Texas Catholic Herald - Jan. 24, 2023

BY JAMES RAMOS Texas Catholic Herald

VATICAN CITY — “Lord, I love you.” The pope’s secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, said a nurse heard the late pope’s last words several hours before his Dec. 31 death, according to the Vatican.

He whispered the phrase in Italian, expressing his life’s vision and message of his papacy, a legacy that was remembered just five days later during his funeral Mass celebrated at 9:34 a.m., the same time he died just five days earlier.

For those who knew him or studied his

MINISTRIES

2023 DSF appeal showcases impact of local Church

TEXAS CATHOLIC HERALD

HOUSTON — For 57 years, the Diocesan Services Fund (DSF) has provided the necessary resources for the ministries of the local Church to flourish.

When it was established by Bishop John Morkovsky in 1966, the DSF was more than just a call for support — it was a call to action and, more importantly, an invitation.

To this day, DSF continues to invite Catholics throughout the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston to invest in the work of the Church that no one parish can do on its own.

Through DSF-supported ministries, hundreds of thousands are fed, clothed

EDUCATION

Galveston-Houston Catholic schools celebrate Catholic education

Catholic Schools Week unites 1.6 million students nationwide with those in the Archdiocese

BY REBECCA TORRELLAS

Texas Catholic Herald

HOUSTON — National Catholic Schools Week will be celebrated across the country and in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston from Jan. 29 to Feb. 4 with the theme: “Faith. Excellence. Service.”

Sponsored by the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop’s Secretariat of

‘A simple, humble laborer in the vineyard of the Lord’ is laid to rest

Proclaiming the Good News to the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston since 1964

Tennessee artist captured legacy of late pope in official portrait

Pope Benedict XVI walks with his crozier as he leads the closing Mass of World Youth Day in Madrid Aug. 21, 2011. The late pope, who died Dec. 31, 2022, was buried in the Vatican grotto after Pope Francis presided over his funeral Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Jan. 5.

To be pastoral, look to the Good Shepherd, pope says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Christians must develop a pastoral heart to care for those who have not heard the Gospel or who have left the fold, Pope Francis said.

“By being with Jesus, we discover that His pastoral heart always beats for the person who is confused, lost, far away,” the pope said at his weekly general audience Jan. 18. “Jesus never said, ‘Let them sort themselves out,’ He went out to find them.”

Pope Francis encouraged Christians to model themselves on Jesus, the Good Shepherd, longing for those who have left the Church just as a shepherd longs for lost sheep rather than treating them as “adversaries or enemies.”

“When we meet them at school, work or on the streets of our city, why don’t we think instead that we have a beautiful opportunity to witness to them the joy of a Father who loves them and has never forgotten them?” the pope asked.

Being a shepherd is not merely a job but a “true and proper way of life: 24 hours a day,” he said. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, “does not just do something for us, but He gives His life for us.”

The pope encouraged the pilgrims and visitors gathered in the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall to reflect on how God seeks out those who distance themselves from Him, saying that many Christians may have followed Jesus for a long time but “have never wondered if we share His feelings if we suffer and we take risks.”

“The Lord suffers when we distance ourselves from His heart,” he said, “but in response to this suffering, He does not withdraw; rather He risks. He leaves the 99 sheep who are safe and ventures out for the lost one.”

“Do we feel similar emotions?” the pope asked.

Without a love that suffers and takes risks for others, Pope Francis said, “we risk being pastors only for ourselves.”

At the end of his catechesis, the pope greeted a group of pilgrims from Congo, where he will travel Jan. 31, and asked for prayers for the country.

He also remembered Father Isaac

Achi, who was killed Jan. 15 when bandits set fire to his parish rectory in Minna, Nigeria.

“So many Christians continue to be the target of violence; let us remember them in our prayers,” said the pope.

PREACHING PEACE AMID VIOLENCE: POPE RETURNS TO AFRICA

Pope Francis’s fifth trip to the African continent will highlight gestures of peace and reconciliation, consoling the victims of violence but also emphasizing the importance of each person sowing peace in the family, the neighborhood and the nation.

The pope is scheduled to travel to Kinshasa, Congo, Jan. 31 to Feb. 3 before making an ecumenical pilgrimage to Juba, South Sudan, Feb. 3 to 5 with Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury and the Rev. Iain Greenshields, moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

“It is enough ... that the pope is going to support the peace process; but the fact that he and his colleagues have committed to doing this as a joint visit should be understood to be a spectacular commitment to the peace process itself,” said Chris Trott, the British ambassador to the Holy See and former British envoy to Sudan and South Sudan.

Although the civil wars in both Congo and South Sudan officially have ended, the people continue to suffer

from horrific acts of violence, which force the large-scale displacement of communities and keep much of the population in poverty.

Both countries are rich in natural resources, which makes the poverty even more glaring, but also gives the powerful or the disgruntled something else to fight over.

Pope Francis frequently decries the notion that “Africa is to be exploited.” As he told the Comboni Missionaries’ magazine in an interview published Jan. 14, the world’s powerful nations gave Africa “independence halfway: they give them economic independence from the ground up, but they keep the subsoil to exploit,” extracting oil or minerals and paying only a pittance.

Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, the nuncio to Congo, told reporters in Kinshasa Jan. 10 that Pope Francis’s plan to visit the country is an acknowledgment of Congo as the African nation with the most Catholics — close to 50 million faithful — and “the country of the first black bishop of the African continent,” Nzingo Mpemba said.

The theme of the pope’s visit, “All reconciled in Jesus Christ,” he said, is a call to the Congolese to set aside grudges and unite to end the great suffering of those who live under the constant threat of violence, particularly in the eastern part of the country. †

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To read more about our seminarians and how you can support them, scan the QR code, at left, with your phone’s camera or visit www.archgh.org/smseminary.

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our future Priests possible.

CNS PHOTO Pope Francis holds a baby during his general audience in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican Jan. 18.

PASTORAL APPOINTMENTS

Archdiocesan Mass celebrates Consecrated Life on Feb. 5

HOUSTON — On Feb. 5, women and men in consecrated life will gather in celebration with Daniel Cardinal DiNardo at the 11 a.m. Mass at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, located at 1111 St. Joseph Pkwy. in downtown Houston.

This event, which is open to the public, is a special time for parishes to celebrate the gift of consecrated life and pray for men and women discerning a consecrated vocation with the global Catholic Church.

This celebration joins churches around the world during its annual celebration of World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life on Feb. 2. Parishes will commemorate the event over the weekend of Feb. 5 to 6.

Pope Francis asked consecrated men and women religious on the World Day of Consecrated Life in 2022: “Let us ask ourselves what ‘moves’ our hearts and actions, what renewed vision we are being called to cultivate, and above all else, let us take Jesus into our arms.”

He also reminded them to be like Anna and Simeon: “They awaited with patience the fidelity of the Lord and did not allow themselves to be robbed of the joy of the encounter with him. Let us advance to the joy of the encounter: this is beautiful! Let us put the Lord back in the center and press forward with joy.”

In Galveston-Houston, there are approximately 380 women and 182

men in religious life — prophetic signs of God’s closeness and eagerness to share their lives, hopes and joys at this time of celebration.

Local religious serve in a broad variety of ministries: as priests, educators, ministers in health care, retreat work and spiritual direction, catechetical ministry, pastoral care, and services among the homebound, the poor and the marginalized.

In 1997, then-pope St. John Paul II instituted a day of prayer for women and men in consecrated life. This celebration is attached to the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord on Feb. 2. This Feast is also known as Candlemas Day; the day on which candles are blessed, symbolizing Christ, who is the light of the world.

So too, those in consecrated life are called to reflect the light of Jesus Christ to all peoples. †

BRIEFS

Annual Respect Life Mass and reception set for Feb. 4

HOUSTON — The annual Mass for Life is set for 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, located at 1111 St. Joseph Pkwy. in downtown Houston. Daniel Cardinal DiNardo will be presiding. For more information, visit www.archgh.org/prolife or call 713-741-8728. †

1 Corinthians 10:31

At left, Pope Francis celebrates Mass marking the feast of the Presentation of the Lord in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Feb. 2, 2022. The Mass also marked the Vatican celebration of the World Day for Consecrated Life. At right, Pope Francis blesses a nun during a recent audience.

“Let us press FORWARD with JOY!”

- POPE FRANCIS TO CONSECRATED MEN AND WOMENWORLD DAY OF CONSECRATED LIFE

Through DSF, faithful ‘live out the Gospel of Christ’

MINISTRIES, from page 1

and cared for each year. The fund supports a Catholic school system that educates and forms over 17,000 children to become flourishing and successful individuals filled with faith. Each year, ministries funded by DSF defend the value of life from natural birth to natural death and work to make our families stronger, holier and healthier. DSF also allows ministries to care for the sick and the dying, visit the imprisoned, to prepare and accompany our clergy, and so much more.

“The gifts we bring to DSF are gifts for the whole Church,” said Daniel Cardinal DiNardo. “What we can’t do in one parish or in one human heart, the big human heart of the Archdiocese can do through the multiple programs made possible by DSF.”

He said DSF is a crucial part of the Archdiocese’s service to others as Catholic Christians.

“God, who is truly the strength of our hearts, calls us through His Son Jesus to love and serve joyfully,” he said. “Whether your gift is small or large, it’s your participation that counts. The faithful of the Archdiocese are what makes DSF and the works it funds possible. I invite everyone, whether it be through financial or spiritual support, to join me in supporting our local Church in this year’s DSF appeal.”

The fund, themed “God is the Strength of My Heart,” enables ministries to reach out to those in need, including assisting sailors in the Port of Galveston receive the Eucharist for the first time in months, having chaplains visit a sick person, helping and accompanying a man or woman discerning a religious vocation, helping a troubled youth and bringing them to prayer through Special Youth Services, and helping a formerly incarcerated woman transition back into society.

“We are blessed here in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston with

the spirit of generosity,” said Michael Schillaci, director of development for the Archdiocese. “Year over year, we continue to see how individuals are moved to support DSF because the fruits are tangible: we are all better able to live out the Gospel of Christ because of the ministries made possible by DSF.”

Of each gift given to DSF, 100% goes directly to supporting the 64 ministries that are funded by DSF.

Additionally, Cardinal DiNardo approved a number of parish incentives. For every dollar that a parish goes over the goal, 75% is returned to the parish. The remaining 25% goes to support the Aid to Poor Parishes program, which helps provide emergency relief to parishes facing immediate and difficult challenges.

Additionally, 50% of a gift made by a first-time donor will be returned to the parish community.

“It is only because of our Catholic community’s belief in these great works that we are able to support Pro-Life activities; that we are able to care for our retired clergy; that we are able to maintain such robust formation processes and efforts surrounding our

The many ministries supported by the Diocesan Services Fund include:

TEACHING, EVANGELIZING AND WORSHIP

Apostleship of the Sea

Catholic Schools Office

Chapels (Holy Cross and Warren)

Communications Office

Ecumenism Commission Office of Evangelization and Catechesis Office of Worship

Pastoral and Educational Ministry

MINISTERING TO THE POOR, THE SICK AND THE INCARCERATED

Angela House

Catholic Chaplain Corps

Catholic Charities

Correctional Ministries

Foreign Missions Office of Justice & Peace/Catholic Campaign for Human Development Our Daily Bread San José Clinic

St. Dominic Center for the Deaf

sacramental life and worship,” Schillaci said. “It is because of DSF and those who make it possible that we are all spiritually and communally richer.”

Registered parishioners throughout the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston will hear about the impact DSF has on the community through letters, emails, videos and social media to learn about the great things accomplished collectively in their name.

To support the DSF, visit dsf.archgh.

PROMOTING, PREPARING AND SUPPORTING THE CLERGY

Archbishop Joseph A. Fiorenza Priest Retirement Residence

Clergy Formation and Chaplaincy Services Clergy Pastoral Outreach

Department of Seminarians

Good Leaders, Good Shepherds Ministry to Priests Office of Permanent Diaconate Ministry Office of Vocations for Priesthood & Religious Life

NURTURING AND STRENGTHENING FAMILIES

Aging Ministry

Camp Kappe

Ethnic Ministries

Family Life Ministry

Family Retreat Center at Circle Lake Office of Adolescent Catechesis and Evangelization

Office of Hispanic Ministry

Pro-Life Activities

Special Youth Services St. Dominic Village

Vicar for Judicial Affairs (Metropolitan Tribunal) Young Adult and Campus Ministry

These DSF-supported ministries require this critical funding to remain in operation. 100% of every DSF gift goes directly to these ministries.

To donate and more, visit dsf.archgh.org

org, select a gift amount and attribute it to a parish. Making a gift online is the fastest, easiest and most secure way to support DSF. Another way parishioners can contribute is to fill out a pew envelope in a parish and drop it in the collection basket.

Above all else, the faithful of the Archdiocese are invited to pray for the success of the DSF appeal and for those engaged in the ministry of the local Church. †

“What we can’t do in one parish or in one human heart, the big human heart of the Archdiocese can do through the multiple programs made possible by DSF.”

DANIEL CARDINAL DINARDO Archbishop of Galveston-Houston

Parishes, communities rally for Catholic Schools Week

SCHOOLS, from page 1

Catholic Education, Catholic Schools Week (CSW) is an annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States. Now entering its 49th anniversary year, Catholic Schools Week has traditionally been held the last week in January.

Secretariat Director and Superintendent of Catholic Schools Dr. Debra Haney said, “Now more than ever in our country, it is imperative for us to highlight the value of a Catholic education and how it supports families in raising children with a firm faith foundation and solid spiritual life. Our young people need a strong moral compass to navigate within a secular societal culture that seems to devalue the dignity of the human person, place limited worth on a church community, and degrade family life, all of which are critical in life’s journey through our chosen vocations as children of God.”

The Archdiocese observes the week with Masses, open houses and other activities for students, families, parishioners and community members.

On Monday, Jan. 29, all St. Helen Catholic School students will be engaged in a STREAM event. “They are building a small hovercraft to see how friction impacts motion,” Dr. Phyliss Coleman, principal of St. Helen Catholic School in Pearland, said. “Our middle schoolers will be assisting students in Pre-K to kindergarten, but other grade levels will experiment in their classrooms.”

On the same day, Holy Family Catholic School in Galveston will begin with a Mass with the students at O’Connell High School in the school’s chapel. The students will then share posters about a place in the U.S. they have either visited or would like to visit and do a gallery walk to celebrate the nation.

Many schools host events that are sometimes unique to their school. Holy Ghost Catholic School is hosting a ukulele choir concert on Wednesday, Feb. 1, led by music teacher Paul Hanak; this is the first year the school has a ukulele choir.

“It is a big hit! The school purchased 20

instruments, but now students are buying them on their own,” Holy Ghost Catholic School Principal Deborah Crowe said. “The choir is made up of 24 fourth and fifth graders, but we are expanding it for next school year.”

Crowe said Catholic Schools Week is a great opportunity to show the community the importance of a Catholic education for students.

“The values that students get from attending a Catholic school will stay with them for a lifetime,” she said.

On Thursday, Feb. 2, Sacred Heart Catholic School in Conroe will celebrate an Arts and Culture Day, where students can dress as their favorite artist, musician, author, storybook character, actor or anything representing the arts. Artwork from their art classes will be displayed upstairs close to the library for visiting grandparents to see.

On Friday, Feb. 3, students at St. Laurence Catholic School in Sugar Land will celebrate Career and Vocations Day. Speakers will visit the school and share with third- to eighth-grade students how faith guides their work.

“Catholic Schools Week is important because it allows us a dedicated timeframe in which we can share and celebrate what

MORE INFO

For more information about Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, visit WWW.CHOOSECATHOLICSCHOOLS.ORG.

PARISH RECEPTIONIST:

St. Patrick Catholic Church seeks a full-time, 12 month, 40 hour per week Parish Receptionist. Applicant must be an active Catholic, bilingual

able to multi-task, communicating well and warmly in-person, by phone, and correspondence. Skills: Computer, organizational and parish service experience; tasks include data and web work, calendaring, and interactions with visitors, parishioners, and parish groups.

For full job description, go to archgh.org/employment and look under parish openings, St. Patrick Parish

Suitable candidates are encouraged to send a resume, cover letter, and include a minimum salary requirement to thwx@stpatrickcc.org

SUZANNE BARTO

Principal, St. Laurence Catholic School in Sugar Land

our appreciation to those who support us in our mission, from the surrounding community, staff, parents and students, to those in vocation.”

During the week, Catholic schools plan to share their Catholic Schools Week celebrations on social media using

To learn more about Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, visit www.choosecatholicschools.org. †

PHOTO COURTESY OF HOLY GHOST CATHOLIC SCHOOL

“Catholic Schools Week is important because it allows us a dedicated timeframe in which we can share and celebrate what is unique and special about a Catholic education.”

works, his final words before his death encapsulated the message of his papacy and even his life.

A UNIQUE ENCOUNTER

Daniel Cardinal DiNardo concelebrated the Jan. 5 funeral Mass of Pope Benedict XVI with Pope Francis, who presided over the Mass.

Mitchell Schumann, a seminarian of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston studying at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, was among the 200,000 to pray and pay their last respects to the late pope at the Vatican. Schumann said he visited Pope Benedict on Jan. 2 and Jan. 3. He also attended the funeral Mass in St. Peter’s Square.

“I was quite stirred to see so many people coming to pay their respects to this saintly man,” Schumann said. “Pilgrims were not able to stop and stay by his body very long, but you could really get close enough to see the Holy Father clearly. The frailty of his age and simplicity of his vestments spoke to the humility of this man who was the first to step aside from the highest office in the Church in centuries. It was a very moving experience to be able to be there to pray for the repose of this good and holy man who had longed to see his Lord for so long.”

While at St. Peter’s Basilica, Schumann said he prayed for the repose of the late pope’s soul and meditated on his love and devotion for Jesus.

“I thanked the Lord for the wisdom and teachings of this theological giant who has helped guide the Church in the post-conciliar era. I asked Pope Benedict also to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, as he guides the Church in such difficult times,” he said.

In the Basilica, Schumann said, “there was a pregnant silence in the Basilica indicative of the spirit of prayer which captivated the men and women in the Church.” He found it moving to hear the love of the pilgrims for the spiritual father they came to pray for and honor.

Schumann said Pope Benedict had

a great impact on his spiritual life, as well as his discernment and vocational journey. Pope Benedict was elected pope during Schumann’s junior year of high school, and the pope’s teachings would affect his future.

After reading the late pope’s first encyclical, “Deus caritas est,” Schumann said that the “love His Holiness had for our Lord was intoxicating — I knew I wanted to have a love like that myself.”

Originally from St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Church in Spring, Schumann said, “Pope Benedict imparted to me a love for the sacred Liturgy and a love for the profound intellectual life of the Church, especially flowing from the early Church Fathers. While ultimately the Holy Spirit called me, Pope Benedict was an instrumental catalyst in making me capable of hearing the Lord’s call. While ultimately the Holy Spirit called me, Pope Benedict was an instrumental catalyst in making me capable of hearing the Lord’s call.”

Both in line and at the funeral Mass,

Schumann said he heard beautiful prayers for the late pope, in song and in chants calling for the canonization of Pope Benedict.

Schumann said he felt“beyond blessed” to be able to represent the faithful of the Archdiocese in visiting and praying for Pope Benedict, thanking God for His generosity and those in the Archdiocese who made it possible for him to be there and represent them.

THE FINAL DAYS

Eight days passed from the time the world received notice that the retired pope’s health was failing and his funeral at St. Peter’s Basilica. During his weekly general audience Dec. 28, Pope Francis asked the faithful for prayers for Pope Benedict, calling him “very ill” and petitioning “the Lord to console him and sustain him in his witness of love for the Church until the very end.”

Following that audience, Pope Francis visited Pope Benedict at his residence — a former monastery in the Vatican gardens where he had lived since his 2013 resignation from the Petrine ministry — according to Matteo Bruni, Vatican press office director. Pope Benedict also received the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick that day.

The Vatican press office provided updates on the 95-year-old retired pope’s condition Dec. 29 and 30, noting that he was declining but, on Dec. 29, was “absolutely lucid and alert.”Then, on New Year’s Eve at 9:34 a.m. Rome time, Pope Benedict died in his residence.

Pope Francis was reported to have

gone immediately to his predecessor’s bedside for prayer. At vespers that evening, Pope Francis recalled Pope Benedict with gratitude: “gratitude to God for having given him to the Church and to the world; gratitude to him for all the good he accomplished, and above all, for his witness of faith and prayer, especially in these last years of his recollected life. Only God knows the value and the power of his intercession, of the sacrifices he offered for the good of the Church.”

Remembrances of Pope Benedict’s life and analysis of his papacy immediately flooded the media, some glowing, some critical. These painted contradictory portraits of the man who pastored the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013 and who, as pope, first introduced himself as “a simple, humble laborer in the vineyard of the Lord.” Those who knew him well said there was nothing contradictory about the man himself.

In tributes, the retired pope was especially praised for his theological contributions, beginning as a young priest-professor teaching at German universities and adviser at the Second Vatican Council; then 23 years as prefect of the Congregation (now Dicastery) for the Doctrine of the Faith; and finally as pope, an office to which he was elected following the death of his longtime collaborator St. John Paul II.

Father Emery de Gaál, chairman and professor of dogmatic theology at University of St. Mary of the Lake/ Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois, described Pope Benedict as a scholar who surrendered his whole life to academic work. He authored “no less than 1,600 theological titles, books, articles, essays, book reviews,” Father de Gaál said.

Among those works is the 1968 book “Introduction to Christianity,” which has been widely translated and called a “masterpiece.” Pope Benedict also oversaw the compilation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, published in 1992, under St. John Paul.

“He stands in a singular position as a theologian pope. No pope has written that much and so much in an original and decisive way,” Father de Gaál said.

‘GOD’S ROTTWEILER’

As prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from 1981 until his papal election in 2005, then-Cardinal Ratzinger had the job of defending Church doctrine, a role that earned him the moniker “God’s Rottweiler.”

Because of that public perception, Christopher Ruddy, associate professor

of systematic theology at The Catholic University of America in Washington, said he was pleasantly surprised when he began reading Ratzinger’s writings, including his memoir “Milestones,” in the late 1990s.

“I found that this was the theologian who was speaking to my heart,” he said. “I’m like, ‘This is a very different person than I’ve been led to believe that he is.’”

Ruddy, who teaches a course on Pope Benedict, said then-Cardinal Ratzinger’s 2000 book “The Spirit of the Liturgy” will likely prove to be his most influential. It presents the Liturgy as “not something that we do once a week or once a day or so on, but that our entire lives are meant to be liturgical, and that what we’re most ultimately made for is to worship God, to praise Him, and in doing that, to become fully human and fully alive,” Ruddy said.

Even in death, Pope Benedict invited the world into worship and ritual. Dioceses around the world memorialized the retired pope with special Masses. On Jan. 2, his body was brought on a stretcher via a van from his residence to St. Peter’s Basilica, where it lay in state through Jan. 4.

Special accommodations were made for cardinals, bishops and dignitaries, including Italian President Sergio Mattarella, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who visited Pope Benedict’s body.

Popes are typically buried in red, and Pope Benedict’s body had been dressed in the red vestments he wore in Sydney at World Youth Day in 2008 — a nod, some observers noted, to his esteem for World Youth Day gatherings. After the viewing ended Jan. 4, his body was placed in a cypress casket along with a text describing his life and contributions known as a “rogito.”

Because Pope Benedict had retired from the papal office, preparations for the Jan. 5 funeral Liturgy did not include all elements typical of a pope’s funeral Mass — a fact that some Catholics found confusing or even troubling. Vatican officials emphasized that there were no official protocols in place for the death of a retired pope, and some of the rituals associated with a pope’s death, such as the ringing of St. Peter’s bells or the destruction of his papal ring, had taken place at the time of Pope Benedict’s retirement in 2013.

Ultimately, the funeral rites were expected to be “more than for a cardinal, less than for a pope in office,” Catholic News Service Rome reported.

Pope Benedict had also requested that his funeral Mass be simple, according to the Vatican press office. In the United States, President Joe Biden, a Catholic,

paid respects by visiting the Vatican’s apostolic nunciature in Washington, where the public could sign a book of condolences Jan. 3 and 4.

‘MAY YOUR JOY BE COMPLETE’

Pope Francis presided at the funeral Mass — a rare situation in Church history where a seated pope was present at his predecessor’s funeral. In 1802, Pope Pius VII celebrated the funeral of Pius VI, whose remains had been returned to Rome after he died in exile in France in 1799 after being imprisoned by Napoleon.

Giovanni Cardinal Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, was the main celebrant at the altar. Concelebrating were about 120 cardinals, including Cardinal DiNardo, 400 bishops and 3,700 priests. An estimated 50,000 people filled St. Peter’s Square for the 90-minute, live-streamed Mass. A few banners made it past security checks, with one reading “Santo Subito” (“Sainthood Now”) and another, “Thank you, Pope Benedict” in German.

Pope Francis’s homily focused on Christ’s love and witness as an invitation to holiness rather than Pope Benedict’s life or accomplishments. However, Pope Francis said that the Church desired to follow in Pope Benedict’s steps and commended him to God, concluding the homily with, “Benedict, faithful friend of the Bridegroom, may your joy be complete as you hear His voice, now and forever!”

Following the funeral, Pope Benedict was buried in a triple coffin — the first cypress, the second of zinc and the third of oak — and interred in the same crypt where St. John Paul was initially buried, and prior to him, St. John XXIII. The crypt opened to visitors Jan. 8.

On Dec. 31, as many admirers reflected on his writings, Pope Benedict left the faithful with another final word: his own reflection in a spiritual testament written in 2006 but released for the first time 10 hours after his death. In the short document — in English, about 700 words — he asked for forgiveness from those he wronged, honored his parents and siblings, and urged Christians to “stand firm in the faith” and resist confusion, especially where science appears to contradict faith.

“If at this late hour of my life, I look back over the decades I have been living, I first see how many reasons I have to give thanks,” he wrote at age 79. “First of all, I thank God Himself, the giver of every good gift, who gave me life and guided me through various moments of confusion, always picking me up whenever I began to slip and always giving me the light of His countenance again. In retrospect, I see and understand that even the dark and tiring stretches of this path were for my salvation and that it was in them that he guided me well.” †

– OSV News contributed to this report.

PHOTO BY JAMES RAMOS/HERALD

At left, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, private secretary to Pope Benedict XVI, kisses the casket of the late pope during his funeral Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Jan. 5.

help families in need

HOUSTON — In Galveston-Houston, Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD)-funded NestQuest provides housing and education stability to under-resourced families in their moment of need.

“Many moms come to us as their very last resort before homelessness,” said Hannah Mannion, chief development officer. “They join our program as a result of domestic violence. NestQuest works to provide emergency relocations to prevent our families from being in dangerous scenarios.”

On Thursday, Jan. 12, a member of the Houston City Council in Texas, Tarsha Jackson, District 9, announced its new partnership with NestQuest to advance section 8 housing in Houston.

“This is a brilliant example of a collaborative effort by various public, private and faith communities to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable in our community,” said Sister Maureen O’Connell, OP, director for the Secretariat of Social Concerns. “The Archdiocese is delighted to be a part of the solution and hopes this can be a model for others moving forward.”

Each family in the NestQuest program is led by a single-female minority parent, with an average of three children per family, Mannion said. She said 56% of children in their program are girls. 100% of the NestQuest families are minorities who are under-served by the local community; most all heads of household

receive TANF, SNAP, disability and other forms of welfare support, according to Mannion.

“Our moms want the best for their children and thus reach out to NestQuest for support in relocation to better communities and schools in order to better their children’s future educational and employment opportunities,” she said.

“Many of the moms who approach us for support have heard the phrase ‘no’ far too

many times. NestQuest works to prevent that from happening.”

NestQuest case managers work closely with each family providing a wraparound service for each woman and child in the program, providing counseling support, financial assistance and educational opportunities. By working closely with each family in the program, they are able to provide exceptional support to the women in the program who truly need

guidance in their most vulnerable times.

“Our program enables single moms to find a property; we lease it for them, removing any discrimination against them during the application and leasing process,” Mannion said. “Our program enables women to take control of their own lease, build up their credit, pay off debts, regain financial stability and allow them to take back control of their life.”

“Our program also enables moms to pay their other bills on time through our bill assistance program. We truly believe in ‘no late fees’ and work closely with our moms to ensure their bills are paid on time, to reduce the chance of late fees, and to reduce stress and burdens upon their homes.”

CCHD-funded organizations like NestQuest help improve conditions for marginalized communities today and help families achieve their dreams of a better tomorrow.

“The work supported by CCHD is empowering communities to build resilience and stand in solidarity with their most marginalized members,” said Bishop David G. O’Connell, auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles and chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Subcommittee on the CCHD.

In 2021, CCHD distributed more than $12.7 million to more than 200 groups across the United States that are addressing the root causes of poverty and empowering people who are most vulnerable. †

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SECRETARY FOR SOCIAL CONCERN

under-resourced families.

550-plus confirmed on the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord

BY JAMES RAMOS Texas Catholic Herald

HOUSTON — In an offering of themselves to God and invoking the blessing of the Holy Spirit, 557 Catholics from parishes across the Archdiocese received the Sacrament of Confirmation at four separate Masses celebrated by Daniel Cardinal DiNardo and Auxiliary Bishop Italo Dell’Oro, CRS, on Jan. 8.

“Be sealed with the gift of the Holy Spirit,” Cardinal DiNardo said, leaning forward to greet a woman in a flowing white dress while anointing her with chrism on her forehead.

A few moments later, he repeated but in Spanish: “Recibe por esta señal el Don del Espíritu Santo,” again lifting his thumb to anoint a young man in a black suit. Since it was the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord, the parish nativity scene now sparkled with the presence of the Three Wise Men in the sanctuary of Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart.

The bilingual Masses were held at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston, St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Church in Spring, St. Angela Merici in Missouri City and St. Martha Catholic Church in Kingwood.

These four Masses, where Cardinal DiNardo and Bishop Dell’Oro anointed the foreheads of the candidates with holy chrism in an intimate one-on-one moment with a Catholic and his or her bishop, signaled the culmination of months of catechesis and effort, alongside their sponsors who helped guide them in the process, at their parishes and lives.

Each of the candidates confirmed had a sponsor standing behind them, with their right hand on the candidate’s shoulder, in support of presence and prayer.

At the Mass, the bishop recites a prayer that invokes God the Father for an “outpouring of the Holy Spirit,” according to the U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The bishop extends his two hands over all those to be confirmed, a sign of continuity of the New Testament custom of laying hands on those who would receive the gift of the Spirit.

The seven gifts traditionally associated with the Spirit are inspired by Isaiah 11:13, and include: wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, piety or reverence and fear of the Lord, also known as wonder and awe.

The Mass also included a renewal of baptismal promises, showing the connection between Confirmation and Baptism. Confirmation, like Baptism, is only given once since it also “imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual mark.”

In a May 2018 general audience, Pope Francis continued his series of catechetical messages on the Sacrament of Confirmation.

“Just as Jesus received the outpouring of the Spirit at His Baptism in order to carry out His messianic mission, the Church prays that we too may receive the gifts and fruits of the Spirit that enable us

to help the Body of Christ grow in unity and missionary zeal,” he said. “The gift of the Spirit is communicated through the laying on of hands and anointing with sacred chrism.”

He prayed for those who received the Sacrament of Confirmation and said that “sealed with the Holy Spirit, we are configured more closely to Christ and strengthened to bear witness to

What is the Rite of Confirmation?

The prophets of the Old Testament foretold that God’s Spirit would rest upon the Messiah to sustain His mission. Their prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus the Messiah was conceived by the Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.

The Holy Spirit descended on Jesus on the occasion of His baptism by John. Jesus’ entire mission occurred in communion with the Spirit. Before He died, Jesus promised that the Spirit would be given to the Apostles and to the entire Church. After His death, He was raised by the Father in the power of the Spirit.

The Rite of Confirmation deepens our baptismal life that calls us to be missionary witnesses of Jesus Christ in our families, neighborhoods, society, and the world. We receive the message of faith in a deeper and more intensive manner with great emphasis given to the person of Jesus Christ, who asked the Father to give the Holy Spirit to the Church for building up the community in loving service.

Him in our world. May each of us grow in gratitude for the gift received at our Confirmation and open our hearts ever more fully to the creativity of the Spirit who makes all things new.” †

Thousands of families in the Greater Houston area struggle every day.

Dominican Sisters of Houston

BY LIZ WITRAGO

The Dominican Sisters of Houston LSAP Committee, from left to right, are Sister Linda Gibler, OP, Sister Heloise Cruzat, OP, Sister Ceil Roeger, OP, Sister Laura Henderson, and Sister Carol Mayes, OP.

join Laudato Si’ action platform

HOUSTON — After Pope Francis wrote his encyclical Laudato Si’, many in the Catholic and global community embraced his words as a path forward towards a new ecology, one that recognizes every being on Earth is interconnected, and the cries of the poor and Earth are one.

On Dec. 15, 2022, the Dominican Sisters of Houston joined the Laudato Si’ Action Platform (LSAP), an initiative of the Vatican that urges Catholic institutions, parishes, communities and families to commit to a seven-year journey towards sustainability by taking concrete steps to care for our common home to achieve tangible solutions to the climate and ecological crisis.

As a religious community here on the Gulf Coast, the congregation decided to commit to the LSAP by focusing its efforts on water, paying particular attention to the increased severity of adverse climate events resulting in the destruction of natural and human environments.

In the first year of the journey, the congregation will continue to educate themselves and others about the value and destructive power of water and identify Houston organizations with whom to partner that are addressing issues of flood mitigation, storm recovery, and water contamination and pollution.

Next fall, the congregation will assess its progress to determine how to move forward in the second year of the LSAP journey. †

And with your support, Catholic Charities provides help and hope to people in need, especially the poor and vulnerable. Our network of life-changing programs work together to alleviate poverty.

People of Faith. Helping People in Need.

PHOTO BY JAMES RAMOS/HERALD

Daniel Cardinal DiNardo anoints the head of a confirmation candidate during a celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation at a Mass at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart on the Jan. 8 Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord. Cardinal DiNardo, with Auxiliary Bishop Italo Dell’Oro, CRS, confirmed 557 Catholics on Jan. 9 at four Masses around the Archdiocese.

PHOTO

IN BRIEF

Deacon Merće Camposano Leal Jr.

HOUSTON — Deacon Merće Camposano Leal Jr., who served on Daniel Cardinal DiNardo’s pastoral council and ministered out of St. Christopher Catholic Church, died Dec. 31, 2022. He was 84.

He was actively involved in the Cursillos, first as a speaker and then becoming director, marking the beginning of his faith journey. He was also a brother in the Knights of Columbus. Leal played a vital role in forming the Hispanic ministry at St. Christopher’s Catholic Church. He was also a lay leader at the Catholic Charismatic Center and instrumental in the founding of the building where it now stands. In 1981, he was ordained a permanent deacon for the then-Diocese of Galveston-Houston.

The funeral Mass was held Jan. 6 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church. Interment is in Forest Park Lawndale cemetery. †

Otilia Obregon

HOUSTON — Otilia Obregon, mother of Rita Seng from the Rice Catholic Student Center and Father Miguel Obregon, OFM, who served in the Archdiocese for at least a decade, died Jan. 9. She was 98 years old.

The funeral Mass was held Jan. 14 at St. Francis de Sales Church. Interment is in the Villa de Matel Cemetery. †

MEMORIA

Pray for the following priests whose anniversaries of death are during the month of February.

Feb. 1, 1904 Rev. Vac Chlapik

Feb. 1, 1915 Rev. F.M. Huhn

Feb. 2, 1930 Rev. F. Nona

Feb. 2, 1995 Rev. Abraham Sy Thuyen Ho,OP

Feb. 2, 2004 Msgr. Jack B. Jones

Feb. 3, 1968 Rev. Joseph C. Morrell

Feb. 3, 1968 Rev. Thomas A. Ryan

Feb. 5, 1978 Rev. Joseph Coll

Feb. 6, 1955 Rev. N.T. Domanski

Feb. 7, 1935 Msgr. John Nicholson

Feb. 7, 1935 Rev. Christopher Preker

Feb. 8, 1995 Rev. A. Wayne Elkins

Feb. 9, 1996 Msgr. Cornelius P. Flynn

Feb. 10, 1936 Rev. John Baptist O’Leary

Feb. 10, 1991 Msgr. Frank D. Urbanosky

Feb. 10, 1997 Rev. John Prill

Feb. 11, 1957 Rev. Fabian Stindle

Feb. 11, 1957 Rev. Joseph Kloboulk

Feb. 11, 1978 Rev. John Zimmer, CSsR

Feb. 12, 1906 Rev. J.J. Costello, CSB

Feb. 12, 1923 Rev. Pete J. Clancy

Feb. 13, 1988 Rev. Richard Johnson, CSsR Feb. 13, 2001 Rev. Charles Ferguson Feb. 13, 2011 Msgr. Joseph H. Crosthwait Feb. 14, 1916 Rev. D.F. Berberich

Feb. 14, 1951 Rev. Emil Landry

Feb. 14, 1978 Msgr. Jerome J. Tydlacka

Feb. 14, 1979 Rev. E.C. Fowler

Feb. 15, 2018 Rev. Aureliano Santa-Olaya

Feb. 16, 1951 Rev. Walter Fraher, MS

Feb. 17, 1879 Rev. Theodore Greyenbuhl

Feb. 17, 2017 Rev. Bruce H. Noble

Feb. 18, 1933 Rev. Otto Niekamp

Feb. 19, 1883 Rev. Joseph Mosiewiez

Feb. 19, 1960 Msgr. George A. Wilhelm

Feb. 19, 1965 Rev. Henry V. Parmentier

Feb. 20, 1968 Rev. Florimond B. Vanholme,SSC

Feb. 20, 1984 Msgr. William D. Steele

Feb. 21, 1983 Rev. Leonard C. Quinlan, CSB

Feb. 21, 2005 Rev. Robert A. Bordenkircher, OP

Feb. 22, 1879 Rev. Martin Weinzaepflen

Feb. 22, 2001 Rev. Ed Baur, SVD

Feb. 24, 1974 Rev. Henry J. Saxon

Feb. 24, 2011 Rev. David H. Noble

Feb. 25, 1973 Rev. Vincent J. Guinan, CSB

Feb. 27, 1980 Rev. Alfred P. Caird, CSB

Feb. 28, 1913 Rev. Pierre C. Saint-Onge

In a continuing effort to provide pastoral care to victims of sexual abuse by clergy or Church personnel, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo would like to remind the faithful of the Archdiocese of the availability of the Victims Assistance Coordinator. Anyone who has been the victim of sexual abuse by clergy or Church personnel is encouraged to call Diane Vines at 713-654-5799. Please keep in daily prayers the healing of victims of abuse and all who suffer in any way.

PHOTO COURTESY OF

OF CATHOLICS OF AFRICAN DESCENT

The Archdiocese honored the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to remember his call to achieve peace through service to one another at its annual Mass Sunday, Jan. 15 at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston. The Mass was celebrated by Daniel Cardinal DiNardo (second from left). Pictured with him are, left to right, Deacon Orrin Burroughs, Deacon David Johnson and Father Reginald Samuels, Archdiocesan Vicar for Catholics of African Descent.

A

continues family marathon legacy

HOUSTON — St. Pius X High School senior Taylor Worley kicked off 2023 by running her first marathon.

Worley decided to run the 26.2-mile race with her father Rick Worley Jr. to honor her grandfather, Rick Worley Sr., for whom the Texas Marathon was dedicated in 2000.

That year, Worley Sr. was working on setting a Guinness World Record for most marathons competed on consecutive weekends. He had completed at least one marathon each week for 159 consecutive weeks, more than doubling the previous record of 74. He needed a marathon on New Year’s Day to continue his marathon streak and could only find a very difficult ultra-marathon. The Texas Marathon was founded to help him accomplish his goal, and the race has been held on New Year’s Day every year since then.

Worley Sr. completed the Texas Marathon four times and participated in it every year until 2006, when he injured his ankle. He completed 299 marathons in his life — including at least four in every state and at least one on six continents until he tragically passed away in 2010.

On Jan. 1, 2023, Taylor Worley crossed the same finish line as her grandfather in the Texas Marathon. Her grandfather’s legacy has impacted both her and her father, Worley Jr.

School officials said she was excited to continue the family tradition and has her sights set on running an Ironman with her father and a 50-mile ultra-marathon next. †

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS DAY OF SERVICE

On

STUDENTS DESIGN NEW CROSS AT CATHOLIC STUDENT CENTER

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE OFFICE OF YOUNG ADULT AND CAMPUS MINISTRY

A new cross was recently installed at the Sam Houston State University Catholic Student Center in Huntsville. The cross was designed and created by Catholic students from the university.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CATHOLIC SCHOOLS OFFICE

Nov. 15, students from Holy Rosary Catholic School in Rosenberg, and St. Theresa Catholic School and St. Laurence Catholic School in Sugar Land represented the network of Catholic schools by serving families in need at the Catholic Charities Mamie George Community Center in Richmond. The students manned the food distribution and helped pass out toys to children. They served 400 families, and 1,500 pounds of food were collected.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ST. PIUS X HIGH SCHOOL St. Pius X High School senior Taylor Worley ran the 26.2-mile Texas Marathon Jan. 1 with her father Rick Worley Jr. to honor her grandfather, for whom the race was dedicated in 2000.

The poverty of

As Christians, poverty is something we are called to address. Most, however, do not realize that there are different forms of poverty aside from material poverty. And what is the great poverty that has stricken our young people of today?

I was standing at a busy intersection in downtown. The woman I was speaking with has been homeless for over 20 years. I asked her what she missed most, and she answered, “I miss hearing my real name. The name my mama called me when I was growing up. My friends out here on the streets, they only know me by my nickname.”

I am dumbfounded. This woman who has no home, no possessions, and no teeth, misses none of that; not a hot shower nor a warm bed, nor a roof over her head. No, what she misses is hearing her name. She misses being known by someone else. Deep down inside, we all desire meaningful and personal connection. God designed us that way.

Fast forward a few years, and I am sitting in a cafeteria at the local high school.

The teenager I’m speaking with says he doesn’t have any friends at his school. All of his friends are online. He has met them through video games and chat

by BREANNE DEMARCO

rooms. “They are my closest friends in the whole world. My only friends. But it’s kind of weird that they only know me by my screen name. They don’t even know my real name.”

It suddenly dawns on me that both the homeless woman and the high-schooler share the same kind of poverty.

It’s no secret that since the introduction of the internet, people have become more isolated and distanced from their communities. Teenagers these days don’t go out to the mall or roller rink. Instead, they spend their Friday nights on their phones scrolling social media or at their computers gaming. They lack meaningful conversations and intimate relationships.

With the anonymity of the virtual world, no one ever has to get to know anyone. But we are created for community and God deeply desires to know us on a personal and intimate level (...He calls His own sheep by name. Jn. 10:3). This human longing for deep,

anonymous youth

meaningful relationships will never go away, and unlike other forms of poverty that are more physical, this one can go ignored for longer periods of time and thus worsen, leading to depression, isolation and despair.

To the adults: So how do you alleviate this social poverty amongst the youth? You start by putting yourself out there. You may not know a lot of young people, but surely you have a nephew or a neighbor who is young. Don’t be afraid to reach out to them and strike up a conversation.

Perhaps you have a niece at a family gathering who is sitting by herself (scrolling on her phone), or maybe you are at the grocery store, and the checkout clerk is a teenager. Ask them what their name is and how their week has been. Or ask about their shoes or jewelry. Show interest in them as Christ showed interest in others. Engage them and connect. Expect for these conversations to be awkward, and don’t let it deter you.

If we say we love Christ and would do anything for Him, then that must include enduring a bit of awkwardness and humiliation for His sake. Never underestimate what God can accomplish through you (even in the little things!).

To the teenagers: It’s time to challenge yourself. It’s time to connect with others in a personal way. This means being more intentional when you are with your friends.

Consider leaving your phone in the other room next time your friend comes over to hang out or log out of social media for one day. Or maybe challenge yourself by sitting with the loner kid at lunch or calling your grandma to ask about her day. Having more meaningful relationships in your life will require that you are more vulnerable with others. Do not be afraid. Christ was the perfect role model for this by constantly putting Himself out there when encountering others.

Addressing this poverty is important because in recognizing our need for each other, we recognize our need for Christ. It’s tempting to want to convince ourselves that we don’t need anybody and can do this all on our own.

But so much of life is out of our control, and we need the help and support of others; we need the help and support of God Himself. †

Breanne DeMarco was the youth minister of St. Bartholomew parish.

COLUMNIST

Honoring

While the rest of the world spent the first day of the new year recovering from their celebrations the night before, Catholics celebrated Jan. 1 as the Feast of Mary, Mother of God.

In our Archdiocese, nearly 40 parishes are named in honor of Mary; the beautiful diversity of these communities reflects her role as both mother and evangelist. Here are just a few of the titles used to honor the Mother of God in our local Church and a little about the parishes which bear them:

Our Lady of LaVang Parish on the north side of Houston is named in honor of the patroness of Vietnam. Her story is linked to a time of great persecution of Christians in Vietnam during the late 18th century. Fearing imprisonment and torture, many Vietnamese Catholics fled their homes and took refuge in the jungle. Hungry and injured, they gathered each night at the foot of a large

by AMY AUZENNE

tree to pray the Rosary and ask for God’s protection.

One night, the Blessed Mother appeared to them as a young Vietnamese woman dressed in traditional clothing and carrying the infant Jesus. The Blessed Mother appeared in that place many more times, strengthening the faith of the people and encouraging them to persevere.

Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish near the Houston Ship Channel was founded as an African American parish in 1950 with the help of the Josephite Fathers. Since many of the founding members worked on or near the Port of Houston, they placed themselves under the patronage of Mary,

Star of the Sea and asked for her protection.

This ancient title for the Blessed Mother is based on the writings of St. Jerome in the fourth century; it emphasizes Mary’s role in guiding souls through the rough waters of life toward eternal life in Christ. For African American Catholics, this title for Mary takes on special meaning in light of the treacherous Middle Passage, which brought millions of enslaved African men, women and children across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas.

Our Lady of St. John (Nuestra Señora de San Juan de los Lagos) parish in northeast Houston takes its name from an image of the Immaculate Conception in the shrine of the Basilica of San Juan del los Lagos in Jalisco, Mexico.

The story of Nuestra Senora de San Juan begins with the miraculous healing in 1623 of a child who was killed in an accident. When the body of the child was

brought to the church for burial, the wife of the parish caretaker encouraged the grieving family to have confidence in the Blessed Mother. She placed the statue of the Immaculate Conception near the body, and the child was restored to life. Following this miracle, the basilica became a major pilgrimage site as devotion to Mary under the title of Nuestra Señora de San Juan grew among the faithful.

Just as every language has a familiar word for “mother,” it seems that our Blessed Mother has a title that is special to each of her children. In this new year, let us remember to call upon Mary with the confidence of a child. †

Amy Auzenne, MSW, MACE, is the director of the Office of Evangelization and Catechesis.

JANUARY 29

FEBRUARY 5

FEBRUARY 12

First Reading: Zeph 2:3; 3:12-13

First Reading: Is 58:7-10

First Reading: Sir 15:15-20

Responsoarial Psalm: Ps 146:6-10

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 112:4-9

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 119:1-2, 4-5, 17-18, 33-34

Second Reading: 1 Cor 1:26-31 Gospel: Mt 5:1-12

Second Reading: 1 Cor 2:1-5 Gospel: Mt 5:13-16

Second Reading: 1 Cor 2:6-10 Gospel: Mt 5:17-37

North Star: Technology needs an ethical guiding light, speakers say

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Even though the computational power of “artificial intelligence”has been around for decades, the technology has advanced so rapidly and spread so widely that many ethicists, industry experts and governments are looking for ways to make sure the new possibilities do not become problems.

Among the many potential problems needing attention are: AI replacing human labor; determining who is responsible for AI-generated mistakes and misinformation; the protection of privacy and limits of surveillance; the need for safety, transparency and fairness; and biases used in algorithms.

No “grand solution” exists, but there is “a cocktail of answers to what is the right thing to do,” Dario Gil, IBM’s senior vice president and director of research, said at a Vatican-hosted event on Jan. 10.

Every tool can be used to benefit or harm, depending on the context or situation, he said. For example, AIpowered computer vision software can detect planets and stars in outer space and tumors or disease in the human body or it can be used for facial recognition with nefarious purposes, he said.

“We need all the help we can get” to make sure AI is“aligned with fundamental human values without leaving anyone behind,” Gil said.

That is one of the reasons why almost three years ago IBM and Microsoft became the first signatories of the Rome Call for AI Ethics. The initiative was led by the Pontifical Academy for Life, which invited two of the world’s leading developers of artificial intelligence software to sign an appeal for an ethical framework and guidelines for the field of AI.

Since then, the call has been endorsed and supported by two dozen other institutions, private companies and organizations in an effort to build a global movement to create and commit to a new “algor-ethics.”

Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, academy president, presented the newest group of signatories pledging to do their part in pushing for the ethical development and use of AI: Rabbi Eliezer Simcha Weiss, a

member of the Chief Rabbinate Council of Israel, and Sheikh al Mahfoudh bin Bayyah, secretary general of the Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace.

“We are aware of the moral strength that this event gives witness to” by having three Abrahamic religions come together with “other institutions to promote and safeguard our common humanity,” the archbishop said before the signing ceremony.

Not only do the world’s Catholics, Muslims and Jews share the same fundamental ethical values, but about 80% of the world’s people also identify with a religious faith, showing the “vital contribution of religious leaders to a wellfunctioning polity and good governance,” said a joint statement issued at the end of the event.

In fact, Archbishop Paglia said he will be inviting representatives of “the great religions of the East” to sign the Rome Call at a gathering in July in Japan.

The experts, academics and religious leaders at the papal academy’s signing ceremony agreed in the joint statement that “voluntary regulation is insufficient for the pace and scale of technological progress” and that international regulation must promote transparency and compliance with clear ethical principles.

The principles, “Do no harm,” especially to the most vulnerable people, and “Leave no one behind” with equal access to the benefits of technology are a priority, it added.

Sheikh Abdallah bin Bayyah, president of the Abu Dhabi Forum, said in a prerecorded video address, “laws and regulators must set standards that ensure the prevention of harm to individuals and societies.”

Avoiding harm, he said, includes suppressing “the human desire for wealth under the pretext of development and discovery if this involves harm or reciprocation of harm with others. It also protects researchers and scholars from interference in their work as long as their work does not lead to harming others or reciprocating the harm from others.” †

CNS PHOTO

Sheikh Al-Mahfoudh bin Abdallah of the Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life and Chief Rabbi Eliezer Simcha Weisz, a member of the Chief Rabbinate Council of Israel, pose for photos after signing a document calling for a code of ethics for the use of artificial intelligence, during a ceremony at the Vatican Jan. 10.

Church’s

pope says in message

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The way individual Catholics and their parishes care for the sick offers a precise measure of just how much they either are part of or are fighting the “throwaway culture” that ignores or discards anyone seen as flawed or weak, Pope Francis said in his message for the World Day of the Sick.

The care of those who are ill shows “whether we are truly companions on the journey or merely individuals on the same path, looking after our own interests and leaving others to ‘make do,’” the pope said in the message, which was released by the Vatican Jan. 10.

The Catholic Church celebrates the world day Feb. 11, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.

“Experiences of bewilderment, sickness and weakness are part of the human journey,” the 86-year-old pope wrote.

But, he said, the Bible makes clear that “far from excluding us from God’s people,” those situations of vulnerability “bring us to the center of the Lord’s attention, for he is our Father and does not want to lose even one of his children along the way.”

Those who profess belief in God, he said, should do likewise, placing the sick at the center of their attention.

To illustrate his point, Pope Francis used the parable of the good Samaritan, a story he often cites to illustrate the importance of community and fraternity in contrast to cruelty and self-absorption.

“The fact that the man, beaten and robbed, is abandoned on the side of the road” in the parable “represents the condition in which all too many of our brothers and sisters are left at a time when they most need help,” the pope said.

In addition, he said, in too many cases it is not easy “to distinguish the assaults on human life and dignity that arise from natural causes from those caused by injustice and violence. In fact, increasing levels of inequality and the prevailing interests of the few now affect every human environment to the extent that it

IN BRIEF

is difficult to consider any experience as having solely ‘natural’ causes.”

The problem is not only illness, the pope said, but also loneliness and the feeling of abandonment, both of which “can be overcome more easily than any other injustice, because — as the parable tells us — it only takes a moment of our attention, of being moved to compassion within us, in order to eliminate it.”

In the parable, he said, “two travelers, considered pious and religious, see the wounded man, yet fail to stop. The third passerby, however, a Samaritan, a scorned foreigner, is moved with compassion and takes care of that stranger on the road, treating him as a brother. In doing so, without even thinking about it, he makes a difference; he makes the world more fraternal.”

People need the love and support of others as they age and especially when they are ill, he said.

Usually, people are not prepared to fall sick, he said, and, often, “we fail even to admit that we are getting older.”

“Our vulnerability frightens us, and the pervasive culture of efficiency pushes

us to sweep it under the carpet, leaving no room for our human frailty,” he said. And even when people do not turn away, sometimes those who are sick think they should distance themselves from loved ones so they don’t become “a burden.”

But, Pope Francis said, “this is how loneliness sets in, and we can become poisoned by a bitter sense of injustice, as if God himself had abandoned us. Indeed, we may find it hard to remain at peace with the Lord when our relationship with others and with ourselves is damaged.”

If the Catholic Church is truly to be a “field hospital,” the pope said, then its members must act.

The Church’s mission, he said, “is manifested in acts of care, particularly in the historical circumstances of our time. We are all fragile and vulnerable, and need that compassion which knows how to pause, approach, heal and raise up.”

“The plight of the sick is a call that cuts through indifference and slows the pace of those who go on their way as if they had no sisters and brothers,” Pope Francis insisted.

Those who are sick, he said, “are at the center of God’s people, and the Church advances together with them as a sign of a humanity in which everyone is precious, and no one should be discarded or left behind.” †

Evangelization is the ‘oxygen’ of Christian life, pope says VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Sharing the faith is the “oxygen” that “invigorates and purifies” Christian life, Pope Francis said.

Beginning a new series of catechesis focused on evangelization and apostolic zeal, the pope said that when Christian life loses its aim of proclaiming the Gospel, it becomes “self-referential” and “atrophied.”

“Without apostolic zeal, faith withers,” he told people gathered on Jan. 11 in the Vatican audience hall.

The pope specified, however, that “to be a missionary, to be apostolic, to evangelize, is not the same thing as proselytizing” or actively seeking to convert someone.

Quoting the late Pope Benedict XVI, who died Dec. 31, 2002, Pope Francis said that “the Church does not proselytize, but rather she grows by ‘attraction’” to the beauty of God’s love.

Evangelization “does not begin by seeking to convince others, but by bearing witness each day to the love that has watched over us and lifted us back up,” he said.

“Communicate this beauty to convince people,” Pope Francis said. “We are the ones who announce the Lord; we do not announce ourselves, nor a political party or an ideology. Put people in contact with Jesus without convincing them. Let the Lord convince them.”

The pope mentioned his predecessor again while greeting German pilgrims, some wearing traditional Bavarian outfits at the audience. He said that Pope Benedict taught Christians “to look with faith at Jesus Christ, the savior.”

Pope Francis also shared a story about a group of Korean women religious who came to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to run a hospital. Although the women did not speak Spanish, the hospital patients were pleased with them because their gaze “communicated Jesus.”

“This is attraction, which is the opposite of proselytism,” the pope said.

Pointing to the Gospel episode in which Jesus calls Matthew to follow Him even though Matthew is a widely disliked tax collector, the pope said that Christians must look beyond people’s labels †

CNS PHOTO

Pope Francis embraces a sick boy during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican in this Oct. 17,

photo.

his message for the 2023 World Day of the Sick, the pope said the way we

STATE & NATION

New abortion pill rules challenge Catholics to reimagine effective pro-life outreach

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Just six months after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that abortion is not a constitutional right, America’s pro-life advocates and health care providers are preparing for another consequential shift following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s finalization of a rule change that expands availability of the abortion pill mifepristone.

In a Jan. 6 statement, Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities,

generic — at retail pharmacies. According to the FDA website, “a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) is a drug safety program that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) can require for certain medications with serious safety concerns to help ensure the benefits of the medication outweigh its risks.”

When used in combination with misoprostol, mifepristone — introduced 20 years ago — induces a “medication abortion”up to 10 weeks into a pregnancy. The same pills used for abortions are also prescribed to women who experience early pregnancy miscarriage.

The Guttmacher Institute reported in December 2022 that their census of all known abortion providers found “medication abortion accounted for 53% of all facility-based abortions in the

The FDA’s January announcement, however, portends to accelerate the transition of first-trimester abortion — 90% of all abortions in the U.S. — from a surgical procedure to a medication experience. It builds on a December 2021 FDA rule change that allows telemedicine

Molly Sheahan Associate Director of Life & Family Advocacy - California Catholic Conference

consultations with mail-order pharmacy fulfillment, reversing a prior requirement for an in-person consultation.

Both Walgreens and CVS plan to offer mifepristone in states where it is legal.While many states still restrict abortion pill use, state policies may change in the aftermath of the FDA’s latest rule modification.

The FDA’s rule changes, however, are forcing pro-life advocates to rethink effective, lifesaving strategies, as more women seeking an abortion no longer require visiting a physical clinic.

Molly Sheahan, associate director of Life & Family Advocacy at the California Catholic Conference, noted the digital dimension of securing abortion pills requires the pro-life movement to understand where it needs to be.

“The frontier on the issue of abortion isn’t necessarily the abortion clinic — it’s the mobile phone,” said. “Women are seeking an abortion by searching online … they’re able to order abortion pills through the mail. That’s been available for a while — it’s just become more

IN BRIEF

readily accessible now.”

In response, the California Catholic Conference encourages the utilization of social media and digital ads to reach women in the state, where abortion appointments have markedly increased post-Dobbs.

“It just creates additional concern for women when they’re not able to be seen by a physician to screen them for contraindications,” said Sheahan. “We’re putting vulnerable people at greater risk when we’re not serving them in a physician’s office.”

Leah Jacobson, CEO and founder of Guiding Star Project, a nationwide network of pro-life health centers, said the normalization of the Plan B emergency contraceptive “has been so normalized that a woman doesn’t even think twice.”

“Many college-age women have used Plan B on several occasions — and the abortion pill, to them, is just a next backup step in case Plan B failed,” she said.

Guiding Star has focused on fostering an early interaction with patients — as young as age 9 — about healthy life choices. In the event their patients experience an unplanned pregnancy, they can turn to Guiding Star for lifeaffirming care, support and resources.

A statement released by the Catholic Medical Association’s (CMA) former president Lester Ruppersberger, D.O., and Marie T. Hilliard, Ph.D., senior fellow at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, backed up that concern, saying the FDA’s changes put at risk women’s “true informed consent.

“Furthermore, no onsite or in-person physical assessment to even document the weeks of gestation or the location of the fetus is required,” they stated. Without follow-up physical examination to assess a potentially incomplete abortion, CMA notes increased “risks of continued bleeding, retained products of conception necessitating surgical removal, or infections, which can lead to infertility and in extreme cases even death.” †

WASHINGTON (OSV News) — Like his five most recent predecessors, President Joe Biden has issued a proclamation declaring Jan. 16 Religious Freedom Day and calling for the protection of religious freedom in the U.S. and around the globe.

First celebrated in 1993, National Religious Freedom Day has been proclaimed by U.S. presidents as a day commemorating the Virginia General Assembly’s adoption of Thomas Jefferson’s Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom Jan. 16, 1786.

“On Religious Freedom Day, we reflect on our right to practice, pray and preach our faiths peacefully and openly,” Biden said. “Across the country, we practice many different religions. We celebrate many different traditions. And we honor our faiths in many different ways and places -- from churches, to mosques, to synagogues, to temples.

“This religious freedom -- this freedom to practice religion fully and freely or to practice no religion at all -- is enshrined in our Constitution,” he said. “And together we must continue to preserve and protect it.”

He continued: “Across the world, minority communities -- including Uyghurs, Rohingya, Ahmadiyya Muslims, Jews, Christians, Bahá’ís, Yezidis, atheists and humanists -- continue to face intimidation, violence and unequal protection under the law. This hate is harmful to our communities and countries, and it is on all of us to speak out and stop it.” †

Biden cites faith, proclaiming U.S. must ‘preserve, protect’ religious freedom

Featuring David Baranowski

“It just creates additional concern for women when they’re not able to be seen by a physician to screen them for contraindications/ We’re putting vulnerable people at greater risk when we’re not serving them in a physician’s office.”

MUNDO CATÓLICO

El Papa bautiza a bebés e insta a padres a enseñarles a orar

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pidiendo a padres y padrinos que enseñen a sus pequeños a orar desde chicos, el Papa Francisco bautizó a 13 bebés en la Capilla Sixtina mientras sus hermanos y hermanas mayores miraban -- o se escapaban y corrían alrededor de la capilla.

Con aparente mejoría de su rodilla, el Papa Francisco caminó con un bastón desde su asiento hasta un atril para dar su homilía de pie, algo que no ha hecho en una Misa pública durante meses, se arremangó y se paró frente a la fuente y vertió agua sobre las cabezas de los infantes, hijos de empleados del Vaticano.

La Misa anual de bautismo en la Capilla Sixtina se celebra en la fiesta del Bautismo del Señor, que el Vaticano e Italia celebraron el 8 de enero de este año.

El Papa Francisco comenzó su homilía agradeciendo a los padres que hayan decidido bautizar a sus hijos y pidiéndoles que les recuerden a lo largo de su vida la fecha de su bautismo ya que “es como un cumpleaños porque el bautismo es un renacimiento a la vida cristiana”.

“Que se acuerden y den gracias a Dios por esta gracia de haberse hecho cristianos”, dijo.

El bautismo es el comienzo de un recorrido, dijo, y depende de los padres y padrinos apoyar a los niños en sus pasos por el camino.

La primera tarea, dijo, es enseñar a los niños a orar desde que son muy pequeños, comenzando por mostrarles cómo hacer la señal de la cruz y cómo sostener sus manos en oración.

“La oración será lo que les dará fuerza a lo largo de sus vidas, en los buenos momentos para agradecer a Dios y en los momentos difíciles para encontrar la fuerza”, dijo el papa. “Es lo primero que debes enseñar: cómo orar”.

También deberían enseñar a los niños a orar a María, que “es la madre, nuestra madre”, dijo el papa. “Dicen que cuando alguien está enojado con el Señor o se ha distanciado de él, María siempre está cerca para mostrar el camino de vuelta”.

Como hace todos los años, el Papa Francisco también tranquilizó a los padres, diciéndoles que no se preocupen si los bebés lloran durante la Misa o necesitan que los alimenten o se inquieten porque tienen demasiado calor o demasiado frío. “Haz que se sientan cómodos; todos deberían estar cómodos”, dijo.

Más tarde, al recitar el Ángelus al mediodía con los visitantes en la Plaza de San Pedro, el Papa Francisco se centró en el significado de la fiesta del Bautismo del Señor, y al hacerlo citó al difunto Papa Benedicto XVI.

En su homilía en el día de la fiesta en 2008, el Papa Francisco dijo: “Benedicto XVI afirmó que ‘Dios ha querido salvarnos yendo él mismo hasta el fondo del abismo de la muerte, con el fin de que todo hombre, incluso el que ha caído tan bajo que ya no ve el cielo, pueda encontrar la mano de Dios a la cual asirse a fin de subir desde las tinieblas y volver a ver la luz para la que ha sido creado’”.

El Papa Francisco le dijo a la multitud en la plaza: “El Señor está siempre con la mano tendida para ayudarnos a levantarnos, no está nunca listo para castigarnos”.

Con demasiada frecuencia, dijo el papa, la gente piensa que Dios administra la justicia como lo hacen los seres humanos: “el que se equivoca, paga, y así repara el mal que ha hecho”.

Pero, dijo, “la justicia de Dios, como enseña la Escritura, es mucho mayor: no tiene como fin la condena del culpable, sino su salvación y su regeneración, volverlo justo”. †

FOTO DE CNS

El Papa Francisco bautiza a uno de los 13 bebés durante una misa que celebra la fiesta del Bautismo del Señor en la Capilla Sixtina en el Vaticano el 8 de enero.

,

Sábado 4 de febrero de 2023 8:oo AM a s:oo PM Auditorio St. Dominic Center 60 USO por pareja 35 USO por persona Desayuno, almuerzo y materiales incluidos Arquidiócesis de Galveston-Houston Programa Radial en Español Estación de radio: KYST 920 AM Todos los domingos a las 6 a.m. y 8 a.m.

APOYO PASTORAL A VÍCTIMAS DE ABUSO SEXUAL DEL CLERO

En un continuo esfuerzo por facilitar atención pastoral a las victimas de abuso sexual del clero o del personal de la Iglesia, el Cardenal DiNardo gustaría recordar a los fieles de la Arquidiócesis la disponibilidad del Coordinador de Ayuda a Víctimas. Si alguien ha sido victim de abuso sexual del clero o del personal de la Iglesia, se les anima llamar a la Diane Vines al 713-654-5799. Por favor rece por la sanación de las víctimas del abuso y por todos los que sufren de alguna manera.

WITHIN THE ARTS

Tennessee artist captured legacy of late pope in official portrait

(OSV News) — In the days following the Dec. 31, 2022, death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, his enduring legacy as a theologian and scholar has been remembered throughout the world. And it’s that legacy that world-renowned portrait artist, Igor Babailov, proclaimed maestro by many, sought to capture in the late pope’s official portrait: “The Truth, The Way, and the Life.”

A fine art giclee of the portrait, which Babailov presented to the late Bishop David Choby, was positioned on the altar of the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Nashville, Tennessee, when Bishop J. Mark Spalding celebrated a memorial Mass in honor of Pope Benedict on Thursday, Jan. 5, the day of the late pope’s funeral.

“It was a great honor when I saw that it was featured in the Mass,” Babailov told The Tennessee Register, the newspaper of the Diocese of Nashville. “It was the highest compliment to me as an artist that my portrait was chosen.”

Babailov began painting portraits at the age of 4, beginning the formal education of his craft at 9. At 13, he was selected in a nationwide competition to study at a specialized fine art school for gifted children in Moscow. He graduated with honors and subsequently obtained the highest level of fine art education, eventually receiving his master of fine arts degree, the equivalent to a Ph.D. in the U.S., from the Russian Academy of Arts.

Upon completing his education in 1990, he came to the U.S., where he has since continued to establish himself as a renowned artist, scholar and author,

sharing his knowledge and expertise with various audiences in America and abroad through master classes and lectures.

“I’m Russian by birth and American by choice,” he said.

Babailov was commissioned to paint a portrait of Pope Benedict in 2006, a year into the late pope’s papacy. It would be the second time he received such a request, having also painted the official portrait of then-pope St. John Paul II, entitled “Be Not Afraid. Believe,” in 2003.

“I like to work from life a lot, but of course, when I do commission works, I have to use photographs as references quite often,” he said. “But even when I use photographs as references, I apply my skill of working from life to make the portraits look lifelike. The uniqueness of my established portrait procedure is drawing sketches from life, in the tradition of the great portrait masters of the past.”

But capturing the human element to emulate wasn’t all that was required. Upon returning to his home studio in Brentwood, he had to find the right concept for the portrait, too.

“In every work of art, the most important part is to come up with the concept of the composition, so thinking is extremely important,” Babailov said. “The fact that I met him, it greatly helped, too, and of course, I researched and studied all about him.”

It’s about finding that element that makes each portrait unique, even when it’s a different person in the same role, such as St. John Paul II or, later, Pope Francis, whom he was commissioned to paint a portrait of in 2015.

“Every pope is different, like every person is different in this world,” Babailov explained. “Pope Benedict, one of the important things about him, we all know, is he was a theologian, a scholar, an educator, and I wanted somehow to portray that.”

With that in mind, “I was sitting here in the studio, asking myself, ‘What should the composition be?’”

The answer ended up being in front of him all along as he gazed upon a lifesize portrait of the risen Christ that he’d painted just a few years earlier, entitled “Vita,” which in Latin means life.

“I was looking at that image, and I said to myself, ‘What if I incorporate that in the portrait?’” he recalled. From there, everything fell into place.

“That figure of Jesus became the base for the whole composition, and, from that,

I was able to choose the placement of Pope Benedict. I chose the angle and how to portray him,” Babailov explained. “It’s not a front view. It’s more like a profile, which is not very typical in portraits.

“Then, the choice to position the hands in prayer seemed right since Jesus is in the portrait, too,” he said. “It just started to come together like in a puzzle.”

The placement of the elements of the portrait causes “the viewer’s eye to follow my thoughts,” Babailov said. “When the viewer looks at the portrait, immediately they look at the Holy Father’s face, and then the eye slides down the arm and into the hands folded in prayer that point to Jesus. From there one, we look at the silhouette of St. Peter’s Basilica, where then our eyes go down to three candles, which represent the Trinity, and right below the candles sits the Bible. From there, it’s a nonstop movement.”

Babailov finally completed the portrait in 2007 and officially presented it to Pope Benedict during his visit to the U.S. in 2008. The portrait has hung in the Vatican ever since, with several fine art reproductions and giclees in collections around the world, most notably as part of the Vatican Splendors — A Journey through Faith and Art Exhibition, an international museum tour, which opened in 2010.

“You paint one portrait, and it’s always on the wall, and it passes from generation to generation, and there’s just something about that. When I’m signing my works, I know they’re going to pass on for generations, especially when you’re painting figures such as Pope Benedict XVI,” he added. “It’s the people whose names are in history, so you are attaching the image to the name. In this sense, I feel an incredible responsibility as an artist to portray the person accurately because it will be enjoyed and seen by future generations.”

“Even though St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI are not with us anymore, their legacy is alive and will stand forever,” he said. †

OSV NEWS PHOTO

This official portrait of Pope Benedict XVI is by Igor Babailov, who was commissioned to paint it in 2006. He officially completed it in 2007.

MILESTONES

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San José Clinic names four new board members IN BRIEF

Sister Carbajal marks 100th birthday, 75th Jubilee

HOUSTON — The Dominican Sisters of Houston, along with family and friends, celebrated the 100th birthday and 75th jubilee of Sister Mary Alice Carbajal, O.P., on Jan. 4. Members of Sister Carbajal’s family traveled from across the U.S. and Spain to attend the special occasion. She is only the second Houston Dominican to reach a century in the congregation’s 140-year history.

The youngest of six children, Sister Carbajal was born in Fabens, Texas, near El Paso, and entered the Dominican Sisters of Houston in 1945. Sister Carbajal has devoted her life to educating elementary school students as both teacher and principal in Texas in the Dioceses of Austin, Beaumont, Brownsville, Houston and San Antonio and in the Dioceses of San Bernardino and Los Angeles, California. In the 1960s, she ministered in Guatemala and has said, “My favorite work was the mission work in Guatemala. I was able to speak up seeking justice for the people there.”

HOUSTON — San José Clinic, a United Way partner and a ministry of the Archdiocese and Texas Medical Center institution, has appointed three new members to its board of directors and a new member to the advisory board. The recent acquisitions will help support the nonprofit’s mission to provide healing through quality healthcare and education with respect and compassion for those with limited access to care.

experience. Mitchell has demonstrated strengths in healthcare operations, strategic planning and growth, and a collaborative approach working with nonprofit academic organizations.

• Susan Nutt, executive director of development at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, specializes in fundraising strategy, public relations and volunteer management for nonprofits.

MARY ALICE CARBAJAL, O.P.

Sister Carbajal’s other ministries have included using her fluency in Spanish in service to others and faithfully writing letters to those in prison. †

AROUND THE ARCHDIOCESE

Editor’s Note: Contact event organizers for the latest updates. For deadline details and more listings, visit WWW.ARCHGH.ORG/ATA

JAN. 25

MEMORIAL MASS, 7 p.m. at Prince of Peace (19222 Tomball Pkwy., Houston). Diapers, pull-ups, wipes and formula donation drive benefits Mercy Ministry. A reception follows in the Community Center. Sponsored by Catholic Daughters of the Americas Court of the Holy Family. maryjalbert@ sbcglobal.net or 281-381-0309.

JAN. 28

TEXAS RALLY FOR LIFE IN AUSTIN, Join others at the annual Texas Rally for Life at Austin in remembrance of and to march in support of all human life. Parishes will be traveling to Austin by bus. Bus information: Office of Pro-Life Activities - 713-440-3443 or 713-741-8728.

CASINO NIGHT, 6:30 p.m. at St. Jerome Parish Activity Center (2749 Hollister Rd., Houston). “A Night of Purpose - Mardi Gras Casino Night” features casino tables, slot machines, poker tables and auctions to benefit St. Jerome Catholic School. Cost: $50 per person, includes $500 in casino chips, hors d’oeuvres and one drink ticket. For ticket purchase and/ or sponsorship information: 713-468-7946; lvinasco@stjeromecs.org.

SACRED ART LIVE, 6 to 9 p.m., St. Mary’s Seminary (9845 Memorial Dr., Borski Center). A celebration of living artists, both local and national, creating inspired works including the Dominican Sisters of Mary Immaculate. Free. www.sacredartlive.org.

FEB. 2-4

GARAGE SALE, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., each day at St. Ignatius of Loyola Christus Center (7810 Cypresswood, Spring). Furniture, household items, clothing, jewelry, baby items, toys, books and other treasures. Rain or shine. garagesale@ silcc.org.

FEB. 3

ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION, 6 to 9 p.m., Cathedral Centre (1701 San Jacinto St.). U.S. Spiritan 150th Anniversary Celebration. International food, music and stories. Tickets are $150. Purchase: bit.ly/150thcelebration.

AUTHOR EVENT, 7 p.m., Prince of Peace - St. Andrew Center (19222 Tomball Pkwy.,

Houston). Catholic Grandparents Ministry hosts Peggy Stanton, author, illustrator and painter, who will speak about her latest book, “From the White House to the White Cross.” Free. henryphil413@att.net; 713-244-4217; www. catholicgrandparentsassociation.org.

FEB. 4

EUCHARIST SPEAKER EVENT, 9 a.m., St. John the Baptist Parish Hall (110 E. South St., Alvin). Catholic Daughters of Americas Court #2073 host Dr. Marcellino D’Ambrosio who will speak on the Eucharist. Light breakfast will be served. stjohnaff@gmail.com; 281-331-3751.

FEB. 5

RETREAT FOR PARENTS AFTER INFANT LOSS, Office of Pro-Life Activities hosts “Pierced by Sorrow, Released into Joy” retreat for parents following miscarriage, stillbirth, or early infant loss. This single-day retreat is part of the Jerome’s Hope ministry. Cost: $35/person; $60/couple. Register: https://archgh.cventevents.com/ PiercedBySorrowReleasedintoJoy. 713-741-8728.

WORLD DAY FOR CONSECRATED LIFE, 11 a.m., CoCathedral of the Sacred Heart (1111 St. Joseph Pkwy.). Daniel Cardinal DiNardo presides over a Mass honor men and women religious.

SPAGHETTI DINNER FUNDRAISER, 10:30 am to 1:00 pm, Guardian Angel (5610 Demel St., Wallis). $12 spaghetti plates with homemade meat sauce, salad, green beans and garlic bread. Homemade desserts for donation. Features raffle with cash prizes, cake live and silent auctions. Sponsored by Wallis CDA, proceeds benefit college scholarships, high school ‘Project Graduation,’ local and national/state CDA charities. 281-224-0477.

FEB. 11

HEART OF WORSHIP, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., St. Laurence (3100 Sweetwater Blvd., Sugar Land). Day-long conference of talks, prayer, praise and worship, Mass, Adoration, dinner and fellowship. $30 early bird registration ends Jan. 20; increases to $50 per person after. Open to ages sixth grade and older, no childcare available. Info and register: www.stlaurence.org/how.

DINNER FUNDRAISER, 6 to 9 p.m., Our Lady of Walsingham, St. Jude Hall (7809 Shadyvilla Ln., Houston). Catholic Literary Arts hosts a dinner with James Matthew Wilson, Ph.D., as keynote on “Creating a Culture of Beauty.” Booksales benefit teach youth creative writing. Tickets: $150-plus, tables begin at $1,000. Underwriting

“San José Clinic is excited to announce additions to our board and advisory board that will assist us in achieving our strategic initiatives,” said Maureen Sanders, CEO and president of San José Clinic.

The new board members began their three-year term on Jan. 1 and can serve a maximum of three terms. The four new board members are:

• Nancy J. Edgar, retired human resources executive, has exceptional skills in personnel/human resources for government and non-profit organizations. With more than 40 years of experience in the healthcare industry, Edgar provides compliant, mission-driven, and peoplecentered HR leadership.

• Aurora Mitchell, CEO of Mitchell HealthCare Consulting, is a healthcare executive with more than 30 years of hospital, medical, and governmentsponsored insurance and consulting

and sponsorships are available. 713-331-9342; catholicliteraryarts.org/fundraising.

BLACK HISTORY PROGRAM, 7 p.m., Holy Family (1510 5th St., Missouri City). Father Reginald Samuels, vicar for Catholics of African Descent, will be the speaker. 281-499-6883; gloriareed2014@comcast.net.

FEB. 15

LENTEN DAY OF REFLECTION, 8:30 a.m., St. Paul the Apostle (18223 Point Lookout Dr., Houston). The Bay Area Council Catholic of Women host a Day of Reflection for men and women. 8:30 a.m. Mass, then light breakfast; 9:30 a.m. brief meeting; 10 a.m. presentation with Deacon Scott Daniel and Steve Oliveri sharing reflections on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land. yodainoz@comcast.net.

How

• Lisa DeBauche, committee chair of the Charity Guild of Catholic Women, is a volunteer at the San José Clinic with a background in nursing. DeBauche has led efforts to ensure that patients and their families have access to important resources throughout Houston. DeBauche joined the 2023 advisory board as its newest member.

“As we look forward to the next 100 years, the clinic hopes to bridge the health gap between the privileged and the uninsured population who often fall between the cracks of a challenging healthcare system without the clinic’s help,” Sanders said. “With the onboarding of our new board members, I believe future goals to save lives and establish a culture where health is a priority can be accomplished.

For more information on San José Clinic, visit www.sanjoseclinic.org. †

FEB. 17

MARDI GRAS DANCE, 6 to 10 p.m., St. Benedict the Abbot - J-Hall (4025 Grapevine St., Houston). The Knights of Peter Claver Council & Court #248 host a night of dancing, food and fun. $25 advanced tickets, $30 at door. 713-870-4393 or 281-253-5520.

MARCH 2

GOLF TOURNAMENT, 11 a.m., Wildcat Golf Club (12000 Almeda Rd, Houston). Tournament supports the mission of St. Dominic Village and celebrates the memory and legacy of Bishop Rizzotto. www.stdominicvillage.org/events. •••

To find additional listings online, visit the website at WWW.ARCHGH.ORG/ATA.

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Around the Archdiocese

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Around the Archdiocese

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SISTER

GOD