to her mother, “a strong woman,” to get to know Mary as a strong woman.

Sister Michelle has childhood memories of praying the rosary with her family and also credits her mother with teaching her about Mary.

“I certainly learned it [devotion to Mary] from my mother. She really relied on Mary,” she said. “But Sister Kay O’Neil (left) and Sister Michelle our sisters, too, have a strong devotion to Mary.”

Meyers are Sisters of the Presentation of That devotion is part of what attracted Sister the Blessed Virgin Mary of Aberdeen, Michelle to the Presentation Sisters’ congregation.

South Dakota. They live in LeSueur. Photo One of Sister Michelle’s favorite titles is Mary, courtesy the Presentation Sisters Queen of Peace because she said she strives “to be a peaceful person and live in a peaceful environment.” Sister Michelle is an active member of Pax Christi USA, a national organization working for peace and justice.

In her interactions with non-Catholics, Sister Kay said she realizes how blessed Catholics are to have Mary, whom the Church especially honors each May. “Protestants don’t have that strong woman in their tradition, so it’s been fun to share her with others,” she said.

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Catholic News Service Declaring four 19th-century women religious saints, Pope Francis said they are models for all Christians of how faith, nourished in prayer, is expressed concretely in acts of charity and the promotion of unity.

The new saints, proclaimed during a Mass May 17 in St. Peter’s Square, included two Palestinians — Sts. MarieAlphonsine, founder of the Rosary Sisters, and Mary of Jesus Crucified, a Melkite Carmelite — as well as French St. Jeanne Emilie de Villeneuve and Italian St. Maria Cristina Brando.

Speaking about St. Mary of Jesus Crucified, the pope said, “Her docility to the Holy Spirit made her a means of encounter and fellowship with the Muslim world.

“So, too, Sister Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas came to understand clearly what it means to radiate the love of God in the apostolate, and to be a witness to meekness and unity. She shows us the importance of becoming responsible for one another, of living lives of service one to another.”

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24

Memorial Day

A place for Gary: Volunteers celebrate life of homeless man they call friend, prepare proper burial for the Vietnam War veteran

By Jessica Trygstad The Catholic Spirit If not for a group of dedicated volunteers at the Dorothy Day Center’s overflow shelter in downtown St. Paul, Gary Smith likely wouldn’t have been commemorated at the end of his life.

When Smith, 69, died Jan. 15 from a heart attack, Steve Hawkins and other men from parishes throughout the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis worked diligently to ensure that the Vietnam War veteran would receive a proper memorial and burial. Smith had been a guest of the overflow shelter since it opened in 2010.

Along with the other volunteers, Hawkins, a parishioner of St. John Neumann in Eagan, spends nights with the homeless men at the shelter, providing meals and companionship. Some welcomed Smith to their homes for the holidays. Others drove him to medical appointments and the grocery store. “[Smith] was one of those guys who, without exception, every volunteer got to know,” Hawkins said. “And that was apparent when

we held the memorial service for him following his death. The comments from volunteers were very touching. This was a homeless man who had nothing to give but his own love.”

Before the Feb. 7 memorial service at the shelter, Hawkins and the others began looking into Smith’s history in order to plan a proper service. They weren’t aware of any family members or connection to the Twin Cities.

“He joked that the Cities was all the farther his money could have gotten him,” Hawkins said. “Even speaking with his social worker, Gary tried very hard not to be found. He had no driver’s license, and he didn’t register with the VA [U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs]. He was quietly trying to be unseen and unobserved.”

Hawkins learned of Smith’s death when he went to pick him up from the apartment he was able to get with help from the volunteers.

When Hawkins arrived, he found out Smith had been taken to the hospital, where he died after a heart attack. Because social workers were unable to locate family, the hospital released Smith’s body to the volunteers, who had his body

GREEN LINE

From left, volunteers Greg Eaton of St. Thomas Becket in Eagan, Paul Stoll, Mike Flynn of St. Cecilia in St. Paul and John Bromen of St. John Neumann in Eagan pose with the cremated remains of Gary Smith, a homeless man whom they befriended before he died of a heart attack Jan. 15. Not pictured is Steve Hawkins of St. John Neumann, who helped organize the volunteers to do a memorial service for Smith.

Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit cremated.

“Having grown to be close friends with him, we couldn’t envision his body going anywhere else,” Hawkins said. “It was never a question. We would see to it that he had a reasonable burial regardless of cost.”

Their next step was deciding where Smith should be buried. From

GREEN LINE

their conversations with him, they knew he had served in Vietnam.

Hawkins said one of the few pieces of clothing Smith kept was an embroidered Air Force sweatshirt.

“He probably spoke more about his time in the service than any other part of his life,” Hawkins said.

Continued on the next page

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“Because all of us believe and understand in the fabric of the common bond of why we call ourselves American is to care for the men and women who wear the uniform; and when they take off the uniform, we care for them when they are veterans.

“That is what you have done for Gary. You Gary SMITH have cared for him, nurtured him, watched over him and provided what every veteran needs most, friendship. For that, I and every veteran thanks you.”

“He would have been thrilled to know that a colonel showed up for his eulogy,” Hawkins said.

“I did what I think any service member would have done,” Clyborne said. “Truly, the Dorothy Day volunteers are incredible. You could just tell that these were people who cared, who truly believed in the dignity and respect

of all humans.”

Clyborne said that, unfortunately, there are a lot of veterans who are homeless for various reasons, the vast majority “caught within a cycle that’s hard to break.”

“I feel it’s an unspoken contract that society has broken with veterans,” she said. “We have an obligation to take care of them when they come home. It’s sad to see veterans who never got the thank-you and never got the welcome. It’s because of Gary that my generation is getting the help it needs.”

A consolation for Clyborne is the fact that Smith found a common bond and friendships within the homeless community.

“It’s a different kind of family, but it’s a family nonetheless,” she said.

The volunteers were ready to arrange Smith’s burial at Fort Snelling when they learned he had a son, Jason Williams, who lives in Philadelphia and has two children.

Hawkins was able to connect with him and was pleased to learn that Williams recalled his father fondly.

“Steve has shared with me how many lives my dad touched while in Minnesota for the past five years,” Williams said. “Hearing this brings me such pleasure to know that by someone helping my dad he has been able to touch other lives. It has truly been a ripple effect.”

Hawkins said Smith’s family and friends in Philadelphia had heard

nothing from or about him in the last five years until the volunteers called to notify them of his death.

“It has truly been a very difficult time for me ever since then and continues to be,” Williams said.

“Yet, I am able to find peace in the fact that Steve was there for my dad until the very last moment of his life and after.”

Williams will plan his dad’s interment in Philadelphia. Until then, a volunteer retains Smith’s ashes. Hawkins said many of the volunteers plan to attend the burial.

Memorial Day

Hawkins connected with Col. Johanna Clyborne, a Shakopee attorney and commander of the 347th Regional Support Group of the Minnesota Army National Guard. Clyborne, the daughter of a Vietnam War veteran, agreed to help Hawkins navigate through military legalities. They wanted to have Smith buried in Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis.

“No service member should have to journey alone,” said Clyborne, who attends St. Hubert in Chanhassen. “It’s a brother-andsister-in-arms thing. You never want to leave anyone behind. I wanted to recognize the sacrifices he made.”

After obtaining Smith’s discharge paperwork, Clyborne had to solve the mystery of where he came from and what he did. She learned that Smith was from Manhattan, New York, and entered the Air Force in 1965 at age 20. He served as a communications specialist during the Vietnam War and left active duty in 1969. As a staff sergeant, his awards included the National Defense Service Ribbon, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, the Air Force Good Conduct Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, and the Air Force Outstanding Award with One Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster.

At Smith’s memorial service,

which Catholic Charities CEO Tim Marx attended with about 60 of Smith’s friends, Clyborne gave the eulogy. After quoting John F. Kennedy’s call not to utter words, but to live by them, Clyborne shared this with those who mourned Smith:

“I personally cannot wait to meet the many men that were so instrumental in “It’s a different kind of touching so many people’s lives, family, but it’s a family especially that of my father,” nonetheless.”

Williams said. “My dad was truly Col. Johanna Clyborne blessed to have them in his life, as am I. It brings me such joy knowing there are people out there so caring and so passionate to make a difference in people’s lives. I am forever grateful to these men for all that they have done for my father and for me. I truly do thank God for the support, love and thoughtfulness they have bestowed upon my father and so many others.”

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Memorial Day

26

Memorial Day Masses planned at cemeteries in the archdiocese Calvary Cemetery

753 Front Ave., St. Paul 10 a.m. rain or shine with celebrant Father Kevin McDonough of St. Peter Claver and Sagrado Corazón de Jesús.

T Trojack Law Office, P.A. • Guardianships • Powers of Attorney • Wills • Conservatorships • Health Care Directives • Trusts • Probate

We offer tailor-made, client-focused estate planning and related services from a Catholic Perspective

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Trojack Law Office, P.A. • 1549 Livingston Ave., Ste. 101 • W. St. Paul, MN 55118

Phone: 651.451.9696 • www.TrojackLaw.com

Gethsemane Cemetery

8151 42nd Ave. N., New Hope 10 a.m. rain or shine with celebrant Bishop Lee Piché of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

• Honor Guard, 4th Degree Knights of Columbus • American Legion Post No. 251 • Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 494

Resurrection Cemetery

2101 Lexington Ave. S., Mendota Heights 10 a.m. rain or shine with celebrant Archbishop Emeritus Harry Flynn of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

• Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 6690 • American Legion, Hamline Post No. 418

St. Anthony’s Cemetery

2729 Central Ave. NE, Minneapolis 10 a.m. rain or shine with celebrant Father Earl Simonson of St. Clement.

• 4th Degree Knights of Columbus Good Shepherd Assembly, Fridley

St. Mary’s Cemetery

4403 Chicago Ave., Minneapolis 10 a.m. rain or shine with celebrant Father Joseph Gillespie, OP, of St. Albert the Great.

• Knights of Columbus Council No. 435 • American Legion Post 345 • 1st & 2nd Minnesota Volunteers For more information, visit www.catholic-cemeteries.org.

There is so much more online!

Full calendar of events, Catholic Hotdish blog, photos, videos and archive.

May 21, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

2014-2015 To order: please send check for $35 (includes shipping & handling) to:

Subscription Department • c/o The Catholic Spirit • 244 Dayton Ave. • St. Paul, MN 55102

27

Sharon Perkins

Share gifts, share the joy About 15 years ago, my dad traveled to Brazil on business and, while there, he purchased a beautiful gold and aquamarine necklace for my mother. It was stunning. We all admired it when she opened the gift on Christmas morning, after which my sister and I began the usual good-natured jokes about which one of us would inherit the piece.

Much to our surprise, however, mom never wore the necklace in public. Instead, she announced a few months later that she had sold it and was using the proceeds to fund a four-day vacation — four adult children, spouses and all eight

grandkids — to a beach in Florida. It turned out to be a wonderful time of family bonding and the beginning of an annual tradition that we observe to this day.

Mom could have kept the necklace in a drawer and brought it out on those relatively rare occasions that called for a little extra bling. But she realized that such an extravagant gift was better shared, and it was in the sharing of it that she took the greatest delight.

Each of us receives a magnanimous gift from God, bestowed first on the day of our baptism and then strengthened on the day of our confirmation. It’s the gift of that same Spirit that Jesus

breathed on his disciples in the upper room and so lavishly poured out at Pentecost.

But it was plain that God’s gift was not private property to be hoarded. Jesus told them, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you,” and he clearly intended for the power of his Spirit to be the means of mercy and forgiveness — or, as the psalmist proclaims, to “renew the face of the earth.”

I think that as much as my dad delighted in buying that necklace for my mom, and as much as he would have enjoyed seeing her wear it, he could not have foreseen its greater benefit for the entire family or the many wonderful memories that were created as a result.

But his generosity was amplified because my mother didn’t limit his largesse. Rather, she found a way to multiply both its value and her joy.

This Catholic News Service column is offered in cooperation with the North Texas Catholic of Fort Worth, Texas.

Sunday, May 24

CNS

Focus on Faith

SUNDAY SCRIPTURES

Pentecost Sunday Readings

• Acts 2:1-11 • 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 • John 20:19-23

Reflection Have you ever received a gift that was intended for yourself but which you, in turn, shared with others?

How was its benefit multiplied, and what was its effect on you?

DAILY Scriptures Sunday, May 24 Pentecost Sunday Acts 2:1-11 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 John 20:19-23 Monday, May 25 St. Bede the Venerable, priest, doctor of the Church; St. Gregory VII, pope; St. Mary Magdalene de’Pazzi, virgin Sirach 17:20-24 Mark 10:17-21

Tuesday, May 26 St. Philip Neri, priest Sirach 35:1-12 Mark 10:28-31 Wednesday, May 27 St. Augustine of Canterbury, bishop Sirach 36:1, 4-5a, 10-17 Mark 10:32-45 Thursday, May 28 Sirach 42:15-25 Mark 10:46-52

Friday, May 29 Sirach 44:1, 9-13 Mark 11:11-26 Saturday, May 30 Sirach 51:12cd-20 Mark 11:27-33 Sunday, May 31 The Most Holy Trinity Deuteronomy 4:32-34, 39-40 Romans 8:14-17 Matthew 28:16-20

SEEKING ANSWERS Father Kenneth Doyle

Living closer to God; divorced woman wants to become Catholic Q. I am a freshman in high school.

I believe in God and in the Christian way of life, but I do have a question.

How does God influence our lives, and how can one have a closer relationship with him? I want to depend on God for the decisions I make in my life, but many people say that they can live independently, without God. I only want to know the truth.

A. You are to be congratulated — and envied. To have come to understand at a young age that your daily existence depends on the providence of the Lord and that God’s will offers the best chance at a happy life is something of a rarity. (One might think this to be a self-evident truth that

ought to be grasped readily, but many people take many years to incorporate it into their thinking.)

As you move through your teenage years, you will surely draw even closer to God — by seeking to align your desires with the will of God. The Lord does influence our lives in several ways: in the inner comfort and guidance we feel during quiet times and in prayer; with advice from trusted friends and mentors; and in the opportunities he provides, through the ever-changing circumstances of our lives.

Q. I am a 68-year-old woman and am seriously considering converting to Catholicism. But I have been married more than once, have now been divorced for 11 years and, prior

Monday, June 1 St. Justin, martyr Tobit 1:3; 2:1b-8 Mark 12:1-12 Tuesday, June 2 Ss. Marcellinus and Peter, martyrs Tobit 2:9-14 Mark 12:13-17

Wednesday, June 3 St. Charles Lwanga and Companions, martyrs Tobit 3:1-11a, 16-17a Mark 12:18-27

Saturday, June 6 St. Norbert, bishop Tobit 12:1, 5-15, 20 Mark 12:38-44

Thursday, June 4 Tobit 6:10-11; 7:1 bcde, 9-17; 8:4-9a Mark 12:28-34 Friday, June 5 St. Boniface, bishop, martyr Tobit 11:5-17 Mark 12:35-37

to the divorce, was separated for 10 years.

I was exposed to Catholicism at an early age (when the service was in Latin), and I remember many of the prayers. Now I read online that I cannot become a Catholic because I am divorced. Is that true? If it is a sin to divorce, I thought that Jesus forgives those who sin. I feel that, although my life has been difficult, I am at the same time very blessed. I really need to know what I can do to become a Catholic, or is it an impossible desire?

A. Your question is a complicated one, and the answer, which I learned when I consulted a canon lawyer, surprised even me. My top-of-the-head response would have been that, since you are not currently married, you would be free to become a Catholic.

But what I learned was this: Since you entered into a second marriage while you may still have had an existing marital bond, under the Church’s current legislation, this would present an obstacle to your entrance into the Catholic Church.

Remember that the Catholic Church recognizes, as valid, marriages that take place when two people exchange consent according to the norms of their

Sunday, June 7 The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) Exodus 24:3-8 Hebrews 9:11-15 Mark 14:12-16, 22-26

own faith traditions. So presumptively your first marriage “counted” and precluded you, in the Catholic Church’s eyes, from entering into a second marriage.

The Church is guided by the words of Jesus on the indissolubility of marriage, found in Matthew 19:6: “Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” Divorce itself is not necessarily sinful.

(Sometimes a divorce happens with virtually no responsibility on the part of one of the spouses.) What is prohibited is a second marriage while a previous bond still exists.

What you should do is talk with a priest about the circumstances of your first marriage. It may be that your first spouse is already deceased, in which case there would be no obstacle; or perhaps your first spouse was a Catholic who married outside the Church, which would be grounds for nullity.

So it could be that your way is clear to seek entrance into the Catholic faith, but I would need to know more about the circumstances of your first marriage.

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

May 21, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

This Catholic Life • Commentary

28 GUEST COMMENTARY Father Michael Byron

To be Catholic is to take care of the vulnerable Editor’s note: The following article appeared in the Catholic Cemeteries’ spring 2015 “Heritage” newsletter.

The first time I became smitten with cemeteries was while I was an undergraduate at St. John’s University in Collegeville. There on a gorgeous sloped hill to the west of the lake was the cemetery where the monks had been buried for generations, marked with simple gray granite stones. I found it a marvelous place of bringing life back to earth.

My grandparents died a few years later while I was in seminary.

It was the first time in my life that

I lost immediate family, and I was particularly grieved about my grandmother, to whom I was very close. I was about 25 years old at the time and my grief seemed way out of proportion. I couldn’t shake it. Then I took a trip by myself to the Catholic cemetery in Rochester where my grandmother was buried. I cried for half an hour at the grave, and then it was OK. That visit was an absolute catharsis for me; I came to realize how important the cemetery was.

Catholics take very seriously the realm of the tangible and the physical. There’s something about a physical space like a Catholic

FAITH IN THE PUBLIC ARENA Jason Adkins

In politics, make appeals, not demands In a 2012 retreat to Caritas aid workers, then-Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (Pope Francis) told those present that truth is like a precious stone: Offer it in your hand, and it draws others to you; hurl it at someone, and it causes injury.

Such important wisdom could be an important part of an examination of conscience. How often have we fallen prey to the temptation to use the beautiful truths passed down to us by the Catholic faith as a weapon against others to vindicate our (self) righteousness?

The same wisdom applies in politics. Bringing faith into the public arena requires all of us to properly balance a hunger and thirst for justice with the reality that democracy requires citizens and advocates to persuade legislators of the prudence of their proposals.

Yet, too often, because of our impatience or lack of respect for others, we make demands and hurl epithets when we should be presuming the good will of the listener and appealing to their reason, ideals and natural sense of justice. We dismiss the fact that no one was born with all the answers, and that seeing an issue from a

May 21, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

new viewpoint takes a lot of work and, often, a change of heart.

When we ignore this reality and attack the integrity of others, we may make ourselves feel good, or appease those who look to us for leadership (and we may even be right). But most often, we build walls of resentment instead of bridges of dialogue.

Building walls around the heart There were two concrete examples during the 2015 legislative session of the imprudence of making demands: felon voter restoration and driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants.

Though voter restoration legislation has been around for almost a decade, an extremely diverse, bi-partisan coalition galvanized around this issue in the last year and gave it strong

cemetery that is sacred to us. It is irreplaceable. Catholics and all people need these spaces and holy sites that we can claim as our own.

Cemeteries, like parishes, can offer powerful opportunities for evangelization at times of death and at times of remembrance. A death draws people to us, even those who are not part of our faith.

Maybe they have drifted away from the Church or left in anger, or perhaps religion has not been a part of their life experience. No matter what the case, a funeral and burial are one time people come to us openly, hungering for something — not for doctrine or an evaluation of the deceased’s life, but for comfort, compassion, hope and help.

I taught theology at the St. Paul Seminary for 15 years before I came to St. Pascal’s a few years ago.

It’s an older parish, and there are 60 to 70 funerals a year. When I arrived, I was concerned that I didn’t have a history with the parishioners, nor did I know them well. But I came to realize that at times of sorrow, I didn’t have to know them well to do my job. The

funeral rites are the time to talk about God’s understanding and how God rises to the forefront when we need him most. It became a great lesson for me.

momentum. Recognizing that Republican support would be necessary for an elections-related bill that had historically been sponsored by Democrats, the coalition took a new approach of trying to explain the issue through considerations that would be compelling for conservative and religious Republicans.

The result of presuming an open mind among all legislators, even if someone was opposed in the past, was that the bill got off to an extremely promising start with Republicans signing on as seven of the 10 Senate sponsors, along with more than a dozen House Republicans signing on to the companion bill. The Restore the Vote effort was looking to be a symbol of bi-partisan cooperation.

When things got stalled, however, and partisanship started emerging, many supporters and groups became frustrated, and their tactics reflected as much.

Instead of appealing to the good will and shared values of those undecided or those who were opponents, some supporters embraced more confrontational tactics (sit-ins, shadowing legislators) and messaging, in the hope that displays of “power,” angry rhetoric, condemnations and name-calling would shame people into moving the legislation forward.

Clearly, those tactics, especially when employed by self-described

people of faith, did little more than harden hearts and weaken support.

In the desire to “speak truth to power,” the legislative effort failed.

A similar fate awaited the immigrant driver’s license legislation. The legislative campaign rightly underscored the obvious road safety benefits of the proposal, both for immigrants and all Minnesotans. It advanced farther than many expected because it was a bi-partisan effort and addressed a real problem that was harming immigrants and their families.

But again, some advocates refused to actually listen to and take seriously the reasonable concerns of many legislators about ensuring that the license was used for driving privileges only. This prevented advocates from getting broader support. And when there was resistance, or when the proposal was not immediately embraced, counterproductive tactics and condemnations of racism hardened the hearts and fueled the suspicions of those on the fence, dooming the legislation.

This critique is not meant to deny that racism may have, in some cases, actually played a part in thwarting these very good bills.

Nor is it to deny that some structures of sin are so bad as to warrant demands for justice or a communication to legislators that they will be held accountable for their decisions.

But as a general matter, success in the public arena occurs not when advocates demand, intimidate and insult, but when they appeal to hearts and minds.

On the web Read more about the Minnesota Catholic Conference’s efforts during the 2015 legislative session which ended May 18 at www.thecatholicspirit.com.

It has been a privilege for me to preside at Resurrection Cemetery’s annual Mass of remembrance each Christmas season for the past 10 years. The service brings together as many as 175 people who have lost loved ones who are buried or entombed at Resurrection. I rarely know anyone there, nor do I know the stories that bring us together.

But the Catholic faith that fills the chapel and the shared experience of grief create an intimate sense of community and comfort.

How we respond in these sacred moments is pivotal. To be Catholic is to take care of people when they are vulnerable. That is what our hospitality is all about. That is what our faith is all about — bringing the messages of hope, joy, reconciliation and life to those who need them most.

Father Byron is pastor of St. Pascal Baylon in St. Paul.

Adkins is executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference.

29 Music and entertainment

Parish events Perennial plant sale — May 30: 9 a.m.–noon at St. Rita Church, 8694 80th St. S., Cottage Grove. Sponsored by St. Rita’s Mission Outreach Commission.

Rummage sale — June 4-5: 9 a.m.–8 p.m. June 4, and 9 a.m.– 1 p.m. June 5 (bag day) at St. George Church, 133 N. Brown Road, Long Lake. Proceeds help support parish’s many charities. For information, call (952) 473-1247.

Rummage sale — June 11-13: 8 a.m.–8 p.m. June 11 with $5 early shopper admission from 8 a.m.–noon; 8 a.m.–8 p.m.

June 12 with 50 percent off sale; 8 a.m.–noon June 13 (bag day) at Annunciation School, 525 W. 54th St., Minneapolis (54th and Lyndale Ave. S.). Enter through south door of school building. Use south parking lot.

Rummage sale — June 11-13: 8 a.m. –6 p.m. June 11, 8 a.m.–6 p.m. June 12 and 8 a.m.–noon June 13 at St. Vincent de Paul Church, 9100 93rd Ave. N., Brooklyn Park.

Prayer and liturgy Annual All-City Charismatic Pentecost Mass — May 24: 3 p.m., Immaculate Conception Church, 4030 Jackson St. NE, Columbia Heights. Bishop Lee Piché principal celebrant.

Sponsored by Catholic Charismatic Renewal Office. Praise and worship begins at 2 p.m. Information: ww.ccro-msp.org or (763) 571-5314.

50th anniversary celebration for Father Pat Casey — May 31: 2 p.m. at the Chapel of the Presentation of Our Lady (CSJ Chapel), 1890 Randolph Ave., St. Paul. A reception will follow from 3–5 p.m.

65th anniversary celebration for Father Clayton Haberman — June 7: 10 a.m. Mass at Divine Mercy Church, 139 Mercy Drive, Faribault. A social with light lunch will follow Mass.

Retreats Sisters Inter-community “Joy of the Gospel” Retreat — June 5-12 and June 12-19: at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. Presented by King’s House preaching team. $425 suggested offering ($50 deposit per person required).

Summer Silent Directed Retreat — June 22-28: At Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center, 16385 St. Francis Lane, Prior Lake.

Directors include Father Jim Van Dorn, OFM Conv., Kris Joseph, Debbie Koop and Corrine Kindschy. Details and reservations: (952) 447-2182 or Secretary@FranciscanRetreats.net.

Schools St. Helena School benefit golf tournament — June 6: 4-person, 9-hole scramble, Hiawatha Golf Course. $55 per player ($35 juniors), includes lunch and cart. Information: Krysta Niznick (612) 709-6467 or krystaniznick@comcast.net.

Holy Family Academy golf fundraiser — June 15: 10:30 a.m. shotgun start, Brookview Golf Course, 200 Brookview Parkway, Golden Valley. Information: www.hfamn.org or (952) 925-9193.

Workshops “Understanding the Refugee/Immigrant Experience” from a Holocaust survivor — May 31: 1–2:30 p.m. at the Benedictine Center, 2675 Benet Road, Maplewood. A free-will offering will be accepted. For more information, contact (651) 777-7251 or benedictinecenter@stpaulsmonastery.org.

Young adults

Calendar

“Anne of Green Gables” — June 3-5: 7 p.m. each day, plus 2 p.m. June 4. Catholic homeschool group theater performance, SS. Peter and Paul Gym, 145 Railway St., Loretto. Free-will offering. Information: www.facebook.com/homeschoolss or (612) 730-5258.

Hymn Festival — June 1: 7–8 p.m., St. Bartholomew Church, 630 E. Wayzata Blvd., Wayzata. Celebration of publication of “We Contemplate the Mystery,” second volume of hymn texts by Father Michael Joncas. Free. Information: Richard Clarke at (962) 745-44567 or rclarke@st-barts.org.

Outdoor sports night — every Friday evening through September: 6 p.m. to dark at Rahn Park in Eagan. Ultimate frisbee, volleyball, soccer and other games. Ages 18 to 39 are welcome. Begin and end each night with prayer, continue fellowship at a nearby restaurant afterward.

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

Summer safety fair — May 31:1–3 p.m. in the lower parking lot at Guardian Angels Church, 8260 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. For more information, visit www.guardian-angels.org.

More events online The CatholicSpirit. com

CALENDAR submissions DEADLINE: Noon Thursday, 14 days before the anticipated Thursday date of publication. Recurring or ongoing events must be submitted each time they occur.

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

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

• Full street address of event.

• Description of event.

• Contact information in case of questions. EMAIL: spiritcalendar@archspm.org.

(No attachments, please.)

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

Human and Natural Ecology:

Anticipating Pope Francis’ New Encyclical on the Environment

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

FREE &

Open to the Public

7:30 p.m.

James B. Woulfe Alumni Hall

John L. Allen Jr. is associate editor at the Boston Globe covering the Vatican and the Church through its new Catholic division, Crux. He also serves as senior Vatican analyst for CNN, and was for 16 years a correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter. He’s the author of nine books on the Vatican and Catholic affairs, and is also a popular speaker on Catholic affairs both in the United States and internationally. Veteran religion writer Kenneth Woodward of Newsweek described Allen as “the journalist other reporters – and not a few cardinals – look to for the inside story on how all the pope’s men direct the world’s largest church.”

Sponsored by: USCCB • Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace • The Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity’s Center for Theological Formation • Center for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas

May 21, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

30

At parish, speaker explains risks, impact of elder financial exploitation

By Jennifer Janikula For The Catholic Spirit U.S. seniors lose more than $2.9 billion every year to greedy financial predators, said Iris Freeman, co-founder and president of the Minnesota Elder Justice Center, who presented at Holy Name of Jesus in Medina April 21.

In most cases, these predators are not strangers with Iris elaborate schemes; FREEMAN rather, they are family members, caregivers or trusted advisors, explained Freeman, who meets with community groups, geriatric professionals and public officials to explain the risks and impact of elder financial exploitation.

“We need to act and stop elder abuse because it takes away the safety and

security of people’s dreams,” Freeman said. “I want people to be aware of the warning signs, so if someone you know is at risk, you can take steps to intervene in these very complicated, but commonplace situations.”

To help attendees understand what financial exploitation looks like, Freeman showed attendees a video clip (link on words “video clip”: http:// elderjusticemn.org/hello-world/) describing a case from Duluth in which an elderly woman’s son used more than $100,000 of her savings to purchase a truck and other personal items instead of paying for her long-term care.

The case, in which the perpetrator was a police officer, highlights the fact that even well-respected community members and family members pose a threat to vulnerable older adults.

The Minnesota Elder Justice Center defines financial exploitation as “acquiring possession or control of a vulnerable adult’s funds or property

through pressure, deception or fraud.”

In the most notorious cases, perpetrators include sons, daughters, paid caregivers, religious leaders, financial advisors and “sweethearts.”

In other cases, strangers target older adults with a variety of scams involving health care fraud, identity theft, bogus contests and prizes, and phony charities and business opportunities.

Larry Gleason, a parishioner at Holy Name of Jesus since 1982, attended the event to learn how to protect himself and his wife from financial exploitation.

“I appreciate the importance of this issue,” Gleason said. “It’s a big thing to be concerned about.”

Gleason said he was surprised and saddened to learn people need to be aware of the motives of their family members.

Experts predict a steady increase in elder financial exploitation cases as baby boomers move into their 70s and

For more information about elder financial exploitation, visit www. elderjusticemn.org, or contact the Minnesota Elder Justice Center at (651) 695-7646.

80s. Adults become more vulnerable as they age due to losses of cognitive function, hearing and sight.

The impact of financial loss from exploitation can be devastating for those who have a limited ability to earn money to recover lost savings. Large financial losses often lead to depression and other health issues, and financial dependence on family or public resources.

Freeman explained that like most crimes, financial exploitation “thrives in silence.” She encouraged everyone to share their new knowledge by having conversations about potential threats with their loved ones.

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Sr. Rita Marie Bonneprise, CSJ Sister Rita Marie Bonneprise, CSJ, passed away quietly at Villa St. Vincent in Crookston, MN May 4, 2015.

Born January 10, 1029 to Joseph and Matilda (Kromrey) in Osceola, WI, Rita grew up in Osceola with siblings Joan, John, and Ben and attended St. Joseph’s Academy in Crookston, MN where she graduated in 1946.

Rita entered the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1946 and received the religious name of Sr. Mary Michael. She pronounced her First Vows in 1948 and Final Vows in 1951.

Between 1949 and 2000, Sr. Mary Michael taught and administered in 7 schools including St. Joseph’s in West St. Paul, St. Joan of Arc, Minneapolis, and St. Richard’s in Richfield. She returned to her baptismal name; when new ministry options opened up, she took on pastoral ministry to the Hmong Community in St. Paul and later worked with the elderly at Marian Care Center in St. Paul.

Sr. Rita Marie is survived by the Sisters of St. Joseph, a sister, Joan (Jerry) Felling of Osceola, WI; brothers John Bonneprise of Osceola, and Ben (Evelyn) Bonneprise of Tucson, AZ; niece, Rita McKee of Rochester, MN; and many nieces, nephews, relatives and friends. Her parents preceded her in death.

The Mass of Resurrection was celebrated for Sr. Rita Marie at the Villa St. Vincent Chapel in Crookston, MN on May 11, 2015. On May 20, 2015, a Burial Mass was celebrated on Assumption Church in Farmington, WI. Interment followed in the family plot in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Farmington.

Memorials may be sent to the Congregation of St. Joseph, Mission Advancement Office, 3134 Hundred Oaks Ave., Baton Rouge, LA 70808-1541

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By Betsy Kneepkens For The Catholic Spirit Jesus’ incarnation proclaimed that matter matters. If we could step out of creation and let go of our inclinations, I believe we could easily see the mastery of our created universe — a harmony ordered by our Creator, with a diversity that tickles our intellect and a purpose that points us to him.

Humankind has an obligation to study the purpose of all creation.

There is a sacredness to respecting God’s plan, which calls us to adore and not repurpose his design solely to feed our desires. When we seek exclusively to satisfy our urges, we become misaligned with what God intended — and that act of change negatively affects the greater whole, even if we are not directly aware of the implications.

Sadly, our fallen nature beckons us to rationalize our self-driven choices. This causes the breakdown of the harmony that our Creator gifted us. The lynchpin of creation is the human person. Like nothing else earthly, our bodies and soul reveal the deepest understanding of the nature of our Creator, in whose image and likeness we are made. Consequently, nothing points us further away from God than acts that physically reject our purpose, and nothing reveals our misdirection away from our Creator more distinctly than a misuse of our bodies.

That is why the meaning of human sexuality is central to our relationship with our Creator. He carefully crafted our bodies so that we may know, love and serve him.

All parts of the human body are complete in their function, like eyes to see and ears to hear.

However, the parts of our anatomy that allow a male and female to be one are incomplete without the other. This intimate union between a male and female is a sacramental act of completeness that gifts humanity with an opportunity to know God as a communion of persons.

The meaning of human sexually is our way of knowing God intimately on earth. As God reveals himself in all of creation, he is revealed most particularly and clearly in the completeness that is provided by the union of male and female.

Christ came in the flesh so that we could experience God and trust that his love for us is real and tangible. Our understanding of the matter that makes us, both male and female, is his greatest teaching instrument of all.

Kneepkens is director of the Office of Marriage and Family Life in the Diocese of Duluth.

Sexual purity in dating helped Dan and Sarah Driver, pictured here on their wedding day in June 2014, to make God the center of their married life and be open to children, they said. Courtesy Dan Driver

Couple’s purity in dating becomes fruitfulness in marriage

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit Dan and Sarah Driver come from polar opposite backgrounds: She grew up in a strong Catholic family in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and never left the faith, while he received less Catholic formation in Reading, England, and then adopted a hedonistic lifestyle until his conversion.

“Dan’s conversion was pretty radical,” Sarah said. “Mine was ‘I still love Jesus and now I love him more.’”

When the couple started dating in 2013, they didn’t meet in the middle but in the Church, each bringing insights from their past to their understanding of Catholic teaching on marriage.

Now married, they say Christ is at the center of their sacramental union giving them the grace to be faithful to each other and open to life.

Practicing natural family planning has helped them grow in intimacy, communicate better and gain greater knowledge of their bodies.

Parishioners of All Saints in Minneapolis, the Drivers also see the recent birth of their first child, Athanasius, representing a beautiful new part of a great adventure of living with the Lord.

The Drivers met while working at West St. Paul based-NET Ministries. Because of the organization’s dating policy, they waited a year and a half to date and then set clear boundaries for intimacy in their relationship.

Setting boundaries “was really key to maintaining the values we knew intellectually and living them out,” said Dan, 29.

As the relationship progressed from dating to engagement, they entrusted more to each other.

Dan had received grace since his conversion more than seven years ago, he said, but still needed healing for past sexual relationships.

“There’s a great intimacy there that is based on my woundedness,” he said. “Because of that, communication is free around everything else, because everything else pales in significance to her bearing a cross with me, and carrying me when I’m carrying my cross.”

Carrying that cross is a privilege, said Sarah, 25, quoting from the nuptial blessing in the wedding Mass: “May her husband entrust his heart to her.”

Sarah said she gave Dan the purity promise card she’d carried in her wallet since she was 14 on their wedding day, but learned about purity from him because he hadn’t tested her. By upholding each other’s dignity they were called on to greater purity and love, Sarah said.

Taking natural family planning classes during their engagement represented a milestone in their

World Meeting of Families

The meaning of human sexuality

relationship as they gained more knowledge of Sarah’s reproductive physiology. “[NFP] gives me a way that I can love her in times of fertility and nonfertility,” Dan said.

Sarah said openness in an Fourth in a series: intimate part of their lives The meaning of makes her feel comfortable talking about other human sexuality important — but potentially contentious — topics, such as finances, their dreams, failings and how to love in other ways. They pray for guidance on what to bring to each other, she added.

They experience Christ in the sacramental element of their marriage and find stability and truth, Dan said. If they’re not living their wedding vows and frequenting the sacraments, In partnership with the the relationship suffers, publications of all Minnesota Sarah added. dioceses, The Catholic Spirit God is first in their is featuring an 11-part series relationship, followed by on families based on the each other, their son and then the world, Dan said.

World Meeting of Families’ God wasn’t at the center of 10 themes. his previous relationships, Dan said, but he believes he was still guided by love, even if he didn’t see birth Want to go? control as a destruction of For more information life. or to register for the local Now, their life as a pilgrimage to the World Meeting couple and parents is the of Families, call 1-800-653-0017. most convincing witness for living the Church’s To register for the World teaching, he said.

Meeting of Families, visit www.worldmeeting 2015.org.

“Now we have this child that has shifted the For details, visit paradigm of our whole www.archspm.org/WMF. experience of life in a most beautiful way,” Dan said.

“Being able to give yourself fully to another is a beautiful thing that you kind of pass up a little bit when you’re practicing contraception. The richness of a relationship where you’re entrusting your heart and your bodies fully to each other is like no other.”

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May 21, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

The Last Word

32

Maiden mother,

meek and mild

Raphael’s ‘Madonna of the Pinks’ an MIA birthday surprise

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit

of a woman,” said Kelly, a parishioner of St. Michael in Stillwater. “This is a young robust woman who’s clearly just had a baby and is breastfeeding and has color in her cheeks.”

The painting is joyful, and unlike other Madonna and Child images, it doesn’t foreshadow the sorrow of Christ’s passion, Kelly said. “In some ways it’s a call on all Christians that we be taken up with innocence and purity and light and goodness.”

A

small but beautiful Renaissance painting of the Blessed Mother and Christ Child has the potential to draw viewers’ imaginations from the ground floor of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts where it is displayed to contemplation of the incarnation.

The painting, “The Madonna of the Pinks,” usually attributed to the painter Raphael, is named for the pink carnations that a young, affectionate Mary is giving to the Christ Child whom she holds tenderly on her lap.

Such beautiful images are “kind of like practice for being in the presence of God,” said Elizabeth Kelly, managing editor of “Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture” and Catholic Studies adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. “You can be in the presence of something beautiful and good and true and reap the effects of that without even knowing it.”

The quality of the painting, the figures of Mary and Jesus, and the religious symbolism of the carnations are a few reasons “The Madonna of the Pinks” is an image not only for admiration but meditation.

The painting, considered by some to be Raphael’s “Mona Lisa,” is on loan from the National Gallery in London as part of MIA’s 100th birthday year celebration.

“As part of our birthday year we wanted to bring some very special paintings to Minneapolis for our public to see,” said Rachel McGarry, MIA associate curator.

“Bringing an Italian Renaissance painting by one of the greatest artists in the history of art, Raphael, was always at the top of any wish list. This is something we could never dream of acquiring.”

The painting, which dates to about 1506, was unveiled on May 15 and will be on exhibit through Aug. 9. There is no charge to view it.

The fact that it is being exhibited during May, considered by Catholics the month of Mary, wasn’t intentional, McGarry said.

It is the second of three paintings by internationally renowned artists on loan from European museums the MIA is exhibiting this year as part of its

May 21, 2015 • The Catholic Spirit

Deep symbolism

Raphael’s “The Madonna of the Pinks” (“La Madonna dei Garofani”), c. 1506–7, is on display at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts through Aug. 9. Oil on panel (yew tree).

Lent by the National Gallery, London. Bought with the assistance of the Heritage Lottery Fund, The Art Fund (with a contribution from the Wolfson Foundation), the American Friends of the National Gallery, London, the George Beaumont Group, Sir Christopher Ondaatje, and through public appeal, 2004. Courtesy the MIA “Masterpiece in Focus” series. The first painting of the series, Johannes Vermeer’s “Woman Reading a Letter,” was exhibited earlier this spring; the third painting will be revealed later this year.

Renaissance masterpiece Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, known as Raphael, is considered a Renaissance master, alongside Michaelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. He was born in 1483 in Urbino, Italy. He spent the early part of his career as an itinerant painter in central Italy known for his Madonna paintings. He later was appointed by Pope Julius II as an architect of St. Peter’s Basilica and died in 1520.

“The Madonna of the Pinks” measures roughly 12 by 9 inches without its frame, McGarry said. It is believed to have been commissioned as a devotional

image by a nun who was part of a wealthy family in Perugia.

“It’s small but it has an incredible presence,” she said. “It’s exquisite. You can’t see a brush stroke in it. The handling is so fine.”

In the painting, the Blessed Mother is dressed in blue and the curtain behind her is green. She sits in a darkened bedchamber with a landscape visible through an open window. “It’s a wonderful pictorial strategy, because what it does is it gives you the sense that they’re in a private room,” McGarry said. “We’re kind of looking in at a private moment.”

Mary holds Jesus tenderly and protectively in a natural interaction that any mother with a small infant can imagine having, she said.

The image is lovely because the Blessed Mother is youthful and robust, Kelly said.

“This isn’t a pale-faced skeleton

The carnations, after which the painting is named, represent a symbol of marriage, love and betrothal, McGarry said. Mary the Mother of Christ is also considered the Bride of Christ. The carnations also are seen as a sign of Christ’s passion, she said. “There’s the thought that when Mary saw Jesus carrying the cross up to Mount Calvary she began to cry,” McGarry said. “When her tears touched the earth carnations bloomed for the first time.”

Works of art such as “The Madonna of the Pinks” offer another way of learning the history of the Church and of the faith, Kelly said. “The way that [art] was perceived and captured by artists in different periods, it brings to a greater understanding the movements of the Church.”

Paintings such as this one used to be essential for teaching the Gospel, as many Catholics were illiterate, she said. They still can be an aid in meditation and serve to make prayer deeper, richer and more insightful, Kelly said.

More so than the other transcendentals, or properties of being, of goodness and truth, people can still recognize beauty, she said. True beauty draws people out of themselves — a central aspect of communion — and draws them toward God, she said.

It’s important for Catholics to have an understanding of art and culture because aesthetics are an important part of the liturgy, Kelly added. If Catholics aren’t well formed in any aesthetic sense they could miss a lot at Mass — the hymns, prayers and paintings such as “The Madonna of the Pinks.”

People are visceral creatures and have an aesthetic, Kelly added. “Of course we want to direct it toward the good, the true, the beautiful, because that’s going to draw us to God.”