Friday, March 16, 2012
Quote from Blessed James Alberione
In the world there are cooperators of the devil who sow evil and error. Let us be cooperators of Christ, who sow good, truth and grace.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Meet St. Paul’s Family
From Sr. Margaret. I did pray the novena leading up to this day, just wish I could have attended!
Meet St. Paul’s Family:
Drapes…check.
Folders…check.
Movie…check.
People…check!
Sunday, March 11, twenty Paulines from five institutes and from the association of Pauline Cooperators met together with 57 friends and acquaintances for a day of recollection at the Society of St. Paul’s new conference hall on Staten Island. Lent and prayer are a natural fit, but this was no ordinary retreat. It marked the first time in New York that six of the eight branches of the Pauline Family in North America gathered to introduce themselves to the world as a family in St. Paul the Apostle. So it also marked the first time that most of those attending had ever conceived of us in that way. They kept saying how amazed they were at the size and complexity of the ten organizations in the Pauline network; with 11,468 members worldwide, you’re bound to have a few dimensions to the project.
Finally this past Sunday a “Lenten retreat with the family of St. Paul” joined them with our three communities, plus members of the Holy Family Institute for married couples, Our Lady of the Annunciation for single women, and the Cooperators, men and women who live the charism within their own situations. Only the Institute of Jesus the Priest for diocesan clergy and the Institute of St. Gabriel the Archangel for single men were missing from the American roster, though Fr. Matthew Roehrig, the new provincial superior of the Society of St. Paul, did a great job explaining something of how they fit in. Two feminine congregations, the Sisters of Jesus the Good Shepherd, and the Sisters of Mary Queen of Apostles, are the only branches not yet living and serving in North America.
People were visibly touched when they heard that many religious and lay Paulines all over the continent had prayed a novena just for them and they agreed to return the favor that day.
Sr. Margaret Tapang, PDDM, and Br. Aloysius Milella, SSP, gave presentations on “Alberione and the Liturgy” and on “The Media Redeemed.” Sr. Margaret pointed out that Blessed James Alberione’s life, which integrated his experience of liturgy with his daily life, made him “an apostle of the liturgy.” Br. Al reminded us that “Father Alberione’s commitment and passion for transmitting the Gospel throughout our contemporary world in a linguistic variety of cultures, stands out in faithful imitation of the great Apostle, and as one of the admirable achievements of his religious family.” Br. Al’s talk will constitute the Pauline Faithways post of March 28, just before we enter into Holy Week. Don’t miss it!
Br. Peter, Mr. Congeniality, led the welcome and orientation, and I introduced the day’s theme: “God First,” based on the readings from the day’s liturgy. Later on in the afternoon, we would revisit the reading from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians and tie it in with an abridged viewing of Man for All Seasons followed by shared prayer in small groups—what we Daughters call “Cinema divina.” I was holding my breath over the sharing part. Many of the retreatants were of the generation that just doesn’t pray like that. But typically versatile, they jumped right in; many commented on their evaluation sheets that they wanted even more opportunities like it.
Each of the institutes had its day in the sun, with a presentation by one of its members. That’s where the day’s momentum stalled somewhat: it took longer than we had planned, so that we had no time for the intended Q and A session. Retreatants weren’t shy about expressing their disappointment. So we’ll have to work that a little differently next time, in addition to giving people more time to pray. After all, it was a day of recollection!
A display table was heaped high with vocation literature on all the institutes. Plus, a book and media display by St. Paul’s/Alba House and Pauline Books & Media, as well as a sacred art and religious article display by the Sister Disciples’ Liturgical Apostolate Center provided everyone with a chance to shop, too.
It wouldn’t have come together without the planning and dedication of Sr. Nieves Salinas, the PDDM regional superior in the U.S., Sr. Raphael Mirabelli, PDDM, Br. Gus Condon, SSP, and all those who worked with Br. Peter or me.
And the food! Nick Avicolli from Mangia Buono in Bridgewater, NJ, generously donated meatballs, pasta salad, and heroes for us all and for anyone else who just might have shown up that day. Our own cook in Boston, D Ross, sent down some great snacks, including sugar chocolate chip cookies to pop in the oven. Priscilla Palad, who’s an Annunciationist and the SSP accountant, worked with me for the better part of two hours Saturday night baking…and good naturedly fending off self-appointed taste testers! We ended up stashing the cookies in her accounting office overnight under lock and key.
It’s safe to say we were all fed that day, especially in our spirits. There’s a tremendous longing among God’s People for union with him and for a living, meaningful faith in this world of ours. That longing is ours, too, and we were both humbled and nourished by the faith and love we witnessed. Many people, at great cost, put God first in their daily lives, and so testify to God’s faithful love for them, since he’s the one who graces them with that sense of commitment. Our Pauline prayer is that whatever we do may confirm them in their love and their life in the body of Christ.
Meet St. Paul’s Family:
Folders…check.
Movie…check.
People…check!
Sunday, March 11, twenty Paulines from five institutes and from the association of Pauline Cooperators met together with 57 friends and acquaintances for a day of recollection at the Society of St. Paul’s new conference hall on Staten Island. Lent and prayer are a natural fit, but this was no ordinary retreat. It marked the first time in New York that six of the eight branches of the Pauline Family in North America gathered to introduce themselves to the world as a family in St. Paul the Apostle. So it also marked the first time that most of those attending had ever conceived of us in that way. They kept saying how amazed they were at the size and complexity of the ten organizations in the Pauline network; with 11,468 members worldwide, you’re bound to have a few dimensions to the project.
Days before, Brother Peter Lyne, SSP, and his crew transformed part of the former press room of St. Paul’s/Alba House publishing into a cheerful, respectable meeting area that accommodated everyone comfortably. They cleaned and painted, then bought beautiful drapes for the two sides of the room furnished with windows and sliding glass doors. The difference was astounding! Participants did give us some feedback regarding seats for future events. Chairs that are serviceable enough for short gatherings become downright torture when you perch on them all day. Some day when those drapes are paid for….
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| Priscilla Palad, IOLA, listens to a fellow retreatant. |
The idea for a retreat has been in gestation for the past two years. One day in early 2010, Br. Peter and I talked over pizza about sharing more with people about what makes us tick: our history, our charism (the grace that the Holy Spirit gives us to build up the Church), and our varied mission in a multi-faceted family. What came of it was the first annual St. Paul Friends & Family Fest (See “Partying With St. Paul,” August 10, 2011), which doubled as a modest fundraiser for the documentary about our founder. We still kept in mind, though, Br. Peter’s long cherished hope of leading people to a fuller understanding of that charism lived today, especially for those who had worked on the Fest and their organizations. He had in mind those who frequent the Alba House store without knowing what’s behind it, or who vaguely know “the sisters on the hill” (us FSPs) or the sisters who make vestments (the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master).
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| Fr. Matthew Roehrig, SSP |
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| Sr. Margaret Tapang, PDDM |
People were visibly touched when they heard that many religious and lay Paulines all over the continent had prayed a novena just for them and they agreed to return the favor that day.
Sr. Margaret Tapang, PDDM, and Br. Aloysius Milella, SSP, gave presentations on “Alberione and the Liturgy” and on “The Media Redeemed.” Sr. Margaret pointed out that Blessed James Alberione’s life, which integrated his experience of liturgy with his daily life, made him “an apostle of the liturgy.” Br. Al reminded us that “Father Alberione’s commitment and passion for transmitting the Gospel throughout our contemporary world in a linguistic variety of cultures, stands out in faithful imitation of the great Apostle, and as one of the admirable achievements of his religious family.” Br. Al’s talk will constitute the Pauline Faithways post of March 28, just before we enter into Holy Week. Don’t miss it!
 |
| Br. Peter Lyne, SSP, introduces the day, as Greg and Kim Burke, HFI, and Sr. Margaret listen. |
Br. Peter, Mr. Congeniality, led the welcome and orientation, and I introduced the day’s theme: “God First,” based on the readings from the day’s liturgy. Later on in the afternoon, we would revisit the reading from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians and tie it in with an abridged viewing of Man for All Seasons followed by shared prayer in small groups—what we Daughters call “Cinema divina.” I was holding my breath over the sharing part. Many of the retreatants were of the generation that just doesn’t pray like that. But typically versatile, they jumped right in; many commented on their evaluation sheets that they wanted even more opportunities like it.
Each of the institutes had its day in the sun, with a presentation by one of its members. That’s where the day’s momentum stalled somewhat: it took longer than we had planned, so that we had no time for the intended Q and A session. Retreatants weren’t shy about expressing their disappointment. So we’ll have to work that a little differently next time, in addition to giving people more time to pray. After all, it was a day of recollection!
 |
| Sr. Nieves Salinas, PDDM |
A display table was heaped high with vocation literature on all the institutes. Plus, a book and media display by St. Paul’s/Alba House and Pauline Books & Media, as well as a sacred art and religious article display by the Sister Disciples’ Liturgical Apostolate Center provided everyone with a chance to shop, too.
It wouldn’t have come together without the planning and dedication of Sr. Nieves Salinas, the PDDM regional superior in the U.S., Sr. Raphael Mirabelli, PDDM, Br. Gus Condon, SSP, and all those who worked with Br. Peter or me.
And the food! Nick Avicolli from Mangia Buono in Bridgewater, NJ, generously donated meatballs, pasta salad, and heroes for us all and for anyone else who just might have shown up that day. Our own cook in Boston, D Ross, sent down some great snacks, including sugar chocolate chip cookies to pop in the oven. Priscilla Palad, who’s an Annunciationist and the SSP accountant, worked with me for the better part of two hours Saturday night baking…and good naturedly fending off self-appointed taste testers! We ended up stashing the cookies in her accounting office overnight under lock and key.
“It was a blessed day. I experienced a renewed sense of hope through the Pauline presence in the world, and their endeavor to communicate the love of Christ in our world” (A.C., Brooklyn, NY).Photo credit: Brother Xavier, SSP
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Discover My Hope
This website is from the Daughters of St. Paul.
I often see people who have become disheartened by what is happening to them in life. They truly are in situations of distress. Maybe they’ve prayed and feel that God doesn’t care about them. So we created the website www.MyDiscoverHope.com as a way to bring hope into their world. It's difficult to keep alive the hope that everything is in God’s perfect timing and that whatever happens we are still held in God’s hands. I know from personal experience how difficult this can be. When you feel yourself slipping, sometimes all you might need is a “pick me up,” a few moments of inspiration to help you through a tough time or even just a long day. I invite you to take a look at this site and return to it as often as you like. Maybe you know someone who needs a miracle of hope. We invite you to lead them to this site as well. We pray that whoever comes to www.MyDiscoverHope.com may feel God’s unconditional love for them. Isn’t love what the true message of Lent is—God’s unconditional love for each of us…?
I often see people who have become disheartened by what is happening to them in life. They truly are in situations of distress. Maybe they’ve prayed and feel that God doesn’t care about them. So we created the website www.MyDiscoverHope.com as a way to bring hope into their world. It's difficult to keep alive the hope that everything is in God’s perfect timing and that whatever happens we are still held in God’s hands. I know from personal experience how difficult this can be. When you feel yourself slipping, sometimes all you might need is a “pick me up,” a few moments of inspiration to help you through a tough time or even just a long day. I invite you to take a look at this site and return to it as often as you like. Maybe you know someone who needs a miracle of hope. We invite you to lead them to this site as well. We pray that whoever comes to www.MyDiscoverHope.com may feel God’s unconditional love for them. Isn’t love what the true message of Lent is—God’s unconditional love for each of us…?
Friday, March 9, 2012
Benedict XVI’s address to US bishops of Regions VII-IX: marriage and sexuality
From Father Z's Blog. Important address from our Holy Father.
Benedict XVI’s address to US bishops of Regions VII-IX: marriage and sexuality:
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI gave an audience to American bishops (MN, ND, SD) making their ad limina visit. His last address – on the eve of Pres. Obama’s attack on the religious liberty of the Catholic Church – was amazing and important (HERE).
As I suspected might happen, Pope Benedict talks about marriage and sexuality. I figured he might, since this group of bishops includes Archbp. Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis with the other bishops of Minnesota, who are leading an effort for the passage of a defense of marriage amendment to the Minnesota constitution.
Audio HERE.
Technorati Tags: ad limina, catechesis, chastity, family, religion, religious liberty, sexuality
Benedict XVI’s address to US bishops of Regions VII-IX: marriage and sexuality:
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI gave an audience to American bishops (MN, ND, SD) making their ad limina visit. His last address – on the eve of Pres. Obama’s attack on the religious liberty of the Catholic Church – was amazing and important (HERE).As I suspected might happen, Pope Benedict talks about marriage and sexuality. I figured he might, since this group of bishops includes Archbp. Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis with the other bishops of Minnesota, who are leading an effort for the passage of a defense of marriage amendment to the Minnesota constitution.
Audio HERE.
Dear Brother Bishops,BTW.. in the photo, above, the bishop in profile is H.E. John LeVoir, Bishop of New Ulm and the other bishop, from behind, is H.E. Paul Sirba of Duluth. I have known both of these fine bishops for many years (since before they were priests) and they both have ties to my home parish. They are fine men and I ask you to stop and say a prayer for them right now.
I greet all of you with fraternal affection on the occasion of your visit ad limina Apostolorum. As you know, this year I wish to reflect with you on certain aspects of the evangelization of American culture in the light of the intellectual and ethical challenges of the present moment.
In our previous meetings I acknowledged our concern about threats to freedom of conscience, religion and worship which need to be addressed urgently, so that all men and women of faith, and the institutions they inspire, [Such as hospitals and schools... and in another sense marriage.] can act in accordance with their deepest moral convictions. In this talk I would like to discuss another serious issue which you raised with me during my Pastoral Visit to America, namely, the contemporary crisis of marriage and the family, and, more generally, of the Christian vision of human sexuality. It is in fact increasingly evident that a weakened appreciation of the indissolubility of the marriage covenant, and the widespread rejection of a responsible, mature sexual ethic grounded in the practice of chastity, have led to grave societal problems bearing an immense human and economic cost.
Yet, as Blessed John Paul II observed, the future of humanity passes by way of the family (cf.Familiaris Consortio, 85). Indeed, “the good that the Church and society as a whole expect from marriage and from the family founded on marriage is so great as to call for full pastoral commitment to this particular area. Marriage and the family are institutions that must be promoted and defended from every possible misrepresentation of their true nature, since whatever is injurious to them is injurious to society itself” (Sacramentum Caritatis, 29). [Get that? "from every possible misrepresentation"]
In this regard, particular mention must be made of the powerful political and cultural currents seeking to alter the legal definition of marriage. [I wrote about one HERE today.] The Church’s conscientious effort to resist this pressure calls for a reasoned defense of marriage as a natural institution consisting of a specific communion of persons, essentially rooted in the complementarity of the sexes and oriented to procreation. Sexual differences cannot be dismissed as irrelevant to the definition of marriage. Defending the institution of marriage as a social reality is ultimately a question of justice, since it entails safeguarding the good of the entire human community and the rights of parents and children alike. [When you undermine sexual differences you harm everyone. Eroding sexual roles does an injustice to others.]
In our conversations, some of you have pointed with concern to the growing difficulties encountered in communicating the Church’s teaching on marriage and the family in its integrity, and to a decrease in the number of young people who approach the sacrament of matrimony. Certainly we must acknowledge deficiencies in the catechesis of recent decades, which failed at times to communicate the rich heritage of Catholic teaching on marriage as a natural institution elevated by Christ to the dignity of a sacrament, the vocation of Christian spouses in society and in the Church, and the practice of marital chastity. [That is a big admission. We have failed.] This teaching, stated with increasing clarity by the post-conciliar magisterium and comprehensively presented in both the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, needs to be restored to its proper place in preaching and catechetical instruction.
On the practical level, marriage preparation programs must be carefully reviewed to ensure that there is greater concentration on their catechetical component and their presentation of the social and ecclesial responsibilities entailed by Christian marriage. In this context we cannot overlook the serious pastoral problem presented by the widespread practice of cohabitation, [Cohabitation is way up and marriage is way down.] often by couples who seem unaware that it is gravely sinful, not to mention damaging to the stability of society. I encourage your efforts to develop clear pastoral and liturgical norms for the worthy celebration of matrimony which embody an unambiguous witness to the objective demands of Christian morality, while showing sensitivity and concern for young couples.
Here too I would express my appreciation of the pastoral programs which you are promoting in your Dioceses and, in particular, the clear and authoritative presentation of the Church’s teaching found in your 2009 Letter Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan. I also appreciate all that your parishes, schools and charitable agencies do daily to support families and to reach out to those in difficult marital situations, especially the divorced and separated, single parents, teenage mothers and women considering abortion, as well as children suffering the tragic effects of family breakdown.
In this great pastoral effort there is an urgent need for the entire Christian community to recover an appreciation of the virtue of chastity. The integrating and liberating function of this virtue (cf.Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2338-2343) should be emphasized by a formation of the heart, which presents the Christian understanding of sexuality as a source of genuine freedom, happiness and the fulfilment of our fundamental and innate human vocation to love. It is not merely a question of presenting arguments, but of appealing to an integrated, consistent and uplifting vision of human sexuality. The richness of this vision is more sound and appealing than the permissive ideologies exalted in some quarters; these in fact constitute a powerful and destructive form of counter-catechesis for the young.
Young people need to encounter the Church’s teaching in its integrity, challenging and countercultural as that teaching may be; more importantly, they need to see it embodied by faithful married couples who bear convincing witness to its truth. They also need to be supported as they struggle to make wise choices at a difficult and confusing time in their lives. Chastity, as the Catechism reminds us, involves an ongoing “apprenticeship in self-mastery which is a training in human freedom” (2339). In a society which increasingly tends to misunderstand and even ridicule this essential dimension of Christian teaching, young people need to be reassured that “if we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, absolutely nothing, of what makes life free, beautiful and great” (Homily, Inaugural Mass of the Pontificate, 24 April 2005). [Interesting. I quote this line from the Holy Father's sermon all the time, since I considered it an important theme at the beginning of his pontificate. Here it is again.]
Let me conclude by recalling that all our efforts in this area are ultimately concerned with the good of children, who have a fundamental right [to be born and] to grow up with a healthy understanding of sexuality and its proper place in human relationships. Children are the greatest treasure and the future of every society: truly caring for them means recognizing our responsibility to teach, defend and live the moral virtues which are the key to human fulfillment. [Pres. Obama wants fewer children to be born.] It is my hope that the Church in the United States, however chastened by the events of the past decade, will persevere in its historic mission of educating the young and thus contribute to the consolidation of that sound family life which is the surest guarantee of intergenerational solidarity and the health of society as a whole.
I now commend you and your brother Bishops, with the flock entrusted to your pastoral care, to the loving intercession of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. To all of you I willingly impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of wisdom, strength and peace in the Lord.
Technorati Tags: ad limina, catechesis, chastity, family, religion, religious liberty, sexuality
Quote from Blessed James Alberione
Let us learn patience from Mary, or, we night say learn how to modify ourselves and so remain good and do good.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Quote from Blessed James Alberione
If the driver loses control of the car the consequences can be serious. Much more serious are the consequences when we lose control of ourselves.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Come Awake Video for Lent
From Sr. Marie Paul Curley
I am glad that Lent has started this year, and this is a great video!
Come Awake Video for Lent:
I am glad that Lent has started this year, and this is a great video!
Come Awake Video for Lent:
This video is a great start for Lent:
I found it on Xt3.com’s Lenten calendar, which you can download as an app or view for free online daily.
Find other wonderful Lenten resources from Sr. Julia’s “Best Books for Lent”:
An exceptionally happy Ash Wednesday
From Sr. Anne
I can't wait to get this new Missal!
An exceptionally happy Ash Wednesday:
A truck pulled up to the motherhouse loading dock today, delivering the long awaited St. Paul Missals! We should be getting our order in ... next week? That's especially good news because the new liturgical texts for Lent are so rich--not to mention the new feature of an optional extra prayer at the end of the Lenten Masses. It will be great to have the Missals on time for (most of) Lent.
Speaking of time, I just got back from the Ash Wednesday Mass at Our Lady of Mt Carmel. We in the choir got our ashes at the very end, after most of the people had left (hopefully with the Allegri "Miserere" still ringing in their hearts). I was struck at the sight of the toddlers with their ash-marked foreheads. Such a poignant reminder of the stranglehold sin has on the human race. Father Srenn (the pastor) gave a homily on Lent as a call "back to the Garden" of original innocence. God is always in the Garden, and that is our place, too. It is just a weary journey now, and that wasn't part of the plan.
I can't wait to get this new Missal!
An exceptionally happy Ash Wednesday:
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| A scene from the "paper basement' today. The "paper basement" is also noteworthy for its fine acoustics. We singers love what that echo does for our voices! |
Speaking of time, I just got back from the Ash Wednesday Mass at Our Lady of Mt Carmel. We in the choir got our ashes at the very end, after most of the people had left (hopefully with the Allegri "Miserere" still ringing in their hearts). I was struck at the sight of the toddlers with their ash-marked foreheads. Such a poignant reminder of the stranglehold sin has on the human race. Father Srenn (the pastor) gave a homily on Lent as a call "back to the Garden" of original innocence. God is always in the Garden, and that is our place, too. It is just a weary journey now, and that wasn't part of the plan.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Reading to the Easter Bunny
From Sr. Margaret
With lots of good book ideas for kids!
Reading to the Easter Bunny:
Read to Your Bunny
All of us love our children more than anything in the world. In their first years we feed them so they grow. We bring them to the doctor so they are healthy. We strap them in car seats so they are safe.
But the most important thing in the first years of life is the growth of the mind and spirit. This is when a child learns to love and trust, to speak and listen.
After a child turns two years old, these things are very difficult to learn or teach ever again. Trusting, singing, laughing, and language are the most important things in a young child’s life.
And so they must come first for mothers and fathers, too, because we can never have those years over again.
Every day, make a quiet, restful place for twenty minutes. Put your child in your lap and read a book aloud. In the pages of the book you will find a tiny vacation of privacy and intense love. It costs nothing but twenty minutes and a library card.
Reading to your little one is just like putting gold coins in the bank. It will pay you back tenfold. Your daughter will learn, and imagine, and be strong in herself. Your son will thrive, and give your love back forever.
Rosemary Wells
I first came across this lovely piece of advice about ten years ago, then posted it in the children’s corner of our Pauline Books & Media Center in San Francisco. Here and there I noticed people stop to take it in. Apparently Rosemary’s nudge to get a library card didn’t deter them from buying a book. After all, it’s hard to find our array of titles on faith and Christian values in your typical public library. Whether you buy or borrow, what she says about the indispensable role of parents (and grandparents!) in a child’s early learning can’t be emphasized enough, especially when a book about God’s love for us is included in the cuddling.
That story is easy to tell at Christmas. But during Lent? How do you get past the horror of the Crucifixion? Granted, boys and even some girls are not as squeamish as moms are about this, but the younger the child, the less graphic the story needs to be. Sometimes that will depend on what images they’ve already been exposed to in their churches and homes or what movies they’ve seen, or what they’ve encountered through their older siblings. In any case, you’ll want to reassure them that “Nobody does that anymore,” so that they feel safe.
How do you explain the tragedy of sin to a little person, who has no concept of it yet? Before reading, you may find it helpful to demonstrate the separation of sin to pre-schoolers by coaxing them to try and jump to you from an unreachable distance. Since only the cross can span that distance, the book you’re about to read to them will tell them how Jesus used the cross to do just that. Otherwise, you can let the story say whatever it does without the prep work.
1. Keep it simple. For infants and toddlers, once you find an appropriate book, it will be enough to hold it together and look at the pictures, reading a few words here and there to tell the basic story. Pre-schoolers will be able to understand more and will eventually want to “read” you the story in their own words. One of the best books I’ve ever seen for this purpose is PBM’s own The Road to Easter Day. Pain in the illustrations is muted, and joyful colors are vibrant. Every page introduces the next part of the narrative, from Palm Sunday to Jesus’ appearance on the way to Emmaus, as another step “along the road, along the road, the road to Easter day,” conveying the sense that any sadness, while real, is not the end of the story. The Easter Swallows, with its talking animals and birds, creates a safer distance from the tragedy for those primary-age children who may be especially impressed by whatever graphic details they already know of Jesus’ passion.
2. Combine the story with an easy activity or craft. For older kids, The Stations of the Cross Coloring and Activity Book or My First Easter Sticker Book does the trick. The sticker book also simply and happily announces that, “Because Jesus loves us and died for our sins, heaven is open to all of us!” A children’s Bible book, such as My Storytime Bible, with its two-page spread of the Crucifixion and Resurrection, can contextualize that further, if needed.
One of the best activity books around, though, is The Lent-Easter Book—182 pages of stories, games, puzzles, recipes, and crafts that assist parents or teachers in passing on the season’s Catholic traditions…and the faith they express. This spiral-bound treasury also suggests ideas on holding conversations with five- to nine-year-olds and with ten- to fourteen-year-olds.
3. Allow books to teach our little ones to pray and live justly. Even though the cross, backlit by the resurrection, casts its shadow across all of Lent, this liturgical season isn’t just about the cross. Or better, during this reflective time, even children can find in the cross their own reasons for growing in prayer, virtue, and awareness of others’ needs. Books can help them do that.
Primary-age kids are keenly sensitive to the pain of Jesus, especially when they understand how he suffered to forgive and heal them and the whole world of their sins and the sins of others. With its simple, colorful pictures, I Pray the Stations of the Cross stirs their empathy for Jesus’ redemptive suffering and connects that empathy with compassion for others: “Jesus, Mary wanted to be near you, even though it made her sad to see you suffer. Please help me to comfort those in my family who are suffering” (Fourth Station). The Stations of the Cross in My Pocket is a pocket-size version of almost exactly the same text, with a more ornate art style.
Children’s Way of the Cross cleverly adapts for older kids St. Ignatius’s approach to Gospel meditation. It first leads them to imagine themselves right there with Jesus, then to listen to him by means of a passage from the International Children’s Bible, then finally to respond to his love with a sentence from a Psalm. Expressive pen and water color renderings bring the “via crucis” to life.
Of course, Lenten prayer would not be complete without the celebration of the sacraments. The Sacrament of Reconciliation in My Pocket is a pocket-size guide to celebrating the rite and includes an explanation of Reconciliation, a simple examen of conscience on the Ten Commandments, prayers, and a short glossary.
4. With school-age kids, especially with those who are aware that someone has died, any discussion of Jesus’ death can lead to questions about death in general: What happened to them? What will happen to me? What a great opportunity to share hugs and the central message of our faith! Because he rose again, Jesus’ death is a door, not a wall. His death changed death for us all. Because the Son of God, who is human like us, now physically lives by the power of the Holy Spirit, then we, his brothers and sisters who share in that same Spirit, will live forever, too (cf. Romans 8:11). A related kids’ title would be I Will Remember You: A Catholic Guide Through Grief.
If you would like more resources, updated almost daily, go to www.paulinekidsblog.com. You'll find descriptions of PBM titles for kids, book guides, interviews with authors and illustrators, plus spiritual gems for parents and educators. Take a peek, too, behind the scenes at what goes into our kids' books.
For ways to share your finds with other families, look into J-Club, the only Catholic book fair for schools and religious education programs, that couples as a fundraiser.
Looking for something different? For centuries, many Christians trying to exonerate themselves from responsibility for Jesus’ death have pinned it on the Jews. Even after the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, the attitude dies hard. We recognize that “the Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Christ; still, what happened in His passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today” (n. 4). So PBM offers My Jewish Friend, a fictional account of two boys, one Catholic and the other Jewish, who explain their beliefs and rituals to each other, and so grow in their faith and in mutual respect.The narrative is vividly illustrated and masterfully interwoven with information about both Catholicism and Judaism.
Kids aren’t the only ones who try to figure out whose fault it is when something goes wrong. Yet, they’re less equipped than adults are to accept the unfairness of life without assigning blame. So how do you answer the blame question regarding Jesus’ death? If we can’t point fingers at the Romans or the Jews, what about at ourselves? While it’s true that had we not sinned, Jesus would not have died to forgive us. Even so, we could have sinned from our first breath until our last, and still we would not have caused Christ’s death. Love did that. His love. Christ “loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). All the books we’ve talked about here say that very thing in one way or another. There could be no greater story to read to your little Easter bunny.
Reading to the Easter Bunny:
Read to Your BunnyAll of us love our children more than anything in the world. In their first years we feed them so they grow. We bring them to the doctor so they are healthy. We strap them in car seats so they are safe.
But the most important thing in the first years of life is the growth of the mind and spirit. This is when a child learns to love and trust, to speak and listen.
After a child turns two years old, these things are very difficult to learn or teach ever again. Trusting, singing, laughing, and language are the most important things in a young child’s life.
And so they must come first for mothers and fathers, too, because we can never have those years over again.
Every day, make a quiet, restful place for twenty minutes. Put your child in your lap and read a book aloud. In the pages of the book you will find a tiny vacation of privacy and intense love. It costs nothing but twenty minutes and a library card.
Reading to your little one is just like putting gold coins in the bank. It will pay you back tenfold. Your daughter will learn, and imagine, and be strong in herself. Your son will thrive, and give your love back forever.
Rosemary Wells
I first came across this lovely piece of advice about ten years ago, then posted it in the children’s corner of our Pauline Books & Media Center in San Francisco. Here and there I noticed people stop to take it in. Apparently Rosemary’s nudge to get a library card didn’t deter them from buying a book. After all, it’s hard to find our array of titles on faith and Christian values in your typical public library. Whether you buy or borrow, what she says about the indispensable role of parents (and grandparents!) in a child’s early learning can’t be emphasized enough, especially when a book about God’s love for us is included in the cuddling.
That story is easy to tell at Christmas. But during Lent? How do you get past the horror of the Crucifixion? Granted, boys and even some girls are not as squeamish as moms are about this, but the younger the child, the less graphic the story needs to be. Sometimes that will depend on what images they’ve already been exposed to in their churches and homes or what movies they’ve seen, or what they’ve encountered through their older siblings. In any case, you’ll want to reassure them that “Nobody does that anymore,” so that they feel safe.
How do you explain the tragedy of sin to a little person, who has no concept of it yet? Before reading, you may find it helpful to demonstrate the separation of sin to pre-schoolers by coaxing them to try and jump to you from an unreachable distance. Since only the cross can span that distance, the book you’re about to read to them will tell them how Jesus used the cross to do just that. Otherwise, you can let the story say whatever it does without the prep work.
1. Keep it simple. For infants and toddlers, once you find an appropriate book, it will be enough to hold it together and look at the pictures, reading a few words here and there to tell the basic story. Pre-schoolers will be able to understand more and will eventually want to “read” you the story in their own words. One of the best books I’ve ever seen for this purpose is PBM’s own The Road to Easter Day. Pain in the illustrations is muted, and joyful colors are vibrant. Every page introduces the next part of the narrative, from Palm Sunday to Jesus’ appearance on the way to Emmaus, as another step “along the road, along the road, the road to Easter day,” conveying the sense that any sadness, while real, is not the end of the story. The Easter Swallows, with its talking animals and birds, creates a safer distance from the tragedy for those primary-age children who may be especially impressed by whatever graphic details they already know of Jesus’ passion.2. Combine the story with an easy activity or craft. For older kids, The Stations of the Cross Coloring and Activity Book or My First Easter Sticker Book does the trick. The sticker book also simply and happily announces that, “Because Jesus loves us and died for our sins, heaven is open to all of us!” A children’s Bible book, such as My Storytime Bible, with its two-page spread of the Crucifixion and Resurrection, can contextualize that further, if needed.
One of the best activity books around, though, is The Lent-Easter Book—182 pages of stories, games, puzzles, recipes, and crafts that assist parents or teachers in passing on the season’s Catholic traditions…and the faith they express. This spiral-bound treasury also suggests ideas on holding conversations with five- to nine-year-olds and with ten- to fourteen-year-olds.
3. Allow books to teach our little ones to pray and live justly. Even though the cross, backlit by the resurrection, casts its shadow across all of Lent, this liturgical season isn’t just about the cross. Or better, during this reflective time, even children can find in the cross their own reasons for growing in prayer, virtue, and awareness of others’ needs. Books can help them do that.
Primary-age kids are keenly sensitive to the pain of Jesus, especially when they understand how he suffered to forgive and heal them and the whole world of their sins and the sins of others. With its simple, colorful pictures, I Pray the Stations of the Cross stirs their empathy for Jesus’ redemptive suffering and connects that empathy with compassion for others: “Jesus, Mary wanted to be near you, even though it made her sad to see you suffer. Please help me to comfort those in my family who are suffering” (Fourth Station). The Stations of the Cross in My Pocket is a pocket-size version of almost exactly the same text, with a more ornate art style.Children’s Way of the Cross cleverly adapts for older kids St. Ignatius’s approach to Gospel meditation. It first leads them to imagine themselves right there with Jesus, then to listen to him by means of a passage from the International Children’s Bible, then finally to respond to his love with a sentence from a Psalm. Expressive pen and water color renderings bring the “via crucis” to life.
Of course, Lenten prayer would not be complete without the celebration of the sacraments. The Sacrament of Reconciliation in My Pocket is a pocket-size guide to celebrating the rite and includes an explanation of Reconciliation, a simple examen of conscience on the Ten Commandments, prayers, and a short glossary.
4. With school-age kids, especially with those who are aware that someone has died, any discussion of Jesus’ death can lead to questions about death in general: What happened to them? What will happen to me? What a great opportunity to share hugs and the central message of our faith! Because he rose again, Jesus’ death is a door, not a wall. His death changed death for us all. Because the Son of God, who is human like us, now physically lives by the power of the Holy Spirit, then we, his brothers and sisters who share in that same Spirit, will live forever, too (cf. Romans 8:11). A related kids’ title would be I Will Remember You: A Catholic Guide Through Grief.
If you would like more resources, updated almost daily, go to www.paulinekidsblog.com. You'll find descriptions of PBM titles for kids, book guides, interviews with authors and illustrators, plus spiritual gems for parents and educators. Take a peek, too, behind the scenes at what goes into our kids' books.
For ways to share your finds with other families, look into J-Club, the only Catholic book fair for schools and religious education programs, that couples as a fundraiser.
Looking for something different? For centuries, many Christians trying to exonerate themselves from responsibility for Jesus’ death have pinned it on the Jews. Even after the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, the attitude dies hard. We recognize that “the Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Christ; still, what happened in His passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today” (n. 4). So PBM offers My Jewish Friend, a fictional account of two boys, one Catholic and the other Jewish, who explain their beliefs and rituals to each other, and so grow in their faith and in mutual respect.The narrative is vividly illustrated and masterfully interwoven with information about both Catholicism and Judaism.Kids aren’t the only ones who try to figure out whose fault it is when something goes wrong. Yet, they’re less equipped than adults are to accept the unfairness of life without assigning blame. So how do you answer the blame question regarding Jesus’ death? If we can’t point fingers at the Romans or the Jews, what about at ourselves? While it’s true that had we not sinned, Jesus would not have died to forgive us. Even so, we could have sinned from our first breath until our last, and still we would not have caused Christ’s death. Love did that. His love. Christ “loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). All the books we’ve talked about here say that very thing in one way or another. There could be no greater story to read to your little Easter bunny.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Toward a Strategy for Freedom
From Sr. Margaret
Toward a Strategy for Freedom:
So we’ve been “accommodated,” have we? Buried under an avalanche of protest (the USCCB Web site records that 57,000 letters were sent to the administration from its campaign alone), the federal government is willing to exempt employers directly from providing contraceptives, sterilizations, and abortofacients to our employees, but will instead require the insurance companies we contract with to do our “work” for us.
Now, I don’t know about you, but that raises a number of questions in my mind:
1. Who pays the insurance companies? The employer? The employee? The U.S. government? Who pays the government?
In their Feb. 10 response to President Obama, the U.S. bishops stated: “The mandate would impose a burden of unprecedented reach and severity on the consciences of those who consider such ‘services’ immoral: insurers forced to write policies including this coverage; employers and schools forced to sponsor and subsidize the coverage; and individual employees and students forced to pay premiums for the coverage. We therefore urged HHS, if it insisted on keeping the mandate, to provide a conscience exemption for all of these stakeholders—not just the extremely small subset of ‘religious employers’ that HHS proposed to exempt initially.”
2. Does this accommodation extend also to for-profit employers who have personal, religious objections to the HHS mandate? If not, on what basis?
3. How does this affect self-insured institutions?
To quote the bishops’ statement again: “[W]e note at the outset that the lack of clear protection for key stakeholders—for self-insured religious employers; for religious and secular for-profit employers; for secular non-profit employers; for religious insurers; and for individuals—is unacceptable and must be corrected.”
4. Who decides who qualifies as a religious, and therefore exempt, institution?
This last question reveals perhaps the most insidious aspect of this issue. In many European countries, religions and religious institutions are licensed as social organizations and so, exist, assemble, and act as such only with the permission of the State. The U.S. is radically different. Since the ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1787, they have been seen as autonomous, that is, independent of the State. Those who drafted the Constitution viewed religion as “wholly exempt” from civil governance. This is precisely what is under attack in the present controversy.
Can this issue keep producing the steam that will move the rights of all Americans forward? The following points are not exactly a strategy, but they can still provide insight for those who might map one out.
Not just in-house
We would best avoid the mistake many of us made with Roe v. Wade. This is not an exclusively Catholic issue, but one that radically strikes at how religious institutions of any persuasion can minister freely. Many will try to marginalize us over this, but it is up to us to untiringly cast it in ecumenical and interreligious terms.
USA Today published an editorial making this very point, and in fact broadened its scope by setting it as a civil rights issue, irrespective of religious affiliation. One Internet commentator on the article stated that if the government can trample on the rights “of those we don’t like,” imagine what it could do to the rest of us! When I stopped laughing, I admitted that not only is it not illegal to despise people of faith, but her point was well made: Sooner or later this issue will affect us all.
Along with the U.S. bishops, the official organizations of Evangelicals, Orthodox Jews, Lutherans of the Missouri Synod, and Orthodox Bishops have already spoken up on behalf of America’s religious institutions. If this revolved around security legislation, for example, requiring Muslim employers to fingerprint job applicants and run background checks on them, those who are hotly defending the administration’s latest infringement on religious freedom would be the first to cry foul, regardless of religious or partisan preferences. Come to think of it, has anybody heard how the ACLU stands on the ruling?
For a “parable” on religious freedom and civil rights, see Sr. Anne Flanagan’s Nunblog.
What’s in a name?
We need to maintain that it is a matter, not of women’s health or reproductive rights, but as it in fact is—a matter of the right to the free exercise of religion. The media are already calling it a “contraception rule” and “birth control mandate”; we should not. If people perceive that this issue is about women’s rights, we could lose vital support even among Catholics. “HHS mandate” or “health care mandate” has a better chance of uniting us, regardless of where people stand on birth control. Yes, it would be great if we were all on the same page doctrinally, but we’re not, and to garner support from all believers of whatever religious affiliation, we would do well to emphasize respect for our First Amendment rights.
In addition, by not limiting it to birth control, the far-reaching effects of the administration’s coercive ruling become more apparent. If it remains, it will set a precedent for other controversial issues in the public square and for the educational requirements expected of religious schools: euthanasia, gay “marriage,” legitimizing prostitution, the pastoral care of undocumented immigrants….That’s just for starters.
Nor is it only a matter of freedom of conscience apart from the First Amendment. From the law’s perspective, we cannot break a law in the name of conscience. Picture the chaos if we could! Our refuge is in our insistence on our Constitutional right to freedom of religion and freedom of speech.
Legal exemption
We shouldn’t allow the administration and the media to portray us as unreasonable because we’re inflexible about protecting our rights as Americans who also happen to be people with faith convictions. To toss us in the corner with the so-called “religious right” would be a caricature, that justifies dismissing us and our concerns. As Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan said in an interview with NCR’s Vatican correspondent John Allen, the bishops are not “Obama haters.”
We Catholic employers want to be left free to determine what insurance coverage we offer to our employees, who, by the way, work with us by their choice. The present administration has now mandated that we include coverage of what is repugnant to us. Who is imposing views and beliefs on whom? (See a superb op-ed column in USA Today by Richard Garnett of Notre Dame University.) As USCCB media relations director Sr. Mary Ann Walsh acidly remarked, “When you go to a Jewish deli, you are not expecting pork chops.”
The bishops point out that we will apply for a legal exemption if the federal government will not rescind the mandate. Ask President Obama: As a Constitutional law professor, he knows that this is routinely done. The latest one was the recent Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC case. In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court, basing itself on a legal doctrine known as the “ministerial exception,” recognized the right of religious organizations to hire and fire their clergy and other employees without government intrusion. Churches are exempt from these laws that apply in the secular workplace.
Civil discourse
We would be well advised not couch this in terms of “defending the Church,” even though we may take justifiable pride as we speak out on her behalf. Allowing ourselves to be put on the defensive is no way to arrive at truth and right. Besides, polemics are distasteful to many; look at voters’ attitude toward mudslinging in politics.
I don’t normally read comments to articles or blogs. I’ve made an exception here. Facebook also gives me a taste of how people are reacting. My sense as I read comments is that Catholics are tired of being pummeled in the arena. Some are spoiling for a fight. The temptation is to lash out in kind. I notice passion among believers, but most are avoiding the ignorant accusations and unjustified vitriol spewed by others who either misunderstand or disagree with the objections of people of faith. A helpful, almost cheery, insight in this regard can be found in the NCR interview I already mentioned. Timothy Dolan soberly acknowledged the tenuous nature of our current relationship with President Obama’s administration, but his basic message seemed to be: Debate, argue, protest, object, but for as long as we can, let’s not fight.
Saber rattling may be more romantic than non-violence, but if we can achieve the same results without verbal abuse, we’ll have a chance at becoming the disciples of Christ we claim to be. Let’s not stoop to the level of those who don’t know the meaning of respect. This is not a time to be “clever,” but faithful and responsible citizens.
Keeping it central
Fortuitously this firestorm didn’t originate with us; we’re responding to a federal mandate. If we can keep the controversy and its solutions on that level, either through legislation and/or a Supreme Court decision, a more unified and effective effort is likely. There’s strength in numbers. If it’s left to the states to decide, the “militant secularist” agenda (Harvard law professor Mary Ann Glendon’s description) will have a greater chance to prevail. No statewide conferences of Catholic bishops have the resources or prestige of the USCCB to mount a sustained opposition to violation after violation of First Amendment rights.
“We will therefore continue—with no less vigor, no less sense of urgency—our efforts to correct this problem through the other two branches of government. For example, we renew our call on Congress to pass, and the Administration to sign, the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act. And we renew our call to the Catholic faithful, and to all our fellow Americans, to join together in this effort to protect religious liberty and freedom of conscience for all” (USCCB statement of Feb. 10).
“Carpe diem”
How many people are actually concerned about this? Are we in fact the sleeping giant that one article described? At best, people worry about keeping their jobs and getting their kids through college. At worst, they’re apathetic. Religious liberty just isn’t on their radar screen. Sure, let the bishops worry about it; that’s their job.
One lesson we can draw from this is that, when organized and committed, we can make a difference. We don’t have to take what’s dished out to us. Taking our cue from the bishops and working with other organizations, churches, and congregations will give us a unified voice.
Another benefit, if we have the eyes to see is the opportunity to hold the kind of conversation we as a people need to have about the separation of Church and State and the religious presence in political life. It’s long overdue. In his article just published in America magazine, “Finding Common Ground: The opportunity in a painful moment,” Blase J. Cupich, the bishop of Spokane, WA, makes this very point. Not only could such a conversation bridge differences, but more fundamentally, it would help us to clarify for ourselves what it is that our freedoms are built on and to delineate the role of religion in the public arena.
“Keeping religion out of politics is an impossible condition. All political entities are either based upon faith-based religion or a secular religion, usually with the State or Leader as godhead. Removing faith-based religion ends up with a secular religion, and vice-versa....[P]olitics cannot escape the human condition. There will always be some form of religion in politics. Some form of balance between the two competing religious ideals must be achieved for a liberal society; any attempt to eradicate one or both will result in a totalitarian polity” (Micah Haber on Peter Redpath’s Facebook wall, 2/11/2012).
The call to conversion
In the coming election—in any election, for that matter—the economy is not the #1 factor to consider. Human life and all that supports its dignity comes first. We need to grow in our trust in God, as the money we handle reminds us. This means marshalling the creativity, energy, and resources we have at hand to better our human condition, knowing, however, that in the end, we put God’s law first. It means not being arrogant about what we’ve achieved, shedding the attitude of entitlement that makes us rebel against adversity or sacrifice. God does not owe us. The world does not owe us: If we have not obliterated global hunger and disease, or achieved world peace, or preserved the earth’s resources for future generations, then the world definitely does not owe us.
Prayer is essential if we are to maintain our priorities. If we want to succeed at changing anything, nothing can be done without the grace of God that comes through prayer and fasting, whether from food or from “following our own pursuits” as the prophet Isaiah put it. We may rightly feel that this is a David and Goliath undertaking, but that we’re consigned to simply watch from the sidelines. Nothing could be further from the truth. Can we take just a few minutes to send government a message? Now? Then keep abreast of events as they develop. And keep your friends informed! Without being “in their face,” share what you come across. Their openness may surprise you.
Click here in support of the bishops’ campaign urging Congress to pass the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act, H.R. 1179 and S. 1467.
Toward a Strategy for Freedom:
Now, I don’t know about you, but that raises a number of questions in my mind:
1. Who pays the insurance companies? The employer? The employee? The U.S. government? Who pays the government?
In their Feb. 10 response to President Obama, the U.S. bishops stated: “The mandate would impose a burden of unprecedented reach and severity on the consciences of those who consider such ‘services’ immoral: insurers forced to write policies including this coverage; employers and schools forced to sponsor and subsidize the coverage; and individual employees and students forced to pay premiums for the coverage. We therefore urged HHS, if it insisted on keeping the mandate, to provide a conscience exemption for all of these stakeholders—not just the extremely small subset of ‘religious employers’ that HHS proposed to exempt initially.”
2. Does this accommodation extend also to for-profit employers who have personal, religious objections to the HHS mandate? If not, on what basis?
3. How does this affect self-insured institutions?
To quote the bishops’ statement again: “[W]e note at the outset that the lack of clear protection for key stakeholders—for self-insured religious employers; for religious and secular for-profit employers; for secular non-profit employers; for religious insurers; and for individuals—is unacceptable and must be corrected.”
4. Who decides who qualifies as a religious, and therefore exempt, institution?
This last question reveals perhaps the most insidious aspect of this issue. In many European countries, religions and religious institutions are licensed as social organizations and so, exist, assemble, and act as such only with the permission of the State. The U.S. is radically different. Since the ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1787, they have been seen as autonomous, that is, independent of the State. Those who drafted the Constitution viewed religion as “wholly exempt” from civil governance. This is precisely what is under attack in the present controversy.
Can this issue keep producing the steam that will move the rights of all Americans forward? The following points are not exactly a strategy, but they can still provide insight for those who might map one out.
Not just in-house
We would best avoid the mistake many of us made with Roe v. Wade. This is not an exclusively Catholic issue, but one that radically strikes at how religious institutions of any persuasion can minister freely. Many will try to marginalize us over this, but it is up to us to untiringly cast it in ecumenical and interreligious terms.
USA Today published an editorial making this very point, and in fact broadened its scope by setting it as a civil rights issue, irrespective of religious affiliation. One Internet commentator on the article stated that if the government can trample on the rights “of those we don’t like,” imagine what it could do to the rest of us! When I stopped laughing, I admitted that not only is it not illegal to despise people of faith, but her point was well made: Sooner or later this issue will affect us all.
Along with the U.S. bishops, the official organizations of Evangelicals, Orthodox Jews, Lutherans of the Missouri Synod, and Orthodox Bishops have already spoken up on behalf of America’s religious institutions. If this revolved around security legislation, for example, requiring Muslim employers to fingerprint job applicants and run background checks on them, those who are hotly defending the administration’s latest infringement on religious freedom would be the first to cry foul, regardless of religious or partisan preferences. Come to think of it, has anybody heard how the ACLU stands on the ruling?
What’s in a name?
We need to maintain that it is a matter, not of women’s health or reproductive rights, but as it in fact is—a matter of the right to the free exercise of religion. The media are already calling it a “contraception rule” and “birth control mandate”; we should not. If people perceive that this issue is about women’s rights, we could lose vital support even among Catholics. “HHS mandate” or “health care mandate” has a better chance of uniting us, regardless of where people stand on birth control. Yes, it would be great if we were all on the same page doctrinally, but we’re not, and to garner support from all believers of whatever religious affiliation, we would do well to emphasize respect for our First Amendment rights.
In addition, by not limiting it to birth control, the far-reaching effects of the administration’s coercive ruling become more apparent. If it remains, it will set a precedent for other controversial issues in the public square and for the educational requirements expected of religious schools: euthanasia, gay “marriage,” legitimizing prostitution, the pastoral care of undocumented immigrants….That’s just for starters.
Nor is it only a matter of freedom of conscience apart from the First Amendment. From the law’s perspective, we cannot break a law in the name of conscience. Picture the chaos if we could! Our refuge is in our insistence on our Constitutional right to freedom of religion and freedom of speech.
Legal exemption
We shouldn’t allow the administration and the media to portray us as unreasonable because we’re inflexible about protecting our rights as Americans who also happen to be people with faith convictions. To toss us in the corner with the so-called “religious right” would be a caricature, that justifies dismissing us and our concerns. As Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan said in an interview with NCR’s Vatican correspondent John Allen, the bishops are not “Obama haters.”
We Catholic employers want to be left free to determine what insurance coverage we offer to our employees, who, by the way, work with us by their choice. The present administration has now mandated that we include coverage of what is repugnant to us. Who is imposing views and beliefs on whom? (See a superb op-ed column in USA Today by Richard Garnett of Notre Dame University.) As USCCB media relations director Sr. Mary Ann Walsh acidly remarked, “When you go to a Jewish deli, you are not expecting pork chops.”
The bishops point out that we will apply for a legal exemption if the federal government will not rescind the mandate. Ask President Obama: As a Constitutional law professor, he knows that this is routinely done. The latest one was the recent Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC case. In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court, basing itself on a legal doctrine known as the “ministerial exception,” recognized the right of religious organizations to hire and fire their clergy and other employees without government intrusion. Churches are exempt from these laws that apply in the secular workplace.
Civil discourse
We would be well advised not couch this in terms of “defending the Church,” even though we may take justifiable pride as we speak out on her behalf. Allowing ourselves to be put on the defensive is no way to arrive at truth and right. Besides, polemics are distasteful to many; look at voters’ attitude toward mudslinging in politics.
I don’t normally read comments to articles or blogs. I’ve made an exception here. Facebook also gives me a taste of how people are reacting. My sense as I read comments is that Catholics are tired of being pummeled in the arena. Some are spoiling for a fight. The temptation is to lash out in kind. I notice passion among believers, but most are avoiding the ignorant accusations and unjustified vitriol spewed by others who either misunderstand or disagree with the objections of people of faith. A helpful, almost cheery, insight in this regard can be found in the NCR interview I already mentioned. Timothy Dolan soberly acknowledged the tenuous nature of our current relationship with President Obama’s administration, but his basic message seemed to be: Debate, argue, protest, object, but for as long as we can, let’s not fight.
Saber rattling may be more romantic than non-violence, but if we can achieve the same results without verbal abuse, we’ll have a chance at becoming the disciples of Christ we claim to be. Let’s not stoop to the level of those who don’t know the meaning of respect. This is not a time to be “clever,” but faithful and responsible citizens.
Keeping it central
Fortuitously this firestorm didn’t originate with us; we’re responding to a federal mandate. If we can keep the controversy and its solutions on that level, either through legislation and/or a Supreme Court decision, a more unified and effective effort is likely. There’s strength in numbers. If it’s left to the states to decide, the “militant secularist” agenda (Harvard law professor Mary Ann Glendon’s description) will have a greater chance to prevail. No statewide conferences of Catholic bishops have the resources or prestige of the USCCB to mount a sustained opposition to violation after violation of First Amendment rights.
“We will therefore continue—with no less vigor, no less sense of urgency—our efforts to correct this problem through the other two branches of government. For example, we renew our call on Congress to pass, and the Administration to sign, the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act. And we renew our call to the Catholic faithful, and to all our fellow Americans, to join together in this effort to protect religious liberty and freedom of conscience for all” (USCCB statement of Feb. 10).
“Carpe diem”
How many people are actually concerned about this? Are we in fact the sleeping giant that one article described? At best, people worry about keeping their jobs and getting their kids through college. At worst, they’re apathetic. Religious liberty just isn’t on their radar screen. Sure, let the bishops worry about it; that’s their job.
One lesson we can draw from this is that, when organized and committed, we can make a difference. We don’t have to take what’s dished out to us. Taking our cue from the bishops and working with other organizations, churches, and congregations will give us a unified voice.
Another benefit, if we have the eyes to see is the opportunity to hold the kind of conversation we as a people need to have about the separation of Church and State and the religious presence in political life. It’s long overdue. In his article just published in America magazine, “Finding Common Ground: The opportunity in a painful moment,” Blase J. Cupich, the bishop of Spokane, WA, makes this very point. Not only could such a conversation bridge differences, but more fundamentally, it would help us to clarify for ourselves what it is that our freedoms are built on and to delineate the role of religion in the public arena.
“Keeping religion out of politics is an impossible condition. All political entities are either based upon faith-based religion or a secular religion, usually with the State or Leader as godhead. Removing faith-based religion ends up with a secular religion, and vice-versa....[P]olitics cannot escape the human condition. There will always be some form of religion in politics. Some form of balance between the two competing religious ideals must be achieved for a liberal society; any attempt to eradicate one or both will result in a totalitarian polity” (Micah Haber on Peter Redpath’s Facebook wall, 2/11/2012).
The call to conversion
In the coming election—in any election, for that matter—the economy is not the #1 factor to consider. Human life and all that supports its dignity comes first. We need to grow in our trust in God, as the money we handle reminds us. This means marshalling the creativity, energy, and resources we have at hand to better our human condition, knowing, however, that in the end, we put God’s law first. It means not being arrogant about what we’ve achieved, shedding the attitude of entitlement that makes us rebel against adversity or sacrifice. God does not owe us. The world does not owe us: If we have not obliterated global hunger and disease, or achieved world peace, or preserved the earth’s resources for future generations, then the world definitely does not owe us.
Prayer is essential if we are to maintain our priorities. If we want to succeed at changing anything, nothing can be done without the grace of God that comes through prayer and fasting, whether from food or from “following our own pursuits” as the prophet Isaiah put it. We may rightly feel that this is a David and Goliath undertaking, but that we’re consigned to simply watch from the sidelines. Nothing could be further from the truth. Can we take just a few minutes to send government a message? Now? Then keep abreast of events as they develop. And keep your friends informed! Without being “in their face,” share what you come across. Their openness may surprise you.
Click here in support of the bishops’ campaign urging Congress to pass the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act, H.R. 1179 and S. 1467.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Touchdown!
From Sr. Margaret
Touchdown!:
On Superbowl Sunday, like many other people here in Boston, the Daughters of St. Paul expected to watch the Patriots carry the ball to victory. Sr. Domenica and Sr. Margaret Timothy set up the visual and sound system in Cushing Hall, Sr. Martha prepared enough enchiladas for two Superbowls, while Sr. David helped her sister, Sr. Mark, to serve up her famous chili. Sr. Joan took up a collection in the community to buy the essential chips and guacamole. We even rearranged the afternoon schedule to accommodate the 6:30 kick-off. Some sisters came for the game, some for the food, and others, like Sister Bernadette, ’fessed up to coming for the commercials. (With at least some of us, ads with babies and polar bears scored high.)
Feb. 5 was also a special Sunday for Daughters of St. Paul the world over. We marked forty-eight years since our co-foundress, Venerable Mother Thecla Merlo (1894-1964) won her own personal victory and entered into eternal glory. Born in Castagnito, Italy, not far from Turin, she later collaborated with Blessed James Alberione in giving birth to not only the Daughters of St. Paul, but to the other three feminine congregations and secular branches of the Pauline Family. Before sending his men to the foreign missions, he sent them to her, to supply them with what she could for their immediate needs. With him she endured the privations, contradictions, and misunderstandings that seem to be the lot of founders. With him she praised God’s tender care and celebrated every step in the Family’s growth. She circled the globe four times, rejoicing in the good the God was doing in and through her Daughters, and urging them on to great holiness and great initiative in the mission. “It will do good” was her motivation for risking any initiative in that mission. For a glimpse of the early days of her story and ours click here to go to a blog post from last June.
I joined the Daughters only nine years after her death, and her spirit was very much alive within the walls of the novitiate house here. She was not only “Prima Maestra,” (“First Teacher”), a title that Fr. Alberione gave her and that every one of her Daughters acknowledged. Because of Sr. Paula Cordero’s leadership in the U.S., she was “Saintly Prima Maestra,” though no one would have addressed her that way to her face. The title reflected her priorities and her legacy.
As early as 1931 she had resolved to “seek only the glory of God, the Blessed Trinity, and peace to all people.” On the feast of the Blessed Trinity in 1961 she formalized it and included us in her gift to God by making an offering of her life “for the entire congregation of the Daughters of St. Paul so that everyone may become saints.” The following Christmas, she made her gift known to her sisters: “I write these things to you not only with the pen, but also with my heart. I wish you all to be saints: for this I have offered my life—for everyone, that we may achieve the holiness God wants of us.”
Nor were the Daughters her only concern! On a visit to the U.S. only 18 months before her death, she said to our community:
Prima Maestra Thecla loved everyone, but she was especially fond of the U.S. and grateful to the people here who had been generous with our communities all over the world. Americans supplied life’s necessities for them wherever they had been ravaged by the Second World War. Then they donated toward the construction of the Queen of Apostles Basilica in Rome—fulfillment of Fr. Alberione’s vow to Mary for having protected his Pauline sons and daughters. In 1955 Cardinal Cushing gave us permission to come to Boston so we could grow, and then throughout the fifties and sixties, sent personal contributions to Mother Thecla for the construction of our hospital outside Rome. The list goes on and on….
Now it seems to be payback time. Always a mother, always concerned about what worried her children, she still comes to the rescue, helping them to do what they can and picking up the slack when they can’t. Here are some testimonies:
“My daughter, Diane, had lupus. On June 29, 1987, Diane was rushed to the hospital, and they gave her only four hours to live. A heart specialist appeared and began working on her….Hours passed. As I stood there, helplessly leaning against the door, I began praying to Mother Thecla.
“The doctors pulled Diane through. After two months in the hospital she was able to return home. She later confided to me that she kept seeing three people near her bed—her grandmother, St. Anne, and a nun dressed in black. My daughter lived another ten years” (C.B., December 2008, paraphrased from a phone conversation).
“One morning when I awoke, I could hardly stand upright. I prayed to God and invoked Mother Thecla Merlo, asking that I be relieved of the sciatica long enough to celebrate the Mass. Within minutes the affliction passed off and I went to celebrate and preach.
“I returned home and within an hour the sciatica returned and ran its usual course” (J.D., MA).
If you would like a free prayer card and a medal of Mother Thecla, send me a self-addressed, stamped envelope at:
Sr. Margaret J. Obrovac, FSP
50 St. Paul’s Ave.
Boston, MA 02130
You can also ask to receive gratis our annual newsletter about Mother Thecla. Otherwise, you will not be placed on any mailing list.
“Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one” (1Cor. 9:25). Touchdown!
Touchdown!:
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| Coffee break's over, Sr. Mark. It's chili time! |
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| In front of the second FSP building to go up in Boston. Sr. Paula Cordero is second from left; M. Thecla is third from right. |
As early as 1931 she had resolved to “seek only the glory of God, the Blessed Trinity, and peace to all people.” On the feast of the Blessed Trinity in 1961 she formalized it and included us in her gift to God by making an offering of her life “for the entire congregation of the Daughters of St. Paul so that everyone may become saints.” The following Christmas, she made her gift known to her sisters: “I write these things to you not only with the pen, but also with my heart. I wish you all to be saints: for this I have offered my life—for everyone, that we may achieve the holiness God wants of us.”
Nor were the Daughters her only concern! On a visit to the U.S. only 18 months before her death, she said to our community:
“Do you want to be saints? Seriously—great saints. The Lord gives the graces for this. This nation needs saints, and I always ask the Lord to give saints to the United States....from among the Americans. So that no one can say, ‘Oh, these saints are imported,’ they must be from this place, from this place! The United States has a lot of things and has made a lot of progress, but it especially needs saints. Women and men saints, no? And when it has this, it will have everything. The Lord gives you the graces, rest assured. Keep up your courage, never get discouraged, always go forward, day by day taking up the cross….”
Now it seems to be payback time. Always a mother, always concerned about what worried her children, she still comes to the rescue, helping them to do what they can and picking up the slack when they can’t. Here are some testimonies:
“I have a prayer card that has to be years old. I started saying the prayer to Mother Thecla. About four months ago I made requests to lose weight. I lost 76 lbs. I prayed for my daughter, who has been an alcoholic and lately on drugs. She went into rehab within 2 weeks. She never went to church. Now she goes on Sunday and signed up her kids in a Christian academy. I prayed for my son-in-law to quit drinking. Four months later, he is in A.A. I prayed for my son’s back; it got well. A house on our street was on sale for two years. I put it on the prayer list. It sold two days later” (OH, August 2007).“You cannot believe the special favors received by people I’ve given Mother Thecla’s medal and prayer card to over the years. People who could not have children are now parents. Several who have cancer are doing well. People who lost jobs are now employed. Those who lost loved ones have found a purpose through her. I hope I will see the day when she is made a saint” (NJ, December 2006).
“My daughter, Diane, had lupus. On June 29, 1987, Diane was rushed to the hospital, and they gave her only four hours to live. A heart specialist appeared and began working on her….Hours passed. As I stood there, helplessly leaning against the door, I began praying to Mother Thecla.
“The doctors pulled Diane through. After two months in the hospital she was able to return home. She later confided to me that she kept seeing three people near her bed—her grandmother, St. Anne, and a nun dressed in black. My daughter lived another ten years” (C.B., December 2008, paraphrased from a phone conversation).
“I want to thank you so very much for sending me the prayer cards of Mother Thecla Merlo. I can’t begin to tell you the stories of favors and graces granted to all those who placed their trust in her. These were not only Catholics, but people of all religions.“I am a priest suffering from recurring sciatica, which at times almost incapacitates me.
“There was a man who knew he was dying and couldn’t accept it. After receiving the medal, he went back to work for a while, got his life in order, and was ready to accept his destiny. A woman is singing Mother Thecla’s praises after her cancer went into remission. I’m privileged to be able to spread the word about her graces and favors. I hope she becomes a saint during my lifetime...” (NJ, January 2010).
“One morning when I awoke, I could hardly stand upright. I prayed to God and invoked Mother Thecla Merlo, asking that I be relieved of the sciatica long enough to celebrate the Mass. Within minutes the affliction passed off and I went to celebrate and preach.
“I returned home and within an hour the sciatica returned and ran its usual course” (J.D., MA).
Sr. Margaret J. Obrovac, FSP
50 St. Paul’s Ave.
Boston, MA 02130
You can also ask to receive gratis our annual newsletter about Mother Thecla. Otherwise, you will not be placed on any mailing list.
“Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one” (1Cor. 9:25). Touchdown!
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
“Bye, Happy Nuns!”
by Sr. Margaret
“Bye, Happy Nuns!”:
What do you say when the firstborn in your brood of twelve tells you she wants to be a sister? John and Ruth Marsh of Bemus Point, NY, near Buffalo, were not at all surprised when 20-year-old Emily announced just that. She wanted to be a Daughter of St. Paul. Nine years before, she had confided to her mother, “I don’t think the married life is for me.” Apparently she wasn’t deterred by the rough and tumble that comes with a houseful of kids. Emily dated, but felt drawn to something different. Last week she told me simply, “I wanted to give my life to God, and in this place, in this congregation, I found the way to give my life totally.”
There aren’t any sisters living or serving near Bemus Point—population 364—so the kids’ exposure to religious life comes from reading lives of the saints. Emily’s first contact with a real live sister was FSP vocation director Sr. Margaret Michael Gillis, whom she met at a youth conference in 2000. Three years later she was introduced to our community when she visited our mother house in Boston for the weeklong St. Paul Summer Program. When you ask her what it was about this introduction that convinced her to keep walking with us along the road of her discernment, she smiles. “I saw the sisters praying with joy,” she recalls. “They had a relationship with Jesus. At table and at recreation they were very joyful and normal. That visit helped me to know Jesus and myself, what I wanted. I asked myself, Who is Jesus? What type of relationship do I have with Jesus? And after that I wanted more.”
Like life in a large family—“all boys except nine,” as John describes it—the religious life option was in the air Emily breathed. “When we talked about what they might do when they grew up,” Ruth says of her brood, “I listed things: doctor, janitor, religious. All of these were of equal worth.” John adds, “We had a priest who was good about suggesting to young people that they at least think about it. We just wanted them to work hard to reach their potential. It was important that we let her know it was OK.”
While John was raised Catholic, Ruth’s religious upbringing was more checkered. Her mother died when Ruth was on the threshold of adolescence, and the more her father told her she didn’t have to go to Mass, the more she went, “more out of rebellion than anything.” When she met her future husband at college, they both knew that a vibrant faith-life would mark whatever future they would make together.
As if housing and feeding a large family weren’t challenge enough, John and Ruth decided to tackle the demands of educating them at home. Ruth wryly confesses, “I guess I have an overconfidence problem.” Despite Ruth’s degree in education, they knew they would still have to work hard to build a close knit family. “We wanted to raise our children, says Ruth. “I had read that children spend 80 % of their time with their peers and 20% with their family, and I wanted that switched.” John points out that Blessed John Paul II reminded parents that they are “the primary educators of their children.” On his part, his small grocery store also factors into that project. Every one of his kids learns to work the register, scoop ice cream (I didn’t ask him which was the more coveted position), and clean up. John said that he was rifling through a pile of old clutter recently when he chanced upon a note that young Emily had penned: “Dear Daddy, I wonder if you could tell me ways to be a better employee.”
Ruth exclaims, “Emily was such an easy baby, she tricked us into thinking we wanted more!” Obviously they haven’t been disappointed by subsequent arrivals; in our conversation I didn’t hear either of them say, “Enough already!” They admit that everyday, anywhere they go, they get comments about the number of their offspring… “not always negative,” says Ruth. John claims it’s “a conversation starter,” and Ruth adds, “Yes, and in deciding to go out or not, I have to ask myself, Am I ready for the conversation today?”
Prayer is a vital part of her family’s life and of the contact the kids have with groups of other homeschoolers. You can imagine how hard it is to fit in even the most routine of prayer times in a household like this. John admits that sometimes they’re constrained to limit night prayer to the “power pack of an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be, especially during the summer.” This is when you know God takes the lead in the dialogue and keeps an ear cocked for the next time any of them checks in. He’s making their family a “school of prayer,” one that plants the seeds of whatever vocations spring up among them.
Being homeschooled prepared Emily to evangelize when at 16, she and a boy her age team-taught—and wowed—a religious education class in her parish. Today she’s able to articulate what she picked up from that experience and relate it to her current mission. Her two favorite aspects of this mission are direct contact with people and working now as co-children’s editor at Pauline Books & Media. “I really like it, because I think of the children reading our books and of this influence on their lives. I have eight sisters and three brothers, so this apostolate is very close to my heart!” Still, she’s not tied to any one ministry within the mission. “The apostolate is to communicate Jesus. I offer Jesus to this person [in what I do]. It doesn’t matter what work I do, because I can be in communication with Jesus.”
You would think that growing up with your own baseball team, it would be an easy slide into community. As inspiring as community living is to Emily, it’s also the most difficult aspect of religious life. Novitiate, the period of formation that culminates in the first profession of vows, “is a time to learn how to be myself and give myself, but this process is not comfortable!” What helped her rise to the challenge was “the belief that this is my place and also the belief that all the sisters are trying their best.” But will that be enough for her going forward? “We read a lot of beautiful things about this life. It is beautiful and can be. Then life happens, and what I read comes to mind. I had a hard time [initially] putting that together. But what helped me was the conviction that I belong in community and that I want to be in community even when it’s difficult.”
Mom and Dad had their own version of the Community Challenge. While Ruth didn’t feel it was “any more difficult than her going to school or getting married, when we took her to St. Louis,* that was the hardest part. I felt the need to communicate in some way: an e-mail or a letter. Then she told us we could call. I was glad, but I knew we shouldn’t be holding her back.”
Emily felt the separation too. “The youngest was four months old when I entered. It was hard to leave, because I wouldn’t see them growing up. But I find myself involved in their lives in ways I wouldn’t have been otherwise. For example, my brother James just got accepted into the seminary, so he shared that journey with me. Discernment has made us close, even though I don’t share his everyday life. It’s been a consolation that the relationship has still developed.”
I asked John and Ruth how they might explain such a decision and encourage such a life to parents who may be Christian, but who espouse a very different set of values and would never consider offering their flesh and blood to God in this way. They reflected a few moments and then tripped over each other to answer: “As parents, your goal is to raise a child to be an independent adult. You hope, too, that they’re happy and at peace with the life they choose. It’s hard to explain this kind of decision to someone who holds different values, because ultimately you have to give them back to God. The vow of poverty is a stumbling block for people without faith. They don’t realize that God takes care of you. Look around here. It’s warm, safe, and comfortable. And you have freedom from the worry that comes from excess.”
“Excess” is the operative word here. Worry about making ends meet is something we share with most of our contemporaries. The sister who pays the bills is just as bound by the vow and spirit of poverty as newly professed Sr. Emily Beata. But it’s the trust factor that’s important. Trust keeps us attentive to finances and things at our disposal, but it also keeps us from worrying ourselves sick. It comes from the faith-conviction that sees beyond the value of visible creation and its tangible goods and knows that the best is yet to come.
Maybe that’s what four-year-old Kenny intuited when he looked up at his sister on her profession day and beamed, “You’re a happy nun!” And then, just as he was leaving, he called out the sentiments of his family to the few who chanced being near, “Bye, happy nuns!”
______________
* For postulancy, or the first two years of formation
“Bye, Happy Nuns!”:
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| Sister Emily Beata Marsh pronounces her first vows, Jan. 28, 2012. |
There aren’t any sisters living or serving near Bemus Point—population 364—so the kids’ exposure to religious life comes from reading lives of the saints. Emily’s first contact with a real live sister was FSP vocation director Sr. Margaret Michael Gillis, whom she met at a youth conference in 2000. Three years later she was introduced to our community when she visited our mother house in Boston for the weeklong St. Paul Summer Program. When you ask her what it was about this introduction that convinced her to keep walking with us along the road of her discernment, she smiles. “I saw the sisters praying with joy,” she recalls. “They had a relationship with Jesus. At table and at recreation they were very joyful and normal. That visit helped me to know Jesus and myself, what I wanted. I asked myself, Who is Jesus? What type of relationship do I have with Jesus? And after that I wanted more.”
Like life in a large family—“all boys except nine,” as John describes it—the religious life option was in the air Emily breathed. “When we talked about what they might do when they grew up,” Ruth says of her brood, “I listed things: doctor, janitor, religious. All of these were of equal worth.” John adds, “We had a priest who was good about suggesting to young people that they at least think about it. We just wanted them to work hard to reach their potential. It was important that we let her know it was OK.”
While John was raised Catholic, Ruth’s religious upbringing was more checkered. Her mother died when Ruth was on the threshold of adolescence, and the more her father told her she didn’t have to go to Mass, the more she went, “more out of rebellion than anything.” When she met her future husband at college, they both knew that a vibrant faith-life would mark whatever future they would make together.
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| Youthful looking Ruth smiles at far left, and John proudly stands behind Sr. Emily. |
Ruth exclaims, “Emily was such an easy baby, she tricked us into thinking we wanted more!” Obviously they haven’t been disappointed by subsequent arrivals; in our conversation I didn’t hear either of them say, “Enough already!” They admit that everyday, anywhere they go, they get comments about the number of their offspring… “not always negative,” says Ruth. John claims it’s “a conversation starter,” and Ruth adds, “Yes, and in deciding to go out or not, I have to ask myself, Am I ready for the conversation today?”
 |
| Younger sister Molly cantors at the Sr. Emily's profession liturgy. Molly married last year. |
Being homeschooled prepared Emily to evangelize when at 16, she and a boy her age team-taught—and wowed—a religious education class in her parish. Today she’s able to articulate what she picked up from that experience and relate it to her current mission. Her two favorite aspects of this mission are direct contact with people and working now as co-children’s editor at Pauline Books & Media. “I really like it, because I think of the children reading our books and of this influence on their lives. I have eight sisters and three brothers, so this apostolate is very close to my heart!” Still, she’s not tied to any one ministry within the mission. “The apostolate is to communicate Jesus. I offer Jesus to this person [in what I do]. It doesn’t matter what work I do, because I can be in communication with Jesus.”
You would think that growing up with your own baseball team, it would be an easy slide into community. As inspiring as community living is to Emily, it’s also the most difficult aspect of religious life. Novitiate, the period of formation that culminates in the first profession of vows, “is a time to learn how to be myself and give myself, but this process is not comfortable!” What helped her rise to the challenge was “the belief that this is my place and also the belief that all the sisters are trying their best.” But will that be enough for her going forward? “We read a lot of beautiful things about this life. It is beautiful and can be. Then life happens, and what I read comes to mind. I had a hard time [initially] putting that together. But what helped me was the conviction that I belong in community and that I want to be in community even when it’s difficult.”
Mom and Dad had their own version of the Community Challenge. While Ruth didn’t feel it was “any more difficult than her going to school or getting married, when we took her to St. Louis,* that was the hardest part. I felt the need to communicate in some way: an e-mail or a letter. Then she told us we could call. I was glad, but I knew we shouldn’t be holding her back.”
Emily felt the separation too. “The youngest was four months old when I entered. It was hard to leave, because I wouldn’t see them growing up. But I find myself involved in their lives in ways I wouldn’t have been otherwise. For example, my brother James just got accepted into the seminary, so he shared that journey with me. Discernment has made us close, even though I don’t share his everyday life. It’s been a consolation that the relationship has still developed.”
 |
| Co-novice Sylwia Skonieczna returned to Poland where she will profess her vows on Feb. 5. Novice director Sr. Carmen Christi Pompei rejoices in both of them. |
“Excess” is the operative word here. Worry about making ends meet is something we share with most of our contemporaries. The sister who pays the bills is just as bound by the vow and spirit of poverty as newly professed Sr. Emily Beata. But it’s the trust factor that’s important. Trust keeps us attentive to finances and things at our disposal, but it also keeps us from worrying ourselves sick. It comes from the faith-conviction that sees beyond the value of visible creation and its tangible goods and knows that the best is yet to come.
______________
* For postulancy, or the first two years of formation
Pope's Prayer Intentions Holy Father’s Prayer Intentions for February 2012
GENERAL INTENTION: Access to Water. That all peoples may have access to water and other resources needed for daily life.
MISSION INTENTION: Health Workers. That the Lord may sustain the efforts of health workers assisting the sick and elderly in the world’s poorest regions.
MISSION INTENTION: Health Workers. That the Lord may sustain the efforts of health workers assisting the sick and elderly in the world’s poorest regions.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Conscience "Claws"
From Sr. Margaret
Conscience "Claws":
It’s official: Last Friday, Kathleen Sibelius, secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced the administration’s decision to require almost all religious institutions that provide employee health insurance to now include coverage for contraception, sterilization, and abortion, regardless of that institution’s objection on the basis of conscience. Coming as it does two days shy of the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, which legalized abortion on demand, we would be forgiven if we felt a deliberate slap in the face, especially given Sibelius’s public history of contempt for Catholic and religious sensibilities on the issue.
What this means is that Catholic hospitals, universities, diocesan services, and other institutions that have not performed these procedures or paid for them to be done must now see to it that their employees—those who carry out the mission of organizations—have access to the procedures, even though compliance to this requirement flies in the face of everything that institution stands for. This also means that anyone paying premiums to such insurers would be supporting these “services,” whether they ever use them or not.
The U.S. bishops are protesting and urging us to join them. “US bishops rally Catholics to fight Obama abortifacient birth control mandate,” an article on LifeSiteNews.com, reports that “the mandate’s current conscience clause, according to U.S. bishops, amounts to little more than a fig leaf: the clause would only allow an opt-out for religious employers who employ and serve solely members of their own religion.
“Health and Human Services must think Catholics and other religious groups are fools,” USCCB Communications Director Sr. Mary Ann Walsh wrote….“HHS’s reg[ulation] conveniently ignores the underlying principle of Catholic charitable actions: we help people because we are Catholic, not because our clients are.”
In a slightly different take in his latest column in The Tidings, L.A.’s Archbishop José Gómez reports “solely” as “primarily” and adds that the organization must exist to teach religious values. No doubt this will be clarified for us in the next several months, since organizations have a year to comply. Says Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York, and President of the USCCB, “In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences” (Reported in LifeSite News.com, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012). In the video below he highlights the watershed character of this decision: “Never before has the federal government forced individuals and organizations to go out into the marketplace and buy a product that violates their conscience.”
(For this and related information, go to Web site of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.)
Pregnancy is not a disease. Even if it were, prevention would be optional and its cure would constitute elective surgery; coverage for any of this is not mandatory. The insured and their employers are not to be forced to choose between foregoing insurance or abandoning conscience to pay for this. As with all other social ills, it will be our nation’s 46.2 million poor who will suffer most.
Think this is a Catholic question? The LifeSiteNews.com article cites the National Association of Evangelicals warning against the “dangerous precedent,” set by this ruling. If upheld, it would not be surprising to see it applied to other issues: euthanasia, genetic manipulation, embryonic experimentation, redefinition of marriage, military draft for wars of aggression, and all the social evils that derive from them, including educating youth in the “party line” in our schools. Sectarian schools would not be exempt.
In his address last week to several U.S. bishops making their “ad limina” visit in Rome, Benedict XVI noted this disregard for conscience when Catholic “cooperation in intrinsically evil practices” is mandated by our government. It is symptomatic of what he described as “a worrying tendency to reduce religious freedom to mere freedom of worship without guarantees of respect for freedom of conscience.”
Coincidentally, last night, while many Americans listened to the president’s State of the Union address, I was watching, for the umpteenth time, A Man for All Seasons. What Thomas More said about statesmen applies to us all: When citizens “forsake their own private conscience for the sake of their public duties, they lead their country by a short route to chaos.” For this reason, Pope Benedict told the bishops that their primary task in the current climate is the preparation of “an engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity endowed with a strong critical sense vis-à-vis the dominant culture and with the courage to counter a reductive secularism” that tries to exclude Catholic participation “in public debate about the issues which are determining the future of American society.”
So what can you and I do?
1. Besides sharing this blog article, share reputable sources of information: Web sites, blogs, news channels of every medium. (See Additional Resources below.)
2. A bill to implement adequate conscience protections, the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act has stagnated in Congress for the past year. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston, is urging passage of the bill, and the USCCB is asking Catholics to contact their representatives in Congress in support of it. Click here.
3. Pray. Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, a unique commemoration in the Church Year, an indication of its influence and impact over the ages...and of its relevance today. We can entrust the change of our culture to his powerful prayers to God.
Additional Resources
“ObamaCare and Religious Freedom,” by Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan in the Wall Street Journal
“A Time for Catholic Action and Catholic Voices,” by Archbishop José Gómez, in The Tidings Online Catholics for the Common Good www.ccgaction.org, a lay apostolate for the evangelization of culture
Chiaroscuro Foundation www.chiaroscurofnd.org, providing alternatives to abortion and promoting religious liberty
Association of Pauline Cooperators, http://daughtersofstpaul.com/PaulineCooperators witnessing to Jesus Christ, Way, Truth and Life, through the use of the media of social communication.
Conscience "Claws":
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| Photo: Courtesy of Ann Nicolosi-Foose |
What this means is that Catholic hospitals, universities, diocesan services, and other institutions that have not performed these procedures or paid for them to be done must now see to it that their employees—those who carry out the mission of organizations—have access to the procedures, even though compliance to this requirement flies in the face of everything that institution stands for. This also means that anyone paying premiums to such insurers would be supporting these “services,” whether they ever use them or not.
The U.S. bishops are protesting and urging us to join them. “US bishops rally Catholics to fight Obama abortifacient birth control mandate,” an article on LifeSiteNews.com, reports that “the mandate’s current conscience clause, according to U.S. bishops, amounts to little more than a fig leaf: the clause would only allow an opt-out for religious employers who employ and serve solely members of their own religion.
“Health and Human Services must think Catholics and other religious groups are fools,” USCCB Communications Director Sr. Mary Ann Walsh wrote….“HHS’s reg[ulation] conveniently ignores the underlying principle of Catholic charitable actions: we help people because we are Catholic, not because our clients are.”
In a slightly different take in his latest column in The Tidings, L.A.’s Archbishop José Gómez reports “solely” as “primarily” and adds that the organization must exist to teach religious values. No doubt this will be clarified for us in the next several months, since organizations have a year to comply. Says Timothy M. Dolan, Archbishop of New York, and President of the USCCB, “In effect, the president is saying we have a year to figure out how to violate our consciences” (Reported in LifeSite News.com, Friday, Jan. 20, 2012). In the video below he highlights the watershed character of this decision: “Never before has the federal government forced individuals and organizations to go out into the marketplace and buy a product that violates their conscience.”
(For this and related information, go to Web site of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.)
Pregnancy is not a disease. Even if it were, prevention would be optional and its cure would constitute elective surgery; coverage for any of this is not mandatory. The insured and their employers are not to be forced to choose between foregoing insurance or abandoning conscience to pay for this. As with all other social ills, it will be our nation’s 46.2 million poor who will suffer most.
Think this is a Catholic question? The LifeSiteNews.com article cites the National Association of Evangelicals warning against the “dangerous precedent,” set by this ruling. If upheld, it would not be surprising to see it applied to other issues: euthanasia, genetic manipulation, embryonic experimentation, redefinition of marriage, military draft for wars of aggression, and all the social evils that derive from them, including educating youth in the “party line” in our schools. Sectarian schools would not be exempt.
In his address last week to several U.S. bishops making their “ad limina” visit in Rome, Benedict XVI noted this disregard for conscience when Catholic “cooperation in intrinsically evil practices” is mandated by our government. It is symptomatic of what he described as “a worrying tendency to reduce religious freedom to mere freedom of worship without guarantees of respect for freedom of conscience.”
So what can you and I do?
1. Besides sharing this blog article, share reputable sources of information: Web sites, blogs, news channels of every medium. (See Additional Resources below.)
2. A bill to implement adequate conscience protections, the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act has stagnated in Congress for the past year. Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston, is urging passage of the bill, and the USCCB is asking Catholics to contact their representatives in Congress in support of it. Click here.
3. Pray. Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, a unique commemoration in the Church Year, an indication of its influence and impact over the ages...and of its relevance today. We can entrust the change of our culture to his powerful prayers to God.
Additional Resources
“ObamaCare and Religious Freedom,” by Cardinal-designate Timothy Dolan in the Wall Street Journal
“A Time for Catholic Action and Catholic Voices,” by Archbishop José Gómez, in The Tidings Online Catholics for the Common Good www.ccgaction.org, a lay apostolate for the evangelization of culture
Chiaroscuro Foundation www.chiaroscurofnd.org, providing alternatives to abortion and promoting religious liberty
Association of Pauline Cooperators, http://daughtersofstpaul.com/PaulineCooperators witnessing to Jesus Christ, Way, Truth and Life, through the use of the media of social communication.
Light from Heaven
From Sr. Anne
Light from Heaven:
We usually conclude our evening prayer with a reading from our "Pauline calendar" for the following day: a thought from the Founder, a listing of any foundation anniversaries on that day, and a prayer for the deceased members of the Pauline Family (we actually have the names of each person listed on their anniversary of death). The feasts of St. Paul are almost always marked by an enormous list of foundations. Even here in Chicago, the first Mass celebrated in our community chapel was held on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul in 1980. (I was here for the occasion! A few of us drove over from St. Louis to help get things in order.)
The Feast of the Conversion is always a good reminder of how God can surprise us with a greater truth than we had been cherishing, and call us back to the right path when we thought we were already on it. Paul's conversion was that kind. Not a change-of-religion conversion, but a the-religion-you-believe-in-is-bigger-than-you-think conversion; even though at first there was the intellectual component to it, the information that "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," the real point of that meeting on the road to Damascus was to win Paul's heart. As zealous as he was for "the Law," his ardor became love for a person, Jesus, and for every other person whom he now would see as a "brother for whom Christ died."
That conversion is probably the most urgent grace to ask for every member of the Church in these very challenging times.
Light from Heaven:
The Feast of the Conversion is always a good reminder of how God can surprise us with a greater truth than we had been cherishing, and call us back to the right path when we thought we were already on it. Paul's conversion was that kind. Not a change-of-religion conversion, but a the-religion-you-believe-in-is-bigger-than-you-think conversion; even though at first there was the intellectual component to it, the information that "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," the real point of that meeting on the road to Damascus was to win Paul's heart. As zealous as he was for "the Law," his ardor became love for a person, Jesus, and for every other person whom he now would see as a "brother for whom Christ died."
That conversion is probably the most urgent grace to ask for every member of the Church in these very challenging times.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Jesus without Religion?
From Sr. Anne
Jesus without Religion?: The social media phenomena of the week has been a YouTube by an ardent, but poorly instructed (and biblically illiterate) young adult fundamentalist. His rap video, which is technically superb, hit such a nerve that it has been viewed almost 20,000,000 times, hitting the top of even YouTube's charts. But his belief that an individual can have a complete relationship with Jesus while avoiding the limitations and commitment of a "religion" (especially since many of his negative references to "religion" are clearly directed to the Catholic Church) led to a proliferation of rebuttals, usually in rap form, some of them also very well done.
Here's an example, put out by Spirit Juice Studios, the Chicago team that is working on our documentary project:
Naturally, it would be great if you could "like" or "+1" this video to give it higher relief, and help the fuller picture of Jesus and religion get some attention!
Jesus without Religion?: The social media phenomena of the week has been a YouTube by an ardent, but poorly instructed (and biblically illiterate) young adult fundamentalist. His rap video, which is technically superb, hit such a nerve that it has been viewed almost 20,000,000 times, hitting the top of even YouTube's charts. But his belief that an individual can have a complete relationship with Jesus while avoiding the limitations and commitment of a "religion" (especially since many of his negative references to "religion" are clearly directed to the Catholic Church) led to a proliferation of rebuttals, usually in rap form, some of them also very well done.
Here's an example, put out by Spirit Juice Studios, the Chicago team that is working on our documentary project:
Naturally, it would be great if you could "like" or "+1" this video to give it higher relief, and help the fuller picture of Jesus and religion get some attention!
Monday, January 16, 2012
Appeal to authorities for Chinese New Year: release of three bishops and of six priests who have disappeared
From Father Z's blog
We should all pray the faithful in China.
Appeal to authorities for Chinese New Year: release of three bishops and of six priests who have disappeared:
Appeal to authorities for Chinese New Year: release of three bishops and of six priests who have disappeared:
I hope other bloggers will pick this up and share it with their own readers.
Perhaps after reading this you could stop for a moment and say a Memorare for the missing priests and bishops as well as for the softening of the hearts of the authorities who have them (hopefully alive) in custody.
From AsiaNews:
Appeal: Bishops and priests disappeared or in prison, home for the Chinese New Year
by Bernardo CervelleraDuring the Year of the Dragon, AsiaNews asks President Hu Jintao and ambassador Ding Wei for the release of three bishops and six Chinese priests who have disappeared in police custody or are in forced labour camps.
Rome (AsiaNews) – In a letter to President Hu Jintao and the Chinese ambassador in Italy, AsiaNews has decided to ask for the release of three bishops and of six priests who have disappeared in police custody or are detained in prison without trial. Their release could be a gesture of friendship and hope for Catholics and human rights activists, as well as a sign of true hope for the upcoming Chinese New Year.
In just a few days, on January 23, the world of the Far East celebrates the Lunar New Year: we will enter the Year of the Dragon, a very positive year that promises many fruits. In China, hundreds of millions of people will travel to join their families: the dawn of the New Year is always celebrated by strengthening the bonds of family and friendships which help to face the future with an even more positive outlook.
For this reason, we ask that for these three bishops and six priests to be restored to their families and their communities.
They were never charged with any crime; given the opportunity of a trial or convicted by a court. And yet they have been interred in forced labour camps or were seized by the police of a country that is a member of the UN Security Council and that has signed the Charter of Human Rights.
[...]
Read the rest there.
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