PAGETWO
HOLY KIDS CAMP Pro Ecclesia Sancta (PES) Sisters Emy Ychikawa, left, and Julieta del Carpio encourage fourth grader Elliott Earhart of Nativity of Mary in Bloomington on Aug. 9 as he offers examples of how to share the love of Jesus with others. It was day three of a four-day Holy Kids Summer Camp experience offered for the first time by the PES sisters. The sisters founded Holy Kids ministry four years ago as part of the order’s charism of living and promoting holiness. Sister Leann, one of the sisters involved in the ministry, said the sisters hope to offer the camp — which this year was held at St. Mark in St. Paul from 9 a.m. to noon each day — to any parish that wishes to bring the program to their community. The first camp drew more than 110 pre-K to fifth grade students from parishes across the Twin Cities. A variety of activities were designed to foster a greater awareness of God’s love for the students and their love for God, themselves and their neighbors, Sister Leann said. Find out more by emailing info@beholykids org
PRACTICING Catholic
CATHOLIC CAMPOREE Joseph Collins of St. John the Baptist in New Brighton helps his son Peter, a Cub Scout, through the Altar Server Obstacle Course Sept. 7 during the Catholic Camporee at the Rum River Scout Camp near Ramsey. For the first time in more than 40 years, the Camporee was held in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Collins, an Eagle Scout, came with his wife, Amanda. Both are Scout leaders. Their son Adam is an Eagle Scout, and their daughter, Angela, is a Scout. A total of 150 Scouts and adult volunteers came to the Camporee, which included Eucharistic adoration, outdoor activities, Mass, confession and rosary walks. The Minnesota Knights of Columbus provided financial support to the Camporee.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the Sept. 6 “Practicing Catholic” radio show included a discussion with Deacon Jim Meyer about his healing, and an interview with Patrick Storms and Aiden Nicholas, two seminarians who attempted a pilgrimage on foot from Minneapolis to La Crosse, Wisconsin. The program also included a talk with Michael Ennis, the new house leader of the Don Bosco House in St. Paul. Listen to interviews after they have aired at archspm org/faith-and-discipleship/practicing-catholic or choose a streaming platform at Spotify for Podcasters.
NEWS notes
The International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Fatima, renowned for its global journey since 1947, will be in parishes and schools in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis Sept. 17-29 with a tour of rosary processions, devotions, speakers and Eucharistic adoration. In 1917, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three young children in Fatima, Portugal, to deliver a message of hope and peace. Sculpted by artist José Thedim, the statue was blessed by the bishop of Fatima and commissioned to serve as the Pilgrim Virgin, spreading the blessings of Fatima worldwide. The finale of this tour will be Sept. 29 at St. Michael in Pine Island, coinciding with the feast of St. Michael the Archangel. The complete schedule can be found on page 13 and at fatimatourforpeace com/tour-schedule/ The sacrament of confirmation for persons with intellectual/developmental disabilities will be celebrated at a Mass for Persons with Disabilities Sept. 22 at The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul. Bishop Michael Izen will preside, and a sign language interpreter will serve at the 3 p.m. Mass in St. Mary’s Chapel. A sing-along will begin at 2:30 p.m. Light refreshments and a chance to socialize will follow the Mass.
Cynthia Bailey Manns, one of 10 non-bishop voting delegates chosen by Pope Francis to represent the North American region at the Vatican’s Synod on Synodality, will hold a 2 p.m. listening session Sept. 15 at St. Joan of Arc in Minneapolis, where she serves as adult learning director. The Church is continuing to reflect on the 2023 Synod on Synodality and is preparing for the Synod’s concluding session in October at the Vatican. Bailey Manns noted in a news release that Pope Francis says: “The purpose of the Synod … is not to produce documents, but to ‘plant dreams, draw forth prophecies and visions, allow hope to flourish, inspire trust, bind up wounds, weave together relationships, awaken a dawn of hope, learn from one another and create a bright resourcefulness that will enlighten minds, warm hearts, give strength to our hands’” (Preparatory Document, No. 32). Baily Manns stated that “no matter Pope Francis’ decisions regarding the topics identified for further review at the 2023 Synod, we will experience joys and disappointments. Our gathering now is to practice being the Body of Christ together as we continue healing, reconciling and restoring trust within the Church and society. Please come prepared with a two-minute reflection to share during Conversations in the Spirit regarding the ‘healing, reconciliation and restoration’ you believe needs to occur within our Church. If possible, please review the 2024 ‘Instrumentums Laboris’ document” at tinyurl com/3yrdc7uc
Recent storms brought unprecedented damage to Pacem in Terris Hermitage Retreat Center near Isanti in the Diocese of St. Cloud, said the center’s executive director, Tim Drake. The retreat center had four guests during an Aug. 26 storm that caused most of the damage. Those hermitages received little or no damage and all guests were safe. A second storm dropped a few more trees when it passed through Aug. 29. Thousands of broken limbs and downed trees litter the 240-acre grounds and trails. At least 13 of the retreat center’s 25 buildings received damage, some significant. It took three days to clear the roads of debris. “In the 36-year history of Pacem in Terris, we have never witnessed damage like this,” Drake said. The retreat center has set up a fundraising effort for cleanup and recovery with a benefactor currently matching charitable donations dollar for dollar. Those interested in helping can visit givemn org/story/ey5q3f
Catholic Finance Corporation based in Inver Grove Heights, and its subsidiary, PartnersEdge, are combining into a single organization under the name Emmaus Partners. The organization, which provides financing and consulting to Catholic parishes, schools and organizations, chose its new name in reference to the Gospel story describing how Jesus appeared to disciples on the road to Emmaus after his resurrection. “We have always seen our organization as a partner in walking alongside our Catholic clients on their path to fulfilling their mission of leading more people to know and follow Jesus,” the organization said in a news release.
On Aug. 28, priests from around the nation participated in a one-mile Eucharistic procession from the Hilton Minneapolis to the Basilica of Saint Mary as part of the 61st annual convention of the National Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors (NCDVD), which promotes diocesan priesthood and supports vocation directors. Father Mark Pavlak, a member of the NCDVD and director of the Office of Vocations in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, said some 300 people were part of the procession. “The idea was to continue this great energy and this great witness of the Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis and to continue the Eucharistic missionary zeal that we want to have as diocesan priests,” he said. Father Pavlak said many priests he talked to found the procession to be very peaceful, despite processing through a bustling downtown Minneapolis. “The crowning moment was as we approached the Basilica, they rang the bells nice and loud to welcome the pilgrims there.” The first half of the Aug. 23-30 convention was geared to new vocation directors. The second half was for all new and returning vocation directors. Connecting with priests from across the country, to ”see their own witness of priesthood and their joy of priesthood and their holiness was firstly edifying for me,” Father Pavlak said. “Then secondly ... I’ve got a lot of questions as a brand-new vocation director. I have a great resource now to go to: a lot of men who are willing to help.”
Editor
ON THE COVER From left, Jemma Eliason and Nora Hildebrandt, first graders at Divine Mercy Catholic School in Faribault, read a book together Aug. 29 in a classroom in the school’s new building.
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
COURTESY PRO ECCLESIA SANCTA
ONLY JESUS | BISHOP MICHAEL IZEN
Form loving relationships, in school and in the home
Igrew up in a great family and a great home in the relatively small town of Fairmont. One of the distinct features of our house — at least in the summer — was our screen porch. We didn’t have air conditioning, so the porch was the place for meals, games and fun. My dad would also read the paper out there, so I have some troubling memories of BACK TO SCHOOL ads. Every July, late in the month, I would spot these ads, lying there, on the floor of our otherwise beautiful porch. Those were so painful. What child wanted to lose the warmth, the fun and the freedom of summer?
But by mid-September, something changed. After a week, or maybe just a few days of classes, school was the place to be. That’s where my friends were, that’s where the playground was, and that’s where another, bigger but still caring and loving family surrounded me. I attended St. John Vianney Catholic School in Fairmont, a small, close-knit school. There were 23 kids in my eighth grade graduating class, some of whom are still friends today. In fact, I recently had five of them, along with their spouses, at my rectory for dinner.
Relationships like that don’t just happen. I’m reminded of that as a priest and now a bishop. One of the things I love about Catholic schools is being able to drop in as a visitor to the classrooms. I remember my first pastor, Father Kevin Finnegan, telling me, “A priest is never an interruption.” Some teachers might disagree with that. But it was those frequent, unplanned classroom visits that helped me form relationships with our school children. I knew that if the kids only saw me at school Mass or Sunday Mass, they wouldn’t get
Formar relaciones amorosas, en la escuela y en el
hogar
Crecí en una gran familia y en un gran hogar en la relativamente pequeña ciudad de Fairmont. Una de las características distintivas de nuestra casa, al menos en verano, era nuestro porche cubierto. No teníamos aire acondicionado, así que el porche era el lugar para comer, jugar y divertirse. Mi padre también leía el periódico allí, así que tengo algunos recuerdos inquietantes de los anuncios de EL REGRESO A LA ESCUELA. Cada julio, a finales de mes, veía estos anuncios, tirados allí, en el suelo de nuestro porche, que por lo demás era hermoso. Eran muy dolorosos. ¿Qué niño querría perder la calidez, la diversión y la libertad del verano?
Pero a mediados de septiembre, algo cambió. Después de una semana, o tal vez sólo unos días de clases, la escuela era el lugar donde había que estar. Allí estaban mis amigos, allí estaba el patio de recreo y allí estaba otra familia más grande, pero igualmente cariñosa y amorosa, que me rodeaba. Asistí a la escuela católica St. John Vianney en Fairmont, una escuela pequeña y muy unida. Había 23 niños en mi clase de octavo grado, algunos de los cuales siguen siendo amigos hoy. De hecho, hace poco invité a cenar a mi rectoría a cinco de ellos, junto con sus esposos.
Relaciones como esa no surgen por sí solas. Me acuerdo de eso como sacerdote y ahora obispo. Una de las cosas que me encanta de las escuelas católicas es poder visitar las aulas. Recuerdo que mi primer párroco, el padre Kevin Finnegan, me decía: “Un sacerdote nunca interrumpe”. Algunos profesores podrían estar en desacuerdo con eso. Pero fueron esas frecuentes visitas no planificadas
So, welcome back to school and remember, some of the most important things our children will learn come from the parents. The family is the original small group. It’s the place to share knowledge, news and faith. What our kids see in the home, they will remember, maybe even 50 years later!
to know me. Dropping in, even if it was just for a couple minutes, was the way to get to know them. Kids are always so much fun, and for me, a reminder of the beauty of God.
I recently heard a back-to-school story from one of my previous schools. Angela, a staff person, asked a little girl how school was going and she quickly responded, “It’s SO hard.” Angela inquired, “What’s hard about third grade?” The girl said, “We have to go up all those stairs” (In this school, grades kindergarten through second are on the main floor, and third through eighth grades are upstairs). The girl continued, “Sometimes we start at the very bottom, and go all the way to the top.”
School is work. In July, just the thought of it can be troubling. For students, we lose some of our freedom, we are committed to many hours every day, and on top of that, there might be homework. For teachers — whether they are Catholic school teachers, public school or home school, or if they
a las aulas las que me ayudaron a entablar relaciones con nuestros alumnos. Sabía que si los niños solo me veían en la misa de la escuela o en la misa del domingo, no llegarían a conocerme. Pasarme por allí, aunque fuera solo por un par de minutos, era la manera de conocerlos. Los niños siempre son muy divertidos y, para mí, un recordatorio de la belleza de Dios.
Hace poco escuché una historia de regreso a clases de una de mis escuelas anteriores. Angela, una miembro del personal, le preguntó a una niña cómo le iba en la escuela y ella respondió rápidamente: “Es MUY difícil”. Angela preguntó: “¿Qué es lo difícil del tercer grado?”. La niña dijo: “Tenemos que subir todas esas escaleras” (en esta escuela, los grados del jardín de infantes al segundo están en el piso principal, y los del tercero al octavo están en el piso superior). La niña continuó: “A veces empezamos desde abajo y llegamos hasta arriba”.
La escuela es trabajo. En julio, tan solo pensar a lo puede ser inquietante. Para los estudiantes, perdemos parte de nuestra libertad, estamos comprometidos con muchas horas todos los días y, además, puede haber tareas. Para los maestros, ya sean maestros de escuelas católicas, escuelas públicas o escuelas en casa, o si son voluntarios de formación en la fe, la escuela significa trabajo y responsabilidad. Ya sea que uno enseñe en un entorno lleno de fe o no, la escuela es una oportunidad para formar relaciones afectivas. La escuela es el lugar donde les hacemos saber a nuestros hijos que nos preocupamos por ellos y los amamos. Hay un viejo adagio de los maestros: “A los niños no les importará cuánto sabes, hasta que sepan cuánto te preocupas”. No importa dónde enseñemos, los niños pueden ver el amor de Dios en nosotros si los amamos.
Hay muchos más maestros de los que nos damos cuenta. La Iglesia Católica nos recuerda que los padres son los maestros más importantes. Todos los años, cuando me reunía con los padres de nuestros alumnos
are faith formation volunteers — school means work and responsibility. Whether one teaches in a faithfilled environment or not, school is an opportunity to form loving relationships. School is where we let our children know we care about them and we love them. There’s an old teacher adage, “Kids aren’t going to care about how much you know, until they know how much you care.” No matter where we teach, kids can see the love of God in us if we love them.
There are a lot more teachers out there than we realize. The Catholic Church reminds us that parents are the most important teachers. Every year, when I would meet with our second-grade parents as we began to prepare their children for first reconciliation and first Communion, I would remind them of this. No matter how great our school or faith formation programs are — no matter how great our teachers or priests are — if the parents aren’t modeling the faith and teaching the faith, it’s probably not going to matter to our kids. In the baptismal rite, the priest says something like this as he blesses the parents, “You will be the first teachers of your children in the ways of faith. May you also be the best of teachers.”
I encourage parents to pray with their children and let them see you praying as well. I have vivid memories of my mom praying at our kitchen table and my dad kneeling over a chair and praying in our living room. Children remember that. They learn these key things from their parents.
So, welcome back to school and remember, some of the most important things our children will learn come from the parents. The family is the original small group. It’s the place to share knowledge, news and faith. What our kids see in the home, they will remember, maybe even 50 years later!
de segundo grado mientras empezábamos a preparar a sus hijos para la primera reconciliación y la primera comunión, les recordaba esto. No importa cuán buenos sean nuestros programas de formación en la fe o nuestros maestros o sacerdotes; si los padres no son modelos de fe y no enseñan la fe, probablemente no les importará a nuestros hijos. En el rito bautismal, el sacerdote dice algo así mientras bendice a los padres: “Ustedes serán los primeros maestros de sus hijos en el camino de la fe. Que también sean los mejores maestros”.
Animo a los padres a que oren con sus hijos y les permitan que los vean orar también. Tengo recuerdos vívidos de mi madre orando en la mesa de la cocina y de mi padre arrodillado sobre una silla y orando en nuestra sala de estar. Los niños recuerdan eso. Aprenden estas cosas clave de sus padres.
Así pues, bienvenidos de nuevo a la escuela y recuerden que algunas de las cosas más importantes que nuestros hijos aprenderán provienen de los padres. La familia es el pequeño grupo original. Es el lugar para compartir conocimientos, noticias y fe. Lo que nuestros hijos vean en el hogar, lo recordarán, ¡quizás incluso 50 años después!
OFFICIAL
Archbishop Bernard Hebda has announced the following appointment in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis: Effective August 16, 2024
Reverend Justus Musinguzi, assigned as chaplain to St. John Paul II Catholic Preparatory School in Minneapolis. This is in addition to his assignment as parochial vicar of the Church of the Holy Cross in Minneapolis. Father Musinguzi is a priest of the Diocese of Butare (Rwanda).
Faith, family at the State Fair
From left, Sarah Olsen, her daughter, Katie, and mother, Cathy Byerly, react near the end of Mass Sept. 1 at the Minnesota State Fair. The celebrant was Father Robert Fitzpatrick, a retired priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis known as “Father Fitz.” In the closing song, one line from the hymn “Canticle of the Sun” was changed to “Come dance in the forest and play at the fair.” Father Fitzpatrick has been celebrating Masses at the State Fair since 2014, when he was pastor of Corpus Christi in Roseville, which has had its priests celebrate Masses at the fair for about the last 45 years. “It’s really, really fun,” he said. “And people are really excited to be there.” Olsen said her family comes to the State Fair every year but was attending Mass there for the first time. “I was surprised at how many people were there,” she said. “It was impressive.” That day, the State Fair set the record for a single day: 256,015. Olsen is a member of St. James in Aitkin; her mother belongs to St. Jude of the Lake in Mahtomedi.
Teacher in Brooklyn Park school presents ‘Boyle’s Babbles’ on the Mass
John Boyle shares facts about the Mass with the congregation before every Wednesday all-school Mass at St. Vincent de Paul in Brooklyn Park. He’s been at it for the last two school years and he’s still going strong.
Energetic and accessible, he got straight to the point at this year’s first all-school Mass Sept. 4. “Mass is said every single day here at St. Vincent de Paul, and most churches in the world. That shows that the Mass is incredibly important,” said the junior high theology teacher and youth minister. “But what is the point?”
“First and foremost, the Mass is about God and us glorifying God, and secondly, it is for our good,” Boyle said. “The Mass is about loving God in the way that he wants us to love him.”
“And so today, at this Mass, I encourage you guys to pray and say thank you throughout the Mass,” said Boyle, 28. “Say, God, thank you for this music. Thank you for this Gospel. Thank you for your sacrifice and sacrificing your life for me. Thank you for this Eucharist.”
Other topics Boyle has addressed include Why is Mass so boring? Why do we genuflect? Why do we sing? Why do we have candles around the altar?
Students love it.
“It focuses us to use our eyes, ears and all of our senses,” said eighth grader
Matthew Langerman. Classmate Luciana Schmidt said, “I really like how it prepares us for Mass,” while another classmate, Evalyn Gorgos, said, “It’s a way for us to learn how to pray more. The way he explains things helps us understand what God does for us every day.”
Boyle said his efforts came out of a desire to teach students younger than his seventh graders about the Mass. Some fellow teachers smilingly call the fiveminute lessons “Boyle’s Babbles.”
“It probably doesn’t come close to what it actually does,” fifth-grade teacher Matt Robinson said of the affectionate title. “His catechesis in the morning, it focuses us, first. Second, in little, tiny, 40 different (lessons), it tells us about the Mass.” Boyle said his efforts dovetail nicely with — but were not directly inspired by — the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ National Eucharistic Revival and Archbishop Bernard Hebda’s emphasis on the Mass and the Eucharist, which is the focus of year two of implementing his 2022 pastoral letter, “You Will Be My Witnesses, Gathered and Sent From the Upper Room.”
“Clearly, the Holy Spirit is at work in this whole revival. It’s happening in this archdiocese as well,” Boyle said, citing in part the 7,000 people who walked along Summit Avenue in St. Paul May 27 as one of four routes of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage came through the archdiocese.
Small groups, clergy efforts focus on the Mass
Father Tom Margevicius, director of the Office of Worship in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, is helping lead efforts to deepen the faithful’s understanding of the Mass as year two begins in implementing Archbishop Bernard Hebda’s 2022 pastoral letter. The foundation of parish-based small groups that was built in the first year of implementing the letter, “You Will Be My Witnesses: Gathered and Sent From the Upper Room,” will help drive a greater hunger for missionary discipleship and the Eucharist, Father Margevicius said. With year two underway since July, activities across the archdiocese will provide opportunities to dive into the meaning of the Mass and celebrate the liturgy as a community, he said.
In addition, clergy are being encouraged to stress the importance of
the Mass and invigorate their celebration of the Eucharist, he said. A clergy study day for priests and deacons Oct. 2 will focus on St. Paul’s teachings on the Mass found in his letters in the New Testament, and Archbishop Hebda is hosting private dinners with groups to talk about ways to celebrate the Mass.
A Nov. 7 ars celebrandi — the art of celebrating — seminar for priests and deacons will focus on ways ministers can celebrate the liturgy that reflect their spiritual integration of the words and actions of the Mass, Father Margevicius said.
The goal at each Mass is to “pray over this passage so that its meaning becomes my meaning. I’m 100 percent part of this text; I own its meaning. I’m proclaiming my faith and the Church’s faith” in the same breath, Father Margevicius said.
YEAR TWO CALENDAR
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Office of Discipleship and Evangelization is organizing presentations and materials on the Mass and the Eucharist as year two unfolds, implementing Archbishop Bernard Hebda’s 2022 pastoral letter, “You Will Be My Witnesses: Gathered and Sent From the Upper Room.”
AFTER JAN. 1
uThe archdiocese will make a “passport” people can mark as they experience liturgies and see churches across the archdiocese. Also to be available in the second half of the implementation year: teaching Mass materials.
ALREADY HAPPENING:
uFathers Ryan Glaser and Michael Joncas are among presenters of a vision of God’s desire for covenant and relationship to inspire the faithful to celebrate the liturgy as part of God’s plan of salvation. 6-9 p.m.
• Sept. 26, St. Ambrose, Woodbury; Nov. 25, St. Rose of Lima, Roseville; Jan. 16, Mary, Mother of the Church, Burnsville; Feb. 5, Epiphany, Coon Rapids; March 20, St. Odilia, Shoreview (in Spanish); May 14, Pax Christi, Eden Prairie; June 11, Ascension, Minneapolis (in Spanish). Water, coffee and light refreshments will be served during a 15-minute break.
uJesus’ Pilgrimage to Us Holy Hours, 7-8 p.m
• Monthly Eucharistic Holy Hours of communal prayer, conducted as prescribed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ newly revised rite for exposition of the Eucharist, adoration and Benediction. Sept. 19, St. Joseph, West St. Paul; Oct. 24, St. John Neumann, Eagan; Nov. 21, Sts. Joachim and Anne, St. Mark campus, Shakopee; Dec. 19, Our Lady of Grace, Edina; Jan. 23, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Hastings; Feb. 20, Divine Mercy, Faribault; March 27, St. John the Baptist, Dayton; April 24, St. Therese, Deephaven; May 22, St. Charles Borromeo, St. Anthony; June 19, St. Michael, Stillwater.
uSeven Times a Day I Praise You, Thursdays, 7-9 p.m.
• Learn to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, a seminar by the Catechetical Institute of The St. Paul Seminary, St. Paul, $50. Sept. 19 and Oct. 3 at the Cathedral of St. Paul, St. Paul; Nov. 7 and Nov. 21 at St. John Neumann, Eagan; register at saintpaulseminary org/ci/learn-to-pray-liturgy-hours
uFive Archdiocesan Liturgies
• Sept. 29, 5:30 p.m., Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis, Mass of Solidarity for World Day of Migrants and Refugees.
* Events from October through June will be at the Cathedral of St. Paul, St. Paul. Oct. 14, 7 p.m., anniversary of the dedication of the Cathedral; Oct. 28, 1 p.m., episcopal ordination of Bishop-elect Kevin Kenney; April 17, 2025, 10 a.m., Chrism Mass; June 7, 7 p.m., Pentecost Vigil; June 22, noon, feast of Corpus Christi.
uFire on the Hill
• Third Saturdays of each month beginning Sept. 21, 5:15 p.m. Mass followed by prayer meeting, the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.
uLife in the Spirit seminars
• Fridays and Saturdays, times to be determined. Jan. 10-11, 2025, at St. Peter, Forest Lake; Jan. 17-18 at the NET Center, Mendota Heights; Jan. 24-25, at St. Therese, Deephaven.
uSchool of Charism Discovery
• Jan. 28-April 1, Tuesdays, 7-9 p.m. at Our Lady of Grace, Edina.
uArts and Architecture
• Nov. 3, Icon Processions, part of 9:30 a.m. and noon Masses, Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis; Nov. 9, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., includes lunch; tours of Orthodox and Catholic churches. Start at the Basilica of St. Mary. Register at mary org; Nov. 17, 11 a.m., Iconography 101 about Byzantine iconography, with iconographer Nick Markell.
Stories and photo by Joe Ruff
The Catholic Spirit
Second grader Charlie Brine, left, with classmates at the all-school Mass Sept. 4 at St. Vincent de Paul in Brooklyn Park.
School in Jordan institutes a ‘virtue of the month’
By Josh McGovern The Catholic Spirit
This year at St. John the Baptist Catholic School in Jordan, staff are officially prioritizing the education of virtues for elementary and middle school students with a “virtue of the month.”
For nine months, a Bible verse and matching hymn will be used to help students focus on a given virtue including prudence, faith, hope, love, humility, charity, temperance, fortitude and justice, said Father Neil Bakker, pastor of St. John the Baptist. Principal Ann Dettmann’s morning announcements will include a definition of a virtue. For middle schoolers, Mondays and Tuesdays will
include a virtue hour to learn about and discuss ways to live out that virtue.
Dettmann will provide teachers with resources and research on virtues.
“It’s very important, especially for our older students, because they’re more and more in the world and making their own choices,” Dettman said. “They need that strong foundation of those good habits of making those choices. That’s what the virtues will give them, so that they can choose based on charity, based on justice and based on prudence and make the best choice they can for their life. … At the end of the month, they should have a pretty complete picture of what this virtue is and some ways they can live it out.”
works for two years. With help from counselor Billy Grazyck, owner of mental health firm Our Lady of Good Counsel, St. John the Baptist staff planned the program over the summer.
“The Catholic Church has always had a solution to these problems that we face in our modern day,” Father Bakker said. “The Church has always had the solutions, and we need to tap back into the solution. Virtue is one of them for sure, and then the internal life. … Hopefully that will set them up to have that constantly in their life. … It could be injustice when we gossip, when we back-bite, when we tear down someone’s name. How are we being just if we’re back-biting and gossiping and what are the virtues that we need? Such as controlling of the tongue so that we have that internal pause.”
of the month into his homily. Father Bakker equated this routine to the Benedictine model of work and prayer. Students begin the day with prayer, then immediately start their work. After some time, students take a break to pray and reflect on their internal, spiritual development, then return to work.
Based on an idea from Father Bakker, the program has been loosely in the
Art gallery to host OMCE’s second annual student exhibition
By Mark Johnson For The Catholic Spirit
The second annual visual arts exhibition hosted by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Office for the Mission of Catholic Education (OMCE) will be held at the University of St. Thomas’ Hoedeman Gallery of Sacred Art in St. Paul.
The first exhibition was held last May at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center, also in St. Paul. The May 2, 2025, event marks a new collaboration between OMCE, UST’s Office for Mission and the university’s interdisciplinary Claritas Initiative, which seeks to reclaim and illuminate beauty, goodness and truth.
The 2025 exhibition’s theme will be The Saints. OMCE officials hope that participating students “will be able to express a breadth of visual inspiration from those holy men and women who demonstrate how to remain close to God, offer their lives for others, and continue to intercede for God’s people on earth,” said Jessica Trygstad, associate director of Catholic education for the archdiocese.
“We’re all called to be saints, and so many of us have a patron saint and special devotion to other saints,” said Jason Slattery, director of Catholic education and superintendent of schools for the archdiocese. “So, for students to incorporate personal connections to the saints into their artwork will only elevate this creative, meaningful experience,” he said. “We had such a beautiful display of student talent in our 2024 exhibition around the Eucharist, and we know students will amaze us again with their depictions of the heroes of the Catholic faith.”
An April deadline will be set for submissions. Professional judges will select finalists and winners. Finalists will be invited to participate in the exhibition and reception at the Hoedeman Gallery of Sacred Art on May 2, along with archdiocesan leaders and guests. A variety of awards will be presented to students. (For more on the Hoedeman Gallery, see page 20).
OMCE will share more information with Catholic school leaders and art teachers. Watch for additional details at spmcatholicschools org
Elementary school students at St. John the Baptist celebrate Mass on Wednesdays and Fridays. Here, Father Bakker will work each virtue
NEW heads of schools
Twenty-one men and women have been appointed as new heads of Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis as the 2024-2025 academic year gets underway.
Below are their names, schools and cities in which the schools are located:
Christine Spevacek, Annunciation Catholic School, Minneapolis
Ericka Walz, Ave Maria Academy, Maple Grove
Ed Friesen, (co-head) Bethlehem Academy, Faribault
Kris Sauer, (co-head) Bethlehem Academy, Faribault
Becky Harris, Carondelet Catholic School, Minneapolis
Matt Gerlach, Chesterton Academy, Hopkins Jeb Myers, Cretin-Derham Hall, St. Paul
Ben Montedonico, Epiphany Catholic School, Coon Rapids
PJ Butler, Frassati Catholic Academy, White Bear Lake
Cheryl Kapler, Holy Cross Catholic School, Webster
“For the middle school kids, it’s a little more involved,” Father Bakker said of encouraging virtue. “Their day begins in the classroom with some classroom time, and then they take a pause every day, midday for about an hour, and either go to Mass three days a week or they will have a group discussion in their classrooms … They’ll be talking more in depth about that virtue for the month, but then also go deeper. St. Thomas Aquinas, when he talks about humility, there’s all kinds of subvirtues that go into humility. So, they’ll go deeper into those kinds of sub-virtues and then reflect on their behavior.”
Kevin McCaffrey, Holy Family Academy, St. Louis Park
Anne Hennessey, Immaculate Conception Catholic School, Columbia Heights
Ann Marie Zeimetz-Schultz, Mary Queen of Peace Catholic School, Rogers
Sarah Hickel, Nativity of Mary School, Bloomington
Matt O’Keefe, Presentation of Mary School, Maplewood
Erich Hoffer, St. Hubert Catholic School, Chanhassen
Megan Adam, St. John the Baptist Catholic Montessori School, Excelsior
Ann Dettmann, St. John the Baptist Catholic School, Jordan
Pam McSweeney, St. John the Baptist Catholic School, Vermillion
A.J. Barker, St. Wenceslaus School, New Prague
Jennifer Bigelow, Visitation School, Mendota Heights
— Office for the Mission of Catholic Education
FATHER NEIL BAKKER
ANN DETTMANN
Catholic schools introduce new tool, policy changes to curb cellphone use in classrooms
Story and
The Catholic Spirit
by Josh McGovern
Hill-Murray School in Maplewood is joining other Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis by making its school a cellphonefree zone for middle and high school students.
School administrators are implementing a new cellphone policy with an item known as a Yondr pouch to prevent the students from using their phones during class or in the hallways. To support no-cellphone policies, Catholic schools including Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul and Our Lady of Grace in Edina also use Yondr pouches.
At Hill-Murray, students are responsible for their own Yondr pouch, and upon arrival at school, place their phones in the pouch. Closing the pouch locks it. The only way to unlock the pouch is by tapping it on an unlocking base component placed outside the phone-free zone.
At Our Lady of Grace, the Yondr pouch bolsters the school’s previous cellphone policy that allowed students in grades five through eight to have phones at school but required them to keep the phones in their lockers. OLG’s middle school principal Jim Dahlman said the Yondr pouches add a new layer to removing the temptation.
“They know they can’t access it,” Dahlman said. “Just that simple act of removing that thought of access to their device actually leads to greater attention, greater focus and less discipline issues.”
Father Kevin Finnegan, the pastor at Our Lady of Grace, said, “There’s some very dark sides to it (cellphone use). Whether it is just being consumed by it, or bullying and cyber bullying, it can happen undercover that no one knows about. People can really get caught up in it, especially when it also causes problems with comparison. … Every piece of research that comes out about cellphone use, none of it is positive. All of the dangers and the health risks in terms of mental health in particular, I have yet to see a report that says, ‘Wow, teenagers need a cellphone.’”
Dahlman and Father Finnegan said the school’s policy is done in partnership with parents.
“We’re trying to build this culture where you don’t need a device to interact with your classmates,” Dahlman said. “It’s also going to help them with their executive functioning and planning ahead. Oftentimes, kids will say, ‘I want to come to the office and text my parents if I can go to Jerry’s after school.’ Well, that’s maybe not something you should use your school day or class time for. Let’s start planning ahead a little bit and having that conversation beforehand.”
Hill-Murray President Melissa Dan said school administrators are implementing the Yondr pouch this school year after serious consideration and research. Hill-Murray administrators want to base their decisions on what is best for the students, even if it is difficult, Dan said. Staff are readying for a difficult transition initially, but expect student dependency on phones to decrease through the school year.
“We’re proud that our Catholic schools are taking the lead in putting technology in its rightful place,” officials with the Office for the Mission of Catholic
Education said. “Catholic schools have a special obligation to help students become whom God created them to be, which can be more challenging in our digital age. By implementing prudent policies around the use of cellphones and other devices during the school day, our schools are allowing students to learn and grow in a healthy environment and setting them up for success in and out of the classroom. We are grateful for our schools’ partnership in this important work to provide the best Catholic education possible to students and their families.”
In St. Paul, Cretin-Derham Hall principal Mona Passman said the consensus from teachers and parents was that students were overusing their cellphones. The school also is adopting Yondr pouches this school year.
“Ninety percent of the people thought that it was impacting the classroom,” Passman said. “Even in the hallways or at lunch, they were on their phone. … Getting somebody’s attention was difficult. … I see a group sitting next to each other, and they’ll all be on their phones. Oftentimes, if there was an incident,
Sophia McGovern, marketing and communications specialist for Our Lady of Grace in Edina, slips her phone into a Yondr pouch before locking it magnetically.
BELOW Yondr pouch magnet stations are placed at exits to Our Lady of Grace Catholic School so students can unlock their phones at day’s end.
if there was something happening behaviorally, we could often tie it back to phone use — and maybe not in the school — but social media use, that type of thing at home. We saw it all the time.”
Even with a relatively strict cellphone policy in place before this year, in which students could only use their cellphones in the hallways, Passman said it became an issue of teachers having to remind students to put their phones away. “They put them in the pouch first thing in the morning and that’s the only time that teachers have to remind them, and it creates a better environment and relationship with the teachers and the students.”
Having been in education for more than 20 years, Dan said she has seen social media and smartphones impact teenagers in real time.
“We know, even with the recent surgeon general warnings about social media, it’s linked to depression and anxiety in teenagers. Just like we do with our math curriculum, if it was linked to bad results, we’d switch our math curriculum, and that’s what we’re doing
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with cellphones. We’re taking a stance. We believe in our kids and their mental health, and this is going to keep some of those outside influences out during the school day, which is our role as a Catholic school.”
Hill-Murray administrators reviewed a recent survey of over 1,200 schools that use the Yondr Education Program. According to the study, schools experience an 84% increase in student engagement, a 72% positive change in student behavior, a 68% positive change in academic performance and an 86% positive impact on student safety and wellness.
The statistics convinced Hill-Murray administrators to change the school’s previous cellphone policy, which allowed high school students to utilize cellphones in hallways, during breaks and at lunch, while prohibiting cellphone use in the middle school.
“All of the research has pointed to the fact that social media and the addictive nature of these platforms are not healthy for children and teenagers,” Dan wrote in her bi-weekly President’s Perspective. “Like other significant growth periods in a child’s life, there is a developmental age/period that is more appropriate for students regarding technology and connectedness. We know you send your children to Hill-Murray to learn and grow academically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. … Children and teenagers are hardwired for struggle, and the role of childhood is to learn some of the most essential lessons in life with grit and resilience that hopefully set us up for success and a life of purpose later in life.”
The technology used to unlock the Yondr pouches at Hill-Murray will only be available before dismissal and will be monitored by the school’s director of security. There are, however, unlocking stations that will remain in the principal’s office and the main school office.
“Let’s just say a student was struggling or a parent was sick, and they needed to have access to their phone, so we have a balanced approach,” Dan said. “But for
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NATION+WORLD
HEADLINES
As Kenya mourned the 21 young boys killed in a school dormitory fire Sept. 6, Archbishop Anthony Muheria of Nyeri said the Church was heartbroken and urged Christians to stay close to the affected families. The tragedy at the Hillside Endarasha Academy in the central Kenyan county of Nyeri has drawn anger and shock, as Kenyans recall similar tragedies and a promise for government action on safety in schools. As of Sept. 9, 17 children remained missing. Pope Francis sent his condolences and prayers to the families of victims in a Sept. 7 telegram. The pope said he was “deeply saddened” to learn of the loss of young lives, expressing his “spiritual closeness to all who are suffering the effects of this calamity, especially the injured and the families who grieve.”
Holding back emotions, Catholic youth minister calls day of school shooting ‘surreal.’ “I could really use my prayers right now. My school is getting shot up.” The message arrived at 10:39 a.m. Sept. 4 on youth minister Tania Martinez’s phone. The youth ministry program uses the Remind app to communicate as a group. Many of her teen leaders at St. Matthew Church in Winder were caught up in the shooting at nearby Apalachee High School. One sent the message. Martinez knows the high school community. Two of her children graduated from the school, and another attends middle school on the shared campus. Holding back emotions, she called the day “surreal.” For the rest of the day of the shooting, Martinez’s phone pinged with messages as young people who worship at the parish checked in and consoled each other. Two students and two teachers were killed and nine others were injured. The alleged shooter, Colt Gray, a 14-year-old student at the Barrow County school, has been charged with four counts of felony murder. The teen’s father, Colin Gray, 54, who allegedly gifted the rifle to his son last Christmas, was arrested Sept. 5 and has been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children.
Pope: The Church needs a university dedicated to educating missionaries. While expert scholarship and good stewardship mean the pontifical universities in Rome should be working together, Pope Francis said it is essential that the Pontifical Urbanian University does not lose its centuries-long focus on preparing missionaries from and to the varied cultures of the world. In fact, he said Aug. 30, it is important that the university’s “missionary and intercultural specificity be seen even more clearly in the quality of the formation that it offers, so that its graduates can be creative in mediating the Christian message vis-à-vis other cultures and religions.” “How greatly we need priests, consecrated persons and lay people filled with missionary zeal for evangelizing cultures and thus inculturating the Gospel,” Pope Francis told members of the section of the Dicastery for Evangelization responsible for the university and for what are traditionally known as the Church’s mission territories.
Bishops decry workers’ low pay, erratic shifts and weak protections: “Labor Day marks a time to “recommit ourselves to building together a society that honors the human dignity of all who labor,” said two U.S. Catholic bishops in a joint statement ahead of the Sept. 2 national civic holiday. “Our faith calls us to pray, work and advocate for protections that allow all laborers to thrive,” said Archbishop Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia and Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, who respectively chair the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development and Committee on Migration. Citing Scripture, Catholic social teaching and papal encyclicals, the two bishops pointed to the church’s “long history of proclaiming the essential role labor plays in helping people to live out their human dignity” as children of God. Yet the bishops noted that dignity is threatened by a number of factors, including low wages, declining union representation, lack of protection for immigrant laborers and the erosion of child labor laws. Amid such threats to human dignity, the Catholic Church “offers a vision for the future that does not require our society to choose between a thriving economy, economic justice, dignified conditions for all workers, and safeguarding the most vulnerable among us,” they said, adding, “Let us strive without ceasing to protect the sacredness of human life and together build a society that respects and uplifts each person’s human dignity.”
Carmelites find St. Teresa of Ávila’s body still incorrupt after opening her coffin for the study of relics. The silver coffin of St. Teresa of Ávila was opened in Alba de Tormes Aug. 28 only to confirm her body has remained incorrupt since her death in 1592. The opening of the Spanish nun’s tomb marks the beginning of a study of her relics, which will be carried out by Italian doctors and scientists — with the approval of the Vatican. The last opening of
St. Teresa’s coffin happened in 1914, 110 years ago. The Spanish Diocese of Ávila now wants to obtain canonical recognition of the relics from Rome. According to the announcement made by the Postulator General of the Discalced Carmelite Order, Father Marco Chiesa, those present at the scene were able to see that “it is in the same condition as when it was last opened in 1914.” The then-general of the Carmelites, Clemente de los Santos, wanted to see the body of the foundress. Both openings — 110 years ago and now — confirmed that the body of St. Teresa has remained incorrupt since her death. St. Teresa, one of the great mystics of the Catholic Church, started the Carmelite reform, which restored and emphasized the contemplative character of Carmelite life. St. Teresa was elevated to doctor of the Church in 1970.
A new study says the Shroud of Turin bloodstains are “consistent with Jesus Christ’s tortures.” A study published in July revealed that a new analysis of the Shroud of Turin, including the composition and a microscopic analysis of bloodstains, shows that the marks are consistent with the tortures endured by Christ as described in the Gospels. The study, titled “New Insights on Blood Evidence from the Turin Shroud Consistent with Jesus Christ’s Tortures,” stated that the presence of creatinine particles with ferritin, which are often a by-product of muscle contractions, “confirms, at a microscopic level, the very heavy torture suffered by Jesus of the HST,” or Holy Shroud of Turin. Furthermore, “numerous bloodstains scattered throughout the double body image of the HST show evidence that Jesus of the HST was tortured,” it stated. “Bloodstained marks all over the body image which are consistent with pre-crucifixion flagellation, bloodstained marks on the head that are consistent with a ‘crown’ of thorns, blood marks on the hand and feet that are consistent with crucifixion and the bloodstain on the chest that evidences a post-mortem wound that corresponds with the post-mortem spear wound that Christ received as is described in the Bible,” the report said. The new study was written by Giulio Fanti, associate professor of Mechanical and Thermal Measurements at the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Padua. According to his personal website, Fanti has studied and written about the famed burial cloth since 2004.
Pope: Driving away migrants is a “grave sin.” Working to turn migrants away from the prospect of peace and security in a new country is “a grave sin,” Pope Francis said. “It needs to be said clearly: There are those who systematically work by all means to drive away migrants, and this, when done knowingly and deliberately, is a grave sin,” he said during his general audience Aug. 28. The pope began his audience in St. Peter’s Square by explaining that he would “postpone the usual catechesis” — he currently is in the middle of a series of talks about the Holy Spirit — to discuss “the people who — even at this moment — are crossing seas and deserts to reach a land where they can live in peace and security.” He said, “Brothers and sisters, we can all agree on one thing: Migrants should not be in those seas and in those lethal deserts,” he said. But migrants cannot be deterred from those deadly crossings “through more restrictive laws, nor through the militarization of borders, nor through rejections,” the pope said. “Instead, we will achieve it by expanding safe and legal avenues for migrants, by facilitating sanctuary for those fleeing wars, violence, persecution and many calamities; we will achieve it by fostering in every way a global governance of migration based on justice, fraternity and solidarity.”
Holy Land patriarchs call for a rapid cease-fire as war’s one-year mark approaches. With the one-year mark approaching of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, spurred by the Hamas attack on southern Israeli agricultural communities Oct. 7, the Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem urged the warring sides to “reach a rapid agreement” for a cease-fire. They said Aug. 26 the cease-fire should result “in the end of the war, the release of all captives, the return of the displaced, the treatment of the sick and wounded, the relief of those who hunger and thirst, and the rebuilding of all public and private civilian structures that have been destroyed.” They called for an “end to the pursuit of death and destruction,” adding that “despite repeated calls for the de-escalation of violence from ourselves and the international community, the situation in our beloved Holy Land has only continued to deteriorate.” According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between civilian and combatant fatalities, over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in the war since Oct. 7. Hamas killed 1,200 people, including soldiers, in their early morning onslaught and took more than 250 people hostage. One hundred and eight hostages now remain in Gaza, according to the Hostages Families Forum statement, including 36 thought to be dead.
New USCCB review board chair: “We can’t be satisfied” until there is zero abuse in the Church. James Bogner, the newly named head of the U.S. bishops’ consultative safe environment body, told OSV News he is bringing both his faith and his more than 35 years of law enforcement experience to the task of countering sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. A former highlevel FBI special agent, Bogner was appointed to the National Review Board Aug. 1 by Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, succeeding outgoing chair Suzanne Healy, who recently completed her four-year term. Bogner told OSV News that his career-long interest in research and trends, along with his capacity for audit and internal affairs management, will enhance the board as it advises the bishops. “We can’t be satisfied with what we have done in the past or up to date here,” Bogner said. “We need to continue to address these issues (of sexual abuse and prevention).” A deep commitment to the Church sustains him, he added. “When you have a problem in any organization and it needs to be addressed, you have two choices: You either leave, or you stay to address the issue and work on the solution,” said Bogner, referencing a quote by Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester in a speech he heard the bishop give. “And I, along with the members of the National Review Board, are staying, and we’re addressing it.”
As “fruit” of dialogue, China recognizes bishop, Vatican says. After five years of refusal, the Chinese government has officially recognized Bishop Melchior Shi Hongzhen as bishop of Tianjin, the Vatican said, in what it called “a positive fruit of the dialogue established over the years between the Holy See and the Chinese government.” The Vatican said in a statement: “The Holy See has learned with satisfaction that today, 27 August 2024, Bishop Melchior Shi Hongzhen has been officially recognized under civil law as bishop of Tianjin (Municipality of Tianjin, People’s Republic of China).” Bishop Shi, 95, was ordained coadjutor bishop of Tianjin in 1982 and, in 2019, he succeeded the late Bishop Paul Liu Shuhe as bishop of Tianjin. But he was only recognized as a priest by the Chinese government and was placed under house arrest for his refusal to join the government-sanctioned Catholic Patriotic Association, which acts as a liaison between registered Catholics and the Chinese government.
Pope Francis expresses concern about religious freedom in Ukraine. “Please, let no Christian church be abolished directly or indirectly: the churches are not to be touched,” Pope Francis said about a Ukrainian law banning the Russian Orthodox Church, which President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed Aug. 24, Ukrainian independence day. “I continue to follow with sorrow the fighting in Ukraine and the Russian Federation,” Pope Francis told visitors and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square Aug. 25 for the recitation of the Angelus prayer. But, he said, “thinking about the legal regulations recently adopted in Ukraine, a fear arises for the freedom of those who pray, because those who truly pray always pray for everyone. One does not commit evil because one prays.” Ukrainian lawmakers approved a bill Aug. 20 to ban the Russian Orthodox Church and its affiliates in Ukraine. The law requires the Ukrainian Orthodox Church affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate to sever all ties with the Russian Orthodox Church or face a process that would lead to its disbanding.
Vatican approves devotion at a site of Marian apparition in Spain. Devotions at a Marian shrine in Spain that communicate Mary’s “close and affectionate presence” can and should continue, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith said. Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, dicastery prefect, authorized the local archbishop to issue a document so that the Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows of Chandavila can “continue to offer to the faithful who wish to approach it, a place of interior peace, consolation, and conversion.” The cardinal’s letter titled, “A Light in Spain,” was approved by the pope during an audience Aug. 22 and was published on the dicastery’s website Aug. 23. The devotion began after the Second World War, when two girls, 10-year-old Marcelina Barroso Expósito and 16-year-old Afra Brígido Blanco, separately had similar spiritual experiences in which they said they encountered Mary where the shrine now stands in La Codosera, Spain, along the country’s border with Portugal. The Vatican dicastery did not make a ruling about the nature of the apparitions themselves but said, “there is nothing one can object to in this beautiful devotion, which presents the same simplicity that we can see in Mary of Nazareth, our Blessed Mother. Many positive aspects indicate an action of the Holy Spirit in so many pilgrims who come, both from Spain and Portugal, in the conversions, healings, and other valuable signs in this place.”
After 17 years, Divine Mercy welcomes students
By Josh McGovern The Catholic Spirit
Aug. 24, Divine Mercy Catholic Church was brimming with parishioners overflowing into added seats. Archbishop Bernard Hebda made the procession to the altar along with several priests with connections to Divine Mercy, either as former pastors or as former parishioners. The choir was made up of Divine Mercy Catholic School elementary students. All of this was in honor of the parish’s opening a brand-new school building on the church campus.
The process required patience from the Faribault community. It began 17 years ago, when the three parishes of Immaculate Conception, Sacred Heart and St. Lawrence merged as one parish. Already in 1969, the three parishes had formed one school known as Consolidated Catholic Schools.
“With the merger of all three parishes, the concept was drawn up to build a new church and school on the property that we currently are on,” said Divine Mercy Catholic School’s principal, Regina Ashley. “It was advertised, and a capital campaign was had for a new church and school. During that time, they were only able to raise about half of what they were hoping to raise. Church leadership decided to only build the church then. We’ve been waiting since the church was finished, which was 15 years ago, and it took us that many years to have another capital campaign and get the ball rolling on actually finishing the project that was imagined way back when.”
All disciplines, the sciences, arts, mathematics, humanities and teaching about the world and about human life that we pursue must have as their final purpose to bring us to a knowledge of the truth and to worship of the true God.
Archbishop Bernard Hebda
This is Ashley’s 36th year with Divine Mercy and her 13th as principal of the school. Ashley called the construction of the new school a “100-year project” in reference to the old school building, which was constructed in 1925.
“For years, the Divine Mercy parish and school were separated by miles, and now — through the prayers and sacrifices of many — they are together under one roof,” said Jason Slattery, director of Catholic education and superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. “We commend Father Cory Rohlfing and Principal Gina Ashley for their incredible efforts to help bring this project to fruition. There are precious few places in the entire Church in the United States where Catholic school buildings are being constructed, so this is a wonderful testament to what can be accomplished through a strong pastor and principal team aided by God’s grace.”
Ashley noted that patience was pivotal in remaining positive that a new school building would come.
“We believe that it’s God’s time, not ours,” Ashley said. “He’s the one that decides when things are going to happen and that’s the kind of patience that was needed, to be faithful and to do what we could do on a daily basis and know that when it was the right time, God would help us make it work. That’s exactly what happened.”
Beyond patience, Ashley said the time without a new building required healing, too. Ashley was aware that it would have been easy to slip into a negative mindset as several pastors passed through Divine Mercy, each attempting but not quite succeeding to get the ball rolling on a new school. Such negativity, Ashley said, wouldn’t have helped the school. So, she often brought it to prayer.
“There was a lot of healing that had to happen in our community, even just from the three parishes becoming one,” Ashley said. “But then having a capital campaign, having people believe that it was going to be a church and school that was built and then having only part of that
built, there was a lot of healing that had to happen, a lot of mending fences, a lot of rebuilding relationships.”
Currently, Divine Mercy Catholic School has 267 students, from preschool through grade five. Sixth grade students can attend the Cooperative Middle School with Bethlehem Academy high school in Faribault.
“This community is now ready to educate our youth in the faith,” Ashley said. “There’s a sense of
togetherness again. We’ve been separated long. … It’s a wonderful feeling just to be again.”
The school was formed in 1860 by Father Keller and began as a two-room classroom basement of Immaculate Conception Church, serving one parish. As it grew, the site incorporated schools from other parishes, including St. German parish and Sacred Heart’s French Construction on the new
$15 million school
Kindergartner building.
Teacher Anna Washburn helps first-grade students Hadley O’Malley, left, Emmitt Mulcahy and Emerson Ness.
Shelby Glenzinski, a physical education teacher at Divine Mercy Catholic School in Faribault, leads students on a walk Aug. 29 past the church and new school building.
PHOTOS BY DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
students to a Catholic education in a new building
for so one Father George classroom in the Church, incorporated St. Lawrence mission. school
began in April 2023 and ended in August 2024. The school includes a cafeteria, a gym, administration offices and two floors of classrooms.
Serving the Lord is the priority of any family, Archbishop Hebda said in his homily at the celebratory Mass, referring to passing on the faith. Adults who have experienced Jesus “want to make sure that our young people have that experience as well, that they come to recognize that Jesus’ words are indeed the words of eternal life.”
On the day that Archbishop Hebda snipped the ribbon to officially open Divine Mercy Catholic School’s new building, Ashley, with tears in her eyes, told the many parishioners in attendance that her biggest debt of gratitude was to them.
“It’s truly the people here who never let the dream die,” Ashley said. “They continue to desire this for the people who come after this and to know that it’s investing in the future in a real way. Faribault is a very unique community. There’s a large contingent
of people who support Catholic education here and really believe in it. I’ve definitely felt that all the way through. Without the Faribault Catholic community, this would not be here today.”
In his blessing of the school, Archbishop Hebda said, “All disciplines, the sciences, arts, mathematics, humanities and teaching about the world and about human life that we pursue must have as their final purpose to bring us to a knowledge of the truth and to worship of the true God.”
Kindergartner Readiness student Varian Gillen, right, uses the playground equipment outside the new school building.
Students including fifth grader Lizzie Thomas, front left, walk the hallways of the new school building.
Fifth grader Genevieve Graham studies during class.
FAITH+CULTURE
Altar boy turned polar explorer: Will Steger reflects at 80
By Christina Capecchi
For The Catholic Spirit
Legendary polar explorer Will Steger left his slice of paradise outside Ely so he could work full time in the Twin Cities spreading awareness about climate change. A lifelong Catholic who turned 80 last month, Steger lives in a houseboat on the Mississippi River and logs long days lobbying and networking. He hopes to make Minnesota a leader in combating global warming.
He’ll be speaking about the impact faith has had on his life at the annual fundraiser for the Center for Evangelization and Discipleship on Sept. 23 at Our Lady of Grace in Edina. The event runs from 6:30-8:30 p.m., beginning with Mass. Tickets can be purchased through catholiccend org or, if still available, at the door. Steger will speak to students at Our Lady of Grace Catholic School from 1-2:30 p.m. that afternoon. Four additional Catholic middle schools have been invited to attend.
Q How central was your Catholic faith to the rhythms of daily life?
A It was everything. Looking back, it was the Catholic community that was important. It was real consistent. People were living by example back then. Everyone was together, around their faith. We were not quite a mile from church, within bicycling distance. I was an altar boy. I’m a product of Catholic education — Benilde (now Benilde-St. Margaret’s in St. Louis Park), St. Thomas (now the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul), all the way through. I had great teachers, great mentors.
Q Which elements of your faith have stuck with you?
A I have a love for Gregorian chant. It was just part of living the life of goodness –– that was what I modeled my life after. If I questioned what I was doing, I simply went with a life of goodness and following my conscience, and I had faith that the answers would come to me. Each thing is a learning experience. That’s the creed I’ve lived with all my life.
Q Reading “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” as a boy awakened your sense of adventure. Might your life have looked different if you hadn’t read that book?
A Totally. I was dyslexic, so I had a hard time reading. In fourth grade, we had to do a book report, and in front of me was a real book, which I would never pick up, but what got me were the sketches. And then I started reading it, and I got completely into it. I just lived it. I realized: I want to be like Huck Finn –– the reality of going down the river and the metaphor of the journey and meeting people along the way and learning from those people.
I did Huck Finn when I was 15 (traveling all the way down the Mississippi in a motorboat with his teenaged brother and no parents). I started climbing when I was 16. My inspirations came from National Geographic Magazine. Those were the images I wrapped my dreams around. I got my ideas from those pages: kayaking in Alaska, climbing. I had the motivation, the determination and I was willing to work ––16 hours a day.
That’s the key, I think, to a successful life. I’m part of the American dream of independence, of being self-sufficient. I followed through with that. I bought land in the wilderness when I was 19. Ever since I was a child, I was destined to be in the wilderness. I cleared land. I made everything myself. I didn’t have electricity at the time. It was three miles from the road. I built a dog sledding school to support myself.
Q You didn’t wait to chase your dreams.
A To me, failure is not trying. Once you’re trying, you’re successful. It may not work, but the fact that you’re motivated and moving on a path, you’re a success. People fail in their thinking. That’s what I learned from my early expeditions.
Q How crucial is good morale on a polar expedition?
A It’s life and death on an expedition. If someone’s questioning what you’re doing, it’s the most dangerous
thing because that negativity will affect everyone else, and everything goes down. The doubt is poisonous. You have two choices: negativity, positivity. That’s your choice as a human being. Negativity is real easy. You can tune into it on your phone and get immersed in it. Your health will even decline. The goodness is a harder route at first. But once you start recognizing it and taking the long way around –– because the shortcut is usually negative –– then things start happening for you. There’s a spiritual deficit that’s creeping into our culture. We’re like a monkey that’s found a new tool ––the internet –– and the whole thing is way too much for the nervous system.
What I’ve learned is: You can’t put the human spirit down. You can force it down, but if it goes down too deep –– which is where it’s at now –– it’s going to come back again. The human spirit is resilient. I see an opportunity.
Q There’s something holy about humor, isn’t there?
A Definitely! In Antarctica we were in a 60-day storm, our base camp was on the next continent in South America. It was the most horrendous thing. We were forced to travel in the worst conditions. It didn’t look like we were going to survive. We were pushing so hard with very little food. I wrote in my journal with a halfinch candle: The only thing we have left is our humor. Humor starts as seeing the ridiculousness of yourself. That’s what my parents had. Humor is part of the spirit.
Q Is it related to humility?
A Most people wear humility on their sleeve, kind of like a bank account, whereas humility to me has nothing to do with a thought process. You’re there. You don’t even use the word. It’s a state of being. That’s the essence of prayer, too.
Q Have many Americans lost their sense of adventure?
A Definitely. They’re entertaining themselves to death.
Q Do you feel bad for kids who don’t get outside the way your generation did?
A I see young people come up from the inner city and be in nature and they change. Forty-year-olds who have never seen the stars, adults who see the Milky Way or the northern lights and they get very emotional. It’s an insight. When you have an insight, it’s not like knowledge –– it changes you forever. Nature is insight.
Q How do you guard your sense of wonder?
A I seek it. I seek wonder. As a child, we only got one big present under the Christmas tree –– it was a big deal. This was back when you had two pairs of clothes. When I was in fourth grade, I got a 4-inch telescope, which changed my life. The first views I saw of the Milky Way and the rings of Saturn –– it changed my life. I’ve been seeking that ever since.
Wonder doesn’t come to you. You have to seek it.
Q Addressing climate change is your driving force. Do you appreciate how Pope Francis has called for better care of the Earth?
A I don’t know where this pope came from, but he was a Godsend for me –– and to the world. And in terms of (the) environment, he gets it! I wish more Catholics would listen to what he’s saying. “Laudato (Si’)” should
be required reading. We have to wake up.
Q Tell me about your houseboat.
A I live on the Mississippi, (near) downtown St. Paul. I got a nice, quiet spot there. It’s part of the St. Paul Yacht Club. They allow 20 of us “live aboards.” We’re under the Wabasha Bridge. It’s the river community. There might be different views, but everyone is tolerant and half-crazy.
I’m on the river in downtown St. Paul, but I’m looking out, and there are no cars around me. It’s like I’m in nature and my houseboat is small, like my cabin. It’s very intimate. Winter is really nice because the boats freeze in and you see the river constantly changing. We see all sorts of animals migrating. It’s a wild biome.
Fortunately, we’ve had good wisdom in our development of the Mississippi River. It’s considered part of a national park. It’s almost like a little piece of the wilderness in the city.
Q It’s mystical, isn’t it?
A It is. The big river that flows.
Q What do your mornings look like?
A I’ve lived by a rhythm. I get up early, maybe 5, 5:30. I always mix a quart of lukewarm water in a mason jar, and then I squeeze a lime in it, and I drink that lime in lukewarm water for about half an hour. Then I do all my emails and the quiet work I have to do, and I get ready for my day. Oatmeal.
I usually pack myself a lunch, just a simple sandwich I carry with me and some water because I’m traveling around the city, meeting people, building relationships. I go out to lunch occasionally as part of that relationship building. I don’t care to eat a lot of restaurant food.
I try to get home by 9 or 10. I go consistently six days a week. I do a 14-hour day. And in the evening, the last hour or half an hour, I read. I like reading. I don’t turn on any social media of any sort. I don’t get myself stimulated.
I want to maintain this energy. And I always take Sundays off. A human being cannot continually be in work mode. You’ve got to take that one day. I think what changed our culture is in the late ‘50s when they started opening up commerce on Sunday. It ruined everything. On Sundays, you always had nothing to do. You’d socialize with your family and friends. We’d go out on picnics. I still follow that rhythm.
Q What have you learned about aging?
A The most important thing about aging is your attitude. People start aging in their early 20s because of their attitudes.
It’s physical, too. I have never been out of shape. I have pretty good discipline, but I’m not over disciplined –– I’ll party. I eat very simple foods. Even as a kid, I didn’t eat processed food. So, I’ve always maintained my physical shape, and I challenge myself, always, mentally. I’m always pushing the limit on what I’m doing because that’s where the learning is. And the 70s were my best decade yet. I had almost perfect health, did expeditions.
Eighty is a big turning point. I’ve been thinking about 80 since (President Joe) Biden dropped out of the race. I don’t usually celebrate birthdays, but you do with the big-digit numbers.
Q How old do you feel?
A Forty, 41 –– where you’ve got the energy but a little bit of common sense. Since I’ve lived a life of intention and I’ve followed goodness, wisdom is inevitable. I also learned through mistakes.
Q And you have to tune out all the noise.
A It’s drowning out everything. That’s why people are so miserable.
Q What do you know for sure?
A Not much. I know life and death, and I know the human spirit. That’s the beauty of life … You find out more and more as you go. The great thing is you never have the answer. The answer is in the question. That’s what life is. It’s that simple.
COURTESY WILL STEGER
Catholics, evangelicals explore common ground
A group of Catholics and evangelicals has released a one-page document that identifies areas of common ground among the two largest Christian groups in the world.
“The Gift of Being Christian Together: An Ecumenical Statement of Fidelity and Recognition” is “the fruit of a new ecumenical dialogue,” according to a news release from Glenmary Home Missioners in Cincinnati on the document.
“At the most basic level, Catholics and evangelicals share a love of Jesus Christ,” said Alexei Laushkin, founder of Kingdom Mission Society, an evangelical organization that helped spearhead the effort. Catholic efforts were led by Nathan Smith, ecumenical director for Glenmary Home Missioners, a Catholic society of priests, brothers and laypeople who work in evangelical-dominant areas of Appalachia and the South.
Smith and Laushkin have established a website, thegiftofbeingchristiantogether org, to disseminate the document and to gather signatures of support not only from evangelical and Catholic institutions, but also from everyday Christians from those traditions, they said.
The document was released Aug. 28, the feast of St. Augustine, and signatures are being accepted until the feast of Christ the King, Nov. 24. “The feasts of St. Augustine and Christ the King both have ecumenical significance,” explained Smith. “Christians see Christ the King as the center of unity. It is then that we profess the Lordship of Christ. And St. Augustine is much beloved by evangelicals and Catholics.”
UST professor named to Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome
By Josh McGovern
The Catholic Spirit
Gloria Frost, a philosophy professor in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of St. Thomas (UST) in St. Paul, was officially named to the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas by the Vatican Secretary of State in May after being nominated in September 2023.
Frost is the fifth woman and the first St. Thomas faculty member to be appointed to the academy since its founding in 1879.
Frost is also an assistant editor for the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly and is the associate chair of the St. Thomas Philosophy Department. Frost recently published a book on St. Thomas Aquinas titled “Aquinas on Efficient Causation and Causal Powers,” adding to her prolific history of published articles on the saint.
In her new role, Frost will remain at UST while participating in the academy. She hopes to publish papers and present them at an annual conference in Rome, including on one of the pope’s
encyclicals. After each conference, the academy publishes a volume of some of the papers presented.
“For me, it’s just a huge honor to be recognized together with some of these other scholars who are ... world renowned and really important scholars of Aquinas,” Frost said. “It’s an honor to be considered among their ranks, but also for me, it’s a great opportunity to bring attention to Thomas Aquinas and his continued importance for the thought of the Church and for our daily (lives).”
The academy consists of 50 scholars from around the world. They meet annually at the Vatican to promote the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas in the Church and world.
“Pope Leo XIII, who established the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, also wrote an encyclical called ‘Aeterni Patris,’ and in that encyclical, he said that Aquinas is the preeminent theologian and philosopher for the Church, and that seminarians, Catholic philosophers and theologians should study Aquinas’ works and use him as a guide for thinking about how to integrate faith and reason together,” Frost said. “He (Pope Leo XIII) established the academy to get experts of Aquinas together to think about topics or promote
Pray Daily with the Universal Church
Glorify God and unite with the saving work of Jesus Christ through the prayer of the Church.
It’s
a great opportunity to bring attention to Thomas Aquinas and his continued importance for the thought of the Church and for our daily (lives).
study of Aquinas in the Church.”
A majority of the academy members are priests and laymen, Frost said.
“The other members are all notable scholars in philosophy and theology,” Frost said. “Many of the priest members also have appointments at some of the universities, a lot of them in Rome. They’re also full-time engaged in scholarly research. I think every single person in the academy is a distinctive scholar of Aquinas.”
Frost said her new role is an opportunity to help the Church through scholarly work. She is most excited to meet the other academy members to discuss ideas and learn from them, she said. She hopes to get feedback on her own work and hear perspectives from people with different cultural and academic backgrounds.
International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Fatima
TEACHER: Deacon Joseph Michalak SCAN TO REGISTER
GLORIA FROST
AND
THE
BEAUTIFUL | MADELYN REICHERT
Historical novel illuminates the value of the saints
“Eternal Light of the Crypts,” by Alan Van’t Land. Full Quiver Publishing. (Pakenham, ON, Canada, 2021). 292 pp., $16.99.
It’s been said that the past is a foreign country. Catholic readers of Alan Van’t Land’s new historical novel, however, might find it is not quite so foreign as it first appears.
In “Eternal Light of the Crypts,” Van’t Land transports the reader back in time to the late ninth century, an era marked by warring feudal lords, Viking invasions, crumbling empires — and broad cultural belief in the power of relics.
The plot of the novel centers on relics: on their veneration, transportation, discovery and, let’s be frank, their theft. The two main characters, Egilolf (a former military scout with an unnamed but heavy burden) and Aristeus (a scribe once just a few weeks shy of professing vows, now tormented by the memories of marauding Vikings), toe the line between relic-savers and grave-robbers in their quest to
transport one set — or is it two? — of holy remains to their new home. Along the way they also toe the lines between saints, sinners and fools.
Van’t Land fills out this journey with a rich tapestry of side-characters, from sarcastic thieves and aged monks to scheming abbots, wandering bards and warlords of both Christian and pagan varieties. Considered as a romp through ninth-century Francia, “Eternal Light of the Crypts” certainly does not disappoint: Readers of this excellent novel can look forward to crypt-diving, mad chases through medieval alleyways and even a Viking duel. (In good adventure-story tradition, there is also a great deal of wandering through forests and foraging for acorns.)
Yet in focusing on the deeply human stories caught in this period of historical turmoil, the author also reveals to the reader a world that feels startlingly modern. These medieval characters’ worries about the fate of their fracturing society, blinkered rulers more concerned with infighting than their subjects’ wellbeing, and the future of the Church itself all ring with surprising familiarity to 21st century Catholics.
At turns humorous, suspenseful and moving, “Eternal Light of the Crypts” is a fast-paced tale that defies clear definition; this reviewer is as tempted to term it a heist novel as she is a historical one. But the beating theological heart of the story is the question of divine providence: Where is the line between coincidence and heavenly guidance? Does God truly provide his grace to suffering humanity through the bodies of his saints? And how can people who lived centuries or even millennia before us still point us through a broken world back to God?
Reichert is publications administrative coordinator at The Catholic Spirit. She can be reached at
International Eucharistic Congress begins in Ecuador with call to fraternity
OSV News
The 53rd edition of the International Eucharistic Congress began Sept. 8 in Quito, Ecuador, with a strong call to build fraternity as a way of healing the wounds of a world full of fractures and violence.
The opening celebration included a message sent by Pope Francis, in which he emphasized that “we’re one and only in such unity we can serve the world and heal it.”
The congress, which will conclude Sept. 15, was planned to promote — in line with the Eucharistic invitation — human brotherhood, despite many divides, under the theme “Fraternity to Heal the World.”
Archbishop Alfredo Espinoza of Quito said in his homily during the opening Mass that the city became “a great Eucharistic tent” and people from all over the world will think about a mystery that “challenges us to be real builders of fraternity so to heal the world’s wounds,” in a time “full of violence, death, and wars.”
For Bishop José Adalberto Jiménez of the Aguarico Vicariate, in the Ecuadorian Amazon, the combination of the perspective of adoration brought by the Eucharist with the call to a living exercise of faith was noticeable in Pope Francis’ message to the congress, which the pontiff sent along as he’s crossing the globe for his farthest and longest apostolic trip to date to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and East Timor.
The International Eucharistic Congress follows on the heels of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress July 17-21 in Indianapolis.
MYTHS The of
MATHEMATICS
The 11 th Annual Anderson Lecture in Science & Religion hosted by Anselm House at the University of Minnesota will be delivered by mathematician Dr. Satyan Devadoss. In our data-driven world, he will explore how mathematics can offer a way forward marked by beauty and not pure utility, inspired by his Catholic faith.
Monday, September 30 | 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. McNamara Alumni Center, UMN anselmhouse.org/mathematics
FOCUSONFAITH
SUNDAY SCRIPTURES
FATHER LOUIE FLOEDER
Who do you say that I am?
Who do you say that I am? How many correct answers are there to that question?
St. Peter, rock-solid in his response, declares, “You are the Christ.” (Mk 8:29). According to the Gospel of Matthew, we see that “flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” (Mt 16:17). So, certainly we can count this as a good answer. However, would it be possible to give a different reply?
Could one look to the Gospel of John and say, “Jesus, you are the bread of life” (Jn 6:35). Or, you are the light of the world (Jn 8:12). Or, you are the good shepherd (Jn 10:11). Could we call Jesus the bridegroom (Mk 2:19) or Emmanuel (Mt 1:23) or the lamb of God (Jn 1:29)? All these passages point out different qualities of the person
FAITH
of Jesus. It is as if we are gazing into an enormous diamond through different facets. It is a grace to know Jesus Christ! And it is of the utmost importance. Because God sent his Son into the world, so “that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). Believing in Jesus affects us for eternity.
“Who do you say that I am?” At the core, even though there may or may not be different answers to Jesus’ question, it is still a personal question. It is directed through the words of holy Scripture to you. You must respond. Granted, if you are reading this you probably have a pretty good understanding of who Jesus is. You are trying to know him and love him to the best of your ability.
I propose a grace to pray for today is to be able to relate to Jesus as the suffering servant. This identity is something St. Peter was not willing to see, and in return he gets rebuked by Jesus (Mk 8:33). Jesus reveals that God loves us so much that he suffers and dies for us. Love is revealed by the cross. God loves us even to the furthest limits of suffering and even unto death. So, while there may be different answers to Jesus’ question of who he is, because of the cross, there can be no question of how far God will go to show us his love.
Father Floeder is pastor of St. Dominic in Northfield.
FUNDAMENTALS | FATHER MICHAEL
VAN SLOUN
The priest configures himself to Jesus, the high priest
Editor’s note: This is the first of two columns that center on priests as configured to Christ. Watch for the concluding column in the Oct. 10 edition.
Jesus is the great high priest (Heb 4:14) as declared by God (Heb 5:10), “holy innocent, undefiled” (Heb 7:26). Jesus is great, superior to every other priest, whether Moses or Aaron or any other priest, because he is both divine and human, God and man. All other priests are only human, “beset by weakness” (Heb 5:2).
“Jesus is the perfect High Priest because he is perfectly man and perfectly God; He can represent man to God and God to man. He is the one person through whom man comes to God and God comes to man” (William Barclay, Hebrews, 31).
A Catholic priest represents and embodies Jesus, the high priest, both at Mass and at any other time or place. He acts “in persona Christi capitus,” in the person of Christ the head, and consequently, a priest configures himself to Jesus (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1563).
Jesus was a man of intense prayer. He prayed before every major moment in his life — before he began his public ministry, before he chose his Apostles, before his transfiguration, and before his passion and death. Jesus also was in the habit of going off to secluded places in the morning and in the evening to remain united with his Father, stay on course, and renew his strength. Jesus prayed in synagogues and the Temple. Configured to Jesus, a priest is a man of intense prayer, who prays before every major moment, before decisions big and small, as well as each day, both in the morning and in the evening, to keep his life and ministry connected to and directed by Jesus. He also prays with and for the sheep of his flock. Jesus was a humble servant. He came, not to be served, but to serve.
and an
Configured to Jesus, a priest is not a lone ranger. He invites others to serve Jesus and the Church, both men and women, and once they have accepted their roles, without overmanaging, he empowers them to serve, stays in close relationship with each, and helps them collaborate with each other.
He lowered himself to wash his disciples’ feet. As the supreme gift, he laid down his life on the cross for the salvation of all. He gave freely without the expectation of repayment. He never glorified himself. Configured to Jesus, a priest practices the virtue of humility, and he resists all temptations to be prideful or controlling. He does not seek advantage or privilege. He associates with all people, and pays particular attention to the lowly, unpopular or forgotten. He is glad to do ordinary tasks. He willingly sets aside selfish inclinations, focuses on others and serves with generosity.
Jesus was not an individual operator. He began his ministry by calling others to join him, initially calling Peter and Andrew, James and John, then eight more men, and they were accompanied by Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna and many other women. Jesus was a teambuilder. Jesus empowered them to serve in his name, was a partner with each of them, and helped them to work together. Configured to Jesus, a priest is not a lone ranger. He invites others to serve Jesus and the Church, both men and women, and once they have accepted their roles, without overmanaging, he empowers them to serve, stays in close relationship with each, and helps them collaborate with each other.
Jesus is the good shepherd. He knows his sheep by name, and he willingly laid down his life for his sheep. Configured to Jesus, a priest is a good shepherd: He is present, dependable, concerned, guiding and protecting, feeding and tending the flock. The priest takes special interest in every individual, attentively learning the person’s name, unique characteristics and life story, so he can offer personalized care. The priest lays down his life by making a lifelong promise to serve as a shepherd on behalf of the Good Shepherd.
Father Van Sloun is the director of clergy personnel for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
DAILY Scriptures
Sunday, Sept. 15
Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Is 50:5-9a Jas 2:14-18 Mk 8:27-35
Monday, Sept. 16
Sts. Cornelius, pope, and Cyprian, bishop, martyrs 1 Cor 11:17-26, 33 Lk 7:1-10
Tuesday, Sept. 17 1 Cor 12:12-14, 27-31a Lk 7:11-17
Wednesday, Sept. 18 1 Cor 12:31-13:13 Lk 7:31-35
Thursday, Sept. 19 1 Cor 15:1-11 Lk 7:36-50
Friday, Sept. 20 Sts. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, priest, and Paul Chong Ha-sang, and companions, martyrs 1 Cor 15:12-20 Lk 8:1-3
Saturday, Sept. 21
St. Matthew, Apostle and evangelist Eph 4:1-7, 11-13 Mt 9:9-13
Sunday, Sept. 22 Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Wis 2:12, 17-20 Jas 3:16–4:3 Mk 9:30-37
Monday, Sept. 23 St. Pius of Pietrelcina, priest Prv 3:27-34 Lk 8:16-18
Tuesday, Sept. 24 Prv 21:1-6, 10-13 Lk 8:19-21
Wednesday, Sept. 25 Prv 30:5-9 Lk 9:1-6
Thursday, Sept. 26 Eccl 1:2-11 Lk 9:7-9
Friday, Sept. 27 St. Vincent de Paul, priest Eccl 3:1-11 Lk 9:18-22
Saturday, Sept. 28 Eccl 11:9–12:8 Lk 9:43b-45
Sunday, Sept. 29
Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Nm 11:25-29 Jas 5:1-6 Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48
(chrysostomos
in Antioch. After some years
the clergy in Antioch in 381 and became a noted biblical commentator. Elected patriarch of Constantinople in 398, John was
His broad reforms drew fire from secular elites and the patriarch of Alexandria. He was deposed by a gathering of bishops in 403 and exiled by the emperor. He died during a forced move in exile. His feast day is Sept. 13. — OSV News
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM (349-407) One of four Greek doctors of the Church
eloquent preacher
means “golden tongue”), John was born
as a mountain ascetic, he joined
outspoken.
ECHOES OF CATHOLIC MINNESOTA
REBA LUIKEN
From a Catholic school to Catholic Eldercare in Northeast Minneapolis
The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet opened St. Mary’s Convent, a Catholic academy for young women in Northeast Minneapolis (then known as the town of St. Anthony) in 1853, five years before Minnesota became a state.
It was the town’s first Catholic school, across the street from St. Anthony of Padua, the town’s first Catholic church, which was built four years earlier. St. Mary’s would later merge with St. Anthony’s parochial school, bringing together a co-educational elementary school and a high school for girls. Over 100 years and two buildings later, the school remained a place for innovation, even as the world of Catholic education changed rapidly.
The year 1969 was a turning point for both the elementary and the high school. In the high school, teaching staff adopted a trendy new modular scheduling system that created shorter time blocks and opened the possibility for smaller classes, more study periods, and students taking responsibility for their own unique schedules. The changes reflected the school’s young teaching staff (with an average age of 33) and its culture of student involvement in decisionmaking.
The superintendent decided 1969 was also the time to try out a new organizational system for the Catholic elementary schools in Northeast Minneapolis. As
The winter of 1915 was so cold in northeastern Minnesota that a moose wandered into the small town of Biwabik and settled in a horse stable.
The moose gradually won over the townspeople, who had initially tried to evict him. His memorable stay became part of Biwabik’s oral history, one day reaching the town’s basketball coach, an Iowa native named Phil Stong.
Stong had an ear for a good story. He worked like a reporter to gather all the details about the moose and then turned them into a chapter book, using the actual townspeople as its characters.
“Honk the Moose” was accepted by a New York publisher and illustrated by Kurt Wiese, the artist who drew pictures for the first English edition of “Bambi.” Published in 1935, “Honk the Moose” won a Newbery Honor Award the following year.
But time marched on, and eventually the book went out of print.
Steve Bradach decided to change that in 2000. A Biwabik native and a longtime city council member, Bradach knew “Honk the Moose” had potential to put his beloved town on the map. And the father of three believed new generations also deserved to be delighted by the tale.
“I wanted to give back to my hometown,” said
teaching sisters moved into other fields and student enrollments declined, All Saints was merged with Holy Cross, St. Hedwig merged with St. Cyril, and 184 children from St. Anthony of Padua Elementary were sent to St. Boniface. The consolidation began a cascade that would become known as the Northeast Minneapolis Consolidated Catholic Schools and, much later, St. John Paul II Catholic School.
Now just a high school for girls, St. Anthony faced many challenges over the next few years. While students cherished the small feeling of having only 300 members in the student body, declining enrollment strained the budget. The mortgage on the school’s recent addition made things even more challenging. In another effort to consolidate resources, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis decided to close St. Anthony at the end of the 1971 school year. DeLaSalle would welcome the students from St. Anthony, becoming co-educational for the first time.
With the school closed, Father William Hough looked for other ways to use the building and the parish’s prime location. Dominican Sister Ruth Roland brought up an interesting idea. They could turn the school into
Bradach, now 59. “I wanted to make a difference.”
Hence began a pet project: The civil engineer dabbled in the foreign world of children’s publishing. The original publisher refused to talk to Bradach, so he searched for Stong’s family members.
Eventually Bradach tracked down the author’s nephew, who, it turned out, owned the rights to the book. He sold the rights to Bradach and gave a blessing for the project.
There was only one problem: There were no digital files of the 1935 hardcover. It existed only on paper.
Bradach fished for every copy of the book he could find to obtain the most pristine copy. Then he hired a company to scan all 80 pages — creating a digital file — and contracted a small publisher in Duluth to print 6,000 copies.
an eldercare facility.
After gathering support and city approval, the project moved ahead in 1980. Catholic Eldercare leased the land under the school building and transformed it into a home for 150 residents. The older portion of the school building was razed to make way for resident rooms, and the school’s newer addition became the dining, kitchen and therapy facilities. The new Catholic Eldercare building was connected to St. Anthony church, allowing residents to come to Mass without ever going outside. It also transformed Father Hough’s parish, adding 150 elders to the 300 families that were already parishioners.
Over the past 40 years, Catholic Eldercare has continued to flourish, ultimately purchasing the whole site in 2013 and transforming the St. Anthony of Padua church into a chapel and continuing the ongoing history of the first Catholic church and school in Minneapolis.
Luiken is a Catholic and historian with a doctorate from the University of Minnesota. She loves exploring and sharing the hidden histories that touch our lives every day.
To do so, Bradach had to use the money that he and his wife, Kathy, had been saving to build a cabin on Lake Vermilion. The project cost about $30,000.
“I was a little nervous,” Bradach said. “My wife asked: ‘Are we ever going to see the money again?’”
But the books sold quickly, and Bradach commissioned a second run, this time of 5,000 copies. Nearly every copy sold, save for a few boxes he keeps in the back of his shop.
Biwabik experienced a surge of interest, including invaluable media coverage and enduring moose-themed traditions like “Honktoberfest” every fall. Bradach made the money back, plus a $10,000 profit. He and Kathy
completed their cabin, where they now live.
To Bradach, now a grandpa of four, the lovable moose demonstrates the power of storytelling.
“Those stories you tell,” he said, “they stick. They create memories.” As Christians, we are storytellers. We are called to share the Gospel, which means “good news.”
We have two narratives to tell: What Jesus did on Earth, and what Jesus continues to do in our lives. How he guides us and provides for us, showing up when we least expect it or most need it.
The work of recording the Bible was painstaking, undertaken by candlelight with handmade pens. Dip by dip, stroke by stroke.
Our duty is to honor and advance that work, to keep telling the story. That begins with reading Scripture. You cannot love something you do not know.
When you really believe in something, it becomes part of you. You see your life as a new chapter in the story started by the evangelist Mark in the year 70: a never-ending saga, a redemption tale, the greatest story of all time.
“In the beginning was the Word,” begins the Gospel of John, “and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
What happened next?
Capecchi is a freelance writer from Inver
Grove Heights.
TWENTY SOMETHING | CHRISTINA CAPECCHI
St. Anthony of Padua church is now part of Catholic Eldercare.
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Through Jesus, to the saints
The Mass is all about Jesus, the bridge between humanity and God.
But on a recent Sunday morning at my new parish, I found my eyes drawn to someone else: St. Joseph.
To be fair, it wasn’t entirely my fault. The foster father of Jesus is prominently painted directly above and behind the altar, his eyes raised aloft to God, the Christ child at his side, and lilies growing in the background. If you’re looking toward the sanctuary, it’s hard not to have your eyes drawn up to St. Joseph.
But rather than a distraction from the Mass, I found that contemplating St. Joseph helped me enter the acts taking place on the altar in an even deeper way. And all because of one curious optical detail: at this Indiana parish, you can’t see the painting of St. Joseph in the apse without your line of vision first passing through the sculpture of Jesus being crucified atop the altar piece.
In other words, you can’t see Joseph except through Jesus Christ. And in another sense, you can’t look at Christ on the cross without seeing St. Joseph behind him.
Humor me for a bit, but there seems to be a spiritual lesson in this visual experience.
We often talk about how the saints lead us to Christ. They intercede on our behalf, and they model for us what loving God looks like. There’s no better example than the Blessed Mother, the mediatrix of all graces and the perfect disciple. As the popular
SIMPLE HOLINESS
KATE
Forming our conscience is an act of courage
Forming our conscience is not an easy or simple task, and yet it is a task we each must engage in, especially as we approach the presidential election. As a country, we are so ideologically divided that a person could think we live in two separate nations. The divide seems to grow with each month, often fueled by news outlets and social media posts. In many ways, one could say we are no longer a free people, but rather one influenced by the ideas and opinions of others. Some might say we have lost our ability to think and discern freely. And yet, as Catholic Christians, forming our conscience and voting according to our morals is the only mature, informed and holy option for us. This requires time and thoughtful preparation, which, again, it appears we have lost our ability to engage in. We have become lukewarm, allowing others to do our thinking for us, merely following through on their
spiritual dictum puts it, we go “to Jesus, through Mary.”
But it also works the other way. Jesus leads us to the saints. He points to them as “alters Christus,” living embodiments of his own self-sacrificial love. Love that was poured out 2,000 years ago on the cross for the salvation of all humanity, but is made manifest in different times, places and contexts through the lives of the saints.
Why is this relevant as we try to live lives animated by Christian charity today? Yes, Jesus is the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, the Alpha and the Omega, the Incarnate Word, and the Lamb of God. And yet, during his earthly life and ministry, he never worked at a bank, lived out a calling as a biological parent, or used the internet.
But there are saints who have. And their lives, fueled by Christ’s love, can be compelling, concrete models of holiness for those of us who are called to similar vocations, circumstances or uses of our talents.
The image that comes to mind is a prism, which takes in light and manifests that light in diverse colors. Or perhaps a singular, powerful lens that illuminates things differently depending upon the object of its focus. When we look through this lens of Christ’s love, which saint do we see on the other side, illuminated as a model of holiness for our own lives?
For me, the ability to look through “the lens of Christ’s love” in my new parish — the crucifix atop the altar piece — and see St. Joseph, the patron of husbands, fathers and workers, is a powerful spiritual aid, allowing me to contemplate how I can be more Christ-like in my preparation for or practice of each of these callings.
My life of holiness — of incarnating Christ’s love according to my own particular vocation and circumstances — is going to look like St. Joseph’s in several ways. It will require me to die to self by putting the flourishing of my future wife and children above my own self-interest; to be diligent,
influence, abdicating our freedom and responsibility.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains we need interiority, which allows for reflection, self-examination and introspection (CCC No. 1779). Catholic Christians have the responsibility to act in accordance with our conscience, so we are free to make the best moral decisions. We must never be prevented from acting in harmony with our conscience, especially in religious matters (Dignitatis Humanae, Nos. 2, 3).
Given all this, how does one determine a religious matter and what are the steps in conscience formation?
First, Catholics must be open to the truth about what is morally right. Next, they must study sacred Scripture, the Bible and the teachings of the Church, such as papal encyclicals and the catechism. Finally, they must examine the proposals and ideology presented by each candidate, studying the facts and background information each person offers. They must discern, taking time and careful consideration, understanding the key moral issues and voting according to what they believe God and our faith are calling us to defend through this important right.
Over one and a quarter million American lives have been lost in the wars we have fought defending our right to be a free country. The very least we can do in gratitude and appreciation for their ultimate sacrifice is to prepare ourselves to vote with our conscience in November. It takes courage. Voting according to our conscience “enables one to assume responsibility for the acts performed” (CCC, No. 1781).
humble, and steadfast in my work; and to be upright and open to God, so I’m prepared to lead in times of crisis.
And so, when I’m at Mass in my new parish, uniting my life to the offerings on the altar and preparing to receive Christ in the Eucharist to help me live a life of charity, I do so in the register of St. Joseph.
For others, perhaps looking through the lens of Christ will reveal someone like St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, an iconic teacher and educational advocate. Or St. Thomas More, a patron of lawyers and a portrait of courage. Or perhaps even a saint like Monica, the patroness of widows and mothers facing family difficulties.
You might not have a conveniently placed visual aid of your “model saint” like I do when I go to Mass at St. Joseph in Mishawaka, Indiana. But perhaps you can call to mind your own model of holiness through other means, like a prayer card you keep in your wallet or by asking for their intercession as you get in line to receive Communion.
Of course, no saint’s life will perfectly align with our own. Each of us is our own unique person, called to imitate Christ in an utterly irreplicable and non-derivative way. But areas of overlap shared with a saint can provide some concrete guidance on how to live out the Christian call to charity in our circumstances and ways of life.
After all, Christ doesn’t point us to the saints as ends in their own right. He shows us their witness, so they, in turn, can lead us to more fully and completely imitate him in all that we do.
Liedl lives in South Bend, Indiana, and is senior editor for the National Catholic Register. He is a former longtime resident of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, alum of the University of St. Thomas’ Catholic Studies graduate program and current student at The St. Paul Seminary and School of Divinity, both in St. Paul.
Business
Join us on ursday, October 3 at 11:30 a.m.: check-in and meal, 12:00-1:30 p.m: presentation. e Minneapolis Club: 729 2nd Ave. S, Minneapolis (Mayfair Room)
e world of investment banking, market forces, profit, and efficiency, especially under the pressure of activist investors, can seem far removed from the teachings of Jesus. Some maintain that this is as it should be: that faith and even moral principles are for one’s personal or private life and do not belong in the world of business. Yet Scripture and the Gospels, in particular, have much to say about our economic relations. Drawing on Scripture and tradition, the Catholic Church has explicitly engaged the socio-economic world in what is known as Catholic Social Teaching, focusing on human dignity and the common good.
What might the experience of advising corporations on key decisions such as mergers and acquisitions, capital raising, and defense against activist investors teach people of faith seeking to live and work with integrity in the business world? In a dialogue between a eologian and a New York Investment Banker (who happen to be Father and Son), we will explore the connections between Christian Teaching and the world of business, finance, markets, and corporations.
Dr. Cahoy is a retired professor and Dean Emeritus of the graduate School of eology and Seminary at Saint John’s University. David Cahoy is a Managing Director at Evecore, an investment bank, where he advises public companies.
Ernie and Mary Stelzer
Dennis and Mary Kay Smid
Dan and Lynn Fazendin
Paul and Connie Schnepf
Robert L. Lee and Mary E. Schaffner
Tom and Bonnie Brever
GUEST COMMENTARY
DOMINICAN FATHER PATRICK BRISCOE
What an autumn poem teaches us about God’s love
As the long days of summer fade and autumn’s cool, crisp air starts to settle in, it’s hard not to feel a shift in our spirits, too. I’m not one to have a favorite season; I love them all. But there’s so much to praise about fall.
The vibrant colors of the leaves, the shorter days and the cozying up with a warm drink all invite us to slow down, to take stock of where we are in life and to savor our many blessings. Fall naturally draws us to reflection. What better way to do that than through the lens of our faith? And the Catholic poet Rainer Maria Rilke can help.
Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem, “Autumn,” really nails the essence of this season. He writes, “The leaves fall, fall as from far, / Like distant gardens withered in the heavens; / They fall with slow and lingering descent.”
The leaves, with their acquiescing descent, are more than just leaves — they are symbols of a fundamental principle in the spiritual life: surrender. Tempted to clutch the boughs of their trees, the leaves give in, however reluctantly, to nature’s summons.
When they begin their descent, they let go of the branches they cling to. Entrusting themselves to wind and breeze, they yield to the whims of current and weather. Whether tossed violently or permitted to descend gracefully, leaves accept it all as it comes. Each leaf relents and falls.
Rilke’s words remind us that this reluctance to let go isn’t just about the leaves. It’s something we
Each leaf that falls is held by the same God who holds us. He’s there in every season, every transition, guiding us with a love that never fails.
all experience, isn’t it? Life is full of changes, and sometimes we resist them, even though we know they’re part of God’s plan. Rilke says in his poem that the Earth itself is falling — “And in the nights the heavy Earth, too, falls / From out the stars into the Solitude.” We’re falling, too, sometimes feeling like we’re drifting into precarity or uncertainty. And it’s so tempting to feel like we’re alone. But here’s the thing: God is found only in the solitude.
“The man who fears to be alone will never be anything but lonely, no matter how much he may surround himself with people,” writes the Trappist monk Thomas Merton. “But the man who learns, in solitude and recollection, to be at peace with his own loneliness, and to prefer its reality to the illusion of merely natural companionship, comes to know the invisible companionship of God.” Solitude isn’t emptiness or darkness.
Rilke doesn’t leave us hanging in despair. The beauty of his poem is that it leads us right back to God. In the
midst of all this falling — whether it’s leaves, the Earth, or our own lives — there’s One who holds everything “infinitely softly in His hands.” The poem concludes, “Thus all doth fall. This hand of mine must fall / And lo! the other one: — it is the law. / But there is One who holds this falling / Infinitely softly in His hands.” How comforting is that? In a world that’s constantly changing, where everything seems to be in motion, God is the steady hand holding it all together. He’s unchanging, always there, gently guiding us through the ups and downs, the letting go, and the holding on. So, as we move into the heart of autumn, let’s take a moment to really see the falling leaves for what they are — a summons to surrender. But even in that surrender, we’re never abandoned. Each leaf that falls is held by the same God who holds us. He’s there in every season, every transition, guiding us with a love that never fails.
Father Briscoe is editor of Our Sunday Visitor. This is an OSV News guest commentary.
in faith and thanksgiving celebrating
With heartfelt gratitude, we recognize the members of CCF’s Legacy Society!
Your perpetual financial support for the parishes, schools, and charities in our local Catholic community has a positive, real impact. You inspire us.
Today and forever, thank you.
To learn more about CCF’s Legacy Society, call 651.389.0300 or visit ccf-mn.org
CALENDAR
PARISH EVENTS
Seasons of Creation: Speaker Series — Sept. 8, 16, 22: 11:15 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Basilica of St. Mary, 1600 Hennepin Ave., Minneapolis. Join us for a three-part lecture series focused on environmental stewardship and climate change, designed to inspire, educate and ignite action. Sept. 8, Father Daniel Griffith: Catholic Foundations of Caring for Creation. mary org/CreationjuStiCe/
“Something So Big” Musical: 7 p.m. Sept. 13 at DoubleTree Hotel Bloomington, 7800 Normandale Blvd., Minneapolis. 7 p.m. Sept. 19, 20, 21 at St. Mary, 267 E. Eighth St. Ste #100, St. Paul. “Something So Big” is an original story centered on faith and grief. The performance blends a compelling narrative story with original live music, hymns, humor, Catholic poetry, and Eucharistic theology to explore an existential question. CatholiCunitedfinanCial org/SSb/, SomethingSobig live
Synod on Synodality Listening Session with Cynthia Bailey Manns — Sep. 15: 2 p.m. at St. Joan of Arc, 4537 3rd Ave. S., Minneapolis. As the Church continues to reflect on the 2023 Synod on Synodality and as Bailey Manns prepares for the Synod’s concluding session this October at the Vatican, please come prepared with a two-minute reflection to share during Conversations in the Spirit regarding any healing, reconciliation and restoration you believe needs to occur within our Church. If possible, review in advance the 2024 “Instrumentum Laboris” document at tinyurl Com/3yrdC7uC
Ave Verum Corpus — Sept. 20: 7-8:30 p.m., at 51 Church St., Elko New Market. Father Joseph Gifford will join the next Ave Verum Corpus event Sept. 20. All are invited to experience an exquisite pairing of Eucharistic adoration and classical sacred music. StnCC net
BOOYA — Sept. 21: 7-12 a.m., Transfiguration, 6133 15th St. N., Oakdale. Knights of Columbus, Council 4374, annual Booya sold in freezable quart containers. $10 a quart. kC4374.mnknightS org/
WORSHIP+RETREATS
Special Mass for People with Dementia — Sept. 19: 1:30-3 p.m., at St. Odilia, 3495 Victoria St. N., Shoreview. A special Mass for people with memory loss and their caregivers. Mass to be held in the chapel. Hospitality after Mass with community resource information available. For information, call 651-484-6681.
Awakening the Spirit Within —Sept. 20-21: 7 p.m. Sept. 20-noon Sept. 21. 2625 Benet Road, Maplewood. Experience the power of three practices in this two-day retreat: Deep Gratitude, The 5-Minute Examen, and the Welcoming Prayer. benediCtineCenter SeCure retreat guru/ program/awakening-the-Spirit-within/
The Art of Living: Union with God for healthcare professionals — Sept. 27-29: 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 27-1:30 p.m. on Sept. 29, at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 1st Ave. S., Buffalo. Be renewed in body and spirit with Curatio Apostolate for Catholic Healthcare Professionals. A weekend retreat with Father Columba Thomas, OP who is an MD. CuratioapoStolate Com/2024/02/fall-retreat-2024-Savethe-date/
Fiat Ministries Discernment Retreat — Sep. 27-29: At Dunrovin Retreat Center, 15525 St. Croix Trail N., Marine on St. Croix. For women ages 18-30 who are seeking God’s will for their lives. Consecrated sisters from various religious communities help lead the retreat by giving talks, leading small groups and giving their testimonies. fiatminiStrieS org/ SPEAKERS+SEMINARS
Alan Ames: Healing Services — Sept. 16-17: 6:30 p.m. Sept. 16 event at Maternity of Mary, 1414 Dale St. North, St. Paul; Sept. 17 event at St. Felix, 105 3rd St. W., Wabasha.
Discovering Christ: A Seven Week Encounter
Experience — Sept. 19, 26, Oct. 3, 10, 16, 24, Nov. 7: 6-8:30 p.m., plus a day retreat Oct. 1, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., at St. Gabriel the Archangel, 1310 Mainstreet, Hopkins. Includes a free meal, prayer, live presentations (Andrew Allen, Father Paul Haverstock, and Emily Dalsky), and small group discussion each week. StgabrielhopkinS org/ diSCovering-ChriSt
AI and I: Educating the Human Person in the Age of Artificial Intelligence —Sept. 20: 7:209 p.m. Schoenecker Center, 2210 Summit Ave., St. Paul. Explore how generative artificial intelligence is reshaping humanity. Expert panels, exhibits, and hands-on experiences. Sponsored by the University of St. Thomas School of Divinity and Communion and Liberation. tinyurl Com/bdu4Swrt
Holding Enablers Accountable: Developing Mechanisms for Criminalizing Enablers — Sept. 23: 6:30-8 p.m. A webinar for survivors and those who care for them. Distinct from the traditional model of compensation emanating from civil lawsuits, Professor Amos Guiora will draw on his testimony before legislatures both in the U.S. and internationally regarding criminalizing of bystanders to address the criminalization of enablers. Guiora is a professor of law at the University of Utah and a Distinguished Fellow at The Consortium for the Research and Study of Holocaust and the Law at Chicago-Kent College of Law. Register at tinyurl Com/5abS96m2
Theology Day Event: The Resurrection of the Dead, and the Life of the World to Come — Sept. 26: 6:30-9 p.m. at St. Bartholomew, 630 E. Wayzata Blvd. Using Scripture and tradition, discuss the Christian doctrine of the resurrection of the
dead, along with its implications. Free; registration is required. theologyday Com/
OTHER EVENTS
Prison Pen Pal Ministry — Sept. 11, Oct. 9, Nov. 13, Dec. 11: 11 a.m. at Guardian Angels, 8260 4th St. N., Oakdale. A series of talks and discussions featuring special guests tinyurl Com/yCke52ve
Pastoral Talks 101 — Sept. 12, Oct. 10, Nov. 14, Dec. 12: 6:30 p.m. at Guardian Angels, 8260 4th St. N., Oakdale. A series of talks on pastoral care. tinyurl Com/36t285na
Reasons for Hope: Election 2024 — Sept. 26: 5-8:45 p.m. at Holy Family, 5900 W. Lake St., Minneapolis. With Bill Walsh of the Center of the American Experiment. Dinner, professional networking, prayer and formation. SjbuSineSSguild Com/eventS/fallquarterly-reaSonS-for-hope-eleCtion-2024
Visit of the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Fatima — Sept. 27: 8:30 a.m.-midnight, at Divine Mercy, 139 Mercy Drive, Faribault. 8:30 a.m. Mass & speaker 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Private veneration, 6 p.m. confession, 6 p.m. outdoor procession around church grounds, 7 p.m. Mass and speaker. Opportunities following Mass for brown scapular enrollment, acts of consecration and family entrustment divinemerCy CC/ adultminiStry
Night of Love — Sept. 27: 9 p.m.-3 a.m. at Divine Mercy, 139 Mercy Drive, Faribault. A vigil of prayers and reparation for families, communities and world. Night includes Eucharistic adoration, presence of the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Fatima, rosary with meditations, corporate and private prayers. divinemerCy CC/adultminiStry
YOUNG ADULTS
Online Evening Prayer with Young Adults — Sept. 24, Oct. 22, Nov. 26, Dec. 17: 7-8 p.m. on Zoom. Young adults age 18+ are invited to online evening prayer with the School Sisters of Notre Dame. There will be time for faith sharing with young adults and sisters from across the U.S. and Canada. Register for the Zoom link. SSnd org/eventS/
ONGOING GROUPS
Gifted and Belonging — Fourth Sundays: 6:308 p.m. at St. Matthew, 510 Hall Ave., St. Paul. Providing Catholic fellowship for young adults with disabilities, seen and unseen. Gather to share prayer and reflection, followed by games and social activities. Invite friends, and bring a caregiver as needed. For more information on monthly activities and/or volunteer opportunities, call Megan at 612-456-1572 or email giftedandbelonging@gmail Com NOTE: Gifted and Belonging will also begin meeting at Maternity of Mary in St. Paul every second Friday from 6:30 to 8 p.m. (starting Oct. 11).
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Part-time Law Office Typist in West St. Paul, Minnesota: Produce legal documents including Wills, Trusts, Briefs, Pleadings, and Reports. Administrative support to attorneys and paralegals. In addition, a paralegal or legal assistant is also needed with similar duties but expanded to include research and composition of documents and other related duties. Contact John Trojack 651-451-9696 or complete “Contact” on our website: TrojackLaw.com.
GREAT CATHOLIC SPEAKERS
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
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7
most of our kids, they will not be able to look at their phone(s) and that will build the muscle of being present during the day. Present for their friends and their teachers. …
“Cellphones and social media, this is something we all have to figure out how to have our own boundaries with. I’m always very open and authentic and vulnerable with the kids. I’m still figuring things out. I can get sucked into my phone just as easily as they can. It’s about helping model healthy boundaries for our kids.”
SIMPLE HOLINESS
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17
The catechism continues, “conscience must be informed and moral judgments enlightened. A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful. It formulates its judgments according to reason, in conformity with the true good willed by the wisdom of the Creator” (CCC No. 1783). Finally, St. Augustine, the great Church father who served as bishop of Hippo, North Africa, in the early Church admonished, “return to your conscience, question it ... Turn inward, brethren, and in everything you do, see God as your witness,” (CCC No. 1779 and St. Augustine’s commentary on St. John’s Gospel).
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THELASTWORD
UST’s Hoedeman Gallery — showcasing beauty in Catholic art
By Mark Johnson For The Catholic Spirit
Imagine strolling through an art gallery where you linger over sketches of St. Paul’s Catholic churches. On other visits, you ponder paintings by a monk from St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, or artwork inspired by the story of the prodigal son. Several months later, you walk through the gallery’s doors and are struck by some of the best Catholic student art in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. On another occasion, you find yourself upstairs attending a concert of musical selections based on the gallery’s artwork.
This is the rich, eclectic world of religious art found at the Hoedeman Gallery of Sacred Art at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul (UST). The gallery, which features three exhibits per year, consists of a hallway in UST’s Iversen Center for Faith. Broad shafts of natural light from above illuminate the gallery walls, and nearby is a glassed-in area for receptions related to the art displayed.
Father Larry Snyder, UST’s former vice president of the Office for Mission, founded the Hoedeman Gallery in 2020 as a home for sacred artwork. In 2022, he passed oversight of the gallery to Jacob Benda, the current gallery director and UST’s director of Sacred Music, Liturgy and the Sacred Arts. “My goal for the gallery,” Benda explained, “is for people to experience art in a way that will elevate them to a place ‘outside themselves’ and that will ultimately lead toward God, the creator of all beauty, goodness and truth.”
Benda cited Diocese of Winona-Rochester Bishop Robert Barron’s meditation on beauty as a guide to encountering art at the Hoedeman Gallery: “The beautiful does not merely entertain; rather, it invades, chooses, and changes the one to whom it deigns to appear. It opens the mind to a consideration of ever higher forms of the beautiful, conducing finally to the transcendent source of beauty itself.”
adjectives he’s chosen to capture the church’s character.
The gallery has become an oasis of spiritual contemplation for students because of its location in an otherwise busy hallway, according to Jesuit Father Christopher Collins, UST’s current vice president of the Office for Mission. As a result, he believes the gallery is much more than a collection of “nice things.”
“Many young people today are experiencing significant stress in their daily lives, but when students pause at the gallery for a quiet moment of spiritual reflection, there is an opportunity to find a moment of peace that may begin to serve as a salve on their challenges,” Father Collins said.
The gallery’s current exhibit is A Pilgrimage on Paper, Drawn to Saint Paul Catholic Churches. It features the sketch journals of James Kevin Byrne, a former professor at the Minnesota College of Art and Design. “Sketching allows me to really ‘see’,” explained Byrne. “It is a deeper, slower look than what a camera can capture.”
The exhibit is the result of Byrne’s seven-year effort to sketch every active Catholic church and chapel in St. Paul, including the Cathedral of St. Paul. Twentynine of the sketches are on display at the Hoedeman Gallery, along with a photograph of each church and a “mood board” the artist prepared for one church. Byrne’s mood boards are digital aggregations of several sketches of the same church, along with
Byrne begins his sketches of church interiors by first making notes of the “moods” he sees around him. “I worship with words — jotting down adjectives to reflect the feelings the church evokes in me.” Then, he makes quick sketches in a process he describes as “visual contemplation — recording line, shape, value and hue by way of gestural drawing.” He does not render complex backgrounds while in the church, but instead captures highlights and shadows on toned paper (brown or black). Back in his home studio, he might add color and more detail, capturing how his sketches were felt, seen and drawn.
Byrne drew inspiration for the title of his exhibit from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ National Eucharistic Pilgrimage, which ended in July in Indianapolis. A portion of Byrne’s exhibit features sketches of churches to which he walked from his home in St. Paul for seven years, on paths he thought of as his own personal pilgrimage.
The Hoedeman Gallery has several additional exhibits planned for the near future.
After Byrne’s Pilgrimage on Paper exhibit closes Sept. 29, the gallery will present an exhibition of paintings by Father Jerome Tupa, a Benedictine monk, priest and professor of French at St. John’s Abbey and St. John’s University in Collegeville. In the spring of 2025, it will host an exhibit of artwork inspired by the biblical story of the prodigal son.
After that, it will for the first time collaborate with the archdiocese’s Office for the Mission of Catholic Education in the annual Catholic School Visual Arts Exhibition. This exhibit will feature the artwork of seventh through 12th grade Catholic students under the theme “The Saints.” (See related article on page 6.)
In addition to the visual arts, the Hoedeman
Located: 102 Cleveland Ave. N., St. Paul, in the Iversen Center for Faith at the University of St. Thomas
Parking: Frey Hall Parking Garage
Hours: 7 a.m.-10 p.m., seven days a week
Admission: Free; all tours are self-guided
Website: Hoedeman Gallery of Sacred Art at stthomas edu
Exhibits:
u A Pilgrimage on Paper, Drawn to Saint Paul Catholic Churches, ends Sept. 29
uArtwork by Benedictine Father Jerome Tupa from Oct. 1 through the end of January 2025
uRun dates have yet to be set for a spring exhibition of artwork inspired by the story of the prodigal son. Check the Hoedeman Gallery website for updates.
The deadline to submit entries for the Catholic School Visual Arts Exhibition will be in April 2025. Finalists will be invited to participate in the exhibit and reception at the Hoedeman Gallery.
Gallery collaborates with the UST Chapel Arts Series, which Benda — an internationally renowned organist — also oversees. All events in the music series occur upstairs from the Hoedeman Gallery in the St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel. “Many concert-goers enjoy the gallery’s art as a visual complement to the music,” said Benda, “and we are working to merge visual art and music more intentionally.” To that end, the Chapel Arts Series recently presented a music program that was inspired by artwork on display immediately adjacent to the Hoedeman Gallery. Benda is optimistic about the Hoedeman Gallery’s future. “If we are to see a renewal of our young people, the culture and our faith,” he said, “the path to that renewal will likely pass through beauty. We believe that the Hoedeman Gallery can play some role in illuminating that path.”
This sketch by Byrne depicts the church of St. Thomas More in St. Paul.
PHOTOS BY DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Jacob Benda, right, and artist James Kevin Byrne stand in front of an exhibit of Byrne’s sketches of Catholic churches in St. Paul that are part of a display at the Hoedeman Gallery of Sacred Art at the University of St. Thomas in the Iversen Center for Faith.
HOEDEMAN GALLERY OF SACRED ART