October 24, 2019 • Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
Decades defending life Brian Gibson reflects on 30-plus years opposing abortion with ProLife Action Ministries in St. Paul.
thecatholicspirit.com
SYNOD on campus
— Pages 10-11
Homes for all Third part in a series on homelessness and affordable housing focuses on efforts in the suburbs of Roseville, Maple Grove. — Pages 6-7
Hospice and funerals Minnesota Catholic Conference offers booklets on end-of-life care; new executive director of The Catholic Cemeteries relishes ‘sacred time’ to help those who are grieving; funeral experts offer tips on pre-planning; priest offers reflection on the dying process. — Pages 12-15
Friendship with a saint
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Brennan Robinson, right, makes a point to Archbishop Bernard Hebda and those gathered Oct. 15 at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul for a PreSynod Prayer and Listening Event. The focus group for college students drew 150 and was hosted by a UST campus group called Tommie Catholic. At left are Tommie Catholic members Nicole Tekippe and Mackenzie Hunter. See story on Page 5.
Latino ministry ramps up effort to reach youth By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit
Celeste Raspanti pens book describing her family’s relationship with St. Frances Cabrini in Chicago. — Page 20
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n evening of prayer, worship and praise, Mass, speakers and fellowship will be held Nov. 1 — All Saints Day — for Hispanic and Latino high school youth across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The next day, a second annual family event will include many of the same elements. The Office of Latino Ministry is headlining both gatherings. For the high school event, the office is collaborating with youth ministry organization NET Ministries. Called Lifeline Latinamente, the evening at the Net Center in West St. Paul will be much like Lifeline gatherings NET Ministries has held once each month for high school students in the archdiocese for the last 25 years. Already about a dozen buses are lined up through parishes and ministries and more than 300 students are expected. But no one needs to register for the free event, there is room for about 500 people and high school students are invited to simply show up, organizers said.
“We’ve really wanted to do this,” said Estela Villagrán Manancero, director of the archdiocese’s Office of Latino Ministry, noting that it is the first time NET Ministries has held such a gathering specifically for Latinos in high school. Karina Avila, Hispanic outreach specialist at NET Ministries, said that across the country, about 60 percent of Catholic youth under age 18 are Latino. Those youth need to be reached, she said. In the archdiocese, not many of them were coming to the Lifeline events, and those who did often weren’t familiar with the forms of prayer being used and were not accustomed to celebrating Mass only in English. “This is an effort to make sure they know they are seen and heard,” Avila said. The gathering at the Net Center is designed to help draw youth in the years after their confirmation, which many treat as a kind of graduation that triggers a drifting away from the faith, Manancero said. And it won’t be the only such gathering. NET Ministries and the archdiocese also are planning Lifeline Latinamentes for March 6 and May 1. Running from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., the
Nov. 1 gathering will include a Floridabased speaker, Mari Pablo, discussing holiness, or “La Santidad,” which is the theme for the event. A live band will feature Nate Reinhardt, lead guitarist of the popular faith group “Sonar,” and musicians from St. Odilia in Shoreview. Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Cozzens will preside at the Mass, which will be celebrated in English and Spanish, and the music and other parts of the evening will be in English and Spanish. Bishop Cozzens also will preside at a Mass at the Latino family event, “Encuentro Familiar,” Nov. 2 at Visitation School in Mendota Heights. There will be talks on the theme “The Word of God, Light for My Family” or “Palabra de Dios, Luz para Mi Familia,” as well as adoration of the Eucharist and breakout sessions for youths and adults. Child care will be available for children up to age 3, and faith-based activities will be offered for children ages 4 to 10. Breakfast and lunch will be provided at the free 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. gathering. About 600 people came to last year’s inaugural event, organizers said. “It’s like a retreat for the whole family,” Manancero said.
2 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
OCTOBER 24, 2019
PAGETWO
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It is a cruel, unjust and paradoxical reality that, today, there is food for everyone, and yet not everyone has access to it, and that in some areas of the world food is wasted, discarded and consumed in excess, or destined for other purposes than nutrition. Pope Francis, in his message marking World Food Day Oct. 16. The message was addressed to Qu Dongyu, director general of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. World Food Day marks the date the FAO was founded in 1945 to address the causes of world hunger.
ROBERT CUNNINGHAM/PHOTO RESOURCE
INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE From left, Jamie (Meyer) Michel, Amy Brown, Kelly Wagenbach and Kayla Galligo, all educators at Ascension School in Minneapolis, enjoy an interactive STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) experience at the Summit of Excellence Oct. 16 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The Catholic Schools Center of Excellence brought together more than 2,100 teachers, administrators and staff from archdiocesan elementary schools for the one-day workshop on topics that included ways teachers can maintain mental health in the midst of challenges and responsibilities.
NEWS notes
500
The number of used toys eighth-grade students at St. John the Baptist School in Savage cleaned and prepared for the Toy Corner, a charity that helps families in need in Savage, Prior Lake and Shakopee. That was not the only big number during the school’s Oct. 4 Marathon Day of Service. A few more examples: kindergartners prepared 123 weekend meals for students in need; second-graders packed 155 blessing bags as a way to thank Savage police and fire officials for their service; and sixth-graders decorated 58 journals for youths in therapy programs through Catholic Charities.
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The number of chairmen who have served on the board at Catholic Services Appeal Foundation since its founding in 2013. Chad Trochlil of St. Peter in Mendota is the latest, taking the reins in September from Greg Pulles, a member of Holy Name of Jesus in Medina, who helped create the independent foundation out of work he was doing as director of stewardship and development at the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The foundation leads a campaign each year seeking donations for 20 Catholic ministries. CNS
PROTESTING PROPOSED REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT Susan Gunn, director of the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, speaks during a protest Oct. 15 outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington against the Trump administration’s proposed cuts in the number of refugees to be admitted under the U.S. resettlement program. Protesters urged that the refugee cap be set at 95,000 for the upcoming fiscal year, and not the expected 18,000 the Trump administration has asked for. Later, Gunn was among 18 people arrested at the protest, along with a member of the Franciscan Action Network, Sister Maria Orlandini of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia.
Deacon served as hospital chaplain A deacon who served 18 years as a chaplain at United Hospital in St. Paul died Oct. 8. Deacon Robert O’Connor was 93. A parishioner at St. Peter in North St. Paul, Deacon O’Connor is survived by his wife of 65 years, Mary Louise, their six children, DEACON ROBERT 11 grandchildren and four great-granchildren. O’CONNOR Ordained in 1982, Deacon O’Connor assisted at St. Jerome in Maplewood and at St. Peter, and he served as a chaplain at United Hospital through early 2000. He continued to minister as needed at the two parishes until his activity began to diminish about nine years ago, family members said. Deacon O’Connor was in the Army during World War II and was wounded twice in battles for the Philippines. He was awarded two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star. Deacon O’Connor’s funeral Mass was Oct. 17 at St. Peter. Interment was Oct. 18 at Fort Snelling National Cemetery.
Vol. 24 — No. 20 MOST REVEREND BERNARD A. HEBDA, Publisher TOM HALDEN, Associate Publisher MARIA C. WIERING, Editor-in-Chief
The number of years Estela Villagrán Manancero has served as president of the national Association of Diocesan Directors for Hispanic Ministry. The association’s executive committee recently named her Outstanding Director of the Year in honor of her service. Manancero, who also is director of the Office of Latino Ministry in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, said “It was a surprise, but it was a very nice surprise from my colleagues.” Manancero will step down as president of the association at the end of this year.
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The Catholic Spirit
The Catholic Spirit is published semi-monthly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
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The number of times Our Lady of Grace School in Edina has been named a National Blue Ribbon School for academic achievement, including this year. OLG is the only K-8 school in Minnesota to receive this year’s honors. Across the country, 362 schools are being recognized. OLG also received the honor in 2001 and 2009.
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The anniversary being celebrated Nov. 19 of the Missionaries of the Kingship of Christ, a worldwide lay vocation in the Church founded in Italy with professed vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Three members of the Kingship are serving quietly in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, striving to act as faith-filled leaven in the world and gathering at least once a month in study and prayer. One member, Catherine Jane Lynch of the Cathedral of St. Paul, says her volunteer service at parish funeral lunches, as an extraordinary minister of holy Communion and other ministries are part of her being “a hidden leaven to evangelize people.”
Materials credited to CNS copyrighted by Catholic News Service. All other materials copyrighted by The Catholic Spirit Newspaper. Subscriptions: $29.95 per year: Senior 1-year: $24.95: To subscribe: (651) 291-4444: Display Advertising: (651) 291-4444; Classified Advertising: (651) 290-1631. Published semi-monthly by the Office of Communications, Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, 777 Forest St., Paul, MN 55106-3857 • (651) 291-4444, FAX (651) 291-4460. Periodicals postage paid at St. Paul, MN, and additional post offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Catholic Spirit, 777 Forest St., St. Paul, MN 55106-3857. TheCatholicSpirit.com • email: tcssubscriptions@archspm.org • USPS #093-580
OCTOBER 24, 2019
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 3
FROMTHEARCHBISHOP ONLY JESUS | ARCHBISHOP BERNARD HEBDA
Synod process includes celebrating lay leadership
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avigating through the crowds at Allianz Field for the Tommie-Johnnie game, I was amazed by how many faces I recognized among the alumni attending that event. Whether wearing purple or red, many of them are active in our parishes, great supporters of our Catholic elementary and high schools, and generous in their board commitments and in their service of the many Catholic institutions that serve our broader community. It was a powerful reminder for me of the role that our local Catholic colleges and universities have historically played in the life of this local Church, particularly in the formation of our laity. The first set of Pre-Synod Prayer and Listening Events has confirmed for me that this local Church is particularly blessed with a highly engaged laity. We have averaged more than 300 participants at each of our four parish events, and we were blessed with 150 college students at a targeted focus session and more than a 100 deacons and their wives at a second. On top of that, more than 1,200 individuals have already gone through the training for serving as parish synod ambassadors. And we are just at the beginning! I remain encouraged that so many would be willing to give up an evening or morning to be part of the synod process. The participants have been wonderfully articulate, their demeanor respectful of others, and their comments thoughtful. It is clear that they care deeply about the Church. While they have a wide variety of opinions concerning how the archdiocese should be addressing the challenges of the day, they seem to be unified in their desire to have some role in both determining the next steps and ensuring that those steps be successful.
Proceso del sínodo incluye celebración liderazgo laico
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uscando entre las multitudes en Allianz Field para el juego Tommie-Johnnie, me sorprendió la cantidad de caras que reconocí entre los ex alumnos que asistieron a ese evento. Ya sea vestidos de púrpura o rojo, muchos de ellos son activos en nuestras parroquias, grandes partidarios de nuestras escuelas primarias y secundarias católicas, y generosos en sus compromisos de la junta y en su servicio de las muchas instituciones católicas que sirven a nuestra comunidad más amplia. Fue un poderoso recordatorio para mí del papel que nuestros colegios y universidades católicas locales han desempeñado históricamente en la vida de esta Iglesia local, particularmente en la formación de nuestros laicos. El primer conjunto de Eventos PreSynod de Oración y Escucha ha confirmado para mí que esta Iglesia local es particularmente bendecida con un laico altamente comprometido. Hemos promediado más de 300 participantes en cada uno de nuestros cuatro eventos parroquiales y fuimos bendecidos con 150 estudiantes universitarios en una sesión de enfoque específica y más de 100 diáconos y sus esposas en un segundo. Además, más de 1,200 personas
In many ways, the blessing of such generous and motivated laity is very much the product of the seeds sown by our first archbishop, John Ireland. Anticipating by more than a half century the teaching of the Second Vatican Council on the lay faithful, Archbishop Ireland, a strong leader in his own right, recognized that lay leadership is crucial for the Church’s credibility in society. In her excellent doctoral dissertation, “The role of the laity in the thought of John Ireland,” Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet Katherine McLaughlin noted that the Lay Congress of 1889 had a lasting impact on Archbishop Ireland, leading him to “a much stronger sense of standing shoulder to shoulder with the laity, acting together for the good of the Church and the world.” That transformation in the thinking of Archbishop Ireland was long-lasting, and he persisted in his call for an active laity. Speaking at the installation of the archbishop of Dubuque in 1901, he observed that: “Where the laity rest satisfied with the hope of personal salvation, with hearing Mass and receiving the sacraments, where they fold their arms in indolent indifference and refrain from active participation in works of religion, there the Church can never prosper.” Archbishop Ireland’s support of St. Thomas (which he founded) and St. Catherine (founded by his sister, Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet Seraphine Ireland) was very much related to his understanding of the role of the laity. As he indicated in a speech given at South Bend to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of Notre Dame, Archbishop Ireland opined that the mission of Catholic higher education was “…to provide leaders to the Catholic laity,” noting that “[t]he laity are the Church as the world sees it.”
ya han pasado por la capacitación para servir como embajadores del sínodo parroquial. ¡Y estamos justo al principio! Todavía me alienta que tantos estarían dispuestos a renunciar a una noche o una mañana para ser parte del proceso del sínodo. Los participantes han sido maravillosamente articulados, su comportamiento respetuoso con los demás, y sus comentarios reflexivos. Está claro que se preocupan profundamente por la Iglesia. Si bien tienen una amplia variedad de opiniones sobre cómo la arquidiócesis debe abordar los desafíos del día, parecen estar unidos en su deseo de tener algún papel tanto en determinar los siguientes pasos como en asegurar que esos pasos tengan éxito. En muchos sentidos, la bendición de tan generosos y motivados laicos es en gran medida el producto de las semillas sembradas por nuestro primer arzobispo, John Ireland. Anticipándose en más de medio siglo la enseñanza del Concilio Vaticano II sobre los fieles laicos, el arzobispo Ireland, un líder fuerte por derecho propio, reconoció que el liderazgo laico es crucial para la credibilidad de la Iglesia en la sociedad. En su excelente tesis doctoral, “El papel de los laicos en el pensamiento de John Ireland”, la hermana de San José de Carondelet Katherine McLaughlin señaló que el Congreso Laico de 1889 tuvo un impacto duradero en el arzobispo Irlanda, lo que lo llevó a “ un fuerte sentido de estar al lado de los laicos, actuando juntos por el bien de la Iglesia y del mundo.” Esa transformación en el pensamiento
Today, that work of forming Catholic laity to be leaders is embraced not only at historically Catholic universities but also at Catholic campus ministry programs. I was recently privileged to celebrate Mass at St. Lawrence Catholic Church and Newman Center at the University of Minnesota on the occasion of the canonization of St. John Henry Newman and was delighted to experience a vibrant community. It brought back wonderful memories of my own time as a Newman Center chaplain at Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania. The work of forming lay leaders in this archdiocese is by no means restricted to college campuses. In addition to the faith formation programs offered in our parishes and Catholic schools, hundreds of lay leaders and future lay leaders are benefiting each year from the exceptional work that is undertaken at The St. Paul Seminary’s Archbishop Flynn Catechetical Institute and its related programs, the School of Prayer and the School of Discipleship. I am equally encouraged by the excellent programs offered directly by the archdiocese: I think, for example, of the catechetical and leadership programs offered by our Office of Latino Ministry and the programming offered for adult formation by the Archdiocesan Office of Evangelization and the Office of Marriage, Family and Life. While the opportunities already offered for lay formation and leadership training are significant, I can share with you that the first four Pre-Synod Prayer and Listening Events have all surfaced a hunger for even greater opportunities in this area. I hope that you will come to one of the 16 remaining prayer and listening events to continue this conversation and share with me your ideas for guaranteeing that this local Church would continue to be blessed with such strong laity.
del arzobispo Ireland fue duradera, y insistió en su llamado a un laicos activos. Hablando en la instalación del arzobispo de Dubuque en 1901, observó que: “Donde los laicos descansan satisfechos con la esperanza de la salvación personal, con la misa de audiencia y la recepción de los sacramentos, donde doblan los brazos en indiferencia y se abstienen de la participación activa en las obras de religión, allí la Iglesia nunca podrá prosperar”. El apoyo del arzobispo Ireland a Santo Tomás (que fundó) y a Santa Catalina (fundada por su hermana, hermana de San José de Carondelet Seraphine Ireland) estaba muy relacionado con su comprensión del papel de los laicos. Como indicó en un discurso pronunciado en South Bend para conmemorar el 50 aniversario de la fundación de Notre Dame, el arzobispo Ireland opinó que la misión de la educación superior católica era “... para proporcionar líderes a los laicos católicos”, señalando que “los laicos son la Iglesia como el mundo la ve”. Hoy en día, ese trabajo de formar laicos católicos para ser líderes se abraza no sólo en las universidades históricamente católicas, sino también en los programas de ministerio del campus católico. Recientemente tuve el privilegio de celebrar una misa en el St. Lawrence Newman Center en la Universidad de Minnesota con motivo de la canonización de Saint John Henry Newman y estaba encantado de experimentar una comunidad vibrante. Trajo recuerdos maravillosos de mi
tiempo como capellán de Newman Center en la Universidad Slippery Rock en Pensilvania. El trabajo de formar líderes laicos en esta Arquidiócesis no se limita de ninguna manera a los campus universitarios. Además de los programas de formación de la fe ofrecidos en nuestras parroquias y escuelas católicas, cientos de líderes laicos y futuros líderes laicos se benefician cada año del trabajo excepcional que se lleva a cabo en el Instituto Catequético Flynn del Seminario de Saint Paul y sus programas relacionados, la Escuela de Oración y la Escuela de Discipulado. Me siento igualmente alentado por los excelentes programas ofrecidos directamente por la arquidiócesis: creo, por ejemplo, en los programas catequéticos y de liderazgo ofrecidos por nuestra Oficina del Ministerio Latino y la programación ofrecida para la formación de adultos por la Arquidiócesis Oficina de Evangelización y la Oficina del Matrimonio, la Familia y la Vida. Si bien las oportunidades ya ofrecidas para la formación laico y la formación de liderazgo son significativas, puedo compartir con ustedes que los primeros cuatro Eventos de Oración y Escucha Presinod al aire libre han sustendado el hambre de oportunidades aún mayores en esta área. Espero que vengan a uno de los 16 eventos de oración y escucha restantes para continuar esta conversación y compartir conmigo sus ideas para garantizar que esta Iglesia local continúe siendo bendecida con laicos tan fuertes.
4 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
OCTOBER 24, 2019
LOCAL
SLICEof LIFE Growing and giving
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Morrie Leuthner of St. John the Baptist in Excelsior pulls a head of cabbage from a small garden southwest of the Twin Cities near Victoria Oct. 9 on land owned by his son. In addition to cabbage, Leuthner grows a variety of fruits and vegetables, including carrots, potatoes, squash, asparagus, green beans, green peppers, raspberries and apples. He gives almost all of his harvest away, much of it to Bountiful Basket Food Shelf in Chaska. The 91-year-old spends about five hours a day on the 1-acre garden he tends. It is a spiritual experience, he said, and he finds joy in providing food for others, which he has done since starting the garden 13 years ago. “I’ve taken about 1,200 pounds so far this year,” said Leuthner, who begins the harvest in May with asparagus and continues until a few days after the first hard frost. “I’ll probably get 1,500 pounds by the time I get done.”
STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION (Act of August 12, 1970: Section 3685) Title 39, United States Code 1. Title of Publication: The Catholic Spirit. 2. Publication No. 093580. 3. Date of Filing: Oct. 24, 2019. 4. Frequency of Issue: Semi-monthly. 5. No. of Issues Published Annually: 24. 6. Annual Subscription Price: $29.95. 7. Complete Address of Known Office of Publication: 777 Forest St., St. Paul, Ramsey Co., MN 55106. 8. Complete Mailing Address of the Headquarters of General Business Offices of the Publisher: 777 Forest St., St. Paul, Ramsey Co., MN 55106. 9. Names and Address of the Publisher, Associate Publisher, Editor-in-Chief: Publisher: Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda, Associate Publisher:Tom Halden, Editor-in-Chief: Maria C. Wiering, All located at: 777 Forest St., St. Paul, MN 55106. 10. Owner: Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, 777 Forest St., St. Paul, MN 55106 11. Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding 1 percent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities: None. 12. For completion by Nonprofit Organizations Authorized to mail at special rates (Section 132.122 Postal Service Manual): The purpose, function and non-profit status of this organization and the exempt status for Federal Income Tax purposes have not changed during the preceding 12 months. 13. Publication Name: The Catholic Spirit 14. Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: Oct. 10, 2019. Ave. No. Copies Actual No. Copies 15. Extent and Nature of Circulation: Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months
of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date
A. Total No. Copies (Net Press Run) 60,248 60,565 B. Paid and/or Requested Circulation 1. Sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors and counter sales 0 0 2. Paid or Requested Mail Subscriptions 59,731 60,014 C. Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation 59,731 60,014 D. Free Distribution by Mail (Samples, Complimentary, and Other Free Copies) 517 551 E. Free Distribution Outside the Mail 0 0 F. Total Free Distribution 517 551 G. Total Distribution 60,248 60,565 H. Copies Not Distributed 1. Office Use, Leftovers, Spoiled 359 350 2. Return from News Agents 0 0 Total 60,607 60,915 17. This Statement of Ownership will be printed in the 10-24-19 issue of this publication. 18. Signature and Title of Editor, Publishers, Business Manager, or Owner. Tom Halden Associate Publisher
OCTOBER 24, 2019
LOCAL
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 5
College students make voices heard in prayer, listening event By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit Milah Kourouma was caught off guard when she sat down for a Pre-Synod Prayer and Listening Event for college students at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul Oct. 15. She thought the crowd of 150 young adults, most of them college students, would dive right into expressing themselves. But, as in every prayer and listening event being held this fall and winter in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, it began with a quiet time of focusing on God and asking for the Holy Spirit’s guidance. That was a pleasant surprise for Kourouma, a UST junior, who came with a friend after hearing about the gathering from a campus group called Tommie Catholic, which hosted the event. “The whole prayer part at the beginning, I think, really helped us hone in on what the Holy Spirit wanted us to focus on tonight,” she said. “I did not know that was going to be part of it. ... I think the prayer aspect of it was super, super important, and super, super, super helpful. And, I just learned a lot.” The event was one of 11 designed for specific focus groups in the archdiocese (priests, deacons, school principals, etc.), with 20 other events taking place at parishes through the rest of this year and in early 2020. With members of Tommie Catholic holding microphones, more than a dozen participants came up at the end to address the gathering and Archbishop Bernard Hebda, who at the beginning explained what a synod is and why the archdiocese will hold one in 2021. Before and during the synod, the archbishop wants to prayerfully gather information and opinions from Catholics across the archdiocese that will help him develop a five- to 10-year pastoral plan. At the Oct. 15 event, people offered praise for things like the presence of young religious in the archdiocese. They also offered suggestions to strengthen key areas such as faith formation, Catholic education and living the virtues. One young woman bemoaned what she perceived as a lack of charity in the Church and in the broader culture. That drew a response from Archbishop Hebda, who mostly listened to the comments and thanked those making them. “That emphasis on charity has to be at the top of everything we do,” he said, adding a quote from the New Testament: “They will know we are Christians by our love.” He also heard comments from people struggling with same-sex attraction, and one person who left the Church after being raised Catholic. “Thanks for coming and sharing that,” the archbishop said after the person finished speaking. The emcee of the St. Thomas event, Yen Fasano, a member of St. Anne-St. Joseph Hien in Minneapolis who serves on the synod executive committee, said Archbishop Hebda and the committee wanted a focus group specifically for college students. Many are busy and don’t necessarily connect to a parish or faith community, she said. But, these young Catholics, she said, are “the hope for the future.” “I was just wowed; I couldn’t stop smiling,” she said of the two-hour event. “I was very much impressed by their authenticity and their honesty. ... The manner in which they shared, you just felt the Holy Spirit.” More than half of those gathered attend St. Thomas, but University of Minnesota students came as well, along with recent college graduates. After praying at the beginning, everyone sat down
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Archbishop Bernard Hebda talks with University of St. Thomas students Milah Kourouma, left, and Tiaryn Daniels, both juniors, before the Pre-Synod Prayer and Listening Event Oct. 15 at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. in groups of up to eight people to share ideas and identify things the Church and local parishes are doing well and areas where improvement is needed. “Based off what our table talked about, I think that there needs to be a rediscovering of the Gospel, of the heart of this faith, and from that, allowing us to walk in the truth that comes in following the Holy Spirit,” said Brennan Robinson, who graduated from Florida State University in 2017 and works for St. Paul’s Outreach while he discerns a possible calling to religious life. Three U of M students came after they finished a fall retreat earlier in the day. Seniors Claire Jensen and Austin Peterson and junior Molly Utecht are members of a student leadership executive board and wanted to connect with students at other colleges. “I think it’s very relevant for the archdiocese to listen to the voices of young people,” Jensen said. “It was really beautiful, especially to feel how much the archbishop genuinely wants our input and genuinely cares for college-age students.” Peterson agreed. “I think his setting up this night tonight and requesting that all of us come and share our opinions on what direction the archdiocese should take moving forward means a lot to me,” he said of the archbishop. “I think it was a privilege to be able to give that opinion to him.” In addition to group sharing, everyone was encouraged to put their thoughts and opinions in writing, either online or on paper forms handed out as people walked in. Fasano said she was most impressed watching students who were asked to share publicly. They did so with “passion and articulation and respect,” she said. “But also, I felt the hope because they knew Archbishop Hebda was truly listening.” The archbishop made that clear from the beginning, explaining the importance of listening and how it’s important for Church leaders, all the way up to Pope Francis. He quoted the pope, who recently told newlyordained bishops that they need to hear the beating hearts of their flock. “Tonight, I need to hear the beating of your hearts,” Archbishop Hebda said. The young people delivered. “People were very honest, which was refreshing,” Utecht said, “But also, everyone was very respectful, and it seemed like we were all going for the same goal of growing the archdiocese and growing closer to the Lord together.”
Prayer and listening events are underway in archdiocese Twenty Pre-Synod Prayer and Listening Events are being held around the archdiocese this fall and winter to advise Archbishop Bernard Hebda on what topics should be addressed in the 2021 Archdiocesan Synod. With the aid of the Holy Spirit and the faithful across the archdiocese, the archbishop will discern what he hears during the 2021 Synod to formulate a plan for meeting the archdiocese’s pastoral needs in the ensuing five to 10 years. The pre-synod events include prayer, a presentation by the archbishop, reflection and discussion of two questions: 1) What are you grateful for and what is working well in our parishes and archdiocese? and 2) Which pastoral challenges or opportunities is God calling us to address in our archdiocese? Archbishop Hebda plans to attend each event, along with members of the synod’s consultative teams. The written comments of all who attend will be read and processed. The following are the remaining 2019 events: u Saturday, Oct. 26, 9 a.m.–noon St. Peter 1250 South Shore Drive, Forest Lake u Tuesday, Oct. 29, 6–9 p.m. Divine Mercy 139 Mercy Drive, Faribault u Thursday, Nov. 7, 6–9 p.m. St. Wenceslaus 15 Main St. E., New Prague u Friday, Nov. 15, 6–9 p.m. All Saints 19795 Holyoke Ave., Lakeville u S unday, Nov. 17, 1–4 p.m. St. Anne-St. Joseph Hien 627 Queen Ave. N., Minneapolis Bilingual (English and Vietnamese) u For a complete list, go to TheCatholicSpirit.com/synod2021
6 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
LOCAL
OCTOBER 24, 2019
Parishioners help provide leadership for affordable housing Responding to increasing demand in the suburbs, communities are creating options through financing and other means to help provide homes for all
housing was for them to deal with those issues.” The developer of Sienna Green, Minneapolis-based Aeon, relied on several sources of funding to build the apartments, including low-income housing tax credits based on income or disability, and deferred local-government loans. In addition to screening criteria, the apartments have income requirements. Sienna Green offers apartments for households earning 60 percent or less of the area median income (AMI), 50 percent of AMI or less and 30 percent of AMI or less. Ten apartments at Sienna Green are for residents who have a history of housing instability due to homelessness or disabilities. Aeon partners with a service provider to support those residents. Sienna Green also features amenities such as a community room with a full kitchen and a community garden that residents manage.
By Debbie Musser For The Catholic Spirit Six years ago, Jen Collins was newly married and enrolled in both Luther Seminary and Bethel Seminary in St. Paul. “It was difficult to find a place to live that was affordable for our income; we didn’t have a lot of wiggle room,” she said. “We knew we wanted to be fairly close to the seminaries and my husband’s job in Minneapolis.” After a six-month search, the couple found Sienna Green, an affordable housing development of 170 apartments in Roseville. They moved into a twobedroom, two-bath apartment and still live there today with their 4-year-old daughter, who knows Sienna Green as her only home. “We love the emphasis on community and family, and Roseville is a great area where we wanted to see our family blossom,” Collins said. “I took a call to serve as a pastor in Forest Lake and we did look at housing there, but it’s just not affordable for us. We’ve gladly stayed at Sienna Green, which is a diverse community where people care for one another and connect.” The need for affordable housing, which the Metropolitan Council, a regional planning and policy-making body for the Twin Cities area, defines as costing households no more than 30 percent of their annual gross income, is found not only in the inner cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. It’s prevalent, and increasing, in the suburbs. And Catholics are stepping up to help
Roseville Housing Network DAVE HRBACEK / THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Jen Collins and her daughter, Faora, make dinner in the kitchen of their apartment at Sienna Green in Roseville Oct. 15. In the background is Jen’s husband, Mike. by backing and creating initiatives for affordable housing in their communities, with the belief that every family needs a place to call home. In this third part of a four-part series on homelessness and affordable housing in Minnesota, The Catholic Spirit looks at efforts to create affordable housing in two such communities — Roseville just north of St. Paul and Maple Grove, northwest of Minneapolis. The city of Roseville is a mature, firstring suburb of St. Paul. Craig Klausing, a member of Corpus Christi in Roseville, was raised in the suburb and returned after he got married. “I volunteered to be on a citizen
housing advisory committee as I had grown up here and thought I knew the community,” he said. “I quickly saw how things had changed, with an aging housing stock and an older, more diverse community.” Klausing went on to serve on the city’s planning commission and city council, followed by two terms as mayor from 2004 to 2010. “While I was mayor, the city was supportive of the Sienna Green affordable housing project, which really raised my awareness of the impact of housing on people’s lives,” he said. “I’ve also known people who have struggled with mental health issues, and saw how important
Klausing, a retired lawyer, serves on the boards of Minnesota Housing, the state’s housing finance agency, and the Family Housing Fund, a collaborative effort at creating affordable housing across the Twin Cities. Klausing also is involved with the Roseville Housing Network, which he describes as a loose association of people who believe that everyone needs a safe and affordable place to live. “Roseville Housing Network was a method to make sure that those voices were heard — to be a voice for people who will be a part of the community in the future, but are not yet,” Klausing said. “As a Catholic, I believe in the requirement to live out your faith, as professed in James, chapter two: ‘What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
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OCTOBER 24, 2019 CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE works?’” he said. “I appreciate my own home so much; I want others to have that as well.” In his efforts to support affordable housing, Klausing said, he has often seen fear and misconceptions when such projects are proposed. “It’s important to recognize that people who live in affordable housing are just like everyone else,” he said. “It might be a new teacher, a firefighter, a day care provider, a retired senior. They are our neighbors, who may not be able to find housing that fits within their budget in what is a very tight housing market in the Twin Cities.” The Roseville Housing Network works to educate the public on affordable housing options. “People may have in mind high-rises of concentrated poverty, which was the model 50 years ago,” Klausing said. But today, affordable housing includes people who hold jobs and retirees who might want to live in smaller homes, older apartment buildings, duplexes, or new affordable developments, such as a proposed three-story project called Owasso Gardens. Developed by CommonBond Communities, a Catholic-founded nonprofit affordable housing developer, property manager and service provider, the project will be located on the corner of Rice Street and Owasso Boulevard in Roseville. Construction is scheduled to begin next summer, following funding approval. Owasso Gardens would include 60 apartments made affordable through low-income tax credits, housing infrastructure bonds, Ramsey County HOME funds, Metropolitan Council “livable communities” funds, water and sewer development credits from the city of Roseville and a deferred developer fee. Targeted to seniors 55 or older on low, fixed incomes, eight of the apartments will be available to people with incomes at 30 percent of AMI. The remaining 52 apartments will be set at 50 percent of AMI. Formed in 1971 and based in St. Paul, CommonBond manages a portfolio that serves nearly 12,000 people. “Our story is embedded in social justice and social change, and the faith community has always been a key partner and influencer of affordable housing,” said Cecile Bedor, executive vice president of real estate for CommonBond. Corpus Christi parishioner and Roseville Housing Network participant Amy Barrett said she attended a June 3 city council meeting to speak in support of Owasso Gardens. “I feel compelled to help people meet their basic needs so that they can live in dignity,” Barrett said. “If those of us who live in the suburbs were to ask ourselves, ‘What would Jesus do?’ we know the answer is that Jesus would open the doors of his own home to people in need. The very least the rest of us can do is create affordable housing in our community.” Roseville’s changing demographics is an indication of the growing need for such housing. Jake Von De Linde, director of teaching and learning for Roseville Area Schools, notes that students who qualify for free and reduced priced meals have some financial struggle within the family. “In the last 15 years, those numbers have had a really high increase,” Von
De Linde said. “Roseville used to be about where the statewide average is (36 percent of students qualifying for free and reduced priced meals), and now we’re well above, at 48 percent. And we typically see about 80 to 100 student families reporting homelessness, which is right about 1 percent of our total student population.” Von De Linde said that worries about basic necessities such as housing impact students and their performance. “We find that with stability in housing, students are able to stay at a school and develop connections and relationships with teachers. That definitely increases their rates of learning.”
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 7
This the third of The Catholic Spirit’s four-part series on homelessness and affordable housing in Minnesota. The series began Feb. 7 by highlighting Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Higher Ground initiatives for the homeless in St. Paul and Minneapolis. It continued May 16 with a look at the growing number of people without a home in the state, and ways parishes help provide temporary shelter, build affordable housing and meet other needs.
Housing for All Unlike the older suburb of Roseville, Maple Grove has seen tremendous growth in the past 30 years, and it is still growing. Back in 1999, Roxanne Smith, a member of St. Joseph the Worker in Maple Grove, had served as the parish’s director of social justice for 10 years. “We were doing charity activities like collections at Christmas, Thanksgiving baskets and Feed My Starving Children packings with other churches,” Smith said. “But I would get calls from people looking for affordable housing, and I didn’t know where to send them.” Smith remembers feeling a strong call from God to help meet the need for quality housing for all in her community. “I knew that Maple Grove was growing and would continue to build lots of ‘McMansions,’ but I felt that if affordable housing was going to happen here, it was going to take the faith community to get behind the effort,” she said. That’s exactly what happened with Housing for All, a collaboration of faith congregations in the Maple Grove area that is involved in developing and maintaining affordable housing in the northwest suburbs. St. Joseph the Worker was the founding congregation and continues to play a lead role. “We first came together as a group of six faith communities — Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists and nondenominationals — to support a proposal for Lake Shore Townhomes in Maple Grove,” Smith said. “We went to city planning and council meetings, wrote letters and publicly testified in support of the family housing project.” Smith said people came out in droves to oppose the proposal. “But we had a good mayor, a good city manager and a brave city council, and it passed.” That project, developed by CommonBond and opened in 2000, created affordable housing through city, county and state funds, many in the form of loans with reduced or deferred interest that must be paid back if the property is sold, refinanced, or no longer used as affordable housing. The federal lowincome housing tax credit program was also used, through which the IRS allocates tax credits to states, which award them competitively to developers. Developers, in turn, sell the tax credits to investors, raising equity to develop the housing. After Lake Shore Townhomes’ 19 units were built, the city of Maple Grove remained receptive to similar affordable housing options, Smith said. “We organized ourselves better, and Housing for All was always at the city council meetings when these developments came up for discussion,”
Smith said. “We brought in allies such as a representative from Maple Grove Hospital who explained that of the 6,000 health care jobs coming to the community, two-thirds of those workers — the cafeteria worker, the receptionist — would need this type of housing. We made the case that these people should be able to live in the community where they work.” Smith, now retired but still active in affordable housing initiatives, said Housing for All holds an annual legislative breakfast for federal, state and local policymakers to build relationships and proclaim, as people of faith, that everyone needs a home. The group also hosts a fall bus tour every year of affordable housing developments and future sites, showing the interior of homes and meeting with residents who share their stories.
“There’s a human face to connect to, which is such a good way to break down the stereotypes people have when they hear ‘affordable housing,’” Smith said. Jane Warren is one of many passionate St. Joseph the Worker parishioners who jumped on board with the Housing for All ministry. Warren said she had a strong desire to get involved in social justice. “Through this work, I feel I am living out Catholic social teaching by caring for our neighbors,” she said. “We have been instrumental in persuading several cities to build affordable housing, and that’s been very rewarding for me.” “God has used us to be that voice,” Smith said. “Maple Grove is considered a high-opportunity community, with all the things a family needs to survive and thrive. That’s why it’s so important that we provide affordable housing options here in our suburb.”
8 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
OCTOBER 24, 2019
NATION+WORLD Pope Francis meets indigenous people from the Amazonian region in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican Oct. 17. The meeting took place during the second week of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon. CNS
Amazonian synod discusses ministries, ecology Catholic News Service Creating an Amazonian-rite liturgy and ordaining women deacons are among proposals being made by small groups at the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon. Such proposals, one group said, would increase as well as transform the Catholic Church’s presence in the Amazon, turning it from one of transience to one of permanence. The group identified as Spanish-B noted differences of opinion. Some synod members, it said, proposed asking the pope for “the possibility of conferring the priesthood on married men in the Amazon on an exceptional basis, under specific circumstances and for certain specific peoples, clearly establishing the reasons that justify it.” However, the report continued, other members felt the topic
should be dealt with in-depth at a synod specifically on the topic. The Oct. 6-27 synod is being held in Rome. The theme is “Amazonia: New paths for the Church and for an integral ecology.” The 12 small-group reports, published by the Vatican Oct. 18, were the result of reflections in groups organized by language; each group summarized their members’ conclusions and offered proposals for the whole synod. Other reports suggested ways the Catholic Church might continue to help indigenous communities confront issues such as ecology, violence and migration. The Church must continue to reaffirm the rights of indigenous people to their “land, culture, language, history identity and spirituality” as well as “defend their rights to prior, free and informed consent to projects in
their territories,” the Italian-A group said in its report. “Indigenous people, people of African descent, fishermen, migrants and other traditional communities in the Amazon are threatened like never before and are often divided or strategically weakened by the seductions of money and power,” the group said. Several groups made proposals that call on the Church to take a more active role in protecting the environment, both in awakening the public conscience through “ecological conversion” as well as through practical and concrete measures. “An ecological conversion to a sober life is indispensable, which implies changes in mentality, in lifestyle, in modes of production, in practices of accumulation, consumption and waste. We already know that ‘later, it will be too late!’” the Portuguese-B group said.
Bankruptcy settlement OK’d in Duluth diocese By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit A bankruptcy judge approved a $39.2 million settlement Oct. 21 between the Diocese of Duluth and victims/survivors of clergy sexual abuse. Announced at a press conference in Duluth, the decision gives final approval to a joint agreement reached earlier this year and ends a nearly four-year bankruptcy process for the diocese. It settles all claims against the diocese and 30 of its parishes. “Our first thoughts today are with the innocent people who suffered abuse,” said Duluth Bishop Paul Sirba, who has led the diocese since his episcopal ordination in 2009 and who was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in 1986. “While no financial settlement can BISHOP PAUL SIRBA make up for the harm that was done to them, it can be a form of accountability for the ways the Church failed them, and a sign of our solidarity with them and our deep sorrow for what they have suffered.” The diocese, all of its more than 70 parishes and several Catholic entities in the region will contribute about $10 million, with the rest of the settlement coming from insurance. Another part of the settlement, approved by Judge Robert Kressel of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District Court of Minnesota, includes the release of documents in historic cases of clergy abuse. The first lawsuits against the diocese were filed after the state of Minnesota in 2013 passed the Child Victims Act, which for three years lifted the statute of limitations for civil cases on accusations of sexual abuse. The diocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2015 in the wake of a $4.9 million judgment rendered the previous month after the first lawsuit went to trial. Attorneys for the diocese and victims/survivors entered mediation earlier this year and reached an agreement April 25. The settlement, however, does not put an end to the issue of clergy sexual abuse, Bishop Sirba said. “Without vigilance in putting what we’ve learned into practice, what’s to prevent a recurrence?” he said. “We can’t grow weary here. Today’s events don’t mean ‘it’s all over now.’ It should give us the humility and determination to keep our commitment to protecting the vulnerable in our midst.”
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THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 9
Kindly lights in gloomy world: Pope declares five new saints By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Saints are people who recognized their need for God’s help, took risks to discover God’s will and help others and nurtured a habit of thanksgiving, Pope Francis said. “The culmination of the journey of faith is to live a life of continual thanksgiving. Let us ask ourselves: Do we, as people of faith, live each day as a burden, or as an act of praise?” the pope said in his homily Oct. 13 after declaring five new saints for the Catholic Church. Those canonized at the Mass were: St. John Henry Newman, the British theologian, poet and cardinal who died in 1890; Brazilian St. Maria Rita Lopes Pontes, popularly known as Sister Dulce, who died in 1992; Indian St. Mariam Thresia Chiramel Mankidiyan, founder of the Congregation of the Holy Family, who died in 1926; St. Marguerite Bays, a Swiss laywoman and mystic, who died in 1879; and St. Josephine Vannini, the Italian co-founder of the Daughters of St. Camillus, who died in 1911. “Three of them were religious women,” the pope noted in his homily. “They show us that the consecrated life is a journey of love at the existential peripheries of the world.” “St. Marguerite Bays, on the other hand, was a seamstress; she speaks to us of the power of simple prayer, enduring patience and silent self-giving,” he said. Rather than describing St. Newman, Pope Francis quoted from him to illustrate the meaning of the holiness of daily life: “The Christian has a deep, silent, hidden peace, which the world sees not .... The Christian is cheerful, easy, kind, gentle, courteous, candid, unassuming; has no pretense ... with so little that is unusual or striking in his bearing that he may easily be taken at first sight for an ordinary man.” And, referencing St. Newman’s famous hymn, “Lead, Kindly Light,” the pope prayed that all Christians would be “‘kindly lights’ amid the encircling gloom.”
A man holds a banner showing St. John Henry Newman Oct. 13 at Pope Francis’ canonization Mass for the saint and four others in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. CNS
Tens of thousands of people filled a sunny St. Peter’s Square for the canonization ceremony and Mass. Among them were Britain’s Prince Charles, Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Brazilian Vice President Hamilton Martins Mourao, a member of Switzerland’s federal council and the deputy foreign minister of India. Melissa Villalobos from Chicago was there with her husband and children, and they brought up the offertory gifts. Villalobos’ healing, which saved her life and the life of her unborn child, was accepted as the miracle needed for St. Newman’s canonization. Pope Francis used his homily to reflect on the day’s Scripture readings. The Gospel reading from Luke recounted the story of 10 lepers who, seeing Jesus approach, cry out to him for healing. He tells them to show themselves to the priests and, as they go, they
are healed. But only one thanks Jesus. Like those lepers,” Pope Francis said, “we, too, need healing, each one of us. We need to be healed of our lack of confidence in ourselves, in life, in the future; we need to be healed of our fears and the vices that enslave us, of our introversion, our addictions and our attachment to games, money, television, mobile phones, to what other people think.” The story also teaches that returning to Jesus with a heart full of gratitude is the culmination of the journey of faith, the pope said. “To give thanks is not a question of good manners or etiquette; it is a question of faith,” he said. “To say ‘Thank you, Lord’ when we wake up, throughout the day and before going to bed, that is the best way to keep our hearts young.”
New York governor pledges support for public Mother Cabrini statue Catholic News Service New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the formation Oct. 12 of a “state commission” to work with the Columbus Citizens Foundation and other groups to fund creation of a statue of St. Frances Cabrini and find a site for it. His announcement followed remarks he made Oct. 12 at the Columbus Citizens Foundation gala in New York City pledging his “full support” for a Cabrini statue after the city’s first lady,
Chirlane McCray, and her She Built NYC commission rejected the patron saint of immigrants for one of the statues it is planning. The initiative aims to increase the number of statues of women in New York City. St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, or Mother Cabrini, as the saint is best known, was passed over to be one of the first seven women to have a statue built in New York City in their honor. She received the most nominations of any of the 320 women nominated.
CBSN New York reported that among the women chosen for the new statues were jazz great Billie Holiday, desegregation activist and Latina doctor Helen Rodriguez Trias and LGBTQ advocate Sylvia Rivera. Outrage over the snubbing of Mother Cabrini by She Built NYC prompted a march in Brooklyn Oct. 6 that drew more than 1,000 people, including many Italian Americans. The march was led by Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn and Msgr. David Cassato, director of the
Brooklyn Diocese’s Italian Apostolate. Afterward, Bishop DiMarzio celebrated Mass at Sacred Hearts-St. Stephen Church. The diocese also has raised $17,000 to make its own statue. “We should applaud their courage and their activism,” Cuomo said at the gala. “But my friends, we should even do more. We should support them. Let’s join with them tonight. Let’s stand up and demand respect for our community. Let’s lead the way by taking action and let’s build a memorial to Mother Cabrini.”
Can We All Just Get Along?
Totalitarian Temptations in Free Societies and the Gospel of Jesus Christ A Conversation with Professor Ryszard Legutko and Father Robert Spitzer, S.J.
November 4, 2019 1:30 - 5 p.m. and 7:30 – 9 p.m.
OEC Auditorium, University of St. Thomas
NOTICE
For more information: https://www.stthomas.edu/sienasymposium/ Or contact: Dr. Deborah Savage at pdsavage@stthomas.edu This event is co-sponsored by the Siena Symposium for Women, Family, and Culture, The Catechetical Institute, and The Theology and Science Network
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10 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Brian Gibson’s life work is putting an end to abortion; that work continues today
B
By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit rian Gibson’s first stance for the unborn came when he was a high school sophomore in 1972. Debates about abortion were raging across the country, he said, as the U.S. Supreme Court prepared to take on the case of Roe v. Wade, which led to the landmark 1973 ruling legalizing abortion in the U.S. A teacher in Gibson’s public high school in Columbus, Ohio, raised the question of abortion to her 35 to 40 students, presenting various scenarios and asking them to indicate their stance on each. Gibson, a lifelong Catholic, was the only one who publicly stated abortion was wrong under all circumstances. That conviction has never wavered, and has led to nearly 40 years of activism in the pro-life movement, most notably as executive director of Pro-Life Action Ministries. The St. Paul-based organization was started in 1981 by Michael Gaworski and Paul O’Donnell, both of whom later in the decade left to start the Franciscan Brothers of Peace and in 1989 chose Gibson as the pro-life ministry’s executive director. Brother Michael died in 2003, Brother Paul died in 2015. Gibson, 63, started as a volunteer the same year the ministry was founded and became a sidewalk counselor around 1987, a role he still performs once a week. He has seen the ups and downs in the fight for life over more than four decades, and he is not about to exit the battle, even though he has been jailed several times for up to 30 days and been mocked, cursed, yelled at and punched while in front of abortion clinics. He will stay at Pro-Life Action Ministries “until God takes me or they quit killing babies,” he said. “I don’t see retirement (mentioned) in the Bible. I never found it. I’ve searched. I was hoping. I’m hopeful my wife will be able to retire, but I don’t think I will. I’ll have to be forced out of it.” Probably at least a few employees of Planned Parenthood, Minnesota’s largest abortion provider, would like to see him go away. Gibson said he has been a constant source of irritation for its staff, and employees all the way up to local executives have shown their displeasure. One executive regularly makes an obscene gesture at Gibson when passing him on the way into the clinic parking lot. Gibson is a regular at the clinic, leading prayer vigils such as an annual event on Good Friday, which he said drew 3,800 people this year. He also leads an event he started four or five years ago called the Jericho March, which takes place over seven days and is patterned after the biblical story in which the Israelites caused the walls of Jericho to collapse by marching around the city for seven days and blowing trumpets on the last day. Along the way, he has inspired many pro-life people of all denominations, including Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Cozzens, himself a strong advocate for the unborn who once spent two weeks in a Nebraska jail after being arrested at a demonstration at an abortion clinic. He
COMPASSION in action
PHOTOS BY DA
ABOVE Brian Gibson, executive director of Pro-Life Action Ministries in St. Paul, stands in front of a Robbinsdale house owned by the ministry abortion clinic (white building in the background). In the back corner of the house is a room where the Eucharist resides in a tabernacle. RIGHT Gibson addresses those gathered April 19 for the Solemn Good Friday Prayer Vigil at Planned Parenthood in St. Paul. It’s been an annua 1984, and Gibson has been to all of them. first met Gibson more than two decades ago, before he entered The St. Paul Seminary to study for the priesthood. “What I really appreciate about Brian is his direct-action approach, which is he puts his love and compassion into action by trying to reach out to women in their most vulnerable moments,” Bishop Cozzens said. “It’s hard to think of anybody who’s been more dedicated to a presence, a pro-life and loving presence, at the abortion clinics in the state of Minnesota than Brian has. You can tell that it’s a charism and that it’s deep in him because he never tires of engaging in this struggle for women and for their babies.”
Deep roots Gibson credits his parents for modeling pro-life beliefs throughout his childhood in Columbus. The third oldest of nine, he had a younger brother born with a mental disability. Brian remembers how his parents talked about and treated his brother. “We grew up with this very profound understanding of the value of our brother’s life, and how wonderful he was to have in our family,” Gibson said. “I can remember — absolutely clearly — so often Dad saying, ‘God sent us an angel.’ And so, Mom and Dad showing us how to honor the life of our brother certainly had a foundational effect on me and our whole family.”
Affection for his brother flared up anytime Brian overheard other people making fun of someone with a disability. He remembers getting out of his seat on the school bus during his elementary and high school days to confront people who said it was OK to abort a baby discovered to be “retarded,” the commonly-used term in those days for someone with a mental disability. “It infuriated me to hear people saying that they thought abortion would be good (in cases where the unborn child was discovered to have a disability),” he said. “They were assaulting my brother as far as I was concerned.” Gibson said his pro-life efforts waned for a few years after high school when he fell away from his faith. Then, in 1981, he had what he calls a “reversion,” and soon got back into prolife activism. In the spring of that year, he met Gaworski, who with O’Donnell founded ProLife Action Ministries that year and recruited Gibson to join them. The two began doing what they called sidewalk counseling, a practice that has spread across the country. Gibson, a ministry volunteer at that point, later joined in the sidewalk counseling effort, which involves trying to reach women coming into a clinic for an abortion and attempting to convince them to choose life for their babies. With Pro-Life Action Ministries, Gibson has witnessed joyful victories and bitter defeats.
One of the best momen Hospital in St. Paul stop abortions in 2011. Gibs 40 Days for Life prayer v for three years, and got that the hospital’s abort in a matter of days. “There was elation — just off the charts,” Gib more than 500 babies a just absolutely exciting Brian Walker, my progra out to Regions and stoo And, I did a quick video He also walked inside make sure it was closed. said, he was able to even threat of being arrested physically stopped from Now, Gibson and the second local abortion fa Robbinsdale Clinic. Hop close is based on a key d in 2008. After buying a deep discount well belo Gibson got permission f Flynn to have Eucharist inside the house. It is in a stand near the back co People kneeling in fron able to look out the win abortion facility.
OCTOBER 24, 2019 • 11
GOD’S GOOD WORK Sidewalk counseling became particularly personal for Brian Gibson in 1990. Having done it since 1987, the executive director of Pro-Life Action Ministries began telling other sidewalk counselors of his desire to adopt a child. He asked them to tell pregnant women coming to an abortion clinic that he would adopt their baby if they chose life. One of the moms listened. In the summer of 1990, a woman was scheduled for an abortion at St. Paul-Ramsey Medical Center (now Regions Hospital) in St. Paul. A friend of the woman’s mother-in-law happened to be a sidewalk counselor. The friend called Gibson, who encouraged her to talk with the pregnant woman. “So, she went to this young woman’s house, literally at 11 o’clock at night, knocking on the door — cold call,” Gibson said. “They talked for a couple hours, and in that conversation, the young woman decided not to have her child killed, decided that she would accept Christ into her life and decided to give the baby up for adoption.” The sidewalk counselor then told the woman about Gibson and his wife, Julie, who married in 1981 but could not conceive a child. They made arrangements with an adoption agency, and the Gibsons came to the hospital while the woman was in labor. Rebecca was born Jan. 11, 1991, and the Gibsons brought her home. The adoption was finalized a few days later. The Gibsons later adopted a boy, Joseph, who is 26. Rebecca is 28 and lives in Florida with her husband. “We always told them they were adopted, but we never told Rebecca this story” during her childhood, Gibson said. “We didn’t tell her that she was scheduled to be aborted and that she was a baby saved (by) the ministry, because she didn’t need to know that.” Also, the Gibsons said, “It was the birth mom’s story to share.” Thus, the details of Rebecca’s “rescue” were kept quiet until 2014, when the Gibsons received a letter from the adoption agency saying the birth mother wanted to meet her daughter. Recently married, Rebecca agreed to meet her birth mom. They met twice, and at the second meeting, her mother handed her a cardboard box with letters and photos, some of which the Gibsons had sent. In the pile of material was an intake form from the adoption agency. On that form was listed the reason the mother was giving up her baby for adoption. It explained that she was scheduled for an abortion, but changed her mind after meeting with someone from Pro-Life Action Ministries. Brian, Julie and Rebecca went through the material together after Rebecca brought the box home. They got to the intake form. “I said, ‘You know what this says, don’t you, Rebecca?’” Gibson said. “She goes, ‘Yeah, Dad. I knew it all along.’” “She didn’t know it all along because somebody told her,” Gibson said. “She’s surmising it because of what I do for a living, and that she’s adopted.”
AVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
After that brief exchange, Rebecca said, “You’ve got to tell the story, Dad.’ I said, ‘OK.’”
y that is next door to an
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nts was when Regions pped performing son had been organizing vigils outside the facility the news Nov. 25, 2011, tion facility would close
— those emotions were bson said. “A place killing a year... closing. It was as can be. I grabbed ram director. We went od in front of their sign. o to throw on YouTube.” e the abortion facility to . It was the first time, he n get close to it “without or taken down or m going in.” e ministry are targeting a acility — the pe that it might one day development that came home next door for a ow the market rate, from Archbishop Harry t permanently placed n a tabernacle placed on orner of a bedroom. nt of the Eucharist are ndow and see the
The Gibsons started sharing the story about a year ago, posting it on Facebook. Gibson simply calls it “the everyday evidence of the good work that God does through our ministry. We get to see it. It’s fun.” — Dave Hrbacek “We’re looking for perpetual prayer for the closing of this abortion facility,” Gibson said. “We believe that the power of prayer, and the power of the presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the power of those who come out and are moved by this are enough to close this place down.” Gibson noted there are three abortion facilities left in the Twin Cities. The “Goliath” is Planned Parenthood in St. Paul, which has steadily grown since a new facility was built in 2011. “This Planned Parenthood affiliate that’s housed in St. Paul is probably — if not the premier — one of the premier Planned Parenthood affiliates in the nation,” he said. “It’s an evil monster and they’re still growing. Their political clout is unbelievably high, in this state in particular. In Minnesota, it’s off the charts strong and powerful, which it shouldn’t be. Their rhetoric, their propaganda on what abortion is and who they are is just eaten up by the secular media and regurgitated as if they were advertising for Planned Parenthood.”
In his fourth decade as leader of the pro-life ministry, Gibson takes a sober view of the cultural landscape that keeps abortion entrenched in the minds of so many Americans. That’s why, in addition to thinking big, he thinks small, as in each unborn child whose future is put in jeopardy by an abortionminded woman. He counts every baby who is saved through the ministry’s sidewalk counseling. Since the ministry started keeping track in the mid-1980s, 3,439 lives have been saved, including 62 lives so far this year. Each time a baby lives because a woman coming to an abortion clinic changes her mind, it becomes, at that moment, the greatest victory the pro-life movement can claim, Gibson said. “We celebrate every baby that is saved,” he said. “We post them on Facebook and all the other social media we can. ... We make it known as best we can. When we do our banquets, we get testimonies from the women, see their babies and get to hold them. There’s
great joy in that.” There’s also joy in seeing people volunteer for the ministry and take on the challenging task of sidewalk counseling, which always has been a bedrock of the ministry. Gibson said there now are at least 300 trained volunteers who go out at least once a month. At the heart of all his efforts to end abortion, which he hopes will happen in his lifetime, is prayer. Gibson attends Mass at the Robbinsdale house twice a month and spends time there in eucharistic adoration. Everything he does on the sidewalk is rooted in prayer. “We can only come at it as people of prayer, people of peace,” he said. “Over the decades of sidewalk counseling, I’ve come to learn... I have never changed the mind of a single woman — not once. God has. So, if the prayerfulness is not there, then whatever words I’m saying will be absolutely, wholly ineffective. “But, if the right attitude, the right heart, the right prayerfulness is there, even when my words are inadequate, they can reach the heart of that woman because it’s God who does it, not me.”
12 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
OCTOBER 24, 2019
HOSPICEANDFUNERALS
MCC’s booklets provide Catholic perspective on end-of-life decisions By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit
J
oe Stanislav, CEO of Our Lady of Peace hospice and home health care in St. Paul, can vouch for the Minnesota Catholic Conference’s primers on health care directives and end-of-life care. The two booklets are among items offered to people at the hospice. Stanislav, a member of Transfiguration in Oakdale, said the primers cover ethical and moral considerations for end-of-life care in a clear and helpful manner. The health care directives booklet includes a form people can fill out that meets Minnesota law for such directives, including designating a health care agent and requesting spiritual and medical care that conform to Church teaching. It’s important for people to receive that kind of guidance, Stanislav said. “In this secular society, it’s too easy for people to support things like euthanasia,” he said. “Because we are Catholic, we would never support that.” MCC’s “A Guide to End-of-Life Care Decisions: A Brief Ethical Primer on Medical Decisions Regarding Life-Sustaining Treatments in the Catholic Tradition,” notes among other issues that advances in medical technology create ethical challenges. Such challenges include a strong push to allow people to end lives through euthanasia and assisted
suicide, but also include an ability to sustain life that was not available to previous generations. That kind of technology can make it difficult to determine when death occurs, blurring the lines of ordinary care and extraordinary interventions that don’t offer a reasonable hope of benefit. Understanding Catholic teaching on such challenges and consulting with experts, loved ones and others can help people navigate the difficult landscape, the MCC notes. The Guide provides information from a Catholic perspective that can help people consider issues such as human dignity and the ministry and faith aspects of sickness and dying, including the toll they take on people physically, emotionally, socially and spiritually. The booklet also seeks to dispel the notion that life must be prolonged at all costs. “There is a time in each life when we exhaust all reasonable possibilities of forestalling death,” the Guide says. “The Catholic tradition does not require prolonging life in every possible way or at all costs. Such a position would be contrary to human dignity, moral intuition, and the will of God.” The Guide is new this year as a supplement to the MCC’s “Health Care Directives: A Catholic Perspective,” which includes a Q-and-A approach to the subject. The previous edition of the health care directive booklet was published in 2011. Revised this year to be more user friendly, it remains substantively similar to the previous booklet. Among questions it strives to answer are “Why should I have a health care directive?” as well as how to create a health care directive, who should be
named as a health care agent and what to do with a directive once it is signed. Both booklets offer suggestions for further reading and additional resources on end-of-life issues. The Minnesota Catholic Conference produced the booklets with the help of various consultants and the MCC’s Life, Family and Healthcare Committee. Both were reviewed and approved by the Catholic bishops of Minnesota. Parishes and organizations can use the booklets to help create presentations on the topics they address. Some organizations are open to sponsoring such presentations, including the Knights of Columbus, Catholic United Financial and Catholic Community Foundation. Additional contact information for those groups and copies of both booklets, which can be ordered or downloaded, can be found at mncatholic.org. Just click on the home page “Resources” tab and scroll down to “Catholic End-of-Life Care Decisions.”
More calendar events at www.TheCatholicSpirit.com
OCTOBER 24, 2019
HOSPICEANDFUNERALS
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 13
The job of a lifetime In a sense, Joan Gecik has been preparing all her life to lead Catholic Cemeteries By Christina Capecchi For The Catholic Spirit
T
o get the full story, you must go back to the Sunday picnics. Without knowing it, Joan Gecik has been preparing for her new job as executive director of The Catholic Cemeteries her entire life — personally and professionally. But the first notable influence came in early childhood. After Sunday Mass, her parents would take their 10 kids out for a picnic at the cemetery — a free, safe and beautiful place. Joan fed the ducks, watched the birds and touched gravestones, wondering about the history at her fingertips. Today, an attraction to cemeteries is less common –— as is the acceptance of death that was modeled to Gecik, a member of St. Richard in Richfield and a skilled parish administrator. “Death was a part of life,” she said. “It was not feared, it was embraced.” The first woman to serve in this position, the former nun and teacher brings a collaborative spirit and a fervent love of learning. Since she began studying last fall at the Mendota Heights office under longtime Director John Cherek, who retired at the end of last year, she has read 19 books on cemeteries and burials. “I just sop it in,” she said. As director of Catholic Cemeteries, which spans five cemeteries in the archdiocese, Gecik manages a staff of 27 — many moving parts and roles beyond the field workers who dig gravesites. Her acute organizational and leadership skills as a firstborn are put to good use overseeing complicated issues of cemetery law, contracts, meetings, communications, mapping and genealogy. “There are so many meetings!” she said. “Every time I turn around I am signing something.” And yet, Gecik brought a wealth of relevant experience to the learning curve. She has done fulltime parish ministry for more than four decades, including seven years as director of worship and parish life at the Cathedral of St. Paul and, most recently, nearly five years as pastoral administrator at St. Thomas the Apostle in Minneapolis. The throughline of her wide-ranging parish ministry: working with people who are grieving. “I just know how, intrinsically, to connect with people who are in pain because of loss,” she said. “It’s a sacred time to walk with people when their heart is most tender.” Gecik is speaking from personal experience —
DAVE HRBACEK / THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
including the death of her sister Andi at age 50, a victim of breast cancer — and professional experience, having done burials as part of her pastoral care. That’s when the Catholic concept she’d heard bandied around since childhood finally clicked: the communion of saints. “I think it’s a very thin veil that separates us from our next life,” she said. “I feel we never lose the connection (to deceased loved ones.) I have a heart string to the people I’ve accompanied through death. There’s part of me that can’t wait to get to heaven. I think it’s going to be such a big reunion!” She extends a gentle invitation to the grieving who cross her path: “I just tell people that we care for the communion of saints, and it isn’t a bad idea to join in some conversation with this group who has gone before us.” Often a widow or widower will light up at this suggestion, validated by a habit they had once considered crazy. “That’s exactly what I do!” they’ll tell Gecik. She gets it. “I talk to my sister a lot,” she said. These conversations represent the kind of broader educational and spiritual support around death she would like Catholic Cemeteries to extend in the future. Next May, for instance, she’s hosting a speaker
Joan Gecik is the first woman to serve as executive director of The Catholic Cemeteries. She is pictured Oct. 15 at Resurrection Cemetery in Mendota Heights, where her office is located.
to address the unrecognized loss of miscarriage and stillbirth. Gecik plans to sponsor more seminars and lead tours to bring in more people. “I would like to see the cemeteries as places that people want to visit — not only because they have a loved one in our care, but because they are beautiful places that inspire us to reflect on life. They are places to remember and to share stories. They are places to pray.” In honor of 2020 being dubbed International Year of the Woman, she’s enlisting a researcher to gather the stories of the women buried at the historic St. Mary’s Cemetery in Minneapolis. Gecik is also exploring ways for her staff to share their findings and resources more widely, reaching beyond their current use of Facebook and a bi-annual newsletter to possibly include podcasts and YouTube videos. Gecik’s collaborative leadership style is drawing out the many talents of her staff. She set up teams to make the workplace feel less like siloes. She hosts regular brainstorming sessions for the staff to dream big and discern their future. And she prays for them one by one, especially after hard days. The opportunity to lead Catholic Cemeteries feels like the culmination of her career, she said. “I’m always thanking God that I was led here.”
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14 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
OCTOBER 24, 2019
Eight tips for pre-planning your funeral By Sam Patet For The Catholic Spirit
Y
ou don’t have to tell Joan Gecik that weddings are huge affairs. Getting ready for the big day can take a year or more, she said. She wishes, though, that everyone would spend more time preparing for a day that’s just as monumental: the day they meet God. “We don’t do the same thing with preparation for dying, and that’s just as important,” said Gecik, executive director of The Catholic Cemeteries, a Mendota Heights-based organization that oversees five Catholic cemeteries in the Twin Cities. Before her time at Catholic Cemeteries, she spent four decades in parish ministry, which included helping individuals with funeral planning. Funeral director Dan Delmore couldn’t agree more. A parishioner at St. Bartholomew in Wayzata, he owns Robbinsdale-based Gearty-Delmore Funeral Chapels and has worked in the funeral service industry for more than 40 years. “All people should plan for their funeral and burial ... because, after all, that is one of life’s few certainties,” he said. Specifying funeral wishes in advance — including where and how you want to be buried and what type of memorial service you would like — helps ensure your loved ones won’t have to make those decisions while they’re grieving, Gecik said. “Oftentimes, when someone has died suddenly or unexpectedly, families are in shock as well as grieving,” she said. “If they do not have any indication as to what the deceased desired, they can be overwhelmed by what needs to be done in a relatively short amount of time.” Here, then, are eight suggestions they provided for pre-planning your funeral: uHave the talk. Delmore and Gecik have worked with individuals who know they want a funeral Mass but worry it won’t happen because their adult children aren’t practicing Catholics. The remedy — while not foolproof — is straightforward: Tell them what you want for a funeral service. “It’s important to make sure that you convey your wishes to your family, to write things down,” Delmore said. uCover your bases. Gecik likens
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
funeral planning to a three-legged stool, in that three critical areas need to be addressed: where you’ll be buried, how you’d like to be buried and what you’d like as part of your memorial service. Parishes, funeral homes and The Catholic Cemeteries offer planning seminars throughout the year on these topics, Gecik said, and there are a host of resources online. uWrite it down. Delmore and Gecik both emphasized the importance of writing down your wishes and making them accessible to the persons you’ve designated to carry them out. To do this, you’ll want to create a file, or portfolio, that contains several documents, including: • Copies of your will and any trusts you’ve set up • A copy of your power of attorney (if you have one) • A Catholic health care directive, which is available from the Minnesota Catholic Conference • A list of all your vital statistics, which is needed in order to begin processing your death certificate with the state • Any veteran discharge papers, which are needed if you want to be buried at a Department of Veterans Affairs national cemetery, such as Fort Snelling in Minneapolis • A list of your electronic accounts (email, online banking, social media) and
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corresponding passwords • A document that outlines what you’d like for a memorial service (many parishes and funeral homes have worksheets for this purpose) uConnect with a funeral home. The staff at a funeral home can help you arrange what type of burial you’d like (full body, cremation or natural), choose a cemetery and connect with a church if you don’t have strong ties with one, Gecik said. uKnow your burial options. The Church allows Catholics to choose from several, including full body, cremation and natural. It does require, though, that a person’s remains be buried in the ground or placed in an above-ground niche, Gecik said. She encouraged individuals considering natural burial (an option now offered at Resurrection Cemetery in Mendota Heights) to choose a funeral home that has experience with it. uConnect in advance. Gecik also recommended arranging in advance if you’d like to donate your body for medical research. Angela McArthur, director of the Anatomy Bequest Program at the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities, said in an email there are two anatomy bequest programs in the state, one at the University of Minnesota and the other at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Visit their websites to get more
information on the application process. uPlan your memorial service — but not entirely. Another piece you’ll need to plan is your memorial service, which could include a Mass, prayer service, viewing or combination of the three. Many parishes have someone on staff other than a priest who can assist you with this, Gecik said, such as a pastoral minister or a director of pastoral care. They’ll help you select music and readings for Mass, plan what type of viewing you’d like and make arrangements for a funeral lunch. Delmore agrees this is a good thing to do but cautioned against documenting every detail. “The natural reaction at the time of death (for survivors) is to go inward rather than to accept and welcome the community’s involvement and participation,” he said. “It’s better to leave a few things (with the memorial service) undone so that the survivors have some interaction, some ownership, and ability to see what the Church can do for them.” He didn’t recommend leaving other aspects of planning — such as updating your will or prepaying for your funeral expenses — unfinished for your survivors. uResearch prices and pay in advance. According to the National Funeral Directors Association, the 2017 median cost for a funeral with a viewing, burial and cemetery vault in the U.S. was $8,755. If cost is a concern, do your homework and determine what’s most important for you to have. You can set up an individual trust account to pay in advance for your funeral expenses, Delmore said. In Minnesota, he said, any money you prepay to a funeral home or cemetery must go into a trust account and not into the facility’s working accounts. “The reason for that is if a funeral home is sold, goes bankrupt … if they close and they sell, your monies are still good and you can use them anywhere,” he said. This isn’t the case, though, in every state, he said, so be sure to ask about this if you’re working with a facility outside of Minnesota. Addressing all these items will take time and effort. But doing the legwork will ensure you’re prepared and have provided peace to your family.
OCTOBER 24, 2019
GUEST COMMENTARY | FATHER TAD PACHOLCZYK
Palliative sedation
Because suffering almost always imposes itself on us during life, and especially at the end of life, it can be helpful to reflect on the need to accept some personal suffering as we die, even as we recognize the importance of palliative steps and other comfort measures. In the last week of life, more than 90 percent of patients require medical management of symptoms such as pain, spasmodic contractions of muscles, vomiting, hallucinations, or generalized agitation. Many symptoms can be addressed with medication, and pain can often be managed with powerful opioids like morphine or fentanyl. These remarkable drugs, however, call for discernment because at higher dosages, they can limit mental clarity and induce an extended semi-dreamland state as death approaches. The U.S. Catholic bishops offer an important perspective on participating in our own dying process in their Ethical and Religious Directives. “Since a person has the right to prepare for his or her death while fully conscious,” it says, “he or she should not be deprived of consciousness without a compelling reason.” In some cases, the harsh symptoms associated with dying may prove refractory to treatments, prompting physicians to consider, during a patient’s final stretch of days, the possibility of a globalized form of sedation
HOSPICEANDFUNERALS known as “palliative sedation.” This approach, which relies on the monitored use of sedatives, barbiturates, neuroleptics, benzodiazepines or other anesthetic medications, entirely deprives the patient of consciousness as he or she enters into a deep comatose state until death. One concern is that the reception of the sacraments, whether confession, the anointing of the sick or the Eucharist/Viaticum becomes problematic for an unconscious person. This purposeful and complete shutting down of consciousness also raises broader ethical and spiritual concerns about categorically precluding participation in one’s death, as well as the last days of life. While for some dying patients, severe pain can almost entirely preclude their ability to think, once the intensity of their pain has been moderated, the possibility of reflection returns, as the mind no longer focuses on mere survival. Medications can thus be helpful to dying patients by keeping the harmful effects of pain within narrower limits. The decision, however, to shut down, through palliative sedation, that very faculty by which we exercise the conscious “parenting of our actions” surely requires the gravest of motives. St. John Paul II once remarked that the meaning of suffering has been revealed to man in the cross of Jesus Christ. The Church has indeed ascribed a certain primacy to the way he endured and sanctified the sorrowful and painful events surrounding his crucifixion, even before his preaching and teaching, or his healing and forgiving. Through those final sufferings, Jesus brought about the redemption of humanity and the entirety of creation. Paradoxically, his redemptive activity upon the gibbet of the cross was pre-eminently an inward, internalized
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 15 movement of his will. Since he could not so much as budge a limb, his chief action and motion upon the cross was the surrender of his innermost being, embracing and assenting fully to God the Father’s designs. His example reminds us how the movement from external activity to the acceptance of God’s will, from outward action in the world to inward activity of the soul, is one the most important movements during our life’s journey. The inward movement of our being in our final days and hours can involve a kind of transformation or conversion, sometimes quite dramatic, as in the case of the good thief. It can involve a contemplative internalization of the mysteries of human existence, a stripping away of everything, and a period of “rending naked” the soul. Our concluding time on earth may thus serve an important role in our own eschatological fulfillment. Our last days and hours can also powerfully affect the course of that fulfillment in others around us, as occurred in the lives of various bystanders on that historic day on Calvary. When we find ourselves nailed to our death bed, it can become an important personal moment for us to engage the possibility of a spiritual transformation opening before us, as we pass through the pains of childbirth to the joy of new life (Jn 16:21). Father Pacholczyk, Ph.D., earned his doctorate in neuroscience from Yale and did post-doctoral work at Harvard. He is a priest of the diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, and serves as the director of education at The National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia. See www.ncbcenter.org
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16 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
OCTOBER 24, 2019
FOCUSONFAITH SUNDAY SCRIPTURES | FATHER TERRY BEESON
Finding humility and striving to change My mother is 92 and still lives in the house I grew up in. For most of my adult life, every time I’ve gone up to visit her, we’ve played Scrabble — several games of Scrabble. I usually win and win big. But even at 92, she insists on playing. Eventually, I will say something that can be construed as boasting, and she will immediately put me in my place, saying, “Those who exalt themselves shall be humbled.” Jesus tells the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector praying in the temple area, with the Pharisee boasting to God about how wonderful he is, and the tax collector beating his chest, begging for mercy. I realize Jesus tells the parable to make a point to those who are convinced of their own righteousness and despise everyone else, but I cannot stop wondering if anyone actually prays like the Pharisee. I think that for most people, this episode of religious arrogance would not come up in prayer. However, this is a warning to all of us not to get too cocky by comparing ourselves to others. Our fallen human nature does have that tendency. I must admit that I find myself shaking my head with certain members of my own family who are not on board with my mother or myself. Is it arrogance on my part? Yes. Is that attitude hard to resist? Yes.
There are elements of the Pharisee’s “prayer” that are true. After all, it is not good to be greedy, dishonest and adulterous. It is good to fast and tithe. However, boasting about it like one who is victorious at a Scrabble game does not bring us closer to God. We avoid evil and do good, not to boast about it nor to compare ourselves to others, but to strive for holiness. I also wonder about the tax collector. When he leaves the temple, does he continue to live life the same way as before? If he does, what was the point of his prayer? Would he be of the mindset that he is too far gone, that there is no use trying? I would hope that this self-realization of being a sinner would spark a change, not continue a life of self-loathing. Jesus said, “whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” How do we humble ourselves? What is humility? The way I see it, there is a scale, with pride and arrogance at one end, self-loathing and self-deprecation at the other end, and humility in the middle. To humble ourselves, we need to take an honest look at ourselves. In the game of Scrabble, players get seven letters, and assess how to make the best use of these letters to win the game. Sometimes players fall short in making the best use of the letters. In humility, we count the blessings, the gifts, the talents God has given us, and assess how to best use those blessings in striving for holiness. But we also look at how we fall short — our sins, our foibles, our misuse of God’s gifts — and assess how we can change. This is a daily process. Above all, after an honest assessment of ourselves, humility is coming to God, especially through the sacraments, to ask for the strength and the courage and the perseverance to do God’s will. Father Beeson is pastor of St. Pius V in Cannon Falls and St. Joseph in Miesville.
Sunday, October 27 Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Sir 35:12-14, 16-18 2 Tm 4:6-8, 16-18 Lk 18:9-14 Monday, October 28 Sts. Simon and Jude, apostles Eph 2:19-22 Lk 6:12-16 Tuesday, October 29 Rom 8:18-25 Lk 13:18-21 Wednesday, October 30 Rom 8:26-30 Lk 13:22-30 Thursday, October 31 Rom 8:31b-39 Lk 13:31-35 Friday, November 1 Solemnity of All Saints Rv 7:2-4, 9-14 1 Jn 3:1-3 Mt 5:1-12a Saturday, November 2 Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls) Wis 3:1-9 Rom 5:5-11 Jn 6:37-40
FAITH FUNDAMENTALS | FATHER MICHAEL VAN SLOUN
The Litany of the Holy Eucharist
A litany is a prayer that consists of a series of invocations, each followed by a response. A litany may be recited or sung with a congregation with the invocations given by a priest, deacon, cantor, lector or layperson and the responses made in unison by the congregation. A litany may also be prayed privately by a single person who recites both the invocations and the responses. The Litany of the Holy Eucharist is given in the Order for the Solemn Exposition of the Holy Eucharist, No. 178. It is recommended to be prayed when a person is in the presence of the Eucharist during eucharistic adoration or on a visit to the church when it is reserved in the tabernacle. It can be offered anytime. The response to the first series of invocations is “have mercy on us.” Part I of the litany begins: Jesus, the Most High, the holy One, Word of God, only Son of the Father, Son of Mary, crucified for us, risen from the dead, reigning in glory, coming in glory, our Lord, our hope, our peace, our Savior, our salvation, our resurrection, Judge of all, Lord of the Church, Lord of creation, Lover of all, life of the world, freedom for the imprisoned, joy of the sorrowing, giver of the Spirit, giver of good gifts, source of new life, Lord of life, eternal high priest, priest and victim, true Shepherd, and true light. It concludes: Jesus, bread of heaven, bread of life, bread of thanksgiving, life-giving bread, holy manna, new covenant, food for everlasting life, food for our journey, holy banquet, true sacrifice, perfect sacrifice, eternal sacrifice, divine Victim, Mediator of the new covenant, mystery of the altar, mystery of faith, medicine of immortality, and pledge of eternal glory. Part II is the Invocation of Christ, and the response to Part II-A is “Lord, save your people.” The invocations are: Lord, be merciful, from all evil, from every sin, from the snares of the devil, from anger and hatred, from every evil intention, from everlasting death, by your coming as man, by your birth, by your baptism and fasting, by your suffering and cross, by your death and burial, by your rising to new life, by your return in glory to the Father, by your gift of the Holy Spirit, and by your coming again in glory. The response to Part II-B is “have mercy on us.” The invocations are: Christ, Son of the living God, you came into this world, you
DAILY Scriptures
Sunday, November 3 Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Wis 11:22-12:2 2 Thes 1:11-2:2 Lk 19:1-10 Monday, November 4 St. Charles Borromeo, bishop Rom 11:29-36 Lk 14:12-14 Tuesday, November 5 Rom 12:5-16ab Lk 14:15-24 Wednesday, November 6 Rom 13:8-10 Lk 14:25-33
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suffered for us on the cross, you died to save us, you lay in the tomb, you rose from the dead, you returned in glory to the Father, you sent the Holy Spirit upon your Apostles, you are seated at the right hand of the Father, and you will come again to judge the living and the dead. Part III is the Prayer for Various Needs and the response is “Lord, hear our prayer.” The invocations for Part III-A are: Lord, be merciful to us, give us true repentance, strengthen us in your service, reward with eternal life all who do good to us, and bless the fruits of the earth and of our labor. The invocations for Part III-B are: Lord, show us your kindness, raise our thoughts and desires to you, grant eternal rest to all who have died in faith, spare us from disease, hunger and war, and bring all peoples together in trust and peace. The invocations for the final section are: guide and protect your holy Church, keep the pope and all the clergy in faithful service to your Church, bring all Christians together in unity, and lead all to the light of the Gospel. Father Van Sloun is pastor of St. Bartholomew in Wayzata.
Thursday, November 7 Rom 14:7-12 Lk 15:1-10 Friday, November 8 Rom 15:14-21 Lk 16:1-8 Saturday, November 9 Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome Ez 47:1-2, 8-9, 12 1 Cor 3:9c-11, 16-17 Jn 2:13-22 Sunday, November 10 Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time 2 Mc 7:1-2, 9-14 2 Thes 2:16-3:5 Lk 20:27-38
OCTOBER 24, 2019
COMMENTARY
FAITH IN THE PUBLIC ARENA | JASON ADKINS
Integral ecology addresses social, environmental crisis Catholic social teaching is not a set of policy prescriptions or an attempt to tell people how to vote. Rather, it is a mental framework through which we address challenging social problems in light of the Gospel. Understanding and putting into practice Catholic social teaching (CST) is vital to addressing the challenges of creation stewardship without falling into environmental activism that today often mimics religious apocalypticism. When people are putting a collection of plants in the middle of a room and confessing their ecological sins to them or declaring that they will have fewer or no children out of principle, something is going off the rails. Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si’” speaks into this moment by integrating the need to care for both human persons and the environment through a representation of CST he calls “integral ecology.” Integral ecology is the framework we need to properly order the religious impulse (particularly among young people) in the environmental movement, while also respecting the dignity of the human person.
Religion in the guise of politics The environmental debate once focused primarily on the need for oil companies and big business to curtail their waste and pollution. Now it has reached its logical conclusion: radical measures that seek to change the way people live their daily lives, and in particular their reproduction and consumption habits. That change is based upon certain predictions about the world as we know it coming to an end in 12 years. To forestall this environmental catastrophe, we need to confess our ecological sins to mother earth, repent, and
CATHOLIC WATCHMEN | DEACON GORDON BIRD
Gift of self in marriage, family and fellowship
Bundling takeaways from the fruits of a Siena Symposium for Women, Family and Culture that my wife and I recently attended reminded me that I should read the third chapter of Genesis — expulsion from Eden — more thoroughly. The final verse of that chapter is grim: “He expelled the man, stationing the cherubim and the fiery revolving sword east of the garden of Eden, to guard the way to the tree of life” (Gn 3:24). Life as we know it has been a tough path since then, yet God established for mankind a path for restoration and redemption. He has shown us ways we can serve one another through understanding better the gift of self in our own lives. A few more nuggets worth sharing: It was probably a controversial title for the Siena Symposium to choose in the secular world: “The Gift of Masculinity in the Home, the World, and the Church.” But the Aug. 17 gathering at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul zeroed in on the complementarity of relationships between men and women and self-gift, in the sense that relationships with others are the only
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 17
make all sorts of atonements. According to some, having babies, consuming meat and flying in planes all need to go. We can write all of this off as crazy and ignore it, turn up the air conditioner and eat a big greasy burger. But what we really need to do instead is reframe the conversation and evangelize. As it turns out, the environmentalists are often right; there are serious environmental crises that need to be addressed, including climate change, deforestation, the global competition for scarce natural resources, the lack of access to clean water and the pollution of the seas. The question is, what principles and worldview are brought to bear on the problems? Will it be that which says “Save the planet — kill yourself,” and “Leave no trace,” or another that integrates the well-being of persons and care for our common home — “Leave the right trace”?
The promise of integral ecology Entrepreneur Andreas Widmer, a professor at Catholic University of America, describes CST as a “mental model” for well-formed Catholics to bring to bear on the problems they encounter in the various societies in which they live. Popes Francis and Benedict XVI have brought more clarity to this mental model by reframing it as “integral ecology.” The metaphor of an ecosystem highlights a) the importance of protecting life and promoting its flourishing as a foundational principle, and b) the connectedness and interdependence of persons with one another and the natural environment — our common home. Every policy issue, from abortion to carbon emissions, is woven into the web of relationships or ecosystems in which we live. Pope Francis says in “Laudato Si’” that we “are not faced with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather one complex crisis which is both social and environmental.” We would all do well to consider the public square something of a “political ecosystem,” acknowledging that no one issue stands or falls on its own. For example, one cannot look at abortion in isolation from questions related to family stability and economic security. Immigration must be viewed through the lens of keeping families together. Stopping assisted suicide requires that we ensure access to health care for the way we can give ourselves as gift. We are about community after all, and self-gift starts at home — with mom and dad recognizing each other’s God-given gifts, providing stability and virtue to family life. The director and co-founder of the Siena Symposium, Deborah Savage, emphasized that listening to God is essential for an ordered life; otherwise there is chaos. How do we learn this? In part, by learning that selfgiving in marriage enhances our understanding of God and humanity. Our keynote speaker, Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Cozzens, encouraged us to “find ourselves in this gift of self.” Furthermore, he stressed, men should love like Christ on the cross, in a self-emptying way. Read in the proper context, St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is particularly rich in understanding this language of selfemptying, surrender and self-gift. Our Shepherd pointed out that the “salvific reality of marriage is to make real the love of Christ and his Church” (see Eph 5). The apostle teaches us that marriage, the priesthood, diaconate, the religious life and laity apostolates — essentially all Christians — must learn that strength comes through self-emptying, giving of self in accordance with what is best for God’s kingdom. Author, educator and speaker Dale Ahlquist, in his “Chestertonian” wisdom, explained how families are the central unit of society, and not the individual. Albeit controversial in his time, G.K. Chesterton looked at the “whole purpose of marriage” as the way “to work through incompatibility.” The teachings and example of Jesus solve this “incompatibility” through the understanding of our Lord and Savior’s own self-gift. Given the notion that a family is based upon a father, mother and a child or children, the family — Catholic families — can restore the proper tenets, doctrine and principles that society can distort. The family in society
Deepen your understanding of integral ecology. To learn more about how our human and natural environments are integrally connected, and how you can answer the call to care for all of creation, visit mncatholic.org/ourcommonhome. There, you can download or place bulk orders of “Minnesota, Our Common Home,” a new educational resource produced by the Minnesota Catholic Conference. This document explores integral ecology and the key principles discussed in Pope Francis’ encyclical, “Laudato Si’,” and translates them into a local context. Also, available soon, are small group study guides (and leader guides) for use in parishes, communities and other small group settings. This will allow you to examine, discuss and delve more deeply into the teachings of “Laudato Si’” and how to apply these principles to your life. You’ll also be able to order copies of an “Ecological Examen” to help you review your life in light of the ecological conversion to which “Laudato Si’” calls us.
poor, disabled and those in rural areas. And we can’t fight water pollution without connecting it to the false dominion we seek to impose on our bodies when we use copious amounts of contraceptive hormones. As Pope Francis says, “everything is connected.” Integral ecology, then, is the mental construct, or decoder glasses, from which we can think through our problems — namely, what God has revealed to us about our identity and our relationships, and our discernment regarding his providential ordering of creation. We cannot fail to see the evangelical opportunities inherent in our predicament, especially with young people who expect their faith communities to be leaders on creation stewardship. We can and must speak into this evangelical moment and inspire others to get engaged on these questions — for the sake of the Gospel. Adkins is executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference.
can do this through common sense, freedom and justice. And as family, we learn to lay our lives down for each other and our neighbor by sharing our gift of self. Chesterton’s approach was that we need to teach and defend family life. He highlighted that family members with their unique gifts help one another prepare for the rest of the world, when they go out on their own. The family is the test of freedom. Freedom to learn, act and behave virtuously. Vincenzo Randazzo added a refreshing millennial perspective, speaking on the “pursuit of heroic virtue” as a Catholic man within the challenges of his generation. Yet his upbringing taught him the power of prayer, to embrace the faith, and yes, sometimes take the difficult path of exemplifying virtue, which may be countercultural. His family, his extended family — cousins, aunts and uncles — gave him the opportunity early in life to learn the difference between virtue and vice. To prepare for the rest of the world by testing the risks and rewards of living in virtue. To test freedom. With a rosary in tow! With Jesus, Mary and Joseph. The key takeaway? As a father and brother watchman with a Catholic responsibility to stand at both the breach and the heights, I’ll give it the ol’ college try: It is through family — through self-gift — that we ignite relationships with others in Christian fellowship and throughout society. It is where we learn a key truth: your life is not about you. Life is the gift of self that Christ taught implicitly, explicitly and by example. Deacon Bird ministers at St. Joseph in Rosemount, All Saints in Lakeville, and assists the Catholic Watchmen movement of the archdiocese’s Office of Evangelization. Reach him at gordonbird@rocketmail.com. Learn about the archdiocese’s Catholic Watchmen initiative at thecatholicwatchmen.com.
COMMENTARY
18 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
OCTOBER 24, 2019
YOUR HEART, HIS HOME | LIZ KELLY
Our Lady of the Helium Rosary, pray for us!
At a recent retreat I led for a group of women outside of Tucson, Arizona, the women arrived, one by one, weary, worn out, spent with good works and hoping for the impossible. They brought with them an unusual heaviness; their burdens were exceptional. One woman was a victim’s advocate — the horror stories collected in her like a terrible, dark library; her dreams were frequently populated by demons who tried to possess her. She would send them away in her dreams declaring, “I belong to Jesus and you can’t have me!” Another worked with delinquent teenage girls — the concern she carried for them was palpable, like a heavy, wet cloak she could never take off. She knew the dangers they faced on a daily basis were nothing short of potentially catastrophic. Another worked with the emotionally disabled. This woman came and crumpled before me like a dry leaf. Diminutive in stature, she couldn’t have weighed more than a hundred pounds, and this further diminished by exhaustion and
“
But in their suffering I noticed something else, too: they had an unusually strong bond. In the evenings, they had a ‘pajama party,’ where they would gather and go around the circle taking turns sharing their stories, just listening patiently, lovingly to one another, and in this way helping to lighten each other’s burdens. iSTOCK PHOTO | MILKOS
grief. In the past few months, not one but two of her former students had been arrested on charges of murder and attempted murder. Their victims were their own children. “Really?” she said sobbing. “You want to make a difference, you think you’re making a difference and then this? Really?” The tears poured out of her. Thus did he lure his daughters into the desert to speak tenderly to them (Hosea 2:14). There’s not much one can say in the face of such heartbreak. I did try to assure her. I said something about how I’m sure she is making a difference. But
TO HOME FROM ROME | JONATHAN LIEDL
Everyday Emmanuel
You’re probably familiar with Narnia, C.S. Lewis’ setting for “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” where it’s “always winter, but never Christmas.” Earlier this fall, my fellow first-year seminarians and I had a weeklong silent retreat in a quaint mountainside village that is something of the opposite of pre-Aslan Narnia. Because in Greccio, it’s never quite winter (at least by Minnesota standards), but it’s like Christmas every day. Not in the crass, consumerist sense that seems to pervade American department stores and television advertisements earlier and earlier each year, but in a simple yet profoundly spiritual way. Greccio is the place where St. Francis of Assisi established the first Nativity scene in the 1220s. Today, the village is home to the International Museum of Nativity Scenes. Its sister city is Bethlehem. And at the nearby Sanctuary of Greccio, where St. Francis had set up his first Nativity scene, there are 15th-century frescoes and 20th-century sculptures depicting the Nativity of Our Lord. Maybe it was because I was surrounded by these constant reminders of the Lord’s incarnation, or perhaps it was due to the fact that I was blessed each day with beautiful vistas of mist-covered mountain tops, an image of heaven coming down to earth. Whatever the mediating factors, in the silence and beauty of Greccio I was made deeply aware of the closeness of God. By his grace, I began to see how constantly God was reaching out to me in love and providential care throughout the day. Through prayer and the sacraments, of course, but even in my silent walks along the mountain trails and the simple meals I would have in the
for all of her students who are leading more peaceful and more productive lives because of her, their stories don’t make the headlines. Still, one feels one’s utter inadequacy in such moments, and properly so. But in their suffering I noticed something else, too: they had an unusually strong bond. In the evenings, they had a “pajama party,” where they would gather and go around the circle taking turns sharing their stories, just listening patiently, lovingly to one another, and in this way helping to lighten each other’s burdens. This communion was especially
refectory. Every moment was an opportunity to know of his love and to be reminded of his closeness. The word that began welling up in my heart was Emmanuel, “God with us!” It struck me that, although we use this title most properly in the Advent season, it really is a description of God that is true the whole year round. Jesus is Emmanuel; he is with us and desires to be close to us, not just on Christmas Day, but each and every day. Of course, the Lord’s incarnation really did take place on that first Christmas in Bethlehem, 2,000 some years ago. In time and space, God drew unimaginably close to mankind by himself becoming man. This is a reality, a historical fact that we can never downplay or take for granted, because our entire faith and salvation depend upon it! But I wonder if we make our lives as Christians unnecessarily hard when we forget that Jesus’ life was not only an incarnation of God in a particular time and place, but also a revelation of how God is always relating to us. The events reported in the Gospel are not exceptions to God’s nature; they are manifestations of who he really and always is. God loves us now, in this moment, with the same love that compelled him to die upon the cross for us. The Lord is eager for our cooperation in his divine plan today, just as he was eager for Mary’s “fiat” at the Annunciation. And he desires to be close to us right now, as he did when he willed to be born a helpless infant amongst the straw and the livestock. Jesus was the Emmanuel, a fact we celebrate every Christmas. But he’s also Emmanuel for us today. This is a liberating truth! We are not meant to live the Christian life without him, treating what happened 2,000 years ago as an isolated series of events disconnected from our lives today. We are called to be attentive to Christ’s closeness to us now, for he is truly “God with us.” Liedl is a seminarian in formation for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.
heightened on the last day. As a part of their send-off from the retreat and to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, some of the women arose at 4 in the morning to create a helium balloon rosary. It was enormous, blue, white and gold. Each of the participants was invited to stand in a circle, holding one balloon-bead of the rosary, and as we sang an “Ave” it was released into the air. We watched it with delight as it rose and danced and soared above the desert hills below, dipping here and weaving there, ever rising toward the heavens. I normally don’t go in for such things, but I’ll confess, this was a magnificent sight, and I had to wonder that it must have filled the Blessed Mother with some delight. How it must have pleased her to gather up so many petitions, so many sorrows, so much weariness — to gather it up into the bosom of her grace. (I posted it on my website in case you’d like to see it.) She is celebrated as Our Lady of Victory for her intercession at the Battle of Lepanto, but let’s not forget she is Our Lady of Victory for the battles we face, too. She can fight for us in ways we cannot fight for ourselves. Blessed Mother, the battles still rage and your children grow weary. Give us a renewed spirit, renewed courage to fight for the good, to protect the innocent and the frail, and to remember your grace is always there, dancing, soaring over us, drawing us heart and soul toward heaven. Kelly is the author of six books, including “Jesus Approaches” and the “Jesus Approaches Take-Home Retreat.” Visit her website at lizk.org.
LETTER
The Real Presence It should not be a big surprise to Catholics that more than 60% of people who say they are Catholics do not believe that the holy Eucharist is the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now if you receive the Eucharist during Mass, you tell those of us trying to be Catholics that you are a Catholic and have a clean conscience. Then when you receive the holy Eucharist, you are stealing the holy body and blood of Christ. You are guilty of two sins, stealing and bearing false witness, lying. Now that they have eliminated two serious sins, they only need to follow the remaining eight, making it easy to be less Catholic. The remaining 40% of us who believe the Eucharist is the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ need to be more vocal about telling those 60% that they need to change their ways or stop calling themselves Catholic! Yours in Christ. Greg Magnuson Saint Pius V, Cannon Falls
ADD YOUR VOICE Share your perspective by emailing CatholicSpirit@ archspm.org. Please limit your letter to the editor to 150 words and include your parish and phone number. The Commentary page does not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Catholic Spirit. Letters may be edited for length or clarity.
OCTOBER 24, 2019
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 19
CALENDAR St. Vincent de Paul fundraiser breakfast — Oct. 27: 8:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. at 9100 93rd Ave. N., Brooklyn Park. To benefit WomenSource, a resource center for women and families in the Northwest Metro. Ladies Auxiliary Spaghetti Dinner — Oct. 29: 5–7 p.m. at Knights of Columbus Marian Hall, 1114 American Blvd. W., Bloomington. kofcbloomington.com.
FEATURED EVENTS A Night of Inspiration with Immaculée Ilibagiza — Nov. 13: 7 p.m. at Church of St. Michael, 16400 Duluth Ave. SE, Prior Lake. Immaculée talks about her story of faith, hope and forgiveness during the Rwandan genocide. stmichael-pl.org.
Parish events
An Evening with St. John Henry Newman — Nov. 6: 7-9 p.m. at JRC 126 Auditorium, reception in Sitzmann Hall, University of St. Thomas, 2115 Summit Ave., St. Paul. Sponsored by Terrence J. Murphy Institute for Catholic Thought, Law and Public Policy. With Father Michael Becker, rector of St. John Vianney College Seminary, on Newman and Conscience; Dave Deavel, Department of Catholic Studies, on the importance of Newman; Rachel Lu, philosopher and author, on Newman and the University.
Music Metropolitan Men’s Choir — Oct. 25: 7:30 p.m. at St. Richard’s Catholic Church, 7541 Penn Ave. S., Richfield. strichards.com. All Souls Evening Prayer — Nov. 3: 7 p.m. at 8260 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. guardian-angels.org. Mick Sterling-Bee Gees Tribute Concert — Nov. 8: 7–9 p.m. at Immaculate Conception Church, 4031 Jackson St. NE, Columbia Heights. To benefit the Immaculate Conception School Scholarship Fund. 763-788-9065. ICCSonline.org.
Dining Out KC Respect Life Dinner — Oct. 26: 6–9 p.m. at 11400 57th St. NE, Albertville. Chicken dinner. Speaker Joe McDonald. Reservations required. 763-497-3909 or 763-497-2265. kc4174.org. St. Jerome Carry-Out Booya — Oct. 27: 6 a.m., until it’s sold out, at 384 E. Roselawn Ave., Maplewood. Bring your own non-glass container. stjerome-church.org. Pancake Breakfast for Faith Formation — Oct. 27: 9 a.m.–12:30 p.m. at St. Patrick’s Church, 1095 Desoto St., St. Paul. Mike Schilling at 651-738-3626. KC Fundraiser Breakfast — Oct. 27: 7:30 a.m.–2 p.m. at Church of St. Agnes, 535 Thomas Ave., St. Paul. Funds to the local community, Pro-life, parish and school.
NCYC Bingo Fundraiser — Oct. 26: 6–8:30 p.m. at St. Gabriel the Archangel-St. Joseph Campus, 1300 Main St., Hopkins. stgabrielhopkins.org. Pete’s Boutique — Oct. 26: 9 a.m.–4 p.m. at St. Peter, 6730 Nicollet Ave. S., Richfield. stpetersrichfield.org. Church of St. Paul boutique and bake sale — Oct. 26: 9 a.m.–5:30 p.m. at 1740 Bunker Lake Blvd. NE, Ham Lake. churchofsaintpaul.com. Holiday Bingo — Oct. 27: 2 p.m. at St. John the Evangelist School, 2621 McMenemy St., Little Canada. Sponsored by St. Anne’s Council of Catholic Women. St. Timothy’s Christmas Fair — Nov. 2: 9 a.m.–3:30 p.m. at 707 89th Ave. NE, Blaine. churchofsttimothy.com. ACCW Holiday Bazaar — Nov. 2: 9 a.m.–3 p.m. at Church of the Assumption, 305 E. 77th St., Richfield. assumptionrichfield.org. St. Catherine Turkey Bingo — Nov. 3: 2–4:30 p.m. at 4500 220th St., Prior Lake. Sponsored by Council of Catholic Women. stpandc.mn.org. Holy Spirit Men’s Club Turkey Bingo — Nov. 7: 6:30 p.m. at 515 Albert St. S., St. Paul. Fall Festival Spaghetti & Bingo — Nov. 9: 6–9 p.m. at St. Richard’s Catholic Church, 7540 Penn Ave. S., Richfield. strichards.com. Turkey Bingo — Nov. 10: 1–3 p.m. 8266 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. Fun for the whole family! guardian-angels.org.
Prayer/worship Marian Movement of Priests Cenacle — Oct. 24: 7 p.m. at Church of St. John, 380 E. Little Canada Road, St. Paul. 651-778-1941.
Spiritual time away for writers — Oct. 28: 7–9 p.m. at St. Paul’s Monastery, 2676 Benet Road, Maplewood. benedictinecenter.org. Women’s weekend retreat — Nov. 1-3 at Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center, 16385 St. Francis Lane, Prior Lake. Rejoice and be Glad: Our Call to Holiness Today. franciscanretreats.net. Men and women’s silent weekend retreat — Nov. 1-3 at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. Stories Told by Jesus: Learning from the Parables presented by Susan Stabile. kingshouse.com. God Guiding Our Decisions — Nov. 2: 10 a.m.–2 p.m. at 8264 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. Retreat for young adults. pdeziel@guardian-angels.org or 651-789-3173 to register. guardian-angels.org. Church of St. Peter Women’s Retreat — Nov. 2: 10 a.m.–4 p.m. at the Church of St. Peter, 6730 Nicollet Ave., Richfield. Speakers Alyssa Bormes and Anne Marie Strabala. 612-866-5089. stpetersrichfield.org. Changing our Culture: Poems and Social Change — Nov. 2: 9 a.m.–3 p.m. at St. Paul’s Monastery, 2675 Benet Road, Maplewood. benedictinecenter.org. A Day Away for Artists and Creatives — Nov. 6: 9 a.m.–3 p.m. at St. Paul’s Monastery, 2675 Benet Road, Maplewood. benedictinecenter.org. Known by God: A Day of Reflection for Mothers of a Miscarried or Stillborn Child — Nov. 9: 9 a.m.–5:30 p.m. at Church of the Epiphany, 1900 111th Ave. NW, Coon Rapids. epiphanymn.org.
Conferences/workshops Encountering Christ in Sister Parish Relationships — Oct. 26: 9 a.m.–noon at Our Lady of Grace Church, 5071 Eden Ave., Edina. With Deacon Mickey Friesen. Unlocking the Treasure: A Special Conference with Scott Hahn and Jeff Cavins — Nov. 2: 8 a.m.–3:30 p.m. at St. Andrew Catholic Church and School, 566 Fourth St. NW, Elk River. Co-hosts the St. Paul Center and St. Andrew. Registration requested. stpaulcenter.com.
Retreats Friends of Francis Retreat — Oct. 25-27 at Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center, 16385 St. Francis Lane, Prior Lake. Led by Father Steve McMichael. franciscanretreats.net. Men’s silent weekend Retreat — Oct. 25-27 at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. Broken, Blessed and Sent, presented by King’s House Preaching Team. kingshouse.com.
CALENDAR submissions DEADLINE: Noon Thursday, 14 days before the anticipated Thursday date of publication. We cannot guarantee a submitted event will appear in the calendar. Priority is given to events occurring before the next issue date. LISTINGS: Accepted are brief notices of upcoming events hosted by Catholic parishes and organizations. If the Catholic connection is not clear, please emphasize it in your submission. Included in our listings are local events submitted by public sources that could be of interest to the larger Catholic community. ITEMS MUST INCLUDE the following to be considered for publication: uTime and date of event uFull street address of event uDescription of event uContact information in case of questions ONLINE: thecatholicspirit.com calendarsubmissions
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Speakers Dan Seftick shares Real Mountains — Oct. 27: 9:45–10:45 a.m. at 8261 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. One man’s Journey of Faith in the face of tragically losing his son in a climbing accident. RSVP requested to mpotts@guardian-angels.org or 651-789-3178. guardian-angels.org.
Other events Risen Savior Missions Gala — Oct. 26: 5:30–9:30 p.m. at Hilton Minneapolis, 3900 American Blvd. W., Bloomington. Hosted by Mary, Mother of the Church and Knights of Columbus #6374. To benefit starving kids of Philippines. tinyurl.com/RisenSaviorMissionsGala.
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20 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
OCTOBER 24, 2019
THELASTWORD
A saint at the
dinner table
DAVE HRBACEK / THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Celeste Raspanti holds the book she wrote about St. Frances Cabrini’s friendship with her family.
Cathedral parishioner writes about her family’s friendship with St. Frances Cabrini
saint,” she sighed. “Imagine that — and she’s a friend of the family.” That was a time when people were much more aware of saints in the Church than what appears to be the case today, Raspanti said. “In those days, you knew your saints,” she said.
By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit
Striking up a friendship
C
Celeste Raspanti, a volunteer archivist at the Cathedral of St. Paul, remembers stories her mother told about their family forging a friendship at the dinner table with St. Frances Cabrini as they helped her minister to the poor in Chicago. “She drank wine, she ate pasta, she sang songs,” Raspanti said of St. Frances. When Raspanti’s grandfather was ill, then-Mother Cabrini asked to be called if death drew near. “She was holding his hand when he died,” Raspanti said. Those real-life episodes and more in turn-of-the-century Chicago are depicted in a book Raspanti published earlier this year based on her mother’s memories of Mother Cabrini and titled “Our Saint: A Friend of the Family.” Illustrated by Raspanti’s niece, Deborah Zanger, in grey pencil line drawings punctuated with splashes of color, the book can be purchased at the National Shrine of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini in Chicago. Raspanti, 91, said she might have a copy or two on hand, as well. A major point of the book, which is written simply but is for adults as well as children, is that people who are living with saints often don’t realize it. Nonetheless, the saintly person’s love of Christ and ministry to others are readily apparent, Raspanti said. “‘I didn’t know she would be a big saint,’” she said her mother, Lillian Caviale Raspanti, would often tell her. “‘She didn’t act like a big saint.’ ” But Mother Cabrini helped poor Italian immigrants and others by gathering, growing and distributing fruits and vegetables in the streets of Chicago, and founding schools and hospitals in the Windy City and around the country. Raspanti’s mother prayed to Mother Cabrini, who died in 1917, even before she was beatified in 1938 and canonized in 1946. Family members including her mother listened on the radio after Mother Cabrini’s canonization when the archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Samuel Stritch, presided at a Mass of thanksgiving at Soldier Field. Raspanti’s book captures the moment by quoting her mother: “A
The family friendship with Mother Cabrini began with the future saint searching the streets of Chicago for food for the poor and for one of the hospitals that she founded — Columbus Hospital in the Lincoln Park area. Mother Cabrini often sought Italian immigrants who could help others from Italy, and she found the fruit and vegetable warehouse owned by Raspanti’s grandfather, Celestino Caviale, on South Water Street near the Chicago River, Raspanti said. Raspanti’s mother was asked to accompany Mother Cabrini on her route, which turned into a weekly routine, using a cart provided by Caviale. The route ended with dinner back at the Caviale home, with Celestino, his wife, Elizabetta, Lillian, and her five siblings. “On Wednesdays, Mother Cabrini would come,” Raspanti said.
Special room After Mother Cabrini died at Columbus Hospital, the hospital kept the room where she passed away just as she had left it, with a cast iron bed and a pitcher and bowl on a washstand. In the years following her death, pilgrims visited, and families with babies born in the hospital were offered the opportunity to pray and place those babies in Mother Cabrini’s bed. Raspanti said her mother placed her in that bed when she was born in 1928. In 1955, Cardinal Stritch consecrated the National Shrine of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, which was built in the heart of the hospital complex. The hospital closed and was torn down in 2002, but the shrine and Mother Cabrini’s room were preserved. They reopened in 2012 and remain open today. As All Saints Day approaches Nov. 1, and St. Frances Cabrini’s feast day approaches Nov. 13, Raspanti reflected on the importance of saints in people’s lives and hearts. She thought about the way her story illustrates that saints can be in any community, anywhere, living quietly but in concert with God. “She didn’t act like a saint; she didn’t wear a halo,” Raspanti said of Mother Cabrini. “But she loved God, and she served other people. She did what she could for as long as she could.”