The Catholic Spirit - September 16, 2021

September 16, 2021 • Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

9/11 REMEMBERED As the nation recalls the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a Bloomington couple reflects on their son, Tom Burnett Jr., who tried to take back United Flight 93 from hijackers.

In a phone call from the plane, his last words to his wife: ‘We’re going to do something.’­­— Page 7

From left, Jim Witzman and Phil Harter of the Knights of Columbus get ready to raise the American flag at St. Timothy in Blaine Sept. 11 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks. Behind the flag is Deacon Tom Quayle, who serves at the parish. Witzman is master of the District of Minnesota Marquette Province, and Harter is a member of the Anoka 2018 Council. DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

THE GREAT OUTDOORS Learning agriculture, Birding’s charm, Farmhouse retreat — pages 10-11, 12, 20 COVID ANOINTINGS INCREASE AGAIN 5 | DAMASCUS ICON 6 | TEXAS HEARTBEAT BILL 8 MARGARET BARRY HOUSE 14 | MARINE RECALLS AFGHANISTAN 17 | WHY I AM CATHOLIC 18

2 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

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Conversion motivates Synod Small Group readers On Sept. 19, the Synod Parish Consultation with Small Groups kicks off in some parishes, with all parishes asked to offer the six-week series before midNovember. Each session features a video that includes prayer, teaching and personal stories that will help small group discussions — a total of 60 minutes in each 2-hour session — hone in on an aspect of a particular focus area.

Among the local Catholics appearing in the first two session videos are Gerardo Moreno, Ryan O’Hara and Melina Arguello Sotro. Below are sneak peaks into their own faith journeys, which are described via video at archspm.org and the archdiocese’s social media channels. Learn more about the Synod and the Small Groups at archspm.org/synod or your parish website or bulletin.

COURTESY ANNE FREDRICKSON

ULTRASOUND BLESSING Bishop Andrew Cozzens, assisted by Deacon Michael Daly, blesses a new ultrasound machine for Alpha Women’s Center’s Mobile Medical Clinic Sept. 11 at Our Lady of the Prairie in Belle Plaine.

The machine was purchased with a grant of more than $33,600 from eight local Knights of Columbus councils and matching funds from the Knight’s national Supreme Council. Knights Council 1503 in Belle Plaine led the fundraising effort. “We are so grateful for the Knights of Columbus for this investment in our ministry,” said Anne Fredrickson, executive director of the Savage-based mobile clinic. “More than 80 percent of women who see their baby on ultrasound choose life, and we’re here to support her going forward.” Learn more or donate to the center at miraclemachinemn.com.

NEWS notes A 5K run and walk around Pioneer Park in Little Canada, rock painting, a children’s fitness challenge, balloon art and face painting are highlights of an 8:30 a.m. to noon Sept. 18 gathering and fundraiser for Women’s Life Care Center, also in Little Canada. The faith-based center offers free pregnancy tests and ultrasounds, pregnancy consultations for women and men, as well as prenatal and parenting classes. Catholic parishes and the Knights of Columbus are among the center’s supporters, said Jacinta Lagasse, executive director and a member of St. Agnes in St. Paul. Donations and pledges for walkers and runners are invited. More information can be found at womenslifecarecenter.org.

Moments of silence, tolling of church bells, prayers in a video led by Archbishop Bernard Hebda and other faith leaders, speakers and a social gathering were part of a 9/11 Day of Remembrance at the State Capitol in St. Paul Sept. 11. “Oh God of love and healing, look with compassion on us, Minnesotans of many different faiths and traditions, who gather to remember the events of 9/11,” Archbishop Hebda prayed in the video. “May our memories of 9/11 lead us closer to you, oh Lord.” Hosted in part by the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs, the Day of Remembrance was one of many solemn commemorations held in Minnesota and around the country to mark the 20th anniversary of the hijacked commercial airplane attacks by an al-Qaida terrorist group.

As summer transitions into fall, The Catholic Spirit asks, “What has creation taught you about the Creator?” Send responses of 200 words or less to CatholicSpirit@archspm.org with “Readers Respond” in the subject line. Your reflection may be included in a future edition of The Catholic Spirit.

PRACTICING Catholic On the Sept. 10 “Practicing Catholic” show, Maria Wiering, editor-in-chief of The Catholic Spirit, interviews Archbishop Bernard Hebda, who discusses the local impact of Pope Francis’ recent legal document on the “extraordinary form” of the liturgy. Also featured are Fe Mahler, board chair of Rachel’s Vineyard Twin Cities, with retired priest Father Kevin Clinton, who describe healing retreats for those affected by abortion; and Brian Ragatz, president of Edina-based Catholic Schools Center for Excellence, with Jules Nolan, operating partner at Minneapolisbased Phoenix School Consulting, who discuss how CSCOE teams with Nolan’s organization to offer support to students, teachers, principals and parents. Listen each week on Fridays at 9 p.m., Saturdays at 1 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. on Relevant Radio 1330 AM. Find interviews after they have aired at practicingcatholicshow.com, soundcloud.com/practicingcatholic or tinyurl.com/practicingcatholic.

CORRECTION A News Note in the Aug. 26 issue stated that St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights had updated buildings original to the school’s founding in 1965. The school traces its roots to 1885.

Its current campus opened in 1965 under the newly incorporated St. Thomas Academy as it separated from then-St. Thomas College in St. Paul.

The Catholic Spirit is published semi-monthly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

United in Faith, Hope and Love

Vol. 26 — No. 17 MOST REVEREND BERNARD A. HEBDA, Publisher TOM HALDEN, Associate Publisher MARIA C. WIERING, Editor-in-Chief JOE RUFF, News Editor

Gerardo Moreno is a musician, teacher and parishioner of St. Odilia in Shoreview with his wife. A native of Venezuela, he coordinates music for Hispanic ministry at his parish. “I basically grew up in Church with my family, and I have found myself recently reconnecting to more of (an) authentic Catholic life experience, getting to know more about some other aspects that maybe as we grow up, we take for granted,” he said. “I’ve rediscovered that and feel like, ‘Wow, I need to live this a little bit more radically.’” For Moreno, that includes a connection to the arts, especially singing and songwriting that reflect his heart and faith. He recently wrote a song about contemplating the Eucharist, inspired by the writings of Blessed Concepción Cabrera de Armida, a laywoman and mystic who died in 1937 in Mexico. “That was for me like a revival with the Eucharist,” he said, especially in a world where many Catholics don’t understand the Real Presence. At the heart of the song is the message that in the Eucharist, Jesus is present, real and “waiting for us,” he said. Moreno is a reader for the Spanish versions of the Synod Small Group videos.

Ryan O’Hara is a parishioner of St. Peter Claver in St. Paul and content director of St. Paul’s Outreach in Inver Grove Heights. He and his wife have four teenage sons adopted through foster care. Growing up, O’Hara’s mother was church organist and he was with her in the choir loft at Mass each weekend. “But while I grew up in church, it took a long time for the Church to grow up in me,” he said. “It was in college when I first heard the Gospel message. And I was given a chance to hear it, but also, most importantly, a chance to respond to its promises. And in so doing, I heard that God loves me, has a plan for my life.” During college, he had taken “a pause” from practicing his faith, but through a small, ecumenical group of Christian men, he returned through a deepened encounter with Jesus in the sacraments. “It was like the sacraments were bringing new life to me that I never knew was there,” he said. “It was like I had always watched the small black-and-white television, and now, all of a sudden it was like wide screen, high definition. And I was eager to go to Mass. I was eager to go to confession. I finally understood what it is we were doing.” O’Hara is a reader in the English versions of the Small Group videos.

Melina Arguello Sotro is a parishioner of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. A native of Argentina, she works at the University of St. Thomas as the coordinator of the Latino Scholars program in the Department of Catholic Studies. “When I think about my faith journey, I think a way to think about it is like the prodigal son, prodigal daughter,” she said, “sort of finding myself in a really miserable place in my life where I realized I didn’t like the life I was living.” She was raised Catholic, but in high school hit “rock bottom” with unhealthy relationships and friendships, she said. “I realized that he (God) wants something different. And so that was the moment where I was like, ‘I need to change what I’m doing.’ And then I was filled with a sense of hope that there is something better for me, and God actually is calling me into that.” The years since have been filled with growth and healing, she said, including earning a Catholic Studies degree and having a “COVID wedding” last year. Arguello is a reader for both Spanish and English versions of the Synod Small Group videos.

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SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 3

FROMTHEARCHBISHOP ONLY JESUS | ARCHBISHOP BERNARD HEBDA

Signs the Holy Spirit is at work

I

was grateful to receive from the Vatican last week the “Vademecum for the Synod on Synodality: Official Handbook for Listening and Discernment in Local Churches.” I welcomed the document not only because it outlines the way in which our archdiocese can participate in the preparations for the 2023 Synod of Bishops in Rome, which will be focused on synodality, but also because it confirms the thrust of our local efforts these past two years as we have been preparing for our Archdiocesan Synod.

The Vademecum reminds us that “synodality is not so much an event or a slogan as a style and a way of being by which the Church lives out her mission in the world. The mission of the Church requires the entire People of God to be on a journey together, with each member playing his or her crucial role, united with each other. A synodal Church walks forward in communion to pursue a common mission through the participation of each and every one of her members.”

Our Archdiocesan Synod has been a way for us to take the first steps toward adopting the synodal “style” and “way of being” that Pope Francis has so insightfully set forth for the Church. It has energized me. The participation of so many in our Prayer and Listening Events and the number of those who have come for the training sessions to assist in the Small Group Parish Consultation Process that will be starting later this month both give me great hope that the Holy Spirit is indeed at work in our archdiocese.

Given that we are aiming to enable the participation of all who desire to be involved in the Synod, I hope that you will be generous in offering your time for this extraordinary effort. I realize that a commitment of six weeks is a “big ask,” but I am confident that the fruits will more than justify the investment of your time.

Please check with your parish to see how and when you can participate, and bring some friends (particularly if they are no longer actively involved at the parish).

I am also hoping that many of you will also be able to join us at the Cathedral of St. Paul on Oct. 17 at 5 p.m. for the Mass that Pope Francis has directed us to celebrate in communion with him and dioceses throughout the world to liturgically mark the beginning of the synodal consultation he has asked us to embrace.

As it finds us midway through our Parish Small Group

Señales de que el Espíritu Santo está obrando

A

gradecí recibir del Vaticano la semana pasada el “Vademécum para el sínodo sobre sinodalidad: Manual oficial para la escucha y el discernimiento en las iglesias locales”.

Acogí con satisfacción el documento no solo porque describe la forma en que nuestra arquidiócesis puede participar en los preparativos para el sínodo de los obispos de 2023 en Roma, que se centrará en la sinodalidad, sino también porque confirma el impulso de nuestros esfuerzos locales estos dos últimos años de preparación para nuestro Sínodo Arquidiocesano.

El Vademécum nos recuerda que “la sinodalidad no es tanto un acontecimiento o un eslogan como un estilo y una forma de ser con los que la Iglesia vive su misión en el mundo. La misión de la Iglesia requiere que todo el Pueblo de Dios esté en camino juntos, con cada miembro desempeñando su papel crucial, unido entre sí. Una Iglesia sinodal avanza en comunión para perseguir una misión común a través de la participación

Our Archdiocesan Synod has been a way for us to take the first steps toward adopting the synodal ‘style’ and ‘way of being’ that Pope Francis has so insightfully set forth for the Church. consultation, I would imagine that our celebration will be particularly joy-filled and our prayers well-focused.

While some have voiced disappointment that we are having to engage in this effort at a very challenging time, given the resurgence of COVID in some of our communities, I nonetheless continue to receive spiritual confirmation that the Lord is really blessing our Church at this moment in a way that calls us to even greater generosity. Allow me to share with you some of the encouraging signs that I have witnessed in these recent weeks.

I recently had the opportunity to celebrate the opening Mass for this year’s crop of missionaries for NET Ministries. I am amazed that more than 150 young people have stepped forward to give a year of their time to serving the Church as full-time volunteers in the work of evangelization. Most of them will be heading out in teams to offer retreats to high school and junior high students across our country. As our Archdiocesan Synod discusses missionary discipleship, evangelization and youth and young adult ministries, we will be blessed to be able to draw upon the experience of NET Ministries, a lay-led ministry that has its origins here in St. Paul.

Equally inspiring was my experience at the opening Mass at the University of St. Thomas, where students packed the Chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas to pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on campus. The prayer was fervent and the energy obvious. I was stunned that many of those students came back a day later to join young adults from around the archdiocese for Cor Jesu, the monthly evening of eucharistic adoration and confessions hosted at The St. Paul Seminary. If you ever need a spiritual boost, I encourage you to come for Cor Jesu, which is held the first Friday evening of each month.

Our seminaries continue to be a source of great hope.

de todos y cada uno de sus miembros “.

Nuestro Sínodo Arquidiocesano ha sido una forma para que demos los primeros pasos hacia la adopción del “estilo” y la “forma de ser” sinodal que el Papa Francisco ha expuesto con tanta perspicacia para la Iglesia. Me ha energizado. La participación de tantos en nuestros eventos de oración y escucha y el número de los que han venido a las sesiones de capacitación para ayudar en el proceso de consulta parroquial de grupos pequeños que comenzará a finales de este mes, me dan una gran esperanza de que el Espíritu Santo está de hecho trabajando en nuestra arquidiócesis.

Dado que nuestro objetivo es hacer posible la participación de todos los que deseen participar en el Sínodo, espero que sea generoso al ofrecer su tiempo para este esfuerzo extraordinario. Me doy cuenta de que un compromiso de seis semanas es un “gran pedido”, pero estoy seguro de que los frutos justificarán con creces la inversión de su tiempo. Consulte con su parroquia para ver cómo y cuándo puede participar, y traiga algunos amigos (especialmente si ya no participan activamente en la parroquia).

También espero que muchos de ustedes

It was recently a great pleasure to install one of our priests, Father Jon Kelly, as the new rector at St. John Vianney College Seminary. The packed chapel that morning, with students drawn from 16 dioceses, illustrated why SJV is presently engaged in a building project that will not only provide a larger chapel but also other space to meet the formational needs of college seminarians in 2021.

At The St. Paul Seminary, the overall enrollment of seminarians experienced an uptick of nearly 25%, reflecting great confidence in the formation offered at our major seminary. The increase was notable when I recently celebrated the opening Mass there. Sixteen of the new men are pioneers in the propaedeutic program, requested by the Vatican to help with discernment and to prepare students to be open to the formation offered in a formal seminary program. Knowing how I am tied to my cellphone and computer, I am eager to see how these pioneers do with the “technology detox” that is an important element of their program.

The increase in seminarians is only one indicator of the Holy Spirit’s work in our archdiocese. Enrollment of lay students in The St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity continues to be strong, representing approximately half of those studying for degrees at the institution.

The seminary’s Catechetical Institute, moreover, will be serving 450 adult students this year. I am excited to think about the ministry these women and men will be offering to our Church in the days to come.

The importance of well-formed laity was particularly evident at the recent evening prayer service for racial justice at St. Peter Claver parish on the occasion of their patronal feast. Bishop Cozzens and I were delighted to participate, but it was really the phenomenal gospel choir and the insights from the three lay speakers that carried the day. The testimonies were both challenging and inspiring.

Please continue to pray for the success of our Synod, for the young people who serve as missionaries in our archdiocese and elsewhere, for the students in our local universities, for the seminarians at our two seminaries, for their many peers in formation for consecrated life here in the archdiocese, and for the many members of the lay faithful who are preparing for ministry or already serving our parishes and schools.

también puedan unirse a nosotros en la Catedral de St. Paul el 17 de octubre a las 5 p.m. porque la Misa que el Papa Francisco nos ha ordenado celebrar en comunión con él y las diócesis de todo el mundo para marcar litúrgicamente el inicio de la consulta sinodal que nos ha pedido abrazar. Al encontrarnos en la mitad de nuestra consulta parroquial en grupos pequeños, me imagino que nuestra celebración estará particularmente llena de alegría y nuestras oraciones estarán bien enfocadas.

Si bien algunos han expresado su decepción por tener que participar en este esfuerzo en un momento muy difícil, dado el resurgimiento de COVID en algunas de nuestras comunidades, yo sigo recibiendo la confirmación espiritual de que el Señor realmente está bendiciendo a nuestra Iglesia en este momento en una forma que nos llama a una generosidad aún mayor. Permítanme compartir con ustedes algunas de las señales alentadoras que he presenciado en estas últimas semanas.

Recientemente tuve la oportunidad de celebrar la Misa de apertura de la cosecha de misioneros de este año para NET Ministries. Me sorprende que más de 150 jóvenes hayan dado un paso al frente para

dedicar un año de su tiempo al servicio de la Iglesia como voluntarios de tiempo completo en la obra de evangelización.

Lea una versión más larga de esta columna en español en TheCatholicSpirit.com.

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

Effective August 6, 2021 Deacon Steven Maier, assigned to exercise the ministry of a permanent deacon at the Church of Saint Mary in New Trier, the Church of Saint Mathias in Hampton, and the Church of Saint John the Baptist in Vermillion. This is a transfer from his current assignment to the Church of Saint Francis de Sales in Saint Paul.

Retirement Effective August 17, 2021 Reverend Gerald Dvorak, granted the status of a retired priest. Father Dvorak has been a priest of the Archdiocese since his ordination in 1979.

LOCAL

4 • The Catholic Spirit 4 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

LOCAL

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

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Lebanese celebration

LOCAL

4 • The Catholic Spirit

March 9, 2017

‘Angel’ among us

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From left, Grace Thomas Kliniski, Grace Deeb-Peterson and Lizzie Corey perform the Dabke, a traditional dance in St.popular Joseph of Carondelet Sister Avis Lebanese culture, at the Holytalks Family Allmaras, center, with Rose Carter, left,Mini and Irene at Peace House in Maronite Church FallEiden Festival south Minneapolis Feb. 27. Sister Avis in Mendota Heights Sept.

11.

All goes to the center weekly and visits three are members of the parish frequent guests like Carter. Eiden, of Williamrecruited in Fridley, is atolay consociate youth group, andSt.were of the Carondelet Sisters. Peace House is perform the dance year.

“I poor loveand homeless. a daythis shelter for the “It’s a real privilege to know these people it,” said Deeb-Peterson, 12, who and hearand theiradopted stories,” Sister Avis said. “I was born in Lebanon could not survive on the streets like they as an infant by ado.parishioner at Holy There are so many gifted people SaidtoCarter of Sister Family. “It’s nicehere.” to get know my Avis: “She’s an angel. hidesmy her wings under that culture, where I’m from.SheAnd, sweatshirt. She truly is an angel.” mom loves seeing do it, too, Daveme Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit because this is what she did when she was our age.”

In addition tosisters the Celebrating performance, the festival included National Catholic Sisters Week is a variety of Lebanese food by March 8-14.

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SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

LOCAL

Parishes invite people back to in-person Mass

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit Redemptorist Father John Schmidt, pastor of St. Alphonsus in Brooklyn Center, recalled one day early in the COVID-19 pandemic when an elderly parishioner who had been livestreaming Mass told him, “I miss my priest. I miss my deacon. I miss my church. I want to get back.”

While the parish made Mass available virtually through livestreaming and offering the Eucharist to people outside the church’s front door, it could not match celebrating the liturgy in person, from the pews.

Due to the pandemic, Catholics were first dispensed from their Sunday obligation to attend Mass in person in March 2020. That month, Archbishop Bernard Hebda suspended the public celebration of Mass in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, reinstating it two months later. While some Catholics returned to Masses in their parishes at that time, the dispensation continued for 14 more months, until July 1, 2021. But, even before that date, local parishes were planning special ways to welcome parishioners back to in-person Mass and build back a stronger sense of community.

Staff at St. Michael in Prior Lake started planning early in June about welcoming people back to Mass.

Using a campaign theme of “Together Again …

Growing in Faith,” Brittany Seaburg, marketing and communications director, suggested handing out seed packets to every parishioner who came to Mass the first weekend in June.

The weekend of the seed distribution drew one of the largest weekend attendance numbers since the start of the pandemic in Minnesota, Seaburg said.

Holy Name of Jesus used the theme “Adventure awaits at Holy Name of Jesus” to promote an all-parish picnic in June, followed by food trucks on the premises in July. Volunteers greeted people, answered questions and helped make connections.

Many people enjoyed watching the recorded Mass from Holy Name at home during the pandemic, said Jennifer Hudlow, director of technology and communications, but once they came back, “they walk in the building and (say), ‘Oh, I missed this.’” She hoped attendees at the outdoor events would feel “oh, this is home, this is what I’ve missed.”

At St. Alphonsus, Father Schmidt said parish groups have begun meeting again, including a seniors group,

More than 350 people attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony Aug. 27 to celebrate completion of a buildout that will house a new middle school at St. John the Baptist Catholic School in Jordan. In addition to school tours, people were invited to enjoy food trucks, a petting zoo and other entertainment for children.

For school leaders, the celebration was not only about the completed construction, but the enrollment growth the school has experienced and expects to continue.

Presently a pre-K-to-grade-six school, St. John the Baptist will add seventh grade in fall 2022 and eighth grade in 2023.

The school has expanded its usable space by finishing the interior of the school’s second floor, including the addition of nine classrooms. That includes classrooms for grades five through eight, and breakout rooms for students taking advanced placement classes.

The school does need more space for students, said Father Neil Bakker, pastor of St. John the Baptist, who acted in the role of principal last year before the school hired its current principal, Christopher Smith.

This school year’s pre-K-6 enrollment increased to 156 students, up from 111 last year and 76 the year before. Students were added to every grade level, said Father Bakker.

Fifth- and sixth-grade students moved to new classrooms on the school’s new second floor this

COVID-19 Anointing Corps requests ticking upward

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit

COURTESY HOLY NAME OF JESUS

Young people were among those gathered at an all-parish picnic at Holy Name of Jesus in Medina in June. The parish also offered food trucks on its grounds one day in July as a way to build community. which asked to resume its monthly time for Mass, dinner and recreation. That restarted Sept. 15. Funeral lunches, suspended during the pandemic, returned a couple months ago. The parish is planning a multicultural Mass followed by potluck dinner.

“I think people appreciated the livestreaming because it did keep them connected, but they would say nothing compares to actually being with people and being in church,” he said.

St. Timothy in Blaine held its annual parish carnival Sept. 11-12, promoted as a time of community building and connection after extended isolation, said Rhonda Miska, director of communications.

At St. John the Baptist in New Brighton, pastor Father Paul Shovelain said the parish wants to hold a larger, community-focused festival this year. But the parish is still taking COVID-19 precautions — such as designating sections of pews for social distancing — to help people feel comfortable at Mass.

St. John the Baptist in Savage held two events in August: an outdoor “DJ dance event” for children pre-K through middle school that attracted 300 people, and a “Mass and mingle event,” said Sara Schneider, director of communications and marketing. The parish is also hosting a weekend “CommUNITY fest” Sept. 17-19.

“Best wishes to everyone welcoming people back,” she said. “They are ready for it.”

St. John the Baptist school, Jordan, to add two grades

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 5

school year. Seventh and eighth graders will join them in that space as those grades are added.

Raising money to finish the second-floor space started in earnest in early March and by the end of April, about $1.6 million had been raised toward the build-out cost.

Father Bakker said the Jordan school district adjusted middle school and high school models in 2004, with one fifth-through-eighth-grade building for middle school. With no middle school option at St. John the Baptist, that meant school parents often moved their children to the public school system after fourth grade.

So, St. John the Baptist parish needed to decide whether to no longer offer fifth and sixth grades, or add seventh and eighth, with children going to high school right from its grade school, Father Bakker said.

Enrollment growth this year has a few causes, including a special reading program, he said. At least four families switched to the parish school from public schools. And due to the closing of Guardian Angels school in Chaska May 28, nine students moved to St. John the Baptist this school year.

“We did everything we could to accommodate those families,” Father Bakker said of former Guardian Angels families. He said that the school purchased a bus that runs a route through Carver and Chaska to pick up students from families in that area and bring them to St. John the Baptist.

“We wanted to do all we could to make sure that they had good options for Catholic schools,” he said.

“It’s important that they stay in Catholic schools.”

With COVID-19 numbers rising again in Minnesota due in large part to the delta variant, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ COVID-19 Anointing Corps ministry is responding to an increase in calls for the sacrament of the anointing of the sick.

Since its work began in April 2020 after the pandemic arrived in Minnesota, the ministry of priests and nurses has provided immeasurable spiritual value to patients, family members and hospital staff, said Sydney March, who leads the program. As of Sept. 13, Corps members have anointed 969 people.

“As nurses, we can witness what our role is supposed to be — bringing Christ’s healing to the bedside,” said March, a nurse who works in the emergency room at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis and is on staff at Options for Women East, a nonprofit prenatal and pregnancy medical clinic. “We can evangelize through our conversations with family and staff during the coordination process, and we can provide compassionate comfort and reassurance of the Church’s presence through our words and prayers.”

Initiated with a team of about a dozen priests, the Corps has never stopped working, though the number of priests involved has fluctuated as priests have joined and left due to other responsibilities.

Most of those anointed were near death.

Calls for the ministry’s service have ebbed and flowed as well. Last January, for example, priests anointed 56 COVID-19 patients. That number gradually declined to seven in June before climbing again to 12 in July, 23 in August. In the first 13 days of September, 23 people were anointed. If the pace established early in September continues, about 50 people could be anointed by the end of the month.

March is quick to move away from numbers and concentrate on each person anointed as an individual. “They are indeed someone’s mother, father, sister, brother, etc.,” she said. “Each one is very precious to me.”

In April 2020, as many people were becoming seriously ill, Bishop Andrew Cozzens organized the Anointing Corps ministry in the archdiocese.

From April to mid-November 2020, Anointing Corps priests specially trained in COVID-19 protocols anointed more than 500 people, or an average of about 62 per month.

Even with the recent increase in calls, the Anointing Corps may not be getting as many calls for assistance as in the past, March said. Pastors may feel more comfortable making their own visits, and facilities may have relaxed visitor restrictions, allowing visits from priests outside the Anointing Corps. In addition, some facilities might not know the Anointing Corps continues to offer its ministry.

Meanwhile, the natural course of the disease as it makes its way through a community and the implementation of preventive measures can play a factor in how often the Corps is called, March said, adding that it is hard to identify which factors are at play and to what impact.

March, 35, a parishioner of Transfiguration in Oakdale, has been involved with the Anointing Corps since its inception. She was asked to train, start up, develop and sustain the program. She coordinates the other nurses who are involved and tracks the Anointing Corps’ work. March credits her husband, Michael, also a nurse, for his support of her ministry.

The nurses help evaluate requests for anointings and ensure those who are dying are connected with a priest for the sacrament. The team also notifies a volunteer to send a prayer text alert that the archdiocese set up for Catholics to pray for the patients and their families, the priests and medical teams involved.

To learn more about the prayer texts and join the effort, visit archspm.org/covid19/covid19prayers.

LOCAL

6 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

Icon of St. Paul’s baptism traveling to eight sites in archdiocese

By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit When Christians think of art depicting the conversion of St. Paul, they likely envision the saint falling from his horse on the road to Damascus after being temporarily struck blind. But in Acts of the Apostles, where the event is chronicled, no horse is involved, noted Deacon Mickey Friesen, director of the Center for Mission at the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

And, he said, the real conversion happens when Paul arrives in Damascus and Ananias baptizes him.

That’s what’s depicted in a 3-by-4foot icon recently created by Stillwaterbased iconographer Deb Korluka to commemorate a special relationship between the local Catholic Church and the Maronite Catholic Archdiocese of Damascus, Syria. Organizers of the 4-year-old partnership between the two archdioceses commissioned the icon that shows Ananias baptizing Paul in a stone baptismal font.

The partnership began to take form five years ago, after the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops addressed concerns about Christians in the Middle East and challenged the bishops to consider how the U.S. Church could become more personally engaged with the Church in the Middle East.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda consulted Deacon Friesen, whose center has experience with similar partnerships.

Following suggestions, Deacon Friesen contacted Archbishop Samir Nassar of Damascus. “It’s a Church that’s suffering

civil war, (and) that’s the diocese where St. Paul came from” and where he was baptized, Deacon Friesen said.

The partnership was formalized Jan. 25, 2017 — the feast of the conversion of St. Paul, the patron of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Deacon Friesen said the partnership is a commitment to grow in a relationship between two Churches through opportunities to get to know one another.

Asked about the value of the partnership, Archbishop Nassar, whose native language is Arabic, replied by email that “the Divine Mercy made the Archdiocese of St. Paul come to our forgotten and small church, living always (a) very hard time at Damascus, city of the conversion of St. Paul and next to (the) Ananias shrine.”

Damascus is home to many eastern rite Catholic churches, Deacon Friesen said.

The Maronite Catholics in Damascus like to say, “Just remember, we’re the ones who baptized Paul,” he said.

“We learn from each other’s experience of faith,” Deacon Friesen said of the partnership, “so one of our goals is to share the stories of our faith and to pray for each other.”

After about three years, the partnership’s steering committee thought it might be useful to have an image that could give focus and lead Catholics connected through the partnership further in conversation, the deacon said.

And part of Maronites’ spirituality is very influenced by icons, he said.

Archbishop Nassar said the icon creates a spiritual unity between “our two

WHERE TO SEE THE ICON To view the icon in person, check the following schedule: St. Paul, Zumbrota • Sept. 4-19 University of St. Thomas, St. Paul • Sept. 21-30 St. Maron (Maronite), Minneapolis • Oct. 2-14 Holy Family (Maronite), Mendota • Oct. 16-28 Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis • Oct. 30-Nov. 24 St. Catherine University, St. Paul • Nov. 27-Dec. 30 St. Paul, Ham Lake • Jan. 1-18 Cathedral of St. Paul, St. Paul • Jan. 20 and onward

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

An icon depicting the conversion of St. Paul in Damascus celebrates the relationship between the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Archdiocese of Damascus, Syria. It is traveling to parishes with St. Paul connections until Jan. 20, when it will be put on permanent display in the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. churches of the same faith.”

Icons contain and speak the Gospel truths with images in the light of the sacred tradition of the Church, Korluka said. “No matter how simple and crude, or elaborate and grand, icons are mystical works of worship,” she said.

Korluka, 63, an Orthodox Christian, said only a handful of ancient icons of the baptism of Paul remain. Iconography

does not come out of an artist’s own creative liberty, she said, but out of the tradition of the Church. Filled with symbolism, icons are not meant to evoke emotion, she said. Rather, “we create them to evoke a spiritual response.”

Deacon Friesen said he loves “the whole story of Paul’s conversion, and this idea of St. Paul returning to Damascus.”

Archbishop Nassar said he would like to tell “all the parishioners in Minnesota, because of your friendship, we do not feel lonely anymore.”

The icon is traveling to six parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and the universities of St. Catherine and St. Thomas. It is expected to reach the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul Jan. 20, where it will be placed on permanent display.

Archbishop Hebda will bless the icon at the Cathedral Sunday, Jan. 23. Plans are pending for Archbishop Nassar to be present that day to also bless the icon. Visitors are asked to observe each location’s COVID-19 precautions.

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LOCAL

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 7

‘It seems like yesterday’ Two decades after 9/11, the Burnetts remember their son — and want that day to endure in public memory

By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit There isn’t a day that goes by that Tom Sr. and Beverly Burnett don’t think about Sept. 11, 2001, and what that day cost their family: the life of their son, Tom Burnett Jr., who helped lead the effort to take back United Flight 93 from its terrorist hijackers. That effort succeeded: The plane-turned-flying-bomb didn’t reach its target, believed to be the White House or U.S. Capitol. But, it crashed in a Pennsylvania field, killing all 44 people on board, including 38-year-old “Tommy.” He had switched the time of his flight from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco in hopes of making it home earlier on his twin daughters’ first day of kindergarten.

In the 20 years since, the Burnetts, who raised their three children in Bloomington, where they were founding members of St. Edward parish, have leaned on their Catholic faith. But their suffering is a deep ache that doesn’t subside.

“It seems like yesterday that we found out that Tommy wasn’t coming home anymore,” said Beverly, 90. “So, 20 years is a long time, but it seems like yesterday he was on that plane, and we were all praying that he would get off.”

Beverly and Tom Sr., 91, shared their reflections with The Catholic Spirit Sept. 1 at her apartment in Carondelet Village, a senior living facility in St. Paul.

Tom, a Korean War veteran, lives nearby at the Minnesota Veterans Home in Minneapolis. They’ve been married 69 years.

The Burnett family — which includes Tom Jr.’s sisters, Martha Burnett Pettee and Mary Burnett Jurgens — have channeled their grief into a foundation they began in 2002, just a year after 9/11.

The Tom Burnett Family Foundation remembers Tom Jr. not as a victim, but as a hero. Today, it has supported youth leadership programs and scholarships, with a focus on helping young people become good citizens. It was a virtue close to Tom Jr.’s heart, and a quality he aimed to live out through reading history, asking questions, and trying to improve himself and the world around him, his family members said.

He lived out those values daily, his parents said, but they were exemplified the day he tried to take control of the hijacked plane — chronicled, in pieces, through several phone conversations he had from the flight with his wife, Deena, as well as the plane’s “black box” recording, which was recovered from the crash site and confirms he was near or in the cockpit. Deena, who had trained as a flight attendant, told him that he should just lay low and not draw attention to himself. Tom, however, didn’t see that as an option. The last thing he told her was, “Don’t worry, we’re going to do something.”

Those words — “We’re going to do

COURTESY THE BURNETT FAMILY

Tom Burnett Jr.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

Tom Burnett Sr. enjoys a visit with his wife, Beverly, which included a conversation about their son, Tom Jr., who died on Sept. 11, 2001, after leading an effort to take back United Flight 93 from its terrorist hijackers. something” — have become a sort of motto for the Burnetts. They remember Tom Jr. as a man of action, a lifelong leader and ambitious executive at a medical device company who sought out opportunities for education, responsibility and growth. He was an avid reader who always gave books for Christmas, and he had a wide range of interests, from wine to hunting on his property in Wisconsin.

“He was a lot of fun, and he enjoyed life,” Tom Sr. said, chuckling. “He had a strong character. He thought for himself. … He always came back to the idea that everyone could be a good citizen, and we’d be a lot better because of it.”

As the Burnett family has recounted countless times as they’ve shared their story, they know Tom Jr. had recurring dreams and visions about something significant happening in his future involving Washington, D.C. “He kept thinking, ‘I need to pray more and figure out what this is about,’” Jurgens said.

That prompted him to attend daily Mass throughout the year before he died.

Jurgens, 51, and a parishioner of St. Therese in Deephaven, remembers watching footage of the crash into the first tower from a Lunds café, where she had stopped for coffee on her way to work. She saw the second plane hit in real time. Knowing Tom had been in New York for business, she called Deena, who told her that Tom was on a hijacked plane. Jurgens called her parents from her work’s parking lot, then drove home to be with them.

They clung to hope that Tom would be OK. That hope was renewed when, after another plane hit the Pentagon around 8:30 a.m. Central, Deena assured them that Tom was still alive. When news broke about a flight that went down in Pennsylvania shortly after 9 a.m. Central, they thought maybe it had been a “soft” landing — that Tom, if aboard, had survived. But then they saw TV footage of the crash site.

“It was just a hole,” Jurgens said.

“There was nothing left.”

The Burnetts endured those first awful hours with the help of their parish priest, Father Mike Tegeder, St. Edward’s pastor

from 1998 to 2011. Tom Sr. had walked across the street to the parish to find the priest when they learned Tom Jr. was on the hijacked flight. Father Tegeder held a prayer service at the parish that night and was a regular fixture in their home in the days and weeks after, the Burnetts recalled.

They’ve also had the support of Msgr.

Joseph Slepicka, Tom Sr.’s lifelong friend and a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa. He accompanied the family on their first visit to the Pennsylvania crash site in April 2002 and offered Mass in the field. For Jurgens, that Mass felt like her brother’s true funeral liturgy. The family held a funeral at St. Edward the next month. He was buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis.

In past years, the Burnett family has marked the anniversary together with Mass celebrated by Msgr. Slepicka. That couldn’t happen this year due to several factors, including COVID-19. This year, they gathered as a family Sept. 12.

On Sept. 11, Jurgens and Pettee attended a Gophers football game, where a newly endowed scholarship established by the Tom Burnett Family Foundation was recognized. With the 20th anniversary of 9/11, the Burnetts decided to focus the foundation’s efforts on creating the Burnett Scholar program at the Carlson School of Management, with a donation of $300,000.

The family has also supported the installation of a new public memorial for 9/11 victims in Wayzata. It includes small pieces of the fallen World Trade Center buildings, which were given about 10 years ago to the City of Wayzata from the Aamoth family, Wayzata residents whose son, 32-year-old Gordy Aamoth Jr., was among the 2,763 people killed in the New York attacks. The memorial was unveiled Sept. 11.

Beverly is grateful the memorial is in a public spot where people will encounter it as they walk downtown along Lake Minnetonka. She is concerned about people forgetting about 9/11, and said she’s met Americans who don’t remember what happened that day.

Over the years, many people have

given the Burnetts mementos and awards to honor their son. Beverly recently donated much of it to the Bloomington Historical Society. However, one of those gifts is prominently displayed in her apartment: an icon of the Virgin Mary holding the burning Twin Towers. It’s labeled “Our Lady of Sorrows.” It was from the Poor Clares, who until recently lived in a convent in Bloomington, and in whose chapel the Burnett family often marked the 9/11 anniversary.

Remembering is especially important now, the Burnetts said, as the United States has now officially ended its war in Afghanistan, which began because of 9/11. As they have followed the aftermath, they acknowledge that the situation is complicated, and they think about the members of the U.S. military who have served in Afghanistan. They know that among them are men and women inspired by Tom Jr.’s heroism. In the past two decades, they’ve met some of them.

They’ve heard a lifetime of recollections about where people were when they saw the Twin Towers fall, or news coverage of the smoldering Pentagon and destroyed Pennsylvania field, and what it was like that day and the days after, when the plane-less skies seemed a sign that the whole world was really standing still. And, because of the Burnetts’ very public loss, people have shared stories of hidden pains and losses, sensing that Tom Sr. and Beverly could understand.

The Burnetts do think about justice for their son and others killed, and wonder what that could look like on this side of heaven. Beverly and Tom Sr. have considered attending the trial in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and the four other al-Qaida members accused of plotting the attacks, but they’re not sure it would happen now. The trial has been held up for more than a year by COVID-19 and legal issues.

As Americans reflect on this year’s 9/11 anniversary, the Burnetts hope they continue to be reminded that truly, freedom isn’t free, that everyone has a responsibility to make the world a better place, and to live life with integrity and purpose.

“God has a plan for everyone,” Jurgens said. “Although our family is saddened to see (Tom Jr.) not on this earth, we know that he lived out his plan. … His kids expected him to walk through the door that night, and he expected to, too. You just don’t know what’s out there, for all of us. Live with your heart open to that.”

8 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

LOCAL

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

Supreme Court rules against blocking Texas’ 6-week abortion ban

By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service

Roberts said the “statutory scheme” involving citizens’ enforcement of the law “is not only unusual, but unprecedented.”

In a late-night decision Sept. 1, the “The legislature has imposed a Supreme Court ruled against blocking a prohibition on abortions after roughly Texas law banning abortions at six weeks six weeks, and then essentially of pregnancy. delegated enforcement of that The 5-4 vote, issued with a prohibition to the populace one-paragraph unsigned at large. The desired opinion, said the consequence appears to challengers to the Texas be to insulate the state law — which went from responsibility into effect Sept. 1 — for implementing did not adequately and enforcing the address the “complex regulatory regime.” and novel antecedent procedural questions” He also noted that in this case. the case is not shut, “This order is not saying that although based on any conclusion the court denied the S N | C emergency relief sought about the constitutionality R E L BOB ROL of Texas’ law, and in no way by the applicants, its order is limits other procedurally proper “emphatic in making clear that it challenges to the Texas law, including cannot be understood as sustaining the in Texas state courts,” the opinion said, constitutionality of the law at issue.” leaving open the possibility that the In a statement just after the court’s state’s abortion providers could challenge decision, Nancy Northup, president it in other ways. and CEO of the Center for Reproductive The Texas abortion providers had come Rights, which represents abortion to the Supreme Court with an emergency providers challenging the Texas law, said appeal to stop the law, but the court these challengers would keep fighting. initially did not respond.

“We are devastated that the Supreme The Texas Catholic Conference, the Court has refused to block a law that public policy arm of the state’s Catholic blatantly violates Roe v. Wade,” she bishops, said the Supreme Court’s action added. marked the first time since Roe v. Wade Kristan Hawkins, the president that the nation’s high court “has allowed of Students for Life of America, said a pro-life law to remain while litigation in a statement that her group was proceeds in lower courts.” “celebrating this decision for what it is, President Joe Biden criticized the baby steps in the right direction toward Supreme Court’s action and said in a the obvious conclusion that Roe is fatally Sept. 2 statement that his administration flawed and must go.” will look to launch a “whole-ofThe law, signed by Republican Gov. government effort to respond to this Greg Abbott in May, became effective decision” and look at “what steps the at midnight central time Sept. 1. It is federal government can take to ensure one of the strictest abortion measures in that women in Texas have access to safe the country, banning abortions in the and legal abortions as protected by Roe.” state after a fetal heartbeat is detectable.

Similarly, Attorney General Merrick The law has an exception for medical Garland issued a statement, which said emergencies but not for rape or incest. the Justice Department was deeply “We celebrate every life saved by this concerned about the Texas abortion law legislation.

Opponents of the law argue the and would be “evaluating all options term ‘heartbeat’ is misleading. They call to protect the constitutional rights of it ‘embryonic cardiac activity’ or worse, women, including access to an abortion.” ‘electrically induced flickering of embryonic In the Supreme Court’s decision, Chief tissue.’ These attempts to dehumanize the Justice John Roberts joined Justices Sonia unborn are disturbing,” the Texas bishops Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Stephen said in a Sept. 3 statement.

Breyer in dissenting votes and each of The night before the law took effect, them wrote separate statements expressing court watchers on both sides of the issue their disagreement with the majority. kept vigil at the Supreme Court waiting A key part of the law that the for an order that never came. Abortion dissenting justices took issue with is its providers in the state had argued that emphasis on private citizens bringing the law would prevent about 85% of civil lawsuits in state court against abortions in the state and will likely anyone involved in an abortion, other cause many clinics to close. than the patient, but including someone Currently, at least 12 other states have who drives the patient to a clinic. As legislation banning abortions early in further incentive, the state law says pregnancy, but these bans have been anyone who successfully sues another blocked by courts. person could be entitled to $10,000.

“Hopefully, this law will begin saving Sotomayor said the majority opinion the lives of tens of thousands of Texas in this case was “stunning.” She said that babies and we look forward to the day when the court examined a “flagrantly that babies’ lives will be spared across unconstitutional law engineered to America,” said Carol Tobias, president of prohibit women from exercising their National Right to Life. constitutional rights and evade judicial scrutiny, a majority of Justices have opted She also applauded the efforts of the to bury their heads in the sand.”

Texas Right to Life and “pro-life Texans Kagan similarly called the Texas law who have been devoted to providing a “patently unconstitutional,” for its voice for the voiceless. We praise all of emphasis on encouraging “private parties our state affiliates who have diligently to carry out unconstitutional restrictions and tirelessly worked with state on the state’s behalf.” legislators to protect unborn babies by

FEDERAL ACTIONS AND PREGNANCY HELP On Sept. 9, the Justice Department sued the state of Texas for the new abortion ban, calling the state law unconstitutional. It is also seeking an injunction to prohibit the law’s enforcement.

Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Pro-Life Activities, called it tragic that political leaders, including President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, “have responded with statements that ignore our nation’s sacred interest to protect the life and health of both mothers and their unborn children, instead responding with radical pledges to mobilize the full force of the federal government to block all efforts to protect the life of the child in the womb.”

In a Sept. 3 press conference, Biden answered a reporter’s question about his message to women in Texas regarding “abortion rights” and what his administration could do to protect those “rights.”

“I have been and continue to be a strong supporter of Roe v. Wade, number one. The most pernicious thing about the Texas law is that it’s a vigilante system. … It seems almost un-American,” he said. “I respect those who believe life begins at the moment of conception. I respect that. I don’t agree, but I respect that. I’m not going to impose that on people.”

challenge Catholic politicians who support laws favoring abortion.

“You cannot be a good Catholic and support expanding a government-approved right to kill innocent human beings,” he said.

The issue of when does life begin comes up with the new Texas abortion law that had been called the “heartbeat bill” when it moved through the state legislature for banning abortions when a fetal heartbeat could be detected, at about six weeks.

The Texas Catholic Conference said the law’s opponents have called the heartbeat terminology misleading, saying that what is heard is “embryonic cardiac activity” or “electrically induced flickering of embryonic tissue.”

“These attempts to dehumanize the unborn are disturbing,” the state’s bishops said.

Similarly, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York raised this point on a Sept. 7 episode of “Conversation with Cardinal Dolan” on SiriusXM’s Catholic Channel.

Speaking about the Texas abortion law, which the Justice Department is expected to challenge in court, the cardinal asked: “When does life begin?”

He said that he believed there were some federal actions that could be taken to limit the law’s effects, but did not know enough at that time.

He added that if the line is drawn at different stages in fetal development, then it’s not really “a question of life; it’s a question of convenience.

It’s a question of choice.”

Asked about Biden’s comments as a Catholic, Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Washington said Sept. 8 during an address at the National Press Club that the president “is not demonstrating Catholic teaching” with his recent comments about abortion. Cardinal Gregory said the Church teaches human life begins at conception. He noted that he served as an auxiliary bishop with the late Chicago Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, who emphasized the “consistent ethic of life, which says that life issues are linked.”

“Choice is not an absolute value; life is,” Cardinal Dolan added.

In a Sept. 5 op-ed piece in The Washington Post, San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone criticized Catholic politicians who support legalized abortion and also highlighted state support for pregnancy centers in Texas, stating, “Texas gets this right.”

“The state is investing $100 million to help mothers by funding pregnancy centers, adoption agencies and maternity homes and providing free services including counseling, parenting help, diapers, formula and job training to mothers who want to keep their babies,” he said.

The archbishop primarily emphasized the importance of Catholics speaking out against abortion and urged Catholics to particularly passing laws that protect children whose hearts have begun to beat,” she said in a Sept. 1 statement.

Two months after the law was signed, abortion providers challenged it in court, saying it violated patients’ constitutional right to end a pregnancy before viability, when a fetus is said to be able to survive on its own.

The Supreme Court has consistently ruled that states cannot restrict abortion before the 24-week mark.

This fall, the court will take up a Mississippi abortion ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Those appealing the state law filed a motion in late August that was denied by the district court. They turned to the

In his Sept. 9 statement, Archbishop Naumann said that he wished to “echo the words of the Texas Catholic bishops who expressed gratitude for the growing network of support for pregnant mothers and their families in Texas.”

He noted that the Texas legislature recently increased support for low-income mothers by 25% in its Alternatives to Abortion program and by expanding Medicaid coverage for new mothers. In addressing the new Texas abortion law, he said it “seeks to use civil rather than criminal law to protect the lives of vulnerable children in the womb.”

The Texas Catholic Conference, which is the public policy arm of the state’s Catholic bishops, noted Sept. 3 that “pregnant and parenting moms in need are in our parishes and our neighborhoods. As Pope Francis reminds us, our parishes must be ‘islands of mercy in the midst of a sea of indifference.’”

Currently, there are 22 abortion clinics in Texas and more than 200 pregnancy centers.

— CNS U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which granted their request to put the district-court proceedings on hold but denied the challengers’ request to expedite the appeal, which led them to seek emergency relief from the Supreme Court Aug. 30.

Scotusblog, which reports on the Supreme Court, said the Texas attorney general and other defenders of the state’s abortion law had urged the Supreme Court to stay out of the dispute, saying the court is limited in its power to grant relief before laws have actually been enforced. They argued that courts can bar people from doing something, but they have no power to “expunge the law itself.”

NATION+WORLD

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 9

New global initiative seeks to ‘unlock’ Catechism of the Catholic Church

By Anna Capizzi Galvez Catholic News Service When is the last time you cracked open the Catechism of the Catholic Church? Odds are, it’s sitting on your bookshelf collecting dust.

A new global project, Real + True, seeks to “unlock” the Catechism and modernize the way Church teaching is presented to a digital age.

The catechism “is not just a technical book,” said Real + True co-founder Edmund Mitchell, “but it’s written to really change our relationship with Christ.”

Launched Sept. 7, the initiative includes videos, social media content and a podcast organized along the four pillars of the Catechism. Each month a new unit will be released, with 12 units for each pillar, totaling 48 units.

Aimed at millennial and Generation Z audiences, the content is meant to supplement evangelization and catechesis efforts that already exist, as well as be a resource to those seeking answers to questions online, said co-founder Edmundo Reyes.

The material is free and available on realtrue.org in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French. Funded by a grant from Our Sunday Visitor, the Real + True initiative is also seeking donations to translate content into more languages and produce videos at a faster pace.

Bishop Andrew Cozzens, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ evangelization and catechesis

COURTESY REAL + TRUE | CNS

An image for the global project “Real + True” which aims to “unlock” the Catechism of the Catholic Church and modernize the way Church teaching is presented to a digital age. Launched Sept. 7, the initiative includes videos, social media content and a podcast organized along the four pillars of the Catechism. committee, is among eight people on a board of advisors for the initiative that includes fellow bishops and media, catechetical and apostolic formation experts.

Reyes said the inspiration for Real + True came six years ago in Portland, Oregon, when he encountered BibleProject, a nonprofit organization with a library of resources to help people read and understand the Bible. While the organization isn’t Catholic, he was impressed by their work, which he’d “never seen done in a church setting.”

HEADLINES u New Swiss Guard barracks will allow room for families, maybe female guards. A complete rebuild and expansion of the living quarters for the Swiss Guard will not only improve life for guards and their families, it will also allow for the future possibility of recruiting women. Currently, applications to serve in the corps are open only to Swiss male citizens who served in the Swiss Army and are Catholic, under 30 years of age and athletic, stand at least 5 feet 8 inches tall and boast an “unblemished reputation.” But, at least since the new millennium, the overriding obstacle that stood in the way of opening the door to women had been housing, not gender. Those circumstances are now set to change after a massive rebuilding project breaks ground with a projected completion by 2026 — the 520th anniversary of the founding of the Swiss Guard. u In Slovakia, Pope reminds Roma community that Church is their home. Stating that in the Catholic Church, “no one ought ever to feel out of place or set aside,” Pope Francis met with members of Slovakia’s Roma community and with more than 20,000 young people Sept. 14, during his Sept. 12-15 visit to the country. “The Church is indeed a home; it is your home,” the pope told the Roma community living in the Luník IX neighborhood of Košice.

According to the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, the Roma, also known as Gypsies, make up roughly 9% of the population, or about 500,000 people. u Mexican Supreme Court invalidates second state law against abortion. The Mexican Supreme Court has invalidated a clause in a state constitution that provided protection of life “from the moment in which an individual is conceived ... until their death,” arguing that no state government could determine when life begins; only the federal constitution could determine that. The unanimous Sept. 9 decision also denied any legal rights to the unborn. The decision concerning Sinaloa state followed a unanimous Sept. 7 ruling in which the court invalidated sections of a law in northern Coahuila state that imposed sentences of up to three years in prison for women terminating pregnancies. The decision also removed criminal sanctions for abortion providers. u Bishop ordained for Wuhan, China, is first in diocese in 14 years. A new bishop has been installed in China’s Wuhan

After learning about BibleProject’s creative process, he came back “with the hope of one day doing something similar with the Church.”

When Reyes returned home, something unexpected happened. He started watching BibleProject’s videos on his phone and three of his children joined him.

“They kept saying, ‘Let’s watch the next one, let’s watch the next one.’ And at the end my son said to me: ‘Dad, I feel I learned more about my faith from those videos than all my years of

religious education,’” Reyes said.

“That moved me in two ways,” said Reyes, director of communications in the Archdiocese of Detroit. “One is a bit of sadness of like, ‘Man, I’m letting my kid down here,’ but also a lot of hope that the message that we proclaim, the Gospel message, it’s truth and it’s beauty and it’s attractive in itself. We just need to be able to communicate that message in a way that is relevant to them, in a way that they can understand it.”

The Church is moving in the direction of an “evangelizing catechesis,” said Reyes, citing the example of Pope Francis instituting the ministry of the catechist in May and the Vatican updating the “Directory for Catechesis” June 2020. He sees Real + True as participating in that evangelizing catechesis.

Each Real + True unit contains three videos — a proclamation video, an explanation video and a connection video — as well as a podcast that is geared toward formal and informal catechists.

“The work of evangelization online is significant and important, especially in a world so connected, which is what we saw in the pandemic,” said Reyes.

Isolation is one of the challenges the Church faces today, and the initiative’s organizers hope that by having “content that leads to Jesus,” young people can help “get connected spiritually,” then ideally continue a “journey of discipleship toward true community and communion,” he said.

Diocese, making him the latest to be ordained under a deal between the Vatican and the communist state. Franciscan Father Francis Cui Qingqi was ordained bishop of Wuhan in central China’s Hubei province Sept. 8, with the approval of both the state and the Church, reported ucanews.com. At the Vatican, Matteo Bruni, head of the Vatican press office, confirmed the ordination and said Pope Francis appointed Bishop Cui June 23.

wearing a face mask and slowly heading toward Dedham District Court with the aid of a walker as protesters shouted. He was not taken under custody but was ordered to post $5,000 bail and have no contact with the alleged victim or children.

The former high-ranking, globe-trotting Church official also was ordered not to leave the country and surrendered his passport.

His next court appearance is Oct. 28.

u Priest-doctor in Haiti says violence threatens country’s future.

Violence in Haiti not only complicates earthquake relief, it threatens the future of the country, said the U.S. priest-founder of a medical mission and orphanage in Haiti. “Everyone, without exception, is at risk,” Passionist Father Richard Frechette told Catholic News Service of the security situation in Haiti.

“Haiti has become a bandit state in the face of the inability of the Haitian government to govern. ... The future is bleak, and Haitians want to leave Haiti. It will be an enormous effort and investment to turn things around.”

u Anglican bishop to step down, join Catholic Church. The Anglican bishop of Ebbsfleet stepped down from office after announcing that he will become a Roman Catholic. The resignation of Bishop Jonathan Goodall was announced by Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury in a Sept. 3 statement released by Lambeth Palace. Bishop Goodall is a former ecumenical secretary to a previous archbishop of Canterbury and was ordained in 2013 to serve as a “flying bishop” of a diocese erected to cover traditionalist parishes that would not accept women priests. “I am deeply grateful to Bishop Jonathan for his ministry and many years of faithful service,” Archbishop Welby said. “My prayers are with him and Sarah, both for his future ministry and for the direction in which they are being called in their continuing journey of dedicated service to Christ.”

u Three dead, others evacuated from Louisiana housing ministry after Ida. Three residents of a housing ministry belonging to the Archdiocese of New Orleans were found dead following the wrath of Hurricane Ida, which left a slew of Louisiana residents trapped in their homes and without electricity days after its Aug. 29 landfall. In the days after the hurricane, authorities rescued hundreds of residents of Christopher Homes, part of the archdiocese’s senior living ministry that helps the elderly and those with physical disabilities rent affordable homes in the New Orleans area. But during the rescues, city officials expressed concerns about why residents of the buildings had not been evacuated. “Residents are independent living tenants with leases, and before storm season, all residents were required to provide a personal evacuation plan to property management,” said a Sept. 6 statement on the Christopher Homes website. “Without a mandatory evacuation order, Christopher Homes could not close the buildings for Hurricane Ida.” The agency said it had requested help immediately after the hurricane passed, though none came until after the first discovered death of one of its residents on Sept. 3. u Former Cardinal McCarrick pleads not guilty. Former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick pleaded not guilty Sept. 3 in a Massachusetts court, where he is facing three counts of sexually assaulting a teenager in the 1970s. Local news reporters posted video on Twitter of the 91-year-old McCarrick,

u Catholic Medical Association joins lawsuit over HHS ‘transgender mandate.’ The Philadelphia-based Catholic Medical Association Aug. 26 joined in a lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s mandate that doctors and hospitals perform gender-transition procedures on any patient despite any moral or medical objections of the doctor or health care facility. “Biological identity must remain the basis for treating patients,” said Dr. Michael Parker, president of the association, a national, physician-led community of more than 2,300 health care professionals in 114 local guilds. The suit was filed Aug. 26 in U.S. District Court by Alliance Defending Freedom, a national faith-based nonprofit in Arizona that focuses on legal advocacy.

Others joining the suit are Dr. Jeanie Dassow, a Tennessee OBGYN doctor who specializes in caring for adolescents, and the American College of Pediatricians, made up of more than 600 physicians and other health care professionals in 47 states who treat children. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee in Chattanooga.

— Catholic News Service

10 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

FERTILE GROUND Ag program growing at Faribault’s Bethlehem Academy

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit

O

n the fourth day of this school year at Bethlehem Academy in Faribault Sept. 2, it was time to unload tomato plants from the back of teacher Casi Story’s Dodge pickup.

Four boys hopped eagerly to the task, grabbing armfuls of red and green and hauling it all back to the school greenhouse, a 24-by-32foot structure completed a year ago.

The ripe and near-ripe fruits were returning home, having been planted in the greenhouse back in the spring, then transplanted to Story’s family farm about 10 miles outside the city limits. The truckload of plants returning to the greenhouse became a show-andtell of sorts for students in her Introduction to Agriculture class.

Some of those tomatoes were later put on students’ plates during lunch hour, becoming one of the “fruits” of an agriculture program that started in 2017 and has moved steadily forward.

Story came on board as an “ag” teacher at the school at the beginning of last year. She has lofty goals for the program. This semester, 26 students have signed up for the elective classes that make up its core.

“Honestly, the sky’s the limit for classes I could add,” said Story, 37, who grew up on her family’s farm and graduated from Faribault High School in 2002. Just this school year, she is adding three classes — fish and wildlife, animal science and small gas engines. Those classes are in addition to the plant science and general agriculture classes already in place. They are part of a larger network of classes that include woodworking, metal working and a form of artistic woodworking called intarsia.

Building and growing such a program makes sense, given the school’s rural location and the fact that some of its students live on farms or have some background in agriculture, if not ambitions to pursue a career in the field.

“I think the program’s great,” said senior Teagan Ferrin, the president of the school’s FFA (formerly Future Farmers of America) chapter, who plans to become a veterinary technician after she graduates from BA. “I think it’s a good program to have in school to get hands on and learn about agriculture. I’m pretty passionate about it. I think it’s a good business to get into.”

In 2017, Brent Halvorson, a BA teacher and alumnus, got the program started with encouragement from some students. One of those students, Breanna DeGrood, went on to study animal science and agriculture business and marketing at South Dakota State University, and got a job for an animal pharmaceutical company in Northfield after her graduation last December.

It was her father, Pat DeGrood, brother of Bishop Donald DeGrood of Sioux Falls, who approached Story about the job opening for an agriculture teacher after Halvorson left to take a job in agriculture.

DeGrood’s second daughter, Karlie, is a junior and already steeped in agriculture, both from living on her family farm and taking agriculture classes at school. Pat is hoping one of his two daughters will one day make working on the family farm a career. In the meantime, he gets to watch, not only his daughter, but other students at BA gain valuable exposure that will benefit them no matter what career path they choose.

“I’m ecstatic about” the BA agriculture program, said Pat, 49, who belongs to Divine Mercy in Faribault with his wife, Clarice, and children. “I think it’s a really needed course selection for these students. … It’s going to teach them some life skills, whether it’s something they want to get into (or not). At least they’ll have some knowledge and some background of ‘Where did my food come from, and how was it grown?’”

He called the overall field of agriculture “huge” and thinks exposure

to it in the agriculture program at BA could help inspire students’ thoughts and dreams of someday working in the field.

It’s already happening. Junior Paul Moening is taking the Introduction to Agriculture class this year, his first step into the program. Like many of his classmates, he lives out in the country and has had natural exposure to rural life.

“I’ve kind of been around ag my whole life,” he said. “My grandparents had farms, but they got sold, so I didn’t get the privilege of being on a farm, growing up on one. But I’ve always been around neighbors and helped neighbors. I’m kind of trying to get into it myself. Got a little 10-acre field. Put (in) alfalfa in the spring and (am) seeing where it goes.”

In just a matter of weeks, he has experienced the tough side of farming, with the extended drought stunting his alfalfa crop. That has not deterred him from thinking about the possibility of making a living from the soil. If anything, the challenges are making him the kind of realist most farmers eventually become.

“I would personally like to farm, but (am) trying to find kind of a niche thing where you can actually make money,” he said, “because it’s kind of hard to make money farming the traditional way today, with milk prices low, crop prices low. Everything’s low — hogs, steers (beef cattle). But there’s non-traditional ways that some guys are making it, and I’m trying to observe that and see how they do it and see what I can figure out.”

Moening is trying to maximize the

opportunities in the agriculture program at BA. In addition to the agriculture class, he is taking wood shop and the small gas engines class this semester. Others are doing the same. His classmate, Jordan Simones, who works for a local sod farmer and has learned the business, is taking those same three classes. He wants to pursue diesel mechanics and attend a trade school after he graduates

fro H he R in t doi farm con lan

FFA REBIR

Up until last year, Bethlehem Academy’s agriculture classes School. The local public school now has its own program an

FFA is an intracurricular student organization for those in chapters in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. Bethlehem Aca with an FFA chapter and an agriculture program, and one the country with an ag program, according to the Nation

FFA was established in 1928 in Kansas City, Missouri, and from ages 12 to 21, according to its website. The organiza opportunities, career exploration and competitions. Minn Faribault public schools opening a chapter in 1938. Acco an FFA chapter for about 20 years before both the public

BA President and Principal Melinda Reeder and agricultu is growing. A seed was planted in younger students whe in May for elementary school students at Divine Mercy C event and said the youngsters “were just beaming” as th and hold some of the animals. The high school students, experience.

“The kids love it,” Reeder said of both FFA and the Ag pro leadership roles who might not otherwise... . They feel co knowledge” of agriculture.

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021 • 11

PHOTOS BY DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

om BA next year.

He is also in the school’s FFA chapter, and finds value in that and in the classes.

Riley Langenfeld, also a junior, lives out the country and has worked for his uncle ing landscaping. He has relatives who are mers. After graduation, he wants to ntinue working for his uncle in ndscaping.

RTH

s also enrolled students from Faribault High nd its own FFA chapter.

nterested in agriculture and leadership, with ademy is the only Catholic school in Minnesota e of only a handful of Catholic schools across nal Catholic Education Association.

d currently has more than 735,000 members ation offers classroom and hands-on nesota schools began offering FFA in 1930, with ording to Pat DeGrood, Faribault was without c school and BA opened chapters last year.

ure teacher Casi Story say FFA interest at BA en FFA members at BA held a Baby Animal Day Catholic School next door. Reeder observed the hey got the chance to look at and even touch meanwhile, were able to gain leadership

ogram at BA. “We have people step into onfident in what they’re doing and in their — Dave Hrbacek

All three are happy to have the opportunity to study agriculture, not only to help them in their future careers, but also to solidify knowledge they think is both valuable and lacking in today’s culture.

“It’s great to teach people where their food comes from,” Moening said.

“Everybody’s so far removed from the farm now that they don’t really understand what it is and where their food comes from. I mean, it’s just crazy. I’ve heard things where people are, like, ‘Why don’t farmers just go buy their meat from the store? Why do they have to raise animals?’ … That’s kind of scary.”

He called farming “one of the most important things. If there’s no food, there’s no people.”

BA President and Principal Melinda Reeder said the agriculture program is not only beneficial for learning practical skills, but it also helps in the overall formation of students according to the Dominican spirituality that inspired the founding of the school in 1865.

“Everything we do falls under one of the Dominican pillars here at Bethlehem Academy — prayer, study, service and community,” Reeder said. “So, as you look at that and how Pope Francis cares for the earth and really reminds us of all the things that we need to be thinking about ... hopefully, it (the agriculture program) inspires our students to understand what is needed in our world so that we can continue to improve and take care of what God has given us.”

LEFT In this photo from last school year, Karlie DeGrood, now a junior, works on floral design in the greenhouse at Bethlehem Academy in Faribault.

TOP RIGHT From left, juniors Destinee Fregoso and Jordan Simones work on tomato picking in the greenhouse Sept. 2 during an Introduction to Agriculture class.

MIDDLE RIGHT Bethlehem Academy agriculture teacher Casi Story draws in a few cows at her family farm outside of Faribault. She has considered bringing students to the farm to increase their exposure to agriculture.

LOWER RIGHT From left, juniors Paul Moening, Riley Langenfeld and Simones work on collecting tomatoes during the Introduction to Agriculture class Sept. 2.

ABOVE Ripe tomatoes in the hand of Fregoso are the culmination of a process that involved growing them on Story’s farm.

12 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

FAITH+CULTURE

Birding, paying attention and taking one’s time

By Christina Capecchi For The Catholic Spirit

for example. There’s got to be something behind that order.

Bill Bronn has packed a lot into 81 years.

Once a seminarian and then a longtime 3M chemist, he is now a retired grandpa who loves birding and Scripture. Bronn belongs to Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Maplewood and St. Joan of Arc in Minneapolis.

Q Who introduced you to birding?

A My fifth-grade teacher at St. Leo’s in

St. Paul, an elderly nun from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. She showed us these little bird cards you could get for free from Arm & Hammer. I thought, “Geez, these are gorgeous!”

I used to go over to the St. Kate’s campus, which we weren’t supposed to do, but Sister got me a slip of paper, signing on it that I could bird there. They had quite a bit of open and wooded area at the time. I lived one block away, so I would sneak over there and look at the birds.

Q Does birding relate to your faith?

A Nature is a big thing! It’s very

spiritual. If you read Job, he asks all these questions — why this, why that.

Finally, God talks to Job directly and says: “Oh, Job, did you see that fantastic hippopotamus I made?” That’s what nature is supposed to do, I think: make us wonder. Where did all this come from? How did somebody figure this all out?

Q You explored those questions in seminary for eight years. Has that formation stuck with you?

A You never leave your past behind!

I learned Thomistic and Aristotelian philosophy. It provides an order. There’s order everywhere: how a tree reproduces,

other human beings, you must listen to what they say and feel so you can walk in their shoes and really work towards the common good. I heard a commentator on public television address racism. She said: If every white person would truly make a good friend of a Black person, the problem would be solved, because then the Black person’s problems would become the white person’s.

That’s how our Synod work should begin: Go out and befriend and listen to someone who is not like you, so you can see what is really the problem today.

Q And once you have that rock-solid

foundation, everything else flows from it.

A Exactly! There’s no other way.

Q How did you discern out of priesthood?

A It just hit me. I got depressed,

and I was losing my ability to study.

Something had to change. Depression has a way of shaking you and making you pay attention. That’s what pain does. It makes you self-focus: “Oh, I gotta figure this out.”

Q What helped you shake the depression?

A I saw a psychologist until I got my feet

on the ground and I got a job. I started working and feeling like I fit into the world better. I still have some depression.

It comes and goes. But I’ve learned how to handle myself.

Q Looking back, do you resent your seminary experience because it contributed to depression?

A Oh no! That’s one of the best things

to ever happen to me. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for those formative years.

They’ve been foundational. The way I see it is: I had a vocation to the seminary, and I got it! Then it branched out.

Q Seminary also fostered your love of Scripture.

A It’s my favorite hobby! I like to read

commentaries like Walter Brueggemann’s “Theology of the Old Testament.” Oh man! It’s so interesting! I’m finally a third of the way through it, and I’ve had it for years. But every time I sit down and open it, I don’t get through more than two or

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

three pages. I’ve spent an hour and a half zipping through the Bible, checking out these passages and comparing, maybe even looking at the Greek or the Hebrew.

I don’t think I’ll finish it in my life.

Q Can you recall a time that birding reminded you to pay attention?

A I had read that the worm-eating

book because then where would I go?

warbler liked to find its food by digging through leaf litter, so I was searching for it on the ground — no luck. But my birding buddies were not so tied to that idea. They spotted the bird several times in low branches of the trees, hidden by leaves — an extremely elusive bird! I saw the bird dash from one clump of leaves to the next but never saw it well enough to identify it.

Q It’s great that you’re taking your

Q Worm-eating warblers! Is that meant

Q I love that paradigm shift: Your goal isn’t to race to the last page!

A It’s probably better I don’t finish the time. Life is not meant to be rushed through.

A I once read an article in the Pioneer

Press about the 10 richest people in the world. Eight of them had committed suicide. That’s what happens when you run out of something to look forward to.

It’s not human to have everything. You need to work by the sweat of your brow and make progress. You don’t want to come to the end.

Q How is paying attention a virtue?

A To be successful in a chemistry lab,

to distinguish from warblers that do not eat worms?

A Actually, it does not eat earth worms but insects and their small, worm-like insect larvae buried in leaves. That’s its particular niche, among the warblers.

Q I love their names — the White-

Crowned Sparrow, the Rufous-Sided Towhee, the Yellow-Rumped Warbler, the Rose-Breasted Grosbeak.

A A favorite of mine is the Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker.

you must be observant. That requires focus! More importantly, in working with

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THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 13

FOCUSONFAITH SUNDAY SCRIPTURES | FATHER ALLAN PAUL EILEN

In silence, Jesus; in service, peace

In early August, I flew to San Diego to attend my nephew’s graduation from the U.S. Marine Corps. It was really special seeing him after 12 weeks of basic training, especially since I was not able to be present when he left home in April. His commencement reminded me of all those who honorably serve our nation to help maintain peace and order for the sake of the

common good.

Nevertheless, however good and necessary it is to sometimes maintain peace by force, the lasting peace we all thirst for in our life, family, community, nation and world will only be possible when our heart is open to receive the One — Jesus — who is our peace. St. James says so in our second reading: “And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace” (Jas 3:18).

So, how can you and I cultivate the peace of Christ, so sorely needed today, as St. James teaches, and as the Prayer of St. Francis so beautifully articulates (“Make me a channel of your peace …”)?

We can do it by acknowledging that I cannot become a channel or instrument of Christ’s peace — let alone his servant — until he first reigns in my own heart. And, as far back as Jesus’ time, where

FAITH FUNDAMENTALS | FATHER MICHAEL VAN SLOUN

Why wedding guests matter

Is it important to have a congregation at a wedding? Just ask any couple that has celebrated the sacrament of marriage during COVID. Last summer, I presided at a wedding with only 12 people present. The bride’s and the groom’s witnesses were there. So were their parents, brothers and sisters — and no one else.

The couple’s hearts ached for all those who were missing, so we made a deal. On their one-year anniversary we would reenact their marriage with the renewal of their marriage promises, this time with all their guests with them. They intuitively knew that a congregation was an integral part of the celebration of a wedding, but did not know exactly why, so they asked me to preach on the spiritual significance of the gathered assembly.

Some have the mistaken notion that a wedding is a private affair for the family, relatives and friends, and that the event belongs to the couple and that they can do with it as they please.

However, a marriage is a sacrament, and the sacraments belong to the Church. Sacraments are celebrated with the community while it is at prayer.

Spiritually speaking, the guests at a wedding are representative figures. They are not simply the bride’s and groom’s best friends.

They represent the Church. On a smaller scale, they represent the parish. On a regional scale, they represent the local Church or the diocese. And on a broader scale, they represent the universal or worldwide Church, the entire body of Christ.

The celebration of a wedding is the Church gathered at prayer, and there is strength in numbers. The prayer of a few is good, but the prayer can increase and intensify when many join their hearts and voices in praise and worship. The Liturgy of the Word provides an opportunity for instruction and catechesis on the sacrament. For those weddings that are celebrated within the context of a Mass, the reception of the Eucharist provides spiritual nourishment for the newly married couple, as well as the

putting oneself before others and seeking to be the greatest is too often the norm, we should not be at all surprised by the effects of sin: “Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice” (Jas 3:16). Thus, to overcome such disorder or foul practice, we need to be in relationship with God. During a recent small group discipleship meeting, where we were discussing how our covenant with God is all about relationships, one of the participants, who happens to work as a police officer, said, “I don’t want to just keep the peace, I want to be the peace.”

In truth, we know we are made to live in Christ’s peace, but how can we get there, since we can’t just make such peace happen?

Parents know this: They can’t just make children get along. Even Jesus couldn’t “make” his disciples get along.

Peace has to be cultivated, and it all begins with making time with God a priority. That includes spending time with God each day in silence, as St. Mother Teresa of Kolkata so powerfully revealed in how she lived her life. In fact, she gave us a simple prescription that leads to peace in five not-so-easy steps: “The fruit of silence is prayer; the fruit of prayer is faith; the fruit of faith is love; the fruit of love is service; and the fruit of service is peace.”

There you have it: the tried-and-true pathway to becoming more faithful children of God, humble instruments of his peace, and genuine servants and witnesses of the Gospel, both for our families and our world. For in silence, God reveals man (woman) to himself (herself), just as the saying goes: “Know Jesus, Know Peace; No Jesus, No Peace.”

Father Eilen is pastor of St. Patrick in Oak Grove. He can be reached at pastor@st-patricks.org.

Some have the mistaken notion that a wedding is a private affair for the family, relatives and friends, and that the event belongs to the couple and that they can do with it as they please.

However, a marriage is a sacrament, and the sacraments belong to the Church. members of the congregation, as they walk the journey of faith.

The couple needs the congregation. It affords the couple an opportunity to witness their faith, not only before God, but publicly before the community. They declare that they are entering a three-way partnership with God as the center of their marriage, and that God is the one who will seal their marriage bond.

They also proclaim before the Church that they intend to be faithful to their marriage vows, that they will live their marriage openly and publicly, in plain sight, for all to see, and as they establish a house church as a couple and a family, that they will remain connected and deepen their relationship with God, their parish and the wider Church.

The congregation has a vital role, not only on the wedding day but beyond. For the guests, it is not a one-day celebration, church and reception, dinner and dance, and then it is over and done. By attending, the members of the congregation agree to pray with and for the couple on their wedding day. Additionally, they serve as the Church’s witnesses to the couple’s marriage promises.

The congregation’s responsibilities are not over after the wedding day. They are just beginning. It will be their duty to continue to pray for the couple; to befriend and support them; to provide help should they need assistance or fall on hard times; to encourage them to be true to each other; to hold them accountable to their marriage promises, particularly if they should wander off course; and to help them stay connected to family, friends and the Church.

Father Van Sloun recently retired as pastor of St. Bartholomew in Wayzata. This column is one in a series on the sacrament of marriage.

Previous series on the Eucharist and confirmation can be found at TheCatholicSpirit.com.

KNOW the SAINTS ST. ANDREW KIM TAE-GON (1821-1846) Andrew was among the 103 Korean Martyrs — 92 Koreans and 11 Europeans — killed during a persecution from 1839-1866.

Born to parents who were Catholic converts, Andrew completed seminary studies in Macao and in 1845 was the first native Korean to become a Catholic priest, with his ordination in Shanghai. After returning to Korea, he tried to smuggle more missionaries into the country but was arrested in 1846. He spent three months in prison, then was beheaded at age 25. His father also was among the Korean Martyrs canonized in 1984. His feast day is Sept. 20, together with the other Koreans martyred in this persecution. He is the namesake of St. Andrew Kim, a parish that ministers to Korean American Catholics that shares a campus with Holy Childhood in St. Paul.

— Catholic News Service

DAILY Scriptures Sunday, Sept. 19 Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Wis 2:12, 17-20 Jas 3:16–4:3 Mk 9:30-37 Monday, Sept. 20 Sts. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, priest, and Paul Chong Ha-sang, and companions, martyrs Ezr 1:1-6 Lk 8:16-18 Tuesday, Sept. 21 St. Matthew, apostle and evangelist Eph 4:1-7,11-13 Mt 9:9-13 Wednesday, Sept. 22 Ezr 9:5-9 Lk 9:1-6 Thursday, Sept. 23 St. Pius of Pietrelcina, priest Hg 1:1-8 Lk 9:7-9 Friday, Sept. 24 Hg 2:1-9 Lk 9:18-22 Saturday, Sept. 25 Zec 2:5-9, 14-15a Lk 9:43b-45 Sunday, Sept. 26 Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Nm 11:25-29 Jas 5:1-6 Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48 Monday, Sept. 27 St. Vincent de Paul, priest Zec 8:1-8 Lk 9:46-50 Tuesday, Sept. 28 Zec 8:20-23 Lk 9:51-56 Wednesday, Sept. 29 Sts. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, archangels Dn 7:9-10, 13-14 or Rv 12:7-12ab Jn 1:47-51 Thursday, Sept. 30 St. Jerome, priest and doctor of the Church Neh 8:1-4a, 5-6, 7b-12 Lk 10:1-12 Friday, Oct. 1 St. Therese of the Child Jesus, virgin and doctor of the Church Bar 1:15-22 Luke 10:13-16 Saturday, Oct. 2 Holy Guardian Angels Bar 4:5-12, 27-29 Mt 18:1-5, 10 Sunday, Oct. 3 Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Gn 2:18-24 Heb 2:9-11 Mk 10:2-16

14 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

FOCUSONFAITH

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

ECHOES OF CATHOLIC MINNESOTA | REBA LUIKEN

NE Mpls house holds legacy of Catholic service

The Margaret Barry Settlement House was the first love and main project of the Minneapolis League of Catholic Women. The League was founded in 1911 by young women who wanted to begin social service work in Minneapolis. Many of them were single transplants who lived away from their families and earned small salaries working downtown. The League gave them a chance to meet like-minded Catholics. In 1912, one member, Margaret Barry, started a settlement house with $5 for rent and $5 for furniture. In 1915, the League was able to build and open its own location on Pierce Street with $10,000.

The women primarily served nearby Italian, Polish, Syrian and Lebanese Catholics.

When President Harry S. Truman visited Minneapolis in 1950, one of his stops was a muddy park in northeast Minneapolis called Yardville. Now known as Cavell Park, this hilly plot of land had been abandoned until the women of the Margaret Barry Settlement House took an interest in it and created a playground following a Scandinavian trend, where children were provided with raw materials and given the freedom to dig caves, build forts and plant gardens, all with funding from McCall’s magazine. Although shortlived, Yardville was intended to be a safe place for children in a poorer part of the city to learn and grow.

COURTESY HENNEPIN COUNTY LIBRARY

There were similar goals at the Margaret Barry Settlement House, a few miles south at 759 Pierce St. NE. If Truman had stopped by the large stucco settlement house that afternoon, he likely would have been greeted at the door by a sign reading “Movie This Friday — Everyone Welcome” and a hive of activity inside. On a given afternoon, the social room might host folk dancing, while other children played dodgeball in the gym, rehearsed as part of the choir in the canteen, played checkers in the game room or constructed their own bookshelves in the craft room.

Meanwhile, neighbors could enroll their children in the nursery school, join discussion groups, take a practical class or music lesson, or participate in seasonal events like sleigh rides.

Among the settlement house’s best-known programs were its athletics. Boys could join football, baseball, basketball or boxing programs. Girls could try volleyball or folk dancing. Together, these services and activities helped to integrate immigrants into American life by strengthening family relationships and providing support, training and activities for all ages.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

In 1953, there were over 160,000 visits to the house. Executive Director Florence Bently explained their official aim: “to be a living part of the neighborhood we serve, to help individuals use their own abilities and to contribute to strengthening the family unit.”

MARGARET BARRY HOUSE The Margaret Barry House is pictured at top in northeast Minneapolis in 1916. It was the main project of the Minneapolis League of Catholic Women from its founding in 1915 to its merger with another social service entity in 1963. At bottom is a later addition to the building as viewed from 759 Pierce St. NE.

WHY DO CATHOLICS DO THAT? FATHER JOHN PAUL ERICKSON

sacrifice of Christ. It is by means of this radical self-emptying that the very life of God has been made available to us. So, whether it is through the imposition of holy water, the blessing at the end of Mass, the beginning of the rosary or the reception of absolution in confession, we proudly and devoutly make the Sign of the Cross to proclaim the triumph of the Lord and our trust in his power to save. There is also the very pious practice of making the Sign of the Cross when we pass by a Church in which the Blessed Sacrament is reposed, or when we pass by a cemetery. In both of these instances, like the aforementioned list, the Sign of the Cross is a reminder to us of the love of God, who has given all so that we might know, love and serve him, both in this life and in the next.

Sign of the Cross, Church deaneries Q Why do Catholics make the Sign of the Cross?

A The cross is the sign of our

salvation, and as such, it is a profound symbol of the infinite love that Jesus bears for both his Father and for us. All supernatural grace flows from Christ’s total gift of self, made manifest upon the wood of Calvary. And so, when we make the Sign of the Cross over ourselves, or the priest uses the Sign of the Cross in the celebration of the sacraments or sacramentals, we are being reminded of the source of our salvation — the

Q What is a deanery? What is its purpose?

A Most dioceses are geographical things, that is,

defined by a specific geographical area. Almost every corner of the world, as far as I know, is included within a diocese, under the care of a diocesan bishop.

(The term “archdiocese” is really just a modifier of the more fundamental term “diocese,” which originated

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The settlement house offered neighbors many social services with the financial support of the local Community Chest, which collected small donations from Minneapolis residents and redistributed them to meet community needs. A dental and optical clinic, a kindergarten and a public library were some of these services. Until Our Lady of Mount Carmel opened nearby in 1938, the Paulist fathers would come from St. Lawrence (now St. Lawrence Catholic Church and Newman Center at the University of Minnesota) to offer Mass.

By the 1950s, Minneapolis had eight settlement houses spread across the city, but Margaret Barry was the only Catholic one. It merged with the North East Neighborhood House to become East Side Neighborhood Service in 1963. It was put up for sale in 1974, and although a bid to have the building added to the historic register of places failed, it is privately owned and still standing today.

Luiken is a Catholic and a historian with a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. She loves exploring and sharing the hidden histories that touch our lives every day.

in the Roman empire to designate a portion of the empire under the care of an imperial vicar.) This division of the globe is meant to ensure that every single member of the faithful has the sacraments available to them, and can rely upon the pastoral care of a bishop. Well, for the sake of better governance and management, dioceses also have divisions, mostly along geographical lines, and we call these divisions “deaneries.” Each deanery is assigned a dean, who is most often a pastor in the area. The dean assists the bishop and his own brother priests in the supervision and support of that particular area, though admittedly how the deans are utilized is almost entirely governed by the local bishop and will often be adapted to best serve his own pastoral needs and style of governance. While there are 18 deaneries currently within the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Deanery 4, which includes the rockin’ east side of St. Paul (and parts of Oakdale), is widely regarded to be the most venerable deanery in all of the archdiocese.

Father Erickson is pastor of Transfiguration in Oakdale.

Send your questions to CatholicSpirit@archspm.org with “Why Do Catholics Do That?” in the subject line.

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SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 15

COMMENTARY TWENTY SOMETHING | CHRISTINA CAPECCHI

The hidden power of play

Every fall the push to do more intensifies. Sharpen your pencil and dig in.

Produce more, study more, socialize more, exercise more, volunteer more.

The calendar becomes the battlefield, its squares squeezed ever tighter. If summer is for vacation, fall is for achievement.

But we are forgetting something. The very thing we consider the opposite of productivity — play — is, in fact, an accelerator of it. And more important, it is central in the Christian path to wellness.

I was reminded of this when I read about Reform, a Catholic wellness practice based in Islip, New York, with online programming. Its skilled team includes nutritionists, a priest and a doctor. And in their wisdom, they declared play one of the nine pillars of wellness, right alongside sleep, movement, community and faith.

No pillar is more important than the other, and each one enhances the other — movement helps with a good night’s sleep, a good night’s sleep allows for greater community involvement and so on.

Play is the most overlooked pillar, dismissed as a matter reserved for kids — something you graduate from around the time you abandon stuffed animals and mac and cheese.

“But if we take life seriously all the time,” the Reform team writes on its blog, “we miss what God calls us to be: childlike. As his children, we were all designed for play — no matter our age.”

SIMPLE HOLINESS | KATE SOUCHERAY

Embracing joy

Embracing joy feels so good, especially as we begin a new school year and all the possibilities it holds for learning during the continued emergence from the pandemic. Joy is the response we are encouraged to make toward every situation we face, as we trust that God will bless us for our faithfulness and righteousness. No matter what happens to us as Christians, the message of the cross is that we will rise stronger and more resilient through all we have faced.

While joy is the ideal response to the trials we have faced, the more common response may be disappointment, negativity and exhaustion. It is nearly impossible to stay focused on the good when our brains gravitate toward negative, discouraging thoughts. Narrative Therapy co-creators Michael White, an Australian social worker, and David Epston, a New Zealand therapist, proposed that the stories we tell ourselves and the way we choose to see and talk about events shapes our experience of those events. The pioneers of this groundbreaking therapy in the 1980s and 1990s helped us focus on the entirety of our lives, the difficult things that happened to us, as well as the strengths we used to manage those events.

Dr. Martin P. Seligman, a psychologist and professor of psychology, proposed a similar idea a decade later, as he stated that attempting to fix our problems forces us to focus on our problems, rather than the good that happens. He claimed that our mental health requires that we focus on our well-being and happiness, as well as the difficult experiences that occur.

In a similar vein, Pope Francis encourages us to focus on the positive experiences of life. In December 2020, the pontiff urged us to integrate these “Principles for Living a Happy Life” into our everyday experiences: be giving

As God’s children, we are designed for play.

At 7 or 70.

iSTOCK PHOTO | LIDERINA

What a profound statement! As God’s children, we are designed for play. At 7 or 70.

The blog post goes on to cite the many benefits of play: It encourages both movement and sleep, it nourishes our bodies, it stimulates personal growth and reduces stress.

It also strengthens our relationships, bonding us to others

ACTION CHALLENGE u See and celebrate something good in each day this month. Start a simple gratitude journal and write one thing that happened each day for which you are grateful. u Think about the good things in life and offer praise and glory to God. Ask for his grace to continue being more positive. of yourself to others; move quietly and peacefully; make time for playing with children, for leisure, reading and enjoying art; rapidly forget the negative; respect those who think differently; and actively seek peace. All of his suggestions lead to a life in which we flourish, rather than languish, and help change the direction of our world.

St. Paul encouraged us to focus on the good things in life, as he stated in Philippians 4:8-9, “Brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.”

Incorporating a more positive attitude when we feel discouraged is not an easy or simple task. It requires us to check our thinking and challenge negativity that causes us to feel disheartened, which saps our energy. It may seem easier to simply allow ourselves to continue to feel dispirited or depressed, rather than to muster the energy to see the positive aspects of what has happened over the past 18 months and to find something redeeming in them.

Becoming a more positive person requires that we do all we can to see the good in the situations we face and to celebrate the good, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem. When we do this, we begin to change our attitude about life itself. Seeing life from a rosier perspective tends to produce more roses. We love the fragrance of roses and the beauty they bring to the bouquets we create. Roses also have thorns, which we are well aware of as we carefully handle them. If we focused on the thorns, we wouldn’t enjoy the beauty of the roses.

This month, do all you can to see the beauty around

and enabling us to get to know them on a new level.

A powerful spiritual benefit of play is the way it reconnects us with ourselves, the post notes. “It is easy to get bogged down by the worries and expectations of the world — and lose our true selves in the process. When we play, we remember that we are first and foremost beloved children of God. We are human beings, not human doings. Play helps us remember what truly makes our spirits come alive and the unique gifts God has given us.”

Play keeps us young at heart, a fact my mom ably demonstrates at 65. She is not the grandma parked on the bench. She’s the one who hula hoops. She goes down slides with her grandkids and encourages them to play in the rain, pulling out her own rain boots to jump in puddles.

She is inspired by her faith. Her mantra comes from St. Irenaeus: “The glory of God is man fully alive.”

For my mom, play unlocks her creativity. “It takes me out my world,” she said.

Indeed, play is the brain’s favorite way of learning, and to ditch it at adulthood is to dramatically limit your intellectual growth.

My friend Stephanie enrolled in a Reform program to help process the death of her 18-month-old. Learning to embrace play has been a surprising step forward in her long journey with grief.

This summer, Steph played with her kids — running through the splash pad with them, baking, going on one-on-one dates. She also pledged to take up a hobby of her own. Creative engagement can be a playful outlet, so Steph decided to learn how to knit. She hopes the clacking needles soothe her heart.

As I write, a thunderstorm is rustling through, dimming the streets. It shifts me into a state of observing. I can step away from the to-do list. I don’t have to outrun the clock.

I can simply let autumn unfold. And if I find a good leaf pile, I will jump.

Capecchi is a freelance writer from Inver Grove Heights.

you and celebrate it. Look for something enriching in each day, acknowledge it and offer gratitude to God for his goodness and faithfulness. Become a more positive person by choosing to see and cultivate the good in each day.

Soucheray is a licensed marriage and family therapist emeritus and a member of St. Ambrose in Woodbury. She holds a master’s degree in theology from The St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul and a doctorate in educational leadership from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota.

LETTER Scripture out of context I thoroughly identify with the letter writer to Father Mike (“Bishops politicizing the Eucharist?”

Aug. 26). If the Eucharist is truly efficacious, then it should be offered to all who seek it. Who is the Church to deny anyone access to Christ? I agree with Father Mike’s answer up to his final paragraph, in which he quotes the apostle Paul completely out of context. To anyone reading the text he is referring to (1 Cor 11:17-34), it seems obvious that what Paul was complaining about was that the Church at Corinth had started to celebrate the Lord’s Supper as a party: “For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own supper, and one goes hungry while another gets drunk.” It was this abuse of a solemn memorial meal that was upsetting him, not whether or not its participants were free of sin before partaking.

G.J. Mayer St. Peter, Forest Lake Share your perspective by emailing TheCatholicSpirit@ Please limit your letter to the editor to 150 words and include your parish and phone number.

The Commentary pages do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Catholic Spirit. archspm.org.

COMMENTARY

16 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

ALREADY/NOT YET JONATHAN LIEDL

‘Maybe you’re wrong’ can serve as a gentle call to self-examination ...

Intellectual humility Believe it or not, you can find a fair amount of wisdom on the wall of a coffeeshop.

The phrases that sometimes adorn these spaces — such as cultivating an “attitude of gratitude” or the need to “live in the moment” — may be cliché, but a large amount of insight often lies behind these pop expressions.

I found my favorite coffeehouse proverb on the wall just above the bathroom door at St. Paul’s-own Kopplin’s Coffee, located near the corner of Marshall and Cleveland.

There, written in a yellow, all-caps font on the pea-soup green background, were three simple words: “MAYBE YOU’RE WRONG.” The gentle suggestion has quite a pedigree. It was Socrates who noted that wisdom can only begin by acknowledging one’s own ignorance.

To admit that we might be wrong, or might not have the full picture, is to be willing to part with convenient illusions for the sake of acquiring truth, a task made difficult precisely because of our tendency to prefer our own version of the facts.

In the Gospel, Jesus tends to make this point by correcting the false preconceptions about God and righteousness that those around him cling to, like when the Lord rebukes Peter for rejecting the revelation that he must go to Jerusalem, where his life will be taken. Peter is “thinking not as God does, but as human beings do,” preferring his own vision of how the Messiah will save his people to the sobering truth that Jesus — who Peter has just proclaimed as the Lord! — plainly shares.

Revelation and the wisdom tradition call for an openness to the fact that we don’t contain all the answers to life’s questions within ourselves, but must receive them from reality with fidelity and docility. This is an attitude of intellectual humility, a commitment to, in the words of Father Luigi Giussani — founder of the international Catholic movement Communion and Liberation — loving the truth more than our own preferred version of it. “Maybe you’re wrong” can serve as a gentle call to selfexamination, and to stay the course of humbly seeking the truth.

Part of the reason I love Kopplin’s suggestion of intellectual humility is because this virtue seems to be in shockingly short supply today. In real-life conversations but especially on social media, I am continuously blown away by how thoroughly and irretractably convinced people are of their opinions, their version of the facts and their conclusions — often on topics or questions that they have no real knowledge of and no capacity to actually verify!

iSTOCK PHOTO | ROMOLOTAVANI

Perhaps most alarming are instances when someone is confronted with facts that contradict their conclusion, and instead of acknowledging their mistake, they double down, or simply move on to the next topic where they can assert themselves as right. No one is even open to entertaining the possibility that they might be wrong.

This is a phenomenon that seems thoroughly non-partisan — it’s not restricted to one political party or demographic, and it’s capable of characterizing perspectives on any issue, from public health policies and restrictions to questions of Church theology and praxis, regardless of whether that perspective is objectively right or wrong.

What’s going on here? Instead of intellectual humility, what passes for discourse today is dominated by intellectual pride. Instead of “going where the truth leads,” the intellect has been hijacked by the ego, which reduces the truth to mere “information,” raw material it uses as fuel to reach a conclusion that’s been

predetermined. There is no willingness to conform to the truth; rather, the truth must conform to our ideological commitments.

This isn’t to say that we can’t come to know the truth regarding political, social or ecclesial matters.

We can and we ought to. In fact, to refuse to make judgments when the facts are all there and our intellect is moved toward the truth is not a form of humility, but intellectual despair. My emphasis, therefore, is that we must reach conclusions by remaining faithful to the facts as they present themselves, and with a healthy degree of detachment, aware of both our intellectual shortcomings and limitations as well as our capacity for egotism and self-deception. Our attachment must be to the truth, not to any particular political party or ideology, which so often serve as modern day idols.

Intellectual humility also doesn’t imply a kind of agnosticism to life’s most fundamental questions. Why not? The receptivity at the heart of

intellectual humility makes clear the need for a transcendent and ultimate explanation — of reality, yes, but also of ourselves, our desires and the meaning of our lives. We are incapable of providing this explanation ourselves, yet yearning for it is perhaps the most defining element of being human. Openness to this question being answered — and accepting the answer when it comes to us, as Christ has — is foundational to intellectual humility.

In fact, our conviction that Jesus is the ultimate explanation for everything is what allows us to practice intellectual humility in other areas of life. Knowing that an all-loving God created, redeemed, and sustains us allows us to accept our limitations and our need to receive from reality, instead of falling into the traps of egotism and intellectual pride, which are truly the products of insecurity and existential fear.

The theologian Bernard Lonergan once said that “perfect objectivity is the fruit of perfect subjectivity.” By this, he meant that we can only see the world rightly when we tear down our idols of ideology and conform our hearts to the truth — the truth of God’s providence and our need for intellectual humility. Prayerfully sitting with the suggestion that “maybe you’re wrong” — and discerning how we react to it and where those reactions come from — can be a fruitful start to this kind of conversion.

Liedl writes from the Twin Cities.

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SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

GUEST COMMENTARY | SERGIO ERNESTO BARRERA

Why Afghanistan matters

Over the past couple weeks, I have been crushed watching images of the situation in Afghanistan. The events that have occurred throughout the whole country have been deeply personal to me, and I know they have been to many others in this country.

I am a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps who served in Afghanistan in 2011. My job, or Military Occupation Specialty, as we called it, was to be an Afghan linguist, where I learned how to speak Dari and Balochi.

When I was a Marine, Afghanistan was looming over our heads like a storm cloud ready to rain. Everything that we trained for and focused on was our mission in Afghanistan. This was true from the moment I went to boot camp in 2008 to the moment I received my honorable discharge in 2013. I was 11 years old when 9/11 occurred and remember the fear, but also the pride and love I had for my country that followed in our moments of remembrance, that hearkened back to the days when we had a public religion. I am a secondgeneration Mexican American, and I joined the Marine Corps to serve the country that has been so good to me and my family.

Over the course of my career in the Marines, I spent a significant amount of time with Afghan nationals as well as dual citizens. My instructors in Dari and Balochi were mostly former Afghan refugees who left Afghanistan when the Soviet Union invaded or when the Taliban first came to power in the 1990s. In addition to teaching us the language of Afghanistan, my instructors taught us about the culture, the religion and the beauty of Afghanistan. In an environment like the Marines, where perfection is expected and leadership can be severe and intimidating, my language instructors provided care and understanding that helped many of us feel like family.

This interaction and close cooperation with the people of Afghanistan continued when I deployed.

I spent most of my time in Afghanistan shut in a room that was a little larger than a closet with Afghan Americans. They had been in Afghanistan continuously for more than five years at that point. Many of them continued serving as military contractors for years after I returned home — spending more than a decade there, away from their families in the U.S. They were there for two reasons. The first was they wanted to help their country of birth and their countrymen move on past the brutal years of Taliban rule and have a better, more secure future. The second was they wanted to support the United States, which generously welcomed them when they left their homes years ago.

Because I was a Dari linguist, I had the added benefit of serving and training the soldiers of the Afghan National Army, or ANA. My experience with the soldiers of the ANA was certainly an experience of culture clash, with many awkward moments, but by the end of my service I became close with these soldiers and saw them like brothers. I had many deep, impactful conversations with these men, and the experience really hit home for me, how we are all connected. In a Catholic sense, it reinforced the truth that we were all brothers and sisters, because we were all children of God. I had one frank conversation with one soldier, where he was expressing his frustration with irresponsible leadership and just wanted to vent. He told me how important it was for the sake of the country that leaders have virtue and integrity. It is a sentiment that I believe in as well, because my experience in the Marines made it obvious to me that sin is never confined to yourself.

Sin always spreads and produces more harm.

The ANA soldiers and I also talked about how we missed our families. I was already married at the time and was having a hard time being away, so we talked about how much we missed our wives and, additionally, how much they missed their children.

Of course, we weren’t there to evangelize. We had a

COMMENTARY mission, and it was securing the future of Afghanistan and preventing it from becoming a haven for terrorism.

However, there was a faith, a real humility, and strong value of hospitality that many of my Afghan brethren possessed that deeply impressed me, especially living in a deeply secular culture in the United States. I would be bold enough to say that they converted me, though not to Islam. But they converted me, in the sense that they inspired me to live out my faith honestly even in the face of great hardship.

(God) is knocking at America’s door and asking to be let in. Only this time, he is in the guise of the veteran struggling to cope with the result of the war, the Afghan Americans worried about their family and country of origin, or the Afghan refugee seeking to escape danger — even at the point of holding on to the outside of a plane.

I was also deeply impressed with the hospitality my brethren showed us. Although comparatively they had little, they treated us like kings. And did they feed us, and my goodness, was it good! Sitting around the dinner rug on the floor (because that’s the custom), and enjoying rice, chicken, naan, tea and friendship was one of the best experiences of breaking bread I ever had. I can honestly say that I met some of the best, most faithful people I’ve ever met in Afghanistan.

My service in Afghanistan was difficult and presented many challenges. There were moments when I thought my world had come crashing down upon me, and had I never felt so powerless in the face of it. My faith in God and in the Church grew. I know in those darkest moments God was there with me and ultimately answered my prayers. I lost friends there. A high school friend, Randy, with whom I joined the Marine Corps, was shot, and my first team leader, Luke, stepped on an IED. Luke provided the example of a good man of faith as well as leadership. Randy showed me the value of perseverance and never losing hope and giving up, even if the world says something is hopeless. So, I keep them in my prayers and take their example with me. I cannot even imagine what their families are going through, with the temptation to think that their lives were spent in vain.

To be honest, I’ve had the same temptations to despair. My time in the service was a high point of meaning and community, as well as pain. There were many highs and many more lows. But when I served, I felt truly alive, which can be a rare experience in the secular, materialistic culture we live in, where community is hard to find.

But the people of Afghanistan paid a bigger price than I did. Our translators, citizens or not, provided the backbone of our intelligence and translation services.

I spent less than a year in Afghanistan, while some lived there, and our dual residents and citizens spent, in some cases, two decades there. Although my fellow Marines and I were in harm’s way, my family was not, because they were safe at home. Many Afghans, on the other hand, not only risked their own lives, but the lives of their families and communities as well. Yet, to this day I get thanked for my service, while they do not, and are barely even thought of by many.

This brings me to my Catholic faith. The Catholic Church has long sought to live out the Lord’s command to “welcome the stranger.” The second part of that command rings ever truer for Catholics in the United States, “for you were once strangers, too.”

Many of our Catholic ancestors, mine included, came to the United States because of famine, war and lack of opportunities to make a living in their home countries.

It was difficult for our ancestors, and they weren’t always welcome, but we eventually found a home in the U.S. In Catholic social teaching, and put succinctly in the joint statement of bishops of the U.S. and Mexico “Strangers No Longer Together on the Journey of Hope,” is the emphasis that all people have the right

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 17 to migrate when their home country does not provide sufficient economic opportunities. The bishops stressed that this is especially crucial when people must migrate to escape persecution, war and threats to their lives.

Although countries have the right to defend their border, they taught that this must not be exaggerated.

In the words of their statement, “More powerful economic nations,” like the United States, “which have the ability to protect and feed their residents, have a stronger obligation to accommodate migration flows.”

In general, this holds for all immigrants and refugees from all countries of origin. But I would argue, justice requires that we take this teaching more seriously with regard to Afghanistan. Politics aside, we are in large part responsible for what is happening in Afghanistan right now. Additionally, the Afghan people in many ways fought for us, bled for us, believed in us, and helped us live safely at home by fighting with us. Therefore, it is imperative that we recognize the face of Christ in our brethren from Afghanistan. Yes, we should pray for Afghanistan. As in the prayer from the Poor Clares of Galway that was posted on St. Peter Claver church’s Facebook page: for those who are fleeing, sanctuary; for those who are staying, security; for those who are fighting, peace; for those whose hearts are breaking, comfort; and for those who see no future, hope.

But we must not forget that we are also called to be the hands, feet, mouth and eyes of Christ on earth.

Gov. Tim Walz has announced that Minnesota will be hosting Afghan refugees, so we may find ourselves in a position rather soon to be of service. If we are in the position to help, we should try. The situation in Afghanistan right now is making evident the barriers and difficulties in our immigration system that prevent us from helping many in need. It is a system the bishops have proposed reforming to be more open to immigrants and refugees.

We should listen to our pastors and press our governing officials to make a system that is more respectful of human dignity and the right that all have to pursue their basic human rights when it is not available in their home countries. I myself have been busy passing information to other veterans seeking ways to help Afghan refugees. The work I’ve seen my fellow Marines perform, just through a Facebook page, has really inspired me and taught me how any little act of goodness can save lives and make a difference in people’s lives. Sometimes, all we have to do is plant the seed, and the fruit will come.

But politics aside, anything can help, even a word of encouragement to your Afghan neighbors, whether they just arrived or are fellow Americans who have been here for decades. Just the other day, I spoke to an Afghan American born in the U.S. I had never met the man before, and I just so happened to be passing through a business owned by his family. Although it was awkward, I expressed to him my sorrow and support for what his family was going through. The man replied at the brink of tears. He told me his family’s story and how his parents, aunts and uncles had nothing before they came here. He told me what bothers him the most is that it seems like “nobody cares.” I have felt that, too, and almost broke down in tears myself. I told him how I served in Afghanistan.

He thanked me for my service, and I told him about all the wonderful Afghans I met in the Marines. Then we shook hands and parted ways, but I felt like it was what he needed and I needed.

Through this and whatever else may come, we must never forget that God is always asking us to serve. He is knocking at America’s door and asking to be let in. Only this time, he is in the guise of the veteran struggling to cope with the result of the war, the Afghan Americans worried about their family and country of origin, or the Afghan refugee seeking to escape danger — even at the point of holding on to the outside of a plane.

Let us heed our Lord’s teaching in the parable of the good Samaritan to not ignore the stranger that many abandoned on the other side of the street.

Barrera, 31, is a Ph.D. student in economics at the University of Minnesota, and a member of Our Lady of Lourdes in Minneapolis, where he is on the Justice and Charity Committee. He also is a board member of the Chicago-based National Center for the Laity.

18 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

WHY I AM CATHOLIC

T

he COVID pandemic triggered

a question in me that led to me

deciding to go through RCIA and

become Catholic.

I grew up as the oldest of three boys, and when

I was young, we attended a Methodist church pretty

regularly. As I got into middle school and high school,

we started going less and less, so we only went on Christmas and Easter. After that, we didn’t go at all, so it’s no surprise

By Kenton Pagel DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

This thought led to some Googling and online Reddit discussions, which led to a book by Brant Pitre, “Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper.” After learning Jesus’ teachings through the eyes of a first-century Jew, the Eucharist all of a sudden just made sense! This was the catalyst that led to learning other Catholic teachings that also just made sense, like Church authority, faith with good works, and the saints.

Jesus’ teachings

that my brothers are now atheist, and my parents don’t have

on the Eucharist

strong faith.

are pretty clear:

I went to college and got a degree in engineering within

“Truly, truly, I

After learning Jesus’ teachings through the eyes of a first century Jew, the Eucharist all of a sudden just made sense!

four years and I have run several marathons, so I thought I

say to you, unless

could get through any tough situation by myself and didn’t

you eat the flesh

need God’s help. I married my wife, a devout Catholic who

of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in

went to Catholic school her entire life, preschool through

you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal

college, so I had some seeds planted in my heart along the

life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is

way. Throughout this time, there had been a lot of family

food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats

drama, so I realized that I can’t fix everything or get through

my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him”

everything alone. I actually do need God.

(Jn 6:53-56).

Before COVID, my wife and I would go to Mass, but

Pagel, 32, is married to Samantha and has two children,

I would not take part in the Eucharist because I wasn’t

Aurora and Harrison. He and his family are members of

Catholic and I didn’t believe in that part. As time went on,

St. Joseph of the Lakes, Lino Lakes. Pagel is a member of

we had two kids, and then the pandemic hit. During the

the Knights of Columbus, works as a software engineer and

Easter Vigil of 2020, my wife and I were watching Mass

also enjoys running marathons while raising money for Team

on YouTube. About one hour into it, I asked, aren’t they

World Vision.

going to start wrapping up soon? She replied that the vigil is actually a couple of hours long! When they got to the consecration, I thought to myself, Catholics can’t really believe the bread and wine really are the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

“Why I am Catholic” is an ongoing series in The Catholic Spirit. Want to share why you are Catholic? Submit your story in 300-500 words to CatholicSpirit@archspm.org with “Why I am Catholic” in the subject line.

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 19

CALENDAR PARISH FESTIVALS

PARISH EVENTS

St. Ambrose FALLFEST — Sept. 24–25 at 4125 Woodbury Drive, Woodbury. Sept. 24: 5–10 p.m.

Sept. 25: 10 a.m.–10 p.m. Food, carnival rides, silent auction, bucket raffle, talent show. Sept 24. band: Rizer. Sept. 25 band: Good for Gary. Both: 6–10 p.m. saintambrosecatholic.org/parish-festival

Children's Clothing and Toy Sale — Sept. 25-26 at St. Joseph The Worker, 7180 Hemlock Lane N., Maple Grove. Sept 25: 9 a.m.–2 p.m.; Sept 26: 9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Sizes newborn to 16, toys, shoes, high chairs, strollers, books and more. Credit cards accepted. All items 50% off on Sunday. sjtw.net/fall-winter-childrens-sale

St. John the Baptist Fall Fest and Booya — Sept. 24-26 at 835 Second Ave. NW, New Brighton.

Food, fun and games including 90th annual Booya Fest, golf tournament, pig roast, fun run, polka Mass, bingo, fireworks, bean bag toss, and music by The Good the Bad and the Funky and GB Leighton. stjohnnb.com/fallfest-2021 St. John the Evangelist Fall Festival — Sept. 25: Noon–9 p.m. at 380 Little Canada Road, Little Canada. $2,500 grand raffle, pull tabs, live music by Powerhouse, marathon, smoked pulled pork dinner, beer, wine, inflatables, games, cornhole tournament. sjolc.org St. Gabriel the Archangel Fall Festival — Sept. 25–26 at 1310 Mainstreet, Hopkins. Sept 25: 5:30–10 p.m. live music, grill and Hispanic food, games, inflatable. Sept. 26: 11 a.m.–4:30 p.m. chicken dinner, online auction, bingo, bake shop, country store, games, inflatables, food and beverages, football on big screen, raffle drawing at 4:30 p.m. Tours of convent and Chesterton Academy. stgabrielhopkins.org/festival-news St. Gregory the Great Fall Festival and Booya — Sept. 26: 10:30 a.m.–1 p.m. at 38725 Forest Blvd., North Branch. Booths, silent auction, raffle and kids' games. stgregorynb.org St. Peter Fall Festival — Sept. 26: 9 a.m.– 4 p.m. at 2600 Margaret St. N., North St. Paul.

Pancake breakfast, bingo, boutique, silent auction, children's games, cornhole tournament, raffle, food trucks and live entertainment with the River Rats Dueling Pianos. churchofstpeternsp.org/fall-festival St. Francis de Sales Booya and Fall Fiesta — Oct. 3: 11:30 a.m. at Highland Park Pavillion, 1200 Montreal Ave., St. Paul. Hot dogs, tacos, pop, beer and more. Games for all ages. Bilingual Mass 10 a.m. sf-sj.org

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Ice Cream Social — Sept. 26: 3–4:30 p.m. at Holy Childhood, 1435 Midway Parkway, St. Paul. Free. holychildhoodparish.org Three Catholic Poets — Oct. 1: 7:30 p.m. at St Albert the Great, 2836 33rd Ave. S., Minneapolis.

Featuring Angela Alaimo O’Donnell of Fordham University, New York; Maryann Corbett and James Silas Rogers of St. Paul. Free. saintalbertthegreat.org

RETREATS Fiat Women's Discernment Retreat — Sept. 24-26 at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. Discernment retreat for single Catholic women age 18-28. Religious sisters from various orders will lead the retreat. Information and registration at fiatministries.org.

Into the Deep, Dan Burke — Sept 26: 1-5 p.m. at The Winery at Sovereign Estate, 9950 N. Shore Rd.,Waconia. Join Dan Burke on a journey to explore a deeper prayer life, along with the Seven Secrets of Spiritual Progress. For further details and to register: tickettailor.com/events/avilafoundation/566963

SCHOOLS Chesterton Academy Open House — Oct. 5: 6:30–8 p.m. at Chesterton Academy, 1320 Mainstreet, Hopkins. For prospective students and their families. Meet teachers, administrators and students, learn about the curriculum and tour the new Hopkins campus. chestertonacademy.myschoolapp.com/podium

OTHER EVENTS Born To Run 5K — Sept. 18: 8:30 a.m.–noon at Pioneer Park, 2950 Little Canada Road, Little Canada.

Benefit for Women's Life Care Center, Little Canada.

Same day registration begins at 8:30 a.m. Runners begin at 9 a.m. Walkers begin at 10 a.m. Familyfriendly activities include rock painting, kids’ fitness

Archbishop Bernard Hebda has asked all parishes in the archdiocese to host Synod Small Groups this fall for Catholics to learn, pray and share ideas on three focus areas ahead of the 2022 Archdiocesan Synod. Focus areas are: Forming parishes that are in the service of evangelization, forming missionary disciples who know Jesus’ love and respond to his call, and forming youth and young adults in and for a Church that is always young. Small groups will meet for six 2-hour sessions between mid-September and mid-November. Watch for communications from your parish about how to participate in a small group there, and the specific dates and times they’ll meet. Learn more about the Archdiocesan Synod process at archspm.org/synod.

challenges, balloon art and face painting. womenslifecarecenter.org/new-events/born-to-run Please refer to archspm.org/events for more detailed information on the following events: Annual Mass for Persons with Disabilities — Sept. 19: 3 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Paul, St. Paul.

Sing-along starts at 2:30 p.m. Celebrant: Archbishop Bernard Hebda.

Mass of Solidarity (World Day for Migrants and Refugees, Immigration Sunday) — Sept. 26: 3 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Paul, St. Paul. Celebrant: Archbishop Bernard Hebda.

Annual Candlelight Rosary Procession — Oct. 1: 7 p.m. in St. Paul. Line-up begins at 6:15 p.m.

Procession is from State Capitol to the Cathedral of St. Paul.

Pre-Twin Cities Marathon Mass — Oct 3: 6 a.m. at St. Olaf, 215 S. Eighth St., Minneapolis. Celebrant: Father Joseph Taphorn, rector of The St. Paul Seminary.

SPEAKERS MCCL Fall Tour pro-life gathering — Sept. 23: 7–8 p.m. at St. Albert, 11400 57th St. NE, Albertville.

Pro-life educational gathering to learn about current challenges and how Minnesotans can make a difference in protecting life. Free one-hour presentation given by Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL). mccl.org/falltour

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

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

ITEMS MUST INCLUDE the following to be considered for publication: uTime and date of event uFull street address of event uDescription of event uContact information in case of questions ONLINE: TheCatholicSpirit.com/calendarsubmissions

Q&A CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 Q And of course the Red-Headed Woodpecker.

A That used to be the most common

woodpecker when I was a boy. I’d see Red-Headed Woodpeckers on telephone poles in St. Paul all the time.

Now they’re gone! You have to go to special places to find them. They stick to certain Oak Savannah territories.

That’s where I bring in Pope Francis’ “Laudato Si’.”

Q “On Care for our Common Home.”

A When I see the wide variety of bird

species — or look at just the 30-plus species of warblers, little birds — I marvel at all the care God put into creation. And yes, as Jesus said in Luke, “They do not sow or reap. They have not storehouses or barns, yet God feeds them. How much more important are you than birds!” What a magnanimous being God is!

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20 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

SEPTEMBER 16, 2021

THELASTWORD

Finding rest in recovery

T

Men at Trinity Sober Homes pitch in to help build new retreat center

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit

Tim Murray often introduces himself by saying, “My name is Tim, and I am an alcoholic.”

It’s part of his recovery program, which began after he landed in the Ramsey County detox center in 2009. Over the last decade, the 62-year-old former business executive has gradually forged a new identity as someone who finds creative solutions for vexing problems surrounding the struggle to stay sober.

He discovered one such problem within the last year, and set his time and energy to work coming up with an answer — a retreat center for men in recovery set to open Oct. 1 called St. Isidore Farm, located on a small tract of land south of the Twin Cities.

He is adding this to a successful ministry he started in 2012 called Trinity Sober Homes, which he founded with the help and direction of Father Martin Fleming, a priest of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis who had taken Murray in at the start of his journey to sobriety. The ministry helps men 40 and older who are struggling with addiction. Over the past decade, Murray has purchased and renovated three homes in St. Paul, all named after archangels, and has helped a total of 367 men who have lived in the homes for an average length of 13 months.

In July 2020, Murray was reflecting on the success of his ministry, which has a sobriety rate of 71% — “the highest posttreatment recovery rate in the nation,” he said. But for him, it still wasn’t good enough.

“While we were very proud of the fact that 71 percent of our men are still sober, there’s still 29 percent of our men that we were … losing,” said Murray, a parishioner of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. “And, after 10 years, I thought, ‘We really should try to do something more for those men who are struggling.’”

The answer, he believed, was “in the data.” The numbers at Trinity showed a twofold trend: First, the majority of men who relapsed did so in their first six months of trying to stay sober; and, second, of those men, 90% relapsed on a Friday or Saturday night.

Murray called that second number “a bit of a head scratcher.”

Further analysis helped him see that, for the men who live at Trinity Sober Homes, their schedules often are empty on the weekends. They are required to work either full time or part time during the week, but often find themselves with nothing to do after their work week ends on Friday.

“The reality is that, when a weekend comes, if you’re not really drinking the AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) Kool-Aid, and you’re not totally buying into this whole ‘higher power’ thing, weekends can be very long,” Murray said. “We call it ‘white-knuckling it’ to get from, say, Friday at 3 p.m. to 8 a.m. on a Monday morning. And, you know, there’s an old saying that says, ‘An alcoholic alone in his own mind is in a very bad neighborhood.’

“And so, the question became: What could we do to help men maybe stay busy or more engaged in their recovery on the weekend?”

The answer was simple: Give them something to look forward to. Murray kicked around ideas like buying a cabin or farm, then asked men in recovery and trusted friends what they thought of the idea. Support was unanimous, so Murray called a realtor friend and asked him to start looking for land to buy.

Months later, in January, Murray found five acres south of the Twin Cities near a small town in the Mankato area, and purchased the land using money donated to his nonprofit. The parcel of land is wooded and surrounded by farmland, and it contained an old, run-down farmhouse. The 1,600-square-foot structure needed lots of work, but Murray, having gone through three home renovations already, wasn’t the least bit afraid to tackle another. Not only that, he would have the help of the very men whose futures were tied to this weekend getaway.

At the outset, he knew he would get help from the many outside volunteers who have supported Trinity Sober Homes over the past

Tim Murray stands outside a farmhouse he is restoring to create a retreat center for men in recovery from addiction called St. Isidore Farm.

DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

10 years financially, materially and spiritually.

What surprised him was the enthusiastic response from the residents who will one day use St. Isidore Farm for weekend retreats.

“I just was hoping they’d be excited to eventually come down once it was completed,” Murray said, noting that the finished retreat center will be able to sleep up to 10 men at a time. “Well, we’ve had more than 25% of the men come down (to see the retreat center) and say, ‘Hey, we want to help.’”

One of them, Troy Gates, has come down nearly every weekend since construction began in March. Although he does heavy labor for a landscaping company during the week, he eagerly gets up at 5:30 or 6 a.m. on Saturdays to make the hour-and-a-half drive to the retreat center to work a full day. He currently lives at St. Raphael House, the newest of the three Trinity Sober Homes, which collectively can accommodate up to 38 men.

“I really like what he’s got going on down there,” Gates, 44, said of Murray’s farm retreat project. “This has been everything from demolishing, to framing windows and tiling floors and learning stuff. So, it has been a cool experience.”

It’s also been, as he put it, “therapeutic.” On a typical Saturday, he will make the hour-and-ahalf drive from St. Paul to St. Isidore Farm with a fellow St. Raphael resident, work all day, then return home in the evening. Three hours in a car gives the men a chance to talk about life and recovery, and build the kind of relationship that can be a bedrock of sobriety.

Gates is learning that lesson now, having relapsed in February just two months after moving into St. Raphael House. Following this “dark chapter” on his road to recovery, the men at his house rallied around him and helped pull him back to sobriety. After battling addiction for many years, he now proudly lists his sobriety date as March 7.

He is proof positive of Murray’s theory on the value of constructive weekend activity to help stay sober.

“For the most part, I go there (to St. Isidore Farm)” every Saturday, Gates said. “That’s been a big part of this for me — staying busy. What do they say? Idle time is the devil’s workshop. I just like to keep moving. And, that helps me.”

Prior to coming to St. Raphael, Gates worked in the printing industry for 21 years, and continually fed a drinking habit that spun out of control. When the weekend came, it was “definitely go time” for launching into another

binge. He tried to get sober about five or six years ago, and went through treatment three times. But he always relapsed.

He thinks this time will be different. Murray is staking his life’s work on it. As executive director of Trinity Sober Homes, and a recipient of the help he received from Father Fleming, who died in May 2018 at age 91, Murray spends countless hours fulfilling his life’s mission of helping men stay sober. He believes St. Isidore Farm will help keep the recovery rate of the men at Trinity Sober Homes climbing toward 100%.

“There’s no question in my mind that when I’m down here, I’m doing God’s will,” he said.

“I’m in the zone. I’m doing what my purpose is.”

It’s also part of his overall plan, which is to create what he has always called “authentically and unapologetically Catholic” houses for men in recovery. Anyone coming to St. Isidore Farm will see statues of Jesus and Mary outside, and religious symbols like crosses inside. There also will be walking trails winding through the woods that will guide men through the rosary and Stations of the Cross. That’s fine for men like Gates, who grew up Lutheran but respects and appreciates the Catholic identity of Trinity Sober Homes.

“I like the fact that it’s faith based,” Gates said. “I didn’t even know, when I first started looking into it, if I would be allowed, since I wasn’t Catholic. … But, I’m very welcome here.”

And, he couldn’t be happier that his recovery now includes pounding nails at a country farmhouse.

“I feel a part of it, like we’re building something,” he said. “I’m proud of myself.”

Just as important as the walls of the house are the bonds of community, which is what Father Fleming envisioned for Trinity Sober Homes back when he and Murray — both fiery Irishmen by heritage — hashed out the plan for this new Catholic ministry while Murray was in the infancy of his recovery.

“He (Father Fleming) said, ‘If you can get enough men close enough together, it’s like getting embers of coal together,’” Murray recalled. “‘And your job, Tim, is to get them as close together as you can. And then, step back and just wait, and then let the breath of the Holy Spirit just ignite those souls. That’s when community among men happens.’ And so, that’s what we’re going to try to do here.”