The Catholic Spirit - September 22, 2016

Prayers for Jacob 6 • Abortion ads 8 • Retirement Planning 16-21 September 22, 2016 Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis

‘Agents of peace’ Parishes heed bishops’ call to step up in prayer and action to end violence

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hroughout the summer, headlines across the country announced shooting deaths of black men at the hands of police officers. Some incidents spurred peaceful protests while others incited more violence, including the killing of police officers.

Many questions remain amid assertions of racism and injustice. But with encouragement from the U.S. bishops, many Catholics are starting conversations, fueled by prayer, to build their communities and seek an end to violence.

By Matthew Davis and Jessica Trygstad The Catholic Spirit At St. Bridget in north Minneapolis on the afternoon of Sept. 11, a group of people circled around a table in the narthex. They were hunched over maps of northside neighborhoods, determining where they would pray in the coming weeks and months.

In addition to signing up to canvass the neighborhood with prayer, people gathered in the church to hear messages of peace and calls to action from St. Bridget associate pastor Father Paul Jarvis and Pastor Paul Slack of New Creation Church, located about 2 miles south of St. Bridget. In recent weeks, the community has been rocked with shootings. Attendees lit 20 some candles to honor and remember victims of violence.

Telling the crowd of approximately 100 to commit to being “agents of peace,” Father Jarvis described the event as the beginning of a movement, guided by the Holy Spirit, to encourage people to get out of their comfort zones and start conversations with others who are different from themselves.

“We are not gathering as a white community, we are not gathering as a black community, we are not gathering as a Protestant community, we are not

Father Paul Jarvis, center, high fives north Minneapolis resident Awil Ismail, who is Muslim, Sept. 18 as part of an effort to pray for the neighborhoods near St. Bridget, where Father Jarvis serves as associate pastor. Members of St. Bridget joined forces with members of New Creation Church, also in north Minneapolis, to pray for peace and meet residents of the neighborhood.

Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit gathering as a Catholic community ... we are gathering together as the community of the beloved God,” Father Jarvis said.

The event was the first of what organizers — starting at St. Bridget — hope will be many Come Together services that include prayer, Scripture, music, reflections and conversations. Although the prayer service had been planned for weeks in response to an uptick in summer shootings, it came at a poignant time. Just three days before, on Sept. 8, stray bullets struck Sojourner Truth Academy, the K-8 charter school across the street from St. Bridget, and several cars in the church parking lot, which the school’s staff uses during the

week. No one was hurt, and law enforcement says the shootings were gang related.

Doris McNeal, who attends New Creation Church, thought the gathering’s intent was to honor a specific person who was killed. Although she didn’t realize it was for the community, ultimately, she honored her son, who was killed on his way home from a friend’s house in north Minneapolis 10 years ago. She called the ecumenical prayer service inspirational and spiritual.

“I thought it was something good, something we all could relate to,” said McNeal, 57. “I felt something in Please turn to PEACE on page 7

ALSO inside

Golf chaplains

Mercy works

Stop sin, seek virtue

Chaska priest Father Fernando Ortega among clergy to serve at Ryder Cup starting Sept. 27.

— Page 5

Pope Francis visits the neonatal unit at a Rome hospital as part of his series performing works of mercy during the Holy Year.

— Page 10

University of St. Thomas psychology professor performs spiritual work of mercy in the classroom and beyond.

— Pages 12-13

2 • The Catholic Spirit

PAGE TWO

September 22, 2016 NEWS notes • The Catholic Spirit

in PICTURES

The Catholic Spirit alters fall publication schedule The Catholic Spirit will next publish on Oct. 13, a change from its regular biweekly date. The newspaper resumes its normal schedule with the Oct. 27 publication.

Worldwide Children’s Eucharistic Holy Hour to be broadcast, streamed live At 10 a.m. Oct. 7, the Eternal Word Television Network will broadcast and stream live on its website (www.ewtn.org) the 14th annual Worldwide Children’s Eucharistic Holy Hour from the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.

Bishop Andrew Cozzens will lead the event that includes children from across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The event kicks off the Global 40 Hour Eucharistic Event, which concludes Oct. 8 at the parish of Little Shepherds of Fatima in Aljustrel, Portugal. For more information, contact the Office of Marriage, Family and Life at 651-291-4488 or mfl@archspm.org.

Candlelight Rosary Procession is Oct. 7 in St. Paul

REMEMBERING JACOB Anthony Scholz, 5, places one last white ribbon among the candles in the sanctuary at St. Joseph in St. Joseph in the Diocese of St. Cloud Sept. 11 for Jacob Wetterling, who was abducted Oct. 22, 1989, at age 11. Twenty-seven years after his disappearance, authorities recently found his remains in a remote area near Paynesville. A memorial service for Wetterling will be 10 a.m. Sept. 25 at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph. Courtesy Dianne Towalski

The annual Archdiocesan Candlelight Rosary Procession will begin at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 7 at the State Capitol, located at John Ireland Blvd. and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in St. Paul. At 7 p.m., participants will process by candlelight with Archbishop Bernard Hebda to the Cathedral of St. Paul in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary, whose feast is Oct. 7. A brief service will follow at the Cathedral. For more information, visit www.familyrosaryprocession.org.

Fatima statue to tour archdiocese Oct. 8-13 To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Marion apparitions at Fatima, Portugal, the International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Fatima will visit six parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis Oct. 8-13. They are: Holy Cross in Minneapolis Oct. 8, St. George in Long Lake Oct. 9, St. John the Baptist in New Brighton Oct. 10, St. Michael in Stillwater Oct. 11, Nativity of Mary in Bloomington Oct. 12-13, and the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis Oct. 13. The celebrations include processions, Mass, praying the rosary, confessions, talks on Fatima and eucharistic adoration. For more information, visit www.fatimaonline.org.

White Mass for health care workers slated for Oct. 18 The White Mass for Health Care Workers will be 7 p.m. Oct. 18 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. Spouses and families are welcome. A reception will follow in Hayden Hall on the lower level of the Cathedral.

The annual event is sponsored by the St. Paul and Minneapolis Guild of the Catholic Medical Association and the archdiocesan Office of Marriage, Family and Life. For more information, contact 651-294-4488 or flomos@archspm.org.

Archdiocesan Youth Day Oct. 29 NATIONAL HONOR Joan McGrath, left, a parishioner of St. Pius X in White Bear Lake, receives the Our Lady of Good Counsel Award from Sheila Hopkins, president of the National Council of Catholic Women, at its annual convention Sept. 7-11, this year in Indianapolis. The award, named after the NCCW’s patroness, is given every two years to one volunteer at the annual convention. Bishop Andrew Cozzens; Father David Kohner, spiritual adviser for the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women; and the ACCW board nominated McGrath for her longstanding work with the organization. Twenty-four women from the ACCW attended the convention. Courtesy Florence Schmidt, ACCW president

Archdiocesan Youth Day 2016 (AYD16) will be 1:30 to 9 p.m. Oct. 29 at Roy Wilkins Auditorium, St. Paul RiverCentre. The annual event will feature Archbishop Bernard Hebda; keynote speaker Father Agustino Torres, director of evangelization for the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal and co-founder of Catholic Underground; Mass, dinner, reconciliation, eucharistic adoration, activities, service projects and music from local band Sonar. Registration is by group only. For more information, call the Office of Marriage, Family and Life at 651-291-4515.

in REMEMBRANCE

WHAT’S NEW on social media Need your fix of Catholic memes? Look no further than: www.facebook.com/thecatholicspirit Social justice and abortion — Sharon Wilson reacts to the full-page color advertisement the group Catholics for Choice placed in the StarTribune as part of a national campaign: www.catholichotdish.com

The Catholic Spirit is published bi-weekly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Vol. 21 — No. 19 MOST REVEREND BERNARD A. HEBDA, Publisher TOM HALDEN, Associate Publisher MARIA C. WIERING, Editor

Deacon James Smith, 86, of St. Patrick in Edina, died Aug. 19. His wife, Margaret, aka Gerry, died Aug. 24.

He was born Jan. 21, 1930, in Rockford, Illinois, and was ordained a permanent deacon for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on June 10, 1978. He served at Immaculate Heart of Mary in Minnetonka from 1978 to 1984 and at St. Patrick from 1984 to 1994. He retired in 1994.

A funeral Mass was Aug. 29 at St. Patrick. Interment was in Fort Snelling National Cemetery.

Materials credited to CNS copy­righted by Catholic News Service.

All other materials copyrighted by The Cath­olic Spirit Newspaper.

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FROM THE ARCHBISHOP

September 22, 2016

The Catholic Spirit • 3

The right to life: authentic Catholic social teaching

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trange things happen in election years. That was clear to me last Monday morning as I opened the newspaper to a full-page ad from an organization called “Catholics for Choice” referring to “Abortion in Good Faith” and misrepresenting Catholic social teaching by claiming that “public funding for abortion is a Catholic social justice value.” This ad, with slight regional variations, appeared in newspapers across the country, and represented the latest in a series of public relations efforts by this organization to promote a pro-abortion agenda by attempting to counter the Church’s consistent and convincing proclamation of the Gospel of life.

You may remember Catholics for Choice from their failed efforts, for example, to challenge the Holy See’s permanent observer status at the United Nations. It’s the same group that put St. John Paul II at the top of its “enemies list” at the time of the U.N. Cairo Conference. Its long-time president, Frances Kissling, would go so far as to express her longing at times “for the destruction of the Catholic Church,” which she saw as a “fatally flawed” institution — quite a contrast from our Catholic understanding of the Church as the body of Christ. As an organization, there’s nothing Catholic about “Catholics for Choice.”

ONLY JESUS

Unable to muffle the Church’s opposition to the culture of death, its most recent ad campaign seems to be an attempt to sow seeds of confusion concerning authentic Church teaching as we once again approach election time.

Judging from the phone calls and email messages that we received this week, however, the Catholic faithful of this Archbishop archdiocese are too well-educated in the faith to be so easily Bernard Hebda misled. They know that Christ, in founding the Church upon the apostles, assured that through them and their successors she would always be blessed with authentic teachers endowed with his authority who, as taught at the Second Vatican Council, would “preach to the people committed to them the faith they must believe and put into practice” (Lumen Gentium 25). They also know that those authentic teachers have consistently taught that the value of human life needs to be respected and protected from conception to natural death.

In his most recent encyclical, “The Joy of Love,” Pope Francis, reiterating the teaching of his predecessors, could not be any clearer: “So great is the value of a human life, and so inalienable the right to life of an innocent child growing in the mother’s womb, that no alleged right to one’s own body can justify a decision to terminate that life.” Earlier this

year, he called on all Christians to “a renewed esteem of the human person and a more adequate care of life, from conception to natural death.” That, brothers and sisters, is authentic Catholic social teaching.

I am not naïve enough to think that there are not individual Catholics who struggle with different aspects of Catholic teaching, even here in our local Church. I bristle as you do whenever I hear a politician begin a sentence with “I’m a devout Catholic, but … .” Living in a throwaway culture that at times values things more than people and convenience even more than life, it is all too easy to forget that the right to life is the first human right. As men and women of faith who have taken to heart the theme of this jubilee year, “Merciful like the Father,” our hearts have to move with compassion not only for new parents anxiously wondering how a child is going to fit into their lives, but also for their unborn children.

Indeed, in “The Joy of the Gospel,” Pope Francis noted that we need to have a special compassion for the unborn: “Among the vulnerable for whom the Church wishes to care with particular love and concern are unborn children, the most defenseless and innocent among us. Nowadays efforts are made to deny them their human dignity and to do with them whatever one pleases, taking their lives and passing laws preventing anyone from standing in the way of this … . Precisely because this involves the internal consistency of our message about the value of the human person, the Church cannot be expected to change her position on this question … . It’s not ‘progressive’ to try to resolve problems by eliminating a human life … .”

I am very proud that our Catholic community is so obviously committed to providing concrete support to new parents and families. I know that so many of you are supporting the many pregnancy resource centers in this region that offer practical assistance to pregnant women in need. I know as well the wonderful programs that are offered locally to enable young moms to be great parents, even when they are facing that responsibility alone or need to finish their education. I know the phenomenal work that Catholic Charities is doing to keep struggling families together. It is a blessing to be part of a Church that lives what it believes about the dignity of human life.

It seems to me that the recent ad from Catholics for Choice presents us as a local Church with a wonderful teachable moment. I hope that the priests and faithful of this archdiocese, who have been relentless in their defense of human life, will join me in looking for opportunities to lovingly and patiently bring the light of authentic Catholic social teaching into this discussion in the days and weeks ahead. May the Lord bring forth our efforts to preach his Gospel of life.

El derecho a la vida: la auténtica enseñanza social Católica

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osas extrañas suceden en los años de elecciones.

Eso fue claro para mí el pasado lunes por la mañana cuando abrí el periódico a un anuncio de página completa de una organización llamada “Catholics for Choice,” en referencia al “Aborto en buena fe” y que tergiversan la enseñanza social católica al afirmar que “los fondos públicos para el aborto son un valor católico de justicia social.” Este anuncio, con ligeras variaciones regionales, apareció en los periódicos de todo el país, y representó el último de una serie de esfuerzos de relaciones públicas por esta organización para promover una agenda proaborto, tratando de contrarrestar la proclamación consistente y convincente de la Iglesia, del Evangelio de la vida.

Usted puede recordar Catholics for Choice por sus esfuerzos estropeados/fracasados, por ejemplo, para desafiar el estatus de observador permanente de la Santa Sede en las Naciones Unidas. Es el mismo grupo que puso a San Juan Pablo II en la parte superior de su “lista de enemigos” en el momento de la Conferencia de El Cairo U.N. Su presidente desde hace mucho tiempo, Frances Kissling, iría tan lejos como para expresar su deseo, a veces “para la destrucción de la Iglesia Católica,” que vio como una institución “fatalmente defectuosa” — un gran contraste de nuestra comprensión católica de la iglesia como el cuerpo de Cristo. Como organización, no hay nada Católico sobre “Catholics for Choice.”

Incapaz de amortiguar la oposición de la Iglesia a la cultura de la muerte, su más reciente campaña publicitaria parece ser un intento de sembrar semillas de confusión con respecto a la auténtica enseñanza de la Iglesia, ya que una vez más nos acercamos a la

época de elecciones.

Juzgando por las llamadas telefónicas y mensajes de correo electrónico que hemos recibido esta semana, sin embargo, los fieles católicos de esta arquidiócesis están demasiado bien educados en la fe para ser engañados tan fácilmente.

Ellos saben que Cristo, cuando fundó la Iglesia sobre los apóstoles, aseguró que a través de ellos y de sus sucesores, ésta siempre sería bendecida con auténticos maestros dotados de autoridad, que, como nos enseña el Concilio Vaticano II, “predicaría a las personas comprometidas con ellos la fe que deben creer y poner en práctica “(Lumen Gentium 25). También saben que los auténticos maestros han enseñado consistentemente que el valor de la vida humana debe ser respetado y protegido desde la concepción hasta la muerte natural.

En su más reciente enc íclica, “La Alegría del Amor,” el Papa Francisco, reiterando la enseñanza de sus predecesores, no podía ser más claro: “Tan grande es el valor de una vida humana, y por lo tanto inalienable derecho a la vida de un inocente niño que crece en el vientre de la madre, que ningún supuesto derecho al propio cuerpo puede justificar la decisión de terminar esa vida.” A principios de este año, hizo un llamado a todos los cristianos a “un renovado respeto de la persona humana y una atención más adecuada de la vida, desde la concepción hasta la muerte natural”.

Esto, hermanos y hermanas, es auténtica enseñanza social católica.

No soy tan ingenuo como para pensar que no hay católicos aquí en nuestra Iglesia local, que luchan con los diferentes aspectos de la enseñanza católica. Me enfada como también le pasa a usted, cada vez que

oigo a un político comenzar una frase con “Soy un Católico devoto, pero ... .” Viviendo en una cultura de descarte que a veces valora las cosas más que las personas, y la conveniencia más que la vida, es demasiado fácil olvidar que el derecho a la vida es el primer derecho humano. Como hombres y mujeres de fe que han tomado en serio el tema de este año jubilar, “Misericordioso como el Padre,” nuestros Please turn to ESPAÑOL on page 23

OFFICIAL Archbishop Bernard Hebda has announced the following appointments in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis: Effective September 8, 2016 Deacon Joseph Damiani, appointed to exercise the ministry of a permanent deacon at the Church of Saint Agnes in Saint Paul. This is a transfer from his previous appointment at the Church of the Annunciation in Minneapolis.

Effective October 1, 2016 Deacon Michael Powers, appointed to exercise the ministry of a permanent deacon at the Church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Maplewood. This is a transfer from his previous appointment at the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Minneapolis.

4 • The Catholic Spirit

LOCAL

September 22, 2016

It’s all an act

SLICEof LIFE

Maggie Longsdorf, front, of St. Peter in Forest Lake plays the part of someone trying to focus on God during drama rehearsal for National Evangelization Teams Ministries Sept. 13 at the NET Center in West St. Paul. She is one of 30 young adults from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis who will serve on NET teams this year, the highest number in NET’s 35-year history. Others in the drama rehearsal are Sara Kohl, left, of Divine Mercy in Faribault, Anna Marquard of Divine Mercy, Michael Leahy of Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Maplewood, Aidan Jones of St. Patrick in Oak Grove, Marty Longsdorf (Maggie’s twin brother) of St. Peter in Forest Lake, Anna Evans of St. Joseph in West St. Paul, Sophie Horinek of Holy Family in St. Louis Park and Madelyn Jents of St. Peter in Forest Lake.

Maggie Longsdorf said she is excited to serve with NET alongside her twin brother. “It’s really, really great to have him there and to be able to grow in holiness together.”

The Mass to commission this year’s 173 NET team members, who come from all over the country and serve throughout the U.S. was Sept. 13.

Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

THE TWIN CITIES’ BEST Bilingual Mass at 10:00 a.m.

BOOYA

As well as assorted American and Hispanic food. Games for all ages

Sunday, Oct. 2 Highland Park Pavillion

Festival begins at 11:00 a.m.

St. Francis de Sales Booya and Fall Fiesta St. Paul Police Band performs at 1:00 p.m.

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September 22, 2016

LOCAL

The Catholic Spirit • 5 in BRIEF MAPLEWOOD

Teacher at St. Jerome School honored A teacher at St. Jerome School in Maplewood, Paulette Krawczyk, will receive the Teacher of the Year Award from The Arc Minnesota Sept. 23. Krawczyk teaches all-day kindergarten at the school and works with students who have autism. The Arc is an advocacy group for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. The Arc Minnesota’s awards banquet is part of its annual state conference Sept. 23-24. This year’s conference is called, “The power of Community: Connections that Transform Lives.” It will include workshops on best practices, success stories, and one-on-one assistance and advice to help people with disabilities become more fully included in their community.

MINNEAPOLIS Scott Knight, right, Chaska police chief and member of the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis, stands with pastors of Chaska churches who will serve as chaplains at the Ryder Cup golf tournament at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska beginning Sept. 27: Father Fernando Ortega, left, of Guardian Angels, Mike Sindelar of Valley Evangelical Free Church, Greg Snow of St. John’s Lutheran Church, Scott Crook of Cross of Grace Church, and Mike Eder of Cross of Grace Church.

Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit

Clergy take to the course during Ryder Cup

By Matthew Davis The Catholic Spirit Chaska Police Chief Scott Knight didn’t want to see golf fans at Hazeltine National Gold Club spiritually unprovided for again.

Knight, a parishioner of the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis, formed a group of chaplains to serve at major PGA golf tournaments at the Chaska course following a tragic lightning strike at the U.S. Open in 1991. Injuries and a death occurred at the course.

“I was a sergeant at that time, in charge of our event field operations,” Knight said. “Clearly, we had an immediate need for pastoral care, but having clergy there on-site had not been a part of the plan. I have deployed chaplains ever since at these major events. We need chaplains — on deck — as an important part of our plan.”

Five Chaska-based chaplains, including Father Fernando Ortega of Guardian Angels, will serve at the upcoming Ryder Cup Sept. 27 to Oct. 2. They will look out for the needs of the projected 150,000 fans attending the event.

“We hope that all security needs [and] all needs that have to do with their well-being are being met,” Father Ortega said. “When there is need for that, then we can be present.”

Security remains paramount for an event the size of the Ryder Cup in light of terror attacks during the past year. Moreover, the international nature of the Ryder Cup with a European team competing against a U.S. team raises that concern.

“That’s why we want to support Chief Scott Knight,” Father Ortega said. “This is the common denominator or factor for the chaplaincy.”

Father Ortega met the other chaplains through an ecumenical pastors group in town and joined the police chaplaincy at Knight’s invitation. The pastors will work through the logistics of the Ryder Cup’s final day since all of them have Mass or services that morning.

“We’ve been asked to check in as we are able,” Father Ortega said.

Knight has worked with the clergy twice before for the PGA Championships at Hazeltine in 2002 and 2009. While the group has looked different each time, St. John Lutheran pastor Greg Snow gives the crew veteran leadership, having worked the 2009 PGA Championship.

“Their involvement not only fills out our readiness/response plan, but also gives me great peace of mind,” Knight said.

Moreover, the current group of clergy work directly with the police other times. The on-call clergy go with on-duty officers to help those in need.

“For me, it’s more of a partnership,” Father Ortega said. “I see them as colleagues. We made ourselves available to support people in their own needs. At times, it’s a ministerial presence. At times, it’s people seeking spiritual understanding and discernment.”

Father Ortega anticipates the ministerial needs for the Ryder Cup will extend beyond the course. With thousands of visitors to the community, he hopes his parish can serve as a temporary spiritual home for people seeking a place to worship.

Similar to most of the clergy serving with the police chaplaincy at the Ryder Cup, Father Ortega doesn’t follow PGA golf. He said he golfed once.

“It’s a relaxing, enjoyable sport; [but] I have not become a golfer,” Father Ortega said.

Former parish employee arrested after abuse allegation The Catholic Spirit Mitchell Bolkcom, a former employee and volunteer at St. Michael in Prior Lake, was arrested Sept. 15 by Bloomington Police and charged in Hennepin County with criminal sexual conduct after an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor. He was released from jail with conditions Sept. 20 on $50,000 bail.

At the time of the alleged abuse, Bolkcom, 23, was the director of middle school and adult faith formation at St. Michael. He left the parish in May. At the time of his arrest, he was working for FOCUS — the Fellowship of Catholic University Students — at the St. Thomas Aquinas Newman Center at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks.

In a letter to St. Michael parishioners posted on its website Sept. 18, Father Tom Walker, pastor, said that while Bolkcom was an employee at the time the alleged abuse occurred — earlier in 2016 — the alleged victim was not believed to be a parishioner.

In a Sept. 18 statement, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis said it had learned of the arrest Sept.

17 and that it is cooperating with law enforcement.

Tim O’Malley, the archdiocese’s director of the Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment, said anyone with information should contact police.

On Sept. 19, FOCUS said it placed Bolkcom on administrative leave pending the outcome of the police investigation.

City’s first Catholic mayor dies Minneapolis native Albert Hofstede, who was the city’s first Catholic mayor, died Sept. 3 at age 75. The then-College of St. Thomas graduate served on the Minneapolis City Council from 1968 to 1970 and was appointed the second chairman of the Metropolitan Council in 1971. At age 34, Hofstede became the city’s 41st — and youngest — mayor in 1973, serving two terms. Hofstede, who with his wife, Emma, was a parishioner of Our Lady of Lourdes in Minneapolis, was active with Catholic Charities and St. Joseph’s Home for Children. He also helped found Catholic Eldercare in northeast Minneapolis. A public memorial service was Sept. 9 at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis.

Cookie Cart honors founder Cookie Cart, the north Minneapolis nonprofit bakery, honored its founder, Sister Jean Thuerauf, Sept. 8 with an open house and dedication. Sister Jean, who died June 10, founded Cookie Cart in 1988.

The event featured an unveiling of a plaque bearing her likeness. Cookie Cart employs about 200 teens each year. In June, the organization bought a facility in St. Paul and is in the process of raising $3.2 million for renovations to turn the building into a bakery to employ more teens.

ST. PAUL

Dick Rice gets achievement award Trinity Sober Homes honored Dick Rice with its Lifetime Achievement Award Sept. 15 during its fundraising banquet. This was the third annual banquet for the organization, which provides Catholic-based housing and support for men 40 and older who are recovering alcoholics. Rice has provided spiritual coaching and mentoring for men living at Trinity Sober Homes. Archbishop Bernard Hebda came to the banquet, leading prayer and offering remarks. Trinity Sober Homes was started in 2012 by Father Martin Fleming, the first award recipient two years ago, and Tim Murray, who lived at Father Fleming’s Bethany Village and maintains sobriety with help from Father Fleming. The organization owns and operates three sober homes in St. Paul: St. Michael House, St. Gabriel House and St. Raphael House, which opened recently.

WOODBURY

St. Therese of Woodbury opens St. Therese of Woodbury held its grand opening Sept. 8. Archbishop Bernard Hebda kicked off the event with a prayer service, followed by the ribboncutting and self-guided tours. The facility, which features independent, assisted living and memory care apartments, joins three other St. Therese Senior Living Communities.

6 • The Catholic Spirit

LOCAL

For Wetterling, Albany woman lit daily candle

By Dianne Towalski Catholic News Service Agnes Imdieke awakened the morning of Sept. 3 in her apartment on the outskirts of Albany and got ready for the day. As she did every day, she lit a candle and said a prayer for the safe return of Jacob Wetterling.

It’s a ritual she set aside time for each morning for the past 27 years since the 11-year-old boy was abducted from a rural area near his hometown of St. Joseph Oct. 22, 1989.

Later that day, Imdieke learned that Jacob’s remains had been found in a remote area near Paynesville. Danny Heinrich confessed to his kidnapping and murder during a hearing Sept. 6 in a Minneapolis courtroom, having earlier led authorities to the boy’s body.

Now, Imdieke’s prayers have a different focus: bittersweet gratitude that Jacob was finally found and returned to his family, and for healing for everyone touched by his death, especially his mother, Patty Wetterling.

Her commitment to pray for Jacob gained strength thanks to her late mother, Fredericka.

On Oct. 21, 1990, Imdieke and her sister, Benedictine Sister Alice Imdieke, were talking with their mother, whose health was failing at the time. They asked her if there was anything she would wish or hoped for. She told them she hoped that Jacob would be found and returned to his family.

Fredericka died the next day —on the first anniversary of Jacob’s abduction.

“Mom always prayed for him,” Agnes said.

Like so many others, Fredericka had been deeply affected by Jacob’s disappearance and had been following the news coverage in the months that

“Say a prayer, light a candle, be with friends, play with your children, giggle, hold hands, eat ice cream, create joy and help your neighbor. “ Patty Wetterling

followed.

“It was one of the last things she said. I think that really hit us,” Sister Alice said. “I think we have kept this up because that was (our) mother’s wish.”

The dedication of Agnes and others who have been praying for Jacob is a powerful witness of how faith can unite others, Sister Alice said.

In a Sept. 5 statement from Patty Wetterling via the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center’s Facebook page, she noted 11 things people can do that she said will “bring her comfort today.” They are: say a prayer, light a candle, be with friends, play with your children, giggle, hold hands, eat ice cream, create joy and help your neighbor.

In July, Wetterling joined the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis’ Ministerial Review Board to aid in its child protection efforts.

St. Bernard committed to keep iconic bell towers

By Matthew Davis The Catholic Spirit In spite of St. Bernard’s losses over the past six years, the St. Paul parish will invest in the one thing people can’t miss.

“The bells are important for the Church life,” St. Bernard pastor Father Ivan Sant said. “It is an image of the voice of God calling us, and it is a tradition of the Church.”

Father Sant, the staff and parishioners hope to keep the church’s two large iconic bell towers standing strong in a time when need for repairs has arisen. Particularly, the north bell tower has water damage in the upper floor and the metal beams below the bell. That damage resulted from exposure to the elements. Repairs will cost at minimum $250,000 for that tower alone, but the south bell tower doesn’t show as immediate a need.

“It’s structural stuff,” St. Bernard’s maintenance director Ron Gates said. “It’s not like they’re going to collapse in the next two years or anything like that, but they do need some work.”

Nonetheless, the damage warrants urgency for a parish that continues to face an uncertain future. St. Bernard draws about 600 people to weekend Masses, according to Father Sant, and the demographics don’t guarantee sudden growth, either.

“This neighborhood is about 7 percent Catholic,” St. Bernard business administrator Karen Cronin said.

Moreover, the parish doesn’t have a tenant yet for its school building after the 2016-2017 school year. After St. Bernard High School closed in 2010, the parish leased to a charter school. Rent helps fund parish ministries, including staff to help the Karenni community.

“If we cannot find some other sources of funding, we probably will have to diminish that outreach,” Cronin said.

Consequently, the parish looked to Lynch Development Associates for a feasibility study in order to start a capitol campaign for the north bell tower and repairs on the school buildings. LDA, based in New York, helps Catholic parishes and institutions nationwide for various capital campaigns.

Father Sant and the parish community know the importance of the towers, built in 1905-1907 with the present church.

Moreover, the National Register of Historic Places has St. Bernard on its list.

“I remember, too, it was a part of our life because you heard the bells for the Angelus, for the funerals, for everything,” longtime parishioner Rosemary Kassekert said.

Kassekert also recalled that the bell tolled a different number of times for funerals depending if the deceased was a man or a woman. Father Sant noted that St. Bernard’s three bells serve the purpose of making different tones, such as joyful ones at Easter

St. Bernard in St. Paul. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit and Christmas.

Situated near Rice Street in St. Paul’s North End neighborhood, the parish once served as an epicenter for community life, Kassekert said. Demographics shifted after World War II, and many of the people from the parish’s early families of German and Austrian decent left for the suburbs. In came a variety of nationalities, and the parish began to shrink.

“The parish has never recovered from that,” St. Bernard’s archivist Charlie Duetch said.

St. Bernard’s bell towers played a role in attracting more people after losing both the high school and grade school in a two-year span. A wave of new people began coming in 2010.

“That fall, the refugees started to come, and they told Father Mike [Anderson] that it was because they heard the church bells, so they went to where the church was,” Cronin said.

Myanmar refugees continue to worship at St. Bernard.

September 22, 2016

Champions for Life award winners announced

By Matthew Davis The Catholic Spirit Three individuals and one group will receive pro-life awards at the St. John Paul II Champions for Life award luncheon Oct. 13.

Hannah Hoekman of Epiphany in Coon Rapids, Viviana Sotro of St. Stephen in Minneapolis and Agnes Dynes of Holy Childhood in St. Paul will all receive individual category awards. The Youth Social Ministry Team from St. Pius X in White Bear Lake won the Catholic affiliated group category.

Hoekman, the youth/young adult category winner, dedicates time to many pro-life endeavors through parish groups and the public school setting. Despite obstacles, she started a pro-life group at Anoka High School in addition to highlighting pro-life issues for her senior project.

She also began a youth pro-life group at Epiphany and has worked with the parish’s adult pro-life group to pray in front of Planned Parenthood.

Sotro, a staff member at St. Stephen, works to build a culture of life in her parish and inner city Minneapolis. The pro-life professional category winner counsels young women to help them choose life, advises married couples in support groups and teaches chastity among her other ministry endeavors.

Dynes, the adult volunteer category winner, has dedicated many years to pro-life work. When not serving as the pro-life chair for the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women, Dynes serves in the community. That includes organizing an annual prayer service in Como Park for the unborn and participating in the pro-life rally at the Capitol on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.

St. Pius X’s Youth Social Ministry team has nine members dedicated to works of mercy, which include helping orphans, hosting a prayer service for the deceased and making fleece blankets for the poor. They also educated their parish about the works of mercy with a booklet they made during the Year of Mercy.

The luncheon honoring winners will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Oct. 13 at St. Peter in Mendota.

Bishop Andrew Cozzens will deliver the keynote speech and present the awards. For more information and to register, visit www.archspm.org/c4l.

Or, contact 651-291-4488 or MFL@ archspm.org.

LOCAL

September 22, 2016 PEACE

continued from page 1

my spirit ... it’s just happiness. I say happiness because my son is watching me, God is watching me, so I have to show action to what they’re seeing.”

McNeal and her husband, Carlos, planned to sign up to pray for the Near North neighborhood, where they live, and the Camden neighborhood, where their young nephews live. Members of both congregations signed up to pray for north Minneapolis neighborhoods, which they began Sept. 18.

Alex Schindler, St. Bridget’s director of youth ministry, doesn’t live in the area, but said violence is part of life for the children in her groups. She served as cantor for the prayer service and said that while the world is experiencing vast violence, peace efforts can start on the north side to improve the community.

“We have to be that peace in the world and get out of our doors,” she said, “whether it’s in Woodbury or Edina or north Minneapolis.”

The next Come Together is planned for 4 to 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 16 at New Creation Church in Minneapolis. For more information about Come Together, call St. Bridget’s parish office at 612-529-7779.

In the spirit of St. Peter Claver A crowd of people filled St. Peter Claver in St. Paul to pray for peace Sept. 8 in light of the racial tensions and violence this past summer.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda led the people in the ecumenical prayer service on the vigil of the National Day of Prayer for Peace in Our Communities. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops called for the day of prayer on Sept. 9, the feast of St. Peter Claver, in response to police shootings involving black men locally and nationally during the summer.

“We got together this evening as a people of faith to begin a discussion,” Archbishop Hebda said in his homily. “I was reminded right before I came in, it’s a first step.”

He spoke of everyone’s need for one another as members of the mystical body of Christ, referencing the hymn sung for the responsorial psalm. The archbishop elaborated on how that need calls each person to respond to the other’s suffering.

“How important it is that we strive as best we can to

Lynette Graham of St. Peter Claver reacts to remarks by Archbishop Bernard Hebda during his homily Sept. 8. At left is Karen Johnson, wife of Deacon Fred Johnson. At right is Brendan Banteh and his daughter, Charlotte, who belong to St. Peter Claver. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit begin to address some of that pain, that we begin to address some of the hurts that we weren’t even responsible for,” Archbishop Hebda said.

Living only blocks from St. Peter Claver and the Rondo neighborhood, Archbishop Hebda recalled his own experience of the impact of Philando Castile’s death July 6. Police officer Jeronimo Yanez shot Castile during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights. Black Lives Matter held a protest only days later on Interstate 94 near St. Peter Claver.

“Certainly, I know as you do that tension that we felt,” Archbishop Hebda said. “I heard in those days, most especially after the death of Mr. Castile, those sirens that seemed to be without end certainly on Summit Avenue.”

Awareness of racism and violence reached the U.S. bishops’ ears at large and prompted the formation of a committee led by Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta to guide the bishops in addressing these issues. An African American himself, Archbishop Gregory once visited St. Peter Claver, as Archbishop Hebda mentioned in his homily.

Pope Francis also has an awareness of the U.S.’s history of racial tensions, Archbishop Hebda told the

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The Catholic Spirit • 7 congregation. The pontiff referenced Martin Luther King Jr. multiple times during his 2015 visit to Philadelphia, New York and Washington, D.C. Archbishop Hebda said Pope Francis, “certainly understood how important it is that we address as a community any of that hatred that’s in our hearts, any of that prejudice that’s in our hearts.”

No one institution can tackle the problem, the archbishop expressed. He called the congregation to take a step forward.

“How important it is that we work together, we put our heads together, we put our hearts together, we put our hands together in prayer to begin to address this challenge,” Archbishop Hebda said.

Archbishop Hebda used the parish’s patron, St. Peter Claver, as an example for the congregation to follow in upholding the dignity of each person. The saint served as a Jesuit priest and cared for slaves from Africa on the ships that arrived in Cartagena, Spain.

“I suspect for all of those who were brought in bondage to Cartagena, who came to know that perfect Jesuit priest, that he made a difference in their lives,” Archbishop Hebda said.

The parish of St. Peter Claver began in the 1800s with the blessing of Archbishop John Ireland. From the beginning, St. Peter Claver served African American Catholics in St. Paul, which continues. Archbishop Hebda described St. Peter Claver as a place of inter-racial dialogue and a place where one can meet Christ.

“I’m so grateful as well for the wonderful way in which you have been able to model for our archdiocese, how it is that we can really engage one another in spite of differences of race or of culture,” Archbishop Hebda said, addressing the parishioners in particular.

Joining Archbishop Hebda, Bishop Andrew Cozzens and St. Peter Claver pastor Father Erich Rutten helped lead the prayer service. The Rev. Charles Gill, pastor of Pilgrim Baptist Church in St. Paul, also gave a message at the service; he exhorted the people to follow Archbishop Hebda’s call to dialogue and action. It starts with individual responsibility and turning to Christ.

“We ask that the Lord would show us with his loving mercy, the presence of sin in our lives, especially in that area of injustice or racism, prejudice,” Archbishop Hebda said. “If the Lord would lovingly show that to us so that we would at least know to ask for pardon. We also come before the Lord in prayer to ask for his wisdom.”

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8 • The Catholic Spirit

U.S. & WORLD

MCC among groups to blast abortion ads Catholic News Service Ads appearing around the country “calling for taxpayer funding of abortion in the name of the Catholic faith” are “deceptive,” “extreme” and promote “abortion as if it were a social good,” said New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

The abortion advocacy organization Catholics for Choice placed full-page ads Sept. 12 in the print editions of more than 20 local and national publications, including Politico, the Minneapolis StarTribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Dallas Morning News and La Opinion.

The group “is not affiliated with the Catholic Church in any way,” Cardinal Dolan said in a Sept. 14 statement as the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities. “It has no membership, and clearly does not speak for the faithful.

It is funded by powerful, private foundations to promote abortion as a method of population control.”

Years ago, the U.S. bishops said the group, formerly called Catholics for a Free Choice, had “no affiliation, formal or otherwise, with the Catholic Church.”

“As the U.S. Catholic bishops have stated for many years,” Cardinal Dolan said, “the use of the name ‘Catholic’ as a platform to promote the taking of innocent human life is offensive not only to Catholics, but to all who expect honesty and forthrightness in public discourse.”

“The organization rejects and distorts Catholic social teaching — and actually attacks its foundation,” he continued. “As Pope Francis said this summer to leaders in Poland, ‘Life must always be welcomed and protected ... from conception to natural death. All of us are called to respect life and care for it.”

Catholics for Choice said in a news release that its “Abortion in Good Faith” campaign was a multi-year effort to overturn the federal Hyde Amendment, which bars the use of federal funds for virtually all Medicaid abortions.

Cardinal Dolan said the group’s “extreme ads promote abortion as if it were a social good. But abortion kills the most defenseless among us, harms women, and tears at the heart of families.”

“Pushing for public funding would force all taxpaying Americans to be complicit in the violence of abortion and an industry that puts profit above the well-being of women and children,” he said, adding that the abortion group is pitting “the needs of pregnant women against those of their unborn children.”

“This is a false choice. Catholics and all people of good will are called to love them both,” Cardinal Dolan said. “Consider supporting local pregnancy help centers, which do incredible work caring for mothers and children alike in a manner consistent with true social justice and mercy.”

In Minnesota, where Catholics for Choice placed one of its ads in the StarTribune, the Minnesota

“The ad itself makes no effort to ground its claims in any authoritative source of the Catholic faith, which is rooted in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and is proclaimed by the Church.”

Minnesota Catholic Conference

Catholic Conference said the campaign, “woefully misrepresents the noble Catholic social justice tradition.”

The campaign, by Catholics for Choice, “disregards the need to defend vulnerable human life in all its stages — a principle at the core of authentic social justice,” MCC’s Sept. 12 statement said.

The ad in the StarTribune quoted Heather Hirsch, a cancer researcher and a mother from Cottage Grove: “I believe in my Catholic faith and I have faith in others to make the right choices for themselves.”

In its statement, the Minnesota Catholic Conference said, “If there is a desire to help a woman in need who is facing an unplanned pregnancy, the solution as a society is to get her the resources and support she needs to care for her child — not help her dispose of it.”

The conference added, “The ad itself makes no effort to ground its claims in any authoritative source of the Catholic faith, which is rooted in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ and is proclaimed by the Church. It fails to do so because the actual teachings of the Catholic faith embrace a consistent ethic of life from conception to natural death, and categorically condemn abortion as an act of violence against the most innocent and defenseless among us.”

In other reaction, pro-life lawyer Helen Alvare, cofounder of Women Speak for Themselves, said she “has decades of experience” with Catholics for Choice’s “attempts to be provocative in order to attract free media.”

The group is “therefore often seen in the media, yet [is] not much of a factor in the pro-life debate on the ground,” she said in a statement sent by email to Catholic News Service Sept. 13.

“They have no members and no grass-roots work.

Unlike the Catholic Church and other pro-life activists,” she added, Catholics for Choice “provides no help for pregnant women or post-aborted women or children.”

September 22, 2016

Papal commission steps up work to educate Church about abuse

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service Members of the pope’s commission for child protection, including an abuse survivor, have been speaking with new bishops and major Vatican offices as part of a mandate to develop and educate the Church about best practices.

Pope Francis also approved the establishment of a day of prayer for survivors of abuse, but decided it will be up to each nation’s bishops’ conference to decide when the memorial should be held, according to a press release Sept. 12 from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

Members of the pontifical commission have spoken recently with officials at the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, as well as at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, which trains priests for service in the Vatican’s diplomatic corps.

Pontifical commission members, who were in Rome in early September, were also set to address the Congregation for Clergy and to speak at seminars for recently appointed bishops. The training seminars are organized by the Congregation for Bishops and the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

Marie Collins, a commission member and survivor of clerical abuse, was scheduled to be one of a number of commission members to address the Sept. 11-18 session of what is commonly referred to as “new bishops school.”

Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, a psychologist and commission member, and Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, a longtime abuse investigator, already delivered their talks on abuse by clergy and the importance of protecting minors and vulnerable adults during the early September seminar for bishops newly elected to dioceses in mission lands.

The commission has completed a template meant to help all Church entities — from bishops’ conferences to Catholic associations — in formulating guidelines in preventing and responding appropriately to abuse.

Pope Francis was set to receive the template “shortly,” according to the commission press release.

At the request of a clerical abuse survivor from Canada, the commission developed a proposal for a universal Day of Prayer because “prayer is one part of the healing process for survivors and the community of believers” and public gatherings for prayer also help raise awareness about the issue, it said.

The commission said it has resources such as prayers for Mass, liturgical texts and other materials available on request as part of the Day of Prayer initiative.

Assassinated priest joins procession of martyrs, pope says

By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service

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To kill in the name of God is satanic, Pope Francis said at a special requiem Mass for a French priest assassinated by youths claiming allegiance to the Islamic State.

“Father Jacques Hamel had his throat slit on the cross, at the exact moment he was celebrating the sacrifice of Christ’s cross. A good man, meek, brotherly and who always sought to make peace, was murdered as if he were a criminal. This is the satanic line of persecution,” the pope said Sept. 14 during a morning Mass in the chapel of Domus Sanctae Marthae.

Archbishop Dominique Lebrun of Rouen and Father Hamel’s sister, Roselyne Hamel, along with 80 pilgrims from the diocese joined Pope Francis for the Mass in memory of Father Hamel, who was killed July 26.

Two men stormed a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray near Rouen while Father Hamel celebrated Mass. After taking several hostages, the attackers slit Father Hamel’s throat and seriously injured another parishioner. Following a standoff, police killed the attackers, ending the hostage situation.

Celebrating the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, the pope entered the chapel dressed in a red chasuble, the color symbolizing martyrdom. He reverently bowed before the altar, where a picture of Father Hamel was placed in front of two lit candles.

In his homily, the pope reflected on the mystery of Christ “who made himself a martyr for the salvation of men and women.”

September 22, 2016

U.S. & WORLD

The Catholic Spirit • 9

Bishop, other leaders call for peace, unity after attack in St. Cloud Catholic News Service One day after a knife-wielding man injured nine people at a shopping mall near St. Cloud, Bishop Donald Kettler called for prayers for those impacted by the violence.

“Please join me in praying for the victims of last night’s mall attack, for our first responders and for peace and unity in our community,” the St. Cloud bishop said via Twitter Sept. 18.

A man was fatally shot by an off-duty officer after stabbing nine people at the Crossroads Center mall in Waite Park Sept. 17. He was later identified as Dahir Adan, 22, who had worked as a security guard for one of the stores in the mall, according to news reports.

Adan was a member of the local Somali community.

St. Cloud Police Chief Blair Anderson said the attacker reportedly made references to Allah during the attack, and the FBI was investigating the incident as a possible terrorist act.

During a Sept. 18 news conference in St. Cloud, several local Somali-American leaders denounced the attack, offered condolences to the victims and their families, and called for ongoing efforts on behalf of peace and unity in the community.

“We condemn what happened in the strongest words we can possibly use,” said Abdul Kulane, a graduate of St. John’s University in Collegeville and leader in the Somali community. “We strongly condemn any terroristic action in America or around the world. ... We don’t believe in violence.”

Kathy Langer, director of social concerns for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of St. Cloud, center, talks with Maryan Ahmed and Fatumo Ukash following a Sept. 18 news conference organized by the local Somali-American community in St. Cloud after a knife-wielding man injured nine people the previous day at a shopping mall. CNS/Dianne Towalski Benedictine Sister Michaela Hedican, prioress of St. Benedict’s Monastery in St. Joseph, who attended the news conference, said she felt “profound sadness” when she learned about the Sept. 17 attack at the mall.

“The sisters have been praying and will continue to pray at St. Benedict’s Monastery. We have great hope that somehow we can walk over this bridge together,”

said Sister Michaela, a member of the Greater St. Cloud Area Faith Leaders Group, which was formed in 2015 to promote interfaith dialogue and build relationships. Bishop Kettler also is a member.

Several speakers at the news conference stressed that Islam does not condone violence and that terrorist groups such as the Islamic State are not representative of Muslims or Somalis.

Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said many local Somalis and Muslims are concerned about potential backlash in the wake of the attack.

The incident is a tragedy for everyone, including Muslims, he said, but it also is an opportunity for people to come together and build a stronger community.

Kathy Langer, director of social concerns for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of St. Cloud, also is a member of the Greater St. Cloud Area Faith Leaders Group, whose members include Christians and Muslims. It meets monthly.

When Langer heard about the mall attack, “my heart broke,” she said.

“I knew there would be a lot of people who were going to be hurt by this, so it was very sad,” said Langer, who attended the news conference. “We’re at a place in St. Cloud where we need to make a choice: Are we going to be a divided and resentful community? Or are we going to come together, trusting in the goodness of each other? I hope we do the latter, and I believe we can.”

in BRIEF VATICAN CITY

Dedicated to battling the devil, noted Italian exorcist dies at 91 Pauline Father Gabriele Amorth, an Italian priest renowned for his work in dispelling demons, died at the age of 91. Ill and hospitalized for some weeks, the priest died in Rome Sept. 16. Father Amorth began his ministry as an exorcist for the Diocese of Rome in 1986 and performed — according to his own estimates — some 70,000 exorcisms or other prayers to liberate people from demonic influence. He spoke out frequently warning that while it was rare for a person to be possessed by a demon, the devil’s influence was strong in today’s world, affecting not just individuals but sometimes entire societies.

Vatican: Abortion, attempted suicide always obstacles to ordination The sacredness of human life is so absolute that performing or helping procure an abortion or attempting suicide is an obstacle to ordination as a Catholic priest, even if the man was not Catholic at the time the events occurred, said a new Vatican ruling.

Pope Francis approved the definitive interpretation of Church law at a meeting in May with officials of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, said a statement published by the Vatican Sept. 15. Canon 1041 of the Code of Canon Law defines as “irregular for receiving (holy) orders” a person who has “committed voluntary homicide or procured a completed abortion and all those who positively cooperated in either,” as well as “a person who has mutilated himself or another gravely

and maliciously or who has attempted suicide.” A question was submitted to the Vatican asking if the canon also applies to a non-Catholic and therefore would require a special dispensation if the man were later to become Catholic and seek ordination as a Catholic priest. The pontifical council answered, “Affirmative.”

Orphaned world can find a mother in Mary, pope says In a world that feels orphaned and abandoned, Christians can find a mother in Mary, who will defend them and is not ashamed of their sins, Pope Francis said. As she watched her son crucified and in agony, Mary “gave birth to us in that moment with so much pain; it is truly a martyrdom,” the pope said Sept. 15 during a morning Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae. “With her pierced heart, she accepted to give birth to all of us in that moment of pain. And from that moment she became our mother, from that moment she is our mother, the one who takes care of us and is not ashamed of us; she defends us,” he said.

Celebrating the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows, the pope reflected on the humiliation and suffering Mary bore willingly while she witnessed the death of “her son naked” on the cross. “Mary had such great suffering, but she did not go; she did not deny her son. He was her flesh,” he said. The pope recalled his frequent visits to prisoners in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he often saw a long line of mothers waiting to see their imprisoned children. Like Mary, these women suffered not only scorn and judgment, they “also suffered the terrible humiliation of body searches that were done to them before entering.”

WASHINGTON

Baltimore archbishop rejects claim religious liberty used to discriminate Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore sharply criticized comments made by Martin Castro, chairman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, that the phrases “religious liberty” and “religious freedom” were “code words” used to discriminate. “Statements painting those who support religious freedom with the broad brush of bigotry are reckless and reveal a profound disregard for the religious foundations of his own work,” Archbishop Lori said of Castro in a Sept. 13 statement. Archbishop Lori, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, said the notion that people of faith are “comparable to fringe segregationists from the civil rights era” is a “shocking suggestion.”

MRS gets $1 million-plus grant from Mormons for refugee resettlement The U.S. bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services is receiving a $1.25 million grant from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to aid in its refugee resettlement efforts once the newcomers arrive in the United States. The Mormons have refugee processing capabilities overseas, said MRS executive director Bill Canny, but do not offer domestic resettlement services.

Canny said this is the first time in memory that the Mormons have made such a gift to an agency within the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

— Catholic News Service

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10 • The Catholic Spirit

U.S. & WORLD

September 22, 2016

Bishops object to plan to fund parthuman, part-animal embryo research Catholic News Service

On the moral and ethical side of the issue, the statement said the bishops are The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops concerned about the destruction of human objected to a National Institutes of Health embryos that serve as a source of “raw proposal to authorize federally funded material” for research. They said the NIH research on part-human, part-animal proposal for producing human/animal embryos in comments submitted to the hybrids raises “new and troubling questions agency Sept. 2. of its own.”

The bishops made ethical and legal Acknowledging that the respectful use of arguments in opposing the plan, saying that animals in research can benefit humanity, such research results in the bishops stressed, “beings who do not however, that the fully belong to either unique dignity of the the human race or the human person puts host animal species.” limits to what can “For if one cannot tell to Current NIH morally be done in the guidelines for human field. what extent, if any, the stem cell research “Herein lies the key specifically prohibit resulting organism may moral problem involved introducing human in this proposal, beyond have human status or pluripotent cells — the already grave those capable of giving problem of exploiting characteristics, it will be human embryos as cell rise to several different cell types — into factories for research. impossible to determine nonhuman primate For if one cannot tell to blastocysts, which are what extent, if any, the what one’s moral cells at an early stage of resulting organism may development. NIH has have human status or obligations may be proposed funding characteristics, it will be scientists researching impossible to determine regarding that organism.” such embryos, known what one’s moral as chimeras. obligations may be U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops regarding that The bishops’ organism,” the bishops statement said that said. while the plan calls for review of some research “We submit that proposals by a NIH steering committee, “the producing new organisms, regarding whom bottom line is that the federal government our fundamental moral and legal obligations will begin expending taxpayer dollars on the are inevitably confused and even creation and manipulation of new beings contradictory, is itself immoral,” the whose very existence blurs the line between statement said. “NIH should give far more humanity and animals such as mice and serious consideration to this and other rats.” moral problems before seeking to fund human/animal chimera research.”

By funding such research, the bishops argued, the NIH would be ignoring laws that The statement concludes that the proposal prohibit it. They said such research “is also is “seriously flawed” and urged NIH to grossly unethical.” withdraw it.

Pope Francis comforts a baby as he visits the neonatal unit at San Giovanni Hospital in Rome Sept. 16. CNS/L’Osservatore Romano

Pope highlights sanctity of life in Year of Mercy visits

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service Pope Francis donned a green hospital gown over his white cassock and entered the neonatal unit of a Rome hospital, peering in the incubators, making the sign of the cross and encouraging worried parents.

The trip to the babies’ ward of Rome’s San Giovanni Hospital and then to a hospice Sept. 16 were part of a series of Mercy Friday activities Pope Francis has been doing once a month during the Year of Mercy.

By visiting the ailing newborns and the dying on the same day, the Vatican said, Pope Francis “wanted to give a strong sign of the importance of life from its first moment to its natural end.”

“Welcoming life and guaranteeing its dignity at every moment of its development is a teaching Pope Francis has underlined many times,” the statement said. With the September visits he wanted to put “a concrete and tangible seal” on his teaching that living a life of mercy means giving special attention to those in the most precarious situations.

Pope Francis stopped by the emergency room of San Giovanni Hospital before going to the neonatal unit, where 12 little patients were being treated. Five of the newborns, including a pair of twins, were in intensive care and were intubated, the Vatican said. The pope also went to the maternity ward and nursery upstairs, greeting new parents and holding their bundles of joy.

FOCUS ON FAITH

September 22, 2016

SUNDAY SCRIPTURES

Deacon Timothy Sandquist

Generosity not optional for Christians If you were to ask 100 random people on the street what Catholics are known for, what do you think they would say?

Of all those people, how many do you think would say “generosity”?

Unfortunately, my suspicion is that the number would be very few.

Yet, as we see in the Gospel for Sept.

25, generosity is more than an optional add-on to our faith; it is essential.

The rich man in this passage finds himself in eternal torment for lacking it.

He spent his life so focused on himself

that he was completely unmindful of Lazarus on his doorstep. Lazarus was in desperate need, and he had the superabundant means to help him, yet he didn’t bother to give him even the scraps that fell from his table.

This story, from Jesus himself, reminds us that at the end of our lives we will be judged in our generosity toward those in need. As Jesus says in the Gospel of Matthew, “What you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me” (Mt 25:45).

The Catholic Spirit • 11

Sometimes we can practice this generosity by simply offering our time, a listening ear or a word of encouragement to someone who needs it, but there can be no getting around the fact that Scripture requires of us material generosity as well. St. John makes this point when he says, “If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him?” (1 John 3:17). Our “treasure” is not off limits to God, because he is ultimately the one who entrusted us with it.

With Lazarus lying half-dead on his own doorstep, it was fairly obvious what the rich man ought to have done.

However, in our complex society with its multifaceted problems, it isn’t always so simple. How does one live a generous life in the modern day within one’s own situation involving particulars such as family, career, geographic location, etc.?

This is a question that takes thought, prayer and wisdom to answer. But perhaps, sometimes the problem is that we don’t want to know the answer.

Sunday, Sept. 25 Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Readings • Am 6:1a, 4-7 • 1 Tm 6:11-16 • Lk 16:19-31 Jesus promises us, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back” (Lk 6:38).

So at Mass this Sunday, let us ask God for the grace to live generously.

Deacon Sandquist is in formation for the priesthood at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. His teaching parish is St. Jude of the Lake in Mahtomedi, and his home parish is St. Boniface in St. Bonifacius.

DAILY Scriptures Sunday, Sept. 25 Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Am 6:1a, 4-7 1 Tm 6:11-16 Lk 16:19-31 Monday, Sept. 26 Jb 1:6-22 Lk 9:46-50 Tuesday, Sept. 27 St. Vincent de Paul, priest Jb 3:1-3, 11-17, 20-23 Lk 9:51-56 Wednesday, Sept. 28 Jb 9:1-12, 14-16 Lk 9:57-62

Thursday, Sept. 29 Sts. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, archangels Dn 7:9-10, 13-14 Jn 1:47-51 Friday, Sept. 30 St. Jerome, priest and doctor of the Church Jb 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5 Lk 10:13-16 Saturday, Oct. 1 St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus, virgin and doctor of the Church Jb 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17 Lk 10:17-24

Sunday, Oct. 2 Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Hab 1:2-3; 2:2-4 2 Tm 1:6-8, 13-14 Lk 17:5-10 Monday, Oct. 3 Gal 1:6-12 Lk 10:25-37 Tuesday, Oct. 4 St. Francis of Assisi Gal 1:13-24 Lk 10:38-42 Wednesday, Oct. 5 Gal 2:1-2, 7-14 Lk 11:1-4

SEEKING ANSWERS

Father Kenneth Doyle

Man and wife in heaven?

Is Old Testament God violent?

Q. My wife passed away three years ago, and I miss her very much. We were married for 63 years. What are the Church’s thoughts on the hereafter?

Will we still be man and wife?

A. Your question is one frequently asked by those who are mourning deeply the death of a spouse. The response should bring you some comfort.

In one Gospel story (Mk 12:18-27), a question is posed to Jesus by the Sadducees, who did not believe in an afterlife; they wanted to know about a woman who had had seven spouses successively, and which man would be her husband in heaven. Jesus explained that “when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they are like the angels in heaven” (Mk 12:25).

Some have interpreted these words —

erroneously — to mean that there will be no continuing and special relationship in heaven between earthly spouses. Instead, what Christ simply meant was that the institution of marriage, as we have known it on earth, will be unnecessary in heaven. There will be no need for procreation because no one will ever die; human companionship will not be required to satisfy our loneliness because the desire for intimacy will be fulfilled by knowing the Lord personally.

Still, though, the Church does believe that the relationships we have enjoyed on earth will be transformed and enhanced as they continue in heaven. A prayer frequently used at the end of funeral Masses has the priest saying, “Before we go our separate ways, let us take leave of our brother/sister. May our farewell express our affection for him/ her; may it ease our sadness and

Thursday, Oct. 6 Gal 3:1-5 Lk 11:5-13

Monday, Oct. 10 Gal 4:22-24, 26-27, 31–5:1 Lk 11:29-32

Friday, Oct. 7 Our Lady of the Rosary Gal 3:7-14 Lk 11:15-26

Tuesday, Oct. 11 Gal 5:1-6 Lk 11:37-41

Saturday, Oct. 8 Gal 3:22-29 Lk 11:27-28 Sunday, Oct. 9 Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time 2 Kgs 5:14-17 2 Tm 2:8-13 Lk 17:11-19

Wednesday, Oct. 12 Gal 5:18-25 Lk 11:42-46 Thursday, Oct. 13 Eph 1:1-10 Lk 11:47-54

Saturday, Oct. 15 St. Teresa of Jesus, virgin and doctor of the Church Eph 1:15-23 Lk 12:8-12 Sunday, Oct. 16 Twenty-ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time Ex 17:8-13 2 Tm 3:14-4:2 Lk 18:1-8

Friday, Oct. 14 Eph 1:11-14 Lk 12:1-7

strengthen our hope. One day we shall joyfully greet him/her again when the love of Christ, which conquers all things, destroys even death itself.”

Q. In the Bible, I have just finished the story of David and Saul, and it strikes me that throughout the Old Testament (at least so far), God has been a bit of a warrior, delivering enemies into the hands of those who are faithful. Yet, when I come to the New Testament, Jesus seems to speak against violence. Why the change?

A. The question you raise — about the seeming contrast between the God of the Old Testament, destroying enemies of Israel by violence, and the Lord of mercy portrayed by Jesus — is an age-old one. I am not sure that there is an answer that completely satisfies the contemporary reader and believer, but let me try.

That there is violence in the Old Testament is indisputable. Some would point out that the Canaanites, for example — vanquished through God’s help to give the Promised Land to the chosen people — simply got what they deserved: They had been a brutally aggressive people, engaged in bestiality, idol worship, widespread prostitution and even child sacrifice. But that explanation, I believe, falls short.

I would stress, instead, that it was only gradually that the God of creation

revealed himself to the human race; the Bible is an unfolding story in which we slowly come to know the Lord of grace and love. The Old Testament reflected the Middle Eastern culture and attitudes of the time, and God revealed himself according to the understanding and circumstances of that day. It was only when Jesus arrived that he showed us more fully what God is like.

It should be noted, too, that there can be seen throughout the Bible an admixture of the God who loves tenderly and the God who calls us to task. Exodus 34:6, for example, hails the Lord as “gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love and fidelity,” while Matthew’s Gospel warns of the danger of eternal punishment and says, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna” (Mt 10:38).

So to draw a division between an Old Testament God who is angry and judgmental and a New Testament God who is loving and merciful is simplistic and inaccurate.

Father Doyle writes for Catholic News Service. A priest of the Diocese of Albany, New York, he previously served as director of media relations for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Questions may be sent to askfatherdoyle@gmail.com and 40 Hopewell St., Albany, NY 12208.

12 • The Catholic Spirit

Acts o

Sin

stopper

UST psychology professor helps others grow in virtue Part 12 in a 14-part series highlighting local Catholics who live out the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit

M

ore than 100 quotes typewritten on yellow sheets of paper are taped to the walls of John Buri’s cramped basement office at the University of St. Thomas.

They contain a wealth of information that has guided him over decades as a psychology professor at the St. Paul school. One of the quotes stands out. It is from the New Testament. It is the only one made into a plaque, done so as a gift from a group of longtime friends who know how ardently and passionately he works to encourage others in their spiritual lives.

The line from Chapter 5 of St. Paul’s letter to the Romans printed on the plaque reads: “Suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope. And, hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.”

He looks at this plaque daily, along with many other quotes, totaling about 150. He has used them to guide his life in the ongoing battle against sin. He also has used them to guide others. In addition to teaching thousands of students over the years, he has helped many face and overcome sin in their lives. Using his classroom, books he has written and personal time spent meeting with individuals and couples, he has made this his life’s work.

Encouragement is a powerful tool in this ministry.

It supplants the word admonish used in the spiritual work of mercy called admonishing sinners.

“I don’t like the term admonish,” he said. “With most sins, people need encouragement, not admonishment. They need to see things more clearly, because truth is not seen accurately because of sin.”

But, that doesn’t mean Buri coddles those guilty of moral infractions. Rather, by challenging people — in many cases, husbands — to learn how to pursue the good, true and beautiful outlined by St. Paul, sinners can embark on a new way of living.

And, that way of living begins by dying. Specifically, dying to self.

“The saints talk all the time about: eliminate self interest, eliminate self love, become detached from yourself,” said Buri, who belongs to Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul with his wife Kathy, with whom he has six adult children.

Fatherly advice He once delivered this type of message to one of his sons, who was newly married at the time. Though he was very much in love with his wife, this son found marriage to be difficult just six months into it. So, he went to his father for advice on how to deal with the struggles.

University of St. Thomas psychology professor John Buri has made it his life’s work to help people overcome sin in their lives through growing in virtue. Dave Hrbacek/ The Catholic Spirit What he got was a mini sermon on death.

“What I said to him was, ‘Well, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains but a single grain. But, if it will fall to the ground and die, it will bear a rich fruit. Would you like a rich fruit for your wife and someday for your children? Or, do you want a little, puny harvest?’” Buri recalled saying to his son. “That’s at the heart of every good marriage, it’s at the heart of every good person — death.”

Ultimately, it has to do with putting aside one’s own interests and trying to meet the needs of one’s spouse.

And, it starts long before any sacrifices are ever made.

It begins with establishing the right order between the intellect and the will.

“We have to understand that the nature of virtue is that the intellect, our reason, is meant to apprehend what is good and true and beautiful,” Buri said. “And, the intellect informs the will. So, it’s out of the intellect, out of seeing what is good and true and beautiful that we make decisions for our lives, and for the lives of those we love. And then the will informs our passions. That’s the direction of virtue: The intellect informs the will and the will informs the passions.”

But, when sin enters the picture, this progression from intellect to passions gets reversed, and the passions end up ruling the person and his or her decisions. That’s where Buri comes in to help set a person straight.

He also needs to set himself straight on occasion. He admits to having his own struggles with sin and in his relationship with Kathy. He had anger issues stemming from his childhood, and the anger carried over into his marriage. There once was a rocky, two-year period in which Kathy struggled greatly with his behavior.

“I came from a difficult family of origin,” he said. “I came out of it pretty wounded. And, I went into marriage thinking that my marriage was going to be the source of my healing. It didn’t work so well. . . . That

was when my life really began to bottom out becaus found myself in a marriage that wasn’t serving my woundedness.”

John has since corrected the angry behavior and reduced the anger. But, the battle isn’t finished. And never will be, he said.

Act of penance sparks love

The good news is, his life is filled with small victo that keep him on the path of virtue and in an ever deepening relationship with Kathy.

And, the formula is as simple as cleaning toilets.

That little tip came right out of the confessional, wh the priest got to discussing penance after John had confessed his sins.

“He said, ‘What I want you to do is think of someone you care about a lot, and do something special for that person.’ Then, he said, ‘Now, you an Jesus can figure out what that is, can’t you?’” Buri recalled. “And, I took one step out of that confessio and knew what it was. Kathy hates cleaning bathro . . . . So, I went home and I cleaned all the bathroom And, I have been cleaning bathrooms [ever since]; Kathy has not cleaned a bathroom since. It’s the penance that keeps on giving.”

Yet, Buri points out, even better than cleaning th bathroom is desiring to clean the bathroom. This p is expressed in a line from a movie, “The Break-Up, starring Jennifer Aniston.

“Jennifer Aniston says to her boyfriend, ‘I don’t want you to just do the dishes. I want you to want do the dishes.’” Buri said. “So, the intellect — ‘I sho be serving my wife’ — informs the will, and therefo we serve. And if we serve enough, the passions get i line.”

Applying this idea to his own life, Buri said, “My is to get my passions in line so that I’m not just cleaning the toilets, but I’m wanting to clean the toilets. That’s the nature of virtue.”

The Catholic Spirit’s Acts of Mercy series is made possible in part through a gran National Catholic Society of Foresters. Learn about the organization at www.ncsf.c

of

Mercy

September 22, 2016 • 13

Admonish the sinner

By Father Michael Van Sloun

This plaque with a Scripture verse from St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans hangs in Buri’s St. Paul office. Dave Hrbacek/ The Catholic Spirit confessed to priests of this archdiocese — anger.

“Anger darkens the intellect,” he said. “When we get mad at our spouse, we don’t see this beautiful person that God has put in our lives. We make nasty decisions. We say things that we shouldn’t say.”

It’s a problem that is universal, going across both cultural and gender lines.

“People often think that men have more of a problem with anger than women do,” Buri said.

“They don’t. The research is really clear. Both men and women struggle with anger equally, and it turns out that it’s the No. 1 sin that priests hear, at least in this archdiocese, and I’m going to suspect that this is fairly typical [elsewhere].”

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As easy as it may sound to wash dishes and clean toilets, the life of virtue is made significantly harder in our self-centered, self-focused culture, Buri said. And, being both a Christian and a psychology professor, he is well aware of the messages bombarding everyone through the culture and the media.

“One of the major problems that we’re dealing with among Christians, among Catholics, is that we are more psychologized than we are Christianized,” he said. “So, we think in terms of ‘me.’ Psychology is all about me, it’s all about the self. If you look at life through the lens of psychology, you end up focusing on: What do I need? What do I want? What’s in it for me? Where’s my payoff?’”

Pornography harms virtue

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Perhaps nowhere is this focus on self more apparent than in the sin of pornography. Buri once helped do a survey of priests in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis about what sins people confess during the sacrament of reconciliation. Pornography was No. 2 on the list.

“Just this last year there was a major survey taken of use of pornography by men in the United States,” he said. “Would you think there was any difference between the use of pornography by non-Catholic, non-Christian men, and Christian or Catholic men?

There is no difference. They’re virtually the same. So, it’s an issue. Think about, if sin darkens the intellect, weakens the will and disorders the passions, think about what pornography does in terms of how we see our beloved, the person God has given us men to treasure, to see their beauty. Imagine what this does to the passions. The passions get so incredibly distorted with lust rather than love.”

Buri deals with this topic in his most recent book, “Intentional Dating.” It’s also a topic in his classroom and in his office when he sees students outside of class.

Then, there’s the No. 1 sin on the list of those

nt from the com.

Change is complicated In addition to talking about sins such as anger, Buri addresses how to change. It’s a complicated process, filled with both victories and defeats, advances and slip-ups. And, he likes to point out that the path of change is not linear, but rather a spiral. Progress is made, then comes a fall, with the person seeming to revert back to old ways. Then, people catch themselves and begin the journey of change anew and continue to spiral upward.

It’s never easy, Buri says, and it’s never over. He once read about an old Jesuit priest who was near the end of his life. He asked another member of his order to pray for him, that he would not give up the struggle against sin and, therefore, fall short before reaching the finish line.

Fortunately, even though the journey is arduous, measurable results will happen if people keep trying, Buri said. In describing how change takes place, he pointed to the growth pattern of the Chinese bamboo tree.

“The Chinese bamboo tree pops through the ground and grows to about 2 feet tall,” he said. “And, it stays there for the next five years. It just sits there. And during that five-year period, you have to till the soil, you have to fertilize it, you have to water it, otherwise it dies. And, in year six, it shoots to 60 feet in the air.

And, this is often what I’ve seen as how God works.

You just have to persist, persist in doing what’s right and then it [growth] happens.”

This is all part of a message he delivers to anyone who will listen. His admirers are many, but he is not one of them. He expresses no pride in being able to point out sin in others or himself, and in being able to overcome sin in his own life.

Rather, he offers this explanation of why he is able to do what he does, repeating one of his favorite quotes: “I understand sin because I is one.”

To admonish the sinner is one of the seven spiritual works of mercy, and like the other six, it is concerned with the spiritual well-being of another.

To admonish someone is to warn about a fault; to correct wrongdoing; to scold, usually mildly; or to remind someone to do the right thing. This good work is extremely difficult and delicate. Most people dislike conflict. Few people welcome correction.

It is natural to be defensive.

It is hard to speak up, to know when to speak and how to effectively deliver the message.

My mother was a master at Father Michael this in our home when I was VAN SLOUN a boy. If I said a bad word or was mean to my sister, she would say to me more often than I cared to hear, “Silence is consent,” and then add, “I love you too much not to bring this to your attention.” Her admonishment was an act of love that helped me to turn away from my sin.

To admonish the sinner runs contrary to the modern trend not to be judgmental. We are told repeatedly that we should be accepting of others.

Jesus loved people, but he did not accept their sins. Jesus judged constantly between good and evil, right and wrong, the truth and lies. He could tell the difference and refused to turn a blind eye to sin. As his followers, Christians must be judgmental as Jesus was, honestly evaluate all that is happening, affirm what is good and wholesome, but oppose that which is wrong, misguided, harmful or destructive.

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus’ opening message was “Repent” (Mk 1:15). It is an admonishment to all sinners. When the disciples panicked during the storm at sea, Jesus asked with a reproving tone, “Do you not yet have faith?” (Mk 4:40). When the disciples failed to pay attention or think intelligently, he chided them, “Are even you likewise without understanding?” (Mk 7:18).

When the disciples tried to keep the children away from Jesus, he corrected them, “Let the children come to me” (Mk 10:14). When James and John asked for positions of importance, he reminded them about servant leadership (Mk 10:35-45).

Occasionally Jesus intensified his admonishment, such as when Peter wrongfully advised him not to go to Jerusalem. It is a sin to go against God’s will, and Jesus sternly rebuked him, “Get behind me, Satan” (Mk 8:33).

His admonishment was harshest and most direct with the religious leaders. He reprimanded them, “You hypocrites” (Mk 7:6), and he confronted them with their sin, “You disregard God’s commandment” (Mk 7:8).

While it is a spiritual good to admonish a sinner, it does not give license to unload on someone. I was a high school basketball coach before I became a priest. In one game, the point guard for our team played miserably in the first half: out of control, selfish, multiple turnovers, forced shots, defiant. I stormed into the locker room at halftime and raked him over the coals with a blistering rant. In the second half he played as badly as the first. As I sat on the bench watching, I thought, humiliated, “Michael, your tirade was all about you and venting your anger, and had nothing to do with helping that young man.” It became eminently clear to me what wiser Christians have known all along: Correction must be constructive, given in charity, be given under control, be the product of prayer, and be for the sinner’s benefit.

Father Van Sloun is pastor of St. Bartholomew in Wayzata. Read more of his reflections at www.catholichotdish.com.

14 • The Catholic Spirit

THIS CATHOLIC LIFE • COMMENTARY

September 22, 2016

EVERYDAY MERCIES

Alyssa Bormes

Supplied for school, supplied for life School supplies in the aisle at the grocery store bring on such nostalgia.

Upon seeing them, I usually want to scoop up some notebooks, pencils, erasers and, of course, a new pack of crayons. And, I’m not exactly schoolaged.

Being a teacher, it seems to make sense — there will be a new class of students and returning students, and it is always wonderful to see their excitement. Even those who have a bit of trepidation in their eyes bring a smile. We have all been in their shoes.

There were years when I wasn’t in school, nor did I teach. Yet, I still felt a sense of fall being a new start. But why?

The new notebooks, the pens with unchewed caps and especially the sharp-tipped crayons are a promise, a new start. Each student begins with a lightness — well, there can be a bit of dread, too, but that points to what will be asked of him. There are assignments and tests, and the students will be given a higher bar to hurdle. But there is the wild anticipation of doing what may seem impossible — clearing the height.

All this makes me wonder if there are any other “school supply” moments in our lives when everything is suddenly

new, clean, organized and ready to go.

Of course there is — it’s confession.

Wait a minute! I don’t think the idea of confession makes most people excited, at least not in the school supply sense.

Ah, but I’m not talking about the idea of going; it’s the moment after confession that feels so new and full of promise. And even if you don’t feel a particular lightness, it is still there.

There really is a new beginning.

We have gone to confession, in a sense, unadorned. We are no longer teacher or student, mom or dad, employer or employee. Instead, we are a penitent before Christ in the sacrament.

We don’t bring our fancy, or not-sofancy, cars or houses, our clothing may be in style or out of style, and we may or may not have people following us via social media. We are just ourselves with our sins; not the sins of anyone else, just our own.

What takes place? Well, there is the crazy mercy of having to say our sins aloud. We tell them to the priest, who is under the seal; our sins don’t leave the box. Then the act of contrition; really pray those words, really be heartily sorry. You have confessed your sins, you

CATHOLIC WATCHMEN

Father Scott Carl

Delving into lectio divina How vital it is to pray with Scripture.

It is God’s word to us given at a particular time, but alive in us through the same Spirit that inspired it.

When we think of reading the Bible, perhaps we think of reading it by ourselves. Such a means is an important way of forming a personal relationship with sacred Scripture, as Pope Benedict XVI explained in his 2010 apostolic exhortation “Verbum Domini” (On the Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church).

Yet, it is important to be aware that we do not pray alone. Pope Benedict put it this way: “While it is a word addressed to each of us personally, it is also a word which builds community, which builds the Church.

Consequently, the sacred text must always be approached in the communion of the Church” (Verbum Domini 86).

In this context, we can think of how often we listen to God’s word in the liturgy of the Church and especially in the Mass. What we do as Christians we

do not do alone because we are a member of Christ’s body, the Church.

This body, seen as the people of God, makes its journey through time nourished by the word, which is a living reality in its midst.

In “Verbum Domini,” Pope Benedict reminds us of a time-honored way of reading sacred Scripture, lectio divina (divine reading). It assists our individual reading in being inspired by the same Spirit that forms the body of Christ into the Church and deepens our lived communion with her.

Lectio divina consists of four steps in praying with the Bible. After praying to the Holy Spirit to open our hearts and our ears, the first step is “lectio,” which is “reading” the selected Scripture passage a couple of times slowly and prayerfully. Which passage? The Gospel passage for the upcoming Sunday Mass or holy day is a good place to begin as it contributes to our communal worship rendered in the liturgy.

Moreover, the Gospels or Psalms in general are good places to begin.

You are new and clean, your soul is properly ordered again, and there is promise. In a sense, you have the new notebook with its clean pages.

Now for the assignment: Take the pen or the perfect crayon and write, “Fiat,” which is the “yes” of being ready for His assignment, His will for your life. And then — get on with it. iStock will do penance and you have agreed to amend your life.

What follows? The best thing, “I absolve you of your sins … .”

You are new and clean, your soul is properly ordered again, and there is promise. In a sense, you have the new notebook with its clean pages. Now for This “reading” is a special sort. At this stage we want to understand what the biblical text says in itself. Here it is important to have some external resource like a commentary or footnotes from a study Bible. As a place to begin, the “Catholic Commentary of Sacred Scripture” is a series of volumes on the New Testament written at a level from which a common person can benefit; another is “Praying the Psalms in Christ” by Benedictine Father Laurence Kriegshauser. The goal in this initial stage is to learn about the passage to set a reliable base for the steps that follow. As Pope Benedict reminded us, not doing this initial step could easily lead us to “never moving beyond our own ideas.” Read the passage again slowly and more than once to allow it to be absorbed like a light soaking rain.

Second, there is meditatio (meditation), which is to seek what the passage is saying to us. How does it move you or challenge you in your particular circumstances? Sometimes the word cuts like a two-edged sword (Heb 4:12), clearly and decisively, and sometimes the Holy Spirit moves more subtly. There is no rush in this method of prayer. Sometimes the movement of the Spirit is like feeling a gentle breeze that is barely perceptible.

Third comes oratio (prayer). “What do we say to the Lord in response to his word? Prayer, as petition, intercession, thanksgiving and praise, is the primary

the assignment: Take the pen or the perfect crayon and write, “Fiat,” which is the “yes” of being ready for His assignment, His will for your life. And then — get on with it.

Bormes, a member of Holy Family in St. Louis Park, is the author of the book “The Catechism of Hockey.” way by which the word transforms us” (“Verbum Domini”). Where does the passage lead us? To praise God? To thank Him? To intercede for a particular need? To repent of sin?

Fourth is contemplatio (contemplation), “during which we take up, as a gift from God, his own way of seeing and judging reality, and ask ourselves what conversion of mind, heart and life is the Lord asking of us?”

Where do we go from here? What particular resolution is the Lord eliciting from me?

It can be simple: to be more grateful or to use speech that builds up; or it can be meatier: to ask forgiveness of someone or to offer a concrete means of support to another with time, talent or treasure. To this end, Pope Benedict extended his teaching on this manner of praying with an additional point: “We do well also to remember that the process of lectio divina is not concluded until it arrives at action (actio), which moves the believer to make his or her life a gift for others in charity.”

We thus see from another perspective that praying with Scripture may be done alone. But if the Holy Spirit is allowed to lead, it will manifest itself for the good of the community.

Father Carl is assistant professor of sacred Scripture at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul.

THIS CATHOLIC LIFE • COMMENTARY

September 22, 2016

The Catholic Spirit • 15

FAITH IN THE PUBLIC ARENA

Mary Jane O’Brien

Election resources

Mother Teresa and conscience formation During election season, we hear a great deal about “following our consciences” and the need for conscience formation.

The U.S. bishops offer their guide to faithful citizenship so that the principles of Catholic social teaching might inform our Election Day decisions, and a number of organizations similarly produce a range of voting guides.

But with the cacophony of voices that arise each election cycle, each telling us how we should view candidates and issues, and which way to vote, it can become overwhelming to form our consciences.

discern the natural law written on our hearts has been fundamentally compromised. We need help in learning how to distinguish between good and evil actions so that we may “follow faithfully what [we] know to be just and right” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1778).

The witness of the saints

Fortunately, the Catholic faith has not left us helpless in this matter. As our loving mother, the Church has a rich teaching tradition by which we form our conscience. This formation includes following the light of “reason,” “the word of God,” “the gifts of the Holy Spirit” and “the authoritative teaching of the Church” (CCC 1785).

Since conscience is the ability to make a correct moral judgment about the rightness or wrongness of a particular action, it makes sense that so much emphasis is placed on its formation. As Catholics, we know we are not able to make correct judgments without being formed — our intellects have been darkened by sin, and even our ability to

We can also be “aided by the witness or advice of others” (CCC 1785), and we have no more beautiful a witness to turn to than the saints. The witness of the saints is especially helpful when it comes to exemplifying the interconnectedness of all Catholic social teaching, from the fundamental right to life to the preferential option for the poor.

WORD ON FIRE

Bishop Robert Barron

Why you should read C.S. Lewis’ ‘The Great Divorce’ In my capacity as regional bishop of the Santa Barbara pastoral region, which covers two entire counties north of Los Angeles, I am obliged to spend a good deal of time in the car. To make the trips easier, I have gotten back into the habit of listening to audio books. Just recently, I followed, with rapt attention, a book that I had read many years ago but which I had, I confess, largely forgotten: C.S. Lewis’ “The Great Divorce.”

The inspiration for this theological fantasy is the medieval idea of the refrigerium, the refreshment or vacation from hell granted to some of the souls abiding there. So Lewis’ narrator leaves the dreary streets of the underworld and, with a coterie of other ghosts, journeys by flying bus to a lovely land that he comes to realize is the forecourt of heaven. In that enchanted place, the ghosts meet a number of denizens from the heavenly world who attempt to lure the poor souls out of their misery.

Lewis was that rare sort of genius, able to combine high theological insight with vivid imagination, and it is precisely this coming-together that makes his writing so memorable. I would like to rehearse a

number of motifs from this story that struck me as being of particular spiritual significance.

The first has to do with the paradox of the grandeur and nothingness of hell.

Lewis’ narrator tells us that the streets and residences of hell stretch out so far that it requires centuries of travel to get from one end of the city to the other.

This immensity is due to the fact that the citizens of that awful place just want to get as far away from one another as possible. Further, when the bus travels from hell to heaven, it seems to go far up into the air and to cover an enormous distance. However, when the narrator, in dialogue with a heavenly spirit, wonders where precisely hell is in relation to the heavenly realm, the spirit bends down, pulls a single blade of grass and uses its tip to indicate a tiny, barely perceptible, fissure in the ground. “That’s where you came in,” he explains. All of hell, which seemed so immense to the narrator, would fit into a practically microscopic space in heaven. Lewis is illustrating the Augustinian principle that sin is the state of being incurvatus in se (curved in around oneself). It is the reduction of

The Minnesota Catholic Conference has a variety of election year resources, including a statement from Minnesota’s bishops and an Election Day novena.

Visit www.mncatholic.org/election or call 651-227-8777.

Mother Teresa, model The recent canonization of Mother Teresa of Kolkata brings to mind her powerful witness in living out the Gospel most fully. She embodied the corporal works of mercy by loving and serving the poorest of the poor and caring for lepers in the slums of Kolkata. Her entire life was a model of the “preferential option for the poor” that we are called to uphold.

At the same time, St. Teresa gave witness to the fundamental right to life that every person possesses by virtue of their God-given dignity. In numerous speeches, including the 1994 National Prayer Breakfast, St. Teresa made headlines by calling abortion “a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself.” She asked how we could be surprised by murders, wars and hatred: “If a mother can kill her own child, what is left but for us to kill each other?”

As she rightly noted, “any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to reality to the infinitely small space of the ego’s concerns and preoccupations.

Love, on the contrary, which is the life of heaven, is the opening to reality in its fullness; it amounts to a breaking through of the buffered and claustrophobic self; it is the activity of the magna anima (the great soul). We think our own little worlds are so impressive, but to those who are truly open to reality, they are nothing.

One of the sad ghosts that Lewis describes carries on his shoulder a rather loathsome reptile who whispers suggestions in his companion’s ear. It is eminently clear — even to the ghost himself — that this creature is doing nothing but harm. An angel approaches and places his hands around the lizard and calmly asks the ghost, “May I kill it?” At this, the fallen spirit recoils and commences to make excuses for the thing on his shoulder. “May I kill it?” the angel solemnly asks once again. Finally, the ghost acquiesces and the angel crushes the life out of the reptile, at which point the ghost begins to harden into something greater and more substantial. And the lizard, thought to be dead, begins to metamorphose into a stately stallion. When both ghost and reptile have been thoroughly transformed, the man mounts the horse and the two ride off together. The creepy and insinuating reptile is symbolic, it becomes clear, of lust, that vice which continually suggests self-destructive courses of action. Yet not even an angel of God can kill it without the conscious permission of the will. Once killed, however, it can rise into what it originally was meant to be: the erotic desire, which is a source of tremendous

get what they want,” and for these reasons, the “spiritual poverty” of abortion is “the worst poverty and the most difficult to overcome,” far worse than the material poverty to which Mother Teresa daily attended.

Far from seeing a divide between helping the poor and upholding the right to life of every person, St. Teresa saw truly that the failure to defend the very right to exist of the most vulnerable among us is simultaneously an abject failure to serve the poor in any lasting way. Our moral obligation to care for the poor begins with protecting their right to live.

By forming our consciences in the light of the Church and the witnesses of her saints, we form our ability to judge concrete situations rightly and to live out our faith, in the voting booth and beyond.

O’Brien is the business manager for the Minnesota Catholic Conference. She holds a master’s degree in Catholic Studies from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. energy, indeed a stallion that the soul can gleefully ride. What I especially appreciate in this episode is Lewis’ spoton representation of how the soul clings desperately to what is actually killing it, preferring, in W.H. Auden’s phrase, “to be ruined rather than changed.”

A final image is one of the most beautiful in the book. The narrator spots a stately procession making its way toward him. A woman is being carried, in the manner of a queen, with great reverence, and all around her people are offering tokens of respect and admiration. So impressed is he that the narrator turns to one of the heavenly citizens and wonders whether this might be the Blessed Virgin Mary. “No,” says his interlocutor, “It’s someone ye’ll never have heard of. Her name on earth was Sarah Smith.” It turns out that this one so highly honored in heaven was a very ordinary person during her earthly life.

But through her love, she became a spiritual mother to hundreds, indeed to every person she met. Even the lowly animals were embraced by her affection and came more to life.

The point is that what is honored on earth is not the same as what is honored

by God and the saints. Here below, we hold up achievements in education, business, finance, entertainment, the military, etc. But none of this matters in the grand scheme of things. What matters, what, in St. Paul’s language, lasts, is love. We recall the Lord’s words: “Don’t store up treasures for yourself on earth ... but store up treasure in heaven.”

Bishop Barron is an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries.

16 • The Catholic Spirit

RETIREMENT PLANNING

September 22, 2016

For financial rep, life insurance started in a concrete way

By Matthew Davis The Catholic Spirit Catholic United Financial agent Peter Ryan understood the receiving end of life insurance long before he ever had to make a sales pitch.

He lived through it twice.

At age 16, Ryan’s father died of cancer. The elder Ryan left behind five children. The children then were orphaned, as their mother had left nine years earlier.

“That will always stick with me,” Peter Ryan said.

“Sixteen years old when [my] dad dies, and I’m looking for an apartment.”

It helped that his father left behind a $50,000 life insurance policy through his work at 3M. The younger Ryan could put away his portion to save, which lasted four years once he used it.

“That 10 grand was huge,” Ryan said. “I actually put it in a [certificate of deposit] in the bank, and then after one year, I started milking on it because I needed it.”

Ryan came to see the need for life insurance again in 1992 when his older brother, George, died at 33.

George Ryan left a $50,000 policy he had through Catholic United Financial thanks to a childhood friend, now regional manager Patrick Brown, who sold it to him.

Peter Ryan took care of his brother’s estate and saw how quickly that life insurance money evaporated.

His brother had a funeral, a mortgage and credit card debt.

“I probably ended up putting out $5,000 to $6,000 just to finish things off,” Ryan said.

He said that if his brother had left behind a wife and children, the financial challenges would have been stauncher.

The deaths of Ryan’s brother and father impacts his approach as a sales representative with Catholic United Financial when it comes to life insurance.

“It’s maintaining the lifestyle that you think you

“You have to plan for today, so if something happened to you today, right now, would your wishes come true?”

Peter Ryan

could have,” Ryan said.

Ryan didn’t have a typical 16-year-old lifestyle after losing his father and not having grandparents or extended family to turn to. Days consisted of high school, but evenings meant full-time work at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange from 3:30 p.m. until 11:30 p.m.

He lived with one of his brothers in an apartment and went to work after graduation. He couldn’t go to college because of finances.

It gave Ryan a first-hand lesson of the limitations of term life insurance from an employer versus permanent insurance, which people can purchase, too. Following his brother’s death, he also learned the importance of a will and trust.

“It’s so important for people to plan,” Ryan said.

Ryan began his career with Catholic United Financial in 2002 after many years working as a

warehouse manager for a wholesaler. He has excelled with Catholic United Financial ever since.

In 14 years, he has won the President’s Club award 11 times, which goes to CUF sales reps who volunteer, hit sales goals and meet goals for signing up new members. He became the first CUF rep to win the International Fraternal Insurance Counselor of the Year award in May at the National Association of Fraternal Field Managers Association convention.

Ryan enjoys the opportunity to support Catholic institutions through his work with CUF. He also serves on the Catholic United Credit Union board of directors.

Ryan, who resides in Watertown, also practices what he tells his clients. He and his wife, Jean, parishioners of St. Maximilian Kolbe in Delano, no longer have any living parents. Because the Ryans have two daughters, they took their family situation into account when preparing their own finances; if a tragedy should happen, their daughters will receive an ample amount of financial help.

“You have to plan for today, so if something happened to you today, right now, would your wishes come true?,” Ryan said.

He doesn’t have a pessimistic view waiting for the next shoe to drop, though. Tragedy in his own life hasn’t slowed him down, either.

“I’m not one of these [people] on Dr. Phil [who thinks], ‘Oh, poor me,’” Ryan said. “I’ve just always lived my life. Every day’s a victory.”

Ryan hopes to give his clients a chance for a victory in case of an unexpected death in the family. He emphasizes that people need to think several years out and not just what a basic employer policy contributes.

“I’ve never delivered a life insurance check, and someone said, ‘Oh, that’s just way too much,’” he said.

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RETIREMENT PLANNING

September 22, 2016

Five pitfalls of retirement planning

By Matthew Davis The Catholic Spirit Challenges in retirement planning lurk well beyond just getting started, but there are solutions.

Catholic United Financial sales representative Mary Harens discussed with The Catholic Spirit such challenges that people face in retirement planning and possible solutions for each.

1. Waiting too long People can fall into this pitfall easily because of the hectic pace and busyness of daily life. Legitimate financial demands and the consumer culture can hurt saving, too.

“It’s never too late to start saving,” Harens said. “However, it’s most advantageous to start early.”

Harens recommends looking into free seminars about retirement planning to get started. Then, people need to look for a guide.

2. Intimidation The jargon in the financial field alone could cause people to delay looking into retirement planning.

Moreover, each person has much to consider when looking at life after work.

“A lot of people don’t understand the vocabulary and the principles,”

Harens said. “Rightly so, the laws change, so the game changes.”

Competent financial planners understand the field and communicate it effectively. Once clients have that information, they need to keep making retirement planning a priority.

3. Tax law changes Here’s a curve ball everyone needs to watch out for in retirement planning.

Tax laws can change over time, which can impact how retirement products perform.

“People aren’t always aware what that means or how that impacts for better or for worse their retirement situation,” Harens said.

She advises consulting with a certified public accountant and/or a professional who specializes in retirement. Learning how to time withdrawals, tax consequences, fund distribution and current applicable laws all play a critical role.

4. Health care Planning retirement well includes planning for the unexpected, which health care often tosses into the mix of considerations.

“The cost of health care is a wild card,” Harens said. “There are personal dimensions to that based on our personal health, which is a wild card.

Then, there’s [a] whole field of health

care and premiums for that, and government regulations on that are changing and increasing.”

Transitioning from an employer health insurance plan to a plan after retirement also plays a role.

“Now, all those benefits are different [after retirement], or they don’t have them,” Harens said.

Family history, current health and habits can impact costs. It still leaves lots of room for unpredictability, but one aspect remains certain.

“Typically, health care costs will increase, not decrease,” Harens said.

5. Social Security While people find plenty of unpredictability with Social Security, they can quickly find information.

Harens recommends visiting www.ssa.gov for information.

“People can look at that and see what their projected social security income would be, which is not really going to be sufficient,” Harens said.

“But to get an idea of what that element will be as far as their retirement picture, what that will provide for them.”

Changes in how long people live, stay in the workforce and when people retire will all impact Social Security.

Longer lives and careers warrant not depending on Social Security alone though.

The Catholic Spirit • 17

Australian bishops: Reject ageism, ‘old age will come to us all’ Catholic News Service Australia’s bishops called on individuals, communities and governments to reject rampant ageism and the toxic attitudes that often accompany concepts such as “intergenerational theft.” The bishops link Australia’s treatment of the elderly with Western discomfort around dying and point to the looming threat posed by euthanasia and assisted dying in a society that “idealizes notions of youthfulness and vitality.” Calling for a “renewed solidarity among generations, young and old” — everywhere — the bishops point out a number of challenges confronting Australia as a country with a rapidly aging population.

Their 2016-17 social justice statement, “A Place at the Table: Social Justice in an Aging Society,” was released in anticipation of Social Justice Sunday Sept. 25. The bishops point to recent survey data showing a quarter of people over 50 had experienced some form of age-based discrimination in calling for greater workplace flexibility for older people, and for increased training, particularly in lieu of increased automation. The document also surveys the consequences of caring for children on women’s retirement savings and grandparents’ emotional and financial stress when caring for their grandchildren, often out of their own families’ financial necessity.

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18 • The Catholic Spirit

RETIREMENT PLANNING

September 22, 2016

St. Joan of Arc seniors share wisdom with parish, community

By Susan Klemond For The Catholic Spirit Patsy Jones came prepared to hear about new library resources at a Sept. 12 senior workshop at St. Joan of Arc in Minneapolis, but she was also thinking about trees — and the parish’s SAGES senior ministry that sponsored the event.

“It did start like planting a tree and has grown large and strong with many branches to reach out with shelter, beauty and nourishment to the people it serves,” said Jones, 86, who has been a St. Joan of Arc parishioner and SAGES member for five years. “It’s just a group of very dedicated people who are there to serve others, and in serving others we benefit ourselves.”

About one-third of St. Joan of Arc parishioners are 65 or older. Jones joined about 25 other seniors of various ages and backgrounds at the afternoon workshop led by librarians and fellow parishioners Melissa Brechon and Ken Beringer. The monthly SAGES informational workshops, including a popular series on life transitions, are an important part of parish life and one way SAGES Ministry members share their wisdom and experience with seniors, the parish and broader community.

The ministry’s name, SAGES, represents that wisdom, along with St. Joan of Arc’s commitment to social justice, in which many members have long been involved. They contribute their time, expertise and passion through the workshops — which are growing in attendance — as well as supporting each other.

Members “hear something, or get excited about it and bring it to SAGES, and usually SAGES says, ‘Yes, let’s find the time to do it and find somebody to do it,’” said Mark Scannell, SAGES co-chair. “That’s been the impetus, spirit and energy of SAGES.”

“It did start like planting a tree and has grown large and strong with many branches to reach out with shelter, beauty and nourishment to the people it serves.”

Patsy Jones, St. Joan of Arc parishioner and member of SAGES

Shared interests The inspiration for starting the ministry came during a chance meeting in 2007. As Scannell, 73, was walking around Lake Harriet in Minneapolis, he encountered a St. Joan of Arc parishioner he’d seen but never met. He kept walking and met the same man on the other side of the lake. They started talking and discovered both were close to retirement and were interested in a parish ministry for retired people.

They talked about the idea and brought it to the parish. Parishioners responded to the idea and began meeting in 2008, said Marie Thielen, 80, SAGES cochair, who had just stopped working full-time at that point. About 15 people still meet monthly to share learning and spiritual growth, and to plan programs.

SAGES’ goals are not only developing ways to share wisdom across generations, but also to connect people who share similar values and expand collaboration with other ministries.

Each year, SAGES presents 10 monthly workshops offering social time and dialogue on topics including

gun control and homelessness, along with lighter fare like ordinary grace and Twin Cities’ best food.

Members sometimes lead the workshops, which often draw about 40 seniors and others, Thielen said.

Each spring, they offer their best attended workshops, called Life Transitions, bringing in experts on topics of wills and estate planning; health care directives; hospice and palliative care; and funeral planning. The workshops attract people of different ages, she said.

Father Jim DeBruycker, St. Joan of Arc pastor, described the workshops as informative and addressing “really practical things that people need to know about.”

Ministry members invite parishioners and other South Minneapolis churches to the workshops and cover the costs with free-will offerings. Most SAGE members and workshop attendees are in their 60s and 70s, but some are older, Thielen said.

A greater purpose SAGES reflects St. Joan of Arc parish’s goal of being a presence in the Church that invites people to share their talents, Scannell said, adding that the parish also integrates Church teaching with world events.

Said Father DeBruycker, “St. Joan of Arc’s clarion call is justice, and I know that [SAGES members] look at this as ‘How are we not only taking care of our fellow parishioners, but [also] how are we making sure people know what their rights are and what’s available.’”

Some SAGES members have been active leaders both in the parish and the professional world, and are respected by parishioners, he said.

Younger people see the seniors’ involvement, Thielen said.

Please turn to SAGES on next page

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9/12/16 12:06 PM

September 22, 2016

RETIREMENT PLANNING

Schlafly dies; supported conservatism Catholic News Service Phyllis Schlafly, 92, died Sept. 5 at her home in Ladue, Missouri, outside St. Louis, according to the Eagle Forum, an organization she founded in 1975. No cause of death was given, but she had been ill for some time.

A Catholic who with her husband, John, had six children, Schlafly immersed herself for most of her adult life in a host of conservative causes, including stopping ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment.

Schlafly also was involved with the abortion issue, having founded and chaired the National Republican Coalition for Life.

Archbishop Robert Carlson of St. Louis said in a brief statement that Schlafly “displayed an ardent commitment to the teachings and defense of the Catholic faith and for which the church is grateful.”

“She served the Lord, her family and her nation to the utmost,” said a Sept. 6 statement by American Life League president Judie Brown.

“Schlafly not only helped the Republican Party become pro-life in the 1980s, but spent the remainder of her life ensuring it remained so,” said a Sept. 6 statement by Tom McClusky, vice president of government affairs for the March for Life Education & Defense Fund.

The effort by Schlafly to change the conversation made her a lightning rod for controversy to her ideological opposition. It continued into her 80s, when her presence as a speaker in 2008 at Washington University in St. Louis, her alma mater, drew protesters.

Born Aug. 15, 1924, Schlafly did not win every battle she fought — abortion is still legal in the United States, she made three unsuccessful bids for public office, she backed Barry Goldwater for president in 1964 and the candidacy of Alan Keyes in the 2000 Republican primaries — but she was engaged in so many battles on so many fronts that, invariably, she won at least some.

The ERA was her first major victory. Her group, STOP ERA, later became the Eagle Forum.

Schlafly also went after the U.S. bishops’ proposed pastoral letter on women with the same vigor. In a 1988 interview with the Catholic Times, newspaper of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, she said that if sexism was a sin, as one draft declared, the bishops would have to acknowledge the Church has exploited and oppressed women — and that notion was “ridiculous.”

“The whole notion that the Church has somehow made women second-class or discriminated against them is contrary to history, contrary to fact and contrary to the

Phyllis Schlafly, 92, died Sept. 5 at her home in Ladue, Missouri, outside St. Louis, according to the Eagle Forum, an organization she founded in 1975. She is pictured in a 2013 photo.

CNS/Mary F. Calvert, Reuters beliefs of the overwhelming majority of Catholics,’’ she said.

In 1998, Schlafly berated the Patient Access to Responsible Care Act, saying its language had “unintended consequences” that could mandate abortion coverage. The bill died in committee despite its sponsorship by a Republican congressman and it having more than 200 cosponsors. But she lost a bid that January to have the Republican National Committee deny campaign funds to any congressional candidate who didn’t oppose partial-birth abortion.

Schlafly, however, convinced the Republican Party to adopt and strengthen its platform language on abortion prior to party conventions. “Phyllis is the reason the Republican Party is a pro-life party,” said a Sept. 5 statement

by Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life of America.

At a 1994 forum on the GOP’s platform’s treatment of life issues, Schlafly said, “The Republican Party was born on the Please turn to SCHLAFLY on page 21

The Catholic Spirit • 19 SAGES continued from previous page “It gives them something to think about: ‘When I retire from my job, I know there’s something for me here I can do,” she said.

Jones said she has benefited spiritually and intellectually and has been enriched through associating with SAGES members.

Dennis Callahan, a 73-year-old parishioner, has attended SAGES workshops for the past year for the socializing and Marie workshop topics.

THIELEN “I always think of a sage person as a wise old man,” he said. “It implies that we’re thoughtful and interested in serious topics.”

Some SAGES members have shared that wisdom with St. Joan of Arc’s youth, forming friendships during shared experiences such as the parish’s annual intergenerational trip to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, said Donelle Poling, 43, youth ministry director. Seniors are often “listening, caring persons to companion [youth] on their faith journey,” she said. “It’s part of the big community.”

SAGES members and other seniors help young people form their faith, Poling said.

“It is just gold in terms of another person to say, ‘This is what faith life looks like, and here’s what I’ve experienced,’” he said. “With every struggle and joy together, trust is built up on these trips. You see good people trying to live out their faith in different ways, not just on Sunday morning.”

For more information about SAGES, visit www.saintjoanofarc.org/adult/sages.

20 • The Catholic Spirit

RETIREMENT PLANNING

September 22, 2016

Pope Benedict: retirement helps him enter into prayer

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service As he prays in his house in the Vatican Gardens and, especially, as he ages, retired Pope Benedict XVI said he finds many Scripture passages “more challenging in their greatness and gravity.”

Retirement has given the 89-year-old Pope Benedict what he describes as the gift of silence to enter more deeply into prayer, especially with the Psalms and the writings of early Church theologians, but the inevitable approach of death also makes his failings and God’s judgment a more pressing concern, he said.

“Despite all the confidence I have that the loving God cannot forsake me, the closer you come to his face, the more intensely you feel how much you have done wrong,” the retired pope told Peter Seewald, a German writer.

Pope Benedict’s reflections on his life and his discussion of how his prayer life has changed as he ages are included in Seewald’s new book-length interview, “Last Testament,” which will be released in English by Bloomsbury in November. The German and Italian editions were in bookstores Sept. 9.

“I can now pray the breviary deeply and slowly,” the retired pope said, “and thereby deepen my friendship with the Psalms, with the Fathers” of the Church.

He said he uses a whole week to prepare his Sunday homily for his small household, thinking about the Scripture readings, allowing his thoughts to “mature slowly, so I can sound out a text from many different angles: What is it saying to me? What is it saying to the people here in the monastery?”

Pope Benedict, who knew and continues to admire the work of Father Romano Guardini, said he agreed

Pope Benedict’s favorite prayers • T he “Suscipe” of St. Ignatius of Loyola, which begins: “Take, Lord, receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all I have and call my own. You have given all to me. To you, Lord, I return it.”

•A prayer from St. Francis Xavier: “I do not love you because you can give me paradise or condemn me to hell, but because you are my God.” •S t. Nicholas of Flue’s “Take me as I am” • T he General Prayer composed in German by St. Peter Canisius, which begins: “Almighty and eternal God, Lord, heavenly Father. Look with the eyes of your gratuitous mercy at our sorrow, misery and distress; have mercy on all Christian believers.”

— CNS

Pope Benedict XVI walks with his cane in 2013 at the Vatican following his final general audience. CNS/L’Osservatore Romano with an affirmation the priest made: “In old age, it does not get easier, but more difficult.”

“There is something true in it,” he said. “On the one hand, in old age you are more deeply practiced, so to speak. Life has taken its shape. The fundamental decisions have been made.”

But at the same time, the pope said, “one feels the difficulties of life’s questions more deeply; one feels the weight of today’s godlessness, the weight of the absence of faith, which goes deep into the Church. But then one also feels the greatness of Jesus Christ’s words, which evade interpretation more often than before.”

Although sometimes comforted by new insights, he said he recognizes how “the depths of the word (of God) are never fully plumbed. And some words of wrath, of rejection, of the threat of judgment certainly become more mysterious and grave and awesome than before.”

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RETIREMENT PLANNING

September 22, 2016 SCHLAFLY continued from page 19

The parishioners and staff of

principle that no human being should be considered the property of another.

That is our heritage as Republicans and it would be a tragic mistake to abandon that fundamental precept now.”

During a 1989 debate in Knoxville, Tennessee, against Roe v. Wade lawyer Sarah Weddington, Schlafly said banning abortions would not be a question of governmental interference.

“It’s a question of an individual who’s able to kill another human being,” she said. “The question is not who’s going to die. The question is who’s going to kill.”

At the time of the U.S. bishops’ 1988 fall meeting, Schlafly commended St. John Paul II for having “ceaselessly taught the truth about women,” and denounced “false feminism” to which, the group said, even Catholic pastors are “appearing to succumb.” She also chastised the bishops for their support of the Act for Better Child Care, asking them to repudiate the legislation, calling it nothing more than a “federal baby-sitting bill.”

Schlafly still stumped on the issue at a 1990 Eagle Forum conference in

“She served the Lord, her family and her nation to the utmost.”

Judie Brown, American Life League president

Washington, saying that any savings from a post-Cold War “peace dividend” should be used to help cope with child care needs, by giving them “a tax reduction ... not a federal babysitting bureaucracy.”

Schlafly and her husband, John, co-founded the Cardinal Mindszenty Society in 1958 to warn Catholics of communism’s dangers. Her sister-inlaw, Eleanor Schlafly, ran the organization. Phyllis Schlafly was also member of the Catholic Campaign for America’s national committee from 1991-94.

In addition to her children, Schlafly is survived by 16 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

May God bless you for your faithful service to the people of God and His church.

Rejoicing with you as you celebrate your 25th DIACONATE ANNIVERSARY.

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22 • The Catholic Spirit

CALENDAR Parish events Holy Name fall rummage sale — Sept. 22-24 at 3637 11th Ave. S., Minneapolis.

Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church and School Block Party — Sept. 24: 10 a.m.–10 p.m. at 5526 12th Ave. S., Minneapolis. www.olpmn.org/blockparty.

St. Michael fall festival — Sept. 24: 11 a.m.–8 p.m. at 22120 Denmark Ave., Farmington.

St. Gregory the Great booya — Sept. 24: 11:30 a.m.–2 p.m. at 38725 Forest Blvd., North Branch.

Mary Queen of Peace parish festival — Sept. 24: 2–10 p.m. at 21304 Church Ave., Rogers.

St. Vincent de Paul Walk for the Poor — Sept. 24: 2:30–9:30 p.m. at 3817 Pleasant Ave. S., Minneapolis. www.svdpusa.net.

St. Maron Lebanese Festival — Sept. 24 -25: 1–8 p.m. Sept. 24 and 11 a.m.–6 p.m. Sept. 25 at 602 University Ave. NE, Minneapolis. www.stmaron.com/upcoming.htm.

Children’s clothing and toy sale — Sept. 24-25: 9 a.m.–2 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker, 7180 Hemlock Lane N., Maple Grove. www.sjtw.net/childrens-clothing-and-toy-sale.

A CULTURE OF ETHICS: ENGINEERING FOR HUMAN DIGNITY AND THE COMMON GOOD October 6-8, 2016 University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Walk with Our Lady fall festival — Sept. 25: 10 a.m.–4 p.m. at 701 Fillmore St. NE, Minneapolis.

Free and Open to the Public

Brad Kallenberg

Professor of Theology and Ethics University of Dayton Thursday, Oct. 6 | 7 p.m.

Gregg Stedronsky

Vice President for Global Engineering, Safety and Manufacturing Excellence General Mills Friday, Oct. 7 | 7 p.m.

Michael J. Quinn

Dean of the College of Science and Engineering Seattle University Saturday, Oct. 8 | 9 a.m.

St. Pascal Baylon fall festival — Sept. 25: Noon– 5 p.m. at Third St. and White Bear Ave., St. Paul. www.stpascalbaylon.org.

St. Peter fall festival — Sept. 30-Oct. 2: 6–9 p.m. at 2600 Margaret St. N., North St. Paul. www.churchofstpeternsp.org.

Dance for children and adults with special needs — Sept. 30: 6:30–8 p.m. at St. Patrick, 19921 Nightingale St. NW, Oak Grove.

St. Peter fall festival — Oct. 2: 11 a.m.–3 p.m. at 1405 Highway 13, Mendota. www.stpetersmendota.org.

25th deaconate anniversary celebration for Deacon Stephen Boatwright — Oct. 2: 10:30 a.m. at 13900 Biscayne Ave. W., Rosemount. www.stjosephcommunity.org.

St. Francis de Sales booya and fall fiesta — Oct. 2: 11 a.m.–3 p.m. at Highland Park Pavilion, 1200 Montreal Ave., St. Paul. 651-228-1169.

Blessing of the Animals — Oct. 2: Noon–1 p.m. at St. Bridget, 3811 Emerson Ave. N., Minneapolis.

Mass of the Feast of St. Francis — Oct. 4: 7–8:30 p.m. at St. Bridget / St. Austin Campus, 4050 Upton Ave. N., Minneapolis.

Garage sale at St. Thomas the Apostle — Oct. 5-7: 1–9 p.m. at 20000 County Road 10, Corcoran.

DEADLINE: Noon Thursday, 14 days before the anticipated Thursday date of publication.

Recurring or ongoing events must be submitted each time they occur.

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

ITEMS MUST INCLUDE the following to be considered for publication in the calendar: • Time and date of event • Full street address of event • Description of event • Contact information in case of questions.

(No attachments, please.)

FAX: 651-291-4460 MAIL: “Calendar,” The Catholic Spirit 244 Dayton Ave., St. Paul, MN 55102 A note to readers As of Jan. 1, 2016, The Catholic Spirit no longer accepts calendar submissions via email.

Please submit events using the form at www.thecatholicspirit.com/calendarsubmissions.

More Online Speakers Voting in the Absence of a Perfect Candidate: Catholic Perspectives on Faithful Citizenship — Sept.

27: 7–9 p.m. at St. Pascal Baylon, 1757 Conway St., St. Paul. www.stpascals.org.

Kathryn Mollen of the Minnesota Catholic Conference presents From the Pew to the Polls — Sept. 29: 6–7:30 p.m. at St. Stephen, 525 Jackson St., Anoka. RSVP by Sept. 25 at 763-757-9786 or www. ststephenchurch.org/parish-event/from-the-pew-to-the-polls.

Reaching for Faith 2 with Justin Stroh and Dale Ahlquist — Oct. 1: 8 a.m.–noon at 7301 Bass Lake Road, Crystal. www.straphaelcrystal.org.

Devoted Life-Women’s Speaker Series — Oct. 10, Nov. 8, Jan.10, March 14, May 9: 7–9 p.m. at St. Bartholomew, 630 E. Wayzata Blvd., Wayzata.

Young adults Cathedral Young Adults Sport Night — Fridays through September: 6:30–9 p.m. at Rahn Athletic Park, 4440 Nichols Road, Eagan. www.cathedralsaintpaul.org/cya.

Other events

St. Bernard booya — Oct. 8: 9 a.m.–5 p.m. at 141 W. Geranium Ave., St. Paul. www.stbernardstpaul.org.

Faster than the Pastor — Sept. 24: 8:30 a.m. at St. John the Baptist, 835 Second Ave. NW, New Brighton. www.fasterthanthepastorevents.com.

Holy Name fall festival — Oct. 9: 9 a.m.–4 p.m. at 3637 11th Ave. S., Minneapolis. www.churchoftheholyname.org.

TLC Options for Women banquet — Sept. 24: 6–9:30 p.m. at 3800 American Blvd. E., Bloomington. 651-2919473 or www.tlcoptions.org/events/banquet.

St. Albert fall festival — Oct. 9: 11 a.m.–3:30 p.m. at 11400 57th St. NE, Albertville.

For more information or to register for the full conference, featuring over 30 speakers, visit

Parish mission at Immaculate Conception Church — Oct. 9-13: 7 p.m. at 4030 Jackson St. NE, Columbia Heights. www.iccsonline.org.

stthomas.edu/ethicsconference

Prayer/worship

Continuing Education Credit:

Senor de Los Milagros Mass — Oct. 2: Noon at St. Olaf, 215 S. Eighth St., Minneapolis. www.saintolaf.org.

The Minnesota Board does not pre-approve courses and activities; however, to the best of our knowledge, the programs offered meet the continuing education requirements outlined in MN Statute 326.107. Final discretion is up to the Board.

CALENDAR submissions

Most Holy Redeemer fall festival — Sept. 25: 10:45 a.m.–5 p.m. at 206 Vine Ave. W., Montgomery.

St. Francis of Assisi feast day celebration — Oct. 1-2: 11:30 a.m.–3 p.m. at 16770 13th St. S., Lake St. Croix Beach.

Keynote Speakers

September 22, 2016

First Friday Day of Prayer — Oct. 7, Nov. 4 and Dec. 2: 8 a.m.–5 p.m. at 7540 Penn Ave. S., Richfield. www.strichards.com/first-fridays.

Mass of God’s Children — Oct. 11: 7–8 p.m. at Nativity of Our Lord, Stanford and Prior Avenues, St. Paul. For those who have experienced the death of a baby before or after birth.

MCCL Pro-Life Gathering — Sept. 25: 7:15–8:15 p.m. at St. Hubert, 8201 Main St., Chanhassen. www.mccl.org.

Share the Harvest: A Creative Exploration — Sept.

27: 5–7 p.m. at St. Paul’s Monastery, 2675 Benet Road, Maplewood. www.stpaulsmonastery.org.

40 Days for Life Twin Cities coordinated by Pro-Life Action Ministries — Every day, Sept. 28-Nov. 6: 6 a.m.–6 p.m. in front of Planned Parenthood, 671 Vandalia St., St. Paul.

MCCL Pro-Life Gathering — Oct. 5: 7–8 p.m. at 1975 St. John’s Drive, Woodbury. www.mccl.org.

Catholic Parents Online fall luncheon featuring Theresa Deisher — Oct. 29: 11 a.m.– 2 p.m. at Southview Country Club, 239 E. Mendota Road, West St. Paul. 651-705-5409 or www.catholicparents.org.

September 22, 2016 The Catholic Spirit • 23

Pope urges Christians to believe in the ‘logic’ of the resurrection

By Junno Arocho Esteves Catholic News Service Christians are called to believe in the logic of the resurrection of the body and not succumb to heresies that reduce it to a mere spiritual experience, Pope Francis said.

When looking toward the future, the uncertainty about what happens after death often can lead to not understanding Christianity’s “logic of the future,” which proclaims that believers will rise again in body and soul like Jesus did, the pope said Sept. 16 during a morning Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae.

“A spiritualistic piety, a nuanced piety, is much easier; but to enter into the logic of the flesh of Christ, this is difficult. And this is the logic of the day after tomorrow. We will resurrect like the risen Christ, with our own flesh,” he said.

In his homily, the pope reflected on St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, in which the apostle admonishes some of the early Christian community for saying “there is no resurrection of the dead.”

The pope said that, for some, it is difficult to understand and accept the “logic of the future”

regarding what happens after death. The belief that, like Jesus, Christians will experience the resurrection of the body “is not easy.”

“Yesterday’s logic is easy, today’s logic is easy.

Tomorrow’s logic is easy: We will all die. But the logic of the day after tomorrow, that is difficult,” he said.

Some Christians “are afraid of the flesh” and may fall prey to “a certain type of gnosticism” that reduces the resurrection to a purely spiritual experience, a belief that was “the first heresy” denounced by the apostle John, the pope explained.

Believing and having faith that Christ did not rise from the dead “as a ghost” but rather in flesh and blood is “the logic of the day after tomorrow that we find hard to understand,” he said.

While it is a sign of maturity to see the logic of the resurrection, Christians must also pray for the grace to understand it, Pope Francis added.

“You also need the great grace of the Holy Spirit to understand this logic of the day after tomorrow; after the transformation, when he will come and will carry us transformed above the clouds to be with him always. Let us ask the Lord for the grace of this faith.”

Archdiocese discloses information on priest accused of abuse The Catholic Spirit The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis released the name and assignment history Sept. 16 of deceased priest Father William Hough, who has a substantiated claim against him of sexually abusing a minor while he was a priest of the archdiocese.

The alleged abuse occurred between 1964 and 1966.

Father Hough died in 1994. He served at St. Mary in St. Paul, St. Elizabeth in Minneapolis, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Minneapolis, Resurrection in Minneapolis, St. Mary of the Purification in Marystown, and St. Anthony of Padua in Minneapolis.

He was ordained in 1963 and retired in 1991.

In a Sept. 16 statement, Archbishop Bernard Hebda

said the archdiocese notified pastors at these parishes and encouraged anyone who has been abused to contact the police immediately.

“I am profoundly saddened by the effect clergy sexual abuse continues to have on victims/survivors, their families and the community,” he said.

A substantiated claim is one supported by sufficient evidence establishing reasonable grounds to believe that the alleged abuse occurred.

According to the archdiocese, Father Hough’s name and assignment history are being disclosed as part of its commitment under the Ramsey County Settlement Agreement, ongoing relationship with Jeff Anderson and Associates, and pledge to “promote healing, awareness and the prevention of abuse.”

ESPAÑOL continued from page 3 corazones tienen que moverse con compasión, no sólo por los nuevos padres que se preguntan con ansiedad cómo un niño va a encajar en sus vidas, sino también por sus hijos por nacer.

De hecho, en “La alegría del Evangelio,” El Papa Francisco señaló que tenemos que tener una especial compasión por el no nacido: “Entre los más vulnerables, los que la Iglesia quiere cuidar con especial amor y preocupación son los niños no nacidos, los más indefensos e inocentes entre nosotros. Hoy en día se hacen esfuerzos para negarles su dignidad humana y hacer con ellos lo que uno quiera, teniendo sus vidas y la aprobación de leyes que impiden cualquier persona de pie en el camino de este. . . . Precisamente porque se trata de la consistencia interna de nuestro mensaje sobre el valor de la persona humana, la Iglesia no se puede esperar que cambie su posición sobre esta cuestión ... . No es “progresista” tratar de resolver los problemas mediante la eliminación de una vida humana ... .”

Estoy muy orgulloso de que nuestra comunidad Católica está tan obviamente comprometida a proporcionar un apoyo concreto a los nuevos padres y las familias. Sé que muchos de ustedes están apoyando a muchos centros de recursos para el embarazo en esta región que ofrecen ayuda práctica a las mujeres embarazadas que lo necesitan. Sé también de los maravillosos programas que se ofrecen a nivel local para permitir a las madres jóvenes ser buenas madres, incluso cuando se enfrentan a esa responsabilidad sola o la necesidad de terminar su educación. Sé del trabajo fenomenal que Caridades Católicas está haciendo para mantener a las familias unidas. Es una bendición ser parte de una Iglesia que vive lo que cree acerca de la dignidad de la vida humana.

Me parece que el reciente anuncio de Catholics for Choice presenta a la Iglesia local un momento de aprendizaje maravilloso. Deseo que los sacerdotes y fieles de esta arquidiócesis, que han sido implacables en su defensa de la vida humana, se unan a mí en busca de oportunidades para llevar la luz de la auténtica enseñanza social católica con amor y paciencia en esta discusión en los próximos días y semanas. Que el Señor traiga a nuestros esfuerzos la predica de su Evangelio de vida.

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24 • The Catholic Spirit

THE LAST WORD

September 22, 2016

Cello on a stick

Woman with religious hopes wins State Fair talent competition

all day and saying, ‘Praying for you tonight.’”

One of those people was Mary Beth Hess, the music director at St. Jerome in Maplewood, where Goedtke had worked for a year as the director of religious education. Hess, a musician herself and member of the group Splatter Sisters, came to the finals to watch. She “started saying Hail Marys” and then agreed wholeheartedly with the judges when they announced the winner.

By Dave Hrbacek The Catholic Spirit

A

nne Goedtke loves the Minnesota State Fair.

This year, the Fair loved her back.

The 22-year-old graduate of the University of Minnesota and member of St. Lawrence Catholic Church and Newman Center decided to combine her love affair with the Fair with her desire for a religious vocation.

On a whim in late July, she entered the Fair’s annual Amateur Talent Contest. She played her favorite musical piece on the cello, an instrument she has played since age 7.

After advancing to the finals Sept. 4, she took home $10,000 by capturing first place. She played a piece on the cello called “Julie-O” that she had learned five I knew I had years ago. was hoping to done probably winShe the prize money one of the best so that she could reduce the amount of [renditions] I’d time it would take to pay off $34,000 in ever played of student loans. Wiping the piece after out the debt would help her achieve her I finished. goal of joining a Franciscan order in Stuebenville, Ohio.

Many religious orders, including this one, require those seeking to join to be debt free.

“I’ve been discerning religious life for over a year,” said Goedtke, who earned a degree in music therapy last December and works part-time as a music therapist. “I knew at some point I’d have to think about how I’m going to take care of my student loans.

That’s how it started.”

She also liked the idea of entering the talent competition for the first time.

“I had gone to the State Fair talent show for years,” she said. “My whole

“Her piece . . . was hands-down the best piece of the night,” Hess said.

“And, I was so glad the judges realized that.”

Said Goedtke: “I knew I had done probably one of the best [renditions] I’d ever played of the piece after I finished. I knew the notes like the back of my hand, but the one thing I was thinking about for the State Fair show was, ‘I need to be more animated. It has to be more of a performance. I can’t just be having a good time in my own little world. I have to be thinking about what the audience is seeing.’”

This could end up being the last time she performs on a stage. She knows if she joins the order — her timetable if she is accepted is next August — she might have to put the cello aside. And, that’s fine by her.

“I did have a conversation with a couple of the sisters about that. They were like, ‘You know, you won’t be doing music therapy anymore and you won’t be performing or anything like that.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I know that.

That’s OK,’” she said. “I will miss practicing for hours to achieve something, or miss the pleasure of being able to be there on stage and the excitement of that, but it just doesn’t compare to” the thought of joining the Franciscan Sisters.

Anne Goedtke hopes to join a Franciscan religious order and will use her winnings from the State Fair talent show to pay down her student loan debt, which is a key part of entering religious life. Dave Hrbacek/The Catholic Spirit life, my family has gone and watched it.”

But, there was an obstacle. The only day she was available for an audition was July 31. She submitted her paperwork, hoping that the last day of July would be the day she would be asked to come in.

It was, and she sailed through the audition, which featured 375

applicants. Then, she won in the semifinals a week before the finals, which took place the final Sunday evening of the Fair in the Grandstand.

“I felt very calm during the performance,” she said. “I was more nervous for the semifinals, I think, than for the Grandstand. I don’t know why. When I got to the Grandstand, I had had people texting me and calling

Goedtke says she is “97 percent” certain her calling is to join the order.

Winning the talent show caused her hope of being accepted by the Franciscan Sisters to soar.

“I really felt like in a large way, it was the Lord just saying, ‘Yeah, I’m going to help you accomplish this.

You don’t need to worry about your student loans,’” she said. “I’m trying to use all the resources I can. But, at the same time, I really feel like the Lord will just take care of it for me.

So, I’m not stressing out about it.”

On the web: To hear Anne Goedtke play a rendition of her first-place piece, “Julie-O,” visit www.facebook.com/thecatholicspirit.