The first saints to whom I go

More than 5,300 pilgrims traveled with the same mind and spirit May 6 on the 10th annual Walk to Mary in eastern Wisconsin. Keeping company with another couple much of the way, my wife and I traversed the 21-mile stretch from the National Shrine of St. Joseph in De Pere, Wisconsin, to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion, named after the small, rural town of Champion, Wisconsin. Pilgrims carried with them the intentions of thousands in the form of prayers and petitions of their own and of others to the only Church-approved Marian apparition site within the United States. The litany of St. Joseph got us on our way, and there were breaks every seven miles to nourish the body and spirit (and maybe nurture a blister forming). Holy Mass concluded the day.

For centuries, Catholics have dedicated the entire month of May to the Blessed Mother, so it is not a coincidence that a statue representing her presence would lead this procession from shrine to shrine —

There is much more tilling to do because the Legislature has gone forward with repealing the remaining commonsense health and safety requirements around abortion, left minimal care requirements for infants who survive an abortion, defunded and repealed the Positive Alternatives to Abortion Grant Program that helps pregnancy resource centers care for women in need, and, among other things, expanded taxpayer funding to include elective abortions.

We must also continue sowing truth about the human person’s integrity as created male or female. This need is most evident with the disturbing passage of bills that promote a false reality of the human person, remove access to the psychological sciences, and impose gender ideology upon vulnerable children, even taking them away from parents who would otherwise protect them from the lasting harms of unnatural hormones and mutilative procedures.

When it comes to industries preying on people, we must till the soil to make it even harder for the recreational marijuana industry to grow despite its now legal status. To keep the most dangerous weeds at bay, we must continue our advocacy for safeguards such as potency caps, childproof packaging and more, to the newly forming Cannabis Advisory Council and the Office of Cannabis Management.

With much good accomplished, and so much light needed to dispel the darkness, it is our job as faithful citizens to keep tilling through prayers and building relationships with legislators. So, this summer, set up a coffee meeting with your legislators. Invite others to join you and to join the Catholic Advocacy Network at mncatholic.org/join. Because if we truly want to reap a bountiful harvest, we need more laborers.

“Inside the Capitol” is an update from Minnesota Catholic Conference staff during the legislative session helping her children act with one accord. Prompting her powerful intercession along the path of pilgrims, one could hear, and participate in, rosaries, chants of the Regina Caeli, memorares and other tributes to enhance private devotions. Or one could simply talk to others and if moved by the Spirit, offer or enlist prayer intentions of fellow pilgrims. Because the Blessed Mother centers and leads us — as she did the first Apostles — closer to and deeper in love with Jesus.

As we draw nearer to Pentecost we continue to be enriched with readings of the Acts of the Apostles. “All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and his brethren” (Acts 1:14). Just prior to his ascension to the Father, Jesus promised his disciples they would soon receive the Holy Spirit as their advocate. To fulfill the Scriptures, Matthias was chosen to replace Judas, through prayers with one accord, to bring the apostleship back to the original 12. “His office let another take.” (Acts 1:20). With one accord, the early Church began at Pentecost — 3,000 were baptized. The power of the Holy Spirit was at work in them to convert and transform the world as they knew it.

Peter Kreeft, a renowned Catholic philosopher and theologian from Boston College, quipped in one of his commentaries (Food for the Soul, 2022) about the Acts of the Apostles: “any church or individual without the Holy Spirit experiences a power shortage.” The early disciples of Jesus had no lack of the power of the Spirit in them. Reading throughout Acts, one can sense their zeal about all that was being done by them with one

Commentary pages include “When most Hispanics were Catholic” and an observation that most U.S.-born Hispanic children will not grow up in Catholic households. Soberingly, this trend is now pertinent for many U.S.-born children of Catholic family descendance. Many of us Catholics sense that our country’s JudeoChristian underpinnings are under attack by militant, secular-progressive factions. Call this a form of spiritual warfare underwritten by big money sources and the media (mainstream and social). Conceptually, some countermeasures could relate to a “Faith, Family and Flag” theme and include both tactical and strategic measures … the tactical being short term and the strategic commencing now and ongoing. As to potential strategic measures, I believe that Catholic schools are second to none for Catholicism evangelism and that the market demand for private (and Catholic) school education will continue to increase with a declining public school system. Might our archdiocesan leaders now have an extraordinary opportunity to envision a strategic expansion of our parish school system? And might not many archdiocesan parishioners recognize this strategic moment, and both prayerfully and financially support it?

Gene Delaune

St. John the Baptist, New Brighton

Share your perspective by emailing thecatholicSpirit@archSpm org Please limit your letter to the editor to 150 words and include your parish and phone number. The Commentary pages do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Catholic Spirit. Read more letters from our readers at thecatholicSpirit com accord. Many people with unclean spirits, paralyzed, and sick with other physical and mental afflictions were cured. Even the dead were raised! Post-Pentecost, they experienced the joy and supernatural help of the Holy Spirit.

That is how the apostles operated; with no power shortage when it came to their faith, hope, deeds and activities, and of course, their prayer lives. They worked diligently, with such a deep love for Jesus that they gave of themselves completely. And many would give up their lives for the sake of saving the souls of others by doing their part in spreading and sharing the good news. Jesus told his disciples that God the Father would give them “another Advocate to be with you always.” (Jn 14:16). Always is here and now, the present moment, of being in the grace of God as true believers. That same Holy Spirit that Jesus promised his disciples would be with them until the end of the age can ignite and burn within our hearts to lead others — perhaps starting on the home front — to obtain joy and happiness in a deep love for the Lord. After all, before the grandiose conversions, baptisms and transformative activities at Pentecost — it was pretty much about small groups. Come, Holy Spirit!

Deacon Bird ministers to St. Joseph in Rosemount and All Saints in Lakeville and assists with the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Catholic Watchmen movement. See heroicmen com for tools to enrich parish apostolates for ministry to men. For Watchmen start-up materials or any other questions regarding ministry to men, contact Deacon Bird at gordonbird@rocketmail com