The Catholic Spirit - October 10, 2014

Archdiocesan Youth Day 5A • Synod 11A • Transgender issues 16A October 9, 2014 Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

thecatholicspirit.com

Adoption dream fulfilled

The common thread of adoption binds together Linda Smisek, left, Elaine Harty, Becky Zwirner, Jane Jeffrey, Daria Doyle, Kim Doyle and Mike Tschimperle of St. Wenceslaus School in New Prague. Five in this group are adoptive parents, one is trying to be, and the youngest one in the group, Daria Doyle, is the adopted daughter of Kim Doyle, principal of St. Wenceslaus.

Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit Kim Doyle had two desires in her life — to be a teacher and to adopt children.

“I never thought I’d ever be anything else but a teacher,” said Doyle, who has worked in education for more than three decades, 29 of those years as a school principal. She has been principal at St. Wenceslaus School in New Prague, which she attended herself, since 2007.

The adoption journey was a little more bumpy, and it included a curve ball that nearly turned her life upside down.

Most adoptive parents choose this option after their efforts to have biological children have failed.

Doyle was different. She wanted to adopt children before she was even in a relationship.

“I always wanted to adopt a child,” she said.

“That was just my lifelong goal to have an adoptive family. Even when I was really young, I wanted to

have an adoptive family. I wanted to have a bunch of kids that were adopted, and not have birth children. I just felt that call from very early on.”

She zeroed in on the goal while in a serious dating relationship that started when she was 30.

Complications caused a delay in setting the wedding date. Finally, Doyle and her fiance, Bill Hendrickson, decided on spring of 1998.

Please turn to ADOPTIVE on page 10A

Each year, October is designated as Respect Life Month by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

This year’s theme is “Each of Us Is a Masterpiece of God’s Creation.”

ALSO inside

2014 Rediscover: Catholic Celebration

World Mission Sunday

A flash mob of students surprised thousands of attendees at the Oct. 4 celebration. Read about more highlights of the two-day event.

Ahead of the Oct. 19 observance, read about Maryknoll Lay Missioners from Minnesota serving in Tanzania.

— Pages 8-9

— B Section

Page Two

2A NEWS notes • The Catholic Spirit

in PICTURES

Vatican official to bring message of faith-based ecology Cardinal Peter Turkson, who is drafting a papal encyclical on the environment, will give a public lecture at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 5, in the OEC Auditorium at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.

Cardinal Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, will present “Faith and the Call for a Human Ecology” as part of the Faith, Food & the Environment symposium sponsored by Catholic Rural Life.

Cardinal Turkson is an internationally recognized authority on the ethics of agriculture and the environment. His public lecture is expected to provide a preview of Pope Francis’ forthcoming encyclical on the environment.

Attendance is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. To reserve seating, register at ffesymposium.eventbrite.com.

Catholic Community Foundation grants help Catholic schools RETURNING HOME A Syrian Kurdish family walks through a border crossing Sept.

29 to return to their home in the Syrian city of Kobani, on the Turkish-Syrian border.

A Syrian priest on a U.S. mission trip says amid ongoing death and destruction in the Middle East, the Catholic Church continues to provide spiritual and material support for those in need. CNS/Murad Sezer, Reuters

The Catholic Community Foundation distributed grants totaling $736,500 to the 84 kindergarten through eighth-grade schools in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for the 2014-2015 school year to use for tuition aid. Several schools will receive an additional Legacy Impact Grant to support greatest needs or designated initiatives, such as curriculum software and language instruction.

Grants for tuition aid ($633,000) are made possible by donors who established or contributed to endowments at the Catholic Community Foundation, many of which are designated to provide permanent support for Catholic school students in need. The Legacy Impact Grants ($103,500) are awards directed by the Catholic Community Foundation to needs in the Catholic community.

Anyone can contribute to the Catholic Community Foundation to support Catholic education and other charitable causes. For more information, contact Mike Biver, senior gift planning officer, at (651) 389-0875 or biverm@ccf-mn.org.

Twin Cities social worker receives national award

DANCE FEVER From left, Emily Guilliatt and Modie Chehouri perform the Cha Cha at Annunciation School in Minneapolis Oct. 3 as a preview of a fundraiser scheduled for Oct. 11 called “Dancing with the Annunciation Stars.” Modeled after the TV show “Dancing with the Stars,” the event features six Annunciation parents and teachers paired with professional dancers in a competition to raise money for the school. Guilliatt is both an Annunciation parent and teacher, and Chehouri is a dancer from a local studio, Dance Lite Ballroom. Five of the six professional dancers are from this studio. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

WHAT’S NEW on social media This week, a post on The Catholic Spirit’s Facebook page asks, how are you observing Respect Life Month, designated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops?

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

What are delegates from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis doing in Kitui, Kenya? Find out by following their blog at www.catholichotdish.com.

Hear what participants have to say about the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family at synodonfamily.wordpress.com.

The Catholic Spirit is published bi-weekly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Vol. 19 — No. 21 MOST REVEREND JOHN C. NIENSTEDT, Publisher ANNE STEFFENS, Associate Publisher JESSICA TRYGSTAD, Editor

October 9, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

Catholic Charities USA recognized Mary Ann Sullivan, a longtime social service worker in the Twin Cities, with a national award for her contributions to children’s social services. Sullivan received the Bishop Joseph M. Sullivan Award, named for a former bishop of the Diocese of Brooklyn-Queens and longtime leader in the Catholic Charities network, at CCUSA’s annual gathering in Charlotte, N.C., Oct. 5.

“Throughout her career, Mary Ann has worked to strengthen families and build a better future for children in need,” said Father Larry Snyder, president of Catholic Charities USA and former executive director of Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minnesota. “Her leadership and example have helped her agency to provide shelter to those who lacked a home, assist at-risk youth in achieving their full potential, give safety and security to immigrants seeking refuge, help young mothers who lacked prenatal care, and advocate for dignified shelter and housing options for those in need.”

Archdiocese launches social media to better connect Catholics Catholics in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis have a new way to get the word out about news and events from their parish, Catholic school and Catholic organization on social media. Here’s how: • Like the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis on Facebook • Follow @ArchdioceseSPM on Twitter Send your photos, event information, articles and more to socialmedia@archspm.org. Content will be selected from submissions to be featured on Facebook, Twitter and/or the archdiocesan website, archspm.org, in accordance with the archdiocese’s social media policy, also posted on its website.

Like and Follow the archdiocese on Facebook and Twitter to keep updated on archdiocesan events, Catholic articles of interest and news about what’s happening in the archdiocese.

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3A Pope Francis, as you no doubt know by now, has called an Extraordinary Synod of Bishops at the Vatican from Oct. 6-19, 2014.

The Synod’s focus and theme is the family. The initial draft, or lineamenta, was circulated widely last fall for comment by anyone in the Church who wished to be so involved.

Here in the Archdiocese, literally hundreds of Catholics chose to do so. All those comments, world-wide, were gathered together and formed the basis for the Instrumentum Laboris, which will serve as the agenda for the historic October gathering of bishops, priests, consecrated men and women and lay faithful.

The list of participants was released two weeks ago and included several Americans.

THAT THEY MAY ALL BE ONE Archbishop John Nienstedt

This Extraordinary Synod will be followed by the 2015 World Meeting of Families scheduled for Sept. 25-27, 2015, in Philadelphia. The theme of this gathering is “Love is Our Mission: the Family Fully Alive.” Pope Francis has already said that he plans to make his first trip to the United States of America to attend this gathering.

In October 2015, an Ordinary Synod will be called to further discuss the same theme and from those discussions an Apostolic Exhortation will be written by the Pope.

Already last February, Pope Francis wrote an open letter to all families in the Church announcing the above plans and asking families for their fervent prayers for the success of those gatherings.

He said, “I wish, as it were, to come into your houses” to speak about

these events.

The Pope believes it is the call of the Church today “to proclaim the Gospel by confronting the new and urgent pastoral needs facing the family.” Thus the Synodal Assembly, the Pope confesses, “is dedicated in a special way to you, your vocation and mission in the Church and in society; to the challenges of marriage, of family life, of the education of children; and the role of the family in the life of the Church.”

We know that it is in the family that children first learn of God’s great love for them. They experience that they are loved and know that they have intrinsic value through their relationship with their parents. They learn how to return that love by watching their father and mother love one another. Together with their siblings they come to appreciate the important connection between rights and responsibilities, between personal respect and respect for others.

From the Archbishop

Synod addresses critical role of family in the Church

It is in the family that both parents and children learn that “families who pray together, stay together.” Here the value and importance of Sunday Mass cannot be overlooked. But the family is an academy of prayer in other situations and settings as well — for example, prayers before and after meals, praying the family rosary, and reading the Bible. In all of these contexts, and more, the family grows in its awareness of God’s presence. And such a culture of prayer must also be complemented with a concern for the poor, the sick and those in need. It is so essential that children learn that to be “Catholic” is never to close the door on a brother or sister in need.

I hope we take seriously Pope Francis’ request that we pray for the success of this October’s Extraordinary Synod. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to guide the Pope and each of the participants of this important gathering.

God love you!

El tema del Sínodo, será acerca del Importantísimo papel que tiene la Familia en la Iglesia El Papa Francisco, como usted sin duda ya está enterado, ha convocado a un Sínodo Extraordinario de Obispos en el Vaticano que se llevará a cabo del 6 al 19 de octubre del 2014. El proyecto inicial, o lineamenta, se distribuyó ampliamente el otoño pasado, para que cualquier persona en la Iglesia que quisiera estar involucrada hiciera sus comentarios. Aquí en la Arquidiócesis, literalmente cientos de católicos optaron por hacerlo. Todos los comentarios, a nivel mundial, fueron reunidos para formar la base del Instrumentum Laboris, que servirá como agenda para este histórico encuentro en octubre donde participarán Obispos, sacerdotes, hombres y mujeres consagrados y fieles laicos.

La lista de participantes fue publicada hace dos semanas e incluye a varios americanos.

Este Sínodo Extraordinario será seguido por el Encuentro Mundial de las Familias 2015, programado para septiembre 25 al 27 del 2015 en Philadelphia. El tema de este encuentro es “El amor es nuestra misión: la Familia Plenamente Viva.” El Papa Francisco ya ha indicado que planea hacer su primer viaje a los Estados Unidos de América para asistir a este encuentro.

En Octubre de 2015, un Sínodo Ordinario será convocado para seguir discutiendo acerca

del mismo tema y, a partir de esta discusión, será escrita una Exhortación Apostólica por el Papa.

Ya el pasado febrero, el Papa Francisco escribió una carta abierta dirigida a todas las familias en la Iglesia, anunciando los planes anteriores y pidiendo a las familias sus fervientes oraciones para el éxito de este encuentro. Él dijo, “Me gustaría, por así decirlo, entrar en sus casas” para hablar acerca de estos eventos.

El papa cree que el llamado de la iglesia de hoy es “proclamar el Evangelio enfrentando las nuevas y urgentes necesidades pastorales que enfrenta la familia.” Acerca de esta Asamblea Sinodal, el Papa confesó, “está dedicada de una manera especial a usted, a su vocación y misión en la Iglesia y en la sociedad, a los desafíos del matrimonio, de la vida familiar, de la educación de los hijos, y del papel de la familia en la vida de la Iglesia.

Nosotros sabemos que es en la familia donde primero los niños aprenden del gran amor de Dios por ellos. Sienten que son amados y saben que tienen un valor propio a través de la relación con sus padres. Aprenden como devolver ese amor al ver a su padre y a su madre amarse el uno al otro. Junto a sus hermanos,

ellos aprenden a valorar la importante conexión entre derechos y responsabilidades, entre el respeto personal y el respeto por los demás.

Es en la familia donde ambos, padres e hijos, aprenden que “las familias que oran juntas, permanecen unidas.” Aquí, el valor de la Misa Dominical no puede ser pasado por alto. Pero también la familia es una academia de oración en otras situaciones y contextos, como por ejemplo, las oraciones antes y después de las comidas, el rezo del rosario en familia y leer la Biblia. En todos estos contextos, y más, la familia crece en su conocimiento de la presencia de Dios. Y una cultura de oración debe también ser complementada con una preocupación por el pobre, el enfermo y los necesitados. Es también esencial que los niños aprendan que ser “católico” sigifica nunca cerrar la puerta a un hermano o hermana en necesidad.

Espero que tomemos muy en serio la solicitud del Papa Francisco para que oremos por el éxito de este Sínodo Extraordinario en este mes de octubre. Pidamos al Espíritu Santo que guíe al Papa y a cada uno de los participantes en este importante encuentro. ¡Dios los ama!

October 9, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

Local

4A

Leaders look to solve achievement gap, advocate for school choice

By Jessica Trygstad The Catholic Spirit A variety of community leaders in the Twin Cities gathered for one of what they say will be many meetings to address the achievement gap for Latino students in Minnesota, which data shows is the highest in the nation.

Archbishop John Nienstedt opened the first education summit of the annual La Familia Latino Family Festival and Expo Sept. 27 in West St. Paul by telling the crowd of about 100 that while there are many solutions to the achievement gap, perhaps the most important is advocating for parents to have more choices when it comes to their child’s education.

“For those who do not live in an area with successful, safe public schools, or who are not able to afford private school tuition, choice can seem elusive, and an excellent education may feel like an opportunity for everyone else but not for them,” Archbishop Nienstedt said. “Educational choice can feel especially out of reach for families in our minority communities or those of lesser economic means.”

Claudia Correa is one such parent, having emigrated from Argentina in 2001. Her two oldest children started their education in public school, although she sought a Catholic education for them.

“Even when [Catholic school] tuition was so cheap, I still couldn’t afford it,” Correa said.

For the last nine years, Correa has worked as an office assistant at Risen Christ School in south Minneapolis, where she enrolled two of her children. Although the

Archbishop Nienstedt said.

Minnesota Catholic Conference was among the sponsors of the education summit. Executive the Director Jason Adkins echoed the archbishop, saying the issue boils down to students’ well-being. He explained that although Minnesota was an early leader in education, where it has lagged behind is in providing greater financial tools in order for students to access nonpublic education, which includes a variety of options, not just Catholic schools.

Archbishop John Nienstedt, left, receives a gift from a group of Latino youth at La Familia/Latino education summit Sept. 27 in St. Paul. The group includes Yorki Ramirez (second from left), Carmen Robles (holding gift), Rafael Alvarez, Manuel Hernandez and Carissa Ontiveros. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit annual tuition at the K-8 school — less than $1,000 — is a sacrifice for her and others, Correa said the benefits of a Catholic education for her children are worth it. “[The teachers are] more conscious about society, people, the Church, about everything,” she said. “I see the big difference.”

Correa noted her daughter’s improved reading skills at Risen Christ School, which this year became the first dual immersion school in the state — students learn the same content in Spanish and English, which reinforces the curriculum and enhances vocabulary skills in both languages.

“I feel so happy for Latinos who

want to come here for the Spanish and English at the same time,” Correa said.

Archbishop Nienstedt said that ultimately, what’s best for children’s education should be the foremost concern for parents, educators, advocates and lawmakers. That’s why Minnesota’s bishops will work with the Minnesota Catholic Conference, their public policy arm, to call on legislators to increase access to the range of school options that exist.

“A funding model that allows parents to freely choose where their children attend school will shift the focus of the debate and to place it first and foremost on the student, rather than the system,”

“It’s our firm position that no student should be denied the best educational opportunities available simply because of their ZIP code,” Adkins said. “We believe that giving parents real and actual options empowers them as educators and creates an environment where kids can really flourish. We shouldn’t be trapping kids in failing schools.”

Adkins said there’s new momentum to propose various pieces of educational choice legislation. Ideally, the state would create a system of scholarships for all types of students. That might include vouchers, savings accounts or tax credits. The latter has had bipartisan support in the past, Adkins said.

The reasons for the state’s high achievement gap, Adkins explained, range from students being concentrated in schools that are under-performing to poverty issues.

“We do have school choice in Minnesota: We have preschool choice, and choice at the college level . . . why won’t school choice work for K-12?” he said.

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5A

Local

Meet Sister Miriam James Heidland Photo courtesy of Sister Miriam James Heidland

Former volleyball coach and radio host is keynote speaker at third annual Archdiocesan Youth Day The Catholic Spirit Sister Miriam, a member of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, answers questions about her stint as a college athlete, how she went from reading fashion magazines to fully living the faith, and what she has learned from talking with teenagers nationwide.

Q. You were a college volleyball player. Talk about your background in the sport.

A. I started playing volleyball in middle school and then joined a club team in high school. While I was playing for my club team, I was scouted at a big tournament in Las Vegas. I ended up signing a full scholarship to play for the University of Nevada-Reno, which was at that time in the Big West Conference along with teams like Hawaii, Long Beach State, Pacific and Santa Barbara.

Q. There is a conversion story there, too. Can you offer a snapshot of that?

A. While playing volleyball, I majored in speech communications, and at one time, it was my dream to work someday for ESPN or CNN. I ingested a steady diet of MTV, fashion magazines and partying. I tried to appear as perfect as possible to others, so they wouldn’t notice I was really broken. And I wasn’t ready to look at my brokenness, either.

“Perfection” was a facade that hid deep pain, addiction and secrets. It was the kindness of a Catholic priest and the prayers of my mother that instigated my conversion. It was a long process, and I made a lot of mistakes along the way, but I heard Jesus call me to be his bride, and I said yes!

Q. You later became a high school volleyball coach. Did you turn a few heads walking onto the court in a habit?

A. Yes, many people were surprised to see a nun as a volleyball coach. The looks on people’s faces were often humorous.

Q. Did you have trouble convincing your players that you knew a little something about volleyball?

A. The first few days either coaching or playing volleyball with others can be a little awkward, but eventually people can

see that I love the game and have a little experience with it.

Q. How does your background in playing and coaching help you connect with youth in the Church?

A. I think it helps people see that I

am a real person just like they are. I still love sports and often talk about different sporting events or competitions. Sports can be an excellent path to virtue, learning and self-sacrifice. It’s a great teacher.

Do you ‘thirst for happiness?’

Archdiocesan Youth Day will be from 1:30 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25 at the Anderson Athletic & Recreation Complex (Field House) on the University of St. Thomas campus in St. Paul.

The event includes music featuring Twin Cities band Sonar, dinner, opportunities for reconciliation and eucharistic adoration, activities and service projects.

For more information, contact your parish’s youth director, or visit www.archspm.org and click Events.

Q. What will you talk about when you’re here for Archdiocesan Youth Day?

TheCatholicSpirit.com

A. I will talk about authentic happiness, our desire for greatness and God’s incredible love and plan for us as his children.

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Q. As you tour the country and talk

with students, what do you see on the landscape, in terms of Catholic youth today?

A. I see several things. I see the challenges of a hedonistic society that is waging war against our youth today and that is inundating them with propaganda and lies. I see their tremendous desire for happiness and purpose in life. I see deep questions of what it means to love God, oneself and other people. When I see youth seeking God and being a witness in the world today, it’s very inspiring to me. Young people have so much energy and vision. They will often give of themselves with high ideals and great zeal.

Q. Do you still play volleyball?

A. When I lived in Seattle, I played for many years on a team in the city. It was a lot of fun. Since moving to Texas, I haven’t played in a while, though I am active in other ways.

Q. Any advice for young athletes?

A. Seek excellence in your sport and give yourself fully at practices and at games. Learn the lessons God is trying to teach you in your daily life and have fun.

But always remember that sports are not the final goal of our lives. It’s very important to have balance in life. Many times we worship at the altar of sports rather than God. Sports will pass away, God never will.

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October 9, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

Local

6A Rosary feast for Mary

By sharing priests with the people of Venezuela, the archdiocese has been gifted as well

By Deacon Mickey Friesen For The Catholic Spirit

From left, eighth-grader Joe Stokman, kindergartner Emily Kunkel and eighth-grader Mary Grace O’Sullivan of St. Timothy School in Maple Lake participate in the Children’s Rosary Pilgrimage at the Cathedral of St. Paul Oct. 7. More than 2,000 children from Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis came for the event, led by Bishop Lee Piché in honor of the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

If you or someone you know has been sexually abused, your first call should be to law enforcement.

The archdiocese’s Office of Victim Advocacy and Assistance is also here to offer you help and healing if you have been abused by a Catholic priest or another person in Church ministry.

You may make a confidential call to 651.291.4497.

TheCatholicSpirit.com October 9, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

When we first sent priests to the Venezuelan mission in 1970, we were responding to Pope John XXIII’s call to share our personnel with the Latin American Church. It was an act of solidarity and mission cooperation.

What we did not know at that time was that there would be a change in our own demographics with the flood of Spanish-speaking immigrants making their home here.

As our priests began to come home from mission in Venezuela, they were the ones who were able to provide the early leadership in ministering to these newcomers — and in their own language.

Many of these priests have said that they received their formation in Venezuela to be able to minister to Latinos here.

Today, we have 22 parishes with bilingual ministry. Many of them are served by priests, a few religious and some lay people who have served at our Venezuelan mission.

Mission is the mutual exchange and sharing of gifts in faith for the sake of the Gospel. In giving, we receive. In sharing with our brothers and sisters in Venezuela, we have received gifts back home that have enriched our local Church.

Deacon Friesen is director of the Center for Mission that serves the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

7A

When word gets out that a delivery of food or other consumer goods is coming, Venezuelans don’t hesitate.

“People start waiting in line at the grocery the night before,” said Bishop Mariano Parra. “The rector of the seminary asks seminarians to go wait in line early in the morning.”

Shortages of basics such as rice, sugar, powdered milk and toilet paper are plaguing his country, according to Bishop Parra, who leads the Diocese of Ciudad Guayana, the diocese in which the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis serves the mission parish of Jesucristo Resucitado in San Felix.

“Our problem now is with the economy,” said the bishop, who was in Minnesota last month and gave an update on the status of life in his country to employees of the archdiocese in St. Paul.

Bishop Parra and Father Gregory Schaffer, the St. Paul native who is pastor of Jesucristo Resucitado, pointed to the socialist policies of the late Venezuela President Hugo Chavez — including the nationalization of multinational corporations and take-over of farmland — as the cause of the economic downturn and shortages.

“Chavez was like King Midas in reverse,” Bishop Parra quipped.

The poor economy is a factor in high unemployment, violence and high crime rates.

When food is available, gangs take what they want first, members of the military take what they want, and the rest of the people get what’s left, Father Schaffer said.

He noted that makers of replacement parts for automobiles refuse to sell their products in Venezuela, which leads to crime.

“There are no car parts coming in to the country,” Father Schaffer said, “so, if you need a battery, you steal one.”

This situation has a demoralizing

effect on Venezuelans, Bishop Parra said.

“We have to give them hope, but it’s very hard. Our young people say, ‘We don’t have a future in this country.’

“I have five nephews — three live in Canada, one in Miami and one in Chile — because they don’t see a future in our country.”

However, people trust the Church, and the Church is working to respond to the situation through education, the bishop said.

“When you educate people and they know their rights, they know they have to help themselves,” Bishop Parra said. “They know they have to create a new society and a new way of life.”

The bishop continued, “Young people — almost all the youth in the country — are against the government, so they may change things in the future, but not now.”

In the poor barrios of San Felix, Father Schaffer said he values teens because of the life and enthusiasm they bring to the community.

The parish holds classes for the many single mothers, and he encourages young men to take advantage of the technical school at a neighboring parish to learn skills such as air conditioning repair — valuable in a country with 90-100 percent humidity and average temperatures of 80-to-100 degrees.

People’s spiritual needs are also being addressed.

The Diocese of Ciudad Guayana has put in place a rigorous sacramental preparation program that is completed only after a lengthy number of years, Father Schaffer explained.

“The emphasis is to put a young person on the way in a life of faith,” he said, “not just to receive a sacrament.”

For more information about the archdiocese’s Venezuelan Mission, visit venezuela.archspm.org.

Take the quiz What do you know about the archdiocesan mission parish in Venezuela?

For more than 25 years, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has staffed and supported a mission parish in the Diocese of Ciudad Guayana in Venezuela. Father Gregory Schaffer and Father James Adams from the archdiocese currently serve Jesucristo Resucitado Parish in San Felix.

Take the following quiz to test your acumen about the archdiocesan mission and the Diocese of Ciudad Guayana.

1. San Felix and Puerto Ordaz are the Twin Cities of Venezuela. Much like the Twin Cities in Minnesota, they are divided by one of the great rivers of the world. Is it the: a. Amazon b. Nile c. Orinoco d. Rio de Plata

2. In terms of geography, the Diocese of Ciudad Guayana is: a. Exactly the same size as the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. b. One-half the size of the archdiocese. c. Three times as large as the archdiocese. d. Twice as large as the archdiocese.

3. In terms of Catholic population, the Diocese of Ciudad Guayana is: a. One-fourth the size of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

b. Exactly the same size as the archdiocese. c. Twice as large as the archdiocese. d. Half the size of the archdiocese.

4. How many parishes are there in the Diocese of Guayana? a. 187 b. 34 c. 117 d. 67

5. How many priests serve the people of the Diocese of Ciudad Guayana? a. 47 b. 77 c. 117 d. 157

6. Only 12 priests who serve in the Diocese of Ciudad Guayana are natives of Venezuela. The rest of the priests in the diocese come from how many other countries? a. 9 b. 12 c. 26 d. 34

Answers 1-c; 2-c; 3-a; 4-b; 5-a; 6-b.

The Catholic Spirit

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Visiting bishop shares state of affairs for Venezuelans

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Music schedule and directions at catholicchorale.org October 9, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

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Catholics ‘bet on hope’ at 2014 R The Catholic Spirit More than 5,000 people gathered Oct. 3 and 4 for the 2014 Rediscover: Catholic Celebration at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

While there was something for everyone, Mass with the archdiocese’s bishops and several concelebrating priests brought the faithful together for the ultimate celebration.

The day was full of true Minnesotan dialect — You betcha! — and included skits, performances from Marie Miller and Sonar, and inspiration for the New Evangelization from Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, Scott Hahn, Father Dave Dwyer, Leah Darrow, Curtis Martin and others.

Evangelization and Catechesis announced upcoming initiatives for 2015:Women In the New Evangelization (WINE),The Amazing Parish,The Big Questions, and others for women, men and children.

For updates, visit rediscover-faith.org. For more photos from the event, visit TheCatholicSpirit.com/ celebration.

Left, Kelsey Bosworth of St. Bartholomew in Wayzata dances with Nicole Jeziorski, a senior at the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse, during the Rediscover: Catholic Celebration Oct. 3 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. They came for the young adult event Friday night and listened to the music of Marie Miller, who performed at the end of the evening. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

Archbishop John Nienstedt is joined by priests and deacons, includin prayer during the closing Mass of the Rediscover: Catholic Celebratio

Striving for holiness, changing the world

By Matt Kopp For The Catholic Spirit Hope is not a vague, abstract concept or a vapid political campaign symbol, but a genuine and concrete part of each of our lives created by God and through his Church.

This was the message conveyed to me and more than 1,000 others attending the Young Adult Night at the 2014 Rediscover: Catholic Celebration on Oct. 3. As Jeff Cavins, director of evangelization and catechesis for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, welcomed young adults to a night of socializing, music and notable speakers, I had a particular hope of my own: that it would be an influential and vitalizing night for everyone in attendance.

After a word about the Catholic Studies Program at the University of St. Thomas from Dr. Michael Naughton — a former professor and good friend of mine — Archbishop John Nienstedt explained to us that “[we’re] not just the future of the Church; [we] are the Church.” He advised us to lead others, not to sit back, and that he and Christ are with us in this endeavor.

Leah Darrow, a former professional model turned Catholic speaker, served as a testament of hope, sharing her powerful story of abandoning her faith only to have a deep conversion. She reinforced that nothing can beat Christian hope, especially not the false “hope” the world offers us — a false “hope” in worldly affirmation that poisons our culture and causes us to fall.

October 9, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

The answer to these problems is, as Bishop Andrew Cozzens stated, holiness. We, as people of God, are called to a perfect state of holiness and to act as the face of the Church, that we might bring Christ to people where our shepherds cannot. This call to holiness is not easy, as we are well aware, but Father Dave Dwyer of Busted Halo Ministries offered us advice on attaining it: by recognizing the voice of God through deep and meaningful prayer, such as in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, we’re able to know God’s will for our lives and give an unadulterated “Yes” to Christ, imitating his sinless mother.

Curtis Martin, president and founder of FOCUS, explained that if we strive for that holiness and reach our potential, we can change the world. This can be accomplished by living our lives as we are, but infusing the love of God in ourselves and others, just as Christ did. Cavins reiterated that point when he said that Christ asks us to follow him because he wants to transform our lives, and that’s a hopeful thought.

After receiving this message of hope, there yet remains the task of extending it to everyone in our lives.

And so I challenge you, fellow young adults — regardless of whether you attended the event — to hold fast to real hope, to spread it by striving for holiness.

You’ll be amazed at the effects it has when it permeates our souls, when the hope of Christ flows through his Church. If this happens, the world will never be the same again. And neither will you.

Kopp is a parishioner of St. Anne in Hamel.

From left, Bella and Teigan Allex of St. Henry in Monticello watch a skit dur at the Rediscover: Catholic Celebration. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

#BetOnHope — A sa

“New Evangelization: ‘We a called to reach them. . . We -Scott Hahn @RediscoverF #betonhope”

To order audio of the talks from the 201 or call (800) 526-2151. Options include: Ful Individual talks will be a

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Rediscover: Catholic Celebration ‘Supernatural Grandparenting’ For Jeff Cavins, watching his adult children care for their children is like “loving them all over again.” Cavins, director of evangelization and catechesis for the archdiocese and grandparent of two, explained how grandparenting is a new phase and another chance to model the faith.

At the session “Supernatural Grandparenting,” Cavins and Judy Cozzens, mother of Bishop Andrew Cozzens and grandparent of nine, shared these tips:

ng Deacon Jim Bauhs (next to him, left) and Bishop Lee Piché (next to him, right) at the beginning of the eucharistic on Oct. 4 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

ring the children’s program

Jeff CAVINS

Judy COZZENS

With the parents • Tell adult children you’re thankful they’re generous to life • Don’t judge them, support them • Become friends with in-laws • Offer to take grandchildren overnight Saturday and bring them to Mass on Sunday

With the grandchildren • Don’t expect grandchildren to invite you into their life; as the adult, show interest and ask to take part • Give the gift of time • Each month, pray for them on the day they were born • Compliment virtuous acts • Write a note to them every birthday or feast day • Build a library for them and include a Bible and Catechism of the Catholic Church; write a message in the books • Don’t forget about grandchildren in college • Learn their ways of communicating: “If they like texting, you better learn to text,” Cozzens said.

From left, Nick and Amanda Ackmann of the Cathedral of St. Paul clap to the music of Marie Miller, who performed right before the closing Mass of the Rediscover: Catholic Celebration. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

ampling of tweets from the celebration

are not only e are them!’

Faith

“‘We all need conversion. There is always something we need to walk away from and walk closer to Jesus.’ @leahdarrow #betonhope” “What gives me hope? 1,000+ Catholic young adults in a room with awesome speakers. #BetOnHope #notayoungadultforlong”

14 Rediscover: Catholic Celebration, visit www.SaintJoe.com/rediscover ll set of talks on CD or USB, and individual talks on CD (English & Español). available via MP3 download around Thanksgiving 2014.

At the beginning of the morning session of the Rediscover: Catholic Celebration Oct. 4, Bishop Lee Piché, left, Archbishop John Nienstedt and Bishop Andrew Cozzens kneel to receive prayer from the participants gathered in the auditorium at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

October 9, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

Local

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Adoptive parents make up one-third of staff Continued from page 1A Not knowing how long the adoption process would take, they submitted their application while still engaged. After conducting a worldwide search, they chose an orphanage in Russia, with a young girl there waiting to be adopted.

To their surprise, they were approved to adopt soon after and traveled to the orphanage in November 1997, with several months to go until their wedding date.

Doyle was ecstatic. After bringing home her 2-year-old daughter, Ksenia, she turned her attention toward her upcoming nuptials.

But, her plan slowly began to unravel.

First came the hardship of having to delay the marriage for another year due to several complications. Then, during that waiting period, tragedy struck. Hendrickson died of a diabetic reaction on June 21, 1999. And, with that misfortune, Doyle became something she had never envisioned — a single mother.

She made adjustments in her career to accommodate the new role, and managed to serve as principal at two Catholic elementary schools — Blessed Trinity in Richfield and Our Lady of the Lake in Mound. She commuted from New Prague and eventually enrolled Ksenia at Blessed Trinity while she was working there.

Then, she took an amazing step that makes her a hero in the eyes of her current colleagues at St. Wenceslaus — she adopted a second child.

Not wanting to let her dream of adopting more children fade, she brought her desire before the Lord on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 27) of 2000. She remembers the day partly because it was Thanksgiving, with her adding a plea for another child to her prayers of gratitude for the one she already had, and partly because it turned out to be the exact date her second adopted child, Daria, was born.

She went back to the same orphanage in Russia to get Daria, thinking that her two daughters would at least have this in common as a way of helping to build family unity.

Eventually, the principal job opened at St. Wenceslaus, and she finally was able to both live and work in her hometown. Ksenia was in seventh grade at the time and was able to finish elementary school at St. Wenceslaus.

Daria came for kindergarten, and she now is

Exposing the truth Jayme Jones, right, a sophomore at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul and a member of the school’s Students for Human Life club, talks with St. Thomas sophomore Caroline Hutcheson Sept. 26 during a pro-life event at the university. Students for Human Life partnered with a national organization, Students for Life of America, to set up a display as part of the nationwide Planned Parenthood Project, with similar events taking place at other colleges and universities across the country. The event at St. Thomas also coincided with the start of the 40 Days for Life prayer vigil at Planned Parenthood in St. Paul.

40 Days for Life began Sept. 24 and runs until Nov. 2. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

October 9, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

in seventh grade.

In addition to the chance to be close to home and have her girls in the school where she works, Doyle has one more important benefit — four teachers on her staff who also are adoptive parents, plus one more who is working on it. Each of the four teachers — Elaine Harty, Jane Jeffrey, Linda Smisek and Mike Tschimperle — also have two children.

The soon-to-be adoptive parent is Becky Zwirner, who is going through the application process with her husband, Bill.

“Knowing that they’ve all been through the process, and knowing that they’re praying for Bill and me is huge,” said Zwirner, a math teacher for fifth- through eight-graders. “It is amazing. We have such a small staff, and such a large percent have completed the adoption process.”

The school has a full-time teaching staff of 15, which means one third are adoptive parents, assuming Zwirner is successful in finding a child. That fact was celebrated at a school Mass on Sept. 24.

“We didn’t really think much of it,” Doyle said. “But then Ann Christy, our religion teacher, planned a Mass. She did an opening [reflection] of opening our hearts to others.

And, she did a special tribute to all of us who had adopted children. And we looked at each other and were like, ‘Wow. Look, there’s five of us and each of us has two kids that we adopted. We did this little thing in front of the altar and it was very moving and touching.”

It’s also a strong pro-life statement, as one of the adoptive parents pointed out.

“In the news, you hear children being abused, being killed, being aborted,” Harty said. “There are other options out there, and we are examples of those options, and what a blessing [adopted children] have been in our life, to give these children a chance.”

On top of that, the pro-life legacy forged

by Doyle and her teachers will be continued by at least one of the adopted children, Doyle’s daughter Ksenia, who is a freshman at St. Mary’s University in Winona, where she plans to study education and follow in her mother’s footsteps.

“She is very much a pro-life advocate,” Doyle said of Ksenia. “She knows she could have been aborted. She’s so thankful that didn’t happen to her. I’ve seen her text messages to people she knows who have gotten pregnant. She says, ‘Whatever you do, don’t abort.’”

How adoption has enriched my life Four teachers and principal Kim Doyle at St. Wenceslaus School in New Prague offer comments on their experiences with adoption and raising adopted children. Each of the five has two adopted children and no biological children.

Elaine Harty Third-grade teacher (part time, after 40-plus years at the school) “It helped me appreciate life in general. When I hear that children are murdered — they don’t want children so they abort — I have a real hard time with that. So, I look at my children and I thank them every day that they’re here with me.

I wouldn’t trade it for anything. They’re just a part of my life.

They are a blessing to me, and I couldn’t love them any more if they were my biological children.”

Jane Jeffrey Second-grade teacher “I can’t imagine this earth without either one.

What a loss that would have been if they hadn’t been born.”

Linda Smisek Teaching assistant, K-6 “It made me a mom. More than anything, that’s what I wanted to be. Finding out that I couldn’t be a [biological] mom was just absolutely terrible. We were 23 when we found out we were unable to have biological kids. So, we put our names in, and we waited and waited and waited. And, the longer we waited, the more desperately we wanted it.

Then they finally called and we met our son.

And, we realized that that was our baby, no matter what. When God made me, he said, ‘You’ll be a mommy, but it’s going to take another mommy to get you there.’ That’s what I’ve always told my kids. This wasn’t my plan and it wasn’t your plan, it was God’s plan to have us come together in a different way. And, we were so fortunate to be able to adopt.”

Mike Tschimperle Physical education teacher “It’s made it complete for my wife and I. We got married and we couldn’t have kids. We both love kids. I’m a teacher and she was a nurse, and we took care of kids when we were in college.

We babysat and we worked at a group home for three years, so we took care of young adults who were needy. It just worked out [to be able to adopt].”

Kim Doyle Principal “People told me, ‘You saved this little girl’s life.’ I think she [daughter Daria] actually saved my life. I have to say that. Having children just fills in the holes — the need, my need. She saved my life because she gave me a life. She gave me a life that I’ve always wanted by having her and [older daughter] Ksenia. When Daria came along, she completed the circle. So, we have a small circle of three, but it’s very complete with the three of us.”

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By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Existing diocesan programs and Catholic organizations aimed at helping Catholic families fulfill their vocation clearly are not strong enough to meet modern needs, a Wisconsin couple told the Synod of Bishops.

“We must develop more robust and creative methods to share the fundamental truth that marriage is a divine gift from God, rather than merely a man-made institution,” Alice Heinzen told the synod Oct. 7, reading a speech she and her husband, Jeff, wrote.

The Heinzens, from the Diocese of LaCrosse, were named synod auditors by Pope Francis and were chosen to introduce the work of the synod’s afternoon discussion on pastoral programs designed to meet the challenges facing families. Alice is director of the diocesan Office for Marriage and Family Life; Jeff is president of McDonell Catholic Schools in Chippewa Falls.

Pope Francis opened the first working session of an extraordinary Synod of Bishops Oct. 6, urging participants to speak fearlessly and listen humbly during two weeks of discussion of the “pastoral challenges of the family.”

The Catholic Church, its parishes and organizations need to review “the methods by which we teach our children about the nature of human sexuality and the vocation of marriage,” Heinzen said. In addition, when Catholics talk about vocations and God’s call to each of the baptized to serve the Church and humanity, they cannot speak only of priesthood and religious life.

“Marriage should be included in all programs designed to explore vocations,” she said.

Presenting marriage as a vocation and the immediate preparation of couples for marriage are not enough, she said. The Church also

active today; Alice said she remembers seeing her father leave early to go to Mass before work, praying the rosary together during the month of May and attending Sunday Mass as a family.

“To all this we can add our mothers who reminded us to always love our siblings, to use our best manners with others, and to save our pennies to help those less fortunate,” she said.

“Our homes were schools of love and virtue, and our parents were the primary educators.”

U.S. & World

U.S. couple at synod calls for ‘robust’ programs

But many young people today have no similar experiences and, instead, suffer the pain of seeing their parents divorce or being raised by a single parent who was never married.

Sociological research and the international input used for the synod’s working document indicate that “children raised without the blessing of married parents, who have created a home animated by love and faith, will likely struggle to trust in God and their neighbors,” she said. “How can they create lifelong marriages?”

Alice and Jeff Heinzen of Menomonie, Wis., pose for a photo as they arrive for the morning session of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican Oct. 7. The couple are auditors at the synod.

CNS/Paul Haring needs to review “how we provide for the aftercare of marriage that can help couples deepen their relationship,” she said.

The Heinzens said they recognize that their parents’ example and their family life growing up were major factors in their continuing to be

Through their ministry, she said, “we know countless divorced adults who have joined other faith communities because they do not feel welcomed in the Catholic Church. And, our hearts ache for single parents who struggle to care for their children. Like you, we strive to find simpler, more effective ways to better share the blessings of God’s plan for marriage and family.”

The Church is not confused or in a state of crisis about its teaching on marriage and family life, she said. But there is “a crisis of methodology. How do we as a Church effectively share what we know to be true in practical, simple and convincing ways, so that all men and women are challenged and supported to live lifelong marriages and build homes that reflect the domestic Church?”

Program offers women regimen to reverse RU-486 abortion

By Valerie Schmalz Catholic News Service As soon as Rebekah Chaveste swallowed the first pill of the RU-486 abortion regimen at a Planned Parenthood clinic, she regretted it.

“I was crying and I was alone,” recalled Chaveste, a 20-year-old college student who lives in the Sacramento area.“Thank God for smartphones.”

Sitting in her car outside Planned Parenthood, “I googled RU-486” and found a website for RU-486 reversals, www.abortionpillreversal.com.

Chaveste thought it was fake, but called anyway.

And even though the website was for an organization based in San Diego, the woman at the end of the telephone found a doctor nearby to help her, Chaveste recalled.

Abortionpillreversal.com is a website of Culture of Life Family Services, which has a nurse on call 24/7, a toll-free telephone number (877) 558-0333, and a network of 200 participating physicians around the country.

Chaveste was able to save her unborn baby — because of a recently developed medical protocol that has been able to save more than half of babies whose mothers had been administered the first pill for a RU-486 chemical abortion and received the reversal therapy.

Chaveste’s son Zechariah turns 1 Oct. 20.

Women undergoing medical, rather than surgical, abortions in the first nine weeks of pregnancy take two courses of the pill 48 hours apart.

“The conventional wisdom of the abortion industry is that there is no way to stop the RU-486 procedure

once it is started. This, however, turns out to be false.

Chemical abortions can be reversed, and the procedure has been effective in more than 23 states to date, including California,” said Vicki Evans, Archdiocese of San Francisco respect life coordinator.

The San Diego-based Abortion Pill Reversal Program also has helped women in six foreign countries.

“There have been more than 50 deliveries of healthy babies with no birth defects after the reversal protocol, and more than 100 other women are pregnant with apparently normal pregnancies after successful reversals,” said Dr. George Delgado, medical director of Culture of Life and its Abortion Pill Reversal Program.

The RU-486 medical abortion procedure is a twoday regimen used to terminate early pregnancies by blocking the hormone progesterone needed to sustain a pregnancy. It involves two types of medication — RU-486 itself, which is mifepristone, and a prostaglandin, known as misoprostol, that stimulates uterine contractions, and taken two days later to expel the fetus.

The RU-486 reversal procedure has been successful in 59 percent of cases from May 2012 to June 2014, according to statistics collected by the Abortion Pill Reversal Program.

Since RU-486 was approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration in 2000, the number of medical abortions rose to account for about 23 percent of all abortions in 2011, according to the Guttmacher Institute’s July 2014 abortion fact sheet.

There are about 200,000 RU-486 abortions each year in the U.S.

Vatican’s abuse panel plans to include more experts, another survivor

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service A papal commission on child protection will expand its nine-member panel to include more experts and another survivor of clerical abuse.

The Commission for the Protection of Minors, which Pope Francis established last December, is now awaiting the pope’s approval of members’ latest efforts as they aim to lay out a pastoral approach to helping victims and prevent future abuse.

Marie Collins, a commission member and survivor of clerical abuse, told the Associated Press Oct. 6 that the specially appointed group has agreed on its provisional statutes and finalized a list of potential new members.

Currently the commission includes: U.S. Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, head of the commission; U.S. Father Robert Oliver, commission secretary; Collins and six, mostly European, experts in mental health, civil and church law, and moral theology.

The group, which had its third meeting Oct. 4-5 at the Vatican, is awaiting the pope’s final approval of its proposals.

The pope, who has called for zero tolerance and complete accountability for the “despicable” crime of abuse, has said he wants the commission to help the Church develop better policies and procedures for protecting minors.

October 9, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

U.S. & World

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A woman venerates a relic of Blessed Miriam Teresa Demjanovich contained in a reliquary held by Coadjutor Archbishop Bernard Hebda of Newark, N.J., following the Sister of Charity’s beatification Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark Oct. 4. CNS/Gregory Shemitz

New Jersey sister first candidate for sainthood to be beatified in U.S.

By Beth Griffin Catholic News Service More than 2,200 people packed the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark Oct. 4 to celebrate the first beatification liturgy in the United States.

Sister Miriam Teresa Demjanovich, a Sister of Charity of St. Elizabeth from Bayonne, was given the title “Blessed” in a joyful ceremony conducted in three languages — English, Latin and Slovak.

Blessed Miriam Teresa died in 1927 at age 26. Pope Francis paved the way for her beatification in December 2013 when he accepted that, through her intercession, Michael Mencer, a young New Jersey boy, was cured in 1963 of blindness caused by macular degeneration.

Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, was the principal celebrant of the liturgy. He was joined by 11 other bishops and more than 100 priest concelebrants.

The 20-minute processional included Mencer, now 58, and his family, members of Blessed Miriam Teresa’s family and hundreds of Sisters of Charity.

Blessed Miriam Teresa was born in Bayonne in 1901 to Slovakian immigrant parents.

She was baptized and confirmed in the Byzantine Catholic rite.

The young woman graduated with honors from high school and college, cared for her ailing parents until their deaths, and taught Latin and English in a high school run by the Sisters of Charity.

Although she hoped to join a contemplative order, Blessed Miriam Teresa was rejected because her poor eyesight made it impossible for her to sew

October 9, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

vestments the nuns made to support themselves. She entered the Sisters of Charity in 1925.

At her Benedictine confessor’s request, Blessed Miriam Teresa anonymously wrote a series of articles on religious life, which he presented as talks to her fellow novices. Her health declined dramatically and she was allowed to make her final vows early.

After the young sister’s death May 8, 1927, her writings were published as a book, “Greater Perfection.”

Confidantes said Blessed Miriam Teresa described having a vision of Mary during college and an encounter with St. Therese of Lisieux while in the novitiate.

In 1945, the bishop of Paterson opened an examination into Blessed Miriam Teresa’s life and virtues; the Sisters of Charity established a prayer league in her honor; and in 1954, the Paterson Diocese opened her cause.

In 1963, a sister in her community gave young Michael Mencer a small round prayer card with a strand of Blessed Miriam Teresa’s hair to bring home to his mother. The boy was rapidly losing his vision to juvenile macular degeneration.

As described by the lanky adult Mencer after the beatification Mass, he pulled the card out of his pocket on the walk home from school and was surprised to be able to clearly see the slender strand of hair. At home, he said it took a few minutes for his mother, a nurse, to understand he could see.

Subsequent examinations by multiple ophthalmologists determined Mencer’s cure was medically inexplicable. Today, the middle-aged man wears glasses only for reading.

The Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity

2014

God Calls We Respond

SCHOOL OF DIVINITY

UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS

www.saintpaulseminary.org

13A

Deacon John Christianson

Choose wisely: Accept God’s invitation to share life with him Have you ever thrown a party and a person who you were hoping would come didn’t show up? If they saw the importance of your party, they would be there.

The wedding feast parable speaks about a similar situation, but it is really speaking about the feast of eternal life with God. What could be more important than our eternal life with God? Nothing. Yet, we are told in the parable that some chose to ignore it. The disappointment that you might have had in that person because of their absence at your party is typically not born out of hate. Rather, it is a disappointment

DAILY Scriptures Sunday, Oct. 12 Twenty-eighth Sunday in ordinary time Isaiah 25:6-10a Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20 Matthew 22:1-14 Monday, Oct. 13 Galatians 4:22-24, 26-27, 31 – 5:1 Luke 11:29-32 Tuesday, Oct. 14 St. Callistus I, pope, martyr Galatians 5:1-6 Luke 11:37-41

born out of love. You really wanted that person to be there with you, and they chose something that they felt was more important.

This disappointment is the very sentiment of God toward us when we choose to attend other feasts.

These other feasts are those things that we value more than God’s own invitations to us to share life in him.

It is not out of hate that we are barred from the feast. God respects our freedom to choose and will respect it for all eternity. That is what hell really is: our choice, not God’s. That is the choice this parable makes us confront. Will we choose

God and his love, or will we choose some lesser feast that separates us from God: hell.

What, then, is this feast that we should choose? When we read “wedding feast” in the Bible, two things should come to mind. First, we should think of the loving marriage of Christ to the Church. In his suffering, death and resurrection, Jesus and the sending of the Spirit at Pentecost, God has so united himself with creation that we can truly call Jesus the bridegroom and the Church the bride. Second, we should think about the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, which invite us into this wedding feast of Jesus and the Church. We are invited not only to receive Jesus in his entirety in the Eucharist, but also to unite ourselves to the self-gift of the cross. We participate in the very sacrifice that makes this wedding feast possible.

Finally, we must learn from the guest who came to the wedding feast without a wedding garment: We must come prepared to share in feast. In the sacraments, we receive

Wednesday, Oct. 15 St. Teresa of Jesus, virgin, doctor of the Church Galatians 5:1-18-25 Luke 11:42-46

Sunday, Oct. 19 Twenty-ninth Sunday in ordinary time Isaiah 45:1, 4-6 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5b Matthew 22: 15-21

Thursday, Oct. 16 St. Hedwig, religious; St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, virgin Ephesians 1:1-10 Luke 11:47-54

Monday, Oct. 20 St. Paul of the Cross, priest Ephesians 2:1-10 Luke 12:13-21

Friday, Oct. 17 St. Ignatius of Antioch, bishop, martyr Ephesians 1:11-14 Luke 12:1-7

Tuesday, Oct. 21 Ephesians 2:12-22 Luke 12:35-38

Saturday, Oct. 18 St. Luke, evangelist 2 Timothy 4:10-17b Luke 10:1-9

Wednesday, Oct. 22 St. John Paul II, pope Ephesians 3:2-12 Luke 12:39-48

Sunday, Oct. 12

Twenty-eighth Sunday in ordinary time

Readings

• Isaiah 25:6-10a • Philippians 4:12-14, 19-20 • Matthew 22:1-14 our wedding garment from Christ — most notably the white garment of baptism. The sacraments, especially the Eucharist, strengthen our ability to love, even when it demands sacrifice. Each day we need to choose the wedding feast of God by living out his great commandment of love. We must constantly be preparing for that ultimate wedding feast of the lamb.

Choose wisely, for God will respect our choice for all eternity. Blessed are those called to the wedding feast of the Lamb.

Deacon Christianson is in formation for the priesthood at the St. Paul Seminary for the Diocese of Crookston. His teaching parish is St. Peter in North St. Paul.

Focus on Faith • Sunday Scriptures

SUNDAY SCRIPTURES

Thursday, Oct. 23 St. John of Capistrano, priest Ephesians 3:14-21 Luke 12:49-53 Friday, Oct. 24 St. Anthony Mary Claret, bishop Ephesians 4:1-6 Luke 12:54-59 Saturday, Oct. 25 Ephesians 4:7-16 Luke 13:1-9 Sunday, Oct. 26 Thirtieth Sunday in ordinary time Exodus 22:20-26 1 Thessalonians 1:5c-10 Matthew 22:34-40

October 9, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

Focus on Faith • Seeking Answers

14A SEEKING ANSWERS Father Michael Schmitz W W W. J E S U I T VO C AT I O N S . O R G

It’s time to get serious about halting the porn epidemic

A Blessed and Enduring Tradition

Q. What is so wrong with watching porn? It is just the human body, and it doesn’t seem to hurt anyone.

A. The numbers are out there, and pornography is one of the biggest businesses in our society. The porn industry makes more money annually than NBC, CBS, ABC, the NFL, etc. — combined. And that says nothing about the “free porn� accessible at no monetary cost. In addition, 90 percent of children between the ages of 8 and 16 have seen hardcore pornography.

I invite you to not ignore those numbers. I further invite you not to think that this is “someone else, somewhere else.� If your child has a smart phone or tablet, they have access to an entire world of pornography. Do not kid yourself: If you haven’t placed the strictest controls on your child’s device and continue to monitor where they are going, you are abdicating your responsibility as a father or mother. Put simply, you are not doing your job.

I apologize for being so blunt right off the bat, but I have seen too many people’s lives destroyed (yes, destroyed) because of their use of pornography. And I have seen too many young people get sucked into a world in which people are treated as things, and the gift of sexuality is sold for pocket change. In fact, we have recently had to crack down during our middle-school retreats and events because sixth-graders were looking up porn on their iPhones or iPods during the retreat. I hate to have to say that, but until we begin to treat this seriously, there will be no stopping this epidemic.

According to The American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, 56 percent of divorce cases involve one party having “an obsessive interest in pornographic websites.� This makes complete sense. Porn takes a person (male or female) out of reality and into a fantasy world where everything is about me, and others are not persons at all but mere commodities or things for my pleasure. It is no mystery where this leads. If others exist for my sake, and I can easily dispose of them once they have served my purposes, how quickly would that mentality affect all of my other relationships?

It is this reality that apparently led St. John Paul II to say, “The problem with pornography is not that is reveals too much of the person, but that it reveals too little.� The human body is not the problem. The human body is good and is the only thing that reveals the person. The problem resides in the human heart. The human heart is fallen. As such, we are often incapable of seeing “the person� when they are presented to us in the way that pornography presents them.

Of course, there are people who will point to porn actors and actresses who claim to enjoy what they are doing, but the statistics speak for themselves. Eighty percent of women in porn use drugs regularly. At least 66 percent of porn performers have some kind of sexually transmitted disease. Eighty-eight percent of scenes in the top 50 porn films depict aggressive or violent behavior. The average porn performer dies by age 37!

If you or someone you love struggles with pornography, there is always help. First, get to confession and let Jesus Christ forgive and strengthen you. In addition, www.integrityrestored.com is a fantastic tool for those who are deeply trapped in a cycle of porn. And Covenant Eyes is the single best software out there for accountability. It is carried on all platforms: computer, tablet and phone, and people serious about getting rid of porn in their life will not hesitate to pay the minimal monthly fee.

Father Schmitz is director of youth and young adult ministry for the Diocese of Duluth and chaplain of the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Reach him at fathermikeschmitz@ gmail.com.

October 9, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

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15A

Faith & Culture

Local director uses play by St. John Paul II to ask: ‘Can love last?’

By Dianne Towalski For The Catholic Spirit Open Window Theatre’s current production, “The Jeweler’s Shop,” is a project close to the heart of executive artistic director Jeremy Stanbary.

The play, written by St. John Paul II, was Stanbary’s introduction to the world of Catholic theater.

“When I was still in college, studying for my [theater] degree and as I started getting back into my faith, my mom actually mailed me a copy of ‘The Jeweler’s Shop,’” Stanbary said.

Not knowing about St. John Paul II’s involvement in acting and the theater, he was intrigued.

“Theater and the arts were a big part of his life, and when I discovered that, I became fascinated by it, and I have been a big fan of his ‘Jeweler’s Shop’ play for a long time,” Stanbary said.

The story The play — written in 1960 when St. John Paul II was still Karol Wojtyła, associate bishop of Krakow, Poland — is an exploration of the nature of human love, particularly married love, Stanbary said.

It explores the nature of love as it plays out in the lives of three couples, with the local jeweler influencing all three, he said.

The first couple is newly married, and the story explores their joy, but also some of their fears and concerns about their relationship.

The couple in Act II have been married for a number of years, they have young children and their marriage is in trouble.

“We’re introduced to their struggles, challenges and really the rift that’s been created in their love, and the possibility of divorce and what that means in the contexts of the sacramentality of their union,” Stanbary said.

The third couple — the son of the first couple and the daughter of

Corey Mills, center, plays the jeweler in a scene from “The Jeweler’s Shop,” a play written by St. John Paul II. Photo courtesy of Open Window Theatre the second — are engaged. The play explores their joy, fears and questions about whether love can last.

“It’s really profound all the ideas he’s dealing with,” Stanbary said.

“He’s very, of course, sympathetic to the challenges and the weaknesses and the difficulties that the human person experiences, that love brings and marriage brings.”

The stories of these couples are tied together by their interaction with the local jeweler.

The jeweler is only seen twice, but he is a mysterious figure throughout the play who influences a part of each of the couple’s lives.

“There’s this mystical element, like the rings aren’t just metal, and the jeweler isn’t just dealing in jewels,” said Corey Mills, who plays the jeweler and also the part of the narrator. “He’s dealing in faith. He’s dealing in love and destiny and in the spiritual dynamics that are undergirding the couples’ relationships.”

Rhapsodic theater This production of “The Jeweler’s Shop” is an adaptation because the original is not available for production rights.

The original play was written as a series of monologues, and the adaptation makes it more conventional — by breaking up the monologues — and interactive between the characters in each act, Stanbary said.

“It’s a lot of the inner reflections of these characters that are being revealed to the audience,” he said.

“That was the style of the rhapsodic theater that [Karol Wojtyła] was writing in. It was a form of theater that was intended to be very spiritual, very meditative, very reflective.”

Mills is enjoying figuring out the character of the jeweler and how to play him.

“I love the fact that it’s not all literal or linear,” he said. “There’s a lot of metaphor, there’s a lot of symbolism, and there’s a lot of just beautiful poetic language that’s really fun to speak.”

Though Stanbary has known of “The Jeweler’s Shop” for a long time, this is the first time he has

‘The Jeweler’s Shop’ When: Now through Oct. 26.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday shows start at 7:45 p.m., and Sunday shows start at 1:30 p.m.

An additional matinée will be at 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 25.

Where: Open Window Theatre, 1313 Chestnut Ave., #102 in Minneapolis Tickets: $14 to $24, with discounts for advance tickets, students, seniors and children; visit openwindowtheatre.org, or call (800) 838-3006.

Doors open 40 minutes before each performance. been involved in a full-scale production of it.

“My own philosophy behind my art has been very much inspired by St. John Paul II,” Stanbary said.

“Everything this play is about really fits in with the mission of Open Window Theatre. It’s a way of celebrating his canonization and his artistic legacy, which has so inspired my work over the years.”

Debate emerges on St. John Paul II’s early writings on social ethics

By Catholic News Service Less than six months after St. John Paul II was canonized, questions are being raised about a book of lectures he penned as a young priest in his Polish homeland.

The two-volume “Katolicka Etyka Spoleczna” (“The Catholic Social Ethic”) has never been officially published. But it could, some observers said, affect interpretations of the future pope’s philosophical development, highlighting a youthful commitment to

radical change which sounded, at times, close to Marxism.

“The text certainly reveals how he viewed the political realities of the early 1950s, as well as his deep sensitivity to social issues,” said Msgr. Alfred Wierzbicki, director of the John Paul II Institute at Poland’s Catholic University of Lublin. He said it contained “a polemical dialogue with Marxism that was courageous at the time, and which throws important light on his later evaluation of such things as liberation theology.”

“The Catholic Social Ethic” was bound in a cheap underground edition of 300 copies at the request of students at Krakow’s Jagiellonian University in 1953 and 1954, when other books on Catholic social teaching had been suppressed by Poland’s communist rulers.

It provides no evidence that then-Father Karol Wojtyla had any direct political affiliation. However, it shows he had acquired, by his early 30s, a detailed knowledge of Marxism and some empathy at least with its strident critique of capitalism.

October 9, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

This Catholic Life • Commentary

16A COMMENTARY Father James Liekhus

Sharing the truth with others requires love, compassion There is a debate taking place in our society over the very nature of the human person. This debate manifests itself in many ways, most recently in the definition of marriage and in our sexual identity as male and female. As Catholics, it is important that we understand the truth that the Church teaches about our human nature so that we can share this truth with others, doing so always with love and compassion.

“God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). It is an awesome thing to consider that in our very nature, we are made in God’s image and likeness. Our maleness and femaleness are intrinsic to that, to our being created in God’s image. Perfect unto himself, the triune God is in an eternal, divine relationship of mutual, complementary self-giving within himself. With our limited

human language, we profess that the father begets, the son is begotten, and the Holy Spirit proceeds from both. The distinction of the three persons is in their relationship with one another — not all three beget, not all three are begotten, not all three proceed. They are complementary to each other.

In creating us in his image, he created us so that we could reflect the mysterious self-giving nature of the triune God. Thus, our sexual identities — the mutual, complementary, self-giving relationship that occurs between a male and female in marriage — is a reflection of the mutual, complementary, self-giving relationship between the three persons. This complementarity is not only physically with our bodies, but spiritually as well, as the entire human person is joined to the other in marriage.

This is how God created us —

FAITH IN THE PUBLIC ARENA Jason Adkins

Transgender persons, human dignity and our response This past summer, Time Magazine had a cover story called “The Next Civil Rights Revolution,” chronicling the movement to create legal mandates for the accommodation of persons who either identify as transgender or who refuse to identify as male or female altogether.

A stream of stories has also appeared locally, describing the lives of transgender-identifying individuals and their fight to end “gender identity discrimination,” most recently concerning the Minnesota State High School

League’s proposed Transgender Student Policy. Although the policy was tabled until December, the discussion is far from over and questions about the policy and transgenderism from concerned Catholics abound.

How should Catholics respond to persons who identify as transgender? How does the Church speak to a world that more and more ignores biological sexes in favor of “gender,” and which views gender as socially conditioned, malleable at will, or operating on a spectrum — rather than through the

“The gender confusion and sexual brokenness that we see all around us, in which people feel alienated from or in conflict with their bodies, is a sign of a deeply hurting world. It requires on our part a compassionate and proactive response.”

October 9, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

then enter original sin. Among the consequences of original sin are that the sexes are divided against each other, and persons are divided within themselves. Our wounded human nature manifests itself in countless ways, among them samesex attraction and gender identity disorder.

We all suffer from original sin, but those who suffer from these particular manifestations of it deserve profound sympathy and compassion, because it is truly a heavy cross to carry.

I have had the privilege of serving for the last six years as a chaplain for the local Courage apostolate, called Faith in Action.

These are men and women who have same-sex attraction but who are committed to living chaste, holy lives in accordance with the truth. A common observation that I hear is that it is nearly impossible to communicate to those who do not have SSA just how much it affects every aspect of the person’s life.

The Church agrees.

“Sexuality affects all aspects of the human person in the unity of his body and soul. It especially concerns affectivity, the capacity to love and to procreate, and in a more general way the aptitude for forming bonds of communion with others” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2332).

It is hard to put yourself in the “binary” of male and female?

The gender confusion and sexual brokenness that we see all around us, in which people feel alienated from or in conflict with their bodies, is a sign of a deeply hurting world.

It requires on our part a compassionate and proactive response.

A much deeper problem The national story of Ryland Whittington is one that is particularly moving and saddening, and underscores the need to think and pray deeply about these issues.

Ryland is a young girl whose parents helped her “transition” to a boy between the ages of 2 and 5. Ryland now appears at events promoting transgender awareness. Presumably, she will eventually have what is referred to as “sex reassignment surgery.”

The story has made national headlines and generated widespread applause as being a model of compassion and openness. The proposition that toddlers can choose or know, with absolute certainty, their gender identity at such a young age seems almost indisputable among the purveyors of supposedly enlightened opinion who attempt to end the debate before it has even begun.

Yet, amid the mistruths that have formed to normalize “gender transition,” some voices of truth are making themselves heard.

Dr. Paul McHugh is the head of

Courage Apostolate For more information about the spiritual support system that assists men and women with same-sex attractions in living chaste lives in fellowship, truth and love, visit couragerc.org. shoes of someone who suffers from these conditions that attack specifically one’s sexuality, but everyone with a heart can imagine just how difficult and painful it must be.

And so our response must be one of compassion, born out of the truth of our human nature and our creation in God’s image. The temptation is to deny this truth and go along with those who suggest that the complementarity of our male and female sexual identities, or the identities themselves as they are indicated by our bodies, is not part of what makes us in God’s image. The fear is that we will be labeled a bigot or worse if we speak the truth. We must overcome both of these. Our interactions with others must be rooted in the truth, whatever the consequences might be.

Father Liekhus is pastor of St. Gabriel the Archangel in Hopkins. the psychiatry department at Johns Hopkins University. Writing this summer in the Wall Street Journal, he notes how he stopped allowing sex change or “reassignment” surgeries at the university hospital after research and experience showed that the surgeries in which men sought to become women did not cure underlying psychological problems present prior to surgery, and that the desire for the surgery was instead the byproduct of other psychological and sexual disorders.

In the words of Dr. McHugh: “We have wasted scientific and technical resources and damaged our professional credibility by collaborating with madness rather than trying to study, cure, and ultimately prevent it.”

The problem is not a question of how to help people make their bodies match their subjective psychological state. The problem is much deeper.

The Church as mother and teacher The matter of gender confusion is a sensitive topic that requires sharing countercultural truths with compassion. In the words of St. John XXIII, whom Pope Francis has echoed, the Church must be both mother and teacher. She is mother in the sense that she loves in the way a mother properly loves: Please turn to SOCIETY’S on page 19A

17A

Nick Hagen

The Church in Russia: hope for the future I am witness to an underreported reality in Russia that is much deeper and more fascinating than any political situation.

This summer I have been living in the Russian Far East with a classmate from the American seminary in Rome, working in a diocese that covers an area larger than the entire United States.

Although as an established diocese, the area does not have official “mission” status, the priests, sisters and laity of the Vladivostok region spend many long hours traveling between small parishes that form in converted apartments, closed restaurants, people’s homes and even former barber shops, as well as a few churches that have survived the Soviet era.

My view of the people, culture and local Church has drastically changed during my time here.

For the first week, I was sobered.

Despite the incredibly warm welcome by the Catholic community, it was impossible to shake the feeling of powerlessness against a suffocating secular culture.

It was difficult to overlook statistics like an 80 percent divorce rate, rampant substance abuse, lots of red tape for the mission’s initiatives and an overall sense that the Church was begrudgingly tolerated.

Then, about a week and a half after landing in Vladivostok, I accompanied the pastor, Father

Myron Effing, to his monthly Mass in Lesozavodsk. There, we were introduced to the parishioners at a tea after Mass, and our somber first impressions took a backseat to the hope and triumph bursting through the stories they shared with us.

First, there was Vladimir. After working as a sailor, he has advocated for many families in low-income housing, making sure their documents and permits are in order. His wife runs the pro-life center in their town, which is allowed to be inside the maternity ward of the hospital in order to show expectant mothers that support is available.

Next was Lydia. A poet in her 90s, she has become something of an icon in the town — the grandmother to everyone, always ready with a story or piece of Russian culture to be revived. Little could one tell she had watched her entire immediate family starve to death in a severe famine. Incredibly, she has turned this into generosity.

We also heard the story of the five Vladivostok martyrs — from the very parish we were visiting — who were shot for praying the rosary in the terrible years of the revolution.

These stories changed everything.

I began to see, especially through Vladimir, how even one converted Christian makes Christ present to many. This was the reality God saw. And in God’s eyes, there is

REDISCOVER: the power of prayer Alyssa Bormes

How prayer heals, transforms It was some years ago, and spiritually a galaxy away, but there was a night I thought I might never be seen again. Every getaway was blocked until morning. My only way out was to get through the night silently, drawing no attention to myself.

Providence found a prayer. My father’s funeral card had the serenity prayer on it, which was a favorite of his because of his work with addicts.

It was the prayer that came to my mind as I hid in plain site, lying motionless, praying it over and over.

Taking a break from praying allowed panic to creep back; my one prayer

continued. Perhaps this was the first time that I ever approached God as a beggar. He heard and protected me.

Was this prayer transformative? It depends on how you look at it. In a sense, the deep prayer of that night seemed to offer nothing further.

Once safe, prayer was seemingly unneeded. My own pride wanted autonomy, not dependence on the Almighty. Instead, by not submitting to his authority, pride held me in a sort of spiritual anarchy. The abyss beckoned; sometimes I stumbled on the descent, while other times I

“Why would we consider cultural disdain discouraging when it was that very persecution that was the mark of hope and cause of rejoicing for the apostles?” we saw many young Russians determined to take a stand to love like Christ: selflessly and generously, even in an atmosphere of selfgratification and denial of responsibility that touches America and Russia alike. These young adults are becoming their country’s leaven by grappling with what it means to love. They are ready to engage every tool available: prayer, psychology, history, leadership, service and, most important, the sacraments.

My American mentality can lead me to evaluate the success of the Church in terms of programs, initiatives, the strength of her public voice, her societal marched toward the nothing.

Again, was the prayer transformative? Again, it depends on how you look at it. In the darkest places, there were slivers of light.

They included the few prayers I had prayed, and somehow the many prayers others had prayed — except they were seen only as the slightest moments of illumination. There I was, crouched in the nearly complete darkness. In the past, God heard me, even through that one terrible night when he spared me.

So, I approached him as a beggar again; he responded.

We are all beggars before God, realizing it can be one of the greatest gifts. We are similar to children pleading, “Please, please, pretty please.” The perfect prayer, the holy Mass, is full of a sort of begging. We repeat, “Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy.”

Later, there is the repetition to the Lamb of God, “Have mercy on us, have mercy on us, grant us peace.”

In these prayers, and many others,

respectability, or her ability to command the obedience of her members. But are these Jesus’ primary terms of success? Or did he base his life on giving real individuals a radical freedom to love, live the Good and know the Truth? And once that becomes our criteria of success, we can see why Christ’s Church has triumphed in Russia: He is there, in the sacraments and in the lives of those baptized into him.

Thus, while I urge you to pray for the peace and holiness of the Church in Russia, know that the attitude there is one of hope and strength, not desperation.

Life is not easy in Russia. Anger and violence (aggravated by alcoholism and drugs) abound, especially in impoverished cities, and many kids are deeply scarred.

The Church is often mocked and derided. Father Myron has had many absurd accusations and threats leveled at him with no intention other than hampering his efforts.

And yet, these make the triumph of Christ all the more apparent in the men and women fighting the good fight. Why would we consider cultural disdain discouraging when it was that very persecution that was the mark of hope and cause of rejoicing for the apostles?

I challenge you, as I was challenged, to look through God’s eyes to see the dignity, freedom and greatness of the Russian people, their dedication and hard work for their families and communities, and the hope that remains. This is certainly the mindset of the Church in Russia, and it is the only possible way they could continue their mission to love in a world so desperately craving it.

This Catholic Life • Commentary

GUEST COLUMN

always hope.

I saw two examples of hope at the Lesozavodsk summer camp and Far Eastern Catholic Youth Conference.

Every year, the tiny Lesozavodsk parish opens its doors to about 50 local children and 20 college-aged American missionaries from the Fellowship Of Catholic University Students to pray, learn and share life together. No matter their circumstances, God is alive in these kids and can protect and love them more than any human being, and that is a cause for hope!

At the young adult conference,

Hagen is a Theology II student at the St. Paul Seminary. He is studying at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. His home parish is Holy Family in St. Louis Park. we implore, we beseech, we beg.

It is as if at the end of every prayer we add, from the depth of our souls, “Please!” Imagine ending each prayer with this request. “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Please!” Or, “Deliver us from evil. Please!” Or even adding it right in the middle, “St. Michael . . .

Please, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.”

Transformative prayer has everything to do with the gorgeous humility of a beggar. Each prayer contains that simple, deep, “Please!”

On that far away night, the greatest transformation was the movement from the pride to humility. “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Please!”

Bormes, a member of Holy Family in St. Louis Park, is the author of the book “The Catechism of Hockey.”

October 9, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

Calendar

18A Parish events

Prayer/Liturgy

St. Boniface Church 25th annual German Dinner — Oct. 12: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 629 Second St. NE. Polka Mass at 10 a.m. with the Rod Cerar Orchestra, and dinner. Tickets for adults are $12, children (12 & under) are $4.

Call for tickets: (612) 799-0072.

Annual Mass of God’s Children — Oct. 14: 7 p.m. at Nativity of Our Lord Church, Stanford and Prior Avenues, St. Paul. Those who have experienced the death of a baby before or after birth are invited to attend the annual Mass of God’s Children. For more information, please call (651) 698-5554.

Holy Name Fall Festival — Oct. 12: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 3637 11th Ave., South Minneapolis.

The day includes a pancake breakfast from 9 a.m. to noon, Eat Street and Beer Garden from noon to 4 p.m., Kids Games, Silent Auction, Raffle and More. For more information contact (612) 724-5465.

Grandparents Apostolate of Saints Joachim and Anne — Oct. 15: 8:45 a.m. in Steiner Hall at Nativity of Our Lord Church, 1900 Stanford Ave., St. Paul. All grandparents are invited to an event of prayer, discussion and fellowship highlighted by a presentation on “Ways to Encourage a Strong Faith and Discernment of Vocations.” Refreshments will be served. Daily Mass at 8:15 a.m. in the main church. For questions contact Lilee: (651) 4149367.

St. Cyril’s Ladies Guild Rummage Sale — Oct. 15, 16, 17: at 1315 Second St. NE, Minneapolis. Wed. from 3 to 7 p.m.; Thurs. from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Fri. ($2 bag day) from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Donations accepted: Oct. 6 to 14 from 3 to 6 p.m.

Later Life Resource Fair — Oct. 18: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Community, 155 County Rd 24 Wayzata. Come to hear advice, gather information, ask questions from legal and financial experts, social workers, representatives from home health care, adult day care, senior living, memory care, assisted living, hospice, and funeral services. No cost. Pre-registration is required for lunch. Questions? Contact Jona Winkelman, (763) 233-0245.

Church of St. Agnes Fall Festival — Oct. 19: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at St. Agnes Church, 548 Lafond Ave., St. Paul. Legendary Booya, cash prizes, raffles, games and more.

St. Rose of Lima 75th Anniversary Parish Mission — Oct. 19, 20, 21: 7 to 9 p.m. at St. Rose of Lima Church, 2090 Hamline Ave. N., Roseville. Mission Director, Father Mathew Linn, S.J., will lead participants in three evenings, concentrating on: A Spiritual Tool for Burnout & Connecting with Your Heart; Discovering the Purpose of Your Life; and Praying With Another for Healing. Father Linn will preside at Closing Prayer on Sunday and Monday nights and a Healing Mass on Tuesday.

For more information call (651) 357-1212.

Miracle Healing Service with Damian Stayne — Oct. 18: 7 to 10 p.m. at St. John the Baptist Church, 835 Second Ave. NW in New Brighton. This event is free and open to people of all faiths. Those in particular need of healing are encouraged to come. Visit www.ccro-msp. org for more information, or call (763) 571-5314.

Sponsored by the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Office and St. John Vianney Seminary.

The Marian Movement of Priests Cenacle — Oct. 23: 7 p.m. at the Church of St. John the Evangelist, 380 Little Canada Road E, Little Canada. We begin with the rosary, Invocation to the Holy Spirit, Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Mass, the consecration of your family to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and a reading from the book “Our Lady speaks to her beloved priests,” followed by refreshments.

Retreats Christian Remember Your Dignity: What the Catholic Church Teaches About Issues of Life and Death Biomedical Conference — Oct. 11: 8:15 a.m. to 3 p.m. at St. Michael Church, 611 S. Third St., Stillwater. Featuring keynote speaker Father John Floeder. Register at www.SCCFF.net, or call (651) 351-3175.

The Charism School with Damian Stayne — Oct. 17 to 19: at O’Shaughnessy Education Center, University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.

Presented by the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Office and St. John Vianney Seminary. The Charism School offers sound teachings and practical workshops on the Charisms. Cost is $100 and includes meals and materials. College students can attend at a reduced rate of $20.

Baptism in the Holy Spirit is necessary. Please call (763) 571-5314 for information or to register.

“Every Man is a Beloved Son” Men’s Silent Retreat — Oct. 17 to 19: Mark the changing of seasons while exploring your faith with this two night weekend retreat. Catholic based but open to all. Register by calling (952) 447-2182.

“Healing through Prayer” retreat with Bishop Andrew Cozzens — Oct. 17 to 19: 5:30-6:30 p.m. arrival on Oct. 17 through Oct. 19 at noon at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave S. Buffalo, 55313. This retreat is designed especially for Catholic healthcare

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

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

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

• Full street address of event.

• Description of event.

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

(No attachments, please.)

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

October 9, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

Don’t miss More events online Additional parish and school events in the archdiocese can be found at TheCatholicSpirit. com/calendar

Basilica of St. Mary, 88 N. 17th St., Minneapolis.

St. Charles Women’s Council to host Laura Sobiech, author of “Fly a Little Higher,” a memoir about her son, Zach Sobiech — Oct. 14: 7 p.m. in Doran Hall, St. Charles Borromeo Church, 2739 Stinson Blvd. NE in St. Anthony. The evening will include a short video, talk and book-signing. Refreshments will be served. A free will donation will be taken.

Questions? Contact Katherine Lutz (612) 5981702.

Workshops

professionals hosted by Curatio, and in collaboration with the Latino Ministry of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. For more information about registering, visit www. curatioapostolate.com, or contact Dianne at (763) 786-4945. For the Latino Community, please contact Adrian Sotro at (612) 227-2041.

Music Cathedral Choir Concerts — Oct. 10, 11: Oct. 10 at 7:30 p.m. at St. Albert the Great Church, 2836 33rd Ave S, Minneapolis, 55406.

Oct. 11 at 8 p.m. at the Basilica of St. Mary, 88 N 17th St, Minneapolis, 55403. Dame Wisdom: The Spirit of Women Throughout the Ages.

St. Mark’s Acoustic Café — Oct. 11: 6:30 to 9:45 p.m. at Carolyn Hall, across the street from St. Mark Church, 2001 Dayton Ave. in St. Paul.

Come and invite your friends to a night of fellowship, coffee, refreshments, board games and great music. Cost is $5. Visit www. saintmark-mn.org for more details.

Swing Dance at St. Joseph of the Lakes, Lino Lakes — Oct. 11: Dance lessons at 7:15 and music from 8 to 11 p.m. at 171 Elm St., Lino Lakes. Features the “Saints of Swing” Big Band playing a variety of swing and Latin-style music.

Admission is $12 and includes two drinks. For advance ticket sales, call (651) 784-3105.

125th Anniversary Event: Festival of Hymns – Oct. 12: 4 p.m. St. Mark’s Church, 2001 Dayton Ave, St. Paul. “From the Gates of Paradise.” This program is a festival of hymns centering on the themes of the beautiful stained glass windows of the church. Contact Alison Kaardal for more information, (651) 645-6717.

Speakers “From the Pews to the Polls,” the Minnesota Catholic Conference — Oct. 9: the Minnesota Catholic Conference will speak at St. Agatha Church, 3700 160th St. E., Rosemount, on Oct. 9 at 10 a.m. (ACCW event – women only); Our Lady of Grace Church, 5071 Eden Ave., Edina, on Oct. 12 at 10:30 a.m.; St. John the Baptist Church, 4625 W. 125th St., Savage, on Oct. 12 at 7 p.m.; and the Cathedral of St. Paul, 239 Selby Ave., St. Paul, on Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. Event and materials are free. Goodwill donations accepted. Visit www.mncc.org and click “Events,” or call (651) 227-8777 for more information.

The Faith Community’s Response to Suicide — Oct. 12: 1 p.m. in Teresa of Calcutta Hall, Lower Level of the church.

Dementia Support Group — Oct. 14: 7 to 9 p.m. at the Benedictine Center, 2675 Benet Road, Maplewood. Each session will be a form of group spiritual direction with check-ins, introductions and discussions around the disease of dementia. To register go to www. stpaulsmonastery.org and follow the link to the Benedictine Center. For more information, call (651) 777-7251 or benedictinecenter@ stpaulsmonastery.org.

“Studying and Praying the Psalms” with Art Zannoni—Oct. 16: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Our Lady of Grace dining room, 5071 Eden Ave, Edina, 55436. Emphasis will be placed on how to pray the psalms. RSVP requested. Contact Stephanie Lloyd at (952) 929-3317 or stephanielloyd@olgparish.org.

Centering Prayer — Oct. 18: 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Benedictine Center, 2675 Benet Road, Maplewood. Participants will learn more about this ancient Christian form of prayer that promotes inner stillness and helps them listen to God’s invitation for a deeper relationship.

Cost: $25 (includes lunch). To register go to www.stpaulsmonastery.org and follow the link to the Benedictine Center. For more information, call (651) 777-7251 or benedictinecenter@ stpaulsmonastery.org.

Economic Inequality in the United States: A Catholic Discussion — Oct. 23: 6 to 9 p.m. at the Basilica of St. Mary, 1600 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis. Join the Minnesota Catholic Conference, the University of St. Thomas Center for Catholic Studies and the Basilica of St. Mary for an engaging, thought-provoking viewing and discussion of the 2014 documentary film, “Inequality for All.” Contact Janice Andersen at the Basilica of St. Mary for more information (612) 317-3477.

Other events St. John the Baptist School presents The Sneaky Citizens of Saddlesore City — Oct. 10, 11, 12: 7 p.m. on Oct. 10 & 11, 2 p.m. on Oct. 12 at St. John the Baptist School, 638 Mill St., Excelsior. Tickets are $7 for adults; $5 for students; and children under 2 are free. Call for tickets at (952) 747-5812 or at the door. Any other questions, please contact Kathleen Hollahan at khollahan@stjohns-excelsior.org or (952)474-8868.

The Story of Faith, live and in person, with TV Star Frank Runyeon — Oct. 11: 7 p.m. at St. Joseph, 8701 36th Ave. N., New Hope. A one-man play based on the Gospel of Mark and the Sermon on the Mount, followed by “Hollywood v. Faith: The Struggle to Live Faithfully in the Media Age.” Intergenerational dramatic presentations on the Scriptures for adults, families and youth. Free will donation.

Contact Anne Saevig (763) 544-3352 x112 for more information.

19A

Society’s goal should be getting to the root of the problem Continued from page 16A everyone is embraced and welcomed. As Pope Francis has said in describing the Church, everyone wants to come home to mom.

While we may often fall short of creating a welcoming home, this is how every person should feel about the Church; she is truly a “field hospital” and welcoming refuge for broken persons, which includes all of us.

The unconditional love of a mother necessarily embraces the responsibility of being a teacher, even when the children ignore the advice or reject it altogether. The Church, as mother and teacher, must continue to courageously speak the truth while at the same time welcoming everyone in her embrace.

Gender and human dignity The truth is that God has created us male and female and has made us with a soul and body that are inextricably linked to one another — their union forms a single nature.

The body is not merely a shell encompassing my spirit or “real self,” which many who support the new gender theory believe. The body is, indeed, the physical

manifestation of my personhood. It is truly me, along with my soul, and my identity as male or female is integral to who I am as a human person (Catechism of the Catholic Church 362-68).

As Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI noted in an important address to the Roman Curia in 2012, a rejection of the reality that we are created male and female is, even if unwittingly, a rejection of the Creator and his creation.

Therefore, cultural currents or policies that seek to institutionalize or “mandate” affirmation of gender “reassignment” (as opposed to antidiscrimination laws, some of which ensure that people have access to the basic necessities of life) cannot be supported because they perpetuate the confusion, brokenness, or pain that someone who identifies as transgendered is experiencing, instead of trying to get to the root of the problem and recognize his or her human dignity as created by God. St. John Paul II’s “theology of the body” reminds us that our masculinity and femininity are not limitations to be overcome, as so many cultural forces make us feel, but rather gifts to be lived and shared. Each sex has its own equal,

complementary dignity and importance in human relationships, and living in accordance with the way we are made is, ultimately, the source of our happiness and social well-being (CCC 369-73).

Try as we might, we cannot change our sex. Little Ryland is still a girl no matter how many hormones doctors prescribe for her or how many operations to which she might be subjected.

I hope and pray that Ryland will lead a happy and healthy life, but the experience of post sex-change patients is not encouraging, as Dr. McHugh and other international researchers have found.

Truth and love God loves Ryland. God loves her parents. God loves every person who identifies as transgender, as well as their allies fighting for what they believe to be their rights and dignity.

The Church must actively extend the mercy of Jesus Christ and the healing and compassion he brings to all people. This includes contesting destructive social trends, imprudent public policy and harmful ideologies. Yet, we also need to do something in the lives of real people. This requires not just

“St. John Paul II’s theology of the body reminds us that our masculinity and femininity are not limitations to be overcome . . . but rather gifts to be lived and shared.” talk, but an encounter with actual persons — persons who struggle with gender-identity confusion or sexual brokenness — and actively listening to their needs and concerns.

We must defend their authentic rights; protect them from cruel, dehumanizing acts; pray for them; and help them to know the father’s plan for how he created them.

“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope” (Jeremiah 29:11, NRSV).

Adkins is executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference.

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The Last Word

20A

Pope: Tiny voice in your head? It’s a guardian angel

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service Guardian angels are not the stuff of fantasy; they are really present as wise travel companions helping people navigate life’s journey, Pope Francis said.

Don’t ignore the inner voice that says, “Well, you should do this.” “That’s not right.” “Watch out!” the pope said in a morning homily Oct. 2, the feast of the Guardian Angels.

“It’s the voice of our travel companion. Be confident that they will take us through to the end of our lives with their advice, and that’s why [people should] listen to their voice, don’t rebel,” he said in remarks reported by Vatican Radio.

“All of us, according to Church tradition, have an angel with us who “Nobody walks alone, and none watches over us of us can believe we are alone.” and lets us hear” Pope Francis deep inside, wise words meant to help people make the right choices, the pope said during an early morning Mass in the chapel of his residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae.

People shouldn’t ignore that voice “because rebellion, the desire to be independent, is something we all have and it is pride, the same thing our father, Adam, had” in the Garden of Eden, he said.

“Nobody walks alone, and none of us can believe we are alone” because there is always this companion right by each person’s side, he said.

“Don’t rebel. Follow their advice,” he said. To turn one’s back on a guardian angel “is dangerous because no man, no woman can advise themselves. I can give advice to someone else, but I can’t give advice to myself” if it’s going to be objective and wise.

“The Holy Spirit advises me, there’s the angel who advises me,” he said. A guardian angel isn’t a figment of “imagination; no, it’s reality.”

The pope asked people to reflect on how they interact with their guardian angel: “Do I listen to them? Do I say, ‘Good morning,’ in the morning? Do I say, ‘Watch over me while I sleep’? Do I talk to them? Do I ask advice?”

Reflecting on the day’s Gospel reading (Mark 18: 1-5), the pope reminded people, especially bishops, that God wants them to be as humble

Pope Francis kisses a baby held by Domenico Giani, his lead bodyguard, as he leaves his general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Oct. 1. CNS/Paul Haring and meek as children.

The reading recounts Jesus’ disciples fighting among themselves over who is better than the rest.

“These are the first bishops, and they had this temptation of careerism, ‘Hey, I want to become greater than you. . . . ’ It’s not a great example that the first bishops do this, but it’s reality,” the pope said.

Jesus immediately shows them the right way to behave to enter the kingdom of heaven: to “become like children” and put themselves fully in the hands of God their father.

“Meekness, the need for direction and needing help” in order to go forward are all reflected in a child. “This is the path. Not who is the best,” the pope said.

Pope urges participation in Caritas anti-hunger campaign

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Christians cannot follow Jesus while turning away from people who are hungry, Pope Francis said.

In a video message promoting a “week of action” to fight hunger, Pope Francis said Jesus’ statement in Matthew 25:35 — “I was hungry and you gave me food” — is still a standard on which people will be judged at the end of time.

“The words of our Lord call to us today, telling us not to turn away, indifferent, when we know our neighbor is hungry,” the pope said

October 9, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

in the video. The video was posted on www.caritas.org, the website of Caritas Internationalis, which is the umbrella organization of national Catholic charities around the world.

The Caritas week of action Oct. 12-19 is part of its “One Human Family, Food for All” campaign.

The 160 charities that make up the Caritas network will hold special events to highlight the right to food and the need for government action to combat hunger and child malnutrition.

A Caritas statement Oct. 6 said the campaign also hopes to

Caritas week of action Oct. 12-19 “One Human Family, Food for All” Learn more at www.caritas.org.

pressure governments to uphold the rights of farmers — particularly women farmers — and end speculation on food prices.

“It is a scandal that 800 million people go to bed without enough

to eat,” said Michel Roy, secretary general of Caritas Internationalis.

“We have the tools to end hunger by 2025; let’s act now.”

The Vatican-based international office said that among the events during the week of action is a cooking competition sponsored by Caritas Pakistan; the competing cooks are women who grew their own food thanks to assistance from the charity. Caritas Japan’s week will focus on educating people to avoid food waste at home while helping to buy seeds for farmers in East Africa.

e se ag ut 8 p ll-o pu n io ct

The Catholic Spirit • October 9, 2014 • 1B

al ci

Give Hope

e sp

WORLD MISSION SUNDAY

World Mission Sunday

2B WORLD MISSION SUNDAY Deacon Mickey Friesen

Center gives hope to girls escaping gender-based violence in Tanzania World Mission Sunday is Oct. 19

By Deacon Mickey Friesen For The Catholic Spirit It is difficult to witness the continuing news of people around the world in harm’s way. Whether it be ethnic and religious conflict in the Middle East, border violence in the Ukraine and on our southern border, or Ebola outbreaks in West Africa, many people are looking for relief and refuge, a place of sanctuary. And they are looking for hope.

There are many types of sanctuaries. People who flee because of war seek sanctuary in a neighboring country. Others cross borders looking for the sanctuary of

a better life to raise a family. Still others will say their sanctuary is located in a quiet, secluded place where they can find peace and refreshment away from the hustle and bustle of daily life. And, of course, there is the sanctuary at our place of worship where God’s life is made manifest to us. It is the place we are reminded of God’s presence with us in his word and sacrament.

It is where the community can join in communion and faith with Christ. A sanctuary is a holy space where life is protected and where goodness, truth and beauty are affirmed.

Sanctuaries give hope.

This year for World Mission Sunday (Oct. 19), we are highlighting the evangelizing efforts in the Diocese of Musomo in Tanzania, which has created a

sanctuary for young girls at risk of gender-based violence. The name of the center is “Jipe Moyo,” Swahili for “Give Hope.” This center gives hope to girls in crisis by offering love, hospitality and caring services necessary for healing. The girls are given a chance to continue their education and follow their dreams into the future. At this center, the hope of Christ is made real every day in the service of missionary sisters who accompany the girls.

This is just one example of what missionaries are doing around the world as they share the joy of the Gospel. They build sanctuaries of hope where Christians can gather to share the Eucharist and build the Body of Christ. They create sanctuaries of peace for those who seek refuge from the wounds of war and ethnic conflict.

catholicity is that she speaks in all languages. And this is nothing other than the effect of Pentecost.

It is the Holy Spirit, in fact, who has enabled the apostles and the entire Church to resonate with all, to the ends of the earth, the good news of salvation and of the love of God.” The apostolic life is anchored in Christ, but always ready to move, to be sent forth.

The Christian Gospel of hope is to offer a glimpse of God’s reign of peace and justice in the lives of Christians creating sanctuaries of that reality here and now. We initiate programs of feeding and clothing and welcoming the poor in the hope that hunger, nakedness and homelessness may be no more.

We participate in peacemaking and reconciliation programs in the hope that we will learn to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Missionaries provide sanctuaries of healing for the most vulnerable, the sick, the elderly, the poor, the dying. The missionary life is about being a living sanctuary of hope for all they meet. They take to heart St. Peter’s words of encouragement: “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for the reason for your hope” (1 Peter 3:15).

On this World Mission Sunday, let us remember the reason for our hope — Jesus Christ.

Pope Francis has said that “a clear sign of the Church’s

Deacon Friesen is director of the archdiocesan Center for Mission.

And let us be ready to proclaim this Gospel of hope with our lives by contributing to the Church in mission around the world, building and sustaining sanctuaries — holy places of refuge in the Body of Christ. Let us each do our part to give hope in Christ.

Missioner helps Tanzanians affected by ugly ritual

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit The beauty of the Tanzanian diocese of Musoma, located near the famous Serengeti National Park in eastern Africa, is marred by an ugly practice that Maryknoll Lay Missioner Liz Mach is working to treat and eradicate.

As part of her 38 years working in nursing and public health in Africa, the Pine City native has sought to help girls and young women affected by Female Genital Mutilation. She also educates residents of the city of Musoma (population 134,000) and the surrounding towns in the diocese on how the practice harms women’s health.

Also known as female circumcision or “cutting,” FGM is Please turn to GIRLS on page 3B

October 9, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

Maryknoll Lay Missioner Liz Mach (center) visits with Pascalia and Eliza, two girls who sought refuge from Female Genital Mutilation at Jipe Moyo, a shelter run by the Immaculate Heart sisters in the Tanzanian diocese of Musoma where Mach works.

Photo courtesy of Novatus Mchele.

3B Continued from page 2B the ritual removal of some or all of the external female genitalia typically done with or without anesthesia by a traditional circumciser with a blade or razor.

FGM is practiced by ethnic groups in 27 countries in sub-Saharan and north-east Africa, in Yemen and Iraqi Kurdistan, and to a lesser degree in parts of Asia.

In addition to affecting reproductive health, FGM often results in infection and higher risk of HIV. “As a health care provider, this is my main concern,” said Mach, who works for the Musoma diocese. “I want a woman to be able to give birth in the safest way possible, and if FGM hinders this, then it needs to end.”

After studying nursing and public health at then-College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, Mach heard a Maryknoll priest speak in 1975 at her home parish in Pine City in the Diocese of Duluth. Interested in Africa, she decided to serve as a missioner there.

“I went for three years, and I am still there,” she said. “God makes plans while we think we are making our life’s plans, and sometimes they are very different pathways.”

In Sudan and Tanzania, Mach has worked in a hospital as an advocate for the poor, as well as in administration. She developed a

medical school and helped fund and build a hospital intensive care unit.

For the past three years she has been involved with education, health and social services in the diocese’s Planning and Development Office, including overseeing Jipe Moyo, the diocese’s shelter for young people fleeing FGM. Mach also has worked on programs to eliminate the practice by training catechists. She also addresses other forms of abuse and help residents advance economically.

the Mara region where the diocese is located practice FGM — and the number is increasing, she said.

Currently, FGM is practiced in 23 of the diocese’s 31 parishes.

“Is this like the last big kick of the dying zebra that is happening, or is it going even deeper into secrecy?” Mach said. “We believe it is the last kicking out. And if we can make an all-out effort, we can see this decrease significantly and possibly end. Other cultural practices have ended when they are either no longer needed. . . .

This can end, too.”

A dangerous ethnic tradition Hope and healing FGM is done on young women usually by their relatives as a preparation for marriage, mostly during November and December.

“People will say a woman cannot be married in her ethnic tradition if she is not circumcised, but we are seeing with the youth the understanding and willingness to marry whomever they choose,” Mach said. “This is why it is so important to have men and boys as part of our programs as they help make the change. It really is about education for all. Once people understand the consequences of FGM and what it does negatively to a girl’s/woman’s life throughout all of her reproductive years, they are willing to make the changes needed.”

Up to 44 percent of families in

Founded by the Musoma Diocese to care for victims of FGM in 2001, Jipe Moyo is a shelter primarily for girls ages 8 to 16 who are fleeing FGM. Others come after suffering from FGM to receive treatment for infections and HIV testing or because of abuse or child labor, Mach said. They find love and spiritual support, along with physical and mental healing, at the shelter run by the Immaculate Heart Sisters of Africa.

“I visit many times during the week as I enjoy being with the children, and it puts a face to a ministry and all the work we are trying to do to end FGM,” she said.

“It also is the place that tugs at my heart strings.”

FGM is one of the Musoma Diocese’s many challenges, but

Mach and others aren’t afraid to take it on.

“We know that to live authentically as Christians, we need to respect each person.”

A call to Catholics She encouraged Catholics to pray for the work in Musoma.

“It keeps us going,” she said “Pray to end domination and abuse done to others. Pray for education, and loving and caring people to be of help to these children.”

Catholics also can help financially through the Society of the Propagation of the Faith collection that is taken up on World Mission Sunday, Oct. 19.

World Mission Sunday

Girls find support at shelter run by Immaculate Heart sisters

On the web Learn more about Maryknoll Lay Missioners at www.mklm.org.

Mach said she hopes Minnesota Catholics will better understand how interconnected we are and how they can help with mission work.

“I come as a Catholic missioner from Minnesota and working in Tanzania for 38 years to tell my story and Jipe Moyo’s story to help the world become just a bit smaller.”

God calls, and that’s what we see in the vocation of the great leaders. In our tradition, a mission JORGE CARDINAL BERGOGLIO always starts with a calling.

(POPE FRANCIS)

Congratulations, Harald Borrmann. We feel fortunate that you have answered the call to serve as Chair of the American Fraternal Alliance Board!

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World Mission Sunday

4B

Stories from Musoma, Tanzania Eliza

Pascalia

Eliza is 14 years old and arrived at Jipe Moyo in July. She was living with her uncle because her mother, who left to find work, never returned. Eliza’s father died a short time after. The uncle had been abusing her, and when Eliza discovered he planned for her to be “cut” (the term for Female Genital Mutilation) and married, she decided to flee.

She found someone to take her to Eliza Musoma. That person dropped her off at a bus stop promising to return soon. Eliza waited the entire day, but that person never returned. Again, she was abandoned. Child advocates found her and brought her to Sister Chacha at Jipe Moyo.

Eliza wants to finish school to become a teacher. Now she has a chance to follow her dream rather than be a victim of Female Genital Mutilation and forced into marriage.

Pascalia is 15 years old and had lost her mother. Her father was an alcoholic and had been abusing Pascalia. He announced that Pascalia was to be “cut” at a ceremony and married to a much older man.

Aware that this meant her schooling and future dreams would end and that she faced a lifetime of pain and suffering, Pascalia decided to escape her father’s plans. She heard about Jipe Moyo on the radio and secretly found help to get to the shelter. She arrived in June.

She is in her first year of high school and wants to become a nurse.

Pascalia

“I cannot imagine the pain that they must have felt and experienced. This is why Jipe Moyo is so important to us. We offer them a place of safety and of love, so their healing process can begin. Thank you, Society for the Propagation of the Faith!”

Liz Mach, Maryknoll Lay Missioner

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October 9, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

5B

By Sarah McCarthy Catholic News Service Three women who recently took final vows as Maryknoll sisters after a lengthy discernment process said they were drawn to the order by a lifestyle of simplicity, its international presence and the diversity of its mission work.

Sister Abby Avelino, Sister Julia Shideler and Sister Anastasia Lee took their final vows in September during a Mass attended by nearly 250 people in Westchester County, New York.

As Maryknoll sisters, they are part of an international order with approximately 500 members serving in 25 countries. In taking their final vows, the women publicly committed to lives of poverty, chastity and obedience.

The journey of these women to becoming women religious involved years of discernment and learning within the Maryknoll community.

The process includes gaining information about Maryknoll’s history, engaging in theological studies, participating in an intensive behavioral interview, and pursuing a live-in experience with current sisters.

Before taking their final vows, the women took part in a six-month reflection program that consisted of workshops, resilience training and further learning about the order’s mission and service abroad.

Maryknoll’s diverse international presence, as well as its faction of younger sisters, attracted the women to the congregation.

“They have a lot of missions overseas, especially in developing countries, so that was a big appeal,” said Sister Julia, 36. “I thought, you know, if I found an order that had a lot more younger people, then that would give me faith that if I dedicated my life to that congregation that I would have people that I would grow old with, and that there would be other people coming in behind me that would carry it on.”

A native of California who was raised in Washington state, Sister Julia has been in mission in Aileu, East Timor, ministering to youth and teaching at a public high school.

Sister Anastasia, 42, said she was looking for

Maryknoll Sisters Anastasia Lee, left, Julia Shideler and Abby Avelino stand in the sanctuary after professing their final vows during Mass at the Maryknoll Sisters Center in Maryknoll, N.Y., Sept. 28. CNS/Gregory A. Shemitz more diversity in her life after growing up in what she felt was the “homogeneous culture” of Korea, where she was born.

“I wanted something different,” she said. “I decided to live differently out of the same pattern. . . . I had a good career (as a teacher), I had a happy, comfortable life, but something was missing.”

She has served with the Maryknoll Sisters Peacebuilding Team in Kenya.

The newly professed sisters also said they faced lingering doubts while they were discerning their vocations.

Sister Abby, 48, worked as a mechanical engineer before joining Maryknoll and said the decision to join the congregation was not an easy one.

“It was not easy to give up your job, to give up your family and everything,” she said. “For me it was quite long to discern. . . . I would say it’s a challenge, but if I know I’m certain that I have a vocation to be a religious person . . . it’s a calling from God.” Sister Julia started thinking about religious life in college, she said, when she found it difficult to focus on her spiritual life as well as

maintain the lifestyle of a layperson.

“It just seemed like too many things to handle all at once,” she said. “I wanted a more simple lifestyle, but I also had to, you know, eat and pay my bills . . . so I just felt kind of torn between what I really wanted to do with my life and then what I felt like I had to do in order to just survive.”

As she learned more about what it would mean to devote her life to God, Sister Julia said she had a lot more doubts come up.

“I seriously discerned whether I’d make final vows. That was not an easy choice,” she said.

“The implications of the commitment became very real, and I did understand . . . the sacrifice I was making, but I also understood the benefits.”

Though she said she recognized that being a nun was a “radical way of living out the discipleship of Jesus Christ,” Sister Anastasia saw her vocation as an invitation.

“I’m not saying it’s better than other lives but . . . it’s different, it’s a counterculture,” she said.

“I’m willing to be vulnerable in a foreign place, being a minority, being marginalized, not having (many) resources.”

The Maryknoll order was founded in 1912 and originally known as the Foreign Mission Sisters of St. Dominic. Today, that name lives on in the service the sisters contribute to countries throughout the world.

World Mission Sunday

More about Maryknoll: Simple lifestyle, diversity a draw

“I thought, you know, if I found an order that had a lot more younger people, then that would give me faith that if I dedicated my life to that congregation that I would have people that I would grow old with . . .”

Maryknoll Sister Julia, 36

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October 9, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

World Mission Sunday

6B

Q&A with Maryknoll Lay Missioners: Ashley and Michael Leen The Catholic Spirit

In January 2014, Ashley and Michael Leen, both 28, began work in Tanzania with Maryknoll Lay Missioners, a Catholic organization inspired by the mission of Jesus. They “live and work in poor communities, responding to basic needs and helping to create a more just and compassionate world.” Ashley is from Lino Lakes and was a parishioner at St. Joseph there.

Michael is originally from Naperville, Ill., a western suburb of Chicago.

Below they respond to questions about how they’re living their Catholic faith serving others in a developing country.

Q. What’s your connection to

the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis?

A. From the age of 11, Ashley was raised in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, growing up at St. Joseph’s Church in Lino Lakes. Ashley received the sacrament of confirmation there and was heavily involved in its youth group, volunteering in the local community and getting to know other young people interested in faith and spirituality.

Interested in Catholic mission work overseas?

Mustard Seed Mission Endowment helps financially To help defray the costs of their mission work, Ashley and Michael Leen applied for and received the Mustard Seed Mission Endowment from the archdiocesan Center for Mission.

The endowment was established in 2002 to provide seed money to missioners from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis who serve in a Catholic mission overseas for one year or more.

Missioners may apply annually for a grant to support their direct mission activities or provide necessary assistance to their livelihood while in mission service.

Grant recipients become mission ambassadors when they return home to the archdiocese, offering to share their mission story with parish and school groups.

For more information about the endowment, contact the Center for Mission at missions@archspm.org or (651) 2226556.

October 9, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

Photo courtesy of Ashley and Michael Leen In June 2010, Ashley returned with her then fiance, Michael, to get married at the Cathedral of St. Paul.

detail about the living conditions and poor economy in Tanzania.

Would you briefly describe them here?

Q. What inspired you to become missioners? When did you begin?

A. Tanzania, while a beautiful country, is also one of the poorest in the world. Over two thirds of its people live below the International Poverty Line, making the equivalent of $1.25 per day or less.

We live in Mwanza, the second most populated city in the country.

While modern luxuries are more available here than in the villages, those luxuries are only available to the elite few. Because there is no majority middle class, all economic classes live side-by-side. We live in a middle-class house, with running water and electricity, but our neighbors on either side of us live in mud-brick homes with flat tin roofs and have neither indoor plumbing nor electricity. Their latrines consist of a hole dug in the ground and plastic tarp hung around it for privacy.

A. We both had the opportunity to go on short-term immersion trips when we were in college (Ashley to the Dominican Republic and Michael to Swaziland). As soon as we returned, we began discussing the future possibility of living and working overseas, particularly feeling called to work with the poor and the marginalized in a developing country. After a threemonth orientation program, we arrived in Mwanza, Tanzania, in January 2014 with Maryknoll Lay Missioners.

Q. How does your Catholic faith help in the work you do in a developing country?

A. Catholic social teaching is our guide and our hope as we continue to work in Tanzania. Our tradition believes that every human person possesses innate dignity, regardless of economic circumstance. Although Tanzania is an incredibly poor country and it is often easy to lose hope, we take comfort in the fact that we believe that each Tanzanian has the right to live a full and dignified life, including a living wage, quality education and access to health care. This is our ultimate goal as we live and work alongside Tanzanians.

Q.

On your blog, you go into

Q. What specific work do you do in Tanzania?

A. Ashley began the After School Program at Shalom Care House in order to serve children living with and affected by HIV/ AIDS. Shalom Care Home is an HIV/AIDS resource center in Mwanza, serving under the larger Archdiocese of Mwanza. Ashley’s main focus is to enhance the academic skills of children, ages 5 through 16, in mathematics and English and encourage their ongoing development outside of school. Ashley strives to support children living in difficult circumstances by providing them with a safe place to learn and play

with a caring teacher and with one another.

Michael started a project through a local Tanzanian nongovernmental organization, the Education for Better Living Organization, that helps the poor learn the process of starting, running and implementing a successful group enterprise.

Primarily, Michael works with young mothers who have dropped out of secondary school due to pregnancy, youth living on the street and their families. The hope is to empower them to attain economic emancipation and rise out of poverty through incomegenerating activities.

Q. What were you doing before becoming Maryknoll Lay Missioners?

A. Before Maryknoll Lay Missioners, we lived very different lives! Ashley worked for the Department of Justice as a research analyst, first in Boston and then in Dallas. Michael was brand manager at Dr. Pepper Snapple Group in Dallas.

Q. What has been the most challenging? The most rewarding? Most hopeful?

A. We’ve been told the first year of mission, in general, is the most challenging. Although we were prepared well before we came to Tanzania, our expectations still didn’t match with reality. You also have to deal with intense culture shock and homesickness. It’s easy to become frustrated with the local culture and the time it takes to Please turn to Q&A on page 7B

7B learn the local language. On top of that, we had to adjust to constant power and water outages, everything in our home breaking and more daily ups and downs than you find in the United States.

It’s a completely new way of life!

It’s challenging to be patient with yourself and to trust that it will all become normal and routine.

For Ashley, the most rewarding moments come in the classroom.

One day, she was working on multiplication with an 11-year-old girl named Nuru. It was clear Nuru was far behind in her class and was getting every multiplication problem wrong. Many Tanzanian students pass on from grade to grade not understanding basic concepts like multiplication, due to very large class sizes and poor teacher training. In Kiswahili, Ashley worked one-on-one with Nuru to explain multiplication, using different analogies and activities. Finally, Nuru got it! She exclaimed, “Mwalimu, Teacher, now I get it! And I’m going to work really hard!” It’s moments like these that keep us in Tanzania.

For Michael, the most hopeful moment came recently when he was able to establish a partnership between the Education for Better Living Organization and the local Pepsi branch. Through this partnership, Michael was able to obtain, among other things, 25 Pepsi pushcarts, for young mothers. Each pushcart is a mobile store allowing the young mother to sell ice-cold soda along with snacks and mobile phone vouchers. One Sunday recently, he spotted one of his young mothers with her Pepsi pushcart at a local weekly festival. She reported that she had been able to make a profit of 6,600 Tanzanian shillings in one day, the equivalent of $4! Although this sounds hopeless to most Western income standards, this is an incredible triumph for her, her child and for all young mothers like her.

Q.

Could you share a story from your experiences that highlights the importance of mission work?

World Mission Sunday

Q&A continued from page 6B

A. Michael and his boss, Bernard, were recently discussing the possibility of a European volunteer coming to join their organization. Michael was asking what role this volunteer might fulfill. After explaining the potential responsibilities, Bernard looked at Michael and said, “But Michael, you are not like other volunteers who come here [to Tanzania] because you’re a missioner. You don’t simply come to observe, or do your day job and return home. You get involved in the lives of others. You become part of the community. You make a difference.”

This interaction gave us hope that we are fulfilling our call to mission well. We not only work alongside the poor, but also we live in their neighborhoods, shop at their markets, worship at Mass together and invite their children into our home. Being in mission is not a job. It encompasses every aspect of our lives.

Q. If people want to help, but aren’t able to jump on a plane and serve others in a foreign land, what can they do?

A.

Mission is typically thought of as “somewhere over there,” but it’s not necessarily so. We believe mission happens wherever people are concerned about the lives and well-being of the poorest of the poor in their community. They exist everywhere, in Tanzania and in the United States. When we lived in Dallas, we volunteered at our parish’s food bank and through that, were able to meet fellow parishioners who were struggling to meet their basic needs. Our eyes were opened to the realities of the poor living not far from us. That’s mission, too.

Q. How long will you be in Tanzania?

A.

Our first contract with Maryknoll Lay Missioners ends in May 2017. After that, we can decide to sign another three-year contract or to move on to the next step in life.

From Ashley and Michael Leen:

The meaning of transformation and hope Solidarity with the poor is the most humbling position I have ever been in. It doesn’t feel powerful. It doesn’t feel like I’m standing for anything. When we were students at Boston College, solidarity with the poor was signing petitions and wearing T-shirts with clever slogans and turning off the electricity for a day a year. It felt trendy. It felt easy. And sometimes, surrounded by your like-minded friends, it feels fun.

The solidarity we know now is anything but

Michael Leen, a Maryknoll Lay Missioner, leads entrepreneurship training in Mwanza, Tanzania. Photo courtesy of Ashley and Michael Leen

Q.

What are your plans when you return to the U.S.?

A. Honestly, we have no plans!

When we decided to move to Tanzania, we told ourselves this would be a completely new phase in our lives. We didn’t want to become obsessed with the future and planning every step of it out.

Instead, we’re trying to focus on the present moment that we have.

Tanzanian life brings enough worries for one day!

Q. Anything else you’d like to share about your mission work?

A. When we first announced to

family and friends that we were moving to Tanzania, we heard many responses like, “Oh, I’d love to do that, but I’m not brave enough.”

fun. It forces you to look at yourself — American, privileged, college-educated — and realize there’s truly not much you can do amidst the suffering.

With all of your training, your specialized skill set, the hours you put into that senior thesis on political game theory . . . well, it’s a head-on collision to admit that none of that holds a candle to a mother who just lost her child for any reason, but especially for a death that was completely preventable.

Without doing anything, like any good American should, it’s easy to despair. It’s easy to throw up your hands and think, “Well, I gave that a good try. Let’s go back to doing something that’s easy and obtainable.”

But hope is different than that. Hope looks like praying. Hope looks like joining locals for meals

Believe us, we’re not brave! Overseas mission work does take an incredible amount of discernment.

But, truly, anyone can do it. We have Maryknoll Lay Missioners of all ages, from 25 years old to 70 years old, married people, single people and married people with children, serving all over the world.

Although living in a developing country brings challenges, we feel honored and privileged to be here. If you feel called, you, too, can make the jump!

On the web Read more from Ashley and Michael Leen on their blog, “From Tanzania with Love” www.leenhome.blogspot.com

in their homes, where they live. Hope looks like holding the hands of people who are grieving, singing and crying with them. Hope looks like entering into their suffering, if only for an hour.

Above all, hope looks like love. Yeah, that sounds cliche, but that’s what we do. We do our best to love the locals as our own, even if there’s no way we can fully understand them. Knowing the hard stuff just gets harder, we engage with them, learning about the issues faced by everyday Tanzanians, meeting those who are working toward a better future, and partnering with them.

We act as their cheerleaders and incrementally, it gets better, even when we don’t see it ourselves.

And with that, the next generation won’t have to accompany so many who suffer. For now, this is the best we can “do.”

October 9, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

8B

World Mission Sunday

What is the archdiocesan Center for Mission?

By Eric Simon For The Catholic Spirit As we approach World Mission Sunday on Oct. 19, this special section of The Catholic Spirit includes stories of our brothers and sisters in overseas missions. The Center for Mission appears many times. You might ask, “Why? What does the Center for Mission have to do with World Mission Sunday?

What is it anyway?”

Thirteen years ago, Deacon Mickey Friesen became director of what was known as the Society for the Propagation of the Faith office in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The primary purpose of that office was to facilitate all the appeals for the Pontifical Mission Societies, a pontifical office headquartered in New York.

His vision for the office: to be a resource to help deepen and engage the archdiocese in a global mission conscience, animated through education and activities.

Thus, the office became the Center for Mission.

Follow the Kenya delegation online www.catholichotdish.com IStock

Mission outreach

these societies throughout the year, including the upcoming World Mission Sunday celebration for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. Contributions to World Mission Sunday through the Center for Mission have helped more than 1,150 dioceses in more than 120 countries. In addition, reflecting the office vision, we also offer the archdiocese much more.

The formal purpose of the office is to promote the missionary life of the Church and coordinate support for the mission outreach of the archdiocese by building bridges of faith, culture and resources to Catholic communities around the world.

The emphasis of these bridges focuses on solidarity, mutual respect and sharing our Catholic spirit to build the kingdom of God. The office still represents the Pontifical Mission Societies: Society for the Propagation of the Faith, St. Peter Apostle, Missionary Childhood Association, and the Missionary Union of Priests and Religious. Appeals are generated from the Center for Mission for

For example, several global solidarity and immersion trips organized by the Center for Mission are offered throughout the year. Many have heard of the successful archdiocesan partnership with the Diocese of Kitui, Kenya. The 10th anniversary of this impactful relationship is this year; another delegation from the archdiocese, including Archbishop John Nienstedt, is visiting Kenya now and celebrating with the Diocese of Kitui. This partnership has truly offered lifechanging experiences for individuals and parishes in both dioceses. Similar experiences have been realized on shorter immersion trips to countries like Guatemala,

Faith

El Salvador, Dominican Republic and Nicaragua, and to our archdiocesan mission in Venezuela.

Mission formation Mission formation for children, youth and parishes is also an important focus for the Center for Mission. The office has initiated projects in schools to teach students the value of resources we take for granted, like water and food. These include H2O, Harvest of Hope, Living Water and most recently, the Holy Buckets program. Each month, Mission Intentions are forwarded to teachers that include activities to satisfy Catholic education standards expected in Catholic schools. The Center for Mission also helps parishes with mission formation by offering consultation to enhance sister parish relationships and through the Mission Cooperation Plan, where representatives from mission dioceses worldwide are assigned to every parish in our archdiocese to awaken a global perspective and request aid as appropriate.

For more information about the Center for Mission, contact Eric Simon at (651) 291-4446, or Deacon Mickey Friesen at (651) 291-4445.

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In addition to all these activities, the Center for Mission represents Catholic Relief Services and global solidarity appeals from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

This year, the Center for Mission will supervise Catholic Relief Services’ Rice Bowl for the archdiocese. There are many additional projects and activities that the Center for Mission offers for all to engage in mission formation.

After reading this litany of activities and projects you might ask, “How do you fund all this?”

The Center for Mission is a not-forprofit pontifical office that is solely self-funded. We rely on contributions from individuals to maintain a mission presence to serve our archdiocese. This is in the form of one-time, monthly or annual financial gifts that also includes contributions from estates, wills and trusts.

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October 9, 2014 • The Catholic Spirit

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