The Catholic Spirit - October 12, 2018

October 11, 2018 • Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

The pope and the martyr

Hipster and Catholic Convert to the Church leaves behind a life he calls “spiritual, but not religious” and writes a book about his journey.

New saints offer youths a road map to holiness

— Page 13

By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service

Neighbor to Angels

T

Next to Academy of Holy Angels, St. Peter, Richfield, celebrates 75 years in a suburb now considered one of the most ethnically diverse in Minnesota.

— Page 5

Filled with faith With the Synod of Bishops on young adults underway at the Vatican, local Catholics under age 31 explain why they love the Church.

— Pages 10-11

Why SPO works Gordy DeMarais offers thoughts on why the outreach he founded more than 40 years ago continues to be effective in evangelizing college students.

— Page 14

Lessons from refugees College freshman reflects on spending two months in Malaysia serving at a school for Rohingya children.

— Page 15

Lighting the way for Mary DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

John Dufner, right, and his sister, Katie, of Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Maplewood pray the rosary as they walk in a light rain down John Ireland Boulevard on their way to the Cathedral of St. Paul during the annual Candlelight Rosary Procession Oct. 5. Hundreds made the walk from the State Capitol to the Cathedral, including Archbishop Bernard Hebda, who led a prayer service at the Cathedral after the procession. Earlier that day, students from Catholic schools in the archdiocese gathered at the Cathedral for the annual Children’s Rosary Pilgrimage.

‘A refugee camp right here in our city’ Homeless, volunteers say recognizing dignity key to helping encampment residents

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit

“W

ould you like a sandwich? Do you want water, too?” Emaly Torres crouched down to pass a ham and cheese sandwich through a tent’s low opening.

Torres, 18, and other members of her young adult group at Holy Rosary in Minneapolis were handing out food and bottled water to people living at the large homeless encampment at Franklin and Hiawatha Avenues in Minneapolis. The camp is two blocks from their church.

It was after sunset, and most of the camp’s residents had retreated to their tents for the night. Those outside were talking quietly; some huddled near a fire that burned along a sidewalk, the camp’s main thoroughfare.

The air smelled like woodsmoke and dry leaves as the Holy Rosary group walked from one end of the camp to the other, the downtown skyline visible beyond them.

Laura Carpio, 29, said that she was used to seeing homeless encampments like that when she lived in Costa Rica. When she immigrated four years ago, she didn’t expect to see that kind of poverty in the United States. But, she said, interacting with the people there gives her hope that things can change for them.

The homeless encampment began as a cluster of a few tents in July, and it has grown to more than 150, with an estimated

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Oscar Luna of Holy Rosary in Minneapolis hands out food at an encampment for homeless people two blocks from the church Oct. 2. He was part of a group of eight young adults from the parish who came to give food and water to people living there.

300-plus residents — perhaps the largest of its kind ever in Minnesota. What to do about the site — and its people, including children — has been a vexing question for community leaders, as the city faces shortages in temporary shelters and lowincome housing.

Shawn Phillips, the pastoral minister of Gichitwaa Kateri parish, which is home to the Native American ministry of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, said he goes down to the camp nearly every day, sometimes to help serve a meal, sometimes to talk with residents for hours.

The camp grew as people heard that organizations were offering services there, and that there were efforts underway to find PLEASE TURN TO HOMELESS CAMP ON PAGE 7

he Catholic Church has its share of young saints who gave witness through their lives that holiness can be attained even at a young age.

Others, like Blesseds Paul VI and Oscar Romero, show that the path to holiness begins early. The two will be declared saints Oct. 14 during the Synod of Bishops on young people and discernment.

Although Pope Paul VI is best remembered for seeing the Second Vatican Council through to its end and helping implement its farreaching reforms, his journey toward holiness began much earlier in life, said Father Claudio Zanardini, rector of the Basilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie in the northern Italian province of Brescia, where Blessed Paul VI celebrated his first Mass May 30, 1920.

“We here in Brescia are trying — at Pope Francis’ request — to make Paul VI’s younger years more known. That is, how he lived his time of vocational discernment and his formation so that he can become a model for young people who are on their own path of formation,” Father Zanardini told Catholic News Service Sept. 27.

Born Giovanni Battista Montini in 1897, the future pope and his brothers would attend youth meetings organized by the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Brescia.

Father Zanardini said that those gatherings were a time of “spiritual and human formation” for Blessed Paul, where he built friendships and adopted the local priests’ charism of ministering to young people.

Blessed Paul’s relationship with his family as well as a “deep sense of prayerfulness and an acute involvement in the social issues of his time were one of the legacies of his parents and brothers,” Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila told CNS Sept. 25.

“The family atmosphere centered on faith and the common good prepared him to be a discerning person: listening to God’s word and the world; being at home in the solitude of prayer, which gave him the most profound experience of communion and the decisiveness to pursue a discerned choice,” Cardinal Tagle said.

PLEASE TURN TO CANONIZATION ON PAGE 8

2 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

OCTOBER 11, 2018

PAGETWO

“

The prayer of St. Michael ties into our eucharistic nature that God is always with us to protect us in challenging times.

Father Anthony Ahamefule, administrator of Holy Trinity parish in Bandon, Oregon, which began communally praying the St. Michael the Archangel prayer following Masses in response to clergy sexual abuse and other evils in the world. According to Catholic News Service, there’s a trend in parishes across the country to adopt the practice, and several U.S. bishops have instituted the practice in their dioceses, especially in October or as part of novenas.

NEWS notes

11 DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

PET PRAYERS Luci Seeger of St. Mary in downtown St. Paul holds her cat, Dennis, during a pet blessing by Father Jimmy Matthew Puttananickal at the church Sept. 30 in honor of the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, which was Oct. 4. People gathered with their pets and formed a procession from the church entrance to a street corner at the end of the block. After some brief prayers, Father Puttananickal sprinkled holy water on pets brought to the church by their owners. St. Francis is the patron saint of animals and the environment.

Other parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis held similar pet blessings to celebrate the saint’s feast day.

The number of contributors, including Kelly Wahlquist, founder of Women in the New Evangelization, to a recently released book edited by Wahlquist called “Gaze Upon Jesus: Experiencing Christ’s Childhood through the Eyes of Women.” Published by Ave Maria Press and offered by WINE, it is designed for use before and during Advent, and features a six-week Scripture study that follows the infancy and early years of Jesus as seen through the eyes of Mary and other familiar and imagined women in the Gospels. One of the contributors is local author Stephanie Landsem, who writes novels that help bring unknown women of the Bible to life. She has published a series of three books — called the Living Water Series — describing women who are transformed by an encounter with Jesus. In this book, Landsem writes six short fiction stories that are first-person narratives of women, including Mary.

“What I want to do is kind of put the reader right down there on the ground with Jesus in the story,” Landsem said. A book launch party was Oct. 2 at St. Michael in Stillwater.

50

The number of years since the release of the 1963 papal encyclical “Humanae Vitae.”

A conference in recognition of the anniversary will be Oct. 22 at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. Speakers at “Contraception — Why Not? Rethinking ‘Humanae Vitae’ in 2018” will explore “scientific, social and moral context for one of the central questions of our day.” Bishop Andrew Cozzens will speak in addition to Matt Birk, Teresa Collett, Maureen Condic, Mary Eberstadt, Robert Fastiggi, Deborah Savage and Janet Smith. For more information, visit archspm.org/humanaevitae50.

62

The number of people on pilgrimage with Archbishop Bernard Hebda in Italy Sept. 20-28, organized through Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio. Archbishop Hebda co-led the pilgrimage with Franciscan University president Father Sean Sheridan of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Penance. They visited Assisi, Siena, La Verna and Rome.

18

COURTESY ANDREA GIBBS

YOUNG MARATHONER Harrison Gibbs, left, of Divine Mercy in Faribault, at age 13 was the secondyoungest finisher in the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon Oct. 7. On top of that, he raised $10,148, which he will donate to help put a new roof on an orphanage in San Lucas Tolimán, Guatemala, that is being turned into a nursing home and hospice care facility. Gibbs crossed the finish line near the State Capitol in St. Paul with a time of 4 hours, 35 minutes. He ran the marathon with his godmother, Stefanie Anderson, right.

CORRECTION In the Sept. 27 edition, the retirement profile of Father Robert Fitzpatrick incorrectly stated his age. He is 70. The Catholic Spirit apologizes for the error.

The Catholic Spirit is published semi-monthly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Vol. 23 — No. 19 MOST REVEREND BERNARD A. HEBDA, Publisher TOM HALDEN, Associate Publisher MARIA C. WIERING, Editor

The date in October when Bishop-elect Juan Miguel Betancourt Torres will be ordained at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford, Connecticut. Those wishing to watch it live can visit ORTV (Office of Radio and Television), with the Mass beginning at 1 p.m. Central Time. Viewers can live stream at ortv.org/streaming/Crossroads_stream. htm. Bishop-elect Betancourt was selected by Pope Francis to be an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Hartford. The 48-year-old native of Puerto Rico and member of the Servants of the Holy Eucharist and of the Blessed Virgin Mary came to the U.S. in 2006 and has served as a faculty member at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity and as pastor of St. Francis de Sales in St. Paul.

14

The number of presidents St. Mary’s University of Minnesota has had with the inauguration of Father James Burns Oct. 5. Ordained in 1993 for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Father Burns is an alumnus of the University of St. Thomas and the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity, both in St. Paul. After further studies and serving in parishes and at the University of St. Thomas, he took a post as dean of the Woods College of Advancing Studies and Summer Session at Boston College in 2010.

He started his position with St. Mary’s University July 9.

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OCTOBER 11, 2018

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 3

FROMTHEMODERATOROFTHECURIA ONLY JESUS | FATHER CHARLES LACHOWITZER

When words fail

I

don’t know what to say anymore.

For much of the last five years, I have echoed the sayings of archbishop’s executive team to keep our focus: “Victims first.” “Most for the most.”

“Multiple eyes.” I have preached several times and written in this very column that we need to find the mystical body of Christ that is always greater than those who lead it and bigger than all its members.

Meanwhile, there have been so many other words. The Catholic Spirit has reported in every issue a further understanding of all the various steps, procedures, policies, protocols, cooperative agreements, settlements, financial transparencies and disclosures that have been a part of the archdiocese’s way forward to a just restitution, healing and the rebuilding of trust. Archbishop Bernard Hebda and Bishop Andrew Cozzens have written column after column to assist our understanding through each chapter of

this most difficult time.

In just the last issue of The Catholic Spirit, a comprehensive and detailed review of the last five years was meticulously spelled out and summarized. I recognized much of my life in the timeline and the remarkable progress we have made, including the concluding chapter of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Last spring, I naively thought that the worst was behind us and that the clouds of scandal had moved on. Then the summer thunderstorms of Pennsylvania; Washington, D.C.; and Vatican City rocked my small world and overwhelmed me with a sense of helplessness. Like a January weather report in the Pacific Northwest, the future was nothing more than endless days of gray skies and rain. None of us on the archbishop’s staff could do anything to forestall any more bad news. What diocese, what country, what cardinal or bishop would be next?

I heard from many people their disappointment, anger and sense of betrayal. I heard from some people who left the Church. I heard and read a new

Cuando las palabras fallan

Y

a no sé qué decir.

Durante gran parte de los últimos cinco años, me he hecho eco de los dichos del equipo ejecutivo del arzobispo para mantener nuestro enfoque: “Las víctimas primero”. “Lo más para lo más”. “Múltiples ojos”. He predicado varias veces y he escrito en esta misma columna que necesitamos encontrar el cuerpo místico de Cristo que siempre es más grande que aquellos que lo lideran y más grande que todos sus miembros.

Mientras tanto, ha habido tantas otras palabras. El Espíritu Católico ha informado en cada edición una mayor comprensión de los diversos pasos, procedimientos, políticas, protocolos, acuerdos de cooperación, acuerdos, transparencias financieras y revelaciones que han sido parte del camino de la arquidiócesis hacia una justa restitución, sanidad y La reconstrucción de la confianza. El arzobispo Bernard Hebda y el obispo Andrew Cozzens han escrito columna tras columna para ayudarnos a comprender a través de cada capítulo de este momento tan difícil.

En el último número de El Espíritu Católico, se resumió meticulosamente una revisión exhaustiva y detallada de los últimos cinco años. Reconocí gran parte de mi vida en la línea de tiempo y el notable progreso que hemos logrado, incluido el capítulo final

“

My own words, thoughts and ideas did not matter.

God’s Word was all that I needed to persevere in joyful witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

saying about the Catholic Church: “No more words!” My brain with too many words was paralyzed. I could not think of anything more we could do except to tell people all that we have done. I had a sense that it was all futile, and I entered what in today’s world might be called “a dark night of the soul.”

One night I was “moving ribbons” — my description for saying my breviary prayers without much heart — and the words in the psalms and epistles were speaking to me. Words of encouragement. Words of trust in God. Words of the ultimate dominion of the light of Jesus Christ shining through

del Tribunal de Quiebras de los Estados Unidos.

La primavera pasada, pensé ingenuamente que lo peor estaba detrás de nosotros y que las nubes de escándalo habían avanzado. Luego las tormentas de verano de Pennsylvania; Washington, D.C.; y la Ciudad del Vaticano sacudió mi pequeño mundo y me abrumó con un sentimiento de impotencia. Al igual que un informe meteorológico de enero en el noroeste del Pacífico, el futuro no era más que días interminables de cielos grises y lluvia. Ninguno de nosotros en el personal del arzobispo podría hacer nada para prevenir más malas noticias. ¿Qué diócesis, qué país, qué cardenal u obispo sería el próximo?

Una noche estaba “moviendo cintas”, mi descripción para decir mis oraciones breviario sin mucho corazón, y las palabras de los salmos y las epístolas me estaban hablando. Palabras de aliento.

Palabras de confianza en Dios. Palabras del dominio supremo de la luz de Jesucristo que brilla a través de esta noche de la Iglesia. Mis propias palabras, pensamientos e ideas no importaban. La Palabra de Dios era todo lo que necesitaba para perseverar en un testimonio alegre del Evangelio de Jesucristo. En la siguiente misa, anhelaba que la Eucaristía estuviera en comunión con todos los que iban a la Comunión.

Aunque he recibido el cuerpo y la sangre de Cristo un miles de veces, sentí una paz más grande que nunca.

Como es el camino de Dios más allá de nuestros caminos, un anciano se me acercó después de esa misa y me pidió que me hablara. Me sentí frágil y me pregunté si podría manejar más enojo, dolor y críticas agudas. Debo haberlo mirado con temor. Me estrechó

this nighttime of the Church. My own words, thoughts and ideas did not matter. God’s Word was all that I needed to persevere in joyful witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. At the next Mass, I longed for the Eucharist to be in communion with all those going to Communion. Even though I have received the body and blood of Christ thousands of times, I felt a greater peace than ever before.

As is God’s way beyond our ways, an elderly man came up to me after that Mass and asked to speak to me. I felt fragile and wondered if I could handle any more anger, hurt and sharp criticism. I must have looked at him with trepidation. He shook my hand, smiled and said, “I just want to tell you that I’m praying for all our priests.” I thanked him with an obvious sense of relief and said to him, “I just don’t know what to say anymore.”

He replied, “Just tell people what I’m telling you: Keep the faith!”

It does not surprise those who know me that I have used over 600 words to explain why three words will do when all else fails: Keep the faith.

la mano, sonrió y dijo: “Solo quiero decirte que estoy orando por todos nuestros sacerdotes”. Le di las gracias con un sentido obvio de alivio y le dije: “No sé qué decir. decir más”. Él respondió: “Solo dile a la gente lo que te estoy diciendo: ¡Mantén la fe!”

No sorprende a los que me conocen que he usado más de 600 palabras para explicar por qué tres palabras lo harán cuando todo lo demás falla: Mantener la fe.

OFFICIAL Archbishop Bernard Hebda has announced the following appointments in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis:

Effective November 1, 2018 Reverend Thomas O’Brien, previously serving as chaplain to Regina Medical Center in Hastings, has been granted the status of a retired priest. Father O’Brien was ordained in 1983 and has served the Archdiocese as a priest since his arrival in 2006. Father O’Brien was incardinated in 2008.

Incardination Effective September 14, 2018 Reverend Paul Gitter, incardinated as a priest of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Father Gitter was ordained in 1993 for the Diocese of LaCrosse.

‘Ave Maria’ book, out in Italian, features Pope Francis’ reflections on Mary Catholic News Service In a book that was scheduled to be released Oct. 10 in Italian, Pope Francis said he imagined that throughout Mary’s life, she remained a “normal woman” despite the extraordinary circumstances of being the mother of God, and “she is a woman that any woman from this world can imitate.”

The book, titled “Ave Maria” (“Hail

Mary”), features reflections on the Marian prayer made by Pope Francis during an interview with Father Marco Pozza, a prison chaplain in the northern Italian city of Padova.

Several excerpts of the new book were published Oct. 8 by “Vatican Insider,” the online news supplement to the Italian newspaper La Stampa.

“Mary was normal. She worked, she did grocery shopping, helped her son,

helped her husband: normal,” he said.

“Normality is living with the people and like the people. It is abnormal to live without roots within a people, without a connection to a historical people.”

Without those connections, the pope said, a sin can arise that “Satan, our enemy, likes so much: the sin of the elite.” He continued, “The elite do not know what it means to live among the people. And when I speak of elite, I do

not mean a social class: I speak of an attitude of the soul. ... And the devil loves the elite.”

But those who recognize their sins can experience Mary’s motherly protection because she “is mother of all of us sinners, from the greatest to the least holy.”

“That is the reality,” the pope said. “If I told myself that I wasn’t a sinner, I would be the greatest corrupt person.”

‘Angel’ among us

SLICEof LIFE

4 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

OCTOBER 11, 2018

LOCAL

St. Joseph of Carondelet Sister Avis Allmaras, center, talks with Rose Carter, left, and Irene Eiden at Peace House in south Minneapolis Feb. 27. Sister Avis goes to the center weekly and visits frequent guests like Carter. Eiden, of St. William in Fridley, is a lay consociate of the Carondelet Sisters. Peace House is a day shelter for the poor and homeless.

“It’s a real privilege to know these people and hear their stories,” Sister Avis said. “I could not survive on the streets like they do. There are so many gifted people here.” Said Carter of Sister Avis: “She’s an angel. She hides her wings under that sweatshirt. She truly is an angel.”

Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

SLICEof LIFE

Here’s to 100 years

Celebrating sisters Mother Maria Francis Pale, center,

NationalofCatholic the LittleSisters SistersWeek of theisPoor March 8-14.

Anduring official component of reacts a 100th birthday Women’s History Month and party Oct. 4 for residents Marion headquartered at St. Catherine University Toland, left, and Marie Zuch, both in St. Paul, the week celebrates women of whom turned 100 this year, at religiousthe and their contributions to the Little Sisters’ Holy Family Church Residence and society.inView local events, St. Paul.

Mother including two art exhibitions, at them to Maria Francis had asked www.nationalcatholicsistersweek .org. share the “secret” of their longevity. Zuch’s answer was “beer.” Mother Maria obliged by pouring a can of Budweiser into a plastic cup and handing it to her shortly after the birthday cake was served. Zuch turned 100 May 9, Toland Sept. 6. A third resident, Elaine Biagini, turned 100 Oct. 3 DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT but did not attend the party.

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LOCAL

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THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 5

At 75, St. Peter adapting to Richfield’s changes

By Matthew Davis The Catholic Spirit When St. Peter in Richfield became a parish in 1943, all that existed around its present-day site was Academy of Holy Angels, open fields, a couple small buildings and a dirt-road intersection.

Seventy-five years later, St. Peter still neighbors Holy Angels, but it’s also amid closely-spaced houses and a shopping center. St. Peter has evolved with the greater Richfield suburb, which has changed from an all-Caucasian first-ring suburb post World War II into one of the most diverse communities in Minnesota.

St. Peter now has Filipino, Latino, Togolese and Vietnamese members.

“It’s an interesting mix,” said Mike McNeil, St. Peter’s business administrator, of the different cultures it serves.

Archbishop John Murray founded the parish, with Father William Brand serving as the first pastor. It became the second of three parishes in Richfield.

“Archbishop Murray would establish a parish every 2 miles because people didn’t have cars at that time,” said Father Gerald Dvorak, St. Peter’s pastor.

St. Peter first used the chapel at Holy Angels for Mass at the invitation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, which ran the then all-girls school. The parish purchased land in then-rural Richfield next to Holy Angels, which had been at that location since 1931. The school was founded in 1877.

Father Brand built an elementary school, which opened in 1946.

When he built the church later that

COURTESY ST. PETER

A sign for St. Peter’s church and school in Richfield from the 1950s lists five Sunday Mass times at the growing parish, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. year, it was constructed as an addition to the school.

St. Peter continued to see growth among parishioners and added Masses to fill the need. By 1956, the parish held eight Masses on the weekend. By the late 1970s, the parish had grown to 1,100 families, and the parish held Masses in its church and gym simultaneously to accommodate the swell in attendance. At that point, parishioners undertook a campaign to build a new church.

St. Peter built its present-day church in 1981 on the same site as the previous one, again attached to the school. The parish later reoriented the church’s main entrance from the side facing Nicollet Avenue to the side facing the parking lot. With the new church, the parish also adopted abstract liturgical art. A depiction of the Last Supper that once hung in the sanctuary is still prominently displayed at the back of the church.

In the 1990s, St. Peter’s school

merged with the schools of Assumption and St. Richard in Richfield to form Blessed Trinity Catholic School. Grades four to eight attend classes on St. Peter’s campus. McNeil believes Blessed Trinity and Holy Angels next door will continue to draw families to St. Peter.

St. Peter’s membership is now 713 households, and 42 percent of parishioners are 55 or older. The parish’s new entrance accommodates aging members with two large, winding ramps leading to the church and the social hall.

“Mostly elderly people do our work here,” Father Dvorak said.

“They’re not retired but rehired. I think the elderly people have a greater hands-on sense of the parish.”

St. Peter celebrates its ethnic diversity by recognizing the feast of Our Lady of the Pillar for Filipino Catholics and, during Advent, Las Posadas for Latino Catholics. McNeil said St. Peter’s diversity will help sustain the parish into the future.

The parish’s 75th anniversary celebration will include displaying the crucifix from the original church building in the social hall. That hall will be renamed for Father Brand, who was named a monsignor after his time at St. Peter. A dedication will take place following Masses Oct. 13-14.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda will celebrate the 11 a.m. Mass Oct. 21, followed by the parish’s annual fall dinner.

St. Peter’s celebration will continue throughout the next year.

Bishop Andrew Cozzens plans to speak on the spirituality of St. Peter the Apostle this winter.

Basilica to host drama of slave’s path to priesthood

By Matthew Davis The Catholic Spirit A production about Father Augustus Tolton, the first known African-American priest in the United States, will be staged 7 p.m.

Oct. 23 at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis.

Declared a Servant of God by the Church in 2012, Father Tolton’s cause for canonization is underway.

He was born in 1854 into a Missouri slave family, but his mother escaped with her three children and crossed the Mississippi River from Missouri to Illinois.

Father Tolton’s family settled in Quincy, Illinois, where he felt called to the priesthood. Since no U.S. seminary would take him due to his skin color, according to a biographer, he studied in Rome.

He returned to serve as a priest in Illinois until his death at age 43 due to heat stroke. Father Tolton was known as a man of prayer and service.

Delegates from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis attending the 2017 National Black Catholic Congress in Orlando, Florida, saw a preview of the play “Tolton: From Slave to Priest” about

Father Tolton’s life, and they felt inspired to bring it to the Twin Cities.

“The play inspired me because of the journey Father Tolton took,” said Mary Noble, one of the organizers of the Black Catholic Ministry in the archdiocese and a parishioner of St. Alphonsus in Brooklyn Center. “I hope [attendees] take away insight into the Catholic faith, that here’s a person that wasn’t deterred by the racial animosity or anything. I’d like for people to come away with the idea that even though people put obstacles in our way, if we lean on our faith, we can overcome anything.”

Noble said the play responds to the National Black Catholic Congress’ pastoral action plan, which includes learning about the lives of black saints. The Archdiocese of Chicago opened Father Tolton’s cause for canonization in 2011.

“I think his story ranks just as high as any other black, AfricanAmerican historical figure in America,” said actor James Coleman, who portrays Father Tolton. “I’ve come to a point that

COURTESY AIM HIGHER FOUNDATION

Student choirs from Blessed Trinity Catholic School in Richfield, Community of Saints Regional Catholic School in West St. Paul, St. Dominic School in Northfield and St. Odilia School in Shoreview performed for the Night of Light Sept. 28.

Generosity for Catholic education shines at Aim Higher’s Night of Light

By Matthew Davis The Catholic Spirit Aim Higher Foundation President Jean Houghton was amazed the moment she saw on a large screen how much attendees donated for Catholic education at the St. Paul-based nonprofit’s gala Sept. 28.

“My reaction was I burst into tears with complete joy,” Houghton said. “I was overwhelmed, and frankly excited that we’re going to be able to help even more kids next year.”

The foundation’s sixth annual Night of Light gala garnered $1,096,000 in donations to support scholarships for children to attend Catholic schools.

Last year’s event brought in a little more than $600,000. Houghton said the amount exceeded her expectations of raising $800,000 at this year’s event, held at JW Marriott Minneapolis Mall of America in Bloomington. “So for us to come in with [almost] $1.1 million, I was completely stunned,” she said.

Aim Higher’s $1,000 scholarships help families with financial need send their children to any of the 83 Catholic schools that serve students in grades kindergarten to grade eight in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Since 2012, the foundation has helped more than 6,600 children attend Catholic schools with $5.1 million in scholarship funds.

The demand for financial aid remains high as Aim Higher received 6,000 applications for scholarships in 2017. Aim Higher could only offer scholarships to “a little over 1,300 of those kids,” Houghton said.

The organization has received 5 percent more applications this year.

“I think right now more and more of our supporters are starting to realize that now is the time where we absolutely have to be supporting our Catholic schools because that’s our future,” Houghton said.

in BRIEF COURTESY ST. LUKE PRODUCTIONS

James Coleman portrays Father Augustus Tolton in the drama “Tolton: From Slave to Priest,” which will be performed at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis 7 p.m. Oct. 23. before each and every performance, I actually talk to Father Tolton, and I ask him to take the reins, let him tell the story and allow me just to be the vessel to paint the picture.”

Leonardo Defilippis, the director of St. Luke Productions and the play, said he was moved by Father Tolton’s story and worked with Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Berry of Chicago, the postulator, or lead organizer, of Father Tolton’s canonization cause, to learn more about his life.

2018 Champions for Life to be honored Oct. 18 in Mendota Two people and one pro-life group who have dedicated time and energy to defend human life at all stages will be recognized at the 10th annual St. John Paul II Champions for Life Awards luncheon Oct. 18. Catholic author Kathy Schneeman, former respect life coordinator for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, will present the keynote address. Award recipients include Susan Hildebrand, Nancy Blom and the Pro-Life Youth Ambassadors group at St. Paul in Ham Lake. Organized by the archdiocese’s Office of Marriage, Family and Life, the awards recognize individual Catholics and organizations in the archdiocese who work to uphold the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda will honor the recipients at the 11:30 a.m. luncheon at St. Peter in Mendota. Tickets are $35 per person. RSVP by Oct. 12 at archspm.org/events.

LOCAL

6 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Maple Grove parish shines purple light on domestic violence

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit At night, the windows of St. Joseph the Worker in Maple Grove are glowing purple throughout October. It’s is the color of domestic violence awareness, and it’s among the many ways a parish group aims to highlight the issue during Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

According to the Domestic Violence Resource Center, one in four women experiences domestic violence in her lifetime. The appalling statistics, plus experience working with domestic violence as a social justice issue, compelled parishioner Susan Rivard to start a group, Domestic Violence Awareness and Action, at her parish in 2006. She is convinced there is “a role that “hurches can and should play in breaking the silence around and taking a stand against domestic abuse,” she said.

During October, DVAA is working to educate parishioners and parish staff members about domestic violence and how to help victims, raising funds for a women’s shelter and holding vigils for people who have been killed by domestic violence. “We want people to understand how ubiquitous domestic violence is — no one is ‘safe,’” Rivard said. “[Domestic violence] crosses all social, economic, religious, age, cultural and ethnic boundaries — and ... it is never, ever acceptable.”

Read a Q&A with Rivard at TheCatholicSpirit.com.

OCTOBER 11, 2018

Theologian: Food is ‘God’s love made delicious’

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit “What is food?”

Norman Wirzba put that question to his audience at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. Most people today would say food is a commodity or that food is fuel, he said, and Americans generally want food to be tasty, copious and cheap.

In contrast, Wirzba presented his own definition: “Food is God’s love made delicious.”

A professor of theology, ecology and agrarian studies at Duke Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina, Wirzba spoke on “The Spirituality of Eating: Joining Food, Faith and the Life of the World” Oct. 4. In a 40-minute lecture, he shared a vision of creation — including food — that expresses God’s love and shows humankind how to love as God loves.

Consider a piece of apple pie, Wirzba said — the apples, the tree, the soil.

Then wheat for flour and cows for the butter.

“What had to happen for there to be such a thing called apple pie?” he asked.

“Pie is not just a thing on your plate. Pie is a reality that takes you deep into the soil where you encounter billions and billions of microorganisms that are in relationship with each other to absorb the death above ground, to work with plants to bring the energy of the sun into the ground to make apples. And then, when put together with a pie crust

... there is the creativity of a baker. All of this is joined together so that you can have a piece of apple pie.”

God could have made a world with no taste or no food, he said. Instead, he made a world full of tastes and textures.

He did that out of love, said Wirzba, author of “Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating” and “Living the Sabbath.”

“And so any of the food that we’re privileged to eat, the only way to make sense of it is to say NORMAN WIRZBA that it’s God’s love made delicious,” he said. “This is how we need to be thinking about the world. It’s not just stuff, not just commodities. Everything is a gift. It’s a gift that’s communicating some of the goodness of things to be, the loveliness of things to be. And if we can’t learn to delight in the goodness, the loveliness of the world God makes, we won’t understand it properly.”

The Hebrew people understood God not as a warrior god who creates by violence, like the gods of their Mesopotamian contemporaries, but as the primordial gardener, with “a love that is constantly attentive, vigilant, protecting, nurturing, weeding,” he said.

In order to live in the fullness of creation, humans need to participate in God’s gardening ways with the world, which is why the Book of Genesis recounts that Adam was asked to “till

and keep the garden,” Wirzba said. That command occurred before the fall, and it was not an assignment to drudgery or a punishment, he said, “because it’s through gardening that we understand the world.”

Because of this relationship, how the food people eat is grown and prepared matters, Wirzba said. “It’s through gardening that we understand that every living thing needs our nurture, attention, respect. And it’s through gardening that we eat in a way that isn’t naive. ... Human beings need to learn the love of gardening so they can learn to love like God loves.”

The lecture was sponsored by the Terrence J. Murphy Institute at St. Thomas. Wirzba was introduced by Christopher Thompson, professor of moral theology and director of the Institute for Theological Research at the St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul. Following Wirzba’s remarks, panelists working in sustainability and food production shared their insights. They included James Ennis, director of St. Paul-based Catholic Rural Life; John Mesko, executive director for Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service; and Elise Amel, professor of psychology and director of sustainability initiatives at St. Thomas.

Wirzba will be speaking at “Com-panions: Do This in Remembrance of Me,” a retreat on food and faith Oct. 19-21 at the Benedictine Center in St. Paul. For more information, visit benedictinecenter.org.

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OCTOBER 11, 2018

HOMELESS CAMP CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 its residents housing, he said. Many of its residents were already homeless and living elsewhere in the city.

On Sept. 26, the Minneapolis City Council approved a plan to relocate the encampment to land nearby owned by the Red Lake Band of Chippewa. The plan includes razing vacant property and the building of a temporary “navigation center” to shelter residents through the winter, while housing is sought.

Phillips, 60, thinks the plan to relocate the camp is good, but he’s concerned that there won’t be enough space for everyone, especially as winter looms.

“We’re short of housing across the board,” he said. “We’re short of temporary housing, we’re short of shelter housing and we’re short of permanent housing.”

Phillips was one of the first volunteers to spend time in the camp, said James Cross, 52, the founder of Natives Against Heroin. In June, Phillips had been going to Natives Against Heroin awareness meetings when Cross asked him to visit homeless camps with him. At the time, there were four or five different camps in the area, Phillips said. Cross and Phillips would meet and pray with homeless people, and have dinner together afterwards. When they started going to the Hiawatha-Franklin camp, there were only six tents, Phillips said.

Volunteers and people who work with the nonprofits serving the camps have made a point to listen to residents’ stories, pray with them and feed them at the camp, he said, which caused others to gravitate toward the spot. It has become known as “The Wall of Forgotten Natives,” and the nonprofit Metropolitan

LOCAL Urban Indian Directors manage a website, franklinhiawathacamp.org, for information and fundraising for it.

Many of the camp’s residents are Native American, which is why Natives Against Heroin stepped in early in the camp’s formation to offer help. Heroin use is widespread in the camp, and two people have died of overdoses; the most recent death was Sept. 30.

But residents and camp volunteers also speak positively about the camp community. “The community is what it is: There’s bad and good. Mostly good,” said Caryn Pacheco, 56, who moved to the camp in late July after being “illegally evicted” from her apartment, she said.

“A lot of us consider this more of a revolution,” she said. “It was easy to ignore us when we were spread all over.

On our own. Some under the bridge. ...

Some in shelters where their family was split up. We come here, and we’re smackdab in Minneapolis’ face and something has to be done. We have a refugee camp right here in our city.”

Phillips agrees that the encampment has brought more attention to its residents’ homelessness and poverty, but he also said that the camp is only indicative of a larger problem. It “has just made visible the issues that we have not only in Minneapolis. It’s in all of our communities,” he said.

He has coordinated donations, including tents, from Gichitwaa Kateri, which means “Holy Kateri” for St. Kateri Tekakwitha. A few parishioners live at the camp; others have relatives there. On two of his visits, Phillips was joined by Father Stan Sledz, 75, a retired priest who serves as Gichitwaa Kateri’s sacramental minister, who said that homelessness requires both a personal and communal

response. “You need to deal with individuals and individual situations, but then find out why this evil is happening and being perpetuated,” he said.

After handing out sandwiches Oct. 2, Casandra Carmona, 21, stood at the edge of the camp with Holy Rosary visible across East Phillips Park. She had previously driven by the camp, but she hadn’t realized its magnitude until she walked through it that night. Two preschool-age boys in T-shirts had competed for her group’s attention, and seeing children there surprised her.

“Being a Catholic person, we’re taught to give back to the community,” she said of her group’s decision to bring food to the camp, adding that it was important “not to expect anything in return.”

Phillips noted that the encampment has prompted an outpouring of generosity from hundreds of people across the state, and groups from places as far away as Alexandria and Duluth — and as close as Holy Rosary — have volunteered to help its residents. “That also provides a lot of goodness,” he said.

“The amount of food and donations — I hope that doesn’t stop. It has to go somewhere. This is not the only place where there’s poverty in the Twin Cities.”

Some Gichitwaa Kateri parishioners, however, think that the people in the camp don’t deserve help unless they’re clean of alcohol and drugs, Phillips said.

He disagrees. Poverty can drive people to drugs, he said. People who are addicted face significant hurdles to getting treatment, and housing is frequently required for someone to enter a treatment program, he said. Organizers have been able to have the camp recognized as a “residence” for the purposes of the “Rule 25” assessment, the

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 7 first step toward accessing publiclyfunded treatment, Phillips said.

He is not only interested in big-picture needs — housing, sobriety, family stability — but also the immediate needs that go beyond the material.

“Sometimes people need to talk, and as they see that you’re a safe person to talk to ... then a conversation will happen about whatever their struggle might be,” he said. “But it also might be that they’re looking to get a smile and [be] treated like a human being.”

That connection meant that he was able to immediately support a family after a woman who lived at a camp delivered, at eight-months gestation, a stillborn baby Sept. 30. He visited her at the hospital that day, and Gichitwaa Kateri planned to hold the baby’s funeral Oct. 12.

“How can you help somebody if you don’t build relationships?” Phillips asked.

“It’s very powerful when you come, serving ... [and] in the midst of that you build a trusting relationship, and they come to you.”

Phillips said he used to be judgmental of people who struggle with drugs and alcohol addiction, but getting to know people, even if they’re using drugs, “teaches me not to judge.” As an associate of the Franciscans of Little Falls, Phillips said his time at the camp has prompted him to reflect on the story of St. Francis encountering a leper near Assisi. The saint offered the leper a coin and kissed the leper’s hand, and the leper kissed him in return. The encounter was a pivotal experience for Francis, who had been disgusted by lepers’ disease.

At the camp, Phillips said, he constantly encounters a thought: “Maybe this is the ‘leper’ that I need to hug.”

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8 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

NATION+WORLD No shortage of issues piquing voter interest

By Mark Pattison Catholic News Service With the clock toward the Nov. 6 midterm elections ticking away, there are some parallels between the findings of a Sept. 26 Pew Research Center survey on issues of key concern to voters and issues outlined in the U.S. bishops’ “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” a document meant to provide a moral framework Catholic voters can use to analyze issues.

The economy? Check. Immigration?

Check. The environment? Check.

Terrorism? Check. Abortion? Check.

Health care? Check. Discrimination?

Check. Social Security? Check.

Supreme Court appointments — an issue few could have foreseen — topped all comers in the Pew survey, with 76 percent calling it very important. Voters in the Pew survey also ranked as very important, at rates between 66 and 69 percent, gun policy, Medicare and taxes.

Issues garnering between 53 and 60 percent interest were the federal budget deficit, trade policy and drug addiction.

The bishops also noted as among their chief concerns physician-assisted suicide, materialism, same-sex marriage, religious freedom, the promotion of peace, marriage and family life, Catholic education, media issues and global solidarity.

In “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” traditionally issued a year in advance of a presidential election but applicable to the midterms, the bishops noted the contradictions in American life. “We are a nation founded on ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,’ but the right to life itself is not fully protected, especially for unborn children, the terminally ill, and the elderly, the most vulnerable members of the American family. We are called to be peacemakers in a nation at war. We are a country pledged to pursue ‘liberty and justice for all,’ but we are too often divided across lines of race, ethnicity

and economic inequality,” they said.

“We are a nation of immigrants, struggling to address the challenges of many new immigrants in our midst. We are a society built on the strength of our families, called to defend marriage and offer moral and economic supports for family life. We are a powerful nation in a violent world, confronting terror and trying to build a safer, more just, more peaceful world. We are an affluent society where too many live in poverty and lack health care and other necessities of life.”

The Pew survey indicated that, with higher interest in this midterm election, Democratic voters’ overall interest ranks above that of Republicans.

Health care had slipped as a top voter issue in recent years, according to Sister Carol Keehan, a Daughter of Charity, who is head of the Catholic Health Association, but the concern now is lawmakers’ “efforts at undermining the Affordable Care Act; while they [politicians] haven’t destroyed it, they have made it difficult. And they have done things that caused the cost of insurance to go up.”

She lamented the catch-22 facing many American families. “You think of the family that’s able to get Medicaid because of the Medicaid expansion, or the family that’s able to get insurance,” she said, “and all of a sudden, you can’t get insurance anymore. ... These are not rich people” who are being affected, she said, “and you have a Justice Department that says even though there’s a law, we’re not going to defend the law.”

Mallory Quigley, vice president of communications for the Susan B. Anthony List, which promotes pro-life politicians, said Oct. 3 that her group is “active in states where President Trump won by an overwhelming margin and where Democratic senators are up for re-election,” mentioning Florida and West Virginia. “Voters are very much absolutely motivated by pro-life issues.”

Quigley spoke of targeting “unreliable pro-life voters — people who are pro-life, but typically don’t go out to vote in nonpresidential election years. It gives them another reason to vote for the pro-life challenger.” She said her organization also is “talking to Democratic groups like Hispanics and women who identify as moderate on pro-life issues.”

Gun violence has persisted in the headlines since the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, followed by near-weekly mass shootings, including an incident in early October in which seven South Carolina police officers were shot, one of them fatally.

“The challenge with any justice issue is to keep people engaged and mobilized even when the news cycle moves on,” said an Oct. 4 email to CNS from John Gehring, the Catholic program director at Faith in Public Life, an advocacy group based in Washington.

In rural America, the key issues are an amalgam of the economy, the environment, health care, trade and drug addiction, said James Ennis, executive director of Catholic Rural Life in St. Paul. There’s still a farm bill waiting to be approved, he noted. The old one expired Sept. 30, and Congress passed a continuing resolution to extend it to Dec. 7. “Underneath this is a bigger issue, and that’s the farm crisis, especially among dairy farmers ... who are struggling to make ends meet. ...

One of the related issues is tariffs and the soybean farmers. Congress can argue that it’s not that large a part of the economy and not a big deal, but to soybean farmers it is a big deal,” he said.

“Already prices have dropped once news of the tariffs was announced.”

Access to health care is “a real challenge because of the economics of hospitals closing due to not being able to make it in rural communities,” he said. “The other related piece to that is the opioid crisis.”

Kavanaugh: No bitterness over confirmation process

By Julie Asher Catholic News Service New Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh said Oct. 8 he has no bitterness over a contentious confirmation process that ultimately ended with a Senate vote Oct. 6 to confirm him for the seat on the high court left vacant by the July 31 retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy.

“The Supreme Court is an institution of law. It is not a partisan or political institution. The justices do not sit on opposite sides of an aisle. We do not caucus in separate rooms,” Kavanaugh said in remarks at an evening ceremonial swearing-in held in the East Room of the White House. “The Supreme Court is a team of nine, and I will always be a team player on the team of nine.”

Kennedy administered the oath at the swearing-in, which was hosted by President Donald Trump. Kavanaugh, who is Catholic, was to hear his first cases Oct. 9 with the rest of the court.

Chief Justice John Roberts officially swore in Kavanaugh late Oct. 6, after the

Senate’s 50-48 confirmation vote, which took place despite the interruptions of screaming protesters who had to be escorted from the gallery that oversees the Senate chamber.

The demonstrators were voicing their objection to the confirmation because Kavanaugh, 53, had been accused of sexual misconduct. The vote followed the conclusion of a weeklong FBI probe.

The agency’s final report was not released to the public but made available to all the senators for their review; the agency found no corroborating evidence on the claims.

In an Oct. 6 statement, Kavanaugh’s high school alma mater, Jesuit-run Georgetown Preparatory School in the Washington suburb of North Bethesda, Maryland, noted how when he first accepted Trump’s nomination, Kavanaugh stated that “one of the goals of Jesuit education is the aspiration to be a ‘man or woman for others.’”

“The call to public service is one of the highest manifestations of that ethic,” the school said. “Georgetown Prep congratulates Justice Kavanaugh on his confirmation and promises our

prayers for him and his family as he strives to be that person for others in the service of our nation.”

On July 9, Trump nominated Kavanaugh, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The Senate Judiciary Committee conducted confirmation hearings for Kavanaugh the first week of September.

The evening of Sept. 23, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, released a letter she had received sometime in July that was written by a woman, later identified as Christine Blasey Ford, claiming that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a party 36 years ago when they both were in high school in the Washington area.

On Sept. 27, the committee held a daylong hearing to allow Ford to give her testimony. Kavanaugh also testified, vehemently denying any such assault occurred.

Afterward, the committee voted to send the Kavanaugh nomination to the full Senate, but also agreed with a proposal by Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, to give the FBI a week to investigate the claims.

OCTOBER 11, 2018

CANONIZATION CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Father Zanardini told CNS that Blessed Paul’s canonization would be “a beautiful sign that he truly is a pope who still has much to say” to young men and women today.

Blessed Paul VI was also remembered as a strong leader who was close to Catholics who suffered persecution, including the archbishop of San Salvador who will be declared a saint along with him: Blessed Oscar Romero.

While visiting the pope on June 21, 1978, Blessed Romero wrote in his BLESSED PAUL VI diary that Blessed Paul encouraged him to “proceed with courage, with patience, with strength, with hope.”

Born in Ciudad Barrios, El Salvador, Blessed Romero entered a minor seminary at the age BLESSED ROMERO of 13. During his years of priestly ministry, young Romero served the poor and the suffering of his country.

In 1977, Blessed Paul VI appointed him to lead the Archdiocese of San Salvador during a tumultuous time when priests and religious who stood with the poor were targeted by rightwing paramilitary groups aligned with the government.

Italian Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the postulator of the Salvadoran archbishop’s cause, told CNS that Blessed Romero’s canonization is a “great opportunity to rediscover the primacy of love that must characterize, energize and excite today’s generations, today’s young people.”

Archbishop Paglia cited a letter sent

by G. Mirna Garcia, a 17-year-old Salvadoran girl, to Blessed Romero in which she thanked him for fighting for her peoples’ rights and dignity.

“In reading and listening to your homilies, I recognize that you have shown the path for our salvation,” she wrote to the archbishop. “Harder days will come and faith will sustain us in those days, the certainty that God is with us and if he is with us, nothing will be against us.”

Salvadoran Mercy Sister Ana Maria Pineda, associate professor of religious studies at California’s University of Santa Clara, told CNS that her students see in Blessed Romero “the best of what they hope for in Church leaders.”

Julian Filochowski, chair of the U.K.based Archbishop Romero Trust, said that Blessed Romero brought an authenticity to the Gospel message in words and deeds that attracted young people in El Salvador. “He was not a populist politician dressed in a cassock.

Rather [he was] a humble and selfeffacing pastor seeking to love God, love the poor and love the Church,” Filochowski said. “People, especially young people, can sense this, and at such a difficult time for the hierarchical Church, he stands as a shining example of authenticity in his faith, a beacon of hope radiating unconditional love for his people.”

OCTOBER 11, 2018

NATION+WORLD

McCarrick case: Vatican starting to acknowledge mistakes

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Pope Francis, Cardinal Marc Ouellet and an official Vatican statement seem to be laying the groundwork for an admission that mistakes were made in handling allegations that Archbishop Theodore McCarrick engaged in sexual misconduct and even abuse.

But they also make clear that his ordination as a bishop of Metuchen, New Jersey, appointment as archbishop — first of Newark, New Jersey, and then Washington — and his induction into the College of Cardinals all took place during the pontificate of St. John Paul II. The first formal sanctions on Archbishop McCarrick were imposed

by Pope Francis in June after an investigation found credible allegations of the sexual abuse of minors.

Cardinal Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, stated Oct. 7 that now-retired Pope Benedict XVI never imposed sanctions on thenCardinal McCarrick, so it is untrue that Pope Francis “invalidated” them, as Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the former nuncio to the United States, claimed.

But, Cardinal Ouellet said, rumors about Archbishop McCarrick did reach the Vatican years ago, so both he and his predecessor, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, made requests to Archbishop McCarrick “not to travel or to make public appearances, in order to avoid new rumors about him.”

“The congregation’s decision was inspired by prudence, and the letters from my predecessor and my own letters urged him, first through the apostolic nuncio, [Archbishop] Pietro Sambi, and then through you [Archbishop Viganò], to lead a life of prayer and penance for his own good and for the good of the Church,” Cardinal Ouellet wrote in an open letter to Archbishop Viganò.

Like many people in the Church, Cardinal Ouellet asked: “How is it possible that this man of the Church, whose incoherence has now been revealed, was promoted many times, and was nominated to such a high position as archbishop of Washington and cardinal?”

The answer, he said, is that “there were failures in the selection procedures implemented in his case” and “the concerns that were raised by witnesses should have been examined more closely.”

The Vatican press office Oct. 6 published a statement saying Pope Francis has decided that as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith continues its investigations into the sex abuse allegations against Archbishop McCarrick, “a further thorough study of the entire documentation present in the archives of the dicasteries and offices of the Holy See regarding the former Cardinal McCarrick” will take place.

The goal of the study, the statement said, is “to ascertain all the relevant facts, to place them in their historical context and to evaluate them

objectively.”

The mention of the “historical context” is important.

The Vatican itself explained Oct. 6: “The Holy See is conscious that, from the examination of the facts and of the circumstances, it may emerge that choices were taken that would not be consonant with a contemporary approach to such issues. However, as Pope Francis has said: ‘We will follow the path of truth wherever it may lead’ [Philadelphia, Sept. 27, 2015].

“Both abuse and its cover-up can no longer be tolerated, and a different treatment for bishops who have committed or covered up abuse, in fact, represents a form of clericalism that is no longer acceptable,” the statement continued.

Many Catholics are outraged that Church leaders who seem to have ready answers for how laypeople should live and behave have been so slow to figure out a way to stop sexual abuse by clergy and to hold bishops and cardinals accountable for their personal behavior and for the coverup.

Pope Francis, while refusing to respond directly to Archbishop Viganò’s accusations, told reporters in late September that he understands Catholics, including young Catholics, are scandalized by the reports of abuse and cover-up.

However, he also said the Church is still learning and progress has been made, but it is not right to judge the past based on what is known and considered today the best way to proceed.

Referring explicitly to the Pennsylvania grand jury report on abuse released in mid-August, the pope said the cases were numerous “until the early 1970s,” but “in more recent times, they decreased because the Church realized that she had to grapple with this in another way. In times past, these things were covered up,” both in the Church and within families.

Pope Francis told reporters flying back to Rome with him from Estonia that “a historical fact should be interpreted with the hermeneutic of the time in which this fact occurred, not with today’s hermeneutic.”

Popular sensitivities and Church teaching have developed over the centuries, he said, pointing to colonization and the awareness of the rights of indigenous people or attitudes toward capital punishment. “Even the Vatican, as a state — when it was a pontifical state — had the death penalty; the last one, a criminal, a young man, was beheaded around 1870. But then moral consciousness grew; the moral conscience grew.”

The Archdiocese of Washington announced Sept. 28 that Archbishop McCarrick is now living in a friary for Capuchin Franciscan friars in Victoria, Kansas, which has a population of about 1,200. The website for the friary, which is in the Diocese of Salina, lists its residents as five priests and one religious brother.

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 9

HEADLINES uAid groups, bishop sound alarm over humanitarian crisis in Yemen. The impoverished nation at the tip of the Arabian Peninsula is now the most food-insecure population in the world due to a 4-year-old conflict, and the country is facing the largest humanitarian crisis of this time, according to the United Nations. “There are innumerable people internally displaced because they fled from the war,” said Bishop Paul Hinder, apostolic vicar of Southern Arabia, which includes Yemen. uPakistan court rules on Catholic’s blasphemy charge, defers announcement. A special bench of the Supreme Court in Islamabad reached a verdict Oct. 8 on the fate of Asia Bibi, but publication has been deferred until a later, unspecified date, according to the British Pakistani Christian Association. Bibi has been held in solitary confinement since November 2010, when she was sentenced to hang for insulting Muhammad, the founder of Islam. uPope names members for Vatican office for laity, family, life. The Vatican announced the new members and a large group of consultants Oct. 6. Among members are U.S. law professor Helen Alvare, Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta and Cardinal Gerald Lacroix of Quebec.

New consultants include: U.S. Father Robert Oliver, secretary of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors; and Dr. Thomas Hilgers, founder and director of the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction in Omaha, Nebraska. uToronto doctors lay out procedures for euthanasia for children. In a prestigious medical journal, doctors from Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children have laid out policies and procedures for administering medically assisted death to children, including scenarios where the parents would not be informed until after the child dies. The article appears just three months before the Canadian Council of Academies is due to report to Parliament on the medical consensus about extending voluntary euthanasia in circumstances currently forbidden by law. The Canadian Council of

Prospective Parent Information Night Tuesday, November 13 7:00 p.m.

School Cafeteria RSVP to 651-690-2477 2017 Bohland Avenue www.highlandcatholic.org Evening Presentation on the K-8 Programming This is an adult event.

Come and learn how Hi-C is a perfect fit for your child.

Academies is specifically looking at extending so-called assisted dying to patients under 18, psychiatric patients and patients who have expressed a preference for euthanasia before they were rendered incapable by Alzheimer’s or some other disease. uCatholic aid agencies respond after quake, tsunami in Indonesia left nearly 2,000 people dead. Yenni Suryani, country manager for Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. Church’s international relief and development agency, said humanitarian groups were struggling to get aid to people in the hard-hit cities of Palu and Donggala in the immediate aftermath of the 7.5-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that hit Sept. 28. uPope expels Karadima, notorious Chilean abuser, from priesthood. In a statement released Sept. 28, the Vatican said that Fernando Karadima was dismissed from the clerical state by the pope, who “made this exceptional decision in conscience and for the good of the Church.” Known as an influential and charismatic priest, then-Father Karadima founded a Catholic Action group in a wealthy Santiago parish and drew hundreds of young men to the priesthood. Four of Karadima’s proteges went on to become bishops, including retired Bishop Juan Barros of Osorno, who is alleged to have known about the abuse. Former seminarians revealed in 2010 that Karadima sexually abused them and other members of the parish community for years. One year later, Karadima was sentenced by the Vatican to a life of prayer and penance after he was found guilty of sexual abuse. The pope, who initially defended his 2015 appointment of Bishop Barros as head of the Diocese of Osorno, apologized after receiving a 2,300-page report from Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta. He subsequently accepted Bishop Barros’ resignation June 11. In a letter released April 11, Pope Francis said he had been mistaken in his assessment of the situation in Chile, and he begged the forgiveness of survivors and others he offended. He invited three survivors abused

by Karadima to Rome in late April.

– Catholic News Service

10 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Karina Avila

James Broberg

Age 25 Parish St. Peter, Mendota Occupation NET Ministries team supervisor

Age 29 Parish St. John the Baptist Byzantine, Minneapolis Occupation Math and science teacher

In her fourth year with NET Ministries in West St. Paul, Karina Avila has developed the heart of a missionary. After spending her first two years traveling the country and leading NET youth retreats, Avila settled in West St. Paul to train and supervise the new teams with their missions. Avila is also involved with Latino ministry.

Along with other representatives of the archdiocese, she recently attended the Fifth Encuentro, or V Encuentro, national conference in Grapevine, Texas, to advocate for local Latino Catholics on a larger scale and to be a liaison for NET Ministries. Avila hopes to encourage young adults in the desire to become saints, and to experience the same joy that she has found in her relationship with Jesus.

A Byzantine Catholic, James Broberg has a unique view of Catholicism in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Both a math and science teacher at Chesterton Academy in Edina, Broberg introduces his students to new parts of the Church by consecrating each class with prayers from the Divine Liturgy and teaching students about topics important to Eastern-rite Catholicism, including iconography and the East-West Schism of 1054. Broberg seeks to highlight the care of young adults for social justice and equality, and the interconnectedness of that desire with a “deep spiritual hunger for prayer, for sacredness and for theological depth.”

Kristi Beaudry

Ayi Doumassy

Age 26 Parish Sts. Peter and Paul, Loretto, and St. Albert, Albertville Occupation Marketing and communications In 2015, Kristi Beaudry and a friend were looking to gather young adults together to discuss hot topic issues. They began with four people, and now the organization, “Vigilate Mecum” — or “Keep Watch with Me” — has monthly meetings of 80 to 100 Catholic and non-Catholic young adults at Sts. Peter and Paul, where they gather to engage tough faith discussions in an open environment. Beaudry works with St. Paul-based Spare Key, a nonprofit that supports families with children in need of medical assistance. “My faith has ingrained in me a knowledge and appreciation for the dignity of every person,” she said. “How I interact with others and why I work hard directly stems from my belief that each person deserves my respect and God’s love, and that God has given me this position in the world to share that love.”

Maggee Becker Age 22 Parish St. Wenceslaus, New Prague Occupation Student, youth minister Entering her senior year at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Maggee Becker has a lot on her plate. A full-time student in Catholic Studies and English, with a minor in education, Becker focuses much of her energy on seeking Christ in the classroom. Becker also devotes herself to young adults and ministry, working part-time as a youth minister at St. Wenceslaus and, during the summer, leading youth retreats with Bloomington-based Partnership for Youth. Becker said she is passionate about her work because “many young adults are thirsty for the truth and are excited to share their faith.” She added, “I know that the Lord is calling me here. I want to please him, and as long as I am pursuing a life in ministry and striving after him, I know I am where he wants me right now.”

Age 30 Parish Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis Occupation Student, retail co-manager After becoming an altar server at the Basilica, Ayi Doumassy wanted to better understand the art and liturgy that surrounded him.

In the process, he discovered a mystical side of the imagery, which compelled him to learn more. Now the liturgy and sacred arts representative on the parish council, Doumassy sees art and liturgy as a productive method of communication with non-Catholics, as the beauty and mystery provoke curiosity. A student at Metropolitan State University in St. Paul, Doumassy said his mission is to bring people to the Church through art and liturgy, and to shine light on any aspects that might be obscure.

Steven Eichler Age 26 Parish St. Peter, North St. Paul Occupation IT help desk In his IT job, Steven Eichler takes advantage of opportunities to share his faith with co-workers and help clarify Church teaching. That is a natural outgrowth of his work in the parish as a catechist, small group leader and retreat planner and co-leader. “People have too many misconceptions of what the Church actually teaches [and] believes,” he said. “Once I learned that the Church holds the truth, I felt called to dispel the ignorance of the Church in every way I can.” In addition to what he does for his parish, he serves on the Cathedral Young Adult core team as the website coordinator. He has an interest in helping young adults understand their faith.

“Doubting and struggling with teachings of the Church is normal,” he said, “and the Church only wants to walk with us on our journey while giving us the truth, and not ostracize people because of it.”

Faith

Young adults shapin through charity, fr

At the opening of the Synod of Bishops on young pe Francis said that young people’s contributions to the th have “wagered that it is worth the effort to feel part of the effort to have the Church as a mother, as a teache weaknesses and difficulties, [that it is] capable of radi He continued, “Our responsibility here at the Synod are right to wager [that] it truly is worth the effort, it is In this issue, The Catholic Spirit features 16 young a who have “wagered” to be part of the life of the Churc workplaces to launching new ministries to meet the un 30 and under, are just a selection of the local young ad their faith to do good in the world. Their profiles were intern, and members of The Catholic Spirit staff. Photo

Katie Erickson Age 26 Parish Cathedral of St. Paul, St. Paul Occupation Teacher Teaching fifth-graders at St. Agnes School is a joyful experience for Katie Erickson, who says passing on the faith works both ways. “I love being able to awake my students to the joy of learning and the beauty of Christ and his creation,” she said. “My students call me on to holiness each day with their joy, their humility, their excitement, their love of Jesus.” She also finds satisfaction in volunteering for her parish, serving as a Cathedral tour guide. “Learning about the Cathedral and sharing that with others has deepened my love of Christ and my gratitude for the gift of my faith,” she said. Her faith is important to her, and she finds it rich and meaningful. “I love being Catholic because it is Christ’s Church,” she said, “and [in] it are contained both faith and reason, sinners and saints, beauty and suffering, truth and mystery.”

Father Nick Froehle Age 27 Parish St. Ambrose, Woodbury Occupation Parochial vicar Ordained in 2017, Father Nick Froehle has taken a leading role with the youth and young adults at St. Ambrose in Woodbury, where he serves as parochial vicar. He assists with faith formation, confirmation and RCIA; visits the classrooms of St. Ambrose students; and recently started “Pints with Padre,” a young adult initiative to build fellowship and community among the young people of the parish. Father Froehle recognizes in young adults the desire for something to quiet all the noise that the world presents. With his easygoing and approachable attitude, he opens the door for many to Catholicism.

OCTOBER 11, 2018 • 11

h alive

ng the local Church riendship, ministry

eople, the faith and vocational discernment, Pope hree-week synod’s preparations showed that they f the Church or to enter into dialogue with her; worth er, as a home, as a family, and, despite human iating and conveying Christ’s timeless message.” is not to undermine them, but rather to show that they s not a waste of time!” adults in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis ch in various ways, from witnessing to the faith in their nique needs of their peers. These young adults, all age dults who are dedicated Catholics and motivated by written by Celia Kennedy, a Catholic Spirit summer os were provided.

— The Catholic Spirit

Ellie Jensen Age 28 Parish Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis Occupation Educator and coach, founder of LifeEdge Solutions Ellie Jensen devotes her time to helping young adults develop healthy and happy lifestyle choices.

Inspired by her work at Abria Pregnancy Resources in St. Paul, Jensen developed LifeEdge Solutions, which aims “to inspire youth and young adults to make the most advantageous lifestyle choices — especially when it comes to relationships and sexual health — by offering the most engaging and effective messages and messengers in Minnesota,” she said. Jensen also works with women and couples as a fertility education and medical management educator, and coaches and teaches high school students.

“Young people have a natural curiosity towards life and a hunger for truth,” she said. “I see education as an art of drawing out that curiosity and responding to the hunger in a real and unapologetic way, which I believe will ultimately guide them to a relationship with the one who can answer their questions and satiate their hunger.”

Maria Keller Age 18 Parish St. Anne, Hamel Occupation Student, founder of Read Indeed Since she was a child, Maria Keller has been striving to improve literacy among children in Minnesota and beyond. At age 8, she founded Read Indeed, a nonprofit focused on collecting and distributing books for children in need, with the belief that “a home that’s rich in books is a home that’s rich in possibilities.” Since then, she has given more than 2.5 million books, and her mission continues. “Giving back to those in need is the core element of my Catholic faith,” said Keller, now a freshmen at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.

Kory LaCroix

Sarah Norton

Age 29 Parish Holy Name of Jesus, Medina Occupation Youth minister

Age 29 Parish St. Joseph, West St. Paul Occupation Founder of audio miniseries “Mental the Podcast”

Kory LaCroix considers his job in youth ministry for his parish a privilege.

“It’s the best thing,” he said. “Every day, I get to go to work with the mission of helping people discover the goodness of who they are, the wonder of our Catholic faith, and the invitation to love and live for Jesus.” He also enjoys helping facilitate a relationship with Holy Name’s sister parish, Ascension in North Minneapolis. Living in North Minneapolis is an asset to this ministry. As for his faith, he appreciates the truths of the faith, the sacraments and the saints. “We have so many incredible women and men that have lived lives of love, and virtue and self gift,” he said. “I think it’s such a privilege to be able to read their writings, hear their stories and know them personally.” He added, “I’m also in awe of, and so thankful for, the richness and wonder of our faith: the history, the art, the architecture and the literature.”

Mary Clare Melero Age 25 Parish Divine Mercy, Faribault Occupation Musician Raised in a deeply musical family, Mary Clare Melero recognized the tie between music and faith when she was young. After assisting with worship for the first time at age 7, she furthered her passion by teaching herself guitar and piano, and continued after high school to serve and lead worship with her NET Ministries team. Last year she released an album titled “The Moon is Killer,” which seeks to tie the physical and spiritual elements of music to emotion and experience. Through her music, Melero expresses her love for God, but also desires to illustrate God’s love for others, causing a “stirring” in the hearts of his people, she said.

Matthew Michels Age 25 Parish All Saints, Minneapolis Occupation Supply chain construction Matthew Michels devotes his time to building up the Church, literally and symbolically. A teacher of religious education and youth minister, he is dedicated to fortifying his parish community, but he also spends his free time as a craftsman in church restoration. He has worked on convents for the Handmaids of the Heart of Jesus and Pro Ecclesia Sancta. Additionally, Michels co-founded a Twin Cities chapter of Juventutem, an organization for young adults dedicated to practicing traditional Church devotion, such as vespers and extraordinary-form Masses.

Passionate about his work, Michels feels that he has found something beautiful and incredible that he cannot help but share with other young adults.

After being diagnosed with postpartum depression, Sarah Norton talked to other women, from friends to complete strangers, and recognized a need in the community for an avenue of support. In response, she started “Mental the Podcast,” an audio miniseries investigating postpartum (or peripartum) depression and anxiety. Through the podcast, Norton shares her experience with listeners, as well as the experiences of women she has interviewed, in order to remove the shame and uncertainty about the condition. Through this work, Norton aims to uplift mothers in her community and elsewhere.

Andrew Pham Age 20 Parish St. Anne-St. Joseph Hien, Minneapolis Occupation Student, parttime pharmacy tech At 20, Andrew Pham tries to serve his community. In addition to attending college and working part time at a pharmacy, Pham gives a considerable amount of time to his parish.

Whether serving as a youth leader, running the lights and sound board, or building sets for Church holidays, Pham leads in many capacities because, he said, “Young adults need to continue to help building up the Church; without us there will be no Church left. That is why I continue to dedicate the majority of all my free time to help serve God. ... I want to be a good example to others of hard work, honesty and authenticity.”

Nick Plankers Age 24 Parish St. Paul, Ham Lake Occupation Math teacher, baseball and football coach A teacher in a public school, Nick Plankers does his best to exemplify a “living disciple of Christ” for his students, he said. Part of that is keeping a Bible on his desk and maintaining a positive attitude during class. He shows this attitude as a coach as well, working with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes to bring faith into sports. Plankers serves as a youth minister and participates regularly in daily Mass and adoration at the Church of St. Paul. He believes that through his actions, he can show the world that the Church is young and alive.

Read 14 more profiles in

“30 under 31”

at TheCatholicSpirit.com.

12 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

OCTOBER 11, 2018

OCTOBER 11, 2018

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 13

FAITH+CULTURE

Hipster, author, convert: Millennial finds freedom in the faith

By Jonathan Liedl For The Catholic Spirit

you honest. Unless you start changing Catholicism.”

And it’s this submission to something greater than himself that Blanski finds liberating about the faith, comparing it to Protestant denominations that are “by degrees evermore spiritual and less real, or religious.”

“Only by being received into the Catholic Church can you enter the real cult that Christ established,” he said.

Blanski says his conviction in the Church’s divine origins have also helped him weather the sex abuse scandal. “[The Church] isn’t man-made,” he said. “It’s men being put into positions of authority by God, and they’ve been messing it up since the start. It makes you want to weep, but it hasn’t shaken my faith.”

E

ight years ago, Tyler Blanski was a long-haired denizen of Uptown Minneapolis, a “spiritual, but not religious” Christian hipster. He painted houses in the summer, recorded music in the winter, and was making plans to go to Anglican seminary to become a self-described “slum priest.”

Today, at 34, he’s a Catholic family man. He lives in a modest Eden Prairie townhome with his wife, Brittany, 28, and their two young children, is a regular at incensed-enriched liturgies at Holy Family in St. Louis Park, and just published a memoir on his conversion, “An Immovable Feast.”

To some of his contemporaries, Blanski’s conversion may look like nothing more than an abandonment of authenticity and autonomy for a life of bland conformity. Now a Catholic for four years, he’s found the opposite to be true.

“Catholicism, as foreboding and frustrating as it might look like from the outside, actually is freedom,” he said.

Writing to heal Published this past spring by Ignatius Press, Blanski’s “An Immovable Feast” is being hailed by Catholic thought leaders, including fellow converts Scott Hahn and Peter Kreeft, as a conversion story for the millennial generation.

It’s not Blanski’s first book. The Twin Cities native, who says he’s wanted to be nothing but a writer since his college days, published two earlier works, one on sacramental sexuality and the other on Christian wonder.

But “An Immovable Feast” had a far different impetus. For Blanski, conversion was a “traumatic” experience, involving conflict with his mostly Protestant family and giving up his desire to be an Anglican priest when on the verge of ordination.

“Just as a healing process, I needed to write,” he said.

“But then it really occurred to me that this really wasn’t about me, this is actually about God’s faithfulness.”

The book, which took a year to write, blends theological insights with a compelling story. Themes like the sacraments, Mary and the papacy coincide organically with chapters of Blanski’s life, from his teenage days rebelling against the Twin Cities Baptist megachurch his family attended, to his poetry-infused undergraduate studies at Hillsdale College in Michigan, and finally to the climax of his conversion as an Anglican at Nashotah House Theological Seminary outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Along the way, Blanski weaves in the music he was listening to, the books he was reading and the conversations he was having,

Insights for outreach DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

From left, Timothy, Tyler, Brittany and June Blanski pose for a photo outside their Eden Prairie townhome Oct. 4. creating a narrative that engages the reader’s imagination and intellect.

“I wanted to bring people into a story, so they could see [what I was seeing],” he said, adding that his wife, who played a key role in editing, was an invaluable partner throughout the process. “Stories captivate. You can’t convert people if you start with ideas.”

Freedom in truth “An Immovable Feast” ends with the Blanskis’ conversion on Easter 2014, but their Catholic story has continued since then.

And they freely admit that it hasn’t always been an easy ride. For one, the couple’s openness to life has meant sacrifices for the sake of new responsibilities.

With children Timothy, 4, and June, 2, and a new business occupying much of their time and energy, the over 1,000 books that line an entire wall of the Blanskis’ home have largely gone untouched since the family moved back to Minnesota in February. The epiphanies of their early years as Catholics have been replaced by the struggle of taking two young children to Mass.

“I don’t hear the angels singing, you know?” Blanski said. “It’s hard work, and you just gotta keep doing the work.”

But for Blanski, the end of the honeymoon stage of his new faith is not a cause for alarm, but a sign of stability and deeper conviction in its truth.

“Catholicism is the only faith where you can get a bearing on where you really stand with God,” said Blanski, referring to the Church’s teachings, disciplines and sacraments, such as confession. “Catholicism keeps

Blanski’s status as a millennial convert, as well as his position leading ministry at a Wisconsin parish for four years after his conversion, has given him some insight into how the Church can reach young people in the present moment, the theme of the Synod of Bishops underway at the Vatican. He says effective evangelization begins with conviction.

“Nothing is as powerful as a man or a woman who is on fire with their faith,” he said, stating that technology-based programs are no replacement for effective ministers. “People follow people.”

Blanski added that the Church also needs to stick to the Gospel message, emphasizing the need for repentance and the joy of heaven.

“It’s worked for 2,000 years,” he quipped.

At the same time though, he also recognizes unique challenges in evangelizing today’s generation of young people, from smartphone-induced narcissism to an overly scientific, materialistic view of the world.

“People today, they have no wonder, there’s no awe, whether it’s looking at the night sky or the marriage bed,” he noted. “Everything’s in a petri dish. It’s just sort of sad.”

In a world of disenchantment, the Blanskis said it’s all the more critical for the Church to be reverent and beautiful at its core: in the Mass. Concerned that perhaps they had developed a superficial attachment to incense, altar bells and other things associated with more traditional worship when they converted, they took a step back from those kinds of liturgies — only to find that they were missing something vital.

“We really need our Masses to be reverent and transcendent,” said Brittany, noting how other young families are attracted to more traditional liturgies, and how she’s excited to raise her kids at Holy Family.

“I think it’s such a blessing, and that goes a long way in rekindling that awe and wonder.”

14 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

FAITH+CULTURE

OCTOBER 11, 2018

‘Hungry deep down for the Gospel’

need to experience that Gospel through loving relationships with others.

SPO founder reflects on what young adults need — and why SPO’s evangelization model works

creativity. When you are young, you believe you can change the world. Great movements begin with young people. Young people whom I know who offer the treasure of their youth in service of our Lord will change the world. This brings me hope.

Q. What gives you the most hope about young adults today?

A. Young people have tremendous energy and

Interview by Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit Gordy DeMarais, 60, has worked in youth and young adult ministry for more than 40 years. In 1985, he founded St. Paul’s Outreach, a Catholic outreach on college campuses, and he continues to serve as its president. Now the Inver Grove Heightsbased organization has a presence in seven states. DeMarais serves on the board of directors for NET Ministries and the Catholic Campus Ministry Association, and is a member of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Alliance for Catholic Campus Ministry Committee. He is a parishioner of St. Peter in Mendota and a member of the Community of Christ the Redeemer, a Catholic covenant community. The Catholic Spirit asked him by email to provide an overview of young adult ministry in light of the Synod on young people, the faith and vocational discernment that began at the Vatican Oct. 3. His responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Q. Why did you start SPO? Has the need you were

seeking to meet changed over the three decades since its founding?

A. Although I grew up Catholic in a good Catholic

family going to Catholic schools, I fell away from the faith during my teens. While in college, a friend of mine began to share with me about the love of Jesus Christ and that he had a purpose and plan for my life. That led me eventually to the St. Paul Catholic Youth Center, where I experienced deep conversion and the reawakening of my faith. As I tried to live that newly rediscovered faith in the dorms at college, I struggled.

I needed formation. I needed a supportive community.

When some years later as a staff person at that same CYC, I was given the task of building a local university outreach program, my own experience of being evangelized and needing community and formation formed the backdrop for the way of doing campus outreach that we developed in SPO. If the need has changed, it’s only in matter of degree.

Young people today are more hopeless and lonely. The

Q. What convinces you that SPO is an evangelization model that works?

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Gordy DeMarais talks about evangelization at the Archdiocesan Men’s Conference March 18, 2017. temptations to abandon faith are strong and ever present. But they are still the same basic need: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you, O Lord.”

Q. How has your work with SPO given you special insight into young adult culture?

A. One of the great blessing and joys of my life is to

have been serving in the work of evangelization of young people for over 40 years. Young adulthood is a very important season in a person’s life. It is during these years that people are discovering who they are.

They are making choices for themselves that have been made by their parents. They are making choices that will impact the rest of their lives. It is so important that these young people have wise and holy older brothers and sisters in Christ walking with them through this time. It is very important that this time in life be informed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Q. How would you describe the state of millennial culture today?

A. Our world is a challenging place today to live as a

faithful committed Christian. The challenges before our young people are significant. At the core of the secular millennial culture is a radical and even perverse selfishness. Life is all about the pursuit of pleasure, the accumulation of things, and the use of other people to attain one’s own goals. Young people, even those with faith, struggle with addiction to media and gaming, pornography and sexual immorality, with loneliness, anxiety and despair. They need the Gospel, and they

A. Jesus says in John 15, “you will know them by their

fruit.” SPO is now 32 years old and we see the fruit. So many SPO alumni have gone off to priesthood and religious life. So many more are living faithfully as mothers and father of committed Christian families.

And now their children are becoming adults and continuing to the next generation that life of deep faith.

SPO alumni are changing the culture and the Church.

Our model is effective because it is Jesus’ model. It’s the model of the missionaries and disciples in the Book of Acts. It’s a comprehensive, relationship-centered, process-oriented approach that is reaching young people, calling them to radical and life-changing conversion, forming them to be lifelong faithful Catholics and sending them on mission.

Q. What do you wish all Catholics understood about young adults?

A. They are hungry deep down for the Gospel — all of them. Even if they don’t realize it. They are searching.

They are looking for authentic relationships.

Q. What advice do you have for parents of a teenager or young adult concerned about helping them grow in faith?

A. Our young people need to see their parents living

their faithful in a committed and radical way. The best thing parents can do for their teens is to pursue holiness themselves. It’s important in passing the faith on to our children to “stay in the game.” Our relationship with our children has its high points and low points.

We need to navigate those moments carefully and maintain the relationship. Becoming a mature and faithful Catholic is a process. We must avoid the attitude that suggests that all we need to do is get them to 18 and then they are on their own.

Open House

October 26, 2018 8:00 am–12:00 pm Mass @ 8:00 am (optional)

Parents are also invited to our 1st Quarter Parent Enrichment Seminar after Sunday Mass on October 28th where one of our parents will be presenting on the benefits of a Catholic Classical Education from a parent’s perspective.

Montessori 3 & 4 year old Classical K – 8th

For more information see our website at hfamn.org 952.925.9193 | HFAMN.ORG

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OCTOBER 11, 2018

FAITH+CULTURE

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 15

Women’s Catholic leadership program officially launches

By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service

COURTESY GRACE BALDUS

Grace Baldus, center in red, poses with the refugee school students Oct. 10, 2017, her final day serving at New Thessalonians Apostolate School for Refugee Children in Alor Setar, Malaysia, where she spent two months.

‘I saw Christ in all of them’ St. Katharine Drexel teen serves Muslim Rohingya refugees during gap year

By Jessica Weinberger For The Catholic Spirit

A

s a high school senior, Grace Baldus knew she needed time away from the non-stop cadence of student council meetings, orchestra practice and tennis matches to discern her educational path, so she decided to take a “gap year” before starting college. But, rather than focus on herself, she wanted her experience to center on others.

The 2017 Anoka High School graduate from Ramsey, now 19, contacted her cousin serving in Malaysia who had spent time volunteering at a school for Muslim Rohingya refugees. A handful of email exchanges later and Baldus, a parishioner of St. Katharine Drexel in Ramsey, was on her way by August 2017 to spend two months at the New Thessalonians Apostolate School for Refugee Children in Alor Setar.

Situated approximately 30 miles from the Thailand border, Alor Setar in Malaysia’s Kedah state is in the epicenter of the Muslim Rohingya refugee crisis.

Thousands of ethnic minority Muslims considered stateless in western Myanmar have fled to neighboring countries including Malaysia to escape extreme violence, rape and arson. Pope Francis visited Myanmar in November 2017, addressing refugees and asking for forgiveness on behalf of their perpetrators.

In Alor Setar, Baldus lived with a Catholic host family who ran the school, funded by the United Nations Refugee Agency and other non-governmental organizations to provide a basic education to 70 Rohingya refugee

children ages 5 to 14. She focused on the older students, helping them improve their English and teaching them basic fractions, multiplication and division.

Baldus would sit with the students during meals, offer up language tips or simply play games — a distraction from the realities of life as a refugee.

“Especially in their home lives, a lot of them have a ton of responsibilities, so they never get the opportunity to just be a kid,” she said.

Once relationships developed between Baldus and the students, students shared glimpses into their harrowing experiences — dangerous journeys across borders, corruption, and random killings that took the lives of many of their parents.

Baldus befriended one girl, Mariam, who had one year remaining at the school and would soon face the possibility of marrying young with no clear answers for what the future would hold. She offered the young girl words of encouragement, reassuring her of her intelligence and resilience — words refugees often don’t hear, Baldus said.

Working alongside children who have all the odds stacked against them initially angered her and caused her to reevaluate her faith, knowing that religious persecution is at the root of many of their trials. But seeing the children and their gratefulness for a chance at an education became a source of hope.

“Their smiles and willingness to learn and to show me, a complete stranger, love was so Christ-like,” Baldus said.

“I saw Christ in all of them.”

Now back in the United States as a freshman at the University of Maryland, College Park, she is using her experience to spread awareness of the crisis, while encouraging others to pray, donate or commit to serving this group entrenched in a humanitarian crisis. A recent fundraiser at her parish helped support the school, including a newly

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Laos

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added second location to serve the refugee children.

Baldus’ time in Malaysia solidified her intent to devote her life to service. When choosing colleges, she specifically chose the University of Maryland for its involvement with Engineers Without Borders, an organization that sends students and professionals to foreign countries to address infrastructure problems while teaching locals how to replicate the work.

Whether her civil and environmental engineering studies brings her to Malaysia or another country, Baldus wants her college experience and future career to be rooted in service.

“I have to be doing what I’m doing for others; otherwise, what’s the point?” she said. “Whether that’s increasing awareness on a day-to-day basis, raising money or whatever I decide to do with my degree, I want it to be for the good of others.”

A Catholic women’s leadership organization, the GIVEN Institute, which aims to encourage and train young women in leadership roles in the Church and society, officially launched Sept. 12. “There are plenty of leadership programs in the private sector; there is no reason we can’t do it with a faith component,” the organization’s founder, Elise Italiano, said Sept. 11.

Italiano noted that there also are plenty of innovative ELISE ITALIANO programs in the Church, but leadership development for women is especially needed.

The Washington-based organization grew out of a 2016 leadership conference, sponsored by the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious, called the GIVEN Catholic Young Women’s Leadership Forum. That program brought together 300 young women for a weeklong conference at The Catholic University of America in Washington.

The GIVEN Institute plans to sponsor a national conference every two to three years modeled after the 2016 gathering, and offer a trackbased leadership program and individual mentoring programs matching young women with established Catholic women professionals from a variety of fields and ministries.

The forum’s participants were encouraged to develop action plans for how they would specifically follow their vocational calling.

“We want to help young women with a heart for mission and an aptitude for leadership to better understand their gifts and find opportunities to put them in the service of the Gospel,” Italiano said.

16 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

OCTOBER 11, 2018

FOCUSONFAITH SUNDAY SCRIPTURES | FATHER TERRY BEESON

Why did Jesus target the rich?

October is usually when I preach about stewardship. So, the last thing I want to hear from Jesus is, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Groan. How do I spin this? After all, Jesus is biting the hand that is on the trigger of the oil gun that greases the wheels of ministry.

Some preachers may look at it as an opportunity to have greater dividends in their stewardship. Some may try to placate the rich by showing how it is possible for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle. Trust me folks, Jesus was speaking hyperbole. The needle in question is a sewing needle. It is Jesus’ attempt at humor, demonstrating absurdity by being absurd. Jesus is the perfect human being, so why would humor not be a part of his repertoire?

The real question is, “Why did Jesus target the rich?” After all, it was the common thought that if one was rich, that meant they somehow had God’s favor by being blessed with wealth. The disciples were puzzled (the text says “exceedingly astonished”).

They ask, “Then who can be saved?” — meaning, “If the ones who have received God’s abundant blessings cannot be saved, who can?” The key here is in Jesus’ response: “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.”

ASK FATHER MIKE | FATHER MICHAEL SCHMITZ

What to do when it feels like I’m just going through the motions Q. I try to pray. I try to participate in the

Mass. But it always just feels so empty. It’s like I’m just going through the motions, and there is nothing there. Is this all there is, or is there something I can do?

A. Thank you for writing and asking about this.

What you are describing is a common experience for many people in their prayer lives. But consider this: The experience you described is not limited to the experience of prayer.

There are many elements of our lives that can feel like we are merely “going through the motions.”

A husband or wife could say that their relationship feels like they are going through the motions. An employee could show up for work day after day and notice that they are merely going through the motions. That fact doesn’t mean that they should abandon their marriage or quit their job, but it might indicate that something critical is missing — and that something needs to change.

Whenever I think of the phrase “going through the motions,” I am reminded of the movie “The Karate Kid.” If you remember the movie (the original or the remake), young Daniel was trained to learn karate by Mr. Miyagi. The beginning of the training was unusual. Mr. Miyagi made Daniel “wax on, wax off,” “paint the fence” and “sand the floor.” These seemingly meaningless tasks were unconsciously training Daniel’s muscle memory to be able to instinctively perform certain moves in martial arts. I remember thinking that this was the coolest idea ever, and my mom wondered why I kept asking if she had any chores for me to do after I had first watched the movie.

Now, while there is some truth in the phrase “practice makes perfect,” there is virtually no way that this training method would work in real life. First of all, it is human nature to allow one’s waxing or painting technique to slip a bit throughout the course of the day. Second, if this kind of training would ever work, the pupil would have to know why. They would have to know the reason they were sanding the deck in this particular way in order for that to make an impression at a deeper level. Simply going through the motions without knowing why, without knowing the goal, would

This Gospel passage for Oct. 14 speaks to the first beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Who are the poor? They are folks who have absolutely nothing, and they are dependent on others’ generosity for their survival. If we are to be poor in spirit — no matter if we are rich, poor or somewhere in between — we must have the mindset that our very being is dependent on God. The more we depend on earthly things, the less poor in spirit we become. The more we become poor in spirit, the more we open ourselves to God’s will, ultimately being open for all things that are possible for God. The rich young man young walked away sad. He had many possessions. Jesus challenged him in the way he needed to be challenged. The rich young man let his possessions rule his heart.

His earthly ways prevented him from trusting Jesus that there will be treasure in heaven. Being rich is an easy target in this sense, for Jesus points out what was holding him back.

The question for all of us is not necessarily “should I sell all I have and give it to Father Terry’s stewardship campaign?” That would be an amazing gesture of trust in God, and as much as it would help fatten up the parish funds, that is not the point. After all, Jesus dined with the short, rich tax collector Zacchaeus, and did he give him that instruction? The question for all of us is, what is holding me back from being a true disciple of Christ? Is it possessions? Is it status? Is it putting earthly things on a higher priority than who I am as a Catholic? What earthly desires are taking me off the path of Christ? How can I surrender my will for the will of God? Let us pray that we have the wisdom and courage to be open to the will of God and surrender to it.

Father Beeson is pastor of St. Pius V in Cannon Falls and St. Joseph in Miesville.

not be enough.

The same is true for prayer. When we were just learning about the Mass, the person teaching us shared the basics. They showed us the motions. Stand here. Genuflect like this. Make the Sign of the Cross in this way. That is important, and learning “the moves” is going to be just as necessary as is learning how to sit at the piano and hold one’s hands over the keys when it comes to learning how to play the piano. But, just like learning the piano, understanding those basic moves and repeatedly practicing them is just the beginning. What comes next is actually doing those moves over and over again so that they become second nature to the point that you can then move on to the next level: playing the piano.

I apologize for shifting the image from martial arts to playing the piano like that, but I believe it is helpful to make the point. Once a movement becomes natural (even if uncomfortable and awkward at first), the person is then able to move forward to the actual point of knowing the movement.

In order for this to happen, the young martial artist (or piano player, or “pray-er”) will have to continually be reminded that the movement is not the end, it is merely the beginning, and that continuing to return to the movement is meant to help them engage in deeper and more meaningful ways. But we have to remember why we are going through the motions: to be able to enter more fully and freely into worship.

Because of this, the experience of going through the motions could be very helpful. It might highlight the fact that something needs to change. Consider this: If a married couple begins to become aware that they are simply going through the motions of being married, that is a good indicator that they should engage with their spouse in a different way. It doesn’t necessarily mean that something is wrong with the relationship, but it might reveal that either spouse or both of them need to be more intentional about how they approach the other.

There is a principle of the spiritual life: “We pray as we live because we live as we pray.” If we do not choose to live according to the Spirit of God, then we will not be able to pray in the Spirit of God. If my prayer at Mass feels empty, that might mean I am not allowing God to enter and direct my life outside of Mass.

Lastly, the experience of going through the motions is not always a bad thing. We will not always feel like doing our duty. But when we do our duty, regardless of how we feel, our love for God is purified, and we can then begin to love him for his own sake, and not for how loving him makes us feel. So we do our duty, even when it feels like going through the motions, out of love for God. As St. Josemaria Escriva said, “Put your heart aside. Duty comes first. But, when fulfilling your duty, put your heart into it. It helps.”

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.

DAILY Scriptures Sunday, Oct. 14 Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time Wis 7:7-11 Heb 4:12-13 Mk 10:17-30 Monday, Oct. 15 St. Teresa of Jesus, virgin and doctor of the Church Gal 4:22-24, 26-27, 31–5:1 Lk 11:29-32 Tuesday, Oct. 16 Gal 5:1-6 Lk 11:37-41 Wednesday, Oct. 17 St. Ignatius of Antioch, bishop, martyr Gal 5:18-25 Lk 11:42-46 Thursday, Oct. 18 St. Luke, evangelist 2 Tm 4:10-17b Lk 10:1-9 Friday, Oct. 19 Sts. John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, priests, and companions, martyrs Eph 1:11-14 Lk 12:1-7 Saturday, Oct. 20 Eph 1:15-23 Lk 12:8-12 Sunday, Oct. 21 Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time Is 53:10-11 Heb 4:14-16 Mk 10:35-45 Monday, Oct. 22 Eph 2:1-10 Lk 12:13-21 Tuesday, Oct. 23 Eph 2:12-22 Lk 12:35-38 Wednesday, Oct. 24 Eph 3:2-12 Lk 12:39-48 Thursday, Oct. 25 Eph 3:14-21 Lk 12:49-53 Friday, Oct. 26 Eph 4:1-6 Lk 12:54-59 Saturday, Oct. 27 Eph 4:7-16 Lk 13:1-9 Sunday, Oct. 28 Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time Jer 31:7-9 Heb 5:1-6 Mk 10:46-52

OCTOBER 11, 2018

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 17

COMMENTARY TWENTY SOMETHING | CHRISTINA CAPECCHI

Pursuing less to live more: the grace of enough

Haley Stewart stared at the publish button and froze.

It’s nerve racking to announce big news, and this, in particular, had the potential to raise eyebrows.

The title of the blog post stared back at her, boldface, unblinking: “When You Leave Your Comfortable Life and Change Just About Everything.”

The announcement had been a long time coming.

Haley and her husband, Daniel, had begun discerning the change a year ago, and their house had been on the market for two months, but now that it was time to go public, she hesitated.

“I was expecting people to think we were crazy,” Haley said, standing by her backyard chicken coop in Waco, Texas, on a hot Friday afternoon and smiling at the memory.

The Stewarts had decided to move their five-person family halfway across the country to live in a 650-square foot apartment on a farm. It would be a primitive existence — no flushing toilet — and it was exactly what they were craving. Daniel’s work as a software tester had kept him away from their three

SIMPLE HOLINESS | KATE SOUCHERAY

The rosary a reminder to ‘do whatever he tells you’

I love the rosary. I have slept with one under my pillow for several decades, and as I say it, I often fall asleep. My mother told us when we were young that if we didn’t finish saying an entire rosary, the angels would finish it for us.

My mother-in-law also loved the rosary. If we called during the rosary hour on EWTN, she would answer the phone quickly and say, “Have to call you back.” And we knew. We had caught her in the middle of her favorite hour of the day and she couldn’t talk.

This prayer has been designated throughout history as a powerful tool for warriors when they entered a battle. The most significant confrontation attributed to Mary as “Our Lady of the Rosary” was in October 1571 during the Battle of Lepanto, in which Christians defeated the Ottoman Turks in a sea battle

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“

The experience changed the Stewarts. It was messier and more grueling than they’d imagined, but it was also glorious.

young kids too much and brought him no closer to his passion of farming.

They dreamt of a lifestyle where they could eat every meal together as a family, where the kids could be involved in their parents’ work and where they could live off the land.

And now they were doing it, thanks to a sustainable-agriculture internship Daniel had landed and the flexibility of Haley’s freelance writing and homeschooling.

The response to the announcement was overwhelmingly positive. Texts, emails and more than 100 comments on the blog post poured in.

“Yay for adventure!” one reader wrote. “I can live my fantasy of living on a farm vicariously through you.”

“You and Daniel are my newest heroes!” another reader wrote.

Haley couldn’t believe how deeply the news resonated. “So many people said: ‘I wish we could do something like that,’ or, ‘We may not be able to do that right now, but we’re trying to figure out how to simplify our lives.’”

It was the spirit of starting over, of eschewing the rat race to embark on an adventure as a family — a storyline dramatized by Kevin Costner in “Field of Dreams,” Billy Bob Thornton in “The Astronaut Farmer,” Matt Damon in “We Bought a Zoo” and

off the coast of Greece. Scholars contend this decisive battle determined the direction our world would take, even to this day. Because of this battle, October became known as the month of the rosary. While we often think of May as the month of Mary, October attests to Mary’s powerful influence and explains why she is held in such high esteem in our faith. It is throughout this month that we remember the importance and power of this compelling prayer.

When I was 7, I received a rosary for my first holy Communion. It had glow-in-the-dark, light green beads and was nearly as long as I was tall. My Irishtwin brother and I would kneel beside our parents’ bed in the evening and say the rosary together. He used his black rosary, which he had received the year before for his first holy Communion.

For Catholic families, the rosary was not simply a memorized prayer we would recite together on a daily or weekly basis, it was a unifying symbol of what it was to be a Catholic. Taking time to speak lovingly and trustingly to our Mother Mary, invoking her intercession in good times as well as difficult times, meant we believed in her power to intervene for us with her son, Jesus, helping us attain our desired requests.

John’s Gospel recounts the story of the wedding at Cana. When Mary realized the wine had run out, she went to Jesus to explain this calamity. He simply responded, “My time has not yet come.” That didn’t stop Mary. She went to the steward. We can imagine her as a diminutive, Jewish woman, putting her hand on his forearm, looking up at him tenderly and simply saying, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Hugh Jackman in “The Greatest Showman.”

The experience changed the Stewarts. It was messier and more grueling than they’d imagined, but it was also glorious. They felt connected. To each other. To the land. To the seasons and their neighbors and their faith.

Shortly after the move, Pope Francis released “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home,” an encyclical that challenged the “throwaway culture” the Stewarts had been grappling with.

“It really clarified our spiritual foundations,” said Haley, who was now chopping sweet potatoes in the kitchen to make soup. “It was very cool.”

She chronicled their adventures in a book just published by Ave Maria Press, “The Grace of Enough: Pursuing Less and Living More in a Throwaway Culture.”

It extends an invitation to harried Americans: There is another way.

The Stewarts have not yet mastered simple living.

Now that they have four kids, the proclivity to acquire stuff is even stronger, and they still battle the instinct to measure their days by output versus relationships.

But they limit extracurriculars to one, Jiu-Jitsu, which the kids attend back-to-back, requiring only one family outing — not the chauffeuring circuit that splinters many families. And Daniel recently passed up a promotion that would have brought longer hours and increased stress.

The American drive to work more, buy more, do more — ultimately — is “symptomatic of a failure to love,” Haley writes in her book. Goodness abounded when they learned to pursue less: the grace of enough.

Capecchi is a freelance writer from Inver Grove Heights.

ACTION CHALLENGE Take time this month to say the rosary as a family. Say it slowly and prayerfully, and listen to each prayer as you say it.

She knew. She had asked her son for help and she knew he would respond favorably to her.

When we say the rosary, we can be assured of the same response. When we find ourselves unsure of what to do in a certain situation, we can ask her for wisdom and help, and she will simply put it in our head and on our heart, “Just do whatever he tells you.” She will always direct us back to Jesus because she has already reached out to him on our behalf.

If you find yourself in a difficult moment of your life, turn to her in the rosary. Say it slowly and intentionally. Listen to the words of the prayers and speak them with reverence and respect. See this blessed prayer for the power it brings into our lives when we take the time to speak the words with care and intention. It has been known for its sacredness throughout history, and it will certainly continue to galvanize the faithful to reach out to Mary in confidence and trust, believing she will intercede on our behalf, helping us attain greater holiness in our lives.

Soucheray is a licensed marriage and family therapist and a member of Guardian Angels in Oakdale. She holds a master’s degree in theology from the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul.

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18 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

THE LOCAL CHURCH | DEACON MICKEY FRIESEN

Witnessing youthful faith

The first time I ever went on a mission trip was in college, when I joined a group visiting our archdiocesan mission in Venezuela. I was filled with excitement and anxiety as we embarked on this adventure of faith. I knew that mission had something to do with sharing faith, but I wondered how I would be able to communicate and bring God to Venezuela. When we finally arrived, I was surprised to find out that God was already there!

God was especially alive among the youth who gathered regularly to study the Bible, learn about their faith and join together in various acts of service in their community. Their joy and hospitality toward us visitors took my breath away. When it was time to go, I wondered who received more from the experience.

That is the thing about Christ’s mission; it is truly in the mutual sharing of life and faith that the Gospel is made known.

Celebrated Oct. 21, World Mission Day is a time for the Church around the world to be reminded that it is in mission that the Church is renewed and to reflect the spirit of our missionary God. The character of the

FAITH AT HOME | LAURA KELLY FANUCCI

A month to pray, respect, remember

What surprised me most was not that she had carried her grief quietly for half a century.

Not that she could tell me exactly how old her babies would be today. Not that her bright eyes brimmed with tears as she shared her story with a stranger.

What shocked me was that after we finished talking, I looked up to find another woman waiting to speak to me about her own losses. Then another behind her. And another. And another.

After speaking and writing publicly about infertility, miscarriage and infant loss, I have gotten used to the fact — indeed, the grace — that whenever one shares a story, others come forward to tell their own.

But I still carry the memory of that first night, in a parish not far from mine, where woman after woman waited to share their same silent sorrow.

Each one taught me how the heaviest stories are made lighter when we carry them together. We sat and talked

COMMENTARY

OCTOBER 11, 2018

Gospel is that it is ever young and ever new. God continues to call us into his abundant life and send us forth in his spirit. It is a youthful spirit ready for adventure and hungry for meaning and purpose for one’s life.

This year we are invited to draw our attention to that youthful spirit of the Gospel. In “Evangelii Gaudium,” Pope Francis draws attention to the spirit of youth brimming with life’s possibilities and the spirit it inspires. He says that each of our lives “is” a mission.

“Each one of us is called to reflect on this fact: ‘I am a mission on this Earth; that is the reason why I am here in this world.’”

In the same way, mission revitalizes faith. This is something we learn about our faith when we share with another. We learn more about who we are and who God is for us. Pope Francis says that each of us “is” the mission of Christ because we are missionary by our nature. On World Mission Day, each year we renew our missionary identity so that we may share the gifts of faith with others. In doing so, the Church is restored to her youthful, self-inspiration by the Gospel. And young people play a key role in giving themselves fully to God’s plan in their life. Seeing young people excited about their faith and willing to share themselves in serving others can energize and renew us.

At our archdiocesan mission in Venezuela, young people play a vital role in building up the Church. For example, the St. Vincent de Paul Society is a means for young people to visit the sick, bring food to the hungry, clean and provide household chores to those disabled.

The young people bring their spirit of joy, a listening ear, and a love of life into homes and settings too often lonely and dark by isolation and illness. These young

for nearly an hour. Nothing was fixed by our conversation or tears, but we left lighter.

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ,” wrote St. Paul (Gal 6:2). The same exhortation holds true for us today, especially this month.

As Catholics, our call to family life — within our own families and the wider body of Christ — commands us to carry out these works of mercy. To comfort the sorrowful.

To pray for the living and the dead.

October is Respect Life Month. It’s also Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month and the month of the rosary.

A perfect time to take up our call to pray for those who are grieving the loss of life at its very beginning.

Even those at the end of their earthly life, the wise ones who have learned much from their length of days, still carry the weight of this grief. Their stories, buried for decades, are wounds that can burst open with unexpected emotion.

Generations past often endured the added burdens of secrecy and shame. Doctors who whisked away their babies before they could hold them. Spouses who never spoke of the stillbirth. Relatives who told them to forget about the miscarriage, move on and try again.

“At least now people are talking about it,” they tell me, dabbing at eyes welled with fresh sorrow. “No one helped me. No one cared.”

ATTENTION TO MISSIONS Held annually on the second-to-last Sunday in October, World Mission Day draws attention to missions around the world and raises funds for their support. World Mission Day is observed Oct. 21 this year with a focus on youth. As this year’s observance falls during the Vatican Synod on youth and young adults, Pope Francis addressed his message for 2018 World Mission Day to young people, telling them that “life is a mission.” Funds collected during Masses on World Mission Day support the Pontifical Mission Societies, which support missions in certain dioceses around the world, including Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela, where the mission parish of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is located.

people are not only the future of the Church, they are already witnessing Christ in the present. (See related story on page 20.)

On World Mission Day, we lift up and pray for the young, missionary Church where the Gospel is fresh and the Church is growing. We are invited to accompany this youthful Gospel in our own lives. We are invited to share our faith and serve others in need so that our joy may grow and our faith may deepen and we shall be revitalized. May this World Mission Day lead us to the Good News of Jesus that is ever young and new. And may we be the children of God. Deacon Friesen is director of the Center for Mission in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Facing the pain of the bereaved is daunting for all of us. Even after writing a book on miscarriage for Catholic couples, I still hesitate each time I pen a sympathy card or wait in line after a funeral. What can I possibly say?

But October reminds me to serve with the simplest acts of love: respect, pray and remember. To be the Church that reaches out with mercy, honors each life lost and continues to care for the bereaved.

When people ask me what to say to someone in their life who has lost a child, I offer four simple phrases, the four I fall back on every time. “I’m so sorry. I love you.

I’m here for you. You and your child will not be forgotten.”

This is how we grow into greater compassion for those who mourn. Respect the depth of their grief, pray for their healing and remember their pain over time.

“I have thought about my babies every day since,” the last woman in line told me that night. Bent over a walker, she leaned forward with a shaky whisper. “Every day since.”

I cannot forget her words. I hope you will remember, too.

Fanucci, a parishioner of St. Joseph the Worker in Maple Grove, is a mother, writer and director of a project on vocations at the Collegeville Institute in Collegeville. She is the author of several books, including “Everyday Sacrament: The Messy Grace of Parenting,” and blogs at motheringspirit.com.

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OCTOBER 11, 2018

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 19

CALENDAR FEATURED EVENTS Carmelite retreat — Oct. 13: 8 a.m.–noon at St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony. Carmelite Father Thomas Ortanga will speak on how carmelite spirituality can help a lay person grow in prayer and holiness. Archbishop Bernard Hebda will celebrate Mass at the retreat. For more information and to register for this free event, visit eventbrite.com and search “Carmelite.”

Red Mass — Oct. 13: 6:15 p.m. at Assumption in St. Paul. Archbishop Bernard Hebda will celebrate the Mass for law professionals and their families.

A reception will follow. For more information, visit archspm.org/events.

Music

Retreats

Evensong — Oct. 14: 7 p.m. at Guardian Angels, 8260 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. Prayer in honor of Archbishop Oscar Romero. guardian-angels.org.

Women’s weekday retreat — Oct. 12-14 at Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center, 16385 St. Francis Lane, Prior Lake. franciscanretreats.net/womens-retreats.

Parish events

Married couples retreat — Oct. 12-14 at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. kingshouse.com.

St. Boniface polka Mass and German dinner — Oct. 14: 10 a.m.–2 p.m. at 629 Second St. NE, Minneapolis. Polka music

by Rod Cerar Orchestra. stbonifacempls.org.

Women’s Day of Reflection — Oct. 13: 8 a.m.–3 p.m. at Transfiguration, 6133 15th St. N., Oakdale. With author and spiritual director Elizabeth Kelly. transfigurationmn.org.

Grandparent ministry — Oct. 18: 6:30–8 p.m. at St. John the Baptist, 835 Second Ave. NW, New Brighton. Judy Cozzens (mother of Bishop Andrew Cozzens) will present “Passing on the Faith.” Contact Rita at rspiess1@msn.com. stjohnnb.com.

Food and Faith: Eating as Spiritual Practice — Oct. 19-21 at St. Paul’s Monastery, 2675 Benet Road, Maplewood. benedictinecenter.org.

St. Mary of the Lake rummage and bake sale — Oct. 18-20: 5–8 p.m. Oct. 18; 8 a.m.–6 p.m. Oct. 19; 8 a.m.– noon Oct. 20 at 4690 Bald Eagle Ave., White Bear Lake.

Rummage sale benefits outreach ministries. Bake sale benefits victims and survivors of human trafficking. stmarys-wbl.org.

White Mass — Oct. 20: 5:15 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. Archbishop Bernard Hebda will celebrate the Mass for health care workers and their families. A reception will follow. For more information, email flomos@archspm.org.

St. Peter’s rummage sale — Oct. 19-21: 8 a.m.–5 p.m.

Oct. 19; 9 a.m.–6 p.m. Oct. 20; 9 a.m.–1 p.m. Oct. 21 at 2600 N. Margaret St., North St. Paul. churchofstpeternsp.org.

St. Peter’s 75th diamond anniversary celebration — Oct. 21: 11 a.m.–4 p.m. at 6730 Nicollet Ave. S., Richfield.

11 a.m. Mass celebrated by Archbishop Bernard Hebda. stpetersrichfield.org.

Solidarity Mass — Oct. 21: 5 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. The Mass of Solidarity began in response to the 2-year “Share the Journey” campaign Pope Francis began in 2017.

It supports people who are immigrants and refugees. Archbisbop Bernard Hebda will celebrate the Mass. For more information, visit archspm.org/events.

Nativity of Our Lord grandparents’ apostolate — Oct. 23: 8:45–10:30 a.m. at 1938 Stanford Ave., St. Paul. Father Steven Hoffman, pastor of St. Peter, Mendota Heights, will present “The Power of Faith and Love.” 651-696-5401 or nativity-mn.org.

Holy Childhood rummage sale — Oct. 25-27: 9 a.m.–7 p.m.

Oct. 25; 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Oct. 26; 9 a.m.–1 p.m. Oct. 27 at 1435 Midway Parkway, St. Paul. holychildhoodparish.org.

Oktoberfest bingo, dinner, music and dancing — Oct. 27: 2– 9:30 p.m. at Immaculate Conception, 4030 Jackson St. NE, Columbia Heights. ICCSonline.org.

Dining out Knights of Columbus breakfast — Oct. 14: 9 a.m.–noon at Blessed Sacrament, 2119 Stillwater Ave., St. Paul. blessedsacramentsp.org.

Breakfast buffet — Oct. 14: 8 a.m.–1 p.m. at Guardian Angels, 8260 Fourth St. N., Oakdale. Hosted by the Guardian Angels Men’s Club. guardian-angels.org.

Knights of Columbus pancake breakfast — Oct. 14: 8 a.m.–noon at Guardian Angels Catholic School, 215 West Second St., Chaska. school.gachaska.org.

Knights of Columbus benefit breakfast — Oct. 21: 8 a.m.– 1 p.m. at 1910 S. Greeley St., Stillwater. Proceeds to help fund St. Mary’s roof project. kc1632.mnknights.org.

Knights of Columbus pro-life dinner — Oct. 27: 6–9 p.m. at 11400 57th St. NE, Albertville. Speakers in support of St. Michael Foundation. kc4174.org.

Pete’s boutique — Oct. 27: 9 a.m.–4 p.m. at St. Peter, 6730 Nicollet Ave. S., Richfield. stpetersrichfield.org.

St. Jerome’s carry-out booya — Oct. 28: 6 a.m. at 380 E. Roselawn Ave., Maplewood. Carry-out booya only. Bring your own non-glass container. stjerome-church.org.

Prayer/worship Mass of God’s Children — Oct. 15: 7 p.m. at Nativity of Our Lord, 1938 Stanford Ave., St. Paul. For those who have experienced the death of a baby before or after birth.

Co-sponsored by Nativity of Our Lord parish and the Nativity Council of Catholic Women. facebook.com/NCCWSaintPaul.

The 177 Project — Oct. 20: 6:45 p.m. at Nativity of Mary, 9900 Lyndale Ave. S., Bloomington. The 177 Project is an initiative from Adoration Artists designed to help spark a eucharistic revival in parishes across the country. the177project.com.

CALENDAR submissions DEADLINE: Noon Thursday, 14 days before the anticipated Thursday date of publication. We cannot guarantee a submitted event will appear in the calendar. Priority is given to events occurring before the next issue date.

LISTINGS: Accepted are brief no­tices of upcoming events hosted by Catholic parishes and organizations. If the Catholic connection is not clear, please emphasize it in your submission. Included in our listings are local events submitted by public sources that could be of interest to the larger Catholic community.

Men’s silent retreat — Oct. 19-21 at Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center, 16385 St. Francis Lane, Prior Lake. franciscanretreats.net.

ITEMS MUST INCLUDE the following to be considered for publication:

Men’s silent weekend retreat — Oct. 26-28 at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. kingshouse.com.

uTime and date of event

Consumed by His Love discernment retreat — Oct. 26-28 at St. Peter, 2600 N. Margaret St., North St. Paul. Hosted by the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles. For single women ages 18-35. Contact Sister Elizabeth Therese at mncomeandsee@outlook.com or 626-300-8938. carmelitesistersocd.com.

uFull street address of event uDescription of event u Contact information in case of questions

Birthmothers’ retreat — Oct. 27: 9:15 a.m.–2 p.m. at Our Lady of Grace, 5071 Eden Ave., Edina. This retreat is a day set aside each fall to welcome women who have experienced the pain of relinquishing a child to adoption. olgparish.org.

ONLINE: thecatholicspirit.com/calendarsubmissions MAIL: “Calendar,” The Catholic Spirit 777 Forest St., St. Paul, MN 55106

Conferences/workshops Celebrating Our Missions of Love — Oct. 20: 8 a.m.–1 p.m. at Our Lady of Grace, 5071 Eden Ave. Edina. The event examines how cross-cultural and international parish relationships deepen people’s faith and commitment. Archbishop Bernard Hebda will join the discussion and celebrate Mass. To register, contact Janine Ricker at 65-291-4504. olgparish.org.

How to prepare a Catholic health care directive — Oct. 23: 6:30–8 p.m. at St. Joseph, 13900 Biscayne Ave. W., Rosemount. Presenter Deacon Dan Gannon. stjosephcommunity.org.

Great Conversation: Change is Possible — Oct. 25: 9 a.m.–1 p.m. at St. Paul’s Monastery, 2675 Benet Road, Maplewood. Led by Diane Millis. benedictinecenter.org.

Schools St. Agnes School preschool-12 open house — Oct. 11: 6:30–8:30 p.m. at 530 Lafond Ave., St. Paul. saintagnesschool.org.

Benilde-St. Margaret’s open house grades 7-12 — Oct. 15: 6–8:30 p.m. at 2501 Highway 100 S., St. Louis Park. bsmschool.org.

Speakers Pro-Life Gathering — Oct. 11: 7–8 p.m. at St. Peter, 1405 Highway 13, Mendota. A speaker from Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life will update citizens with the latest information on abortion, assisted suicide and other issues. mccl.org/falltour.

Pro-Life Gathering — Oct. 15: 7–8 p.m. at St. Peter, 1250 S. Shore Drive, Forest Lake. A speaker from Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life will update citizens with the latest information on abortion, assisted suicide and other issues. mccl.org/falltour.

Honesty about pornography — Oct. 20: 11 a.m.–noon at Maple Grove Library, 8001 Main St. N., Maple Grove. Mike Petersen and Russ Rooney will be speaking. Adults and teens are welcome to attend. Sponsored by Catholic United Financial.

Tolton: From Slave to Priest — Oct. 23: 7–9 p.m. at Basilica of St. Mary, 88 N. 17th St., Minneapolis. Live theater production based on the life of Father Augustus Tolton, the first AfricanAmerican Catholic priest. Suitable for ages 10 and up. Register at mary.org/tolton.

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20 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

OCTOBER 11, 2018

THELASTWORD

MISSION SUPPORT The Diocese of Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela, is home to Jesucristo Resucitado, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ mission parish in the city of San Félix. The Diocese of Ciudad Guayana receives funding to help its ministry from the Pontifical Mission Societies, which Catholics financially support annually with contributions on World Mission Day, Oct. 21 this year. Local fundraising for the Pontifical Mission Societies is coordinated by the Center for Mission. For more information, visit centerformission.org.

JONATHAN LIEDL | FOR THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Dubraska Medina, a parishioner of Jesucristo Resucitado, delivers food to a man in need in San Félix, Venezuela. The 20-year-old had dreamed of opening a chocolate and pastry shop, but is dedicating her time to her parish’s soup kitchen before beginning studies in Spain.

Against the odds Despite challenges, Venezuelan youth have powerful potential

By Jonathan Liedl For The Catholic Spirit

O

nly a few years ago, Graviel de Jesús was heading down a dangerous path.

Already growing up poor in San Félix, Venezuela, and with complications from his mother’s alcohol and drug use while he was in utero, the teenager’s options for earning a livelihood were further limited when his country’s economy started to collapse. God was not a part of his life at the time, and so the young de Jesús began to follow his older brother into a life of crime.

But de Jesús’ descent was halted by the invitation and example of another Venezuelan youth, Randolph Silburan. Though he had a heart condition that prevented him from taking part in sports and other physical activities, Silburan was a joyful and faithful young man, and played an active role at Jesucristo Resucitado, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’s mission parish in San Félix. One Sunday he invited de Jesús to come to Mass, and shared with him the Catholic faith.

“I didn’t want to come, but he insisted,” said de Jesús, of Silburan. The two became close friends, but Silburan died at age 16 following an unsuccessful heart surgery.

Today, de Jesús is one of the most active young adult members of Jesucristo Resucitado, where he is an altar server, volunteers with the St. Vincent de Paul Society and is a member of the youth group.

He also regularly takes food to the local jail, where his older brother is incarcerated, an outcome de Jesús also likely would have shared if not for Silburan’s witness.

“He was the motive for me to begin my Catholic faith,” said de Jesús, now 18.

The story of de Jesús and Silburan captures two

aspects of the reality of youth in Venezuela today: While they face extraordinary challenges amid their nation’s ongoing crisis, they also possess the potential to be a unique source of hope and joy for others during these dark times.

fruitful season of growth,” he said, noting that young people play an important role in music ministry and service in the parish. “They have recognized their own deficiencies, but also looked for ways to help those even less fortunate than themselves.”

Trying times

Hope through service

Father James Peterson saw this dual dynamic during his nearly three years as associate pastor of Jesucristo Resucitado, an assignment that concluded this past July. The 32-year-old priest, who currently serves as pastor of Immaculate Conception in Columbia Heights, said many of the young people he met in Venezuela are disillusioned about their future.

“There is a general sense of hopelessness amongst young people because their efforts don’t seem to be worth it,” he noted, identifying Venezuela’s high unemployment rate and low wages as discouraging factors.

As a result of the lack of opportunity, many young people don’t take their education seriously, and they fail to set goals for themselves. Some leave professional employment to sell trinkets and food items from their homes because it pays more. Others turn to lives of vice, as evidenced by Venezuela’s sky-high rates of crime and unwed teenage pregnancy.

Increasingly, however, young adult Venezuelans are leaving the country, or at least trying to. A poll conducted last year by Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Caracas found that 53 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds were considering emigrating. The Red Cross estimates that one million Venezuelan emigres crossed into Columbia last year alone, with many of them thought to be young people. Their departure contributes to feelings of isolation and despair for those who remain.

Father Peterson says the trying conditions have led some to question God’s goodness and to drift away from the faith. But for other young adults, he says, the crisis has helped to strengthen their convictions, and it has brought them closer to Christ.

“For those that have placed their hope and trust and joy in the Lord, these challenging times have been a

Dubraska Medina is a striking example of the type of selflessness in the midst of suffering Father Peterson describes. The 20-year-old Jesucristo Resucitado parishioner said she has dreamed from a young age of opening her own chocolate and pastry store, but that Venezuela’s crisis forced her to put plans to pursue specialized education on hold in order to support her family.

Instead of being discouraged by the setback, Medina turned her creative energy to serving the poor. She has organized a Christmas toy drive for children at a local school, and has served as a member of Jesucristo Resucitado’s St. Vincent de Paul Society. More recently, she has taken a key role in delivering meals to families who rely on the parish’s soup kitchen for food.

“For me, the crisis has been a source of inspiration, to get something good out of the bad,” said Medina, adding that she encounters God through the poor.

Now, she has a new dream: to start a soup kitchen in each of the 11 sectors of the parish in order to serve a greater number of people.

In the immediate future, however, she has made the difficult decision to leave the country in order to pursue her education. She is planning to begin studies in Spain in January.

Nevertheless, Father Peterson says that young people like Medina and de Jesús have had a profound impact on their local community, and will hopefully inspire other youths to follow their lead of faithful service.

“To see the depths of empathy and compassion and concern from young people in Venezuela is remarkable,” he said. “If they give themselves to God and consciously choose what is good, refusing to give into temptation, they can help to transform the world for the better.”