Lori Niesen of Options for Women East in St. Paul performs an ultrasound Oct. 15 on Janette Medina of St. Paul, who reacts to the image on the screen. Medina, 27, is due Nov. 19 with a baby girl she has named Gabriella, and is in a prenatal program at Options for Women East, one of 90 known pregnancy resource centers in Minnesota. Niesen is a registered diagnostic medical sonographer. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
AIM HIGHER Students from Shakopee Area Catholic School in Shakopee and Our Lady of Grace Catholic School in Edina sing with other students from Catholic schools during Aim Higher Foundation’s 12th annual Night of Light celebration. Nearly 700 supporters gathered at The Depot in Minneapolis Oct. 12 to support families seeking the benefits of Catholic education. The event raised more than $1.1 million. In the current school year, the St. Paul-based foundation is supporting 2,550 elementary school students in 80 different Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Since its founding in 2012, Aim Higher has awarded over 16,000 scholarships worth more than $15 million.
RECOGNIZING CATHOLIC SCHOOL LEADERS Father Neil Bakker, pastor of St. John the Baptist parish and school in Jordan, left, shakes hands with Benjamin Vasko and others from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Office for the Mission of Catholic Education Oct. 10 at the Archdiocesan Catholic School Leadership Banquet. Father Bakker was one of three pastors recognized at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul for steadfast dedication to their parish schools. The third annual event included Mass with Archbishop Bernard Hebda, installing new leaders, recognizing heads of Catholic schools and clergy, and awarding grants to Catholic schools that recently completed the Catholic School Study. To see more from the event, visit spmcatholicschools org
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the Oct. 18 “Practicing Catholic” radio show included a discussion with Jill King about her role at Lakes Life Care Center and the importance of pregnancy resource centers, and an interview with Sarah Kostick on how science points to a creator. The program also included the conclusion of an interview from the previous week with Tom and Anne Olund about a severe leukemia diagnosis. Listen to interviews after they have aired at archspm org/faith-and-discipleship/practicing-catholic or choose a streaming platform at Spotify for Podcasters.
The person with a different opinion is not an enemy.
Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, the relator general of the Vatican’s Synod on Synodality, told about 140 students gathered Oct. 18 in the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall at the tables used by synod members. The students, from 16 Catholic universities in the United States –– along with a small group of young adults from Germany, Austria and Switzerland –– had spent a week in Rome studying synodality. Cardinal Hollerich, noting that most of the students were from the United States, told them, “When I see on television about the elections in the States, there are two worlds which seem to be opposed, and you have to be enemy of the other –– that thinking is very far from synodal thinking.” The synodal listening, he said, helps people experience that “together we are part of humanity, we live in the same world, and we have to find common solutions.”
NEWS notes
Bishop-elect Kevin Kenney will be ordained and installed as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis at a 1 p.m. Oct. 28 Mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. All the faithful are invited. The ordination Mass will be livestreamed on the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Facebook page at facebook com/archdiocesespm. The ordination will be carried live on Metro Cable Channel 6 (on cable and online) and carried via livestream on the Cathedral’s accounts with Facebook at facebook com/cathedralsaintpaul and YouTube at youtube com/cathedralsaintpaul. Before the ordination, people can pray in a special way with the bishop-elect during vespers at 7 p.m. Oct. 27 at St. Olaf in Minneapolis, followed by a reception. The prayers that evening will be livestreamed via the YouTube accounts of the parish and the archdiocese at youtube com/c/saintolafchurch and youtube com/user/archdiocesespm. After his ordination, he will celebrate Masses of Thanksgiving followed by receptions at 5 p.m. Nov. 2 (bilingual) at Our Lady of Guadalupe (OLG) in St. Paul, at noon Nov. 3 at St. Olaf and at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 6 (bilingual) at Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Minneapolis. The receptions at OLG and Sts. Cyril and Methodius will be potluck.
St. Mary’s University of Minnesota (with campuses in Winona and Minneapolis) is acknowledging the establishment of the Benedict XVI Chair with a series of events Oct. 28-Nov. 1. According to the university, the donor-funded position seeks to promote “academic excellence and a deep connection to the global Catholic community.” The inaugural chair position will be held by Pierluca Azzaro, executive secretary of the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation The establishment of the Benedict XVI Chair also marks the first time the Vatican Foundation has partnered with an American university, according to St. Mary’s University of Minnesota officials.
Organizers say a new series of events in the archdiocese aims to emphasize not what’s achieved, but rather what’s received during the Sabbath. Titled “In Defense of Leisure: Reclaiming the Lord’s Day,” the series kicks off Oct. 29 at St. John the Evangelist in Little Canada. Led by Michael Naughton, director of the Center for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas, and Pamela Patnode, director of the Certificate Program in Catholic School Leadership at The St. Paul Seminary, each presentation features a talk, a question-and-answer session, prayer and reflection. Learn more about the series online at archspm org/in-defense-of-leisure-reclaiming-thelords-day/
A continuing lecture series in November ties into the year two implementation of Archbishop Bernard Hebda’s pastoral letter, “You Will Be My Witnesses: Gathered and Sent From the Upper Room,” and its emphasis on the Mass and the Eucharist. Titled “Seven Times a Day, I Praise You,” the series will continue Nov. 7 and Nov. 21 at St. John Neumann in Eagan. The series offers an overview of the Liturgy of the Hours, guiding participants through the prayers and ways to incorporate them into daily life. The series is a Catechetical Institute offering and is led by Deacon Joseph Michalak, Catechetical Institute instructor and archdiocesan director of discipleship and evangelization. Cost and additional information can be found online at archspm org/seven-times-a-day-i-praise-you/
COURTESY RICH GRANER AND AIM HIGHER FOUNDATION
JIM BOVI | COURTESY OMCE
FROMTHEBISHOP-ELECT
ONLY JESUS | BISHOP-ELECT KEVIN KENNEY
Ministry to the dying
Afew weeks ago, as I was walking the mountain paths of Park City, Utah, with the colored foliage under my feet, the canopy of autumn hues overhead, the rays of sunshine enlightening my path, I pondered the journey we will all make one day to meet our creator.
I imagined this path like the road that leads to heaven, offering an opportunity to reflect upon life and letting go of life’s burdens that bog us down. At times, I could not tell where the path led, but I knew it would end well. God’s relationship with us changes like the seasons as we grow in life, as we see things differently at every stage.
When someone is on the journey toward death, a call is often made to the parish house beckoning a priest to visit with the oils to help the individual on this path, comforting them with the anointing of the sick, or as many still ask for, “last rites.” These calls rarely come at a convenient time, but every effort is made to pay a visit, comforting not only the individual on the journey but their loved ones and friends surrounding them.
The prayers, the oil, the laying on of hands, all bring comfort to the dying and for their loved ones, hope for peace and healing. During the actual anointing, one can see a change in the person being anointed. A sense of peace comes over them as their breathing calms and words are mumbled with familiar prayers. The hearing of the prayers never fails, and the feel of the laying on of hands and the anointing oil offer assurance that the individual is not alone. When anointing prayers are said, one can sense the room filling with spiritual beings who pray alongside and carry those prayers to the Father. Even if one is not dying, the anointing of the sick offers a sense of peace, calm and healing. Tears fill the eyes of those present, as a weight is lifted from the room. Sometimes even a smile appears on the face of the one anointed.
The process of dying is not easy for anyone. Many
Ministerio para los moribundos
Hace unas semanas, mientras caminaba por los senderos de las montañas de Park City, Utah, con el follaje colorido bajo mis pies, el dosel de tonos otoñales sobre mi cabeza, los rayos de sol iluminando mi camino, reflexioné sobre el viaje que todos haremos algún día para encontrarnos con nuestro Creador. Imaginé este camino como el camino que conduce al cielo, ofreciendo una oportunidad para reflexionar sobre la vida y dejar ir las cargas que nos agobian. A veces, no podía decir a dónde conducía el camino, pero sabía que terminaría bien. La relación de Dios con nosotros cambia como las estaciones a medida que crecemos en la vida, ya que vemos las cosas de manera diferente en cada etapa.
Cuando alguien está en camino hacia la muerte, a menudo se hace un llamado a la casa parroquial para que un sacerdote visite a la persona con los óleos y la ayude en este camino, consolándola con la unción de los enfermos o, como muchos todavía piden, con los “últimos sacramentos”. Estas llamadas rara vez llegan en un momento conveniente, pero se hace todo lo posible para hacer una visita, consolando no solo a la persona en el camino, sino también a sus seres queridos y amigos que la rodean. Las oraciones, el aceite, la imposición de manos, todo trae consuelo a los moribundos y a sus seres queridos, esperanza de paz y sanación. Durante la
I
imagined this path like the road that leads to heaven, offering an opportunity to reflect upon life and letting go of life’s burdens that bog us down.
services are offered for the individual and the family when the time comes. Hospice and comfort care is a growing and compassionate ministry that is offered to ease the journey for all involved. Pastoral ministers in parishes serve a grand role, having known the person dying personally for a time and journeying with them in prayer. Pre-planning your funeral is a great gift to leave your family members or those you want to know your wishes. One should not be afraid to talk about this and to have a plan. Ministering to the dying takes on many forms and each is as important as the other.
Every day is a gift, and we never know the day or the hour, but life is to be lived in a way that is pleasing to God. As we minister to the dying, we minister to ourselves. Death is a guarantee in life and how we
unción en sí, uno puede ver un cambio en la persona que está siendo ungida. Una sensación de paz los invade a medida que su respiración se calma y se murmuran palabras con oraciones familiares. La escucha de las oraciones nunca falla, y la sensación de la imposición de manos y el aceite de la unción ofrecen la seguridad de que la persona no está sola. Cuando se dicen las oraciones de unción, uno puede sentir que la habitación se llena de seres espirituales que oran junto con ellos y llevan esas oraciones al Padre. Incluso si uno no está muriendo, la unción de los enfermos ofrece una sensación de paz, calma y sanación. Las lágrimas llenan los ojos de los presentes, como si se levantara un peso de la habitación. A veces incluso aparece una sonrisa en el rostro del ungido. El proceso de morir no es fácil para nadie. Se ofrecen muchos servicios para la persona y la familia cuando llega el momento. Los cuidados paliativos y de confort son un ministerio cada vez más compasivo que se ofrece para facilitar el camino a todos los involucrados. Los ministros pastorales en las parroquias desempeñan un papel importante, ya que conocen personalmente a la persona que está muriendo durante un tiempo y la acompañan en el camino de la oración. Planificar con anticipación su funeral es un gran regalo para dejarle a sus familiares o a aquellos que desea que conozcan sus deseos. No debe tener miedo de hablar de esto y tener un plan. El ministerio para los moribundos adopta muchas formas y cada una es tan importante como la otra. Cada día es un regalo, y nunca sabemos el día o la hora, pero la vida debe vivirse de una manera que agrade a Dios. Cuando ministramos a los moribundos,
approach it will influence our dying process. Helping others on the journey challenges our faith when the time is too soon, too long, too painful, or too fearful. Again, none of us know when we will be called home but, in the meantime, let us offer encouragement to others in their time that it is OK to go, and encourage them, “when you see Jesus, run to him!”
Eternal rest grant unto them O, Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace! May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace! Así sea!
Bishop-elect Kenney’s ordination is set for 1 p.m. Oct. 28 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. All the faithful are invited.
nos ministramos a nosotros mismos. La muerte es una garantía en la vida y la forma en que la afrontemos influirá en nuestro proceso de morir. Ayudar a otros en el camino desafía nuestra fe cuando el momento es demasiado pronto, demasiado largo, demasiado doloroso o demasiado temible. Una vez más, ninguno de nosotros sabe cuándo seremos llamados a casa, pero, mientras tanto, ofrezcamos aliento a los demás en su momento de que está bien ir, y animémoslos a que “cuando vean a Jesús, corran hacia él”.
Concédeles, Señor, el descanso eterno y brille para ellos la luz perpetua. ¡Que descansen en paz! ¡Que sus almas y las almas de todos los fieles difuntos, por la misericordia de Dios, descansen en paz! ¡Así sea!
La ordenación del obispo electo Kenney está prevista para la 1 p.m. del 28 de octubre en la Catedral de San Pablo en St. Paul. Todos los fieles están invitados.
OFFICIAL
Archbishop Bernard Hebda has announced the following appointment in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis: Effective November 1, 2024
Reverend Jimmy Puttananickal, CFIC, assigned as pastor of the Church of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Saint Paul
Park. Father Puttananickal is a priest of the Congregation of the Sons of the Immaculate Conception.
Radio rosary
Father Francis Hoffman, aka “Father Rocky,” addresses those gathered at the chapel at St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul Oct. 15 for a live broadcast of Relevant Radio’s Family Rosary Across America, which airs nightly. At right is Father Jonathan Kelly, rector of SJV, who also invited Archbishop Bernard Hebda to join the gathering of seminarians and business leaders who were there that evening for the Virtuous Business Leaders program, which gives seminarians a chance to interact with Catholic business professionals four times each academic year. The leaders program events include Mass, dinner and a talk designed to help seminarians develop mentoring relationships with Catholic business leaders. “It was a dream come true to have the Family Rosary Across America at St. John Vianney,” said Father Kelly. “I have so much respect for Father Rocky, and to have him and Archbishop Hebda lead the rosary asking for Mary’s intercession and protection over our men and work of priestly formation was sensibly powerful, and I know gave tremendous hope to thousands of people who prayed with us remotely that God still calls.” From home health care services to hospice, in your home or ours, we’re here with compassionate care to lift up your loved one throughout their journey. You can put your trust in Our Lady of Peace and our 80+ year tradition of gentle, loving care, wherever you need it most.
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DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Ignatian Spirituality Center moves from St. Paul parish to University of St. Thomas
Story and photos by Joe Ruff
The Catholic Spirit
An expanding Ignatian Spirituality Center in St. Paul that offers online and in-person retreats, prayer sessions, speakers and other events has moved from St. Thomas More to the University of St. Thomas.
“Today, we are humbled to be here and so, so delighted to be on this beautiful, very bustling campus,” said Patricia (Pat) Sauer, board chair of the center, addressing an Oct. 10 gathering of about 75 university faculty and staff, as well as center board members, retreat facilitators and representatives of center collaborators Loyola Spirituality Center and Sacred Ground Center for Spirituality, both in St. Paul.
Sauer introduced the center’s first executive director, Paul Krenzelok, and provided a summary of the organization’s roots in retreats that began in 2017 at Jesuit-run St. Thomas More. With the COVID-19 pandemic, retreats and prayer offerings moved online, Sauer said.
“People were registering from all outside of the parish, from all over the state, from all over the country, and even from other countries,” Sauer said. “And we began to realize that there is such a hunger out there for a spiritual community where people can grow in their faith, where they can ask questions in small groups and share their prayer experiences.”
Inspired by the response, founders of the center at St. Thomas More applied for nonprofit status, obtained a grant, set up a board, hired staff and were offered an office at the parish, Sauer said. Recently, St. Thomas More expanded its staff even as the center grew, and the center jumped at an offer from Jesuit Father Christopher Collins, vice president for mission at St. Thomas, to move to an
office in the Iversen Center for Faith on the St. Paul campus.
Father Collins told those gathered that university faculty and staff in particular will benefit from having the center’s retreats and other offerings on campus. And Krenzelok said the center is excited about continuing to serve the broader community in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and beyond.
Collaborating with the university opens exciting possibilities to introduce more people to the spiritual ways of St. Ignatius of Loyola and “ultimately an invitation to a deeper relationship with God and serving God’s people,” Krenzelok said.
SPIRITUAL EXERCISES OF ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA SPIRITUALITY BEYOND DUTY
St. Ignatius founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and became the religious order’s first superior general in 1541. Concerned about spiritual formation in the order, he recorded his method in “Spiritual Exercises” in 1548.
The Ignatian Spirituality Center in St. Paul offers a summary of the exercises on its website at ignatianspiritualitycenter org that reads in part: “The Spiritual Exercises are a compilation of meditations and reflections developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola to help one deepen one’s relationship with God. The Spiritual Exercises are structured in four distinct weeks, with a clear framework that carries the retreatant through a series of contemplative practices. These are not seven-day weeks, but separate, distinct stages on a spiritual journey.”
University of St. Thomas biology professor Joanna Klein attended the Oct. 10 introduction of the Ignatian Spirituality Center to the university campus in St. Paul. A Protestant in her third year at UST, she told The Catholic Spirit she participated last year in a roughly month-long online Advent retreat offered by the center that has helped her integrate aspects of the Catholic faith with the curriculum.
“It helped me appreciate an aspect of Catholicism I didn’t always see,” Klein said, by “digging into the spiritual experiences” of being Catholic that go beyond attending Mass each Sunday.
Family events on tap for Advent, Christmas, New Year’s Eve at the Cathedral
By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit
Three events this year at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul aim to draw families into faithful community during the holidays and to dive more deeply into the waiting of Advent leading up to Christmas.
“Advent is its own season,” said Bill Dill, director of youth discipleship in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Office of Marriage, Family and Youth. “One is urged to slow down, but what happens for most people is they are speeding up. Slowing down and being quiet, listening and waiting is Advent.
“And then we can celebrate Christmas like Catholics” with the octave’s eight days after Christmas Day for praising the birth of Jesus, he said. In some respects, 15 years of waiting preceded the events planned for Nov. 9, Dec. 28 and Dec. 31. During Father Joseph Johnson’s first stint as rector of the Cathedral, Dill said he and Father Johnson talked about emphasizing the octave of Christmas by stacking concerts, symphonies
and celebrations for the days after Christmas.
But Dill and his wife, Tiffany, had young children and it was a difficult time to pull something together. With Father Johnson recently reassigned to the Cathedral, Dill said he received a
text from the rector that said, in effect: “Bill, are you ready?”
It was decided this year would be a soft start to perhaps more elaborate post-Christmas Day celebrations in the future, Dill said.
All families are invited and everything
is free, Dill said. The 9-10:30 a.m. Nov. 9 event includes a workshop on the theology of Advent and other liturgical seasons and answers to questions about the seasons like, “Why do we have them?” and “What’s the point?”
Suggestions will be offered for marking traditions at home, such as setting up the Jesse tree and the Christmas wreath and tree, Dill said. Carols and Cocoa at the Cathedral from 9-10:30 a.m. Dec. 28 will include songs and stories and an opportunity for children to enter the Cathedral’s sanctuary for a special adoration and Benediction.
An 11 p.m. Dec. 31 Mass will celebrate the solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. It will also help ring in the New Year and mark the beginning of the Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year. A champagne reception will be held after Mass, Dill said.
Registration for the events is encouraged. To register online, go to archspm org/events, scroll down to the appropriate dates and click the registration links.
Paul Krenzelok, executive director of the Ignatian Spirituality Center, talks with University of St. Thomas biology professors Joanna Klein and Tony Lewno.
Patricia Sauer, board chair of the Ignatian Spirituality Center, talks about its formation at St. Thomas More in St. Paul and its moving to the St. Paul campus of the University of St. Thomas.
GRANT WHITTY | UNSPLASH
Viaticum Mass can bring peace to the dying, their loved ones
By Josh McGovern
The Catholic Spirit
On Sept. 11, Kim Williams and her family gathered in her dying mother’s home for a Viaticum Mass with Father Joseph Bambenek presiding.
In Latin, viaticum means “food for the journey.” In the Mass of the Catholic Church, it is the last Mass for a Catholic’s reception of the Eucharist before death. Father Bambenek — who performed the Viaticum Mass for Williams’ mother, Laura Harris — explained that the Mass is celebrated to help prepare the soul for the journey from here to eternity.
“The readings that typically go with, when it’s done in a Mass form, are the story of Elijah (1 Kings 19:8) eating bread and then going 40 days, being fed by the bread; a part of John 6 where Jesus makes most clear that he’s the bread of life; (and) there’s the reading from Paul’s epistles (1 Corinthians 11:23-26) where it most clearly explains the words that we use for the institution of the Eucharist,”
Father Bambenek said.
A person receiving the Viaticum Mass is typically close to death. There are readings from the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Gospels and a homily. The Mass often does not have music, unless the family requests musicians, Father Bambenek said. If the person receiving the Mass is conscious enough, an opportunity is given to renew their baptismal promises.
Williams said she and her family experienced the uniqueness of the Viaticum Mass. The Mass, Williams said, deeply affected everyone in the room, and in ways that forever changed her faith.
“I wanted to make sure that she had the anointing of the sick and that peace, knowing that you’ve received that sacrament,” Williams said. “I didn’t know how much of it she would comprehend because she had dementia. … Even through her limited cognitive abilities, (it was important) to be surrounded by family and to get to have the privilege of a private Mass and to have that one-on-one time with the priest where she’s no longer just a member of the congregation at that point. She was the most important person to Father Joe. And I think that just really says something for how he sees ministry and how he carries out his priestly ministry.”
Williams said that in what was expected to be her mother’s final moments, Father Bambenek represented Christ to her mother. Williams said it was a powerful way for family to surround their loved one under the mantle of Christ.
Williams knows Father Bambenek from St. Pius X in White Bear Lake and got to experience Viaticum Masses with him as an employee of the parish,
FATHER JOSEPH BAMBENEK KIM WILLIAMS
Time and time again, it’s just been an experience of peace for the person. We can schedule it to get as many of the family that want to be there as possible. … Everybody can really see the beauty of the Church’s sacraments. They’re always beautiful, but this is at that point in time that their beauty becomes evident to more people.
Father Joseph Bambenek
where she was the director of outreach and pastoral care.
“I was a little apprehensive,” said Williams, who is the operations manager at the Center for Mission, which supports missionary outreach for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. “But honestly, that became one of my most treasured memories in pastoral care, just being honored to be present during those moments with families, to share in that.”
Father Bambenek, director of the archdiocese’s Office for the Renewal of Structures, said he learned about Viaticum Masses while serving as an associate pastor of Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul. He was taught by Father Patrick Hipwell while at Nativity, who offered Viaticum Masses to those in need. Father Hipwell is now retired and living in the Leo C. Byrne Residence in St. Paul.
Together with Williams, they created a Viaticum Mass guide that organizes the prayers and rituals to make it easier for priests to perform the Mass in a smaller room.
In addition, while in the seminary, Father Bambenek heard from his classmates that Father
Kevin Finnegan at Our Lady of Grace in Edina was offering Masses for a happy death, which uses different readings and different sets of prayers. St. Joseph is widely held to be the patron saint of a happy death. “Time and time again, it’s just been an experience of peace for the person,” Father Bambenek said. “We can schedule it to get as many of the family that want to be there as possible. … Everybody can really see the beauty of the Church’s sacraments. They’re always beautiful, but this is at that point in time that their beauty becomes evident to more people.”
During one of the Viaticum Masses, Father Bambenek and Williams said the woman they were serving died a few prayers into the Mass. Before the Mass started, when Father Bambenek walked into the room, a single tear trickled down her face. And when she died, she smiled peacefully.
“I’ve never seen such a peaceful smile on anybody’s face,” Williams said. “Father Joe and I had talked about it and we’re thinking, ‘Well, she must be seeing Jesus.’ To be present in that tender final moment has profoundly and forever changed who I am. Not only as a pastoral minister, but as a person.”
Father Bambenek said of the experience, “She was just transfixed looking at me. … We talk about how the priest is in persona Christi during Mass. That was probably the most lived experience I’ve had of that, where the people, the person, is obviously not joyful at seeing me, but joyful at seeing Jesus in me. These are some of the most powerful experiences I’ve had as a priest.”
Viaticum Masses are part of the Church’s liturgical foundation, Father Bambenek said. The prayers can be found in the Roman Missal. Though common to Father Bambenek’s priestly duties, he noted that the Viaticum Mass is an optional practice.
“We may have heard of it in seminary, but until you’re in the field, there’s a lot of stuff that in seminary seems abstract,” Father Bambenek said.
Father Bambenek said that both the Viaticum Mass and the Mass for a happy death are reminders that there is something bigger and better beyond what we can see now.
“It’s a comfort for the person, but it also can be a comfort for everybody else,” Father Bambenek said. “We each approach the reality of death differently, and sometimes it’s the hardest for the person (who)’s about to pass. But sometimes it’s actually harder for the people around them, depending upon all sorts of circumstances. The beauty of the sacraments is that God gives us the grace in whatever situation we’re in. It’s an opportunity for God’s grace and peace in those difficult times.”
Archbishop Hebda honors faithful as ‘living stones’ in marking Cathedral dedication
By Josh McGovern
The Catholic Spirit
On Oct. 14, the Cathedral of St. Paul held a Mass honoring the dedication of the Cathedral with Archbishop Bernard Hebda presiding.
The dedication Mass this year in particular celebrated year two of implementing Archbishop Hebda’s pastoral letter “You Will Be My Witness: Gathered and Sent From the Upper Room” and its emphasis on the Mass and the Eucharist.
The Mass also was held on the cusp of next year’s celebration of the 175th anniversary of the archdiocese.
Archbishop Hebda began his homily acknowledging that the dedication Mass was a celebration of the whole archdiocese, and that the Cathedral was consecrated and set aside for God’s glory.
“In those same spots where the archbishop would have placed oil ... that chrism oil that’s consecrated here every Holy Thursday, it’s the same chrism that would have been a part of every baptism in this archdiocese, it’s the same chrism that would have been used at every confirmation,” Archbishop Hebda said. “We’re so blessed, my brothers and sisters, because this is a Cathedral unlike any other. It’s just spectacular in helping us to lift our hearts and minds to the Lord in prayer.”
Archbishop Hebda said he believes those who have been baptized and received the sacraments at the Cathedral have a sense of how it is the source of
new life. Archbishop Hebda pointed to the Gospel, and how the faithful are meant to be the living stones.
“We hear about how it is that all of us are called to be living stones,” Archbishop Hebda said. “How interesting that the Church on the feast of the dedication in some ways provides readings that humble even the
connection, to build on that foundation that is placed in Peter and how it is that we’re able to be transformed into living stones. It’s a place of great transformation.”
Regarding next year’s celebration of the 175th anniversary of the archdiocese, Archbishop Hebda said, “It’s a time for us to take stock of how God has blessed us even in the course of the past year, how it is that this church has been that place for renewal throughout all of the years in the history of our archdiocese. … We give thanks for that past.”
The archbishop fondly recalled Memorial Day when the Cathedral was filled with participants of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, processing from The St. Paul Seminary to the Cathedral. He also remembered the ordination of 13 priests this year. Archbishop Hebda offered his gratitude to Father Joseph Johnson, who now leads the Cathedral parish.
Archbishop Hebda also looked ahead to the future of the archdiocese.
structure. While we could be speaking about the magnificence of this church, we’re reminded that we brothers and sisters are living stones. … Jesus, as we heard in the other prayers, is the cornerstone. … My brothers and sisters, the image I would like to suggest to you this evening is that the Cathedral then is that place where we’re able to draw that
“We also commit ourselves to going deeper in our appreciation of who Jesus is and how it is that he feeds us at the Mass,” Archbishop Hebda said. “Here we are in the second year of our pastoral letter implementation that focuses on the Mass and the Eucharist, and this evening we have the opportunity to give God thanks in an intimate setting and to be able to offer our great praise to God who is the source of all that is good in our lives.”
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JOSH MCGOVERN | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Archbishop Bernard Hebda gives his homily during an Oct. 14 Mass honoring the dedication of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.
Sociologist: Ending US poverty ‘is something totally obtainable’
By Kimberley Heatherington OSV News
Why, asks Matthew Desmond –– the Pulitzer Prizewinning author of “Poverty, By America” (Crown) and a professor of sociology at Princeton University –– is there so much destitution in America?
Desmond –– speaking Oct. 9 at Catholic Charities of Baltimore’s second annual “Journey to Social Justice” symposium at Nativity in Timonium –– offered a gathering of several hundred some answers, as well as hard truths, about the high cost of being poor in the United States.
In September 2024, the U.S. Census Bureau reported, “In 2023, the official poverty rate fell 0.4 percentage points to 11.1 percent. There were 36.8 million people in poverty in 2023, not statistically different from 2022.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2024 Poverty Guidelines rank the poverty threshold for a single person household at $15,060; a two-person household, $20,440; a three-person household, $25,820; a four-person household, $31,200; and so on.
For context, Desmond noted that since more than 30 million Americans “are officially poor by government standards. … If America’s poor founded a country, that country would have a bigger population than Australia.”
“Think about when the War on Poverty was launched, in 1964,” he invited his listeners. “This is when the Johnson administration rolled out these deep investments in the poorest families of America –– made food aid permanent, invested in education, started Job Corps, started public assistance, started public health benefits. These were real investments in the poorest families in America.”
And the return on those federal investments?
“Ten years after the War on Poverty was launched, the poverty rate was cut in half,” Desmond said. “So, the idea that the government can’t do anything –– that we fought the War on Poverty, and poverty won, as President Reagan famously said –– is just empirically false.”
Perhaps, it might be imagined, there simply isn’t enough government assistance.
“The country hasn’t gotten stingier over time, when it comes to fighting poverty. The opposite is true,” reported Desmond. “And this makes our persistent poverty levels even more frustrating –– because decade after decade after decade, poverty persists, even as the money we dedicate to it increases.”
Indeed, Desmond said many of the country’s poor avoid welfare.
Between tax deductions and programs –– such as the earned income tax credit, food stamps, government health insurance, unemployment insurance and Supplemental Security Income –– Desmond said,
“billions and billions of dollars are left on the table every year.”
The estimated figure is $142 billion in uncollected assistance.
“That’s not a picture of welfare dependency,” declared Desmond. “I think that’s a picture of us doing a pretty bad job of connecting families with programs that they really could use.”
Contributing factors to poverty include a loss of union influence, Desmond said.
“When the Great Society War on Poverty was launched, unions were strong, and wages were climbing. But as unions lost power, worker wages started to stagnate,” he explained. “Today, the average wage for a man without a college degree is less than it would have been 50 years ago, inflation adjusted.”
Tax structure also plays a role.
“Recent studies have shown that if the top 1% of income earners in America just paid all their federal income tax –– not (get) taxed at a higher level, just paid their income tax –– that we as a country could raise $175 billion a year,” said Desmond. “We could just about close the poverty gap, if the richest among us just paid what they owed.”
Affordable housing is another key poverty factor ––one that is often resisted by affluent communities, even though “study after study shows that when affordable housing is well-built, well managed, it blends into the community and has no effect on property values ––zero,” said Desmond.
Home ownership by the poor is also low; in 2023, Desmond observed, 27% of all homes sold in America sold for under $100,000 –– but only 23% were financed with a mortgage. The remainder were bought by speculators or future landlords.
Desmond’s “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City” (Crown) won him the Pulitzer Prize in 2017; as the principal investigator of Princeton’s Eviction Lab, it’s a topic with which he’s always grappling.
There are steps toward a solution, but they wouldn’t be easy, Desmond said.
“So that’s the proposition,” he said. “You lift the floor by re-balancing the safety net; you empower the poor by reigning in exploitation; and we finally turn away from segregation and open up our neighborhoods. This is how we could end poverty in America.”
Desmond compared poverty to illness. “When the economy was delivering for workers –– even those workers at the bottom of the pay scale –– anti-poverty programs were cures,” he said. “Today, the job market has turned them into something like dialysis –– a treatment to make poverty less lethal, but not make it disappear.”
Ironically, it’s also expensive to be poor.
“Consider that every year, $11 billion in overdraft fees, $1.6 billion in check cashing fees, $9.6 billion in payday loan fees, are pulled out of the pockets of the poor,” Desmond said. “That is $61 million in fines and fees charged to poor folks every single day.”
To avoid admitting such harsh realities, Americans tend to formulate what Desmond terms “absolving theories of poverty” –– in a word, excuses.
“The average family, in the bottom 20% of the income distribution –– our poorest families –– they receive about $26,000 a year from the government,” shared Desmond. “But our average family in the top 20% of income distribution –– our richest families ––they receive about $35,000 a year from the government. That’s like a 40% difference.”
So what if America actually decided to put an end to poverty?
“It would cost about $177 billion a year to bring everyone below the official poverty line above it,” Desmond said. “This is a really rough estimate, but it’s a good starting point –– it gives us something to know, like, what are we talking about when we’re talking about ending poverty in America? Because what we’re talking about is something totally obtainable; this is less than 1% of our GDP.”
“We don’t need to outsmart this problem,” Desmond said. “We just need to hate it more.”
Archbishop Hebda is a nominee for USCCB treasurer and chairman of budget committee
By OSV News
Archbishop Bernard Hebda of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is a nominee for treasurer-elect of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and for chairman-elect of the budget and finance committee.
The other nominee is Bishop David Malloy of the Diocese of Rockford, Illinois.
The U.S. bishops are gathering in Baltimore Nov. 11-14 for their 2024 fall plenary assembly, which takes place just weeks after the conclusion of the second session of the Catholic Church’s Synod on Synodality in Rome.
Only two days of the meeting, Nov. 12-13, will be public and livestreamed on the conference’s website.
As in years past, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the papal nuncio to the United States, and Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military
Services, president of the USCCB, will both address the assembly.
Although the conference said its agenda for the November assembly is subject to change, the bishops plan to consider updates for a collaborative effort on “Dignitas Infinita,” a Vatican declaration concerning human dignity; an update on the interim implementation of Pope Francis’ decree “Antiquum Ministerium,” which concerns the new instituted lay ministry of catechist; the pastoral implementation of Pope Francis’ teaching in “Laudato Si’,” which concerns environmental stewardship; as well as the conference’s mission directive for the years 2025-2028.
Other items include the USCCB’s 2025 budget and “three action items pertaining to liturgical texts from the divine worship committee.”
The conference’s tentative agenda also included “an update on migration” as well as reports on the latest with the
2021-2024 Synod of Bishops on the development of a synodal Church, the U.S. bishops’ Eucharistic revival initiative, and the National Eucharistic Congress.
The bishops also plan to have a consultation on the sainthood causes of Sister Annella Zervas, a professed religious of the Order of St. Benedict, and for the Servant of God Gertrude Agnes Barber.
During the assembly, the bishops will vote for the new conference treasurer, as well as chairmen-elect of the budget committee and four other conference committees. The bishops elected as chairmen will serve one year as chairmen-elect before beginning a threeyear term at the conclusion of the 2025 fall plenary assembly.
For the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations, the nominees are Bishop Juan Miguel Betancourt, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Hartford, Connecticut,
and Bishop Ronald Hicks of the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois.
For the Committee on Divine Worship, the nominees are Archbishop Alexander Sample of the Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, and Bishop Michael Woost of the Diocese of Cleveland.
Nominees for the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development are Archbishop Shelton Fabre of the Archdiocese of Louisville, Kentucky, and Bishop Kevin Sweeney of the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey; and for the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth are Bishop Edward Burns of the Diocese of Dallas and Bishop James Conley of the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska.
Bishop Brendan Cahill of the Diocese of Victoria, Texas, and Bishop Joseph Tyson of the Diocese of Yakima, Washington, are the nominees for the migration committee.
BOB ROLLER | OSV NEWS
A man experiencing homelessness sits with his belongings along a street in San Francisco May 19.
HEADLINES
Saints served generously, creatively, pope says at canonization Mass. Pope Francis called on the faithful to yearn to serve, not thirst for power, as he proclaimed 14 new saints, including Canada-born St. Marie-Léonie Paradis, founder of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family, and 11 martyrs. “Those who dominate do not win, only those who serve out of love,” he said Oct. 20, World Mission Sunday, in St. Peter’s Square. “When we learn to serve, our every gesture of attention and care, every expression of tenderness, every work of mercy becomes a reflection of God’s love,” he said. “And so, we continue Jesus’ work in the world.” The pope said the new saints lived Jesus’ way of service. “The faith and the apostolate they carried out did not feed their worldly desires and hunger for power but, on the contrary, they made themselves servants of their brothers and sisters, creative in doing the good, steadfast in difficulties and generous to the end.”
Vatican statistics show a decline in baptisms, clergy and religious worldwide. The number of Catholics and permanent deacons in the world rose in 2022, while the number of seminarians, priests, men and women in religious orders, and baptisms declined, according to Vatican statistics. At the end of 2022, the number of Catholics in the world reached 1.389 billion, up 0.79% from 1.378 billion Catholics at the end of 2021, according to the Vatican’s Central Office of Church Statistics. The Vatican agency, Fides, published a brief overview of the global numbers Oct. 17. While Catholics remained about 17.7% of the global population, their numbers grew in Africa, the Americas, Asia and Oceania, said the summary, which was based on numbers reported Dec. 31, 2022. Only Europe saw a drop with 474,000 fewer Catholics. While the number of Catholics is increasing, the administration of the sacrament of baptism has decreased worldwide. It fell from 17,932,891 baptisms administered in 1998 to 13,327,037 in 2022, according to Fides’ summary report. The total number of diocesan and religious order priests decreased slightly by 142 men to a total of 407,730, the Vatican office said. The number of permanent deacons — 50,159 — saw a 1.99% increase over the previous year, with the most growth in Europe.
From Indy to LA: Pilgrim applications are open for a 2025 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage route. National Eucharistic Pilgrimage organizers are seeking eight young adults to spend six weeks traveling with the Eucharist from Indiana to California next summer as perpetual pilgrims in the United States’ second national Eucharistic pilgrimage. The route is scheduled to begin Pentecost Sunday, May 18, following a Mass of thanksgiving in Indianapolis and end in Los Angeles on the feast of Corpus Christi June 22 with a special event hosted by the National Eucharistic Congress Inc. and a citywide Eucharistic procession. The pilgrimage route will cover several Southwestern states, with route details forthcoming in early 2025. The 2025 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage was inspired by last year’s first National Eucharistic Pilgrimage that preceded the National Eucharistic Congress in July. Perpetual pilgrim applications are due Nov. 1. More information is available at eucharisticpilgrimage org
Ukrainian pilgrims gather at Lourdes to pray for peace in homeland and in the world. As Russia’s war on Ukraine approaches its 11th year, thousands of Ukrainians from all over the world gathered at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes in France to pray for peace in their homeland and throughout the world. The annual All-Ukrainian Prayer took place at the Marian shrine Oct. 11-13, according to the Kyiv-based press office of the Ukrainian Greek
Catholic Church (UGCC). Pilgrims traveled to Lourdes from Ukraine as well as from the Western countries to which at least 6.2 million Ukrainians have fled following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, which continued attacks launched in 2014, and which has been declared a genocide in two major human rights reports. Pilgrims Oksana and Natalia, who have taken refuge in Germany, said they had come to Lourdes to “know God and go to Jesus to grow in faith, and (to) ask for intercession for Ukraine.” The two women, who did not provide their last names, said they planned “to pray for the country, the Ukrainian military, and the conversion of the Ukrainian people.”
U.S. bishops, Catholic groups ask Supreme Court to protect Native American sacred site. Catholic bishops, groups and legal scholars have joined other religious groups in offering their support to an Indigenous coalition asking the Supreme Court to protect an Apache sacred site from destruction by a copper mining giant. They argue the case has serious implications for the scope of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. In September, a coalition of Western Apache people, along with other Native American and non-Indigenous supporters, under the banner of the non-profit Apache Stronghold, asked the Supreme Court to protect their sacred site at Oak Flat, Arizona, from destruction by a copper mining giant after a federal appeals court rejected their request. Oak Flat in Tonto National Forest — about 70 miles outside of Phoenix — is considered a sacred site by the region’s Indigenous peoples and is on the National Register of Historic Places. The coalition says the mining project by Resolution Copper, a foreign-owned mining company, would destroy the Apache sacred site, which they likened to Mount Sinai. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Knights of Columbus, and Notre Dame Law School’s Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic all filed friend of the court briefs in support. Various Catholic ministries and groups including Franciscan Action Network, Pax Christi USA and the Ignatian Solidarity Network also joined with other religious organizations in support. The Supreme Court has not yet indicated whether it will take up the case.
As Israel’s Lebanon campaign escalates, displaced Christians wait for a “miracle to end this misery.” As Israel has escalated its campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon across a United Nations-drawn boundary between the two countries, more than a million people have fled their homes. Some have nowhere to go in a country already devastated by economic crisis, a political impasse and the largest number of refugees per capita and per square mile in the world. “Lebanon has experienced every crisis imaginable over the past two decades and this is another one of those that we have to get through. We are nothing if not resilient,” Fadi Bejan told OSV News. Bejan, the country representative for Pro Terra Sancta, a Catholic organization that supports local communities and helps in humanitarian emergencies, spoke as the U.N.’s Security Council expressed “strong concern.”
Pope announces he will create 21 new cardinals in December. Pope Francis announced he would create 21 new cardinals in December, including a 99-year-old former nuncio and the 44-year-old Ukrainian bishop who heads his Church’s eparchy in Melbourne, Australia. The 21 cardinals-designate named by the pope Oct. 6 hail from 18 nations. Eight of the cardinals come from Europe, five from Latin America, five from Asia, two from Africa and just one from North America –– Archbishop Francis Leo of Toronto. “Their origin expresses the universality of the Church, which continues to proclaim God’s merciful love to all people on earth,” the
pope said after reciting the Angelus prayer at midday with visitors in St. Peter’s Square. The Vatican said the new cardinals will be created at a consistory Dec. 7 and concelebrate Mass with Pope Francis and other members of the College of Cardinals Dec. 8.
Assisted dying bill in the U.K. is a “slippery slope,” cardinal says. Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster has joined leading Catholic politicians and pro-life groups in calling on U.K. Catholics to take immediate and urgent action to oppose an assisted suicide bill that he says will strike “fear and trepidation” into vulnerable people. Labour Member of Parliament Kim Leadbeater is proposing a bill that would give terminally ill people in England and Wales the right to end their life. It will be introduced to the House of Commons Oct. 16, with a vote to take place Nov. 29. The issue was last voted on in 2015, when MPs roundly rejected assisted suicide, with 118 votes for and 330 against.
Pope praises Catholic group that advocates for abolition of the death penalty. Catholic Mobilizing Network, a group that advocates for the abolition of capital punishment in line with Catholic teaching, marked the World Day Against the Death Penalty Oct. 10 in an event at the Holy See’s apostolic nunciature with a message from Pope Francis praising its work to help transform society. At its Justice Reimagined Awards and Celebration, the group honored the organization Witness To Innocence, comprised of exonerated death-row survivors fighting to end the death penalty, as well as Dale Recinella, a long-time prison minister for those on Florida’s death row. In remarks to the gathering, Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, said, “On behalf of the Holy Father, I am grateful to the Catholic Mobilizing Network for responding to this call through your faithful field education, advocacy and prayer.” He described the group’s work as “in union with the pope and bishops under the leadership of gifted lay women and men, and in collaboration with people across the world ethnic and political spectrum of the Church today and society.”
Cardinal Pierre shared a message from Pope Francis praising their advocacy “for the repeal of the death penalty and promotion of restorative justice in the United States of America.”
In Argentina, Opus Dei “categorically” denies allegations it’s involved in human trafficking. Argentine prosecutors issued a request that a formal inquiry be opened into allegations of human trafficking and exploitation against Opus Dei — accusations the organization “categorically” denied. According to a report by the Financial Times, a 136-page request involved the personal prelature’s “recruitment of at least 44 women, most of them girls and adolescents” as assistant numeraries, a women’s branch within the prelature that primarily attends to the domestic needs, including cooking and cleaning, of Opus Dei centers for men and women. Prosecutors accused Opus Dei of subjecting the women, involved with the group between 1972 and 2015, “to living conditions comparable to servitude” in its report, which it said was the culmination of a two-year investigation after dozens of women publicly accused the prelature of exploitation, the Financial Times reported. In a statement published on its website Sept. 28, Opus Dei in Argentina “categorically” denied accusations of human trafficking and exploitation. What began as a “claim for inconsistencies in pension and labor contributions” by former members, it said, “now refers to an individual claiming to be a victim of ‘human trafficking’ and ‘labor exploitation.’” Opus Dei said that “after more than three years of similar accusations made only in the media,” a judicial “investigation is necessary to definitively
clarify the situation.”
Archbishop Mésidor: Massacre and ongoing gang violence leave Haitian people “exhausted.” The metropolitan archbishop of Haiti is speaking out following an Oct. 3 massacre by armed gang members in that nation’s central western region, an attack that killed at least 115 and displaced some 6,000. “Is there a plan to destroy the country?” said Archbishop Max Leroy Mésidor of Port-auPrince, president of the Haitian Catholic bishops’ conference. Members of the Gran Grif de Savien gang stormed the town of Pont-Sondé during the early hours of Oct. 3, with initial reports from the United Nations indicating at least 70 had been killed, among them 10 women and three children. A local official later advised the media that the death toll had topped 100 as the search for victims continued. The attack ranks as the worst in Haiti’s recent history, which has been plagued by multiple, sustained crises such as political instability, natural disasters, foreign intervention and international debt. “The country is completely sick” and its people “exhausted,” said Archbishop Mésidor in a widely circulated audio message released after the attack.
Pope and Zelenskyy discuss repatriation of Ukrainian captives. Pope Francis and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met for the third time since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, focusing their discussion on the repatriation of Ukrainian nationals held in Russian captivity. “The issue of bringing our people home from captivity was the main focus of my meeting with Pope Francis,” Zelenskyy posted on X after the Oct. 11 meeting at the Vatican. “We are counting on the Holy See’s assistance in helping to bring back Ukrainians who have been taken captive by Russia.” In Rome as part of a 36-hour tour of Europe, which included stops in the United Kingdom, France and Germany, Zelenskyy visited the Vatican the morning after meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. His meeting with the pope in the library of the Apostolic Palace lasted 35 minutes and was followed by discussions with officials from the Vatican Secretariat of State.
U.S. Supreme Court’s new term to include cases on transgender students, “ghost guns” and the death penalty. The Supreme Court began its new term Oct. 7, and the term is scheduled to include cases involving school policies regarding students who identify as transgender, the regulation of so-called “ghost guns,” the death penalty and whether adults can be required to provide their IDs as age verification to access pornographic websites. The justices returned to the bench after high-profile rulings issued earlier this year on topics including presidential immunity, a pill commonly used for abortion, and gun policy. The court returned to an ongoing decrease in public confidence in the court and calls for term limits supported by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee. As of the start of its term, the court’s docket includes fewer high-profile cases than its 2023 term, but that could change if it must add election-related cases before Nov. 5 or afterward. In one of its first cases of the new term, the high court Oct. 8 heard oral arguments in Garland v. VanDerStok and appeared skeptical of a challenge to the Biden administration’s efforts to regulate socalled “ghost guns,” or unserialized, untraceable firearms that can be assembled in as little as 30 minutes from kits purchased online. On Oct. 9, the Supreme Court was scheduled to consider a bipartisan appeal to reverse the death penalty conviction of Richard Glossip, a case in which Oklahoma’s Republican attorney general and Republican lawmakers have also intervened.
— CNS and OSV News
By Josh McGovern The Catholic Spirit
Two souls, not one. That’s the motto of Options for Women East, a pregnancy resource center in St. Paul. For Jennifer Meyer, executive director, it means caring for the mother as much as the unborn child.
Providing this care has become more difficult for pregnancy resource centers in recent years, as the Twin Cities, and Minnesota as a whole, continue to be a battleground between pregnancy resource centers and clinics that provide abortion services such as Planned Parenthood.
This conflict remains contentious and has been marred with protests, vandalism at pregnancy resource centers, legislative maneuvers and lawsuits. In Minnesota, pregnancy resource centers outnumber abortion clinics by 11-to-1. Currently, there are 90 identified pregnancy resource centers and eight abortion clinics, with most abortion clinics based in the Twin Cities area. In the United States there are an estimated 2,500 pregnancy resource centers and 800 abortion clinics. Despite this discrepancy, pregnancy resource centers in Minnesota are fighting an uphill battle.
In August 2023, a legislative move signed off on by Gov. Tim Walz — now Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in the 2024 presidential election — repealed the Positive Alternatives Grant.
Since 2005, the grant provided $3 million in funding every five-year grant cycle to pregnancy resource centers “to promote healthy pregnancy outcomes,” according to the grant’s original writing. In 2021, a total of 27 clinics and organizations were awarded funds from this grant, funds that were intended to continue coming in annually until 2025.
Meyer said, “The beautiful thing about the Positive Alternatives Grant is that it’s specifically stated that this money is intended for services that promote alternatives to abortion. The idea is that you had both sides of the coin. Funding is going here, and funding is going there. It wasn’t even, by any means. We’re talking triple, quadruple the money going into that bucket (abortion clinics) compared to ours.”
The repeal, two and a half years into the full five-year grant cycle, came as a shock to most clinics relying on the Positive Alternatives Grant to keep their doors open. Most clinics budgeted for a five-year allotment of money. By year three, clinics were scrambling to make up for the lost revenue through donations and volunteers.
The Options for Women East allocation “was just shy of $200,000 a year,” Meyer said. “Over five years we’re talking just shy of $1 million. That is a chunk of money for us. When you lose $200,000, that’s payroll. The highest expense for any pregnancy center is payroll because payroll equals a program. Without people, you have no program. … Then you must cut the hours, you cut back staff and that just means less money, (fewer) people. You serve (fewer) women and families.”
As a result of the funding cut, Guiding Star Wakota, a pregnancy resource center in West St. Paul, lost $350,000 and laid off half its staff, said Megan Plum, its executive director. So far this year, Guiding Star Wakota has had at least 9,000 patients. Currently, the center is seeking a new ultrasound machine through a Focus on the Family grant. Twenty percent of the
funding for the ultrasound machine will come from the Knights of Columbus.
Sydney March, a registered nurse who works in the emergency department at a Twin Cities hospital, is also a staff nurse at the Options for Women East clinic. She is on the medical board of Elevate Life and has had extensive years of service and accompaniment with women facing unexpected pregnancies. March said that with recent state law changes regarding abortion, a spiritual battle has reared its head.
“These women are vulnerable,” March said. At Options for Women East, she said, “We have a prenatal program and a postpartum program. We provide that care at no cost. We’re one of the only ones that do that in-house within the state of Minnesota and then we support them (the women) postpartum up until three years, with education and support and material assistance. … With the impact of the law, any one of those women could have a dramatic life change, go down the road to Planned Parenthood and terminate their child.”
March said this has been an eye-opening experience for her. “The law opened that opportunity and that temptation up even more with the circumstances that confront families,” March said.
Sonograms
Pregnancy resource center staff believe the battle is won or lost in the sonogram room.
Meyer described her center’s sonogram room as “the room that will change a life.”
Places like Planned Parenthood do not show sonogram screens to their patients because this would change the minds of many patients who go there, Meyer said. At most pregnancy resource centers, showing the screen is a main objective in providing services.
“For a woman, if you don’t feel pregnant or look pregnant, it’s so much easier to have the concept of abortion, because there’s nothing (visibly) there,” Meyer explained, “until you come in for an ultrasound and you see that child on the screen. That’s what makes it real. That is why Planned Parenthood will never, ever, ever show the screen. If they did, they (pregnant women) would leave.”
On May 3, 2018, a bill (HF1108/SF1168) was indefinitely postponed on the House floor. The bill would require Minnesota physicians to offer a patient the opportunity to see or decline to see an active ultrasound image of their unborn child. Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund, Inc. described the bill as “dangerous.”
“This bill is about shaming a person for their decision to end a pregnancy because it assumes they have not carefully thought about the decision,” said an article on Planned Parenthood’s website at tinyurl. com/33p2u365. “Patients deserve their physicians’ best medical judgment and counsel, not unnecessary requirements mandated by politicians.”
“(For) what other medical procedure would you withhold information?” Meyer asked. “None. But in that instance, it’s OK, because they’ve deemed it not necessary.
Legislation
In 2022, when the Minnesota Senate flipped to a DFL (Democratic-Farmer-Labor
Pregnancy resource centers
Party) majority, a trifecta of Democrat control was created between the House, the Senate and the governor’s office. Maggee Hangge, policy and public relations associate with the Minnesota Catholic Conference, said in the first legislative session under this trifecta, Minnesota’s state government made a commitment to fund abortion and abortion only.
While every two years, by state law, the budget needs to be balanced, Hangge said that the Positive Alternatives Grant made up 0.00017% of the budget’s surplus. The move to repeal that grant, according to Hangge, was not pragmatic, but purely political. On March 14, Vice President
Harris visited a Minnesota Planned Parenthood clinic. This was the first time a president or vice president has ever toured a facility that performs abortions.
“We went from being a pro-choice state to a pro-abortion state,” Hangge said. “Current legislators have only focused on increasing access to and funding for abortions in our state, while repealing common-sense safeguards and cutting funding to pregnancy resource centers. That’s a clear message from our elected officials on where they want our money to go and what they value most.”
Hangge noted that when the grant was repealed last year, in the state of Minnesota, the abortion reimbursement
centers struggle with funding cut
rate and taxpayer-funded abortions increased.
“They (the Minnesota Legislature) made some changes to MinnesotaCare (statesponsored health care program for Minnesotans with low income) and medical assistance to fund more abortions than they had in the past,” Hangge said. “Medical assistance now covers medically-necessary abortions as determined by the treatment provider. … MinnesotaCare now covers elective abortions with no restrictions.”
In Walz’s notes on repealing the Positive Alternatives Grant, he said that the services pregnancy resource centers provide, such as sonograms and maternal products, are redundant because in the state of
Minnesota, all county agencies provide those services. However, Meyer argues that the purpose of pregnancy resource centers is to provide alternative services to abortion.
“The first thing they did, January of last year, is they tried to rewrite the grant,” Meyer said. “This was a treat: they changed (the language) from ‘mothers’ to ‘pregnant people.’ It all came down to words. … When you start to read through it, words matter.”
In January 2023, Walz signed a bill defining abortion as a “fundamental right” in Minnesota state law. Walz told MPR News that same month, “I think that there’s a lot of misinformation that came out of
DEFINITIONS
Planned Parenthood is self-defined as “the nation’s leading provider and advocate of high-quality, affordable sexual and reproductive health care for all people, as well as the nation’s largest provider of sex education. Planned Parenthood is made up of many separate non-profit organizations across the country.” Pregnancy resource centers (or crisis pregnancy clinics to some) are private organizations that provide alternatives to abortion and support for the parents and their child. These clinics typically provide free services, such as limited sonograms or products, like diapers or training courses.
RISING SOCIAL TEMPERATURES
Since 2022, there have been multiple reports of vandalism against pregnancy resource centers in the Twin Cities area.
The Catholic Spirit reported on July 7, 2022, that graffiti including the words “Abort America” and “Jesus loves Abortion,” along with two broken windows in the backdoor greeted volunteers at a Birthright pregnancy resource center in St. Paul July 5.
Vandalism at the center followed similar defacement and broken windows June 14 at Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life offices in Minneapolis. “Abortion is Liberation” was written in red paint. MCCL spokesman Paul Stark said the police were notified, and an abortion rights group called “Janes Revenge” claimed responsibility in a posting online.
The Pioneer Press reported on Aug. 1, 2022, that Abria Pregnancy Resources in St. Anthony Park was vandalized. Glass doors were broken, and red graffiti was spray painted on the building saying, “If abortions aren’t safe, neither are you.”
Deliberate action has been taken by activists the past few years to disrupt or close pregnancy resource centers in the Twin Cities:
uAug. 6, 2023: First Care Pregnancy Center in Minneapolis. The clinic had been vandalized the night before.
uNov. 11, 2023: First Care. Protesters projected the words “Abortion is Healthcare” and “Fake Clinic, Anti-Science, Anti-Choice” onto the building. Protesters chanted “pro-life, that’s a lie, you don’t care if people die.”
u Jan. 28, 2024: Abria Pregnancy Resources in St. Paul. Protesters demanded the clinic’s removal from the neighborhood.
uMay 10, 2024: First Care Pregnancy Center in Minneapolis. Members of the Minnesota Abortion Action Committee (MNAAC) protested outside First Care Pregnancy Center, claiming the center used “deceptive tactics and spread medical disinformation about abortion.” In a photo, protesters can be seen holding signs that say, “Make abortion accessible,” while making a rude gesture.
LEFT Jazzmen Love, left, of Brooklyn Park looks for a winter coat for her son, Legend, at Guiding Star Wakota in West St. Paul Oct. 16. Members of Knights of Columbus South St. Paul Council 3659, including Mike Peplinski, right, delivered 144 new coats to Guiding Star Wakota to distribute to children of moms who receive services at the pregnancy resource center and attend programs.
LOWER LEFT Love holds her son Legend, who is wearing a new hat to go with his new winter coat.
LOWER RIGHT Sydney March, right, a nurse at Options for Women East in St. Paul, visits with Rosa Nunez-Diaz and her infant daughter Emma at the center Oct. 15.
PHOTOS BY DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
that … (Positive Alternatives Grant). I think women deserve better than that, I think they deserve to have the whole picture.
Controversy
March described many allegations about pregnancy resource centers as misconceptions of modern pregnancy resource centers. For example, one allegation is that pregnancy resource centers use deceptive tactics to bring pregnant women seeking an abortion into a pregnancy resource center under the guise of an abortion clinic.
“Most, if not all, abide by privacy, medical, and professional standards, as well
as transparency, truthfulness and compassion –– regardless of the outcome chosen or intention,” March said.
Historically, March said, some clinics might’ve had solely a spiritual focus, forgetting about the need for material support, healing, growth and accompaniment. But now centers are there to support women and families, she said.
“I think people are thinking of pro-life clinics where you’ve got the little old grandma just having it all be about conversion and saving the baby,” March said. “Maybe there have been isolated occasions where that’s been the case, but it’s not like that. You’re primarily there for that woman, and if she is open to talking about religion, that is a beautiful thing.”
March also defended medical staff present at pregnancy resource centers, often called “fake clinics” by opposing groups.
“Many of the people (who) work within these clinics, they’re competent medical professionals,” March said.
March said there are statements of truth said by those who do not support this kind of work that pregnancy resource centers, and the pro-life movement in general, need to listen to, such as being fully present with the mother and her situation.
“I know many of the clinics offer material assistance and parenting and education classes, and those things are extremely good and definitely needed,” March said. “But we must try to go deeper
PREGNANCY RESOURCE CENTERS
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11
to be involved in their life. … A lot of these women have come from traumatic situations, too.”
Meyer said that Options for Women East’s online marketing is targeted toward pregnant women looking for an abortion on purpose — a measure many who support keeping abortion legal take issue with.
For many pregnancy resource centers, the hope is the pregnant woman will enter the sonogram room so that she can see the baby on the screen and have a change of heart. Meyer suggests clinics offering abortion use targeted marketing measures with different intentions to reach pregnant women.
“Just the same as Planned Parenthood,” Meyer said. “Which is why they try to come after us. They say, ‘You can’t target for (those seeking) abortion.’ I can target for whatever I want. Have you looked at the marketing that you see every day? Everyone’s targeting everybody at the same time. I think we just do it with a little more grace.”
Meyer explained that when a pregnant woman reaches out to Options for Women East, all employees are honest about the fact that they do not provide abortions. The objective of a place like Options for Women East is to care for vulnerable, pregnant women and their families with alternatives to abortion.
However, March explained that Options for Women East will always open its doors to patients who, even after visiting, decide to have an abortion.
“I wish the other side would see the beauty and the work that we do because even women who decide to walk out that door and still terminate, they are always welcome back,” March said. “We want to be there for them, to help pick up the pieces. To help support them and just be there because making a decision like that lives with you forever. ... We have a duty to be there for them afterwards.”
Where do we go from here?
Now more than ever, March said, pro-life advocates need to support pro-life organizations and initiatives. Having faced backlash for being pro-life, March recommends pro-lifers put their words into “humble actions.”
“What did our Blessed Mother do? She said yes,” March said. When it comes to discussing pro-life issues, March said, “You have to really be prudent and be able to prayerfully take the time to craft (what to say) because you don’t want to compromise truth but you also want to make sure that the other side can be receptive, otherwise you just immediately get shut down.”
“It’s a little nerve-wracking,” March said. “We’re no longer living in the age where we can all just say that we’re pro-life and then not go out and live through that calling. You have to go out, be present, donate, work hard to try and serve, instead of just living by this line of being pro-life.”
March said the women who choose to keep their pregnancy are an inspiration to her, enough to move her to tears. And above all, prayers are needed.
“They’re saying yes, despite their circumstances,” March said. “They don’t necessarily have a job,
they don’t necessarily have housing, and yet not only are they sacrificing their bodies, but they’re sacrificing their time. They’re sacrificing their whole being to say yes, to bring a child into the world.”
March said there is a unique but challenging opportunity for people in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis since the grant has been cut.
“It allows pro-lifers to put their money where their mouth is,” March said. “From a financial standpoint, we’re really struggling. … While in some respect, it’s a good thing because then we don’t have to be beholden to certain government or state requirements.”
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has stated that “The threat of abortion remains our preeminent priority.”
While it may seem to Catholic voters that the only way to affect legislation is through the ballot box, Hangge said faithful citizenship goes far beyond the voting booth in November. The MCC encourages individuals to talk with their state and local representatives.
“Talk to those people. Get to know them,” Hangge said. Additionally, Hangge said, the MCC encourages those at pregnancy resource centers “to talk with their legislators as well.”
The MCC also supports legislation such as
eliminating the state sales tax on necessary baby items to help families achieve economic security. Economics, Hangge explained, is a major factor impeding men and women from starting families.
“We’ve supported and will continue to support an expansion of the state child tax credit,” Hangge said. “Giving money to families to help them in whatever way they see fit.”
The MCC, in 2022, recommended that Minnesota enact a permanent, fully-refundable $150-a-month child tax credit (CTC) for all children up to the age of 18.
In 2023, with MCC backing the proposal, the Legislature allocated $400 million annually toward an income-driven family tax credit of up to $1,750 per child with no limit on the number of children claimed. An estimated 300,000 families across the state with children under 18 can get help through the tax credit.
Beyond legislation, the MCC offers avenues for individuals to help in other ways, by supporting organizations and pregnancy resource centers.
“It’s more important than ever to be supporting our pregnancy resource centers both financially or whether you have the ability to volunteer or donate,” Hangge said, “especially those who were grant recipients who are still hurting because they lost, some upwards of 40 percent of their budget when the program was repealed.”
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Jazzmen Love holds her son Legend, left, and daughter La-Riyah after they received winter coats at Guiding Star Wakota Oct. 16.
Digging graves, praying for souls, comforting the mourning
By Christina Capecchi
For The Catholic Spirit
Rich Zasada had a glamorous life as a drummer, performing rock music for huge crowds. Now the cradle Catholic is a 47-year-old father of three, and he’s going about quieter work: studying Scripture and faithfully maintaining Resurrection Cemetery in Mendota Heights, part of The Catholic Cemeteries, as a field worker.
“I’m right where the Lord wants me,” Zasada said on a chilly autumn morning at the cemetery as Canadian geese honked overhead. He and his wife, Angel, join their sons at St. John the Baptist in Savage, where the boys also go to school.
Q You got to experience the spotlight, drumming for the rock bands Strange Day and Skywind. Then you had a turning point.
A We were playing with Hairball at this huge event center near Green Bay, the Epic — 6,000 or 7,000 people — and I remember being on stage, thinking: “I’m bored.” There’s a lot of emptiness to it. The grind of it — clawing and scratching your way to the top — was getting to me. And it wasn’t long after that that my wife told me she was pregnant. Ultimately, that led to having them find a replacement for me.
Q Do you still drum?
A I still fill in shows here and there. Music has always been a big part of my life. Drumming is very physical. It releases a lot of energy. My wife jokes that it’s cheaper than therapy.
Q Here at Resurrection Cemetery you dig graves and maintain the grounds. What’s it like?
A The Lord always has perfect timing. If you shut up every once in a while, you can hear him speak to you. He led me here. When I started, it was lifechanging. I needed to gain perspective and realize I was taking everything for granted.
There were so many times when I’d go and do a (burial) service, and I couldn’t drive away without bawling my eyes out. It was good for me to do the emotional work. When I’m rolling over graves all day long that are people who are my age, my parents’ age, my children’s age … our time here, the Bible says, it’s a vapor.
Q The cemetery is a peaceful place for you.
A I pray out here. Because it’s a Catholic cemetery, I don’t feel out of place when I see somebody suffering out here, asking them if they need some prayer, and I’ll pray with them right here. That’s accepted. I’m able to pray with people weekly, sometimes daily. I’m asking the Lord to present me with opportunities. I’m taking on a lot of people’s grief. That’s OK. This is where I am for a reason.
The Lord puts signs right in front of us that are road signs. Stop. Go. I don’t
believe in coincidences. The Lord is trying to get us to do something.
Q When people learn what you do, do they think it’s cool or creepy?
A Most people think it’s really cool. A lot of my buddies are making more money, but they hate their jobs. They’re not fulfilled. I can’t say I’d be any happier if I were a rock star. I’d probably be miserable. I’ve seen so many interviews of musicians with a wall of Grammys who say: “I missed my parents getting old. I missed my kids’ birthdays. It wasn’t worth it.”
Q People come to this cemetery even if they’re not visiting a specific grave.
A You can find solitude out here. You can find your own spot. I’ll eat lunch out here, not in the break room. I carry a Bible with me. Everybody does, because everybody has a cellphone. There’s one prayer that the Bible teaches us to pray, and that’s the Our Father. I get the opportunity to pray that a lot.
Q You pray and you read the graves.
A I look for musicians’ graves. I clean them up, just as an extra service. There’s one with a drum kit etched on the stone.
A grave that really impacted me when I started working here was (that of) a young woman named Selena. I was mowing over here, and then I looked her up. She was just 19, the
victim of a rollover car accident. She was the passenger. I bawled when I learned that. She worked at the gas station. Everybody knew her.
Q It says she was born at sunrise and died at sunset.
A I always come over here and take care of this one.
Life is so fragile. There’s never a time I would leave my home without kissing my wife and kids. Nothing’s guaranteed. That’s why it’s important to always stay close to the Lord.
I’ve got a friend who has older kids, and he told me: “Man, I wish my kids would ask me to play with them. If your kids ever ask you to do something, just do it!”
Q Have you always loved nature?
A As a boy, we weren’t allowed to be inside. “We’re thirsty!” “Well, drink from the garden hose.” Nature is the Lord’s creation. It’s all magnificent. I’m a big snowboarder. So are my boys. We live by Buck Hill. I love doing that in the winters, and we go camping in the summer.
Q When did you become a bow hunter?
A I hadn’t been a hunter my whole life. Then I bought a bow during COVID. I lost my job along with 30 other people. I wanted to get out into the woods. I’d have to go out there to be in the real world.
Q Do you hunt often?
A This is my fourth turkey season. I’ve never shot an animal. I’ve only been close. But that must not be the thing that’s keeping me out there. I’m going tonight after work. I love being out there. I go to Whitewater (Wildlife Management Area). There’s a ton of public land. What’s really cool is, in a lot of those areas, there’s no cellphone service. You can’t be listening to music or watching TV. You have to be quiet. I have found the Lord and the Lord has found me in nature, when there’s nobody around. Initially you’ve stirred up the woods. But once you’ve sat out there for half an hour without moving, the woods calm down again. I’ve had so many animal interactions then. Something happens every day. Once, in the spring, I was sitting in the woods, and a hummingbird came right in front of me and stayed. I couldn’t believe it. I’ve been to the Boundary Waters a few times. I think it should be required of all Americans to go. You’re in survival mode. You’ve gotten yourself into something amazing and dangerous. People come out of there changed.
Q What do you know for sure?
A I know the Lord loves us. He shows us in so many ways. What I know for sure is that the Lord has always had his hand on me, always, even at the times I didn’t know it or didn’t believe. It’s a great comfort. But I’m also more accountable. It’s not something I can just forget about or dismiss. Hopefully the Lord finds a way to use me.
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
SUNDAY SCRIPTURES | FATHER TROY PRZYBILLA
Take courage
Many years ago, I took a pilgrimage to the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady Help of Christians at Holy Hill in Wisconsin. Many people come for the beauty of the church set on a hill and its surroundings, but many others come to pray for a miracle. I went with a friend who had a speech impediment.
I knew he wanted to be healed but we didn’t talk much about it. When we were at Mass, the Gospel we will hear this Sunday was read and I was struck by Jesus’ simple question, “What do you want me to do for you?” and Bartimaeus’ equally simple response, “I want to see.”
It seemed so simple. If it worked for Bartimaeus why couldn’t it work for my friend? I believed that the same Jesus who healed Bartimaeus was present in the Eucharist. So, I was prompted to tell my friend to ask Jesus what Jesus wants to do for him when he goes up to receive holy Communion. This prompting burned within my heart until Communion came … and went. To my regret, I never told him to do this.
As Mass finished, we looked around the church and I saw a chapel with hundreds of testimonies of miraculous cures. I’m sure that behind each of these testimonies were people who were able to proclaim the Psalm response, “The Lord has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.”
However, as I looked at them, I was not filled with joy. In fact,
ASK FATHER MIKE | FATHER MICHAEL SCHMITZ
There’s much to consider
before offering one’s opinion
Editor’s note: This column originally ran in the July 2014 issue of The Northern Cross, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Duluth.
Q When am I supposed to offer my opinion? For example, I have a friend who conceived a child through in vitro fertilization. Am I supposed to tell her that was wrong?
A This is a good question but also a somewhat complicated thing. So many factors go into figuring out when to speak and when to remain silent that I often find people will simply abdicate any responsibility and do nothing.
In fact, isn’t there that oddly popular bumper sticker that simply states, “coexist”?
The implication is, “keep your thoughts to yourself and live your life.” Essentially, “stay out of other people’s business.”
While that might be one way to live, it is not the Christian way to live. I recently heard someone point out this startlingly obvious fact: Christians are called not to tolerate others but to love others. While we will hopefully live in peace with all of those around us, we are called to do more than merely “coexist.”
Love is more than tolerance. Love places demands on us. We cannot stand idly by while others hurt themselves or others. Of course, in our pluralistic society, we ought not to impose our beliefs on others, but there is an incredible and significant difference between forcing one’s beliefs on another and lovingly proposing the truth to them.
Older Christians had a name for this. It was one of the spiritual works of mercy and was called “instructing the ignorant.” A more palatable way of saying it is “leading another to the truth.”
This is hard to hear for people who don’t believe there is such a thing as truth, but it is convicting for those of us who know that reality is not merely a matter of opinion.
my heart sank because I felt like I passed up on an opportunity for a miracle. But I will never know, because I lacked courage. I was unable to say to my friend, “Take courage, get up, Jesus is calling you” because I didn’t have any courage to give him.
This event happened before I was ordained a priest and it impressed upon me the words in today’s second reading, “Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God … . He is able to deal patiently with the ignorant and erring, for he himself is beset with weakness.” I realized my own weakness to simply speak to a friend about Jesus and, as a result, I can sympathize with many others who also lack courage to share their faith.
I know that I am not the only one who lacks courage. I know that there are many people who try to ignore, and even silence, the inner promptings of the Holy Spirit to speak out against evil or sin, to help someone in need, to speak a consoling or encouraging word, or, like me, to simply tell a friend to ask Jesus to heal him.
If we believe that the same Jesus who healed Bartimaeus is present at every Mass and in every tabernacle, we wouldn’t be afraid to tell everyone we know to “Take courage, Jesus is calling you.”
Each of us plays an essential role to help bring people to Jesus to be healed and saved. If we lack courage to share our faith, Jesus will pass by, and we will pass up on our opportunity.
Thankfully, Jesus “passes by” at every Mass and he asks us the same question he asked Bartimaeus, “What do you want me to do for you?”
If we respond with the same simple faith and powerful confidence as Bartimaeus, even if it is greater courage to share our faith, we will experience the effects of Jesus’ words, “Go your way; your faith has saved you.”
But we need to consider other factors as well, including context, responsibility and prudence.
Share the truth
In spring 2014, a ferry carrying almost 300 people sank off the coast of South Korea. Roughly 280 passengers lost their lives. After this tragedy occurred, it was discovered that almost all of those lives could have been saved.
Unfortunately, the captain of the ferry ignored the reality of the situation and directed all the passengers to return to their rooms while he got himself and most of the crew off the ship.
This captain was charged with murder. He had a responsibility to tell his passengers the truth, but he was apparently content with using the truth to save himself and not concerned enough to share it with those under his protection.
We need to be attentive to the elements of this story. The captain had the truth and was in a position to share the truth. Even more, he had a responsibility to share the truth. He was exactly the person whose job it was to tell the truth.
When we are faced with whether we ought to share the truth with someone, we must weigh those same factors.
What is the context of this relationship? That is a critical factor.
If I am not in a healthy and trusting relationship with this other person, then I need to consider that when discerning if I am the right person to share this information.
If I have never had a good relationship with my sister, then I might not be the right person to offer some “brotherly advice.” If I have never said more than two words to a coworker, maybe the first real conversation we have shouldn’t be one where I point out their faults. And if I am looking at a situation “after the fact,” I don’t need to offer any free advice.
It is like when someone asks you what you think about their new tattoo. At this point, it is done. Nothing that you could say would be all that helpful. In the case of the woman who conceived the child through immoral means, this moment might not be the best to point out that procreation and the sexual act ought to be kept intact. What’s your role?
There are at least two other factors to consider. You can ask yourself, “Do I have a responsibility to tell them the truth in this situation?” What is your role?
The captain of the ferry was the person responsible for the safety of his passengers. A parent’s role is always to teach their children.
PLEASE TURN TO ASK FATHER MIKE ON PAGE 19
DAILY Scriptures
Sunday, Oct. 27 Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jer 31:7-9
Heb 5:1-6 Mk 10:46-52
Monday, Oct. 28
Sts. Simon and Jude, Apostles Eph 2:19-22 Lk 6:12-16
Tuesday, Oct. 29 Eph 5:21-33 Lk 13:18-21
Wednesday, Oct. 30 Eph 6:1-9 Lk 13:22-30
Thursday, Oct. 31 Eph 6:10-20 Lk 13:31-35
Friday, Nov. 1 Solemnity of All Saints Rv 7:2-4, 9-14 1 Jn 3:1-3 Mt 5:1-12a
Saturday, Nov. 2 Commemoration of All Souls Wis 3:1-9 Rom 6:3-9 Jn 6:37-40
Sunday, Nov. 3 Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time Dt 6:2-6 Heb 7:23-28 Mk 12:28b-34
Monday, Nov. 4 St. Charles Borromeo, bishop Phil 2:1-4 Lk 14:12-14
Tuesday, Nov. 5 Phil 2:5-11 Lk 14:15-24
Wednesday, Nov. 6 Phil 2:12-18 Lk 14:25-33
Thursday, Nov. 7 Phil 3:3-8a Lk 15:1-10
Friday, Nov. 8 Phil 3:17–4:1 Lk 16:1-8
Saturday, Nov. 9 Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome Ez 47:1-2, 8-9, 12 1 Cor 3:9c-11, 16-17 Jn 2:13-22
Sunday, Nov. 10 Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time 1 Kgs 17:10-16 Heb 9:24-28 Mk 12:38-44
ST. ALPHONSUS RODRIGUEZ (1533-1617) Alphonsus had to leave school when his father, a wealthy wool merchant in Segovia, Spain, died. He was put in charge of the family business at age 23, but it declined. He married and had children, but within a few short years lost his mother, wife, daughter and son. He was introduced to the practice of daily meditation by his sisters. When he tried to join the Jesuits, he was initially rejected as too old and uneducated. But, in 1571, he was accepted as a lay brother. He served as doorkeeper at the Jesuit college in Majorca for 45 years. Alphonsus mentored St. Peter Claver and others and is the subject of a sonnet written by another Jesuit, the priest-poet Gerard Manley Hopkins. –– OSV News
Father Przybilla is pastor of St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony.
| LAURA KELLY FANUCCI
Liturgical living is for adults, too
Over the past 15 years, I’ve witnessed the rise of “liturgical living” in Catholic circles. Websites, social media, books, home décor and subscription boxes abound to help families celebrate the Church year at home — with party supplies and recipes for every feast day under the sun.
But liturgical living is for adults, too. The Catechism of the Catholic Church notes the centrality of the liturgical year for all who follow Christ: “The Church, ‘in the course of the year … unfolds the whole mystery of Christ from his Incarnation and Nativity through his Ascension, to Pentecost and the expectation of the blessed hope of the coming of the Lord’” (CCC 1194).
More good news: there’s no need to buy or do anything elaborate to grow in your practice of liturgical living. Celebrating the Church year can be as simple as changing your prayer habits in small ways or incorporating the liturgical seasons into daily life.
For example, start by noticing what you already do at home to mark the changing seasons in the Church: Advent candles, Christmas or Easter decorations or special food for holidays. You might try adding one or two practices in the coming year to deepen your celebration of the liturgical seasons.
One easy idea is to change your prayer habits each month. Start your daily prayer with the Hail Mary in October, in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary. Pray your own short litany of favorite saints each day in November or pray by name for loved ones who have died.
Another idea that appeals to young and old is bringing the outside inside. Nature’s seasons often echo the Church year. To connect with God’s creation, gather a small beauty from the natural world
Are there rosaries in your wreckage?
My husband was coming home early for the July 4 weekend. While stopped at a stop sign, he was struck from behind by a much larger SUV. Witnesses said the other driver was driving recklessly and accelerating. The last thing my husband remembered was looking in his rearview mirror when he heard an engine revving behind him.
The jolt was so severe that my husband’s car flipped around, setting off his airbag. His car was totaled. The driver’s side was so smashed that my husband had to exit the car through the passenger side. Thankfully, he got out and walked away, dazed, bruised, cut up a bit, but largely uninjured. He was taken to the ER and after several hours of being poked, prodded, X-rayed and examined, we were sent home with muscle relaxers and ice packs.
July 4 it poured all day, and we spent the day recovering and tending to wounds. Then came July 5.
We were hoping for a quiet day to rest. My husband thought a walk might do his aches and pains some good, so he took off with our dogs for their morning constitutional. Not much later, I looked outside to
More good news: there’s no need to buy or do anything elaborate to grow in your practice of liturgical living. Celebrating the Church year can be as simple as changing your prayer habits in small ways or incorporating the liturgical seasons into daily life.
to create a reminder to pray at your table or desk. Flowers, leaves, seeds, rocks or shells — whatever is native to your area — can inspire us to thank God for nature’s cycles and liturgical seasons.
Celebrating sacred seasons doesn’t just mean decorating for high holidays. One small change — napkins, candles, flowers or artwork — can bring the current liturgical color into your home. For years, I’ve been using thrift store napkins (purple, white, green, red and pink) and prayer cards cut from religious catalogs to make a simple centerpiece on our kitchen table.
Liturgical living isn’t limited to home either, especially if you spend much of the day on the go. In November, you could say a short prayer whenever you pass a church or cemetery, in honor of our beloved dead. In December, pray “Come, Lord Jesus” whenever you see a Nativity scene.
When planning your calendar for work or home, check online to see what saints’ feast days are coming soon. You might start by marking memorials that connect with your name, nationality, parish or particular devotion. Beyond birthdays, remember family and friends in prayer on their baptism anniversary or wedding anniversary, too. (Not sure
see the police on our street, full armor, guns drawn, pointing at a nearby house. The man who lives there has a history of domestic assault, robbery and drug use. The worst part: he has young children.
My phone rang. The police informed me I needed to grab my purse and get out of the house. We live on a dead-end street, so I could not drive away, the street was shut down. By then dozens of cop cars were swarming, including a SWAT team whose members escorted me and some neighbors through another neighbor’s backyard as we fled on foot. I joined my husband and the puppies and thus began our exile.
We first walked to a local cemetery and said a rosary for the family, praying that no one would be injured. After a few hours we walked back toward our house only to hear more sirens followed by, “We have a warrant for your arrest, come out with your hands up!” This went on for hours to no avail.
We walked to a local grocery store, had something to eat, and watered the puppies. After another hour or so, we got a taxi to the rectory. Our priest has dogs, and we didn’t think he’d mind letting us hang out a while. But he wasn’t home, so we took the taxi to a local hotel. All this in the rain and while I’m still recovering from chemo.
Not too much later, the police stormed into the house with teargas and arrested the man. No one was injured. After several more hours of waiting, jogging over to our adoration chapel, and taxiing about town trying to think where we could spend the night, we were finally given the all-clear to return home.
The next day we found out where my husband’s car had been towed and went to retrieve personal belongings. We were literally pulling rosaries out
when your own baptismal anniversary falls? Contact the parish where you were baptized to check the records.)
Young adults, single people, engaged or married couples, empty nesters, widows and widowers — the liturgical year is a gift that belongs to all of us, not just kids making Sunday school crafts. Every Christian can access and grow from the joy that comes in celebrating the sacred seasons. Following the liturgical year is not one more thing “to do,” but a way to live. Clearly, the best way is to keep the liturgy at the center of your life — so when you prioritize Mass on Sunday, you’re already doing it!
But God is always beckoning us deeper into the life of faith. Contemplating the truths held in the liturgical year can help us to keep Christ’s dying and rising — the paschal mystery — at the heart of our faith. Try one new thing this season, a prayer or practice that can draw your faith into daily life: your own Ordinary Time.
Fanucci, a member of St. Joseph the Worker in Maple Grove, is an author, speaker and founder of Mothering Spirit, an online gathering place on parenting and spirituality at motheringspirit com
Life can explode in dramatic and deadly ways. Storms, violence or recklessness can overtake us in a moment. But in this month of October when we celebrate the efficacy of the rosary, let’s give thanks for the million ways the Blessed Mother intercedes for our protection and provision, even in the wreckage.
of the wreckage. Seeing his car, it was clear that my husband had been cocooned. At one point we stopped and prayed over the car with gratitude. It could have been so much worse.
Life can explode in dramatic and deadly ways. Storms, violence or recklessness can overtake us in a moment. But in this month of October when we celebrate the efficacy of the rosary, let’s give thanks for the million ways the Blessed Mother intercedes for our protection and provision, even in the wreckage.
Blessed Mother, wrap us in your mantle. We ask that you remember those who have no one to pray for them, those suffering the aftermath of hurricanes, war and violence, especially the most vulnerable. Amen.
Stanchina is the community leader for Women’s Formation at the Word on Fire Institute and the author of more than a dozen books. Visit her website at LizK.org
CATHOLIC OR
Consumerism’s ‘radical monopolies’
In recent columns, we’ve been looking at the Catholic Worker’s critique of our consumer society.
One of the main features of that society, I wrote back in August, is that the production of basic necessities ceases to be internal to local communities and is taken over by large impersonal institutions. This amounts to the destruction of the strong community bonds of local economies, and results in the social fragmentation we see around us.
I mentioned that these corporations and institutions “radically monopolize” the production of the things we need for daily living. Let me explain what I mean by that phrase.
We all know what a monopoly is: the dominance of the market by exclusion of all competitors. A “radical monopoly” goes even further: it’s the dominance of an aspect of life by the exclusion of the ability to provide it from the local community.
For example, if Microsoft were the only brand in town, that would be a monopoly. When you need a smartphone to have a social life, that is a radical monopoly. If Aldi were the only place for groceries, that would be a monopoly. When you can only get your food from grocery stores, that is a radical monopoly.
And this has, in fact, happened in virtually every aspect of our lives. A few more examples follow.
Care for our bodies: From time immemorial, local cultures have made use of traditional arts of treating illness, much of which they could utilize skillfully
Because our productive lives are external to local communities, we have only the thinnest common goods holding us together. At the same time, our almost exclusive dependence on these external systems makes it extremely hard for us to re-form any alternative, internal, local social bonds, and thus such institutions assure their own indispensability and continued dominance. They are the current social fabric, and their hegemony keeps us fragmented.
even before modern medicine. Today, however, we have a hard time knowing what to do with a cold without recourse to a health care professional.
Transportation: Our bodies are naturally mobile. For much of history, people have gotten around on foot, horse or bicycle. But for the last 100 years, our infrastructure has been constructed so that it can be difficult to move without paved roads, cars, oil and the jungle of institutions that stand behind them.
Insurance: People used to be secured against the vicissitudes of life and financial catastrophe, as they still are today in many non-Western cultures, by virtues of neighborliness, norms of solidarity, family obligations and traditions of hospitality. Today, even the closest of relations take care of each other only when recourse to insurance companies fails.
And let me again underline the significant examples with which we started. Human beings — rich and poor — have always procured most of their food locally, and with significant amounts of neighborly cooperation. Today, this can be done only with great effort, and only by those well-off enough to afford the additional expense, time and travel necessary.
And last but not least: It is increasingly difficult to be part of any community of friends, much less function in society, without a smartphone. Our “social” life now depends on it. This is a radical monopoly, and it is also a redefinition of the word “social,” partly in response to other radical monopolies.
Now consider the cumulative practical difference the introduction of these radical monopolies has made in daily community life. Perhaps one way to
wife and I missed at the event (since we could not bilocate!). So much inspirational Catholic intellect, humor and talent was offered up — and the speakers contributed because they love the Lord. Yet the message explicitly given by these popular and devout Catholic leaders — led by Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston — at the event was that we need to do the same thing. We need to share that love. We need to live and proclaim the heart of the Gospel to others we encounter –– and pray to the Holy Spirit for the right words when the opportunity presents itself.
If you didn’t get a chance to attend the National Eucharistic Congress (NEC) in Indianapolis this past July with the 50,000 or so others, it is not too late to enjoy its fruits.
Thanks to technology, we can visit eucharisticcongress org and tap the homepage prompt: “Relive the congress” for content from the event, podcast recordings and more. The Eucharistic revival can be experienced right at home and shared with others, including with members of the small groups to which we belong.
The first small group — the family — is one within our spheres of influence where saints are born and develop. Other small groups outside of the home can enhance our growth as Catholic Christians to sanctify the culture and make us the saints our Lord calls us to be.
I tried to express my zeal for evangelization to the Knights of Columbus (the original watchmen who “stand at the breach”) chapter of Cannon Falls earlier this month at their annual Columbus Day banquet — wives included. Being a Catholic multimedia aficionado, I shared that I use the Relevant Radio (free) app to replay the NEC talks that I enjoyed as an attendee.
I also catch up with the many presentations my
The fire of the Holy Spirit does not allow us to keep the Gospel message to ourselves. As Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester proclaimed in the final evening revival session, “your Christianity is not for you. It is not a self-help program ... your Christianity is for the world.”
The privilege we have of receiving the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist needs to be shared. The Body and Blood that feeds us and strengthens us in holiness needs to be known by all we touch.
Another speaker was Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus in “The Chosen” series. He spoke about filming the Last Supper scene, and then recited the Bread of Life discourse from John 6. While the discourse did not make it into the series, Roumie delivered a compelling rendition of the truth of Jesus’ message. It is a message we believers know is true, and not to be kept to ourselves.
How do we best do this as providers, protectors and leaders of the faith? It has been proven over the years that friendships develop through small group relationships that provide effective conduits for evangelization — and in making more saints.
As we implement year two of Archbishop Bernard Hebda’s pastoral letter, “You Will Be My Witnesses: Gathered and Sent From the Upper Room,” we are called to focus on knowing, appreciating and living the Mass and the Eucharist. And our chief shepherd,
put it is that, without commercial and institutional support, it is increasingly difficult to be sick, secure, eat, talk or move.
The situation we’re in, then, is that we are permanently atomized and fragmented from one another by the very systems that make our practical lives possible. Because our productive lives are external to local communities, we have only the thinnest common goods holding us together. At the same time, our almost exclusive dependence on these external systems makes it extremely hard for us to re-form any alternative, internal, local social bonds, and thus such institutions assure their own indispensability and continued dominance. They are the current social fabric, and their hegemony keeps us fragmented.
It’s probably worth remarking that I do not think anyone intended things to turn out like this. To be sure, there is plenty of sin, greed and opportunism in the equation. But I would, in fact, argue that one of the key characteristics of our society is that no one is ultimately in control, and that no one could be in control.
But all this is not, for the Christian, a council of despair. As we’ll start to see next time, it’s an opportunity to reimagine the way we do Church, and to rediscover the importance of doing it together.
Miller is the director of the Center for Catholic Social Thought at Assumption in St. Paul. He is the author of “We Are Only Saved Together: Living the Revolutionary Vision of Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement,” published by Ave Maria Press.
Archbishop Hebda, asks that small groups continue to develop and flourish. The small groups that were formed in year one need to press on into year two and beyond — multiplying into more small groups as guided by the Holy Spirit.
The NEC materials are just one resource — albeit vast and timely — with an abundance of videos, podcasts and materials to help us lead or participate in a small group that can focus on the real presence of Jesus in our sacramental lives.
For example, a six-to-eight-week series on the Real Presence could be developed from the various NEC talks, breakout sessions and other activities. Leaders could listen and sort through the dynamic speakers and talented musicians who contributed throughout the five days. Many talks were about 20 to 30 minutes to 30 minutes long and could fit right into the Parish Evangelization Cell System moments.
The world we live in needs to know about the real presence of Jesus. He wants to lead us and bring us into his divine friendship. As Chris Stefanick closed out his talk (with his classic, inspiring enthusiasm) in the final morning encounter session at the NEC: “If you want to really experience a Pentecost moment, let’s stop asking small of God … after all, your God created a universe … How about this: Lord, unleash heaven on me, give me all the grace I need to be the saint you made me to be.” And finally, “go and announce the Gospel of the Lord; two-thirds of God’s name is ‘Go.’”
Let us pray large and be the small group saint God calls us to be. At Pentecost, Jesus’ Apostles baptized 3,000. After that, Christianity was largely about small groups.
Deacon Bird ministers at St. Joseph in Rosemount and All Saints in Lakeville and assists with the archdiocesan Catholic Watchmen movement. He can be reached at gordonbird@rocketmail com
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that it generates revenue, but the data from states that have legalized sports betting tell a darker story. Instead of economic windfalls, these states have seen increased financial instability, rising debt and other alarming social consequences. Some of these states are already rethinking legalization. Unfortunately, Minnesota is in the crosshairs, with sports gambling advocates once again planning to press lawmakers during the 2025 legislative session.
The Minnesota Catholic Conference (MCC) has long stood against this effort, and we are not alone. As a member of the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition (JRLC), we work alongside the Islamic Center of Minnesota, the Jewish Community Relations Council and the Minnesota Council of Churches to advocate for policies that promote the dignity of every individual and protect those most vulnerable in our state. Legalized sports gambling, especially its online form where users can bet directly
Pope Francis’ memoir to be published in January
An Italian publisher announced the global release in January of “Hope,” a book it described as Pope Francis’ autobiography, which the pope apparently planned to have released only after his death.
Mondadori, the Italian publisher coordinating the global release, announced the publication Oct. 16 at the Frankfurt Book Fair and said it would be released in 80 countries Jan. 14. Viking, an imprint of Penguin General, will publish “Hope” in the United Kingdom, while Random House will publish it in the United States and Penguin Random House Canada will publish it in Canada.
Mondadori said Pope Francis began working on the book with Italian editor Carlo Musso in 2019 with the understanding it would be published only after his death, but the Holy Year 2025 and its focus on hope led him to permit the early release of “this precious legacy.”
The memoir includes the pope’s childhood right through his adult life, “covering the whole of his papacy up to the present day,” said a press release from Viking.
gambling is legal. These figures are sobering and highlight the far-reaching and unintended consequences that gambling can have on individuals, families and communities.
“modernizing” our gambling laws, but this overlooks the profound human cost. The experience of other states shows that while sports gambling might bring in revenue, it also leaves behind a trail of financial ruin and social harm.
MCC and JRLC are dedicated to ensuring that online sports betting does not take root in Minnesota. As people of faith, we must stand firm against proposals that harm the vulnerable and undermine the common good. The dangers of online sports betting are clear. We have the responsibility to advocate for a better future.
According to a Northwestern University study, legal sports gambling drains household finances. For every dollar spent on gambling, $2 are pulled out of savings or investment accounts. This is especially concerning for already struggling families trying to make ends meet. Worse yet, a study from economists at UCLA and the University of Southern California reveals that the likelihood of household bankruptcy increases by 25 to 30 percent in states with legalized online sports gambling. The Northwestern University study can be reached at shorturl.at/KCtwr and the study from economists can be found at shorturl at/Q88Xo
These financial risks are just the tip of the iceberg. Research shows that legal gambling also increases social harms. For instance, a study from the University of Oregon at shorturl at/6J4sG found a direct link between sports betting and incidents of intimate-partner violence, with a 9 percent increase in domestic violence incidents in states where
Despite these dangers, each year Minnesota lawmakers come closer to legalizing mobile sports betting. The arguments in favor often focus on generating state revenue or
If you share these concerns, we encourage you to make your voice heard. Contact your legislators today through mnCatholiC orG/aCtion_22689 and urge them to oppose the legalization of online sports betting in Minnesota.
Inside the Capitol is a legislative update from Minnesota Catholic Conference staff.
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Sharing why I am Catholic is always exciting but daunting — there are so many things I could talk about. If I were to summarize my experience in one sentence, I would say that I am Catholic because I’ve fallen in love with God as a person, and I couldn’t imagine being separated from him.
My faith journey started in eighth grade when I attended Extreme Faith Camp for the first time. The camp included a night of adoration during which the Blessed Sacrament was processed in front of all the campers, stopping for a few seconds just a foot away from each of our faces.
For a brief moment, it was like I was alone with him in a room, just him and me. I can’t describe that moment other than saying that in those few seconds, my heart knew in a profound way that he was real, I was loved, and that I would never be the same. What I didn’t understand yet was that coming closer to Christ inevitably meant coming closer to the cross.
Shortly after this experience, it seemed like a dark cloud started to pass over everything around me. About six months later, a tragic death in my family left people I love in a state of deep suffering.
Around the same time, I received a few medical misdiagnoses from doctors. This experience took a physical toll on my body and made school increasingly difficult for me.
In all of this, I began to ask myself what the meaning of suffering was and why God would allow painful things to happen. I started to pray the rosary every day and ask Mary to enter into the suffering and walk alongside me. What she began to show me was the cross — that to get closer to Jesus and to
Aviv Stella Why I am Catholic
let myself love him was to also allow myself to be crucified with him. To say yes to being Catholic is saying yes to Jesus making our hearts like his, and his is a heart that breaks for us to the point where he came and died for us. I had met him, and I loved him — so how could I choose something different?
In this place, I started to notice how even in suffering, the gift of loving also allows for unexplainable joy. It was almost paradoxical: Though there was more suffering in a life with Christ, I was becoming increasingly more joyful and alive than I was before I had met him. Everything around me seemed more colorful, the good and beautiful moments became even more beautiful. And, to make it better, suffering had eternal meaning. Entering more deeply into my Catholic faith has made me more myself and has given me a deep desire for everyone around me to experience the transformative power he has in our lives if we simply say yes to him.
Stella, 24, a member of Transfiguration in Oakdale, is a painter who also loves hiking, being in the woods and reading novels; her favorite novel is “The Brothers Karamazov” by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Stella hails from a family that includes her five siblings. She is a graduate of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, spent two years as a FOCUS missionary at Ball State University in Indiana and moved back to Minnesota in hopes of pursuing a master’s degree in marriage counseling.
“Why I am Catholic” is an ongoing series in The Catholic Spirit. Want to share why you are Catholic? Submit your story in 300-500 words to CatholiCSpirit@arChSpm org with subject line “Why I am Catholic.”
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
CALENDAR
PARISH EVENTS
Vatican International Eucharistic Miracles Display
— Oct. 24-27: 4 p.m. at St. John the Baptist, 4625 W. 125th St., Savage. Enter through Door #1. Viewing of the Vatican International Eucharistic Miracles Display created by Blessed Carlo Acutis. 150-plus historically documented miracles and first-class relic of Blessed Carlo Acutis available for veneration. Free admission. All are invited. StjohnS-Savage org
Booya — Oct. 27: 6 a.m. at St. Jerome School, 384 Roselawn Ave., Maplewood. Takeout only, containers provided.
Save our Sons Workshop for Fathers — Oct. 27: 1-3 p.m. at St. Michael, 11300 Frankfort Parkway NE, St. Michael. The workshop will share practical strategies and methods to guide our sons to live a life free of pornography and sexual sin. freedomtolove org
Grandparents Apostolate Fall Event — Oct. 28: 8:45 a.m. at Nativity of Our Lord, 1938 Stanford Ave., St. Paul. All (spiritual) grandparents are invited to a morning of enrichment, encouragement, fellowship, prayer and a presentation, “The Lord is Close to the Broken-hearted,” by chaplain Father John Paul Erickson. tinyurl Com/22tCykdz Pro-Life Pancake Breakfast and Bingo — Oct. 28: 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. at Our Lady of the Lake, 2385 Commerce Blvd., Mound. Pro-Life Pancake Breakfast and Bingo, sponsored by the KCs. Breakfast served after 8:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Masses. Price: $10 for adults; $5 for kids under 10. Bingo starts at noon; $1 per game, 20 games plus coverall. All proceeds benefit Elevate Life and Southwest Options.
Craft Fair — Nov. 2: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at Mary Mother of the Church, 3333 Cliff Road E., Burnsville. Over 50 vendors, several new this year. Featuring holiday and traditional craft items. mmotC org
RCCW Holiday Bazaar — Nov. 2: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at Assumption, 305 E. 77th St., Richfield. Annual Holiday Bazaar featuring food, crafts, baked goods, Christmas items, games, book sale and our famous caramel rolls. aSSumptionriChfield org/
St. John Neumann Fair Trade Market — Nov. 2: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at St. John Neumann, 4030 Pilot Knob Road, Eagan. Fair-trade organizations offering unique products at our market ensure that farmers and artisans in developing countries and disadvantaged regions are being paid a fair price for their products, enabling workers to provide for their families. tinyurl Com/5n6u7yhv
Pre-Holiday Bazaar and Bake Sale — Nov. 2-3: noon6:30 p.m. Nov. 2, 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Nov. 3, at St. Odilia, 3495 N. Victoria St., Shoreview. The bazaar features a variety of sweet treats, kitchen items and gadgets, fall and Christmas items, hand-crafted goods, glassware and more. Annual Craft and Bake Sale — Nov. 9: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at St. Timothy, 707 89th Ave. NE, Blaine. The Council of Catholic Women will host dozens of craft vendors and have a variety of baked goods in their bake shop. Cinnamon rolls and lunch are available for purchase. tinyurl Com/yC8xmryk
Fall Craft Fair — Nov. 9: 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at St. Rita, 8694 80th St. S., Cottage Grove. Handmade crafts, baked goods, homemade jams, etc. will be available for sale. Refreshments will also be available for purchase. All proceeds support Mission Outreach and St. Rita’s Building Fund. This is not a vendor sale. SaintritaS org
Turkey Bingo — Nov. 9: 5-8 p.m. at St. Helena School, 3200 E. 44th St., Minneapolis. Bingo, pull tabs, food, beer and a silent auction. Doors open at 5 p.m. and Bingo starts at 5:30. All proceeds support St. Helena School. Bring a copy of this calendar entry for a free game!
Christmas Bazaar — Nov. 9-10: 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Nov. 9, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Nov. 10, at St. Alphonsus, 7025 Halifax Ave. N., Brooklyn Center. There will be handmade gifts and crafts, including religious gifts. Homemade jellies, jams, candy, cookies and baked goods. Multicultural foods to eat. Visit our Christmas attic and used book area. See Santa and Mrs. Claus at selected times. StalSCCw org
Christmas Boutique — Nov. 9-10: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Nov. 9 and 9 a.m.-noon Nov. 10 at St. Joseph of the Lakes, 171 Elm St., Lino Lakes. Shop for unique gifts, crafts and decorations from 50-plus local vendors. Handcrafted candies, bake sale items, beef jerky, fresh caramel and cinnamon rolls will be available. Hot lunch on Saturday starting at 11 a.m.
Preparing Your Home for Advent and Christmas — Nov. 9: 9-10:30 a.m. at the Cathedral of St. Paul, 239 Selby Ave., St. Paul. Join this free and practical workshop to learn tips for keeping your family in sync with the Church’s liturgical year. Coffee, donuts and childcare will be provided. Register at formS offiCe Com/r/kfwpQybtzx
Fall Market — Nov. 9-10: 9 a.m.-7:30 p.m. at St. Therese, 18323 Minnetonka Blvd., Deephaven. Stock up for the holidays with baked goods and gifts. Includes bake sale, marketplace, silent auction, raffle, money bowl, books, puzzles, DVDs, bottle bonanza raffle and Winter Wear Shoppe. St-thereSe org/eventS
WORSHIP+RETREATS
Praise and Worship Concert — Oct. 25: 7-9 p.m. at St. Mary of the Lake, 4741 Bald Eagle Ave., White Bear Lake. Featuring vocalists Jennifer Eckes, Julia Ennen, Daniel Greco and Sheena Janson-Kelley. Instrumentalists include Jaclyn Schwartz (music director), Ernest Bisong, Greg Byers and David Feily. Wine and appetizers to follow; donations appreciated.
Friends of Francis Retreat — Oct. 25-27: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 25-1 p.m. Oct. 27 at 16385 Saint Francis Lane, Prior Lake. Theme: Francis of Assisi — Teach Us to Pray. Presented by Father Wayne Hellmann. This is for anyone interested in the charism of St. Francis. Includes conference talks, confession, Mass, guided prayer and restful open periods. tinyurl Com/vj8fz4z3
November Women’s Weekend Retreat — Nov. 1-3: 7:30 p.m. Nov. 1–1 p.m. Nov. 3, at 16385 Saint Francis Lane, Prior Lake. Theme: Finding God in Difficult Times. In addition to the four conference talks, this women’s retreat includes classic retreat elements such as unhurried confession, guided prayer, spiritual direction, Mass and generous unscheduled periods. tinyurl Com/yejrverj
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Resurrection Cemetery: Double-depth companion crypt in Our Lady of Solace Mausoleum. Value: $32,570. Sale Price: $28,995. 1-402-871-6446 soster5@aol.com
Calvary Cemetery: Eight grave sites in historic Section 21, Block 3, Lot 1. Price $2,000 each or $14,000 for all. Call or text 541-520-9749 or email dougher@efn.org.
Resurrection: 3 flat stone lots; Value: $2250/ea. Price $1700/ea.; $4500 for all. 612-669-6548
Resurrection: Single Lot Sec 60. Market: $2250, Price: $1900. dnorsten@gmail.com
Living Inside Our Hope: Silent Weekend Retreat for Men and Women — Nov. 8-10: Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. An opportunity to explore how we live inside our hope. Presented by Father Joseph Nassal. kingShouSe Com
CONFERENCES+WORKSHOPS
Faith and Science Series — Oct. 11, Oct. 25: 6-8:30 p.m. at Nativity of Our Lord, 1938 Stanford Ave., St. Paul. Are you interested in the dialogue between faith and science? Come to our speaker series with a talk and opportunity to network with other enthusiasts. This series is also the starting point for a local chapter of the Society of Catholic Scientists. tinyurl Com/mSak433v
National Catholic Charismatic Conference — Oct. 25-27: at the NET Ministries Center, 110 Crusader Ave. W., West Saint Paul. Conference features prayer and formation for charismatic renewal, including a workshop specifically for clergy and seminarians. Cost: full conference, $189; Saturday only, $90; Friday or Sunday only, $45. All-night adoration at the NET Center Chapel on both Friday and Saturday nights, open to the public. Adorers wanted; to sign up for adoration, please fill out a time slot at tinyurl Com/4dfb75ae
Next Chapter Retirement Program: Information Session — Oct. 29 and 30: 10-11 a.m. Oct. 29, 7-8 p.m. Oct. 30, at the University of St. Thomas, 2115 Summit Ave., St. Paul. Learn more about this monthly program for people newly retired. What is God calling you to be or do in retirement? This is one of two information sessions. The next cohort starts in January. Register at formS offiCe Com/r/jxmQjxtbg0; for more information see tinyurl Com/ymu84rv9.
OTHER EVENTS
Abria Together for Life Gala — Oct. 25: 6-9 p.m. at InterContinental MSP Airport, 5005 Glumack Drive, Minneapolis. This inspiring evening will feature stories of hope and opportunities to support Abria’s life-affirming mission. aeSbid Com/elp/abria24
St Joseph the Worker Knights of Columbus Auxiliary Country Store — Nov. 2: 1-4 p.m. at St Joseph the Worker Parish Hall, 7180 Hemlock Lane N., Maple Grove. Purchase the perfect Christmas gifts in our Country Store, handmade crafts and canned goods, and featuring Father Mike’s (Sullivan) Jams. Our auxiliary donates the proceeds to charitable causes each year. Sjtw net/bulletin Fall Info Night — Nov. 7: 6:30-7:30 p.m. at The St. Paul Seminary, 2260 Summit Ave., St. Paul. The St. Paul Seminary’s lay graduate programs are hosting an information night at Ireland Library for fellowship, reflection and to learn about available programs. tinyurl Com/ewnzzjtx
Seven Sisters Apostolate 11th Annual Day of Reflection and Renewal — Nov. 9: 8 a.m.-3 p.m. at St. Michael, 11300 Frankfort Parkway NE, St. Michael. Learn about Seven Sisters, join in fellowship, listen to talks, attend Mass and enjoy a delicious meal. This year the guest speaker is Father John Riccardo. SevenSiSterSapoStolate org
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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 issue date.
LISTINGS: Accepted are brief notices of upcoming events hosted by Catholic parishes and organizations. If the Catholic connection is not clear, please emphasize it in your submission. Included in our listings are local events submitted by public sources that could be of interest to the larger Catholic community.
ITEMS MUST INCLUDE:
uTime and date of event
uFull street address of event
uDescription of event
uContact information in case of questions uThe Catholic Spirit prints calendar details as submitted.
TheCatholiCSpirit Com/CalendarSubmiSSionS
ASK FATHER MIKE
A pastor’s role is always to lead those entrusted to his care to the truth.
What about your case? Is it your role to tell your friend the truth?
While you may not have the responsibility to weigh in on every single moral issue in this person’s life, if they invite you to share your opinion, then you now have the responsibility to tell them the truth. You have been given the open door. This usually comes after demonstrating that you are the kind of person who can be trusted to kindly and wisely offer advice.
Lastly, something that is of absolute importance is prudence.
Prudence is simply practical wisdom. A question you must ask yourself is, “Will what I want to share actually help this person?”
Whether it is immediately helpful or ultimately helpful, we must consider the final goal of the information we may be called to share. We are called to lead others closer to the truth and closer to God.
Will you, offering this piece of information, get them closer to God?
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.
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WHAT ALL SOULS’ DAY IS ALL ABOUT
By Russell Shaw OSV News
“This mountain’s of such sort that climbing it is hardest at the start; but as we rise, the slope grows less unkind.”
The speaker is the Roman poet Virgil, Dante’s companion and guide in scaling the lofty mountain of Purgatory in the second book of Dante’s tour-de-force account of the afterlife, “The Divine Comedy.”
They’ve already paid a harrowing visit to the “Inferno.” Now it’s the turn of “Purgatorio,” where souls who need purifying are cleansed from the stain of sin. After that — heaven.
Note the neat bit of catechesis (one of many) that Dante, via Virgil, slips in casually: The great mountain of Purgatory –– which the souls must climb — gets easier the higher they go.
It’s good to think about purgatory as we approach All Souls’ Day — Nov. 2, the day after All Saints’ Day, when the Church reminds us to take special note of loved ones, family and friends who may now be in purgatory yearning to be on their way to heaven. We do them a great kindness by prayers and pious acts with the intention of reducing the time they must spend in that in-between state and speeding them on their journey to paradise. Here is what the Catechism of the Catholic
Church has to say about purgatory: “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.”
“The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.” And the text then speaks warmly of Masses, almsgiving, indulgences and acts of penance offered to help the “holy souls” move on to heaven (CCC 1031, 1032).
All Souls’ Day, together with Halloween (All Saints’ Eve) and All Saints’ Day, formerly made up a triduum devoted to the remembrance of the dead (Allhallowtide). Now Halloween has largely been taken over by secularism while All Saints is firmly established as a holy day.
That leaves All Souls’ Day. Prayer for the souls in purgatory also goes way back, but only in the 11th century did Saint Odilo, abbot of the great abbey of Cluny in France, establish All Souls’ as a November observance and make that date normative for other abbeys dependent on Cluny. Thereafter the custom spread widely in the Western church.
The literary landmark of All Souls’ Day is the “Purgatorio.” Like its companions, the “Inferno” and “Paradiso,” it is full of brief portraits of the
souls, Dante’s incomparable image-making and a great deal of doctrine.
Here is part of Virgil’s lecture on love in Canto XVII:
“As long as it’s directed toward the First Good and tends toward secondary goods with measure, it cannot be the cause of evil pleasure; but when it twists toward evil or attends to good with more or less care than it should, those whom He made have worked against their Maker.
From this you see that — of necessity — love is the seed in you of every virtue and of all acts deserving punishment.”
While we make a special effort on All Souls’ Day, we can pray for the souls in purgatory any time. And I recommend that well before All Souls’ next year the faithful get a good translation of “The Divine Comedy” (the one here is Allen Mandelbaum’s) with good explanatory notes. Read the text while studying the notes, then read the text by itself.
Shaw, a veteran journalist and writer, is the author of more than 20 books, including three novels.
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GEORGIOSART • VIRGIL DANTE, iSTOCK PHOTO | HABIBUN NABI
