Stella Borealis Catholic Roundtable

116 Bishops Speak Out Against Obama/HHS Mandate

2012-01-31T20:13:00.002-06:00

Updated: 116 Bishops Speak Out Against Obama/HHS Mandate

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In the past I’ve compiled a list of all the bishops speaking out on a particular controversial issue (for instance, over Notre Dame’s invitation to President Obama) — here are the bishops who have spoken out against the Obama/HHS mandate.

If I have missed anyone please let me know in the comments! And please double-check that your bishop really is not there before posting. The list is not in any particular order at this point.

Items in bold mean the statement was read at all diocesan Masses or included in all parish bulletins on Sunday:

1. Roger Cardinal Mahony of Los Angeles, CA (Emeritus)
2. Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan of New York City, NY
3. Bishop Joe Vasquez of Austin, TX
4. Archbishop Robert Carlson of St. Louis, MO, former Auxiliary of St.P-Mpls, and Sioux Falls
5. Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix, AZ
6. Archbishop Allen Vigneron of Detroit, MI
7. Archbishop John Nienstedt of Saint Paul & Minneapolis, MN
8. Bishop David Ricken of Green Bay, WI
9. Bishop Paul Etienne of Cheyenne, WY
10. Bishop William Lori of Bridgeport, CT
11. Bishop Thomas Doran of Rockford, IL
12. Cardinal-designate Edwin O’Brien of Baltimore, MD
13. Bishop Felipe Estevez of Saint Augustine, FL
14. Bishop James Conley of Denver, CO
15. Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria, IL
16. Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh, PA, formerly of Green Bay
17. Bishop Walker Nickless of Sioux City, IA
18. Bishop Paul Loverde of Arlington, VA
19. Archbishop Jerome Listecki of Milwaukee, WI, formerly of La Crosse
20. Bishop Kevin Vann of Fort Worth, TX
21. Bishop Kevin Farrell of Dallas, TX
22. Archbishop Dennis Schnurr of Cincinnati, OH
23. Bishop William Medley of Owensboro, KY
24. Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta, GA
25. Bishop Peter Libasci of Manchester, NH
26. Bishop Frederick Campbell of Columbus, OH
27. Bishop Richard Malone of Portland, ME
28. Bishop Anthony Taylor of Little Rock, AR
29. Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, OK
30. Bishop Patrick McGrath of San Jose, CA
31. Bishop Joseph Bambera of Scranton, PA
32. Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, FL
33. Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angelas, CA
34. Daniel Cardinal DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, TX, formerly of Sioux City
35. Bishop Leonard Blair of Toledo, OH
36. Donald Cardinal Wuerl of Washington, DC
37. Bishop Patrick Zurek of Amarillo, TX
38. Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, IN
39. Bishop William Callahan of La Crosse, WI
40. Archbishop John Myers of Newark, NJ
41. Bishop Bernard Hebda of Gaylord, MI (better link needed)
42. Bishop David O’Connell of Trenton, NJ
43. Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, NE
44. Bishop Michael Mulvey of Corpus Christi, TX
45. Archbishop Timothy Broglio of Military Services, USA
46. Sean Cardinal O’Malley of Boston, MA
47. Bishop Robert Morlino of Madison, WI
48. Bishop Richard Lennon of Cleveland, OH
49. Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans, LA
50. Bishop Alexander Sample of Marquette, MI
51. Bishop Michael Burbidge of Raleigh, NC
52. Bishop Walter Hurley of Grand Rapids, MI
53. Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, IL
54. Bishop Francis Malooly of Wilmington, DE
55. Bishop Peter Jugis of Charlotte, NC
56. Bishop Francis DiLorenzo of Richmond, VA
57. Archbishop Roger Schwietz of Anchorage, AK, formerly of Duluth
58. Bishop Samuel Aquila of Fargo, ND
59. Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tuscon, AZ
60. Bishop Robert Muench of Baton Rouge, LA
61. Bishop Sam Jacobs of Houma-Thibodaux, LA
62. Bishop Michael Jarrell of Lafayette, LA
63. Bishop Ronald Herzog of Alexandria, LA
64. Bishop Glen Provost of Lake Charles, LA
65. Bishop Michael Duca of Shreveport, LA
66. Bishop Dale Melczek of Gary, IN
67. Bishop Michael Jackels of Wichita, KS
68. Bishop Peter Christensen of Superior, WI
69. Bishop John Noonan of Orlando, FL
70. Bishop Gregory Hartmayer of Savannah, GA
71. Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, CA
72. Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, PA
73. Bishop Michael Driscoll of Boise, ID
74. Bishop Robert Cunningham of Syracuse, NY
75. Bishop David Kagan of Bismarck, ND
76. Bishop Paul Bradley of Kalamazoo, MI
77. Bishop Placido Rodriguez of Lubbock, TX
78. Archbishop John Vlazny of Portland, OR, formerly of Winona
79. Bishop Joseph McFadden of Harrisburg, PA
80. Bishop William Murphy of Rockville Center, NY
81. Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs, CO
82. Bishop Timothy McDonnell of Springfield, MA
83. Bishop Robert Lynch of St. Petersburg, FL
84. Archbishop Henry Mansell of Hartford, CT
85. Archbishop Michael Sheehan of Santa Fe, NM
86. Bishop Robert Gruss of Rapid City, SD
87. Bishop Gerald Barbarito of Palm Beach, FL
88. Bishop Michael Cote of Norwich, CT
89. Bishop Edward Kmiec of Buffalo, NY
90. Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, KS
91. Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, KY
92. Bishop Roger Foys of Covington, KY (better link needed)
93. Bishop John LeVoir of New Ulm, MN
94. Bishop Gerald Barnes of San Bernadino, CA (better link needed)
95. Bishop Terry LaValley of Ogdensburg, NY
96. Bishop Salvatore Matano of Burlington, VT
97. Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle, WA
98. Bishop Martin Amos of Davenport, IA (better link needed)
99. Archbishop George Lucas of Omaha, NE
100. Bishop Edward Burns of Juneau, AK (better link needed)
101. Bishop John Quinn on Winona, MN
102. Bishop Joseph Cistone of Saginaw, MI
103. Bishop Raymond Gaydos of Jefferson City, MO
104. Bishop Daniel Conlon of Joliet, IL
105. Bishop Robert Guglielmone of Charleston, SC
106. Bishop Frank DeWane of Venice, FL
107. Bishop Richard Pates of Des Moines, IA, former Auxiliary of St. Paul-Mpls
108. Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester, MA
109. Bishop James Tamayo of Laredo, TX
110. Bishop John Kudrick, Eparchy of Parma, OH
111. Bishop John Barres of Allentown, PA (better link needed)
112. Bishop Ronald Gainer of Lexington, KY (better link needed)
113. Bishop Lawrence Brandt of Greensburg, PA
114. Bishop Joseph Tyson of Yakima, WA
115. Bishop Gerald Dino, Eparchy of Phoenix, AZ
116. Bishop George Murry of Youngstown, OH

Duluth's Bishop Sirba describes grief, acceptance of church closings

2012-01-20T03:31:00.002-06:00

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In the end, Catholics came around to the realities facing the Duluth Diocese, Bishop Paul Sirba announced in a news conference Thursday at the Pastoral Center in Duluth.

In the end, Catholics came around to the realities facing the Duluth Diocese, Bishop Paul Sirba announced in a news conference Thursday at the Pastoral Center in Duluth.

The five-year strategic plan offered by Sirba has some harsh realities in it: the imminent closing and merging of up to 19 churches in the 10-county diocese, should the entire plan be implemented.

“People were very passionate,” Sirba said of a year of discussion on congregation sizes, the availability of priests, and the condition of churches physically and financially.

The downsizing is obviously a difficult turn for the diocese, Sirba said, “but some beautiful things happened as well.” He said the 45 families served by St. Phillip in Saginaw came to a realization that closing the church and melding into St. Rose in Proctor would serve them best.

“They said, ‘You know, there’s a bigger need,’” Sirba said, “and that awakened others in the deanery.”

While presiding over a Mass in Bruno, another church set to close, Sirba said he heard from 15 people in the congregation who came to the same conclusion — at one time it made sense to have a church, when the town was bustling.

“It’s different now,” Sirba said of Bruno residents’ sentiments. It was another example of a congregation that knew it was ready for a change, he said.

The long-range plan is also a reaction to a possible loss of 11 retiring clergy, a drop to 34 from 45. The good news, Sirba said, is that Duluth will have its largest-ever class of new priests when six men are entered through the diocese this spring.

The changes announced Thursday will be slowly implemented, Sirba said, but changes could come as soon as this summer. And the diocese will continue to review parishes across the five years, he said, meaning things could change. Another intensive long-range plan will be tackled in five years.

Some churches scheduled to close in earlier plans were spared: St. Joseph in Ball Club and St. Michael in Northome.

Major changes for the five regions within the diocese include:

Duluth: Our Lady of Mercy on Park Point closes and merges with St. Mary Star of the Sea; Star of the Sea shares priests with the Cathedral; in West Duluth, St. Elizabeth and St. Margaret Mary merge with St. James, with two worship sites retained; St. Joseph closes, with parishioners going to St. Lawrence; priests would serve St. Lawrence and Holy Family; west of Duluth, St. Phillip in Saginaw closes and merges with St. Raphael; priests would serve St. Raphael and St. Rose in Proctor.

Cloquet: St. Joseph in Finlayson and Sacred Heart in Bruno close and merge into St. Patrick in Hinckley; St. Isidore in Sturgeon Lake merges with St. Mary in Willow River with rotated services.

Brainerd: St. Joseph in Deerwood merges with St. Joseph in Crosby and a new church is built; churches in Nisswa, Pequot Lakes and Pine River move toward a merger; Our Lady of Fatima in McGrath closes and merges with Holy Family in McGregor; Holy Family in Hillman closes and merges with Our Lady Fatima in Garrison.

Hibbing: Sacred Heart in Federal Dam and St. Ann in Bena close and merge into St. Mary in Deer River; St. Joseph in Ball Club shares services with St. Mary in Deer River; St. Kevin in Pengilly and St. Mary in Keewatin close and merge into St. Cecilia in Nashwauk; St. Joseph in Taconite and St. Mary in Marble close and merge into Mary Immaculate in Coleraine; St. John in Hill City and St. Paul in Warba merge with St. Joseph in Grand Rapids.

Virginia: Holy Spirit and Sacred Heart in Virginia, and Sacred Heart in Mountain Iron merge; Queen of Peace in Hoyt Lakes, St. John in Biwabik and Holy Rosary in Aurora share services.

As part of the five-year plan, and following the vision of the Vatican, the diocese will concentrate on making sure people stay with the church, Sirba said. By pooling congregants, priests can serve them more efficiently with a stress on keeping youth programs strong, he said.

Pope Benedict has declared 2012 a “Year of Faith” for Catholics across the world, calling members to take a more active role in the church and its teachings.

Sirba believes the plan revealed Thursday puts the Duluth Diocese in a better position to work on that mission: “This process of pruning the vine allows for more evangelism.” Duluth News Tribune

Top 20 Catholic Bloggers of 2011

2012-01-05T21:11:00.002-06:00

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From the Aggie Catholic, the Newman Club of Texas A&M University

Top 20 Catholic Bloggers of 2011

(in no particular order)
[Three with Minnesota connections!!! Congratulations to them]

Jennifer Fulwiler - Conversion Diary and National Catholic Register.
One of the best bloggers on the scene today. Always thinking deeply.
Deacon Greg Kandra - The Deacon's Bench.
How he finds all the stuff he does, I will never know. I think he must have dozens of websites open at once 24 hours a day.
Ed Peters - In the Light of the Law.
Dr. Peters was my canon law prof and made canon law interesting. He does it on the blog as well. Former canon lawyer for the Diocese of Duluth, now in that position for the Archdiocese of Detroit.
Carl Olson - Ignatius Insight Scoop.
Books, music, culture, and more. I have no idea how Carl reads as much as he does or listens to as much music as he does. Must help to work where he does.
Patrick Madrid - PatrickMadrid.com
Patrick has been writing for a long time, but he only started blogging recently. He has found his blogging voice quickly. His dry wit is always entertaining.
Fr. Z - What Does the Prayer Really Say?
Doesn't put up with fluff, hype or messing with the liturgy. He has the most rabid followers. Former SPS seminarian; good friend to many in Minnesota
Fr. Dwight Longenecker - Standing on My Head.
Fr. Dwight shines most brightly when he takes on difficult subjects head on. He isn't shy about them either.
Rocco Palmo - Whispers in the Loggia
The #1 Catholic insider blog.
Elizabeth Scalia - The Anchoress.
Politics, religion, faith, and how it applies to life - wrapped up in one place.
Mark Shea - Catholic and Enjoying It and National Catholic Register.
Mark is probably the most prolific Catholic blogger. He posts on just about every topic there is all over the place.
Patrick and Matthew Archbold - Creative Minority Report and National Catholic Register.
Funny, irreverent, interesting, and I think I am the lost Archbold brother.
Thomas Peters - American Papist / CatholicVote.org
A very influential blogger who is widely read. Son of Ed Peters, above; born in Duluth.
Brandon Vogt - The Thin Veil.
New media, young Catholics and more.
Jimmy Akin - National Catholic Register and Jimmy Akin.org.
Jimmy likes details and being thorough and complete. I appreciate that.
Danielle Bean - DanielleBean.com and Faith and Family Live.
Danielle does it all. Mom. Wife. Editor. Writer. Blogger. All of that stuffed with wisdom and practical advice.
Taylor Marshall - Canterbury Tales.
Posts items you won't see anywhere else.
Jeff Miller - The Curt Jester.
Still making us laugh after many years. Yet, his best stuff is when he gets serious.
Matt Warner - Fallible Blogma and National Catholic Register.
Matt has great stuff, he justs needs to post more frequently. Your readers want more Matt!
Simcha Fisher - National Catholic Register and I Have to Sit Down.
One of the best all-around Catholic writers blogging today. I love her stuff.
The Ironic Catholic.
Just read her. Theology Professor at St. Mary's U in Winona, Mom, and Catholic Worker volunteer.

8 Heroic U.S. Military Chaplains, most of whom you haven't heard of

2012-01-05T20:07:00.003-06:00

by Miss Cellania - Mental Floss Blog

While researching the post 10 Heroic Battlefield Medics, I came across a couple of fascinating stories about military chaplains and their wartime exploits. Those stories were filed away for later, and they grew into a list of stories that deserve to be told and remembered. They are presented here in more or less chronological order.

1. Anthony Rey

Some contemporaries wrote of the Mexican-American War as one of U.S. Protestants against Mexican Catholics. President Polk responded to such allegations by appointing two Catholic priests to serve as military chaplains. Father Anthony Rey, a Jesuit from Georgetown University with no military background or training, participated in the battle of Monterrey in September of 1846. He tended to the wounded on the battlefield and gave last rites to the dying. Afterward, serving in north Mexico, he ventured out of the U.S. garrison to minister to the locals, despite warnings of the danger. In 1847 he said a mass at the village of Ceralvo, and never made it back. His body was found a few days later, stabbed through by lances. He was mourned by both the U.S. troops and the Mexicans he served.

2. Horatio Stockton Howell

Presbyterian minister Horatio Howell was chaplain of the 90th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War. Most military chaplains at the time wore clerical black, but Howell preferred a regulation captain’s uniform. On the first day of the battle of Gettysburg, July 1, 1863, Howell was serving at the infirmary set up at a church in Gettysburg when he went to the door and was confronted by a Confederate soldier demanding his surrender. The minister began to argue that he was a non-combatant and not subject to capture, but was shot and killed, probably due to the uniform.

3. John P. Chidwick

Father John P. Chidwick was the chaplain serving on the battleship USS Maine when it exploded in Havana Harbor in 1898. Tensions were already high, and this incident was the spark that began the Spanish-American War. Father Chadwick worked tirelessly through the night to rescue injured sailors and tend to their wounds. He was the last man to leave the ship. Two days later, Chadwick conducted the funeral rites in Havana for those who died.

4. John B. DeValles

Father John B. DeValles earned the nickname the “Angel of the Trenches” during World War I. He ventured into No Man’s Land in France to search for wounded and dying soldiers, and ministered to both the Allies and the Germans. During one foray, he did not return and was found unconscious and wounded, next to a dead soldier he had tried to help. DeValles’ wounds caused his health to suffer, but he continued to serve in France until 1919. He died a year later, never having completely recovered from his wartime attack. France awarded DeValles the Croix de Guerre and Legion of Honor. Only a half-hour before he died, DeValles was notified that he would be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. It was pinned on him at his funeral in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The funeral carried full military honors, and all town flags were flown at half-staff. A school in the town was named in his honor.

5. Colman O’Flaherty

Father Colman O’Flaherty was an Irish immigrant who was educated in Canada and then worked to establish several schools in South Dakota in the early 20th century. When World War I began, he joined up and was sent to France as a chaplain with the the 28th Infantry. O’Flaherty was shot and killed while helping the wounded on the front lines on October 1, 1918. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross posthumously for extraordinary heroism in action.

6. Francis P. Duffy

Canadian-born Father Francis Duffy served in the Spanish-American War, and returned to service in 1916 to accompany troops in Mexico. Then during World War I he ministered to soldiers on the front lines in France. During battle, Duffy administered first aid and last rites as well, often under heavy fire. For his service and bravery, the priest was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Distinguished Service Medal. After the war, Duffy served as pastor of Holy Cross Church near Times Square in New York until his death in 1932. Duffy Square in the city’s theater district is named after Father Duffy. He was portrayed by Pat O’Brien in the 1940 film The Fighting 69th. Father Duffy is pictured on the right.

7. John G. Burkhalter

Rev. John G. Burkhalter was a professional boxer who became a Southern Baptist minister in Florida in 1932. He then earned a degree in history and immediately joined the military when he graduated in 1942. Burkhalter was assigned as a chaplain with the First Infantry and landed in Normandy with Allied forces during the D-Day invasion on ~~August~~ June 6, 1944. In October, Burkhalter worked to recover the wounded and dead during the Battle of the Bulge. He went missing for several weeks and was discovered in a French hospital, having sustained several head wounds during the battle. Burkhalter was awarded the Silver Star and Bronze Star as well as a Purple Heart for his activities under fire. After the war, he stayed with the army, eventually serving in the Korean War. Burkhalter retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1969. In 1992, he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

8. Francis L. Sampson

If you’ve seen the movie Saving Private Ryan, you might be surprised to learn that the real hero who reunited the soldier Private Ryan was based on with his remaining family was a chaplain. Father Francis L. Sampson was “The Paratrooper Padre” with the 101st Airborne Division who jumped into Normandy on D-Day, landing behind enemy lines in a river. He dove to the bottom to retrieve his equipment because he couldn’t lose his Mass kit. Sampson was once captured but was saved from being shot by an enemy unit leader who was Catholic. He ministered to friend and enemy alike, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his activities in France. Sampson then went into action in Holland, where his parachute jump landed him again in water -a castle moat. He was captured by Germans during the Battle of the Bulge and imprisoned near Berlin for four months. That camp was liberated by the Russians in 1945. But that wasn’t the end of Sampson’s heroics -he went on to serve in Korea, then stayed with the army to train other chaplains and eventually became Chief of Chaplains. He retired with the rank of Major General and a slew of medals in 1971. But that’s not all! Father Sampson was then appointed to head the USO, and he spent the rest of the Vietnam War visiting troops with entertainment tours. He died in 1996 at the age of 83.

We’ve only made it to World War II, and there are other heroic stories from the wars in Korea, Vietnam, and more recent conflicts. Those will be posted next week.

Minnesota's Laboure Society Helps Vocation Discerners With Payment of Education Loans

2012-01-05T18:53:00.003-06:00

Young people who wish to pursue a religious vocations have assistance in paying off their debt thanks to a nonprofit society.

by JOSEPH PRONECHEN 01/05/2012 Comment

St. Catherine Laboure

– Wikipedia

When Allen Alexander wanted to pursue his calling to the priesthood, which he had since he was a child, he was faced with a major obstacle: Even though he received some scholarship assistance and worked while at Franciscan University of Steubenville, he still had thousands of dollars of school debt to pay off before the congregation he applied to would let him enter.

When Amy Turner went on an Ignatian retreat while working at a Boston hospital and had plans to study to be a nurse, she realized “God gave me the desire for a vocation, and that was what I had to respond to.” But she still was paying off debt from the University of Dallas.

Augustine DeArmond felt the call to religious life and the priesthood, but he too was still whittling down college debt, even though he had started teaching. Accepted by the Dominicans, he said, “As with most religious communities today, our province asked me to handle most of the debt before coming into formation.”

Faced with the same dilemma, each turned for help to the Labouré Society (LaboureSociety.org). Since 2001, the Labouré Society has blossomed into a lay apostolate that has already helped more than 220 individuals resolve their financial debt to enter religious life and who are now ordained, professed or in formation.

Brother Alexander was able to take his first vows in 2010 and begin studies for the priesthood with the Congregation of the Marians of the Immaculate Conception. Brother DeArmond professed simple vows in 2008 with the Dominicans, who sent him to study this year with their Blackfriars in England. Today, Turner is Sister Louise Marie, a novice with the Sisters of Saint Benedict Center, Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Still River, Mass.

In the past few years Cy Laurent, founder and director of the Labouré Society — although he considers himself only the humble servant of the real founder (the Holy Spirit) — is busier than ever.

Having started this project from his home as a hobby, a year and a half ago Laurent moved into an office in Eagan, Minn., and now has two assistants. Praying about the move, he bumped into a man whose name kept coming to him in prayer. When Laurent explained the situation, the gentleman gave him an office with a free five-year lease.

“This is why you listen to the Holy Spirit,” Laurent said.

“There’s a real urgency here,” he added. He pointed out there are up to 10,000 discerners in the United States courageous enough to consider priesthood and religious life. “We must deliver these vocations to the Church.”

But the problem is: 99% of them who have gone through interviews and been tested and are qualified by vocation directors, bishops and religious communities have educational debt that averages $40,000 just for an undergraduate degree.

“The only thing that prevents them entering formation is this debt,” Laurent emphasized. In comes the society, which helps raise money to pay off this debt. “It’s a monumental task the Church can’t answer. They don’t have the money. Laypersons must respond to this.”

Over the years, Laurent, formerly a Minnesota businessman, has tweaked the process to benefit both aspirants and donors. He works with small groups, around 10 of them, at once. They develop a campaign, and Laurent motivates and counsels them. They pray together. The board decides how and when the funds are distributed to the members. Because the society is a 501c3 nonprofit corporation, donors receive tax benefits. That applies to family and friends who donate, too.

Brother DeArmond reminds people they don’t have to know anyone personally to help someone enter religious life. By donating to the Labouré Society, they help anyone called to religious life but without means to enter because of debt. There are anonymous donors.

The board of directors makes grants against the debts of aspirants in a staged way in case someone leaves during discernment. For instance, payment on debt comes in steps, like entering as a candidate, first profession to postulant, then novice. Any remaining debt is eliminated at final vows or ordination.

Sister Catherine Marie of the Holy Trinity looks fondly upon the Labouré Society. In February 2011 she took her final vows with the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles. Laurent was present.

“It was incredible to have him there and witness all that had happened since the beginning when I was first thinking about religious life,” said Sister Catherine Marie, one of the first aspirants who was helped by the society.

She had been working jobs during her school years and summers to pay her school debt, then happened to meet Laurent.

“It was really clear to me it was totally sound and a good thing he was doing,” she explained. “The people would know what they’re giving their money to.”

It was difficult to ask for money, but Laurent made the process blessed and easy, she said. Along with help from her friends, the Labouré Society paid off her final debt.

Laurent credits her with helping to confirm the name for the society. He well remembers first meeting her: “She was walking toward me, and the sun was shining on her Miraculous Medal pin.”

Before that, the first woman he helped was also wearing a Miraculous Medal pendant. Because both of these women were wearing the Miraculous Medal that our Blessed Mother gave to St. Catherine Labouré, Laurent chose the saint as the society’s patron.

Patrons of another sort now come from across the country in the form of vocation directors and bishops’ endorsements.

“We are so grateful to the Labouré Society for assisting some of the women in application with us,” said Sister Antoniana Maria, vocation director for The Sisters of Life. “They provide a great service to the Church to allow the opportunity to follow God’s call.” In September, a new postulant entered thanks to help from the society.

Those helped see added advantages.

Sister Louise Marie said the society was a “third party” endorsement: giving her greater credibility to people she was asking for help. And the prayers and encouragement she received from the society remain priceless.

“Mr. Laurent had such joy in my vocation that it increased my own understanding of what a wondrous thing it is to be called to be the bride of Christ,” she said. “I’m glad to know he’s going to be praying for me forever.”

Brother Alexander can’t help but see “the love Cy Laurent and others who work for him have and their commitment to help young men and women struggling (to pursue their vocation).”

“Cy Laurent is one of the most enthusiastic people I’ve met,” Sister Catherine Marie said, “and so in line with the mission of the Church and the message of our Holy Father Pope Benedict and John Paul II before him about vocations to the priesthood and religious life.”

What is one of Laurent’s biggest motivating factors that should inspire donors?

“To think about the importance of one vocation,” he emphasized. “Priests and religious today are making an unbelievably important impact on members of society.”
National Catholic Register

Little Falls nun, advocate for orphans, to celebrate 100 years

2012-01-03T17:14:00.002-06:00

Sister Justina Bieganek

LITTLE FALLS — A Franciscan nun known for her leadership in orphan train reunions will celebrate her 100th birthday this month.

Sister Justina Bieganek, OSF, will celebrate with an 11 a.m. Mass and an open house from 2-4 p.m. Jan. 15 at St. Francis Convent in Little Falls.

Bieganek came to Avon on an orphan train when she was 22 months old. She was among more than 250,000 children from New York City who traveled west by train to adoptive families between 1854 and 1929.

Bieganek’s original name was Edith Peterson, and she learned that she was born to a widowed mother who was unable to care for her. John and Mary Bieganek adopted her when she came to Avon; she also helped the Bieganeks’ son and his wife raise their 13 children.

Justina Bieganek went to St. Francis High School in Little Falls and entered St. Francis convent in 1929. In her 82 years as a Franciscan sister, she has served as an advocate at the St. Cloud Orphanage, office worker, parish visitor, CCD instructor, sacristan and organist. She continues to work daily at St. Francis Music Center, where she has been a clerk for 31 years.

One of her greatest passions has been her effort to tell the story of the orphan trains and organize reunions for the orphans and their descendants. The 51st reunion was Oct. 1 in Little Falls. St. Cloud Times

My great-grandparents adopted a brother and sister off of an Orphan Train in the 1890s In Negaunee, Michigan. Sadly we have lost contact with them over the years.

Please Join Me In Prayer and Fasting for the Protection of Marriage In My State

2011-12-31T01:39:00.003-06:00

from B-Bach's Beat by Michael Blissenbach

In Minnesota, where I was born, raised, and still live, we will be voting next November on whether or not to amend our state constitution to define marriage as solely between one man and one woman. The Most Reverend John Nienstedt, Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, is calling on all Catholics to pray, as well as fast on all Fridays, for the protection of marriage in Minnesota. I join my Archbishop in calling on my brother and sister Catholics, whether in Minnesota or not, to join me in prayer and fasting for this effort. Archbishop Nienstedt recently released a prayer he wishes to be prayed regularly by Catholics for this intention, and I have included it below. The prayer can also be found on the website for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis here:

Heavenly Father,

Through the powerful intercession of the Holy Family, grant to this local Church the many graces we need to foster, strengthen, and support faith-filled, holy marriages and holy families.

May the vocation of married life, a true calling to share in your own divine and creative life, be recognized by all believers as a source of blessing and joy, and a revelation of your own divine goodness.

Grant to us all the gift of courage to proclaim and defend your plan for marriage, which is the union of one man and one woman in a lifelong, exclusive relationship of loving trust, compassion, and generosity, open to the conception of children.

We make our prayer through Jesus Christ, who is Lord forever and ever. Amen.

10th Annual Apologetics Conference - Featuring Peter Kreeft PhD - Saturday, January 7th at 1:00 p.m.

2011-12-30T01:08:00.005-06:00

Register - Now - Bring Your Kids!

Cost is only $15 per person - $10 ages 18 and under - Clergy/religious free!

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Peter Kreeft, Ph.D is the featured speaker at the Holy Name Society's 10th Annual Apologetics Conference. First talk begins at 1:00 p.m.

Peter Kreeft, Ph.D., is a professor of philosophy at Boston College and at the King's College (Empire State Building), in New York City. He is a regular contributor to several Christian publications, is in wide demand as a speaker at conferences, and is the author of over 55 books including Handbook of Christian Apologetics, Christianity for Modern Pagans, and Fundamentals of the Faith.

Dr. Keeft is one of today's most knowledgeable Apologists! His "Handbook of Catholic Apologetics" is the only book that categorizes and summarizes all the major arguments in support of the main Christian beliefs, including key distinctively Catholic doctrines. Also included is a Protestant-friendly treatment of Catholic-Protestant issues. The Catholic answers to Protestant questions show how Catholicism is the fullness of the Christian faith.

Time		Conference Schedule
12:30 p.m.		Registration Begins (Refreshments - Books for Sale in lower level)
12:40 p.m.		Recitation of the Most Holy Rosary
1:00 p.m.		"7 Very Good Reasons to Be Catholic"
		Break - Refreshments - Books for Sale - Lower Level
2:20 p.m.		"Ecumenism Without Compromise"
		Followed by Special Q & A Session
4:15 p.m.		Book Signing - Lower Level

5:00 p.m.		Vigil Mass - Main Church

Conference Flyer

All Saints Catholic Church
19795 Holyoke Avenue
Lakeville, MN 55044

Come; be inspired by these powerful presentations plus a Q & A session.

Learn more about the Catholic Faith and how best to share it with your non-Catholic friends, family members, neighbors and co-workers.

Learn the best defense of the faith and how to deliver the message with conviction.

Question & Answer Session - have your questions answered by Peter Kreeft Ph.D. Send your questions via e-mail to Info@nomensanctum.org and Peter will answer it the day of the conference!

Register - Now

Cost is only $15 per person - $10 ages 18 and under - Clergy/religious free!

MSNBC Poll: Bishops say rules on gay parents limit freedom of religion

2011-12-28T22:50:00.001-06:00

Go to the MSNBC article and vote in the poll!!!

Bishops say rules on gay parents limit freedom of religion

'In the name of tolerance, we’re not being tolerated,' says canon lawyer

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

updated 12/28/2011 5:42:01 PM ET

WASHINGTON — Catholic Charities in Illinois has served for more than 40 years as a major link in the state’s social service network for poor and neglected children. But now most of the Catholic Charities affiliates in Illinois are closing down rather than comply with a new requirement that says they can no longer receive state money if they turn away same-sex couples as potential foster care and adoptive parents.

For the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops, the outcome is a prime example of what they see as an escalating campaign by the government to trample on their religious freedom while expanding the rights of gay people. The idea that religious Americans are now the victims of government-backed persecution is now a frequent theme not just for Catholic bishops, but also for Republican presidential candidates and conservative evangelicals.

“In the name of tolerance, we’re not being tolerated,” said Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Ill., a civil and canon lawyer who helped drive the church’s losing battle to retain its state contracts for foster care and adoption services.

Formidable opponents
The Illinois experience indicates that the bishops face formidable opponents who also claim to have justice and the Constitution on their side. They include not only gay rights advocates, but also many religious believers and churches that support gay equality (some Catholic legislators among them). They frame the issue as a matter of civil rights, saying that Catholic Charities was using taxpayer money to discriminate against same-sex couples.

Tim Kee, a teacher in Marion, Ill., who was turned away by Catholic Charities three years ago when he and his longtime partner, Rick Wade, tried to adopt a child, said: “We’re both Catholic, we love our church, but Catholic Charities closed the door to us. To add insult to injury, my tax dollars went to provide discrimination against me.”

The bishops are engaged in the religious liberty battle on several fronts. They have asked the Obama administration to lift a new requirement that Catholic and other religiously affiliated hospitals, universities and charity groups cover contraception in their employees’ health plans. A decision has been expected for weeks now.

At the same time, the bishops are protesting the recent denial of a federal contract to provide care for victims of sex-trafficking, saying the decision was anti-Catholic. An official with the Department of Health and Human Services recently told a hearing on Capitol Hill that the bishops’ program was rejected because it did not provide the survivors of sex-trafficking, some of whom are rape victims, with referrals for abortions or contraceptives.

Critics of the church argue that no group has a constitutional right to a government contract, especially if it refuses to provide required services.

But Anthony R. Picarello Jr., general counsel and associate general secretary of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, disagreed. “It’s true that the church doesn’t have a First Amendment right to have a government contract,” he said, “but it does have a First Amendment right not to be excluded from a contract based on its religious beliefs.”

The controversy in Illinois began when the state legislature voted in November 2010 to legalize civil unions for same-sex couples, which the state’s Catholic bishops lobbied against. The legislation was titled “The Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act,” and Bishop Paprocki said he was given the impression that it would not affect state contracts for Catholic Charities and other religious social services.

Adoption services jettisoned
Bishops in Washington and Massachusetts had already decided to jettison their Catholic Charities’ adoption services rather than comply with nondiscrimination laws.

In New York State, religious groups lobbied for specific exemption language in the same-sex marriage bill. But bishops in Illinois did not negotiate, Bishop Paprocki said.

“It would have been seen as, We’re going to compromise on the principle as long as we get our exception. We didn’t want it to be seen as buying our support,” he said.

Catholic Charities is one of the nation’s most extensive social service networks, serving more than 10 million poor adults and children of many faiths across the country. It is made up of local affiliates that answer to local bishops and dioceses, but much of its revenue comes from the government. Catholic Charities affiliates received a total of nearly $2.9 billion a year from the government in 2010, about 62 percent of its annual revenue of $4.67 billion. Only 3 percent came from churches in the diocese (the rest came from in-kind contributions, investments, program fees and community donations).

In Illinois, Catholic Charities in five of the six state dioceses had grown dependent on foster care contracts, receiving 60 percent to 92 percent of their revenues from the state, according to affidavits by the charities’ directors. (Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Chicago pulled out of foster care services in 2007 because of problems with its insurance provider).

When the contracts came up for renewal in June, the state attorney general along with the legal staff in the governor’s office and the Department of Children and Family Services decided that the religious providers on state contracts would no longer be able to reject same-sex couples, said Kendall Marlowe, a spokesman for the department.

The Catholic providers offered to refer same-sex couples to other agencies (as they had been doing for same-sex and unmarried couples), but that was not acceptable to the state, Mr. Marlowe said. “Separate but equal was not a sufficient solution on other civil rights issues in the past either,” he said.

Some decide to fight
Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Rockford decided at that point to get out of the foster care business. But the bishops in Springfield, Peoria, Joliet and Belleville decided to fight, filing a lawsuit against the state.

Taking a completely different tack was the agency affiliated with the conservative Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod, which like the Catholic Church does not sanction same-sex relationships. Gene Svebakken, president and chief executive of the agency, Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois, visited all seven pastoral conferences in his state and explained that the best option was to compromise and continue caring for the children.

“We’ve been around 140 years, and if we didn’t follow the law we’d go out of business,” Mr. Svebakken said. “We believe its God- pleasing to serve these kids, and we know we do a good job.”

In August, Judge John Schmidt, a circuit judge in Sangamon County, ruled against Catholic Charities, saying, “No citizen has a recognized legal right to a contract with the government.” He did not address the religious liberty claims, ruling only that the state did not violate the church’s property rights.

Three of the dioceses filed an appeal, but in November filed a motion to dismiss their lawsuit. The Dioceses of Peoria and Belleville are spinning off their state-financed social services, with the caseworkers, top executives and foster children all moving to new nonprofits that will no longer be affiliated with either diocese.

Gary Huelsmann, executive director of Catholic Social Services of Southern Illinois, in the Belleville Diocese, said the decision was excruciating for everyone.

“We have 600 children abused and neglected in an area where there are hardly any providers,” he said. “Us going out of business would have been detrimental to these children, and that’s a sin, too.”

The work will be carried on, but the Catholic Church’s seminal, historic connection with it has been severed, noted Mr. Marlowe, the spokesman for the state’s child welfare agency. “The child welfare system that Catholic Charities helped build,” he said, “is now strong enough to survive their departure.”

This article, "Bishops Say Rules on Gay Parents Limit Freedom of Religion," originally appeared in The New York Times.

Stained glass is a 'a way of sharing the faith' (dating to the times when most people couldn't read).

2011-12-27T18:15:00.002-06:00

Stained glass at Peoria's St. Joseph Catholic Church 'a way of sharing the faith'

A congregation of German immigrants, members of St. Joseph Catholic Church had the building's stained glass windows made in Munich about 100 years ago. Some of the most magnificent stained glass windows in the area, the panels depict the 15 mysteries of the rosary, with each window showing an important event in the life of Jesus Christ.

No one knows who made the first stained glass windows. Some of the earliest examples date to the first century, A.D.

And while the materials have improved since then, the tools used by stained glass artists have changed very little.

"We had an artist once who told me that if you brought a stained glass artist from the 1600s and set him down at my bench, he would feel right at home," said Carl Iverson, special projects manager for Reinarts Stained Glass Studios Inc. in Winona, Minn. "It's one of the few industries that still does it a lot of the way it was done in the past."

Reinarts has worked in many churches in central Illinois, including St. Joseph Catholic Church after a 2005 fire destroyed one window behind the alter and badly damaged another. A third window was also redone so it would match the two newly restored panels.

"When the windows get heated up too much, it actually makes the glass brittle," Iverson explained. "When you take the glass out of the lead, it actually disintegrates."

Workers used the resulting piles of glass to select new glass when they re-created the windows. Matching old glass is tricky because each batch of glass varies. In addition, there are types and colors made 100 years ago that aren't produced today.

"It's not like paint where you can say, 'Mix me this color up,'" Iverson said. "Glass is manufactured differently today. There's less hand-blown glass and more mechanically made glass."

The windows Reinarts re-created for St. Joseph were figure windows, with the images of Matthew and Mark painted on the glass. They were made by an artist using a special type of paint which, when heated in a kiln, fuses to the glass. The process creates nuanced images and forms that would be impossible to make with cut glass and leading.

"The paint is actually made of glass," Iverson said. "You paint it on and then you take off what you don't want. When you're working with a figure, especially on a face, you may fire it 10 times. The painting is created in stages."

"That's why figure windows are more expensive," Iverson said. "There's more time and skill involved."

The skills are so specialized that each window is created by a team of artisans. At Reinarts, one person paints just the hands and faces. Another artist paints the robes and background details. Another person does the design and layout, and yet another selects the glass and assembles the window.

That's the main reason why stained glass windows are so expensive, Iverson said.

"There is no margin for profits," he said. "Everything is done by hand, and labor has gone up over the years."

Expense was an important factor to the Rev. Larry Zurek when he took on the task of restoring Sacred Heart Church in 2005-06. The restoration, done shortly before the church's 100th anniversary, undid an earlier renovation from the 1960s.

At that time the building's original stained glass windows, in need of repair, were instead replaced with modern stained glass.

"It was the trend to make things look new," Zurek said.

Pastor at both Sacred Heart and St. Joseph Catholic churches, Zurek has a deep admiration for beautiful stained glass windows. They not only create colored light, but also tell a story.

"It's a way of sharing the faith," he said. "We say a picture paints a thousand words. In the Middle Ages, when people couldn't read or write, the windows told a story."

Because stained glass windows are more expensive than ever, during the restoration at Sacred Heart, Zurek had to make some compromises. He decided the majority of the church's new windows be made in a simple style by a company out of St. Louis, while three windows in the choir loft were created in the more expensive figural style by a company in England.

"I went there during the process," Zurek said. "I was really worried about the faces. That's where the art is. The higher quality artist is the one who does the face."

Zurek was quite pleased with the way the windows turned out, but he still speaks of his other church when talking about magnificent stained glass.

Built in 1879, St. Joseph is the oldest Catholic Church in Peoria. In the early 1900s, the congregation, mostly German immigrants, ordered elaborate windows from an art glass studio in Munich, Zurek said.

Like many churches, the congregation could only raise enough money initially to build the structure. The more ornate windows came later to replace the less complex windows installed when the church was built.

Several of the original windows are still in use above the front doors and in the choir loft. The three windows rebuilt after the 2005 fire are also original, Zurek said.

While the church's oldest windows are nice, those made later in Germany are masterpieces. Each tells a story, depicting the important events in the life of Jesus Christ - the joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries of the Rosary.

"It's amazing," said Zurek as he stood recently in the empty sanctuary of St. Joseph gazing at the image of Jesus in the manger. "A lot of time, a lot of love, were put into these windows. We are so fortunate that we didn't lose them in the fire."

Closing the church was considered after the fire, Zurek said. Once filled with a vibrant congregation, the church is surrounded by a deteriorating neighborhood and has, in recent years, lost attendance.

The windows were one of the reasons leadership chose to go ahead with the $1.3 million repair of the building. Zurek believes it would likely have been razed if the windows had not survived the fire.

While attendance during a normal service is small, on Christmas Eve the old building once again overflows as family members return to celebrate in the church of their youth.

"An old church speaks more to them than a modern place," Zurek said.

Some days Zurek comes to the empty church to pray the Rosary. While gazing at the old windows he occasionally discovers details in the intricate designs he hadn't noticed before. As the light filters through the colored glass, Zurek enjoys a feeling of reverence.

"It's not just another building. It's a sacred place," Zurek said.

The stained glass windows are a big part of that.

"It's kind of like heaven breaking into our world."

Peoria PJStar

AUDIO: Fargo Bishop Samuel Aquila Believes Elements Of Communism And Nazism Attack Religious Freedoms

2011-12-27T13:05:00.002-06:00

There were strong statements from Fargo Catholic diocese Bishop Samuel Aquila.

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Fargo Catholic diocese Bishop Samuel Aquila. (Submitted Photo)

AUDIO: Fargo Bishop Believes Elements Of Communism And Nazism Attack Religious Freedoms

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Fargo Catholic diocese Bishop Samuel Aquila talks about where the country is heading

There were strong statements from Fargo Catholic diocese Bishop Samuel Aquila. The bishop says elements of communism and Nazism are attacking religious freedoms and moving the nation away from its Judeo-Christian foundations.

In an interview with KFGO news, the bishop acknowledged that his words are strong, but necessary to convey his message. Aquila says the country began slowly changing into a secular society sometime after World War II.

Aquila says the re-definition of marriage, the debate over when life begins and euthanasia are examples of what he's concerned about.

He says the effects of communism, Nazism and atheism are stronger now than just 30 to 40 years ago. KFGO News

Catholic school realignment leaves winners, losers in St. Paul, Dakota County

2011-12-27T08:45:00.003-06:00

A plan by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to consolidate Catholic schools on St. Paul's West Side and in northern Dakota County keeps changing, with the latest twist leaving members of one parish proclaiming a "Christmas miracle" and members of another crying foul.

Holy Trinity in South St. Paul is the latest school to escape being absorbed into a new regional school that the archdiocese is planning to combat falling enrollment, financial stress and aging facilities at five parish schools. The decision was announced to parishioners at a recent Christmas event.

"I can't tell you how many people have described this as a Christmas miracle," said the Rev. John Echert, who appealed the decision to close the school on behalf of parents and church leaders. "That's how strongly they felt about this."

But the move has upset some members of St. Matthew's School on St. Paul's West Side who say the entire "realignment" plan has been convoluted and lacked a clear vision from the start.

The confusion has made it hard for members of St. Matthew's to see how they will fit into a regional school without losing their neighborhood ties.

"The whole realignment is a joke," said Brian Osborne, a longtime member of St. Matthew's. "They don't know what they are doing. How can a billion-dollar company be so dysfunctional?"

The initial plans that were announced had five schools - St. Joseph's, St. Michael's, St. Matthew's, Holy Trinity and St. John Vianney merging into two regional campuses.

St. Joseph's in West St. Paul quickly won an appeal to remain a parish school, and now with Holy Trinity staying open, the remaining three parish schools will form one regional campus at St. Michael's in West St. Paul.

Dennis McGrath, spokesman for the archdiocese, said that after the initial plans were announced, members of Holy Trinity and St. Joseph felt their schools were still "viable" on their own. Any appearance of confusion was unintended.

"Organizations change direction all the time, if there is reason for it," McGrath said. "We are not a dictatorship."

McGrath acknowledged the emotions involved in consolidating schools with long-standing community ties. Changing population demographics and enrollments make it necessary to consolidate schools such as St. Michael, St. Matthew and St. John Vianney.

"It makes sense and they will be a stronger school going forward," McGrath said, noting the age and repairs needed at locations such as St. Matthew. "It would be irresponsible to keep a school like that going."

There currently are 361 students at the three parish schools to be consolidated. If the students won't all fit at St. Michael's, the archdiocese will find a way to accommodate them, McGrath said.

The archdiocese said in October that the "common sense plan" was recommended by a task force made up of pastors, principals and stakeholders and came after six months of "intensive discussion."

But Glenn Burke, who served on the task force, said the discussion was heavy on local demographics, governance of the new regional school board and administrative costs. It lacked talk about facilities.

"As far as I was concerned, we missed the bigger issues about facilities and finance," he said. "I did not feel that we came to a good, solid decision and made a real recommendation to the archbishop."

He called the recommendation "premature."

"I didn't feel like there was a real good recommendation that came out of the committee to the archbishop," he said. "I understood Holy Trinity and St. John Vianney were going to be consolidated together - that was my feeling - but the question was which was the best facility?"

Burke said St. John Vianney in South St. Paul has fewer classrooms than Holy Trinity but is more up to date with a newer gymnasium and cafeteria and an expanded church lobby.

Holy Trinity has 133 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. St. John Vianney, a K-6 school, has 100 students.

Echert said the initial plan generated "a very passionate response" from Holy Trinity parents and parishioners, many of whom voiced their displeasure at a November meeting attended by the archdiocesan superintendent of schools.

"Over 80 percent of the parents signed a respectful statement to the archbishop which they presented him, indicating that they did not have confidence in the plan as it was proposed," Echert said.

Echert said that he requested that Archbishop John C. Nienstedt reconsider the decision and that the archbishop then directed a formal independent assessment of the Holy Trinity and St. John Vianney buildings.

Burke, who serves on Holy Trinity's school board and has a son enrolled at the school, said he understands the uncertainty that parents and parishioners at St. John Vianney and St. Matthew's are facing.

"We got the bad news a month and a half ago," he said. "It's tough."

Meanwhile, the archdiocese is planning a contest in the three parishes to name the new regional school, McGrath said.

Osborne worries that the regional school will wind up split between St. Michael's and St. John Vianney, leaving St. Matthew's as the only school being closed.

"There are too many unanswered questions," Osborne said. "Too many people just want to know what is going on."

2011 ENROLLMENT

Holy Trinity (South St. Paul) - 133

St. John Vianney (South St. Paul) - 100

St. Joseph's (West St. Paul) - 572

St. Matthew's (St. Paul) - 169

St. Michael's (West St. Paul) - 92

Pioneer Press

Kateri Tekakwitha, first Native American declared to be a Saint by Pope Benedict!

2011-12-20T17:52:00.004-06:00

Photo from the Montreal Gazette

(Above) La Crosse WI: Shrine to Bl Kateri Tekakwitha

VATICAN CITY, 20 DEC 2011 – The Holy Father, yesterday signed decrees acknowledging miracles attributed to the intervention of seven blesseds (three men and four women) who will shortly be canonised. One of the new saints is Kateri Tekakwitha, the first native North American to be raised to the glory of the altars. -Vatican Information Service

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha lived in a society where publicly and literally people ate other men, offered sacrifices to demons, and every human act was done in view of others, I mean EVERYTHING. In the mist of all this she remained a pure virgin, even before she was a Christian, but after baptism in the True Faith under the One True God, she rocketed into great holiness. – A Friar With Great Devotion to her

Daughter of a Christian Algonquin woman captured by Iroquois and married to a non-Christian Mohawk chief. Orphaned during a smallpox epidemic, which left her with a scarred face and impaired eyesight. Converted and baptized in 1676 by Father Jacques de Lamberville, a Jesuit missionary. Shunned and abused by relatives for her faith. Escaped through 200 miles of wilderness to the Christian Native American village of Sault-Sainte-Marie. Took a vow of chastity in 1679. Known for spirituality and austere lifestyle. Miracle worker. Her grave became a pilgrimage site and place of miracles for Christian Native Americans and French colonists. First Native American proposed for canonization, her cause was started in 1884 under Pope Leo XIII. The Tekakwitha Conference, an international association of Native American Catholics and those in ministry with them, was named for her. – http://saints.sqpn.com/blessed-kateri-tekakwitha/

Air Maria

Montreal Gazette

ABC News

Catholic Conservation Center

Natioinal Shrine of Kateri Tekakwitha

Wikipedia Article on Kateri Tekakwitha

[National Catholic Register] on Blessed Kateri 27 December 11

The Three Absolvers on How to Make a Good Confession

2011-12-20T09:44:00.000-06:00

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Updated a third time on December 20, 2011

Sr. Mary Ann Walsh with the USCCB has ten good, practical reasons for going to Confession regularly, with one really important reason added by Fr. Z!

First Posted on December 9, 2008

Commandments of the Church

III. To confess our sins to a priest, at least once a year.

IV. To receive Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist at least once a year during Easter Season.

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Father John Zuhlsdorf, "Father Z, renowned blogger", has 20 Tips for Making A Good Confession

Father George Rutler, author, preacher and pastor of the Church of Our Savior in Manhattan, has ten pages on "How to Make a Good Confession."

Father Robert Altier, preacher and chaplain in Hastings, MN, has a wonderful "Examination of Conscience" for you. "Keep custody of those eyes!"

and

Father John Zuhlsdorf [Fr. Z.] on "I haven't been to Confession for ten years; I don't know what to do!

Fr. Z, again: Why I still have this blog: a reader’s testimony

And here are two more useful Examinations for children:

Click Here for an Examination of Conscience for Children

Click Here for another Examination for Elementary School Children
Tip O' the Hat to Catholic Parents OnLine

You say that you think that you prefer to confess your sins directly to God? You don't need to do it to a priest? Read what Francis J. Beckwith, Professor of Philosophy and Church-State Studies at Baylor University, former President of the protestant Evangelical Theological Society, and a convert in April 2007 to the Catholic Church has to say on the matter.

If you live here you really don't have an excuse for not going to Confession [Bumped]

2011-12-20T07:17:00.000-06:00

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[Originally posted August 22, 2008]

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Two of this area's most prolific and respected bloggers, Adoro and Terry, coincidentally posted recently on difficulties in finding a place to go to Confession. Jeepers, you'd think with 230 parishes in our archdiocese, that should be no problem.

Well, the problem is that most parishes seem to make it available on Saturday afternoons between 3:00 and 5:00, before the Vigil Mass. In days of yore, the kids went to confession on Friday afternoons, I believe, and the grown ups lined up on Saturday mornings or during parish missions or Holy Week. Maybe the problem is that we don't see many lines any more so pastors aren't offering it more often.

But a major logistical problem with sin is that it just does not happen only on Friday nights. Sin is a 24/7 event, sadly, for most of us. Therefore, it is great when we can get dash on over to the morning Confessional line, encounter only a few ahead of us and get shriven of our sins so we can face the day with joy.

Therefor the Official Minnesota Catholic Directory (a two year old edition) was scoured for those parishes that offer Confession on a daily basis (bold type) or at other times than Saturday afternoons.

Tape this to your refrigerator along with the kids homework, your workout schedule or your weight loss stats. Isn't your spiritual health as important as other important parts of your life?

Anoka	St. Stephen	Thursdays 7:00 p.m.
Blaine	St. Timothy	Saturday 6:00 pm
Burnsville	MMOTC	Saturday 9-10 a.m.
Carver	St. Nicholas	Saturday 6-6:30 p.m.
Coon Rapids	Epiphany	After M-F Masses; 9-10:00 am Sat
Corcoran	St. Thomas	Sun: 7:30 a.m.; Thurs: 11:30 a.m.
Crystal	St. Raphael	Saturday: 7:30-8:30 p.m.
Delano	St. Joseph	Thursday: After 8:30 a.m. Mass
Eagan	St. John Neumann	Wednesday: 7:00 p.m.
Edina	Our Lady of Grace	Saturday: 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Edina	St. Patrick	Saturday: 1:00 p.m.
Excelsior	John the Baptist	Sunday: 7:30-7:50; 9:30-9:50
Faribault	Divine Mercy	Saturday: 8-8:30; 9-9:30; Weds & Fri: 8:00 a.m.
Forest Lake	St. Peter	M-F: After 8:30 a.m. Mass
Ham Lake	St. Paul	Mon: 8:15 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.
Hastings	St Elizabeth Seton	M-F: 6:45 a.m.
Hopkins	John the Evangelist	Saturday: 8:45 a.m
Medina	Holy Name	Saturday: 8:30 a.m.
Minneapolis	Holy Rosary	Sun: 8:45-9:15; Sun: 10:30-11:00 (Spanish)
Minneapolis	OL of Lourdes	30 min. before weekend Masses
Minneapolis	St. Joseph Hien	30 minutes before all Masses
Minneapolis	St Anthony/Padua	Saturday: 7:45-8:15
Minneapolis	St. Helena	Saturday 2:45-3:15
Minneapolis	St. Lawrence/Newman	Saturday 9:30-10:00
Minneapolis	St. Leonard	Saturday: After 8:00 Mass
Minneapolis	St. Olaf	M-F after a.m. Mass; TThSa after noon Mass
Northfield	St. Dominic	M-F: 4:45 p.m.
Norwood/YA	Ascension	7:30-8:15 p.m.
Ramsey	Katherine Drexel	30 minutes before all Masses
Robbinsdale	Sacred Heart	Tues-Sat: 7:30-7:50 am [change]
St. Anthony	Charles Borromeo	Sat: 8:30-9 am; Weds: 5:20 pm
St. Bonnie	St. Boniface	Tues-Weds: 7:45-8:00 a.m.
St. Louis Pk	Holy Family	Sunday: 8:00-8:50 a.m.
St. Paul St. Paul	Holy Childhood Assumption	Sunday: 9:30-10:00 [new] M-F: 11:30-11:55
St. Paul	Bl. Sacrament	Saturday: 2:30-3:30
St. Paul	Cathedral	M-F: 4:00-5:05 p.m. [change] Lent 2010: March 20, Communal March 29, 30, 31: 3-5 & 7-8:30 [new]
St. Paul	Nativity	M-F: 7:45 & 4:30
St. Paul	St. Agnes	Sat: 7:30-9:00 a.m.; after Tuesday devotions
St. Paul	St. Bernard	Monday: after 8:15 Mass
St. Paul	Francis de Sales	Saturday: 2:30-3:30
St. Paul	St. James	Tuesday: 8:30 a.m.
St. Paul	St. John	Before every Mass
St. Paul	St Louis	M-F:6:30, 9:30; also 11:30 Mon Sat: 6:30, 11:30
St. Paul	Thomas More	Tuesday: 7:00 p.m.
St. Paul	St. Matthew	Tuesday: 7:15 a.m.
St. Paul	St. Stanislaus	Saturday: 2:30-3:00
St. Paul	SVDP (Hmong)	Sunday: 8:00-8:45 a.m.
St Paul St. Paul Savage	UST, St Thomas Chapel St. Andrew John the Baptist	M-F 3:15 - 4:15 (NEW) Sat: 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. (NEW) Saturday: 8:30-9:30 a.m.
Shakopee	St. Mary	15 minutes before Masses
Shoreview	St. Odilia	Saturday: 9:00 a.m.
S. St. Paul	St. Augustine	Saturday: 7:30-8:30 a.m.
Stillwater	St. Mary	Saturday: 8:00 a.m.
Stillwater	St. Michael	M-F: 5:05-5:25 p.m.
Taylors Falls	St. Joseph	After all Masses
Victoria	St. Victoria	Saturday: 6:00 p.m.
Watertown	Imm. Conception	Friday: 7:00-7:30 a.m.
Waverly	St. Mary	Before daily Mass
W. St. Paul	St. Joseph	Saturday: 8:30-9:30 a.m.
W. St. Paul	St. Michael	Saturday: 7:00-8:00 p.m.
White Bear	St. Mary/Lake	Saturday: 9:00 a.m.

Winona Now Has a Minor Basilica

2011-12-19T18:09:00.005-06:00

The diocese of Winona is announcing that St. Stanislaus Kostka church in Winona has been elevated the to the status of a Minor Basilica by Pope Benedict XVI. The decree from the Pope was made on November 10, 2011 and announced to the congregation of St. Stanislaus this past weekend.

The papal decree is intended to “strengthen the relation of this church with the Chair of Peter and to make it an ideal center of special liturgical and pastoral ministry” in the diocese, said Archbishop J. Augustine De Noia, OP, the secretary to the Vatican congregation.

St. Stans, as those of us from Winona fondly call her, is a stunning building of beauty. It was built by the Polish immigrants in that city, literally by donation of dimes and nickels from the poor wage earners of the time. It has been remarkably preserved and restored.

One unspoken yet key person in all of this has been Deacon Justin Green who, with Janice Market and others, put in a tremendous amount of time and effort to gather and present all the materials and necessary paperwork for this to be forwarded to the Holy See.

Congratulations to all involved! To the rest of you, come to Winona and see St. Stans for yourselves!

Here is a copy of the press release from the diocese.

December 19, 2011

CONTACT: Joel Hennessy – Director of Stewardship and Advancement

Phone: 507-858‐1249

Email: jhennessy@dow.org

WINONA

‐ VATICAN NAMES SAINT STANISLAUS KOSTKA PARISH A MINOR BASILICA

Through the faculties granted by the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has declared that Saint Stanislaus Kostka Parish, Winona, Minn., has assumed the status of “Minor Basilica,” emphasizing the special bond that the parish has with the Pope and with the whole Catholic Church. This Decree was made on November 10, 2011 and announced to the congregation this past weekend.

In May, His Excellency, Bishop John M. Quinn of the Diocese of Winona sent a petition to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, an office of the Vatican, so that Saint Stanislaus Kostka Parish, Winona, might take on the status of “Minor Basilica.” In November, the Congregation replied in favor of the petition, conferring this title of Minor Basilica on the parish. The decree is intended to “strengthen the relation of this important church with the Chair of Peter and to make it an ideal center of special liturgical and pastoral ministry” in the diocese, Archbishop J. Augustine Di Noia, OP, the secretary to the Vatican congregation wrote to Bishop Quinn.

One way the link is demonstrated is by celebrating feasts in a special way that are linked to the papal office, including the feast of the Chair of Peter, the feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul and the anniversary of the election of Pope Benedict XVI. The papal symbol of crossed keys may be exhibited on banners and furnishings and on the seal of the basilica and those who devoutly make a visit to the basilica on certain feast days may obtain a plenary indulgence.

”Saint Stanislaus Kostka is now a member of a small number of churches in the United States to be recognized as a Minor Basilica, and only the second in Minnesota. The other being the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis, which was the first U.S. church designated as a basilica in 1926.” stated Bishop Quinn. “It is a very significant and important occasion for not only the parish and the diocese, but the entire region.”

The word basilica comes from the Greek term for “royal hall.” There are two kinds of basilicas: major basilicas, the six great Roman churches, and the minor basilicas, which are important churches in Rome and abroad which the Holy Father has honored with this title.

A church designated as a minor basilica must be a center of active and pastoral liturgy with a vibrant Catholic community and may have unique historical, artistic or religious importance. In seeking the distinction, the parish must provide a detailed report with an albumof photographs documenting the origin, history and religious activity of the church and its exterior and interior form, particularly regarding celebration of the sacraments.

Conferring the title of Minor Basilica is also a formal recognition of the beauty and dignity of the parish church. Father Thomas Hargesheimer, pastor of Saint Stanislaus Kostka, says that one of the reasons that the petition was sent was due the extraordinary architectural quality of the parish, as well as the significant Polish heritage that accompanies it.

“We really wanted to recognize the Polish immigrants that settled in the Winona area. Their heritage has had such a large impact on the development of the region. We also want to honor this parish as a faith community that contributes to not only the religious aspects of the community, but also the secular side of society as well,” said Father Hargesheimer.

This church was built and paid for by Polish immigrants and dedicated to God in honor of St. Stanislaus Kostka, a popular saint from Poland on Thanksgiving Day 1895. Now, alongwith The Polish Cultural Institute, more commonly known as The Polish Museum, Winona has truly become a destination and pilgrimage center for people of Polish heritage. Fr. Paul Breza, founder of the museum said “the news about St. Stans is very exciting – the church was built on “nickels and dimes” by the Polish immigrants during a time when wages were only around a dollar per day. This will be a great opportunity for people to learn more about the Polish heritage of Winona.”

Fr. Hargesheimer said a Mass of elevation, with Bishop Quinn presiding, will take place in 2012 at a date to be announced. For more information, contact the Saint Stanislaus Parish office by calling (507)452 Deacon Bob Yerhot

Arizona Editorial to Wisconsin atheists: Quit whining!

2011-12-17T19:41:00.007-06:00

One of the all time great editorial opinions!!!

Arizona Editorial to Wisconsin atheists:

Quit whining!

December 16, 2011

A federal judge in Phoenix, Arizona, has told a group of Wisconsin atheists that they need to go home and quit fussing about other people’s business, writes Mary Kochan for Catholic Lane.

In an opinion column titled “You Whiny, Sniveling Little Atheists Are Pathetic,” Kochan left no question as to her opinion of the out-of-staters.

“You whiny, sniveling, little, pusillanimous cowards,” she writes:

You have the audacity to tell us Christians that we are “weak” and that our religion is a “crutch.” You are supposed to be so “courageous,” venturing forth boldly into the existential mystery of being alone, facing with stoicism the nothingness that awaits you at death, priding yourself on your realism and self-reliance. You are a bunch of feeble fakers.

Yes, you are outsiders. Go start your own damn country. This one was started by Christians, you puerile dimwits. It is Christians who established and largely Christians who fought and died to maintain the freedoms you enjoy. And Christians are still the majority. Apparently your vaulted belief system doesn’t equip you to handle being in the minority. That’s interesting, isn’t it? After all, this was and is a societal situation valiantly handled by millions and millions of Christians who suffered — and currently suffer — real oppression, violence, torture, economic deprivation, and cruel deaths. But you have to go through turning off the TV once in a while and so your precious puny feelings are hurt. How delicate and frail your mental architecture is!

You are a pitiful joke. Trembling over the mere mention of God. Running like babies to court because of your brittle feelings. “Oh, but judge, but judge, I saw a cross and I just can’t stand it.” “I heard someone say ‘Merry Christmas’ and it hurt my feelings.” “I just can’t sleep knowing there is a manger scene at the courthouse.” “The sight of the Ten Commandments makes me wet my pants.”

Now we see how inadequate and feeble you really are. Rage, therapists say, is the flip side of helplessness. And so we see your rage against religion in the public square for what it is: a product of your own insubstantial internal resources. Go look at yourself in the mirror if you can bear the pathetic, contemptible sight of yourself.

In case you are not certain of how Kochan really feels, she continues: “Let’s get this straight. The atheists are suing because they had to turn off the television to avoid the topic of religion or news announcements about the Day of Prayer. They had to alter their conversation to avoid the topic of religion. This made them feel like ‘outsiders.’ Oh, boo hoo.”

The case to which she is referring is a lawsuit thrown out by a judge that said the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation had no legal standing to sue Arizona’s governor for proclaiming a statewide day of prayer. The court said they were not injured by the governor’s proclamation, saying:

Plaintiffs provide affidavits to establish they turned off the television and altered conversational habits to avoid the topic of religion on the day of prayer.

Plaintiffs, however, do not explain why their alleged injury is different than injuries in other Establishment Clause cases in which the plaintiffs did not have standing, such as the President’s day of prayer proclamation. Essentially, Plaintiffs seek a ruling obliquely holding that injury sufficient to confer standing exists under the Establishment Clause where government action is covered in the news or the subject of a social conversation.

The Court declines to depart from Establishment Clause case law on this ground. Plaintiffs have not shown injury beyond “stigmatic injury” or feeling like an “outsider.”

[If the government violates the law in a way that stigmatizes a particular group, does a member of that group have standing to challenge the violation in federal court? In the well-known case of Allen v. Wright, the Supreme Court said no. According to the Court, stigmatic harm is too abstract and generalized to support standing in most cases. To permit standing on the basis of stigmatic harm alone, the Court stated, would "transform the federal courts into no more than a vehicle for the vindication of the value interests of concerned bystanders."
http://bit.ly/rrEwky ]

Arizona’s East Valley Tribune observed:

“Gov. Brewer’s proclamations proclaim a day of prayer, and one proclamation encourages all citizens to pray for God’s blessings on our state and nation,” the judge acknowledged. “Though ‘encouraged,’ no one, including plaintiffs, is obligated to pray. Nor are plaintiffs forced to alter their physical routine or bear a monetary expense to avoid a religious symbol.”

At best, the judge said, those challenging the governor’s actions have incurred a “stigmatic injury” or “feeling like an outsider.” None of that, said Silver, gives them the right to sue.

Attorney Marc Victor said his clients are weighing whether to seek review from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals or file a new lawsuit in state court.

In a prepared statement Brewer praised the court, calling the lawsuit “a futile attempt to stifle an American right and tradition.”

“Citizens of every race, background and creed have been coming together in voluntary prayer since our nation’s founding, and will continue to do so against this organization’s best efforts,” the governor said.

Press aide Matthew Benson acknowledged that not everyone believes in prayer. But he said that does not mean his boss is doing anything unconstitutional.

Archbishop Nienstedt issues prayer for marriage

2011-12-16T22:05:00.004-06:00

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Archbishop issues prayer for marriage

To assist statewide efforts to defend and define marriage in the Minnesota Constitution, Archbishop John Nienstedt has issued a prayer intended for use as part of the Prayers of the Faithful at Mass.

The archbishop also encourages use of the prayer in eucharistic adoration chapels so worshipers can pray for the success of the state marriage amendment and all efforts to strengthen marriage, according to a letter posted on the archdiocesan website at http://www.archspm.org. He also is calling on Catholics in the archdiocese to embrace Fridays as a day of prayer and sacrifice for the success of the amendment effort.

The amendment, supported by Minnesota’s Catholic bishops, will appear on the 2012 ballot. It will ask voters: “Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide that only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota?”

“The current struggle to defend and define marriage within our civil constitution demands a three-fold approach,” Archbishop Nienstedt said.

[1] “We must educate our fellow citizens on the meaning and good of marriage.

[2] We must actively and resolutely promote widespread participation among our fellow believers in the support of a marriage amendment.

[3] And, most importantly, we must pray and offer sacrifice for the success of all endeavors that seek to protect and promote marriage.”

Copies of the prayer may be downloaded or ordered from the archdiocesan Office of Worship.

Marriage Prayer

Heavenly Father,

Through the powerful intercession of the Holy Family, grant to this local Church the many graces we need to foster, strengthen, and support faith-filled, holy marriages and holy families.

May the vocation of married life, a true calling to share in your own divine and creative life, be recognized by all believers as a source of blessing and joy, and a revelation of your own divine goodness.

Grant to us all the gift of courage to proclaim and defend your plan for marriage, which is the union of one man and one woman in a lifelong, exclusive relationship of loving trust, compassion, and generosity, open to the conception of children.

We make our prayer through Jesus Christ, who is Lord forever and ever. Amen.

Catholic Worker community has served Winona's homeless and those in need for almost 20 years

2011-12-11T15:53:00.003-06:00

Dan Wilson, a live-in volunteer at the Bethany House in Winona, plays a game of cribbage with Sue Wallow, of Winona, over a cup of coffee Wednesday, December 7, 2011, at the Bethany House. Wilson has been volunteering at Bethany House for almost two years. (Rory O'Driscoll/Winona Daily News)

All they ask is your first name. Every day, the Winona Catholic Worker community breathes life into the words of the Gospel, offering home, help and a hot meal to whoever comes to the door. "Knock and it will be opened," the Gospel reads. No questions asked. "There are no forms to fill out," said Laurie Watson, a live-in community member at Bethany House. "We don't check IDs or ask questions, except ‘What is your first name?'"

Winona Catholic Workers have been opening doors to people in need since the Dan Corcoran House opened in 1992 at 802 W. Broadway. The house was named in honor of the Rev. Dan Corcoran, a chaplain at Winona State University's Catholic Newman Center who inspired a generation of students with his commitment to living the message of Jesus, according to Mary Farrell, one of the founding members of the Winona Catholic Worker community. The two-story house that had long been student housing offered shelter and hospitality to women and families in need of a place to stay. Four years later, when a house just down the block came up for sale, the community was able to open Bethany House, 832 W. Broadway, to offer hospitality to single men. It's the only non-referred emergency shelter in Winona County, Watson said, "and there's a real need."

The faces of need

That need has many faces, and speaks in a diversity of voices.

There's Bill, who on a recent evening spoke of how he spent the wee hours of Black Friday with the crowds in a Walmart parking lot. He wasn't there to shop. He was trying to catch a couple hours' sleep in his broken-down van before resuming his search for a job the next day.

There's Dan, who had hot chow and a bunk while on deployment in Iraq, but neither waiting for him when he came home.

There's Stacy, who needed a place to land while she got her financial and emotional feet back under her. Her stay at Dan Corcoran gave her the time she needed to find her niche in the larger community.

"People who come here are in crisis," said Molly Greening, live-in volunteer at Dan Corcoran. "They literally need to take time to breathe." "We need to meet them where they are. Help them feel secure. Feel at home." Greening speaks of providing a "ministry of presence" to the people who share the home. "Just being there," she said-to listen, to comfort, to play a game of cards or run an errand in an unfamiliar city-is as important as meeting physical needs for food, clothing and shelter.

Openness to the whole person and the recognition of every individual as a person of equal worth and value is at the heart of the Catholic Worker movement, Watson said. It's demonstrated as community members live in the same house, eat the same food, and for the most part have the same income as the guests living temporarily among them. Voluntary poverty puts workers on equal footing with guests, Watson said, allowing them to see the world from a perspective closer to those they serve.

A simple, welcoming routine

In practice, voluntary poverty means the six live-in community members and their guests depend on donations and their own enterprise to meet daily needs.

Winona Catholic Worker provides beds for up to five live-in guests at Bethany House, and beds for up to 14 at Dan Corcoran. They offer open hospitality Monday through Friday from 4-7 p.m. at Bethany House, a time when anyone is welcome to come in and relax with the community, take a shower, do laundry, and enjoy a good hot meal.

Guests are asked to comply with two simple rules at Bethany, Watson said. No drug or alcohol use, and be in the house by 10 p.m. Dan Corcoran has a few additional rules intended to avert potential friction in a larger house. Guests are not asked to sign in and out, attend religious services or perform household chores. "You don't ask guests to clean your bathroom," said community member Mike Abdoo.

Both houses are paid for, Farrell said, largely through the generosity of the Winona community. Day-to-day needs are met through donations of food, both groceries and food left over from events or prepared by friends. Cash donations cover other expenses and donations of clothing, furniture and services help meet the needs of guests and community members.

Live-in community members purposefully limit work time outside the community to about 15 hours a week, to prevent commitments from interfering with providing hospitality and presence to guests, Watson said.

"There's a joke that Catholic Workers aren't Catholic and they don't work," said community member James Johnson-adding that there is an element of truth lurking in the sentiment. "To be present to someone you have to be here," Greening said. "It's really as simple as that."

Catholic with a small ‘c'

"Dorothy Day (one of the founders of the Catholic Worker movement) was Catholic, so we're Catholic Workers," Johnson joked. The reality is that while the movement has a definite Christian and Catholic flavor, expressed in the traditional emphasis on the importance of performing traditional Works of Mercy and service to the poor, Catholic Worker volunteers and their supporters are more likely to be non-Catholic than members of the Catholic Church, Johnson said.

"We are definitely not ‘that homeless shelter run by the Catholic Church,'" Greening said. There are no formal ties between the institutional Catholic Church and the Catholic Worker movement, or the local Catholic Worker community, Watson said. Nor is Catholic Worker affiliated with Catholic Charities.

Catholic Worker communities are also independent of government programs and assistance, Watson said. Not being involved with government programs means communities are able to offer hospitality as they see the need, rather than abiding by government standards and limitations, she said. Independence from government extends to refusing to file for tax-exempt status, meaning donations to the Catholic Worker community are not tax-deductible.

Catholic Worker communities not only stand apart from the government, they are often critical of it. Social action is deeply ingrained in the Catholic Worker tradition, and members of Catholic Worker communities are supported and encouraged to join in protesting injustice. Community member Matt Byrne said the way of life reminds workers every day of the need to fundamentally change elements of society.

"These houses exist," he said, "because we live in a society that forces some people to be homeless." Winona Daily News

St. Paul-area Catholic Women's Guild is gone but still giving

2011-12-11T07:14:00.005-06:00

The Guild of Catholic Women sew for the poor in 1932, and the group also supported Mexican immigrants at the time, by organizing a Spanish language chapel in a West Side storefront. That evolved into today's Our Lady of Guadalupe parish. The Red Cross, Little Sisters of the Poor and other groups also benefited from its activists.

The Guild of Catholic Women left St. Paul much the same way it arrived - quietly, and with the good of the community in mind.

No fanfare or proclamations announced its end. Just a final gathering of about 50 women at the same Summit Avenue church where the organization began more than a century ago.

"I guess you could say that we came around full circle," President Alison Enestvedt said of the send-off at the Catholic Community of St. Thomas More, formerly known as St. Luke's.

In late October, the Guild's board of directors, citing an aging membership and declining numbers, voted to dissolve the organization that since 1906 has offered care to St. Paul's needy. The nonprofit leaves behind two endowment funds totaling more than $800,000, which will be distributed to community organizations.

Throughout its history, the Guild served the community. It worked to set up temporary housing for poor immigrant women, established a church for Mexican immigrants and more recently helped those with mental illness.

The Guild's volunteer work over the past century is woven into St. Paul's social fabric.

Its members helped establish a number of existing agencies, including the Bureau of Catholic Charities (the forerunner to today's local Catholic Charities), Our Lady of Peace Home for adults with incurable cancer and Guild Inc., which provides housing and counseling services for people with mental illness.

"They saw a need and responded to them faithfully for 106

years," said the Rev. Joe Weiss of St. Thomas More. "That's their legacy. And that's a glorious thing."

CHANGING ROLES OF WOMEN

Disbanding was a decision not taken lightly, Enestvedt said. But for several decades, the Guild struggled to attract new members and get those they had to step into leadership roles, she said.

"No one wanted to close it; everyone just wanted to keep it going on forever," she said. "But everybody who was involved had every job imaginable."

Like many volunteer organizations, the Guild was affected by the changing roles of women. Women who began working outside the home suddenly were too busy to commit to the group's charity work, Enestvedt said.

So numbers shrank. In the 1970s and early '80s, membership consistently flirted near 1,000. At its end, the Guild had about 200 members, about half actively involved.

"A lot of them are older than I am," Enestvedt said. "And I'm on Medicare."

In 2006, for its 100th anniversary, the Guild tried to stem the tide by focusing on children's and adolescents' mental health problems, such as eating disorders. A task force was also set up to look at its future.

"The things we tried just didn't generate the number of members and the kind of members we needed," Enestvedt said.

GENERATION PASSED OVER

JoAnne Dunn, the interim executive director of the National Council of Catholic Women, is all too familiar with the Guild's plight. The Arlington, Va.-based organization has more than 4,000 affiliated Catholic women's organizations in parishes and dioceses throughout the United States, down from 12,000 in the 1970s.

Some groups waited too long to address declining membership, and some didn't embrace younger women, she said. As a result, an entire generation was passed over, and now current members are aging.

"The St. Paul group and those in other cities did all this great work wholeheartedly for so many years and were very successful," she said. "But while they were doing this, they sort of forgot about the fact they had to keep their eye on their own organization."

And while Dunn acknowledged that women entering the workforce played a part in the national slide, she also pointed to church consolidations and closures, as well as changes in volunteering, as factors.

"The structural organizations that used to exist are changing, and there's been a growth of many parishes of very active social ministry groups, so the traditional women's groups are kind of going out of favor," she said. "I mean, anybody that's under 70 really doesn't want to go to a monthly meeting. And they're not engaged about the idea of decorating an altar."

So two years ago, the group started a drive to focus on younger women and black and Hispanic women, she said, "because they're the fastest-growing population in the church."

Tim Sanders, left, and Eileen Ward string lights on a Christmas tree at the Guild Inc. office. The Guild of Catholic Women established the agency in 1990 to manage direct services to about 100 people with mental illness; today, it serves about 850.

The national organization is hoping to attract younger Catholic women through social networking websites. It is also working closely with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and other organizations such as Catholic Charities, Catholic Relief Services and the Society of St. Vincent DePaul.

"Everyone knows we have to reach down into the younger generation," Dunn said. "It's going to be a challenge, but I think there's potential."

THE GRAND GALA

Recruiting volunteers was simpler in the early years.

Often, members would invite friends and neighbors over for a silver tea - with the goal of getting them to join and maybe even throw a donation into a silver bowl placed in the middle of the table.

"These were ladies who by and large had the means - they were fairly rich - and had working husbands so they could volunteer and have the teas in the afternoon," recalled Fred Kueppers Jr., the Guild's longtime attorney whose mother served as president in the 1930s. "Those were great days, and I remember them fondly."

Beginning in 1917, most of the Guild's projects were funded with proceeds from its annual charity ball, where members' daughters were "introduced" in a grand march. The last ball was in 1991, but for decades, the gathering was one of the most important events in St. Paul's Roman Catholic community.

Girls who attended St. Joseph's Academy, Derham Hall, Visitation Convent and Our Lady of Peace schools danced at the gala events, escorted by cadets from St. Thomas Academy and Cretin High School.

"They lined you up by height, and that was your date for the evening," said Enestvedt, whose four children participated in the event. "They were something else - they raised a lot of money and helped raise the awareness of doing something for the charity."

Proceeds from the first ball, held at the St. Paul Hotel, helped support the Guild's Nelson Street (now Marshall Avenue) home for young working women who came to St. Paul to work. The gala also helped members launch the original Catholic Infant Home, which later became known as the Seton House, in St. Paul's Rondo neighborhood.

In 1930, when Guild members discovered that Mexican families were not receiving their sacraments, they turned a storefront at Wabasha Street and Fillmore Avenue on St. Paul's West Side into a chapel for hundreds of Mexican immigrants. It was the modest beginning of Our Lady of Guadalupe parish.

"The Mexican community of the West Side Flats had their own chapel," reads a church narrative written in 2006 to mark the 75th anniversary of the parish. "There were smiles all around and tears of joy."

During World War II, like the earlier war, the Guild stayed busy serving the needs of veterans.

In 1964, the Guild's Marshall Avenue property was sold to make room for St. Paul Technical College (now St. Paul College) and the Guild used money from the sale and a donation drive to buy land across the street and open a hall for young working women. In the 1970s, when this type of supervised living facility was no longer in demand, the women focused on providing housing for elderly women on limited incomes.

"They were just superior at finding a cause, putting their heads together, digging in and doing what it takes to get a certain objective achieved," Kueppers said.

A NEW CAUSE

The mid-'70s brought a new cause for the Guild that members would carry on for the next four decades.

For many years, state hospitals for the mentally ill had been closing. In 1974, Ramsey County Human Services asked the organization to provide a boarding home for people with mental illness. Once again, the Guild stepped up, buying an apartment building on Marshall Avenue.

In the early 1980s, at Dakota County's request, the organization bought three homes in South St. Paul and turned them into temporary residential housing for people with mental illnesses.

By 1990, many mentally ill people were getting medication and receiving financial aid from government programs. Helping them became too complicated for the volunteer organization, and the Guild established Guild Inc. to manage direct services to clients.

As part of its centennial year of 2006, the women of the Guild of Catholic Women decided there was a need to better educate the public about mental illness. They began a series of talks, known as "The Puzzle of Mental Illness," with speakers such as mental health advocates Kathy Cronkite, daughter of Walter Cronkite, and actress Carrie Fisher. The talks drew hundreds.

"They were very much at the forefront of serving people with mental illness in the community and opening their arms to welcome them into the community," said Guild Inc. President Grace Tangjerd Schmitt. "And that's characteristic of them throughout their history - always responsive to the needs of the community."

Meanwhile, the demand for Guild Inc.'s services continues to grow.

Last month, as the agency opened an office in Minneapolis, it was named the Provider of the Year by the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

"In 1990, when we were formed, we served about 100 people, and now on any given day we're serving about 850 people," Tangjerd Schmitt said.

The agency will continue to reap the rewards from the Guild's work in the form of a $630,000 endowment.

A second endowment of nearly $200,000, which came from the sale of the Guild's office building in West St. Paul, will be given to organizations that promote "wellness in the community."

Nick Ferraro can be reached at 651-228-2173. Follow him at twitter.com/NickFerraroPP.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE GUILD OF CATHOLIC WOMEN

1906: Guild of Catholic Women is founded in St. Paul by Caroline Beaumont and Mrs. J.W. Bishop; consists of 30 women from St. Luke's parish who help the needy by creating food baskets and organizing sewing groups and language and catechism classes.

1908: The Guild opens a local branch of Traveler's Aid Bureau to help immigrants.

1910: Organization places 173 young women in jobs after visiting juvenile court.

1911: YWCA asks the Guild to establish a boarding house at 574 St. Peter St. for young women employed in the city.

1915: Guild members conduct 600 home visits as part of their work with the juvenile court department.

1916: Organization buys a home at 215 Nelson St. (now Marshall Avenue).

1917: Guild hosts its first charity ball in St. Paul at the St. Paul Hotel; proceeds help support the home for young women and the original Catholic Infant Home at Dale Street and Rondo Avenue (later Seton House).

1914-18: Guild promotes Liberty Bonds during World War I, assists veterans and arranges burials for indigent soldiers.

1920: Guild assists in establishment of a Bureau of Catholic Charities, forerunner to today's Catholic Charities; works to have a female physician named to the Minnesota State Board of Health.

1925-30: First Guild Hall to house young working women opens on a lot adjacent to 215 Nelson St.

1930s: Guild transforms a grocery store on the West Side into a chapel for Mexican immigrants, marking the beginning of Our Lady of Guadalupe parish; active in Community Chest, Red Cross, Home of the Good Shepherd, Little Sisters of the Poor, Ramsey County Home for Girls.

1941: Guild assists Dominican Sisters in establishing Our Lady of Good Counsel Home for people with incurable cancer.

1964: Guild sells property at 215 Marshall Ave., buys land across the street at 286 Marshall Ave., where Guild Hall is erected to provide supervised housing for young women. (The building later housed elderly women.)

1974: Ramsey County Human Services asks Guild to provide a boarding and care home for people with mental illness. Purchases 14-unit apartment building at 268 Marshall Ave.; 86 mentally ill people move into vacant Guild Hall.

1983: Dakota County requests services for housing people with mental illness; Guild buys three homes in South St. Paul that are rehabbed and furnished, known as Guild South.

1990: Guild establishes Guild Residence Inc. (now Guild Inc.) as a nonprofit subsidiary to manage direct services to people with mental illness.

1994: Guild sells Guild Hall and apartment building at 268 Marshall Ave. to comply with new government regulations; shifts focus to provide support for people with mental illness to live independently.

1994: Guild buys building at 1025 Dodd Road, West St. Paul, as headquarters.

2006: Guild celebrates "a century of caring community connections."

2011: Guild disbands, establishes two endowment funds.

Internet brings prayer requests via email to nuns in La Crosse

2011-11-28T16:51:00.004-06:00

"Please pray my husband and I stay together."

"Please pray for a successful knee surgery."

"Please pray that I may be restored back to the way I was."

"Please pray for my soul."

The prayers come 24 hours a day from all over the world to the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. While the stories behind the emailed prayers are different, the sentiment is always the same: Please pray.

The sisters have been praying continuously - all day, every day in shifts - since Aug. 1, 1878. Since 2003, many of the prayer requests have come through their website.

Michelle Frazier's job is to answer the prayers - literally. Frazier is the prayer minister and a Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration associate who is in the process of becoming a nun. She oversees the prayer requests, making sure they get to the sisters. "Mechanically, it's not a difficult job," Frazier said. "Spiritually and emotionally, it can be difficult. That's OK, it's part of the ministry."

Mondays are usually the busiest because the emails stack up over the weekend. Just recently, she's received emails from New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Poland, India and Northern Ireland as well as from all across the United States from people of all faiths. "I think people just want to be prayed for," Frazier said. "It gives them a sense of hope."

The prayers for children are the hardest to read. Recently, Frazier received a request to pray for a 10-year-old girl with brain cancer. "She's a little angel," the email said. "Just recently her tumor near her brain stem has grown, and she has been given less than a year."

Fittingly, Frazier starts her day by praying in the St. Francis Chapel. Some of the emails are actual prayers to God. "I'm a third party in someone's prayer," Frazier said. "Sometimes I really feel like I'm intruding. It's pretty personal stuff."

The requests are kept confidential. Each one gets a reply. Frazier has standard responses, but sometimes she adds a personal note.

Sister Ronalda Hophan oversaw the prayers from 2003-07, when the nuns first began accepting requests over the Internet. Immediately, the emailed requests came in from all over the world. "It's fantastic," Hophan said. "It just shows the need for prayer." Hophan is glad the technology helps them reach people in their hour of need, whenever that may be. "You'd like to hug them all, but you can't," Hophan said. "You just want to hold them."

Prayer requests are still taken by phone and mail, and they can be dropped off at the Chapel. Sometimes Frazier gets thank yous or updates on how people are doing. Most of the time, she just has to have faith. "We are in our way affecting change, whether great or small," Frazier said.

One prayer at a time. Pioneer Press

If you desire to have the Sisters pray for your special intention, you may send them an email by using this form.

You may mail or phone them or drop off your request in person here:

Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration
912 Market St.
La Crosse, WI 54601-4782
608-782-5610

An Evening Affirming the Faith’ at St. Charles Borromeo, Mpls -- Bishop Sirba of Duluth to Speak Dec 3

2011-11-23T18:59:00.001-06:00

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‘An Evening Affirming the Faith’ at St. Charles Borromeo, Minneapolis — December 3: Evening begins with the 5 p.m. Mass, followed by a wine and hors d’oeuvre social at 6 p.m.; dinner at 6:30 p.m. and the keynote address at 7:45 p.m. at 2739 Stinson Boulevard N.E. Bishop Paul Sirba of Duluth will speak on “Holiness, Pure and Simple.” Tickets are $30 per person and must be purchased before November 23. Call (612) 781-6529.

Superior General of FSSP to Celebrate EF Mass at St. Augustine's Nov 27

2011-11-21T20:20:00.005-06:00

Many of you have been to Saint Augustine for the Argument of the Month dinners, but never seen any part of the Church besides the basements. This Sunday, November 27th, you'll have an opportunity to change that.

Father John Echert, Pastor of Holy Trinity and St. Augustine churches in So. St. Paul, has invited The Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), the Very Rev. John Berg to offer the 11:15 Traditional Latin Mass at the Church of St. Augustine (408 3rd St. N. in So. St. Paul) on the 27^th of November. That 11:15 time is 15 minutes earlier than the normal EF Mass time at St. Augustine's!

The Fraternity of St. Peter is an international priestly fraternity established by Pope John Paul II to provide the traditional Mass and Sacraments to Catholics around the world under the provisions established by the motu proprio Ecclesia Dei.

There will be a reception for Father Berg in the church hall immediately after Mass, at which time he will also offer a brief presentation on the general mission of the Fraternity of St. Peter.

So please--tell your friends and family members, forward this email to your Catholic contacts, pray for the success of this event, and mark your calendars for the 27^th of November.

St. Paul Shrine/Cathedral Re-Opens Museum with new exhibit:

2011-11-10T18:35:00.001-06:00

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Cathedral Re-Opens Museum with new exhibit:

The Archbishop and the Architect

The public is invited to a grand re-opening of the Cathedral Museum, Sunday, Nov. 20^th from 2-4 p.m. The museum is located in the lower level of the Cathedral of Saint Paul, 239 Selby Ave., at the corner of Summit Ave. and John Ireland Blvd.

The exhibit, titled “The Archbishop and the Architect,” features personal artifacts belonging to Archbishop John Ireland and the architect for the Cathedral, Emmanuel Masqueray. The two men were said to have become great friends not long after their initial meeting at the 1904 Louisiana Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World’s Fair.

It was the vision of Masqueray's architecture for the Exposition that impressed Ireland and ultimately convinced him to hire the Frenchman to design the Cathedral of Saint Paul in the beaux arts-style.

Monsignor George Ryan later described the two men in his book, Historical Sketch of the Cathedral of Saint Paul, 1904-1937:

“How many hours they dreamed and planned… These two soared on the wings of enthusiasm, and Masqueray, throwing aside halting English, broke into French until he had the Archbishop equally fluent and eloquent in it. Hands were going like a Dutch windmill.”

A few of the treasured artifacts from both the archbishop and the architect on loan for this special exhibit have never before been available to the public:

· Archbishop John Ireland’s death mask (on loan from Archdiocese Archives)

· Two of the 49 personal scrapbooks Ireland kept over his lifetime on loan from the Archives of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis (Archdiocese Archives)

· Original drawings by E.M. Masqueray and one of his paintings (on loan from R.J. Seagren, the great-grandson of Frank Abrahamson, one of Masqueray’s architects)

· A collection of original photos of the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition buildings designed by E.M. Masqueray. You can see the similarities in a few features of the buildings in St. Louis and the Cathedral of Saint Paul. (R.J. Seagren)

· Other relics of early missionary work including a saddle used by Fr. Felix Tissot at the turn of the century as he covered territory in Goodhue and Wabasha counties (Archdiocese Archives).

After the re-opening, the museum will have daily open hours. Watch the website for details. The Cathedral Museum is located on the Lower Level of the Cathedral of Saint and can be reached by the elevator on the left of the vestibule or the stairway on the right.

Cathedral Hours: The Cathedral doors are open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information, visit www.cathedralsaintpaul.org or call the Welcome Center at 651-228-1766.

Biography of Bishop Paul Anderson of Duluth [1968-1982]

2011-11-08T20:04:00.005-06:00

Welcome to the

Bishop Anderson Site.

In August 1969, I packed my meager possessions and with a heartfelt goodbye left the University of Wisconsin--Madison. My years in graduate school included many rewarding and memorable experiences at the University Catholic Center, where I was active in the liturgical reform movement inspired by the Second Vatican Council.
Like most Catholics, I followed the developments of Vatican II, 1962-1965, from afar reading reports in newspapers and magazines. The council, a series of sessions in Rome led first by Pope John XXIII... (Read the Intro)

Biography by Neil Storch

Complete
Introduction
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
Printable Version (PDF) (MS Word) (HTML)

Listen to the Audio (Requires Quicktime)
View Pictures, Paintings

Women & Spirit: American Women Religious in the U.S.

2011-11-01T15:53:00.003-05:00

Duluth Benedictines - from the Women & Spirit Exhibit

On Sunday, I visited the Women & Spirit Exhibit at the Center for History in South Bend, Indiana. “WOMEN & SPIRIT: Catholic Sisters in America” is a traveling exhibit sponsored by the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), designed to “reveal the mystery behind a small group of innovative American women who helped shape the nation’s social and cultural landscape.”

Although I had heard great things about the exhibit, I was not prepared for its powerful impact. As a Sister, I know the history of our community, and of the other Benedictines in America. I listened to all 18 lectures from Margaret Susan Thompson’s courseHistory of US Women Religious. It’s one thing to know history. It’s another to be surrounded by the words and pictures of those who lived it, to see the cradle that the Sisters of the New York Foundling Hospital left outside their door so that – day or night – there was someplace safe to leave a baby.

The Duluth Benedictines are part of the exhibit – not only our name on the immense list of women’s orders active in the US, but in a photo of Sister Amata Mackett, who traveled to the lumberjack camps in the cold northern Minnesota winters to care for the spiritual and practical needs of the workers – and to sell tickets good for one year of medical care at any of the hospitals sponsored by the community.

The YouTube video below shows parts of the exhibits – and the reactions of some visitors. It will be in South Bend through December 31 before going to its last location in California. If you are within driving distance, I encourage you to see the exhibit: it is definitely worth while.

The fading presence of sisters in Catholic hospitals (commonwealmagazine.org)
Documentary Reveals Life of Cloistered Benedictines (zenit.org)

Monastic Musings Too

Twin Cities and the New Roman Missal

2011-10-28T04:45:00.005-05:00

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The First Sunday of Advent, the first day of the the Church's new year, November 27, will be the day on which the new translation of the Roman Missal will take effect.

For pewsitters, the translation involves a very few parts of the Mass calling for a congregational response. But some of those more accurate translations from the original Latin have powerful changes in meaning.

For music directors and liturgists, the new translation required all new music for the Mass. Someone has created a new blog/website that is keeping track of the Mass settings chosen by the various parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. So far, 60 of the 200 or so parishes in the archdiocese have made their choices known.

St. Agnes is not one of them, yet. But, of course, their 10:00 a.m. Sunday Masses are in Latin and there were no changes made to the Latin. Twin Cities Mass Settings

St. John’s Abbey Breuer Church at 50

2011-10-28T04:29:00.001-05:00

St. John’s Abbey Breuer Church at 50

from PrayTellBlog by Anthony Ruff, OSB

The St. John’s Abbey and University Church, designed by master Bauhaus architect Marcel Breuer, has turned 50. It was consecrated in 1961, and the feast of dedication was this past Sunday.

As a lead-up, a panel was held a few weeks ago with Thomas Fisher, Dean of the College of Design at the University of Minnesota, and Bill Franklin, Episcopal bishop of western New York and former theology professor at St. John’s. Do listen to it.

Fr. Hilary Thimmesch OSB, former president of St. John’s University and youngest member of the planning committee back in 1961, has written a delightful account of how we got the abbey church, Marcel Breuer and a Committee of Twelve Plan a Church: A Monastic Memoir. LitPress says this about the new book:

The junior member of the twelve-monk planning committee recounts in warm and frequently humorous detail how its members related to the Hungarian-born Bauhaus-trained architect who had no background in church architecture but shared their belief in the enduring quality of simple materials sympathetically used. How the strong architect-client relationship survived the strain of disagreement at a critical moment in completion of the church is the narrative high point.

The liturgy began with the chant introit Terribilis est locus iste (I think even “formal equivalence” permits us to call the place “awesome” rather than “terrible”). The opening hymn from Herman Stuempfle was perfect for the occasion:

For builders bold whose vision pure
Saw more than brick or stone,
Who laid in hope foundations sure
With Christ the corner stone;
For those who honored your commands
And trusted your strong Word,
Who offered faithful hearts and hands,
We give you thanks, O Lord.

I’m sure the development office appreciated the fourth stanza: “We come, O Lord, inheritors, / From those whose work is done. / Lord make us now contributors…” That’s university president Fr. Bob Koopmann OSB playing the Holtkamp pipe organ.

The Gloria from Mass VIII, Missa de Angelis, had been sung by the congregation in 1961 at the consecration. We did it again, but now giving the congregation a refrain and adding a bit of medieval organum. Do you know the new Missa ad Gentes by J. Michael Joncas from GIA? The Sanctus has alternation between schola (in Latin) and congregation (in English), with the congregation repeating the just-sung melody. I like Michael’s setting a lot – it’s fresh, at once light and serious, festive but not pompous. It’s our setting of choice for big days.

Master choral conductor Axel Theimer from the university music department composed a new anthem for the Men’s Chorus, Sanctum et terribile nomen eius. Here’ the text:

Sanctum et terribile nomen eius.
Initium sapientiæ timor Domini.
Holy and awesome is his name.
The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord.

Locus iste a Deo factus est,
inæstimabile sacramentum.
Locus iste irreprehensibilis est.
This place was made by God,
an unfathomable mystery.
This place is without blemish.

Mark your calendars: October 2061, abbey church centennial celebration.

awr

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Historian Weidenkopf wows Duluth with tour of church history

2011-10-26T20:01:00.003-05:00

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Weidenkopf wows with tour of church history

By Kyle Eller
The Northern Cross

Did you know that Marie Antoinette, the famous queen of France beheaded in the French Revolution, was a devout Catholic who helped the poor and never said the words famously attributed to her: “Let them eat cake!”?

That’s just one of a flurry of tidbits those attending the sixth annual diocesan Catechetical Assembly picked up Sept. 10 from speaker Steve Weidenkopf in a whirlwind tour of church history.

Kyle Eller / The Northern Cross

Speaker Steve Weidenkopf speaks at the Sept. 10 diocesan Catechetical Assembly in Duluth.

Weidenkopf, welcomed by Bishop Paul Sirba and by Liz Hoefferle, the interim director of religious education for the diocese, is a lecturer of church history at the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College in Alexandria, Virginia, as well as a popular author, speaker and father of six. Many at the presentation said they had encountered Weidenkopf’s “Epic” DVD series on church history in their parishes or elsewhere.

But the first-time visitor to Duluth began on an area of common ground besides the faith: hockey. Weidenkopf said he was glad to be in a state that appreciates hockey like his family, and happy to be in the home city of the national champion University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs.

“There’s a special place in heaven reserved for hockey moms,” he said.

Weidenkopf said church history “is our family history” as Catholics and that the proper way to approach it is through storytelling — narrative — not merely a series of names and dates. He said the purpose of studying church history and teaching it is to know Christ, the center of history, and to build Catholic identity and defend the faith.

He illustrated that narrative approach on a rapid tour of church history, divided into 12 periods beginning with the very earliest “mustard seed” of faith with Pentecost and Paul’s missionary journeys, moving through the persecutions, controversies, councils, crusades, the Catholic Reformation, world wars, the Second Vatican Council, the “Threshold of Hope,” and the papacies of Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.

Weidenkopf told stories for most of the 12 periods of church history he identified — often stories at once familiar and alien because they are so often misrepresented in popular culture and even news reporting.

For instance, Weidenkopf said the story of the crusades is one that is often presented in a very negative light, including in a movie he described as “Osama bin Laden’s version of history,” but really, he said, there are many myths about them, and over the past 40 years there has been a flowering of new scholarship that has changed our understanding of them. “The downside of that is it’s only happening in academia,” he said.

He went on to argue that the crusades were not wars of unprovoked aggression waged for booty and plunder but defensive wars waged, the individual testimonies say, out of love for Christ and the church and concern for their salvation.

Some stories might be less familiar, such as the Christmas tree originating with St. Boniface and his miraculous felling of the “thunder oak of Thor” in what is now Germany, or the derivation of the word “diocese” from the name of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who organized the Roman Empire into regions named dioceses.

The day of lectures was punctuated with critiques of myths floated by authors like Dan Brown and suggestions for reading of Catholic writers like Hillaire Belloc.

Often the stories were also put in a modern context, as when Weidenkopf pointed out the philosophy of Roman persecutors that man is sufficient to himself and all belief is mere opinion — attitudes that are also very contemporary. “I think we can take solace in that because we can see the church has been dealing with this for a long time,” he said.

John “Teep” Schlachter, principal of Assumption School in Hibbing, said he was impressed with the presentation and that it is the sort of thing he and friends in Washington, D.C., where he lived prior to taking the job in Hibbing, used to talk about at dinner. “This is in my wheelhouse,” he said.

He compared the approach to the Catholic writer J.R.R. Tolkein. “That’s Tolkein’s view of history, that it’s a narrative, as [Weidenkopf] explained,” Schlachter said. He said about 80 percent of the faculty was at the assembly and that he thought the presentation was highly educational. Hoefferle also remarked on the importance of seeing church history as our own story.

She said she saw a lot of catechetical leaders in attendance and gave an estimated attendance of 140 to 150, comparable to last year’s event. “This is kind of our big event of the year,” she said.

Bishop Sirba had noted some were in attendance from outside the Duluth diocese as well.

Weidenkopf closed his presentation asking those in attendance to put their work at the service of the new evangelization initiated in that “Threshold of Hope” phase of church history we occupy. “The church needs great catechists,” he said. Northern Cross

How to Pray When You're Depressed

2011-10-23T13:20:00.002-05:00

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Normally I'm not a big fan of Belief.net. Too "ecumenical." But they got me with this one. I'm not particularly depressed, but if I am somewhat ill, even hospitalized with pneumonia like I was 18 months ago, I find it much more difficult to pray than when I am feeling fine.

10 spiritual techniques to help Christians find your prayer voice even in your darkest hours.

By Kathryn J. Hermes, F.S.P

When you're depressed, you may discover that the shadows and tempests of that depression alter the way you look at God and the way you believe God looks at you. When you pray, you may be unable to sit still or to keep your mind focused for more than a few moments. Everything may appear to be a huge gaping hole of silence--all so useless. God may seem to be mocking your attempts to pray.

I know people who have gone three, five, ten years without "praying," though they were faithful to setting time aside for prayer regardless of its seeming uselessness. In the haunting darkness where all communication had gone silent, they found loneliness, boredom, frustration, anger. Were they praying? Yes.

If this is happening to you, try these forms of prayer and contemplative love. Belief.Net

10 spiritual techniques to help Christians find your prayer voice even in your darkest hours.

By Kathryn J. Hermes, F.S.P

When you're depressed, you may discover that the shadows and tempests of that depression alter the way you look at God and the way you believe God looks at you. When you pray, you may be unable to sit still or to keep your mind focused for more than a few moments. Everything may appear to be a huge gaping hole of silence--all so useless. God may seem to be mocking your attempts to pray.

I know people who have gone three, five, ten years without "praying," though they were faithful to setting time aside for prayer regardless of its seeming uselessness. In the haunting darkness where all communication had gone silent, they found loneliness, boredom, frustration, anger. Were they praying? Yes.

If this is happening to you, try these forms of prayer and contemplative love.

1. Find a Quiet Place

Put on some soothing music. Keep it soft and gentle. Take a few deep breaths, holding each one for a few seconds and then slowly exhaling. Relax. Feel the chair you're sitting on, your feet on the floor. Smell the scents in the room. Imagine Jesus coming toward you with a smile on his face. Tell him how you are feeling right now-anxious, uncomfortable, fidgety, distracted, wanting to focus. Tell him what things are like for you today. Open your heart to him. Feel his presence very close to you. Let his love into your heart. Thank him for this gift.

2. Go for a Walk

Take some pleasant music with you. As you go, notice the sky, feel the season. Recognize what is around you. Feel at home right now. Offer your heart to Jesus, even if your pain is deep. Though you may be alone on your walk, Jesus is in your heart. Tell him what you see...the beauty around you. Tell him how you feel...even if it is dark. Remember he wants you to tell him everything in your life...joys and pains.

What You Won't See On-Screen in in the now showing film, "Courageous"

2011-10-22T20:51:00.011-05:00

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>by Tim Drake Wednesday, September 28

Sherwood Picture’s “Courageous” opens on 1,200 screens nationwide Friday. In the inspirational film about fatherhood – as told through the story of four police officers – you’ll find no coarse language, no gratuitous violence, no nudity or sexual innuendo. The Lord’s name is not taken in vain. In short, it’s a film you wouldn’t be embarrassed to watch with your family, your parents, your friends and neighbors, or your children.

There’s something else that you won’t see – and that is all of the work, prayer, and dedication that volunteers at Sherwood Baptist Church put in behind-the-scenes to bring this movie to fruition.

Albany, Ga. is home to seven different Baptist churches, a Methodist church, two Episcopal churches, a Catholic Church, a Presbyterian church, and at least four evangelical Christian churches, but only one of them is making movies. That’s Sherwood.

You might be asking yourself, why is a Catholic journalist pushing a film produced by a Baptist church? Would the Baptists promote a film by the Catholic Church?

I’m promoting it because I was touched not only by the dedication and faith of those who made the film, but as a father I was touched by the movie itself. It is Sherwood’s best film to-date, both in terms of cinematography and in terms of story. Like all of their films it crosses the line from story-telling to proselytizing. Some critics will attack the film for this. Yet, there’s still a place for “Courageous.” The film is at its strongest when it is telling a story, and that story will move men.

I’ve written extensively about “Courageous” because I was fortunate to be invited to be on-the-set during some of the shooting. I was able to interview the writers, director, and actors. I was able to attend the Atlanta premiere of the film. I had the opportunity to serve as an extra in the film’s 5K race scene, running beside friend and fellow Catholic writer and blogger Chris Faddis (for those who are interested, we did make the final cut. We can be seen briefly in the race scene on the right hand side of the screen). Most importantly, I was able to witness a community of faith pulling together to produce something inspirational.

While on the set, I couldn’t help but be moved by the vast number of church volunteers who pulled together to make meals, apply makeup, babysit, serve as actors and extras, create sets, deliver people and set pieces to where they needed to be, essentially made everything happen behind-the-scenes that needed to happen to schedule, produce and shoot, and edit a major film like this.

I was also eyewitness and participant in the sheer amount of prayer that went into this film. “Courageous” is surrounded and covered in prayer.

The decision to make the film and its subject is the fruit of prayer. Each day, as the shooting began, cast and crew gathered for prayer. Before meals, there was prayer. Before every scene was shot, there was prayer. I saw individual church members praying with actors before and after specific scenes were shot. At the film’s premiere in Atlanta, it opened with prayer. All along the way, church members, cast and crew have been praying not only for the film, but for all those who will see it on-screen and on DVD. They’ve been praying that the film might have a positive impact upon the viewers, upon our nation, upon fathers and mothers. They know well the power of prayer because they’ve seen the effects from their previous three films, and they’ve heard stories of how “Flywheel” led unscrupulous businessmen to change their ways, or how “Facing the Giants” led not only to prayer, but to couples conceiving children, or how “Fireproof” saved marriages in the U.S. and abroad. If “Courageous” succeeds, and I pray that it does, it will be due to prayer.

One doesn’t have to look far to see that we’re facing many crises in this country. Among them, absentee fathers and fatherlessness ranks among one of the largest. Courageous addresses that topic through its characters – a lazy father, a man who grew up without his father, an absent father. In so doing, it challenges men to embrace their responsibilities as fathers and protectors. Sherwood has partnered with a large number of Protestant and Catholic men’s ministries to provide the tools that men need to learn how to be the husbands and fathers that God intends them to be. It’s clear that the movie-makers want this film to be a movement – a movement of turning the children’s hearts to their fathers, and the father’s hearts to their children.

Do yourself and your family a favor. Go see “Courageous” this weekend and invite and encourage others to do likewise. “Courageous,” in short, is a movie that audiences want, and a film that America needs.

2 Comments out of 25

Posted by Chris Faddis on Thursday, Sep 29:@Linda - I would invite you to take a moment and reconsider the judgement you just placed on those with only two children. I am a father of two - I’m only 32 years old and while my wife and I started out with a plan to have multiple children, that weighs in the balance as my wife battles stage IV colon cancer. We converse regularly about how we hope we will still be able to have more. But the beating that my wife’s body is receiving may prevent that. We plan on trying if we are so blessed - but the truth of the matter is that it may not be in the cards for us.A dear friend of ours, Catholic author and speaker Melanie Pritchard also has two children. She and her husband Doug had also planned to have several children, but Melanie had an amniotic fluid embolism during delivery of her second child, Ella. She coded on the table three times and is a walking miracle today. Though she is alive and very well, she is no longer able to have children.Consider these two stories and ask yourself, “should I judge someone’s level of “courage” based on what I see in a 2 minute clip of their lives?” Sure, this is a movie - but your statement speaks volumes.I agree that our culture does not encourage or support large families. However, to make a judgement about the characters, about the film, or about the makers of the film based on only seeing two children is absolutely uncalled for. What Tim didn’t share in this article but did in another is that while we were on set - we were also running next to the Duggar family, you know 19 and Counting from TLC. They were on set as well at the invitation of Sherwood Pictures. All of those children ran and all of those children stood as an example of a large Christian family.Consider these things before dumping a judgement next time. Sincerely,
Chris Faddis (1 of 7 children and father of 2)

Posted by Tim Drake on Thursday, Sep 29:It’s painful for me to see that the discussion about the merits of “Courageous” got sidetracked to discussing how many children is the perfect number.

Frankly, I have little patience for the “fertility police”. It’s too easy to judge a couple by first appearances, something I humbly admit to doing earlier in my marriage - AND regretfully so. It wasn’t until my wife and I faced primary and secondary infertility, and came face-to-face with other couples facing the same issue, that I understood the tremendous pain that so many couples carry with them.

Even now people could easily look at our family (five living children, one in Heaven) and think we’re somehow complete. We’ve been unable to conceive since the birth of our nearly-nine-year-old son. What they would not see, however, is the pain of desiring additional children who never come; and the pain of having a daughter who continually prays for another baby in the home and who asks why God doesn’t answer her prayer; and the joy coupled with pain every time a friend or relative conceives. It is a pain suffered largely in silence. People do not talk about it because they fear that bringing it up will cause additional pain.

Do not judge what the perfect number is because that number, or the lack of a number, is known only by God. National Catholic Register

How to Receive Holy Communion on the Tongue

2011-10-21T19:58:00.002-05:00

I have noticed, over the past few years, an increase in the number of people who are electing to receive the Sacred Host on the tongue directly from a priest, deacon or extraordinary minister of Holy Communion at Holy Mass instead of in the hand.

My archdiocese is located in the United States of America which presently has permission in the form of an indult for communicants to receive the Sacred Host in the hand. Most people reading this in the U.S. are aware that the majority of those approaching for Holy Communion in this country receive the Sacred Host in the hand. This indult is an exception to the universal law of the Latin Rite for communicants to receive Holy Communion on the tongue. It is your right, if you are able to receive, to do so according to the universal norm on the tongue.

Unfortunately, many of those who have now elected to receive on the tongue have never been instructed as to how to properly receive Holy Communion in this manner. In the past, people received while kneeling at the communion rail. Now, for the most part, those receiving on the tongue do so while standing before the minister. This presents some challenges to the minister, but they are simple to overcome if several simple guidelines are followed by both the minister and the communicant.

I hope you find these suggestions helpful if you choose to receive on the tongue.

First, regardless of how you receive, approach the Sacrament with reverence and humility; in a state of grace and properly disposed. One should never be interiorly casual or ambivalent about receiving Our Lord. One's interior disposition often manifests itself externally. If you are aware of having committed a mortal sin you have not confessed in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, don’t receive. Instead, make an Act of Spiritual Communion (see below).

I would suggest that you approach the priest, deacon or E.M. with your hands clasped in the prayer position, palms flat, pointed upwards, to alert them of your intention to receive on the tongue. Don't surprise them at the last second.
As with any reception of Holy Communion, after the priest or other minister has said, “The Body of Christ,” respond with “Amen.”

You do not say "Amen" in the E.F. Mass. The priest or deacon says it!
Then, with head straight or tilted slightly back, open your mouth wide and extend your tongue – the tongue need not protrude far out of the mouth, but it should block the view of the lower lip. The minister will place the Sacred Host on your tongue. Two things are very important here – open wide and extend the tongue. I have noticed that many people only slightly open the mouth and others do not extend the tongue; others do both. It is difficult and sometimes impossible for the minister to safely place the host on the tongue under these circumstances.
Wait until the Sacred Host is safely placed on the tongue and only then return your tongue and close your mouth. It is not proper to use your teeth to receive and it is never a good idea to bite the minister’s fingers. So wait until the Sacred Host is safely on your tongue before moving.
Speaking of moving, it is also impossible for the minister to “hit” a moving target. This is where standing is at a disadvantage over kneeling at a rail. First, it is more difficult to remain motionless while standing. But secondly, I have noticed a tendency for the communicant to move their head towards the Sacred Host as if “to help” the minister to distribute. This does not work. The minister needs a stationary target, so remain motionless, head straight or tilted slightly back, mouth wide open and tongue extended. For some people, it may help to close you eyes; for others, look above the minister and don't watch the Sacred Host.
On the part of the priest, deacon or extraordinary minister, it is a good idea to allow the communicant achieve this posture before attempting to place the Sacred Host on the tongue.

I mentioned above that if you are unable to receive Holy Communion (due to mortal sin, having not kept the communion fast, being non-Catholic, or some other reason) it is a good practice to make a Spiritual Communion. The following is a simple, yet profound Act of Spiritual Communion you can pray while kneeling in your pew:

An Act of Spiritual Communion

“My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.”

Integrated Catholic Life

Social media use, new approaches to evangelization among Communications Day topics

2011-10-21T19:16:00.001-05:00

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Archbishop John Nienstedt welcomed about 525 parish and school leaders and priests to Archdiocesan Communications Day Oct. 13 and told them the church must use all means of communication to continue its mission of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

“We are committed to embracing social media,” he said during the gathering at Pax Christi in Eden Prairie with the theme “Ever Ancient, Ever New.” He added that the archdiocese is working on unified protocols to ensure better communication with parishes, schools and parishioners.

The local church, he said, has three “high-level goals” of improved communication:

• evangelization and re-evangelization, the fundamental mission of the church;

• fostering improved communications between the chancery and parishes, schools and other organizations; and

• making a commitment “to telling our story — maintaining good public relations and providing accurate information about the events and initiatives of this local church.”

Reaching today’s Catholics

The day — a collaborative effort of The Catholic Spirit, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Coalition of Ministries Associations — included sessions featuring several national speakers.

John Allen Jr., senior National Catholic Reporter correspondent who is frequently seen on CNN addressing Catholic issues, outlined the challenges the church faces from a worldwide perspective in getting out its message. He also noted the qualities it must use to be successful, such as patience, availability, universality and humor.

Paul Henderson, director of planning and operations with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Communications Department, told participants the role of church leaders is changing.

He said developments in new media, which encourage interactive participation among users, are changing the role of leaders from being gatekeepers to facilitating and mentoring communication and dialogue.

Lino Rulli, host of “The Catholic Guy” show on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio, gave the under-40 perspective. To reach people from 18 to 40, church communicators must remember what it is like to be their age, he said. Young adults need to have someone they can relate to, someone who understands their questions like, “Why is it important to go to Mass every Sunday?” and “Why should someone go to confession and tell their sins to a priest.”

Rulli’s answer: “I want to be right with God. I want to know there is a plan for my life and peace in my life.”

“Youth can relate to this,” he said.

Rules of the new media road

Blogger Lisa Hendey, founder of CatholicMom.com, and Matthew Warner, founder of flockNote.com, TweetCatholic.com and a National Catholic Register blogger, led an afternoon session on “harnessing the power of new media in your ministry.”

Noting that 80 percent of Americans use social media like Facebook and Twitter, Hendey and Warner presented five new media rules of ministry communication:

1. The parishioner is in control.

Communicators must respect parishioners’ time and attention and make it easy for them to connect, Warner said. Church communicators must speak to people in ways they want, often through social media, and listen more than talk.

2. Your website matters.

It’s the “home base” for new media efforts and leaves a lasting first impression about a parish or school.

3. Reach people where they already are.

Having a social media presence alone is not enough. There must be engagement and dialogue with social media users to make connections and create meaningful relationships.

4. Don’t give up.

Parishes and schools should tap into local talent and resources for help and ideas, Hendey said.

5. Engage their hearts first.

Technology will not bring people back to the church, people will, Warner said. Church communicators can seek to inspire others and build meaningful relationships through social media and other means.

Lou Carbone, a leader of the experience management movement and author of “Clued In, How to Keep Customers Coming Back Again & Again” spoke about the importance of personal experience and its impact on how people feel about a business or organization like the church.

A self-identified “satellite Catholic” who has struggled with the changes in the church following the Second Vatican Council, Carbone told a heartwarming story of how a priest created a positive experience for his daughter who sought to get married in the church. Such positive experiences are what the church needs to cultivate.

The day also included a video on the theology of communication narrated by Father Jan Michael Joncas, a priest of the archdiocese and associate professor of Catholic studies and theology at the University of St. Thomas, and a social and digital media best practices panel.

For resources from Archdiocesan Communications Day, including the PowerPoint presentations of some presenters, visit the event’s web page.

You might also like:

The Catholic Spirit

Archbishop Nienstedt: How one pro-life decision changed the world

2011-10-20T19:50:00.000-05:00

October has been designated as Respect Life Month. As Pope Benedict XVI has so often reminded us, abortion is a violation of the social justice teaching of the Catholic Church — a lack of justice for the child who is killed; a lack of justice for the society deprived of that child’s contribution.

Here is a real story about a woman who respected life, and her choice made a difference in virtually every one of our lives:

In 1954, Joann Schiebel, a young, unmarried college student, discovered that she was pregnant. At the time, her options were very limited. She could have had an abortion — but the procedure was both dangerous and illegal.

She could have gotten married, but she wasn’t ready and did not want to interrupt her education. Thus, Joann chose instead to give birth to the baby and put him up for adoption. And so it was that in 1955, a California couple named Paul and Clara Jobs adopted a baby boy, born out of wedlock, that they named Steven.

Yes, this is the same Steve Jobs who died on Oct. 5 from pancreatic cancer. He was, as a reporter from the Washington Post commented, “The brilliant, material co-founder of Apple, who introduced simple, elegantly designed computers for people who were more interested in what technology could do rather than how it was done.”

If you have an iPhone or an iPad or an iPod, or anything remotely resembling these, you can thank Steve Jobs. If you have had an Apple or Macintosh computer in the past, you can thank Steve Jobs.

But at the same time, you can also thank Joann Schiebel for giving the gift of life.

The theme of this year’s Respect Life program is, “I came so that all might have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10). Here, Jesus refers not only to the hope of eternal life, but life in this world as well.

Our culture and even our own government promote policies that are opposed to the true good of individuals and families (see my column of Sept. 15).

The media assist this agenda by promoting a distorted view of sexuality that is “free” of any commitment to the reproductive end of the act of sexual intercourse. In this view, contraceptives are promoted as being essential to a woman’s personal good, and abortion becomes a necessary back-up measure when those same contraceptives fail.

While the number of abortions in the State of Minnesota continues to fall, it has consistently risen at Planned Parenthood, which now performs 35 percent of all abortions in the state.

And, unfortunately, the greatest number of Hispanic abortions has regularly occurred there as well. It has been recorded that 41 percent of abortion clients at Planned Parenthood admitted to using contraceptives at the time of conception (see Prolife Action News, October 2011). Yet, because of the Minnesota Supreme Court ruling of 1995, taxpayers like you and me continue to pay for elective abortions as well as the availability of contraceptives.

Some conscientious and courageous witnesses are making a difference in this area by joining in the 40 Days for Life campaign that began outside of Regions Hospital in St. Paul on Sept. 28 and will continue until Nov. 6. Various church groups will “Adopt-a-Day” to lead prayers and to keep vigil. I will be present for the closing hour of these 40 days on Nov. 6.

Of course, the respect we are called to show human life in the womb is the same respect we are called to show human life outside the womb.

October is also, “Bullying Awareness Month,” a time to remind ourselves and one another of the inherent dignity of each person as a son and daughter of God. We must not tolerate derogatory remarks or physical abuse of persons who are deemed “different from others.”

“Might” does not make “right” and teachers, parents as well as others in authority need to be vigilant to any signs that a young person may be bullied by another or by others.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us, “Every human life, from the moment of conception until death, is sacred because the human person has been willed for its own sake in the image and likeness of the living and holy God.”

That applies so appropriately to the person of Steve Jobs, now gone to God. Who could imagine our world today, if he had never been allowed to be born?

God bless you. The Catholic Spirit

Archbishop Vlazny of Portland: Life Matters

2011-10-18T21:25:00.003-05:00

October 18th, 2011 by Most Rev. John Vlazny [Former Bishop of Winona]

Back when Pope John Paul II wrote his masterful encyclical entitled The Gospel of Life, he called for “a general mobilization of consciences and a united ethical effort to create a great campaign in support of life.” Here in the United States such a campaign takes such place every year during October when Catholics in the USA observe Respect Life Month. Our message this year is a simple one: life matters. Yes, every human life really and truly matters.

The theme for 2011 Respect Life Program is taken from the words of Jesus in Chapter 10 of St. John’s gospel, “I came so that all might have life and have it to the full.” Who doesn’t want to have life to the full? We all do. But today’s culture, which exalts the freedom and glamour of the rich and famous, deludes too many people about the nature of a “full life.” Again and again we learn about so many “beautiful” people whose private lives are exceedingly unhappy. We think they have it all and really and truly they have little or nothing.

The self-destructive pursuit of the good life leads far too many of us to turn our backs on an ill-timed baby or a neglected aging relative in a nursing home who longs for a visit. We Christians know that we were created to love and to be loved. Earthly things can never satisfy us fully. When Jesus walked this earth he showed us the true meaning of love by his words and actions. When we truly love God and others, then our deepest needs are fulfilled and we do have life “to the full.”

The greater the sacrifices made out of love, the greater will be our joy and peace. But the notion of sacrifice is taboo to far too many people nowadays. Yes, many will agree that my life matters, but the life of another who might inconvenience or sidetrack me in pursuit of the so-called good life is something that tends to be eliminated or ignored. That is why it is so important for us to open eyes, minds and hearts to the truth of the gospel of life.

As Catholics we see no distinction between defending human life and promoting the dignity of the human person. In his most recent encyclical Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict asserts that “the church forcefully maintains this link between life ethics and social ethics, fully aware that a society lacks foundations when, on the one hand, it asserts values such as the dignity of the person, justice and peace, but then, on the other hand, radically acts to the contrary by allowing or tolerating a variety of ways in which human life is devalued and violated, especially when it is weak or marginalized.” Human life is a gift from God, sacred from conception to natural death. The right to life is the first and most fundamental principle of human rights. This is why Catholics across the globe work actively to promote greater respect for human life together with greater commitment to justice and peace.

This year’s Respect Life Program focuses on some of the major attacks on human life and dignity. First and foremost we again bemoan the loss of so many innocent children because of abortion. Mothers are also harmed physically and emotionally, as well as fathers, families and society. The opposition of the Catholic Church to abortion is based on the fundamental dignity and equal value of every single human life. Opposition to abortion is the only moral choice, even for non-believers.

A more neuralgic issue is the death penalty. Back in 1995 Blessed John Paul II stated that “the nature and extent of punishment must be carefully evaluated and decided upon, and ought not go to the extreme of exterminating the offender except in cases of absolute necessity; in other words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society. Today, however, as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal system such cases are very rare if not practically non-existent.” Elimination of the death penalty is a goal of our Respect Life Program. It is the way of Christian mercy and reconciliation, a challenge to all of us who call ourselves Christian.

This year’s Respect Life Program also calls our attention to embryo research. There are many who support the protection of vulnerable adults and children, even animals, but they have a moral blind spot with respect to research involving human embryos. They totally disregard the fact that embryos are human beings. Human life begins with the fusion of a sperm cell and an egg. They are not simply biological material. Their use for purposes of research is absolutely immoral. Research on adult stem cells, however, is permitted since they cannot develop into mature human beings. There may very well be a sincere concern to develop new therapies and cures for diseases through such experimentation. But the end never justifies the means.

In the final months and days of a human life, life still matters. The way in which we deal with persons who are in the last stages of life speaks loudly about the kind of society we have become. Bringing death about directly goes against the fifth commandment, “You shall not kill.” On the other hand, caring for a dying person is both humane and Christian. The ethical issue is whether a dying person is killed or allowed to die. Those seeking to respect human dignity at the end of life will find true companions in the hospice movement, not the euthanasia movement. Whereas it may be possible to withhold extraordinary or expensive medical procedures in the view of a patient’s impending death, it is never allowed to “help” a person die. Ordinary care of any dying person should never be discontinued. Improvements in palliative care have been significant in recent years. The use of medications that are painkillers, not people killers, is consistent with the ethic of life that, until recent times, had been the hallmark of our human family.

On October 1st, at the Rosary Bowl in Keizer, we prayed the rosary for the success of our efforts to teach and live the gospel of life. We regret that too many of our neighbors sometimes look upon the lives of the unborn and the frail elderly as inconveniences and obstacles to their pursuit of the good life. We have waged a battle with these folks over the years with argumentative words. We need to keep speaking the truth. But this month I invite you, as I invited the people at the Rosary Bowl, to fall on your knees with your beads in your hands and to ask God to change hearts and minds so that more and more of God’s children will have life and have it to the full.

This article is courtesy of the Catholic Sentinel, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon.

Archdiocesan Communications Day Audio clips and Resources

2011-10-17T21:56:00.003-05:00

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[Clayton Emmer] was able to attend a day-long conference last Thursday on leveraging media technologies in the service of the Church’s mission. This event, sponsored by the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, was very well planned, well attended, and well executed.

Matthew Warner of flockNote.com, who was one of the presenters and panelists, blogged about his experience here.

When I have more time, I’ll post some highlights.

[Clayton] I've recorded all of the talks using my iPhone. While the quality of some of the audio is not great — especially (and unfortunately) the lunchtime presentation by John Allen, Jr. — I’ve made all of it available as an audio podcast feed here:

feeds.feedburner.com/communicationsday2011

The Catholic Spirit has many of the resources from the day available at the following link:

thecatholicspirit.com/communicationsday2011

Definitely worth your time if you’re interested in ways to serve your parish or church organization with some of the new media of communication. Lots to think about.

The Feedburner talks:

Communion and Communication: The Work of the Church - Archbishop John C. Nienstedt

Posted: Thu, 13 Oct 2011 09:00:00 CDT

John Allen, Jr. - Church Communications: Challenges and Opportunities

Posted: Thu, 13 Oct 2011 10:00:00 CDT

Paul Henderson - Church Communications: Challenges and Opportunities

Posted: Thu, 13 Oct 2011 10:20:00 CDT

Lino Rulli - Church Communications: Challenges and Opportunities

Posted: Thu, 13 Oct 2011 10:40:00 CDT

Panel Discussion - Church Communications: Challenges and Opportunities

Posted: Thu, 13 Oct 2011 11:00:00 CDT

John Allen, Jr. - Trends in the Future Church

Posted: Thu, 13 Oct 2011 12:00:00 CDT

LIsa Hendey and Matthew Warner - Harnessing the Power of New Media in Your Ministry

Posted: Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:00:00 CDT

Local Expert Panel - Harnessing the Power of New Media in Your Ministry

Posted: Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:00:00 CDT

Lou Carbone - Managing Experience: Implications for Your Ministry

Posted: Thu, 13 Oct 2011 15:00:00 CDT

Priest Under Fire An Interview of Father Michael Rodriguez

2011-10-16T22:59:00.005-05:00

Priest Under Fire

An Interview of Father Michael Rodriguez

by Michael J. Matt

Father Michael Rodriguez

Michael J. Matt (MJM): First off, Father, I'd like to thank you for the stand you've taken in recent months in defense of the Church's moral teaching, especially with respect to so-called 'gay marriage'. Catholics all across the country have been following your case, and we're delighted to have a chance today to ask you a few questions. Before we get into the "controversy", however, I wonder if you'd mind telling us a little something about your personal background?

Father Rodriguez (FR): Not at all. I was born in El Paso, Texas, on August 23, 1970, the middle child of five. Many years later my parents adopted a sixth child, my youngest sister. As I grew up in the early '70s, I was completely unaware of the disastrous post-Vatican II revolution that was sweeping throughout our beloved Catholic Church. Thanks be to God, I was raised by parents who were staunch Catholics with their childhood roots in the pre-Vatican II Catholicism of México. An example of the depth of these roots is that my maternal grandmother (born in 1906, in Aguascalientes, México) never accepted the Novus Ordo. She left this passing world in August 2002, always true to the Ancient Rite. Requiescat in pace. Even though my parents had accepted and adapted to Novus Ordo Catholicism during their post-collegiate years, they nevertheless raised us similar to how they had been raised: fidelity to Mass (albeit the Novus Ordo) and Confession, praying the Holy Rosary at home in the evenings, praying novenas and the Stations of the Cross, etc. As I reflect back on my childhood, it was a time of great grace and blessings. Even though my parents failed to hold fast to all the venerable traditions of our Faith and the Ancient Rite, they still did an excellent job of instilling the Faith in us. Interestingly enough, we four older children (born between '67 and '74) are now ardent supporters of the Traditional Latin Mass, even more so than our parents

MJM: And are there one or two persons in your life that mentored you and helped you to remain open to God’s call?

FR: My parents, Ruben and Beatrice, were the ones who were most instrumental in my eventual discernment of a vocation to God's holy priesthood. Through my father, God blessed me with discipline, fortitude, perseverance, and a love for study. Through my mother, God graced me with the convictions of faith, awe for the Catholic priesthood, a tender devotion to our Blessed Mother, and a love of religion.

MJM: At what point in your life did you know you had a vocation?

FR: I was raised in El Paso, TX, but spent four years (1981-1984) living with my family in Augsburg, Germany. We returned to El Paso, and I began high school. Following my junior year, I spent the summer (1987) at M.I.T. University in Cambridge, MA. I was participating in a special program for gifted minority students from around the nation. The program was geared to recruiting us to study engineering and science at M.I.T. as undergraduates. Well, our good God had different plans for me! I left El Paso that summer thinking I'd study electrical engineering (like my father) upon graduating from high school, only to return from Boston six weeks later, announcing that I wanted to enter the seminary! My mother was overjoyed.

MJM: Clearly, someone was looking out for you. Do you have a favorite saint, by the way?

FR: My favorite saints are: St. Michael the Archangel, St. John the Baptist (largely due to my 9 1/2 years at this El Paso parish), St. Paul the Apostle, St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Alphonsus Liguori, and, to no surprise, the holy Curé of Ars. I have a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary under three of her specific titles: Immaculate Conception (I was ordained to the priesthood on Dec. 8, 1996), Mater Dolorosa, and Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe.

MJM: And, liturgically—where would you place yourself? I know you offer the traditional Latin Mass, but is it accurate to describe you as an outright “traditionalist”?

FR: Liturgically, I'm 100% behind the Traditional Latin Mass, which is without question the true Mass of the Roman Catholic Church. Theology, liturgy, Catholic spirituality and asceticism, and history itself all point to the obvious superiority of the Classical Roman Rite. Unfortunately, all of my seminary formation was in the Novus Ordo, and I only "discovered" the Latin Mass about six years ago, so I still have a lot to learn in terms of "real Catholicism," i.e. "traditional Catholicism."

MJM: What was it initially that led you to begin offering the old Mass?

FR: About six years ago, several members of the faithful began asking me if I would be interested in offering the Traditional Latin Mass. At the time, there was serious concern on the part "El Paso's remnant" of traditional Catholics that the Jesuit priest who was offering the Latin Mass twice a month (under the 1988 Ecclesia Dei "Indult") was going to be transferred. Thus, they were looking for another priest who would be willing to offer the Latin Mass. At first, I declined, not so much because I wasn't interested, but due to the immense workload which I was already carrying.

As the weeks passed, I began to study the prayers and theology of the Traditional Latin Mass. The more I studied, the more my awe and amazement grew. I was "discovering" not only the true Catholic theology of the Mass, but also the true Catholic theology of the priesthood, and so much more! Throughout my first nine years of priesthood, I had struggled to make sense of the very serious problems which exist in the Church. At this point, it was obvious that an extreme crisis pervaded the Church and her hierarchy, but why? I just couldn't quite understand how all of this "diabolical disorientation" had come to pass . . . until the brilliant light of the true Catholic Mass ("Emitte lucem tuam et veritatem tuam . . .") began to penetrate my priestly soul. This "discovery" of the Traditional Latin Mass has been, by far, the greatest gift of God to my poor priesthood.

MJM: So this gives us an idea of how Pope Benedict's motu proprio Summorum Pontificum can and does impact priests who might otherwise never have had the opportunity to discover this great treasure. Given how it impacted you, how do you believe Summorum Pontificum will impact the Church long term?

FR: Unfortunately, both Summorum Pontificum and Universæ Ecclesiæ have plenty of weaknesses. Nevertheless, these documents do represent an initial step in what will probably still be a long and arduous "Calvary," i.e. the quest of traditional Catholics to restore the Cross, the Mass, the kingship of Jesus Christ, and true Catholic doctrine, outside of which there is no salvation. In Article 1 of Summorum Pontificum, Pope Benedict XVI writes that "due honor must be given to the Roman Missal promulgated by St. Pius V for its venerable and ancient usage." This directive of our Holy Father is currently being disobeyed almost universally. In the accompanying letter to the world's bishops (July 7, 2007), Pope Benedict XVI writes, "What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful. It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church's faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place." These remarkable words of our Holy Father are also being disrespected and disobeyed almost universally, especially by many bishops. Finally, Universæ Ecclesiæ, No. 8, states very clearly that the Ancient Rite is a "precious treasure to be preserved" and is to be "offered to all the faithful." Where in the entire world of Catholicism is this directive actually being obeyed? The same number from Universæ Ecclesiæ emphasizes that the use of the 1962 Roman Liturgy "is a faculty generously granted for the good of the faithful and therefore is to be interpreted in a sense favourable to the faithful who are its principal addressees." This is an astounding statement. This statement from Rome means that the use of the 1962 Missal doesn't depend on a particular bishop's liturgical views, preferences, or theology. It's not about the bishops! On the contrary, it's about the faithful! Where in the entire world of Catholicism is this directive actually being obeyed?

MJM: Are you now able to offer the old Mass exclusively?

FR: Since I began my new assignment (Sept. 24, 2011) out in the rural, isolated missions of the El Paso Diocese, I've offered the Traditional Latin Mass exclusively. I consider this to be a marvelous and unexpected blessing from Providence in the midst of a very difficult trial. I hope to continue offering the Traditional Latin Mass exclusively. If it were strictly up to me, I would never celebrate the Novus Ordo Missæ again. However, the sad reality of having to "obey" in the Novus Ordo Church that has largely lost the Faith, and the need to reach out patiently to Novus Ordo faithful who have been so misled, means that I will probably be "forced" to celebrate the Novus Ordo occasionally. In these instances, however, it will be the Novus Ordo ad orientem, with the Roman Canon, the use of Latin, and Holy Communion distributed according to traditional norms.

MJM: Up until last year, I believe, things were pretty quiet in your priestly life. What happened to change all that?

FR: The local, and even national, "controversy" that has engulfed me is due to the fact that I have been vocal in promoting what the Roman Catholic Church teaches in regard to the whole issue of homosexuality. It's a disgrace, but the City Council of El Paso has been adamant in trying to legitimize same-sex unions. This goes completely contrary to Catholic Church teaching. I've made it clear to the Catholics of El Paso (and beyond) that every single Catholic has a moral obligation before God Himself to oppose any government attempt to legalize homosexual unions. A Catholic who fails to oppose this homosexual agenda, is committing a grave sin by omission. Furthermore, if a Catholic doesn't assent to the infallible moral teaching of the Church that homosexual acts are mortally sinful, then such a Catholic is placing himself / herself outside of communion with the Church. These are the Catholics who are actually excommunicating themselves, not the Society of St. Pius X!

MJM: I can understand why the civil authorities and media might find this “controversial”; but why would your ecclesial superiors find it so?

FR: The dismal response of both civil and ecclesiastical authorities to the authentic teachings of the Catholic Church in regard to homosexuality demonstrates how extreme the current crisis of faith actually is. It really can't get much worse. There's hardly any faith left to lose! Even a pagan, bereft of the light of faith, can arrive at the conclusion that homosexual acts are intrinsically evil. Reason, natural law, and consideration of the male and female anatomy more than suffice to confirm this moral truth.

MJM: And yet you must go where the bishop tells you to go. Is this difficult for you?

FR: In my particular circumstances, obedience to my bishop has been incredibly difficult. Nevertheless, obedience is essential to the priesthood, and I intend to be obedient. One consoling aspect of "sacrificial," "death-to-self" obedience, is that the Holy Ghost will always come to one's assistance. I'm reminded that my poor sufferings are nothing compared to those of Mater Dolorosa and our Divine Redeemer. If I'm counted as one even slightly worthy to suffer for the Faith and the Traditional Latin Mass, I will consider myself profoundly blessed. God is so good.

MJM: As you are already living through a form of persecution, I assume you foresee more to come not only for you personally but for all Catholics who stand in defense of Church teaching. But what about the future? Any hope?

FR: Yes, I do foresee plenty of persecution still to come for all those who remain steadfast in the Faith and in their adherence to the Ancient Rite. However, the promise of our Savior cannot but fill our souls with hope, "Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice's sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for My sake. Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven." (Mt 5:10-12)

MJM: How can lay Catholics best survive this crisis of faith?

FR: In order to overcome this crisis of faith, we must (1) do everything in our power to recover the Catholic Faith: the Ancient Rite, traditional Catholic teaching in doctrine and morals, the theology and philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, traditional Catholic piety and devotions, and a traditional Catholic “code of living” or “rhythm of life.” (2) On a daily basis we must strive to pray, study, fast, do penance, and practice charity with the aforementioned goal in mind. Finally, I strongly urge all faithful Catholics to (3) pray the Holy Rosary daily and heed our Blessed Mother's Message at Fatima.

One of the hallmarks of the Traditional Latin Mass is its exquisite and concentrated focus on eternity. If we are to survive and overcome this terrible crisis of faith in the post-Vatican II Catholic Church, we have to keep our intellect and will focused on eternity. We cannot lose hope when, from a worldly perspective, all seems lost. Jesus Christ promises “the kingdom of heaven” to those who endure persecution, and “a great reward in heaven” to those who suffer for His sake. (Mt 5:10-12) The final goal is heaven! Like St. Paul, we must press ahead towards the ultimate “prize” (Phil 3:14) and never cease to “seek the things that are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God.” (Col 3:1)

MJM: Like so many others, Father, I find myself deeply moved by your powerful witness not only to the Faith itself but also to the Catholic priesthood, which, as you know so well, is under diabolical attack. Thank you for this example of what it means to be a Catholic in an era of persecution. May all of us have the courage to follow your lead through the rough seas still ahead. The Remnant October 16, 2011

Archdiocesan Communications Day - St. Paul & Minneapolis

2011-10-16T22:31:00.003-05:00

I just returned from Communications Day 2011 in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. It was a full-day event for parish, school and ministry leaders about sharing the Good News via Social and Digital media.

I’d never been to Minnesota. Unfortunately, I was only there for one day, but I must say the weather was perfect and the people were lovely and welcoming. I was honored to be one of the presenters, along with my good friend Lisa Hendey and some other speakers you may have heard of, like Lino Rulli (The Catholic Guy), John Allen Jr. (author and journalist), Paul Henderson (USCCB) and Lou Carbone (“experience” engineer).

What I liked about the event:

1) It was a really good mix of various perspectives on communication within and as the Church.

2) It was fun.

3) It was extremely well organized, managed and emceed.

4) It was well attended. I think there were between 500-600 parish/school/ministry leaders from around the diocese and neighboring dioceses.

5) I enjoyed great conversation and a meal (or two) with some wonderful people. I also got to drink a beer (or two) with Lino Rulli and Lisa Hendey. I got to see a picture of Lino’s friend Goob.

6) I didn’t say “uhm,” too much. I don’t think. And I yammered on too long about the same thing only a few times.

7) I got to hear Lino sing.

8) I was reminded that the work of the Church is filled with messy interruptions because we’re messy people. And the only reason our Church is still here as a final bastion of truth, goodness and beauty is because God loves us enough to have made it so. And I love it.

9) I was also reminded that there are a lot of people out there who need the Church and don’t know it. And that one thoughtful gesture you make today to change that person’s “experience” of the Church could change that person’s life forever (literally).

10) I was affirmed in the fact that there are a lot of dedicated and amazing ground-level leaders in our Church who don’t get new media - but want to, because they know it will help the Church.

11) I was also affirmed in the fact that there are some diocesan leaders out there now who do get it and are working to make it better.

12) Finally, I love that the Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis, The Catholic Spirit and the coalition of those who put the event on are planning to continue the event in the future. They are also putting together a group of people from their diocese who want to come together, share best practices and help each other better communicate and build relationships in our Church. And particularly via the use of new and social media, of course.

I would encourage you to tell your own diocese to contact the Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis and ask them how to duplicate an event like this in your own diocese (this event was done very well). Every diocese should have one every year. And every diocese should be recruiting attendees from it to build a year-round community that collaborates and shares best practices as you forge ahead as pioneers on the digital continent - together.

There are many more of these kinds of events to come in the Church. And that’s a very good thing.

You can check out the tweets from the event by clicking here (#CommDay11). And you can take a look at the setup here. National Catholic Register

Lino Rulli, the Catholic Guy, Talks of Life, Faith and His New Book - Sinner

2011-10-16T10:20:00.002-05:00

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Rulli's new book, Sinner, can encourage many who want to become Saints.

Lino Rulli, host of The Catholic Guy on SiriusXM Radio, wrote a book with an intriguing name - "Sinner." The book is not a showcase for sin but a support system for ordinary Catholics to encourage them in a life of faith in our extraordinary God. Though humorous, Lino is also a man deeply serious about his Catholic faith. The book touches people where they live and encourages them to take their faith seriously.

WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - Lino Rulli believes that if he can live the Christian life there's hope for everyone. The daily host of The Catholic Guy on SiriusXM Satellite Radio, Lino wrote a book to encourage people just like him - ordinary people - to keep going.

Raised in the Catholic Church in the heartland of the upper Midwest, his life was anything but saintly. He was, as he says without hesitation, a sinner, but a sinner who was in search of God's grace. With grace working in his life, he knew his faith can grow and, building on small personal victories, his spiritual life would deepen in devotion.

Lino's new book, "Sinner, The Catholic Guy's Funny, Feeble Attempts to Be a Faithful Catholic," is not a biography. Like album of snapshots, he presents snippets of his life that reveal something about a sinner who knows he needs God's grace to grow in his faith. This handful of stories will help the reader get to know Lino Rulli just a little better.

"I probably started with a hundred stories," Lino said in a recent interview. "I think that one of the most important things that I did was say to myself, 'Who do I want to have read this book?'

"I'll get myself in trouble here. so why not start right off the bat. I don't care if some priest or archbishop or cardinal reads it. I wrote it for someone like myself, or more importantly, someone like myself before I started working in Catholic Media, in other words, just a regular person.

"I picked stories where I thought people would say, 'Oh, that's funny! Oh, that's relatable. I get that.'"

Lino writes about his life, as a "single desperately lonely human being."

"I wanted to talk about my insecurities, the things that led me to be the person I am today, in terms of not just faith, but in terms of my absolute desire to be liked. to be needed. to be wanted. The only way you can find out those things about me is to find out about some of those whacky stories about me in the past."

As you meander through his life, you'll read that, as a boy, his father wanted to be an organ grinder. Guess who had to substitute for the monkey?

You'll also learn about his dream to visit to see David Letterman tape his show, adventures in the confessional, temptation in Thailand, living in the Bahamas, working in media and much much more.

Perhaps the most controversial story involved his visit Thailand, where he was encouraged to get a prostitute and learned what it is like to experience victory over temptation.

We talked about the fact that this story puts the spotlight on the darker side of humanity and the temptations many people face.

"Maybe it's not prostitution for somebody," Lino commented, "maybe it's something else. I'm hoping someone who reads this might say, 'I'm not the only person out there who's been tempted in Thailand. or Las Vegas. or wherever. But it's a story about victory over temptation."

Written in a very honest and transparent style, he never gives you a hint at how things will turn out at the end of a chapter. You just hold on and wait for the surprise.

"There are things I didn't understand at the time but make sense now. I think it's important for everybody to look back and say, 'Now, where was God in this?'"

While Lino does a show called "The Catholic Guy," his website is entitled "Lino Rulli - A Man With a Big Nose." When you talk with him, however, you don't think about physical characteristics; however big his nose might be, his joy and enthusiasm for life as a Catholic is much bigger.

I had to confess to him I had to make one major adjustment in my thinking as I began his book. He seems so "New York," when, in fact, he grew up in Minnesota.

He laughed and said, "There's something that comes from being in what people call 'fly-over land.' I'm the regular person , I get it. I'm the guy from the Midwest. I know what it is to grow up in an average middle-income family, to have those values and roots of the Midwest.

"I approach my Catholicism the same way. I could sit here and talk about the inside things going on in the church - what about this cardinal moving, what about this bishop, what about that decision?

"It's important for me to keep those roots about where normal people are from and take an average Catholic look at life without getting swept up in the 'inside baseball' of the Church.

"For me its about I know what I want to do and I know what I should do; now, let's see what happens."

Without trying to give away too much of the book, one chapter that really sticks out deals pants - not the pants themselves but how he would just leave them around the house. By the end of the story, his pants ended up where they were supposed to be - a small victory we talked about.

"The fact that I can come home and put them away properly means I can change. Just like everything in life, you start small then ... you build up. There are victories in life and, no matter how small they are, we need to look at them and say that I can make a change in my life in the small things. Maybe God can help make the bigger changes."

Lino is a larger than life personality who fills a room the moment he enters. He is honest in his communication, whether in person or on the radio. I asked him about the writing project and how people around him responded when he mentioned he was going to do it.

"A lot of people were afraid I was going to write a crazy book glamorizing sin. I was very conscious this whole time - Am I writing a book that says 'go out, get drunk, have fun, do what you want and then later just go to confession?' No! I concerned for my soul, too, and certainly don't want to mess around with anyone else's."

Always ready to make you laugh, he is also a man deeply serious about his faith. He wants the book to have entertainment value, but, even more, that it really touches people where they live and encourage them to take their faith seriously.

We also talked about whether there would be "Sinner, Part II," coming out and whether he would do more in this medium.

"Yes, I am. I enjoyed the process of writing. especially (being) in radio where it's so fleeting. You go do your three hours and then it goes away, you know; never to be heard from again. I like doing something that can be a little more tangible and a little more concrete.

"I've been really lucky to have a couple of publishers approach me with some ideas. I don't know what I want yet and I certainly don't know what people want. I learning toward doing a second version of sinner.

"I really did pray about this for a very long time - should I write a book? So I did it. Whatever happens next I have to re-start that prayer and re-discern all these things.

"I respect other media forms and I know what it takes to be a good writer - and I don't know if I am or not - but I know what it takes for me to become a halfway decent writer, so I can't crank out another book in two months. It's gonna be awhile and I have to make the decisions.

"I really do enjoy how much people loved the book, so I'm in the business of saying, 'All right, if I can bring some sort of peace and happiness in people's lives and encouragement to Catholicism along the way; yeah, I'd better start writing."

Lino has an ability of bringing unique worlds together. He has friends like Gary Dell'Abate, the executive producer of the Howard Stern Show and others who are deeply involved in the work of the church. He knows that the only way those who walk in the one world to honestly experience the Lord is through real Catholics - honest and open Christians - connecting with them.

"For me, one of the proudest things that happened was that the two endorsements on the back of the book are from the guy in charge of the Howard Stern Show and the guy who is in charge of the bishops in the United States.

"It's important to me that guys like Gary, who I really like - I think he's just an excellent human being - and I know a lot of Catholics who can't stand him because he's associated with the (Howard) Stern Show, and maybe that's what's turning him off to religion. If a guy like Gary and (Archbishop) Dolan get together they would have nothing but fun. If I can be the bridge that brings what other people would think are two completely different worlds together I'm all for it."
Catholic Online

"Sinner," by Lino Rulli, is published by Servant Books from St. Anthony Messenger Press.

St. John's of St. Paul celebrates 125 years

2011-10-16T03:26:00.004-05:00

This is the original St. John's Church, built in 1886. The photo on the left is from a postcard postmarked in 1909. The photo on the right comes from the booklet "Picturesque Dayton's Bluff" published in 1909 by the Dayton's Bluff Commercial Club.

By Greg Cosimini, Dayton's Bluff Forum

October 11, 2011

Although the first St. John’s Catholic church building wasn’t dedicated until December of 1886, this August marked the official start of the 125th year of St. John’s existence as a parish in Dayton’s Bluff.

In early 1886, Bishop John Ireland asked Rev. Louis Cornelis, pastor at Mendota, to look into the possibility of organizing an English-speaking Catholic parish on Dayton’s Bluff. Sacred Heart Church had been founded in 1882 to care for the German speaking residents of the district, but ever growing numbers of English speaking people coming into the neighborhood seemed to make the establishment of a separate parish for them a logical step in the growth of the diocese.

Although St. John’s is often thought of as an Irish parish, just as Sacred Heart was a German national parish and St. Casimir’s was a Polish parish, it was actually a territorial parish. It just happened that in the 1880s most English-speaking Catholics in the area were Irish. When parish boundaries were originally drawn up, the western edge was marked by Payne and Maria Avenues, and the southern edge by the river bluffs. There was no need for northern and eastern boundaries because the land past Dayton’s Bluff in those directions was largely unsettled and not part of St. Paul proper.

Father Cornelis canvassed the Bluff for funds, and collected over $1,100 of which the people of the new parish contributed $200. The Corporation of the Church of St. John was organized under the laws of the State of Minnesota on August 4, 1886, and its first meeting was held on August 29. One of the first acts of the corporation was to purchase nine lots in Dayton’s Bluff on Frances (now Fifth) Street, between Forest and Cypress.

The contract for building the church was let early in September 1886 and the Church of St. John of St. Paul became the twelfth Catholic church in St. Paul when it was dedicated on December 19, 1886.

The church structure was typical for its time. The architect, H. G. Terherne, designed a plain frame building with stained glass windows along each side and a large circular stained glass window above the main entrance. A small, cross-crowned belfry topped off the building. The church could seat 450 people on its black walnut-finished pews. The octagonal sanctuary housed a white altar and the sacristy could be used as a chapel. This church served the parish until 1922 when a much larger, brick church was built.

St. John’s will begin its 125th anniversary celebration on Saturday October 22 with a Mass at 4:15 p.m attended by Archbishop John C. Nienstedt.

As part of the celebration St. John’s is putting together a commemorative history booklet. We are looking for photos, memorabilia, stories, facts or anecdotes concerning St. John’s Church and School particularly in the period of 1940 through 1980. If you have anything you would like to share with us, please contact St. John’s at 651-771-3690 or stjohns@stjstp.org.

Please visit www.stjstp.org to learn more about St. John’s and its history. Twin Cities Daily Planet

Bishop Aquila of Fargo predicts state attempts to silence Catholic Church

2011-10-08T22:45:00.001-05:00

Bishop Samuel J. Aquila

An American bishop has predicted that government authorities may one day attempt to silence the Catholic Church in the United States.

“We could see the possibility of it within the United States where we are no longer free to preach the truth from the pulpit or to present Catholic teaching,” Bishop Samuel J. Aquila of Fargo, North Dakota, told CNA on a visit to Rome October 7.

“It will then become important for us to take a very strong stand, as we have done with human life and the unborn child, to continue to speak the truth and to speak it clearly and with charity.”

Bishop Aquila cited two recent examples where he believes religious liberty is being undermined: the closure of Catholic adoption agencies in states that have legislated for same-sex “marriage” and the new government health mandate requiring private insurers to provide women with coverage for contraception and sterilization.

“It’s very, very important for us to realize that we are in a very real clash between the culture of death and a culture of life,” said Bishop Aquila, summing up the former culture as one where “rights are eroded and where lies are being presented as truth.”

Bishop Aquila said he doesn’t know how the present stand the stand-off between Church and state will be resolved, but he is certain that Catholics “will have to stand for the truth” and “speak clearly to the truth no matter what the cost.” He doesn’t rule out the possibility of civil disobedience.

“Either we’re going to have to enter into conscientious objection and say we won’t do this or we will need to co-operate – which we cannot do and still be faithful,” he said.

And he worries that in those states where the practice of the Catholic faith in areas such as adoption and fostering has been declared illegal, that the preaching of that same faith may also eventually face legal sanction.

“I tell our seminarians: you must be prepared to enter into this battle because it’s a battle we need to enter into and speak the truth,” he said.

Bishop Aquila was in Rome for the ordination of one of those seminarians to the diaconate, one of four new deacons for the Diocese of Fargo this year. His words of congratulation to them, though, have also been mingled with words of warning.

“There will be people who will hate you because of the stand which you take, there will be people who ridicule you, yell at you,” he said, “and they did all the same things to Christ when he proclaimed the truth and we can expect no less in the times in which we live.” Catholic News Agency

Interview: Jason Adkins, Executive Director of Minnesota Catholic Conference

2011-10-08T18:57:00.004-05:00

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In the Catholic Servant newspaper, By David Hottinger
[Editor’s Note: In March of this year, Jason Adkins, J.D., was appointed the executive director of the Minnesota Catholic Conference. “The Catholic Servant” recently interviewed
him.]

“The Catholic Servant”: Briefly, what is the Minnesota Catholic Conference (MCC)?

Jason Adkins: The MCC is the public policy voice of the Catholic Church in Minnesota. It represents all of Minnesota’s bishops — and by extension, the whole Church in Minnesota— at the Legislature to advocate for laws that promote human dignity and the common good; that defend marriage and family life; and that promote other tenets of Catholic social
doctrine.

“The Catholic Servant”: As an organ of the Church, should you really be meddling with politics?

Jason Adkins: The MCC assists the bishops in their teaching office of transmitting the Church’s social doctrine to the faithful, but also by bringing the Church’s voice into the public arena. The Church’s primary responsibility is not to provide technical solutions to every conceivable public policy problem, but instead to help form the consciences and worldview of Catholics so that they can bring Catholic teaching into the public square.
But oftentimes, the Church will step in and make prudential judgments that certain public policies are necessary to promote the common good of all society, particularly families, which are the first and natural cornerstone of civil society. Still, the bishops’ primary responsibility in the realm of politics is to provide the ethical and moral framework within which the laity and politicians can develop specific answers to difficult public policy questions.
One common misunderstanding among Catholics and the general public alike is why the Catholic Church, a religious institution, has any role or any say in the formation of civil laws. This misunderstanding often generates a certain hostility when the Church participates in the public square.
Yet the Church has a responsibility to society as one of its principal actors to speak out and share its wisdom, collected over the centuries, about the principles that should guide public policy decisions. The Church proposes; she never imposes.
Like any other institution or political actor, the Church must convince the public of the wisdom of her positions. But she is certainly not excluded from participation simply because of her religious identity. Martin Luther King, Jr. was not excluded from speaking about civil rights because he was a Baptist minister and used theological arguments in his quest for a more just society.

“The Catholic Servant”: Is it ever the case that the MCC advocates for a policy which reasonable Catholics could differ over?

Jason Adkins: Often, when the MCC advocates for or against certain public policies, some degree of prudential judgment is involved. But some issues are more clear-cut.
The Church and the bishops have a responsibility to speak whenever the institutional integrity or mission of the Church is threatened. Similarly, it is compelled to speak when there are laws proposed that specifically undermine human dignity or threaten the common good of society.
In any given session of the Legislature, thousands of bills are authored and in the vast majority of instances, the bishops do not take a position for or against them. Yet there are some instances in which the bishops, through the MCC, will counsel legislators and other officials to enact a specific piece of legislation because they deem it so fundamental for promoting human dignity and the common good. Examples of such issues include many types of abortion restrictions;
ensuring that cuts are not made to assistance programs for children, elderly, and the disabled;
comprehensive immigration reform; and seeing that parental choice in education is expanded,
especially for the poor.
When making these determinations, the bishops and conference staff must view each piece of legislation in light of the principles of Catholic social doctrine, specifically the protection of human dignity, promoting the common good, along with the twin principles of solidarity and subsidiarity.

“The Catholic Servant”: You mentioned the “M” word: Marriage. With the Marriage Amendment on the ballot next fall, what will the MCC do in the interim?

Jason Adkins: The MCC is supporting a statewide ballot campaign called Minnesota for Marriage which seeks to encourage other Minnesotans to vote for an amendment to the Minnesota constitution defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
The MCC will be working with other organizations supporting Minnesota for Marriage to build a statewide, grassroots campaign composed of many volunteers who will register voters, knock on doors, and seek to convince others to vote for the amendment. The MCC, for its part, will be working with Catholics of every diocese to help build this campaign.
We know it is not enough for us to simply get enough votes to pass the amendment. We also have to educate Catholics about the vital role that marriage plays as a cornerstone of a healthy society. If we don’t take this opportunity to educate and inform Catholics of the importance of the institution of marriage and the role it plays in nurturing healthy families and healthy children, then over the long term we will not be able to sustain laws protecting traditional marriage.
Therefore, it is absolutely vital that Catholics take on their responsibility as faithful citizens to educate themselves about the issue and help in whatever way they can with the marriage amendment campaign.

“The Catholic Servant”: And why should Catholics— why should anyone—be concerned about preserving traditional marriage?

Jason Adkins: Fundamentally, what’s at stake are two competing arguments about the nature of marriage. There is a movement around the country and around the world to redefine civil marriage laws. The public needs to be well aware that those seeking to promote what’s called same-sex marriage are not out to create a separate institution that same-sex couples can enter into. Instead, people opposed to traditional marriage seek to redefine marriage for the rest of society.
And despite their very vocal presence in the culture and in the media, the actual number of
these advocates is very small. According to the census, only one percent of all couples in
Minnesota are living together in same-sex relationships. Such a small minority of the population
should not have the ability to redefine a bedrock social institution.
The consequences of redefining marriage will be profound. Redefining marriage redefines
parenthood and the family. By extension, redefining marriage will reshape, in radical ways, civil society.
Marriage as an institution in civil law is ordered toward the nurturing and well-being of children and not around the supposed happiness of adults. When proponents of redefining marriage say that government has no business telling them who they can love, they are absolutely correct. But they have missed the point of the civil institution of marriage altogether. It is not about regulating relationships between consenting adults. It’s about the care and wellbeing of children.
Those who seek to redefine marriage want to turn the institution into a system of government-
sanctioned love licenses. [If that happens] people will quickly see this counterfeit version of marriage for what it is and decline to enter into it. Thus, the practical effect of redefining civil marriage will be to redefine it out of existence.

“The Catholic Servant”: And what can you tell us about our opponents in this fight?

Jason Adkins: Those opposed to the marriage amendment are well-financed and well-organized. The movement to end traditional marriage laws is led by persons whose sexuality, whose very identity, is wrapped up in the issue. So they will focus everything they have on the campaign. They have been working at this for years and already have the framework in place to run a
campaign. Not only that, but their supporters hold the commanding heights of our culture;
in academia, in politics, even in the entertainment industry. It presents quite a hurdle to overcome.
Our side, on the other hand, is disadvantaged in the sense that the groups involved in promoting
the marriage amendment do a lot of other things besides just marriage policy. Additionally, we have the challenge of putting a statewide campaign together from scratch.
But we are confident that we can win because the arguments are on our side. We just have to show the majority of Minnesotans—who know in their gut that just as the sun rises in the east, marriage is between one man and one woman; that supporting traditional marriage is not bigotry or discrimination; that you can be kind to your neighbor without
being forced to redefine the bedrock institution of society. To ultimately succeed, however,
we will need all Catholics’ prayers, hard work, and support.

David Hottinger is a freelance writer from the Twin Cities who is attending the University of Minnesota Law School.

This article was funded by the St. Benedict Chair of Writing sponsored by an anonymous patron of The Catholic Servant.
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["Shy and Retiring, Tim Drake"] St. Joseph man plays role in faith-based film 'Courageous'

2011-10-08T18:38:00.004-05:00

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Tim Drake of St. Joseph, senior writer for the National Catholic Register [EWTN radio anchor and Catholic Defense League Board Member, Father, and Farmer, among other things], stands next to a poster for “Courageous” on Tuesday at Parkwood 18 in Waite Park. Drake covered the filming and became an extra on the set in the faith-based movie, which opens Friday.

Tim Drake of St. Joseph, senior writer for the National Catholic Register, stands next to a poster for “Courageous” on Tuesday at Parkwood 18 in Waite Park. Drake covered the filming and became an extra on the set in the faith-based movie, which opens Friday. / Jason Wachter, Tim Drake doesn’t have an agent, an entourage or an endorsement deal.

What the St. Joseph resident does have is a bit part as an extra in “Courageous,” a faith-based movie about fatherhood in theaters starting Friday.

“This film was produced by Sherwood Pictures, an outgrowth of Sherwood Baptist Church,” said Drake, a senior writer for the National Catholic Register.

“Courageous” will be the fourth film to be released by the megachurch’s 3,000 members. The “action-packed police drama” is rated PG-13 and features Alex Kendrick, an associate pastor who also directed and co-wrote the movie.

“That’s something that has inspired other groups and other churches to do likewise,” said Drake, who was on the set during filming in 2010. “It’s an interesting phenomenon.”

Spiritual cinema

Movie theaters and religion may seem like an odd combination to some, but Solid Rock Family Church has been holding weekly services at Parkwood 18 in Waite Park for almost a year.

“Movie theaters, in some ways, are like the churches of the modern world, so why not use that media to try to reach the younger generation with positive messages?” said Drake, who was at last month’s premiere of “Courageous” in Atlanta.

Radio station Spirit 92.9 is offering discounted tickets for opening weekend showings of “Courageous” at Quarry Cinema in Cold Spring through the local Christian radio station’s website.

“I definitely think the topic of fatherhood is worth exploring,” Drake said. “If we look culturally, there are a lot of absent fathers in families, so the fact that this film is taking a look at that topic is very timely.”

Ben Reiners is the general manager of Parkwood 18. He said his theater has been fielding calls for more than a month about the movie, which was made for an estimated $1 million and stars relative unknowns.

“What we play is determined by our corporate office, and we thought it would be a good film to play in the St. Cloud area,” Reiners said of the Marcus Theatres-owned venue.

“I think it will do well. We’ve had a lot of people calling, wondering about show times, wondering if we are playing it, so, yes, I think it will do well. And if it does well, we have no problem continuing to book these kind of films.” St. Cloud Daily Times

St. Cloud Diocese: How many Sunday Masses are enough?

2011-10-08T18:31:00.002-05:00

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In light of fewer priests, the diocese seeks a balance in what’s best for pastors, parishioners and the integrity of the Mass itself

In light of fewer priests, the diocese seeks a balance in what’s best for pastors, parishioners and the

integrity of the Mass itself

By Sue Schulzetenberg

The Visitor

Note: Bishop John Kinney has charged the Planning Advisory Council of the St. Cloud Diocese to design a plan or a planning process for the diocese. The council’s goal is to present a proposal to the bishop by spring 2012. The council is looking at many dynamics in the diocese, including statistics like the number of priests, number of Catholics and Mass attendance as well as parish vibrancy and growing opportunities for lay leadership. One of its parameters for planning is that no priest should be responsible for more than three weekend Masses that use the Sunday readings. This article, part of an occasional series on diocesan planning, explores the rationale for the three-liturgies parameter and the challenges and advantages associated with it.

Every weekend, September through May, about 232 Masses are celebrated in parishes in the 16 counties of the St. Cloud Diocese.

More and more, priests celebrating these Masses are reaching retirement age. Already, about 25 percent of the priests serving are 70 years old or older. As the diocese is faced with the prospect of fewer priests in the future, the question arises: Who will preside at these Masses?

Some parishioners offer what seems at first to be a simple answer: Have the remaining priests preside at more Masses every weekend. In practice, however, this approach is fraught with complications. And it fails to address a legitimate question: Are all those Masses necessary?

Protecting priests and the Mass

Bishop Kinney issued a guideline in 2009 stating that no priest should be expected to celebrate more than three liturgies with Sunday readings per weekend. This guideline refers to canon law, which states that the local ordinary can allow priests to celebrate Mass twice a day for a just cause, or if pastoral necessity requires it, even three times on Sundays and holy days of obligation. The guideline also notes that the Eucharist is the summit and source of all worship and Christian life and that priests should prepare themselves properly through prayer before Mass and offer thanks afterwards.

The guidelines are designed to protect the integrity of the Mass, help the Mass be seen as a celebration rather than another obligation and protect priests from simply becoming worn out, said Father Robert Rolfes, diocesan vicar general, in a 2010 Visitor article.

“It’s not feasible” to continue to ask priests to celebrate more and more Masses, said Planning Advisory Council member Deacon Steve Pareja of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Sartell. He said priests are very busy people with hours not limited to nine-to-five.

“To fully pray with presence and [to] truly [focus] on the Word and on their homily takes a tremendous amount of energy,” said Rita Clasemann, a member of the Planning Advisory Council and parish life coordinator at St. Mary Parish in Mora and St. Kathryn Parish in Ogilvie. “I think that by the time you get to the fourth or fifth one, you’re running out. The Eucharist should not be something that you’re doing just going through the motions.”

Father Kevin Anderson, pastor of Christ Our Light Parish in Princeton and Zimmerman, said it is important to think about the health of priests in the long run. He said priests are not only celebrating Masses on weekends, but also providing reconciliation and presiding at funerals and weddings. All of those activities added up can take a toll on priests.

Celebrating one Sunday liturgy every Saturday evening and two every Sunday, Father Jerry Dalseth, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Pierz and St. Michael Parish in Buckman, says he would not recommend more than three Masses per priest per weekend. In addition to the length of the Mass, time is needed for preparation and traveling. His weekends also often include weddings, funerals and baptisms.

“It takes a lot of energy. You have to be very intent and prayerful and concentrate. It’s more strenuous than a lot of the physical exercises,” he said.

Fewer Masses can also mean more collective energy from the congregation and stronger participation with a fuller church, Father Anderson said.

Bishop George Speltz, a former bishop of the St. Cloud Diocese, addressed the importance of having churches full for Mass back in 1985. At that time, he recommended eliminating any Masses in which attendance was less than 50 percent of the church building’s capacity.

“The assembly itself is the primary sign of the liturgy and the gathering of that assembly into one body — at one time and

CUTTING continues on page 7

under one roof — was the ideal practiced in the early Church and insisted upon by the Church Fathers. . . . The purpose of the Eucharist — binding us into one body in Christ our head — is defeated by an approach which puts individual convenience before the gathering together of the whole parish community,” Bishop Speltz wrote.

Parishioners at Christ Our Light in Princeton and Zimmerman have experienced a reduction in the number of Masses offered several times. Christ Our Light is the result of the merging of St. Edward Parish in Princeton and St. Pius X Parish in Zimmerman. Before the parishes twinned, each had three Masses every weekend. After they twinned, four Masses were offered between the two parishes. Then the Masses dropped to three, which is the number still offered today.

Confronting the challenges

A negative of cutting Masses is that people get accustomed to the time when Masses are offered, said Father Anderson. Also, he added, universally, the overall number of people that attend Mass initially drops when Masses are cut. Christ Our Light has recuperated from the decrease with the attendance back up and is doing well financially, he said.

Statistically, when Masses are eliminated, attendance and financial contributions drop but return within six months, said Jane Marrin, director of the Planning Office for the Diocese of St. Cloud.

“Maybe it’s our responsibility in each parish to do some educating on the priority,” Clasemann said. “What is our priority when it comes to our Lord?”

Parishioners could be asked to reflect on how far they travel for other events and what kind of flexibility they show to attend them, she added. “Doesn’t our Lord deserve the same kind of consideration?”

Tom Ehlinger, Planning Advisory Council member and member of St. Anne Parish in Kimball, said limiting Masses will affect parishioners, but he encourages them to look at the parish as a whole.

“If the parish currently has three Masses on a weekend but all of the Masses are only one-third of their capacity, they could get by with one or two Masses,” he said. “Parishioners would need to adjust their schedules to attend a Mass at a different time, but bringing together a larger group of parishioners at Mass may have many benefits in itself.”

Although eliminating a Mass at any parish brings challenges, some Masses might be easier to eliminate than others. Already, many parishes have only one weekend Mass or less, like All Saints on River Street in Holdingford, which has only weekday Masses.

Sister Clara said the ideal solution is for there to be more ordinations. Although 19 men are in the seminary for the Diocese of St. Cloud, their numbers do not make up for the number of priests approaching retirement. Only 15 diocesan priests are less than 50 years old.

“There is no perfect solution that will satisfy every single person,” said Deacon Pareja. “I think what we need is open dialogue. What we need to do first is open our hearts up to the Holy Spirit and say, ‘Lead me Lord.’”

FOR BOX

By the numbers

In the St. Cloud Diocese:

78: priests assigned to parishes

15: diocesan priests less than 50 years old

132: parishes

232: Approximate number of Sunday liturgies celebrated each weekend September through May

139,000: Approximate number of Catholics in the diocese

45: percentage of registered Catholics attending Mass on any given Sunday in 2010

Every weekend, September through May, about 232 Masses are celebrated in parishes in the 16 counties of the St. Cloud Diocese.

Protecting priests and the Mass

“It takes a lot of energy. You have to be very intent and prayerful and concentrate. It’s more strenuous than a lot of the physical exercises,” he said.

Fewer Masses can also mean more collective energy from the congregation and stronger participation with a fuller church, Father Anderson said.

“The assembly itself is the primary sign of the liturgy and the gathering of that assembly into one body — at one time and under one roof — was the ideal practiced in the early Church and insisted upon by the Church Fathers. . . . The purpose of the Eucharist — binding us into one body in Christ our head — is defeated by an approach which puts individual convenience before the gathering together of the whole parish community,” Bishop Speltz wrote.

Confronting the challenges

Statistically, when Masses are eliminated, attendance and financial contributions drop but return within six months, said Jane Marrin, director of the Planning Office for the Diocese of St. Cloud.

Deciding which Masses to cut can be difficult. Father Dalseth recalls when St. Joseph’s and St. Michael’s were twinned 11 years ago and both parishes wanted Masses at the same time. Since then, the parishioners have become comfortable in attending Masses at each of the churches as well as other churches in the area.“Maybe it’s our responsibility in each parish to do some educating on the priority,” Clasemann said. “What is our priority when it comes to our Lord?”

Tom Ehlinger, Planning Advisory Council member and member of St. Anne Parish in Kimball, said limiting Masses will affect parishioners, but he encourages them to look at the parish as a whole.

“Ideally, the Eucharist would be celebrated in every faith community that knows and supports each other,” said Franciscan Sister Clara Stang, a member of the Planning Advisory Council. “With the smaller number of ordained priests, it’s just plain difficult. That’s probably the saddest thing that’s happening in the Catholic Church — the lack of priority people give to Eucharist and the restraints that come about when there aren’t enough clergy.” Sister Clara said the ideal solution is for there to be more ordinations. Although 19 men are in the seminary for the Diocese of St. Cloud, their numbers do not make up for the number of priests approaching retirement. Only 15 diocesan priests are less than 50 years old.

By the numbers in the St. Cloud Diocese:

78: priests assigned to parishes
15: diocesan priests less than 50 years old
132: parishes
232: Approximate number of Sunday liturgies celebrated each weekend September through May
139,000: Approximate number of Catholics in the diocese
45: percentage of registered Catholics attending Mass on any given Sunday in 2010

WDIO Duluth/WIRT Hibbing to televise Sunday Mass at Basilica of National Shrine in Washington

2011-10-08T18:23:00.003-05:00

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Sunday Mass at Basilica of National Shrine to be televised

By Kyle Eller
The Northern Cross

Ever since the Diocese of Duluth stopped sponsoring a televised Sunday Mass broadcast about five years ago, there has been a steady stream of requests hoping to see the broadcast returned. That hope will soon be fulfilled — Sept. 18 at 9:30 a.m. on WDIO-TV to be exact.

“Many, many seniors have written asking for a resumption of the Sunday Mass,” said Mike Bilden, development director for the diocese. He said the letters and calls have come not only from the Duluth diocese but also the neighboring diocese in Superior, Wis., the northern portion of which also receives coverage from Duluth television stations.

With the help of a three-year decreasing grant from the Catholic Extension Society of Chicago, the diocese will again be able to broadcast a 30-minute televised Mass throughout most of the diocese. The National Catholic Society of Foresters also has contributed money that will be used for promoting the Mass, Bilden said.

The broadcast will have a higher profile than it did previously on another station, where it aired earlier in the morning. The 9:30 a.m. time this fall and winter will directly precede the Minnesota Vikings pregame show.

“It’s a super time to have this Mass,” Bilden said.

As part of the arrangement, WDIO will also air 10 30-second promotions of the Mass throughout the week at random times. Bilden said Steve LaFlamme Sr. at WDIO, whose son Steve Jr. is a diocesan priest, worked to make things work out so well at the station.

The broadcast itself should also be of very high quality. It is a 30-minute Mass originating from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.

Diocesan officials looked at five different options, Bilden said. “This one of course fit the criteria in every way,” he said, being the right length, liturgically sound, current with the liturgical calendar and affordable.

Bilden said the demand has been considerable. A televised Mass does not substitute for the Sunday Mass obligation, but many people who cannot get to Mass because they are homebound, in a rest home or simply stuck in bad weather want to see the Mass and participate in the life of the church even though their obligation is lifted.

Bilden said the service was a priority for Bishop Paul Sirba. “It’s Bishop Sirba who’s really intent on reaching out to everyone in the diocese,” he said.

The three-year grant covers the broadcast for the first year. After that, the diocese will have to start covering part of the cost through donations, and at the end of the three-year period will be responsible for the cost.

“I think there’s a good chance that it will become self-sustaining,” Bilden said.

But for that to happen, there will have to be sufficient donations to cover the cost of the broadcast. He said he also hopes for some support in the Superior diocese, where officials have agreed to send out bulletin announcements asking for individual donations.

Accessing the broadcast will vary based on where a person is located and how a person gets television. Bulletin announcements with more detailed information are being sent to parishes. Those with questions may also contact the diocese at (218) 724-9111. Northern Cross

Some of those parishes in northeastern Minnesota are located a long way from their parishioners.

Duluth's diocesan strategic planning moves on to next phase

2011-10-08T18:18:00.001-05:00

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Six months — half of the diocesan strategic planning process — was devoted to the local committees with lay and clergy representatives from each parish. That part of the process is now coming to a close, said Father Peter Muhich, who is chairing the process.

And with that, the diocese is one big step closer to the plan that will guide planning decisions for the next five years.

The local groups were arranged into five regional groups called deaneries, and they were given wide latitude to accept, modify or even scrap proposals for their deaneries that had been drawn up by a diocesan committee. Already the Cloquet, Duluth and Hibbing deaneries have submitted their responses. Those responses have been posted on the diocesan website.

That leaves the Virginia and Brainerd deaneries. “They are wrapping up, as well,” Father Muhich said.

“They all were able to add some insights and definitely, I think, improve the work that was done by the diocesan committee,” Father Muhich said. He said the proposals coming back from the deaneries are not drastically different from the drafts they began with but are definitely refined.

“There’s a few things we missed or got wrong,” he said of the initial proposals.

He said that while it appears all the deaneries will be able to reach consensus, in a couple of cases there will also be “minority reports” filed, giving individuals a chance to share some differences.

“We’re trying to be respectful of those differences,” he said.

The last deanery planning meetings are scheduled for September. They began meeting back in April. Parishes have also been asked to hold town hall meetings following the conclusion of the deanery part of the planning process, to explain the revised proposals and the reasoning behind decisions, to answer questions and to note any additional concerns, which would be passed on to the diocesan committee.

Father Muhich said the local conversations from his perspective have been handled respectfully and have been a blessing. “I think they’re taking this very seriously and doing a good job,” he said of the groups.

He cited one instance in a deanery committee meeting where most representatives were still locked into defending their “turf” until representatives of a relatively small parish that under the diocesan proposal would have only been clustered differently broke ranks. The representatives observed that members of another small parish, which, under the diocesan proposal, would be merged into a larger parish, had even longer drive times than their own, and that perhaps their own parish would be a better candidate to be merged into a larger parish.

Father Muhich said that spirit of being willing to sacrifice showed in the local planning process.

Once all the deanery responses have been received, the diocesan committee will pull that information together and pass it on to the diocesan Presbyteral Council, the group that represents the priests of the diocese and advises the bishop. The revised proposals will also be the major focus of the annual clergy conference this fall.

The Presbyteral Council will then make its recommendations to Bishop Paul Sirba toward the end of the year. He will take the whole process into consideration.

“He’ll be able to make any adjustments he sees necessary,” Father Muhich said.

Bishop Sirba will likely approve the final plan early next year.

However, with the end of one process, another will begin: the implementation process. Contrary to a popular misconception, the plan will not necessarily be acted on all at once. Rather, it will be implemented as needed over the next five years. That could mean implementing all of the plan or only part of it.

Father Muhich said the bishop is still considering how exactly the implementation process will work and who will advise him on it. Northern Cross

Annual Candlelight Rosary Procession

2011-10-05T23:23:00.000-05:00

The Annual Candlelight Rosary Procession in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, is an event to honor our Blessed Mother as Our Lady of the most Holy Rosary.

Catholic tradition places devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary in the month of October. Our procession is held the First Friday of October.

Bring your family, friends, priests and religious as we pray the Rosary in procession from the State Capitol to the Cathedral of St. Paul.

Friday, October 7th, 2011
Assemble at the State Capitol at 6:30 p.m.
Procession to the Cathedral begins at 7 p.m.
Prayer Service and Benediction held inside the Cathedral
A free will offering will be taken to help support the Processions

Michael Voris: The Catholics Responsible for Obama's Agenda

2011-10-05T20:25:00.002-05:00

Michael Voris: Obama and Evil

2011-10-05T20:16:00.000-05:00

Doing a 180: Pro-Life Documentary Video Goes Viral

2011-10-05T19:40:00.004-05:00

by Tim Drake National Catholic Register

If you haven’t yet seen the powerful documentary “180”, do yourself a favor and take 30 minutes out of your day to watch the attached film. It’s worth taking a look at and sharing with others. Just a warning - the film does contain graphic images.

Created by evangelical pastor Ray Comfort, the film features interviews with people on the street, many of them college students.

At first, you’ll be dismayed at the students’ ignorance of history, but keep watching.

Comfort goes on to present each of them with a hypothetical situation that goes like this:

It’s 1943. A German officer has a gun pointed at you. He wants you to get into a bulldozer and drive it forward. In front of the bulldozer is a pit in which there are 300 Jews who have just been shot. Some of them are still alive. He wants you to bury them alive! If you don’t do what he says, he is going to kill you and do it himself. If you do what he says, he will let you live. Would you drive it forward?

Comfort said that he was both surprised and sickened by many of the initial responses.

“I was surprised that so many said that they could bury another person alive. I felt sickened, but at the same time I don’t know if I believed others when they quickly said that they would take the bullet, rather than do it,” Comfort told The Christian Post. “I guess it takes a lot of soul-searching. It certainly is a character-test for each of us.”

Then, Comfort transitions to the topic of abortion. With just a few questions, Comfort is able to get many of them to reconsider their position on abortion. It’s amazing to see how they change their minds in just a matter of seconds.

Released just over a week ago, the YouTube video has already received more than half a million views. The film’s Facebook page has received between 800 and 1,000 “Likes” per day.

Comments

Cardinal DiNardo: Religion and Morality Essential Parts of a Freedom-Loving Society

2011-09-30T20:49:00.002-05:00

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Religion and Morality Essential Parts of a Freedom-Loving Society

STATEMENT FOR RESPECT LIFE MONTH

Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo
Archbishop of Galveston-Houston, former "Bishop of Sioux City, IA
Chairman, Committee on Pro-Life Activities
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

September 26, 2011

This October the Catholic Church throughout the United States will observe Respect Life Month, an annual tradition now in its fortieth year.

Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo Releases Statement for October 2011, Respect Life Month

Beginning on October 2, 2011—Respect Life Sunday—Catholics across the nation will join together to witness to the inherent equality and transcendent value of every human being.

In countless liturgies and events we will give thanks to God for the gift of human life, and pray for his guidance and blessings on our efforts to defend the most vulnerable members of the human family.

We will voice our opposition to the injustice and cruelty of abortion on behalf of those victims whose voices have been silenced. At the same time, we will remind the living victims of abortion—the mothers and fathers who grieve the loss of an irreplaceable child—that God’s mercy is greater than any human sin, and that healing and peace can be theirs through the sacrament of reconciliation and the Church’s Project Rachel Ministry.

The theme chosen for this year’s Respect Life Program is I came so that all might have life and have it to the full. In this brief explanation of his mission (cf. John 10:10), Jesus refers both to our hope of eternal life, to be restored through his death and resurrection, and to our life in this world.

By following Jesus’ new Commandment of unselfish love, our lives can be richly fulfilling, and marked by joy and peace. In contrast, treating others as either means or obstacles to one’s self-serving goals, while never learning to love generously, is an impoverished way to live.

Viewing life as a “zero sum” game, in which advancing one’s interests requires putting aside the needs of others, can lead to callous unconcern for anyone who is especially weak, defenseless, and in need of our help. The unborn child, the aging parent who some call a “burden” on our medical system, the allegedly “excess” embryo in the fertility clinic, the person with a disability, the cognitively impaired accident victim who needs assistance in receiving food and water to live—each today is at risk of being dismissed as a “life unworthy of life.”

Jesus’ promise of “life to the full” is especially poignant today, when our culture and sometimes our government promote values inimical to the happiness and true good of individuals and society. We face increasing attempts to expunge God and religious discourse from public life. This promotes the dangerous proposition that human beings enjoy no special status by virtue of their God-given humanity. Some now even seek to eliminate religiously motivated people and organizations from public programs, by forcing them to violate their moral and religious convictions or stop serving the needy.

The same forces, aided by advertising and entertainment media, promote a selfish and demeaning view of human sexuality, by extolling the alleged good of sexual activity without love or commitment. This view of sex as “free” of commitment or consequences has no place for openness to new life. Hence contraceptives are promoted even to young teens as though they were essential to women’s well-being, and abortion defended as the “necessary” back-up plan when contraceptives fail. And fail they do. Studies report that most women seeking abortions were using contraception in the month they became pregnant. Again and again, studies show that increasing access to contraception fails to reduce rates of unplanned pregnancies and abortions.

Both these trends—a distorted view of sexuality and a disdain for the role of religion—are exhibited by the Department of Health and Human Services’ recent decision on the “preventive services” to be mandated in virtually all private health plans under the new health care law. The Department ruled that such mandated services will include surgical sterilization and all FDA-approved contraceptive drugs and devices—including the abortifacient drug “Ella,” a close analogue to the abortion pill RU-486.

The decision is wrong on many levels. Preventive services are aimed at preventing diseases (e.g., by vaccinations) or detecting them early to aid prompt treatment (e.g., screening for diabetes or cancer). But pregnancy is not a disease. It is the normal, healthy state by which each of us came into the world. Far from preventing disease, contraceptives can have serious health consequences of their own, for example, increasing the risk of acquiring a sexually transmitted disease, such as AIDS, increasing the risk of breast cancer from excess estrogen, and of blood clots that can lead to stroke from synthetic progestin. Mandating such coverage shows neither respect for women’s health or freedom, nor respect for the consciences of those who do not want to take part in such problematic initiatives.

The “religious employer” exemption offered by the Department is so extremely narrow that it protects almost no one. Catholic institutions providing health care and other services to the needy could be forced to fire their non-Catholic employees and cease serving the poor and vulnerable of other faiths—or stop providing health coverage at all. It has been said that Jesus himself, or the Good Samaritan of his famous parable, would not qualify as “religious enough” for the exemption, since they insisted on helping people who did not share their view of God.

All these misguided efforts to foster false values among our youth, to silence the voice of moral truth in the public domain, and to deprive believers of their constitutionally-protected right to live according to their religious convictions, must be resisted by education, public advocacy, and above all by prayer.

The founders of our nation understood that religion and morality are essential to the survival of a freedom-loving society. John Adams expressed this conviction, stating:

“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.”

Catholics must not shrink from the obligation to assert the values and principles we hold essential to the common good, beginning with the right to life of every human being and the right of every woman and man to express and live by his or her religious beliefs and well-formed conscience.

As Pope Benedict XVI reminded us last year in one of his Ad Limina addresses to visiting bishops, “a society can be built only by tirelessly respecting, promoting and teaching the transcendent nature of the human person.” That common nature transcends all accidental differences of age, race, strength, or conditions of dependency, preparing us to be one human family under God.

During this Respect Life Month, as we celebrate God’s great gift of life, let us pray and reflect on how each of us might renew our commitment and witness to “respecting, promoting and teaching the transcendent nature of the human person,” thereby shoring up the foundations of a society sorely in need of this guidance. Courageous Priest

National praise keeps pouring on Duluth's College of St. Scholastica

2011-09-29T06:51:00.005-05:00

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If your school is on the cover of Sports Illustrated, chances are you just won a national sports championship. If it winds up in a news magazine, however, brace yourself; your school is probably embroiled in controversy.

If your school is on the cover of Sports Illustrated, chances are you just won a national sports championship. If it winds up in a news magazine, however, brace yourself; your school is probably embroiled in controversy.

But not always, especially not when that news magazine is U.S. News & World Report, and certainly not when it’s the U.S. News & World Report’s always-

anticipated annual “Best Colleges” issue.

The College of St. Scholastica in Duluth has been spotlighted by the magazine at least 12 times since 1996, often alongside the University of Minnesota Duluth. The impressive trail of tributes continued this month when a St. Scholastica major, the oldest of its kind in the nation, was among nine listed as “hot” right now by the national publication.

The health information management major has existed at St. Scholastica in one form or another since 1934. The program has evolved with the times and with a commitment to remain on the cutting edge of technology. Its instructors are now considered national leaders in the field.

“They’re unsung heroes,” the college’s Bob Ashenmacher told the News Tribune Opinion page, referring to health information management instructors Kathleen LaTour and Shirley Eichenwald Maki, both of whom are retiring at the end of this academic year.

“St. Scholastica’s (Health Informatics and Information Management) Department is one of those quiet riches that are mostly invisible but that, year after year and decade after decade, make up the true wealth of our community,” Ashenmacher said. “For nearly 80 years this department has been turning out professionals who keep us safer, who make American health care effective and who today are leading the effort to make it more efficient through the electronic health record.”

Duluth’s institutions of higher education have received national attention the past couple of years for athletic achievements on ice, on the gridiron and elsewhere. While taking nothing away from the national championships, all the Northland can be proud of this latest reminder from U.S. News & World Report that excellence in Duluth extends to academics, too. Duluth News Tribune

I'm prejudiced. My Mom's sister, Sister Ann Edward, O.S.B., was a president of St. Scholastica ['the Villa"] back in the 60's. The then Medical Records major attracted students from around the world. It was one of the first such majors in the country.

Stella Borealis Catholic Roundtable

*116* Bishops Speak Out Against Obama/HHS Mandate

Updated: *116* Bishops Speak Out Against Obama/HHS Mandate

Duluth's Bishop Sirba describes grief, acceptance of church closings

Top 20 Catholic Bloggers of 2011

8 Heroic U.S. Military Chaplains, most of whom you haven't heard of

1. Anthony Rey

2. Horatio Stockton Howell

3. John P. Chidwick

4. John B. DeValles

5. Colman O’Flaherty

6. Francis P. Duffy

7. John G. Burkhalter

8. Francis L. Sampson

Minnesota's Laboure Society Helps Vocation Discerners With Payment of Education Loans

Young people who wish to pursue a religious vocations have assistance in paying off their debt thanks to a nonprofit society.

Little Falls nun, advocate for orphans, to celebrate 100 years

Sister Justina Bieganek

Please Join Me In Prayer and Fasting for the Protection of Marriage In My State

Heavenly Father,

Through the powerful intercession of the Holy Family, grant to this local Church the many graces we need to foster, strengthen, and support faith-filled, holy marriages and holy families.

May the vocation of married life, a true calling to share in your own divine and creative life, be recognized by all believers as a source of blessing and joy, and a revelation of your own divine goodness.

Grant to us all the gift of courage to proclaim and defend your plan for marriage, which is the union of one man and one woman in a lifelong, exclusive relationship of loving trust, compassion, and generosity, open to the conception of children.

We make our prayer through Jesus Christ, who is Lord forever and ever. Amen.

10th Annual Apologetics Conference - Featuring Peter Kreeft PhD - Saturday, January 7th at 1:00 p.m.

Register - Now - Bring Your Kids!

Come; be inspired by these powerful presentations plus a Q & A session.

Register - Now

MSNBC Poll: Bishops say rules on gay parents limit freedom of religion

Bishops say rules on gay parents limit freedom of religion

'In the name of tolerance, we’re not being tolerated,' says canon lawyer

Stained glass is a 'a way of sharing the faith' (dating to the times when most people couldn't read).

Stained glass at Peoria's St. Joseph Catholic Church 'a way of sharing the faith'

AUDIO: Fargo Bishop Samuel Aquila Believes Elements Of Communism And Nazism Attack Religious Freedoms

AUDIO: Fargo Bishop Believes Elements Of Communism And Nazism Attack Religious Freedoms

Catholic school realignment leaves winners, losers in St. Paul, Dakota County

Kateri Tekakwitha, first Native American declared to be a Saint by Pope Benedict!

The Three Absolvers on How to Make a Good Confession

And here are two more useful Examinations for children:

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Winona Now Has a Minor Basilica

Arizona Editorial to Wisconsin atheists: Quit whining!

Arizona Editorial to Wisconsin atheists:Quit whining!

Archbishop Nienstedt issues prayer for marriage

Catholic Worker community has served Winona's homeless and those in need for almost 20 years

What is Catholic Worker?

St. Paul-area Catholic Women's Guild is gone but still giving

Internet brings prayer requests via email to nuns in La Crosse

An Evening Affirming the Faith’ at St. Charles Borromeo, Mpls -- Bishop Sirba of Duluth to Speak Dec 3

Superior General of FSSP to Celebrate EF Mass at St. Augustine's Nov 27

St. Paul Shrine/Cathedral Re-Opens Museum with new exhibit:

Biography of Bishop Paul Anderson of Duluth [1968-1982]

Welcome to theBishop Anderson Site.

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Posted: Thu, 13 Oct 2011 09:00:00 CDT

John Allen, Jr. - Church Communications: Challenges and Opportunities

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116 Bishops Speak Out Against Obama/HHS Mandate

Updated: 116 Bishops Speak Out Against Obama/HHS Mandate

Arizona Editorial to Wisconsin atheists:

Quit whining!

Welcome to the

Bishop Anderson Site.

Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo
Archbishop of Galveston-Houston, former "Bishop of Sioux City, IA
Chairman, Committee on Pro-Life Activities
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops