August 25, 2022 • Newspaper of the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis
Averie Trzebiatowski, who will be a first-grader at St. Stephen’s Catholic School in Anoka, eats a cookie she decorated Aug. 19 with the help of Faith Ford, right, the school’s new food service director and professional chef. Trzebiatowski and three other students at St. Stephen’s were invited to try out an activity Ford has planned for the school’s open house Aug. 31, in which all students will have their chance to decorate — and eat — cookies, along with their siblings and parents. “Baking is my thing,” said Ford, who won the Star Tribune newspaper’s Holiday Cookie Contest in 2008.
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT CATECHISTS’ CALLING 5 | SEASON OF CREATION 6 | MINNESOTA SCHOOL CHOICE 10-11 STEWARD OF STATE FAIR 12 | FAITH AND THE FAMILY SCHEDULE 14 | WHY I AM CATHOLIC 18 School, sweet school Teachers, students get a fun foretaste of the upcoming year
The Cathedral Heritage Foundation is spearheading the creation of a new virtual tour of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. The tour will feature voiceovers in several languages, and the foundation is seeking native speakers of Chinese, Japanese, Ukrainian and Italian to assist with the project. Compensation will be provided. For more information, contact Carolyn Will at cwcommunicationS info or 612-414-9661. “We are excited to give our virtual visitors a new experience,” the foundation shared on Twitter Aug. 22.
On the Aug. 19 “Practicing Catholic” radio show, host Patrick Conley interviews Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis, who discusses the importance of faith formation for young people and adults. The latest show also includes interviews with Meggie Langlois, Catechesis of the Good Shepherd teacher and trainer and faculty member at St. Agnes in St. Paul, who describes how the catechesis program draws children into the faith; and a reprised interview from September 2021 with Emily Abe, who describes her conversion to the Catholic faith and how digital media and graphic design can serve the new evangelization. Find interviews after they have aired at PracticingcatholicShow com or anchor fm/Practicing catholic Show with links to podcasting platforms.
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT JESUIT VOWS
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Cardinal Charles Bo of Myanmar, president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, in his address at the opening of the federation’s golden jubilee celebrations Aug. 22. The jubilee programs will conclude Oct. 30, with a two-week FABC gathering in Bangkok.
The Church under the present pope has proactively initiated changes. Pope Francis’ three documents have given to the Asian Church and the world a road map in right relationships: ‘Evangelii Gaudium’ guided us in our relationship with God; ‘Laudato Si’’ charted a course in our relationship with God’s creation; and ‘Fratelli Tutti’ enlightens us on the relationship with one another.
His work has included “portraits, glass mosaic, wood carvings, pencil drawing, watercolor, parallels, layered paper sculptured art, acrylics, abstracts and murals,” the website said. Learn more at mary org and ccaldwellfineartS com Due to Labor Day, there’s three weeks (not the usual two) between this issue of The Catholic Spirit and the next. Look for the newspaper Sept. 15, and thanks for reading!
The Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis is exhibiting the work of Twin Cities artist Charles Caldwell Sept. 1-Oct. 30, with an artist reception 1 p.m. Sept. 18. According to his website, Caldwell “celebrates the African American experience as a universal story of everyman, exploring the wonder, sorrows and joys of life in every portrait.”
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
With Ukrainian Independence Day Aug. 24 falling on a weekday, Father Ivan Shkumbatyuk, pastor of St. Constantine Ukrainian Catholic Church in Minneapolis, suggested celebrating at the parish Aug. 21, following a special Sunday liturgy. A group of parishioners made traditional Ukrainian food, including desserts, served in the church fellowship hall. Parishioners and guests made freewill offerings. Money raised is being donated to Prosthetics for Ukrainians, a project of the Minneapolisbased Protez Foundation, which helps Ukrainian soldiers, children and other civilians who lost limbs during the war obtain free prosthetics in the U.S. The parish did not disclose the amount raised.
From left, Kyle Vieth, Brian Martindale, Austin Kleman, Patrick Fenner and Brennan Dour stand with their newly-received crosses during their first vows profession Mass for the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) Aug. 13 at St. Thomas More in St. Paul. At the end of Mass, the five men were commissioned to serve in the Jesuits’ USA Midwest Province. The province’s novitiate is next to St. Thomas More, a parish in the care of Jesuit priests.
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THEFT PREVENTION Ahmed Abdullahi sprays the catalytic converter of a car driven by Nelson Lopez Pizarro of Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Paul Aug. 22 during a Catalytic Converter Clinic offered by the St. Paul Police Department at the parish. The department has been putting on the clinics at large and small venues since 2021 in an effort to deter the theft of catalytic converters, which has been a significant problem in the Twin Cities and across the country. The department also offered a second service at the clinic — replacing standard bolts on license plates with those requiring a special bit to remove, which deters theft of plates. Abdullahi is part of a crew of young people training to become police officers in a program called Law Enforcement Career Pathway Academy. Also in the program is Claudia Lopez, right, who served as a translator for drivers who speak Spanish. A total of 65 vehicles were serviced at Our Lady of Guadalupe, the first Catholic church hosting a clinic, according to Commander Pamela Barragan, who supervised the crew. The combined total of vehicles serviced so far at the clinics is about 8,000.
Father Daniel Griffith was installed as pastor and rector of the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis during a Mass Aug. 13 at the Basilica, with Archbishop Bernard Hebda and Bishop Joseph Williams concelebrating. Father Griffith, who previously served as pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes in Minneapolis, becomes the 12th priest to serve in these roles at the Basilica. He replaces Father John Bauer, who came on board in 2007 as co-pastor with Father Michael O’Connell, later became pastor and rector, and now serves as pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes.
Materials credited to CNS copyrighted by Catholic News Service. All other materials copyrighted by The Catholic Spirit Newspaper. Subscriptions: $29.95 per year; Senior 1-year: $24.95. To subscribe: (651) 291-4444: Display Advertising: (651) 291-4444; Classified Advertising: (651) 290-1631. Published semi-monthly by the Office of Communications, Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, 777 Forest St., St. Paul, MN 55106-3857 • (651) 291-4444, FAX (651) 291-4460. Periodicals postage paid at St. Paul, MN, and additional post offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Catholic Spirit, 777 Forest St., St. Paul, MN 55106-3857. TheCatholicSpirit.com • email: tcssubscriptions@archspm.org • USPS #093-580 The Catholic Spirit is published semi-monthly for The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis Vol. 27 — No. 16 MOST REVEREND BERNARD A. HEBDA, Publisher TOM HALDEN, Associate Publisher MARIA C. WIERING, Editor-in-Chief JOE RUFF, News Editor 2 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT AUGUST 25 , 2022 NEWS notes
Archbishop Bernard Hebda has announced the following appointments in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis: Effective August 16, 2022 Reverend Austin Litke, OP, assigned as Confessor and Adjunct Spiritual Director of The Saint Paul Seminary and as faculty for The Department of Catholic Studies at the University of Saint Thomas in Saint Paul. Father Litke is a priest of the Order of Preachers, Province of Saint Joseph. Deacon Michael Nevin, assigned as permanent deacon to the Church of Saint John the Baptist in Excelsior. This is a transfer from his previous assignment at the Church of the Holy Family in Saint Louis Park.
It is just as true today as it was generations ago, that each person is deserving of fair wages, safe working conditions and access to reasonable benefits as the fruit of one’s labor.
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Though my mother probably never heard of Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical on the Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor (“Rerum Novarum,” 1891) her conscience most certainly reflected this watershed teaching of the Catholic Church. Since Leo XIII, the successors of Peter have marked the anniversaries of “Rerum Novarum” with additional teachings on the dignity of the human person and the dignity of labor. These teachings were not to favor any one economic system; rather, the purpose was to use the truths of our faith as the lens through which to address all economic systems. As a pair of glasses, the first of two fundamental principles is the inviolable worth of each child of God, without exception, from the moment of conception until the moment of death. The second is the intrinsic value of work as an essential component to understanding how we are created in the image of God. These central themes are echoed in the sacred Scriptures, particularly in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To mark the 90th anniversary of “Rerum Novarum,” Pope St. John Paul II issued an encyclical titled “Laborem exercens” (Through work). In this document is an important teaching on the distinction between “work” — the labor that contributes to the individual and common good, and “toil” — the labor of the desperate and the oppressed. In our own nation, there has been much improvement in the ways laborers are treated. “Rerum Novarum” had a significant influence on the labor unions in the United States. Whether we are owners, managers or part of the work force, we do have civil rights that were unheard of a century ago. Today we still have complicated issues around labor. The difficulties for women and people of color still challenge us whether it is a “glass ceiling” or a “downward hand of mobility.” It is just as true today as it was generations ago, that each person is deserving of fair wages, safe working conditions and access to reasonable benefits as the fruit of one’s labor. Many of the ills in American society are a direct result of the vicious cycles of poverty, where too many people do not have much hope they can improve their lives. One of the more devastating economic realities is the whole notion of the “working poor,” where laborers who work full-time cannot afford medical care and whose families are still dependent on public assistance to survive.
As we honor the national celebration of Labor Day coinciding with the end of the summer season and the return to school, a quality education is still one of the ways to move upwards in the American economy. For generations, our Catholic schools have provided this education for the children of immigrants, migrants and those in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. We are a better and a stronger nation when we ourselves are “schooled” in the fundamental teachings of our Church on the dignity of the human person and the intrinsic value of work as one of the ways we are created in the image of God.
La delbellezatrabajo M i madre, Dios descanse su alma, siempre esperaba con ansias el Día del Trabajo. Por lo general, era cerca del nacimiento de la Santísima Virgen María el 8 de septiembre y el cumpleaños de mi madre el 7 de septiembre. Pero lo que mi madre más esperaba del Día del Trabajo era que poco después sus hijos regresarían a la escuela. Mi madre siempre consideró que el comienzo de clases era su mejor regalo de cumpleaños.Sinembargo, mi madre fue un ejemplo de apoyar a los trabajadores, como mi padre, Dios descanse su alma, para que los salarios, los beneficios y el trabajo significativo que contribuyera al bien común estuvieran protegidos durante aquellos tiempos en los que demasiados líderes corporativos anteponían las ganancias a las personas. Como huérfana, mi madre sintió en su corazón la difícil situación de los menos afortunados. Creo que éramos la única familia en el barrio que boicoteó las lechugas y las uvas hasta que hubo mejoras en las condiciones que trajeron mucha injusticia a los trabajadores migrantes. Aunque mi madre probablemente nunca escuchó de la encíclica del Papa León XIII sobre los Derechos y Deberes del Capital y el Trabajo (“Rerum Novarum”, 1891), su conciencia ciertamente reflejó esta enseñanza decisiva de la Iglesia Católica. Desde León XIII, los sucesores de Pedro han marcado los aniversarios de la “Rerum Novarum” con enseñanzas adicionales sobre la dignidad de la persona humana y la dignidad del trabajo. Estas enseñanzas no debían favorecer a ningún sistema económico; más bien, el propósito era usar las verdades de nuestra fe como el lente a través del cual abordar todos los sistemas económicos. Como un par de gafas, el primero de dos principios fundamentales es el valor inviolable de cada hijo de Dios, sin excepción, desde el momento de la concepción hasta el momento de la muerte. El segundo es el valor intrínseco del trabajo como componente esencial para comprender cómo somos creados a imagen de Dios. Estos temas centrales tienen eco en las Sagradas Escrituras, particularmente en el Evangelio de Jesucristo. Para conmemorar el 90 aniversario de la “Rerum Novarum”, el Papa San Juan Pablo II emitió una encíclica titulada “Laborem exercens” (A través del trabajo). En este documento hay una enseñanza importante sobre la distinción entre “trabajo” — el trabajo que contribuye al bien individual y común, y “faena” — el trabajo de los desesperados y los oprimidos. En nuestra propia nación, ha habido muchas mejoras en la forma en que se trata a los trabajadores. “Rerum Novarum” tuvo una influencia significativa en los sindicatos de los Estados Unidos. Ya seamos propietarios, gerentes o parte de la fuerza laboral, tenemos derechos civiles que no se conocían hace un siglo. Hoy todavía tenemos temas complicados en torno al trabajo. Las dificultades para las mujeres y las personas de color todavía nos desafían, ya sea un “techo de cristal” o una “mano de movilidad hacia abajo”. Es tan cierto hoy como lo fue generaciones atrás, que cada persona merece salarios justos, condiciones de trabajo seguras y acceso a beneficios razonables como fruto de su trabajo. Muchos de los males de la sociedad estadounidense son el resultado directo de los círculos viciosos de la pobreza, donde demasiadas personas no tienen muchas esperanzas de poder mejorar sus vidas. Una de las realidades económicas más devastadoras es toda la noción de los “trabajadores pobres”, donde los trabajadores que trabajan a tiempo completo no pueden pagar la atención médica y cuyas familias aún dependen de la asistencia pública para sobrevivir.Mientras honramos la celebración nacional del Día del Trabajo coincidiendo con el final de la temporada de verano y el regreso a la escuela, una educación de calidad sigue siendo una de las formas de avanzar en la economía estadounidense.
Durante generaciones, nuestras escuelas católicas han brindado esta educación a los hijos de inmigrantes, migrantes y aquellos en vecindarios económicamente desfavorecidos. Somos una nación mejor y más fuerte cuando nosotros mismos somos “instruidos” en las enseñanzas fundamentales de nuestra Iglesia sobre la dignidad de la persona humana y el valor intrínseco del trabajo como una de las formas en que somos creados a imagen de Dios.
OFFICIAL AUGUST 25, 2022 THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 3
The beauty of work ONLY JESUS | FATHER CHARLES LACHOWITZER FROMTHEMODERATOROF THECURIA
M y mother, God rest her soul, always looked forward to Labor Day. It was usually near the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Sept. 8 and my mother’s birthday on Sept. 7. But what my mother most looked forward to about Labor Day was that soon thereafter her children would be back in school. My mother always considered the start of school to be her best birthdayNonetheless,present.my mother was an example of supporting laborers, like my father, God rest his soul, so that wages, benefits and meaningful work that contributed to the common good were protected during those times when one too many corporate leaders put profit ahead of people. As an orphan, my mother felt in her heart the plight of the less fortunate. I think we were the only family in the neighborhood that boycotted lettuce and grapes until there were improvements in the conditions that brought much injustice to migrant workers.
carvingCandle Dwight Ettel of St. Joseph in New Hope works Aug. 17 on a candle for his brother, Crosier Father Dale Ettel, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. The celebration was scheduled for Aug. 24 at the Crosiers’ residence in Onamia. Dwight, who was in the order from 1990 to 1995, carves candles with woodworking tools, then uses a special paint that adheres to wax. He learned the art in 1990 from St. Joseph of Carondelet Sister Gerrie Lane, and said he has made “hundreds” of candles since then. He asked his brother if he would like to receive a candle for his 40th jubilee, and went to work after getting a yes. “It’s something personal,” said Dwight, 58, of the opportunity to carve the Crosier order cross on a candle for his brother. “It’s a chance to give of myself in a way that reinforces the symbolism of what he’s embraced already. … I know he’ll like it. So, that makes me feel good.”
With a permanent endowment, you can leave a legacy that reflects your Catholic faith and supports your beloved parish and its ministries forever. Learn more about the power of endowment. Call 651.389.0300 or visit ccf-mn.org Give the gift of forever. Catholic FOUNDATIONCommunityOFMINNESOTA semssp.org/icsl • 651-962-5785 One AffordableYearFlexible Preparing Catholic School Leaders with Faith and Excellence A Graduate Leadership Program Forming the Heart, Mind, and Soul. Join a mission-driven community that cultivates spiritual and academic excellence. Gain skills to create vibrant Catholic Schools. Le A rn More At our web S ite tod Ay SLICEof LIFE DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
4 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT AUGUST 25, 2022 LOCAL
By Maria Wiering The Catholic Spirit Standing alongside a banner reading “Dignity Not Detention” Aug. 9, Archbishop Bernard Hebda said that despite the world’s moral complexities, “any time that there is a policy or law that has such a detrimental effect upon families, that it’s wrong.” Speaking near the end of an hourlong vigil that began at 7:30 a.m. outside the Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis to raise awareness about the plight of undocumented immigrants living in the United States, he pointed to “Unlocking the Gate in Our Hearts,” a statement the Minnesota Conference of Catholic Bishops published in 2012: “it is also true that laws that undermine human dignity, separate families and which prevent the exercise of basic human rights are unjust laws in need of reform. Good laws should not and need not exclude the possibility of mercy.” “Brothers and sisters, we need to stand for that mercy as best we’re able to do that,” the archbishop said.
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Sacred Heart Church Fall Festival/ Kermesse del Sagrado Corazon Sunday, September 10, 2017 10 de Septiembre, 2017 East Sixth & Arcade Streets 10:00 am to 4:00 pm Authentic Mexican food & American food Comida Mexicana y Americana music, dancers, children & adult games, jewelry sale, pull tabs, raffle & more. Musica, danzas, mago, juegos para ninos y adultos HUGE GARAGE SALE
“It will make a world of difference in our ministry,” she said. Avila will be one of two keynote speakers Sept. 17 at a first-ever St. Paul Discipleship Formation Day for parish volunteers in faith formation, sacramental preparation and youth ministry. Parish staff involved in these programs and parents also are invited.
awillSteubenvilleUniversityinstitutecatecheticalatFranciscanofinOhio,discusshowbeingcatechistismorethan just having one more job in life, organizers said. It is in itself a vocation, a calling from Christ. Held at NET Ministries’ headquarters, the event will include Mass celebrated by Archbishop Bernard Hebda, training for catechists, encouragement, appreciation and prayer, said Eric Pederson, director of the Department of Parish Catechesis in the Office for the Mission of Catholic Education.Pederson said he and Bill Dill, marriage preparation and youth ministry events coordinator in the archdiocese’s Office of Marriage, Family and Life, had talked about holding such an event for several years. He said it is important to assist the nearly 2,700 volunteer catechists in the archdiocese, who last year served an estimated 26,862 young people in 108 parish-based catechetical programs.
First-ever discipleship formation day planned for catechists at NET Center Sept. 17 u St. Paul Discipleship Formation Day 9 a.m.–5 p.m. Sept. 17 uNET Center, 110 Crusader Ave. W., West St. Paul u$45, includes lunch. Scholarships available. uSchedule, breakout sessions and registration at archspm org/saint paul discipleship formation day uFor questions, contact Madeline Olson at olsonm2@archspm org or 651-291-4506.
FORMING AVILA WILLEY
COURTESY SISTERS OF ST. JOSEPH
The second keynote speaker, Petroc Willey, a professor of theology and the director of the
From left, Anne Attea, director of formation and social justice at Ascension in Minneapolis, stands with another participant Aug. 9 at a morning vigil to raise awareness and pray about the plight of undocumented immigrants in Minneapolis. Archbishop Bernard Hebda was among the speakers at the event.
Archbishop Hebda said he wakes up every morning seeing a quote by Sister Norma Pimentel, a sister of the Missionaries of Jesus and the executive director of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande, who works at the U.S.-Mexico border: “As leaders today, we must allow ourselves to be uncomfortable and to do more. True leadership unfolds by accompanying others who are suffering.”“I’msograteful for the way, even in an action like this, that we’re encountering those who are so vulnerable, our brothers and sisters who face these pressures that come with immigration, and we know that they are among the most vulnerable in our society, so that anything we can do in their support is so incredibly important,” he said. He noted the upcoming World Day of Migrants and Refugees Sept. 22, which he called “an important day in our archdiocese and around the world because of the importance that Pope Francis has given it.” He said he was edified by Pope Francis’ words during his recent penitential pilgrimage in Canada, and he recalled that the pope’s first trip away from the Vatican was to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, which receives refugees and migrants from the Mediterranean.
“It was a way of highlighting the importance of standing with our brothers and sisters in their moments of need. I always feel so inspired by the Holy Father in that regard, and know that if we’re standing with him, we’re standing with our Church as well,” he said, before praying a blessing over participants.Theevent was organized by the Minnesota Interfaith Coalition on Immigration. It was co-hosted by the Sisters of St. Joseph and Consociates Justice Commission’s Immigration Working Group, Maryknoll Lay Missioners, Twin Cities Nonviolent, and the Basilica of St. Mary and Ascension parishes, both in Minneapolis. Other speakers included two young men, one an Ascension parishioner, who described how their lives have been affected by having immediate family members who were undocumented immigrants. The vigil also featured an update on immigration policies from an Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota representative and petitions for immigration-related intentions, with some participants requesting prayers for particular situations.Minnesota Interfaith Coalition on Immigration holds monthly morning prayer vigils to raise awareness about undocumented immigration.
Pederson, Dill and Estela Villagrán Manancero, director of the archdiocese’s Office of Latino Ministry, are hosting the day-longPedersonevent.said he’s received an enthusiastic response to the event from directors of religious education and youth ministry “because … they’re always trying to figure out ‘how do I train my volunteers, how do we make sure we’re all on the same page moving forward?’ We thought, as an archdiocese, we can offer a ‘big-picture’ training for them.”
By Barb Umberger The Catholic Spirit If youth ministers, catechists and other faith formation volunteers don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus, it is difficult to pass on the faith to others, said Karina Avila, a student information coordinator at a high school in andifdoingponderedSt.MinistriesmissionaryforCalifornia.southernAvila,whoservedfiveyearsasawithNETinWestPaul,saidshehasthepointofyouthministryministers,catechistsothervolunteersdo not first know Christ themselves. During an upcoming talk for faith formation ministers in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Avila said, she will “dive into the importance of filling our own cups before pouring out onto others, and discuss practical ways to do so.”
The event’s key themes will be consistent with discussions in the recent Archdiocesan Synod process, Pederson said, especially one of the Synod’s three focus areas: Forming youth and young adults in and for a Church that is always young.Theday’s activities will offer encouragement to those attending as they seek to grow as disciples, and tools to assist them in sharing messages with young people “in a way that’s understandable to them,” he said.
AUGUST 25, 2022 LOCAL THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 5
Archbishop Hebda: Immigration policy should include mercy
DISCIPLES KARINA
Sacred Heart Church Fall Festival 840 6th Street E, St. Paul, MN 55106 Sunday, September 11, 2022 10:00am-3:30pm Kids and Adult Games • Raffles Mexican and American Food Live Entertainment • General Store Garage Sale
In his encyclical, Pope Francis calls on people to address pollution, waste and misuse of natural resources. He promotes “integral ecology,” that is, a realization that all things in the natural world are connected, and everyone has a responsibility to promote a healthful planet.Thearchdiocesan calendar takes this year’s Season of Creation theme, “Listen to the Voice of Creation,” and logo, the burning bush of Exodus 3:1-12, and includes suggestions for each day, such as pastors introducing the season to parishioners at Sunday Masses Sept. 4. Suggestions for Sept. 6 are using cloth bags instead of single-use plastic and declining to use a straw when drinking a beverage. Sept. 29 recognizes the feast of the Archangels Sts. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, while urging people to join an environmental group to help protect the Earth. The season starts Sept. 1 with World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation and closes with the feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Retreats, surveys, studies The calendar is one of several efforts by the Archdiocesan Care for Creation Team — which consists of about 15 volunteer leaders and a network of parish-based Care for Creation teams — to bring “Laudato Si’” to life, said Adam Fitzpatrick, leader of the effort and social mission outreach coordinator for the Center for Mission in the archdiocese.
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT School Sister of Notre Dame Kathleen Storms grows tomatoes and other vegetables in a raised garden bed made by her brother with recycled cedar planks. She has that plus an herb pot on a small patio at her apartment in West St. Paul. p.m.
The Catholic Spirit
Saturday, September 17 Immaculate Conception Church 151 South Washington New Richmond, WI 54017 (715) 246-4652 Thank God Ahead of Time: A Drama about the Life and Times of Blessed Solanus Casey Tickets at the Door $10 Kids (12 and under) $12 Seniors & Students $15 Adults (Family cap at $30) Proceeds from the play will go toward tuition assistance in Tanzania, East Africa. Directed by Mary Kratz Written by Molly Delaney Druffner Performed by the John Paul II Players For more information: (715) 781-8936 www.ic-church.com “Blessed Solanus” by Br. Dismas, fbp
surveyed said they expect climate change to affect their daily lives in the future, while about 51% said climate change already affects their lives. Depending on the question, 40% or fewer of the respondents said climate change influences their current decisions about politics, energy use, community engagement, course of study, spirituality and relationships. Percentages in those areas increased when asked about future decisions.Thoseresponses appear to indicate students believe there is still plenty of time to address climate change, Fitzpatrick said. However, he emphasized that the time to tackle the challenge is now.
Students concluded their nine-page report on climate vulnerabilities by stating: “Helping to restore sustainable environmental stewardship is essential to protect God’s creation and most vulnerable populations.”
6 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT LOCAL AUGUST 25, 2022
Sister Kathleen said she studied resources on Catholic social teaching and ecology provided through the Catholic Climate Covenant, which was formed in 2006 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops with partners including Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Charities USA and St. Paul-based Catholic Rural Life. She worked on the calendar for about three“Myweeks.bestcreative time is in the morning,” said Sister Kathleen, whose ministry since the 1990s has centered on environmental education. “It was a very prayerful experience.”
Leaders of the team held their first meeting in February 2020, before COVID-19 and pandemic restrictions hit. They did not meet in person again until October 2021, when they held a leadership team retreat at retired Father Kevin Clinton’s conservation reserve near Madison Lake. The group used that experience to develop retreats now being offered for parishes, led by Father Clinton and Sister Kathleen. Retreats during the Season of Creation include Sept. 17 at St. Bernard in Cologne, Sept. 25 at St. Timothy in Blaine and Oct. 1 at St. Joseph in Red Wing. More recently, the ACCT worked with the University of St. Thomas’ Sustainable Communities Partnership through the school’s Office of Sustainable Initiatives to produce an online survey last spring that resulted in 82 usable responses from students averaging age 20. The survey gauged their knowledge and concern about climate change. The ACCT also collaborated with a UST Theology and the Environment class last spring that reviewed reports and data indicating climate vulnerabilities in the Twin Cities. It found that the region’s population faces health risks from significant changes in temperature and precipitation, including unsafe, hot temperatures and exposure to new diseases. Minnesota is among states across the country experiencing the most significant temperature changes, the study found, with the state an average of 3 degrees warmer than 124 years ago. Weather fluctuations also have increased, with 10 of Minnesota’s warmest and 10 of the state’s wettest years all occurring since 1998, the study said. In the last 20 years, only 59% of Minnesota’s winters have reached 40 below zero, while that temperature was reached in 88% of the winters between 1944 and 1994, the students found. Minnesota’s growing season has increased by two weeks since 1950, increasing crop pest problems and allergen production such as pollen.
“I hope people can understand that simple options can make an important difference in our care for creation,” said School Sister of Notre Dame Kathleen Storms, a member of the team who wrote the calendar. Copies can be requested at creation@archspm org. Calendars also are available through parishes and a public resources tab at tinyurl com/24pdk9et, Care for Creation Team leaders said.
Environmental stewardship
The internationally recognized Season of Creation was proclaimed in 1989 for Eastern Orthodox Christians by the late Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I of Constantinople. In 2015, Pope Francis encouraged Roman Catholics to welcome the season, the same year the pope wrote his encyclical on faith and the environment, “Laudato Si’, On Care for Our Common Home.”
Prayers, action urged worldwide
Results of the student survey — with questions, responses and summary provided by a UST Psychology for Sustainability class — largely tracked that of similar surveys, Fitzpatrick said. Among other findings, students’ feelings of sadness, anxiety, anger and helplessness over climate change rose more frequently than positive feelings of hope, optimism and empowerment, the UST survey said. More than 77% of the students
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A calendar of prayers and suggestions for action such as meatless Mondays and shopping at farmer’s markets is available to help people in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis enter the Season of Creation Sept. 1 through Oct. 4, members of the archdiocese’s Care for Creation Team said.
“The importance of responding early and being proactive is vital, especially if looking at long-term problems that will grow if current trends stay where they are,” Fitzpatrick said. For those concerned about climate change and climate vulnerabilities, one survey result held particular promise, Fitzpatrick said. Survey respondents who considered themselves spiritual said climate change had a significantly greater influence on their current and anticipated decisions compared to those who did not consider themselves spiritual, he said. Among other ways being considered by the ACCT to respond and spread the word about the students’ environmental study and survey, Fitzpatrick said, is continuing to emphasize that “nature has always been a key part of the exercise of Catholic spirituality.” during Season of Creation
“We were getting lots of questions and concerns from folks looking for answers, looking for resources, even simple day-to-day tools and practical methods to integrate our faith, what the truth of the Gospel tells us about what we were made for, with our mental health,” Pat said as he discussed the Martin Center. “This became a beautiful opportunity for us to introduce Catholics to the ways that our souls and our minds are always connected, and that when we seek sanity in our minds, it’s ultimately a path to sanctity as well.”
New Martin Center for Integration addresses mental health, spiritual needs u3–6 p.m. Sept. 4 uJensen Lake Picnic Shelter uLebanon Hills Regional Park 1350 Carriage Hills Drive, Eagan uLearn more at martincenterforintegration com uRegister for the launch party and catch podcasts at thiswholelifepodcast com
COURTESY THE MILLEAS Pat, left, and Kenna Millea are combining their expertise in ministry and family therapy in the newly formed Martin Center for Integration, which offers counseling, speakers and training sessions on mental health and spiritual growth. The married couple and parents of seven are also hosting a Sept. 4 launch party for their new, related podcast, “This Whole Life.” Catholic Spirit advertising CATHOLIC
eology Day is a chance for people in our communities who are seeking a deeper understanding of their faith and its place in their everyday lives to learn from and interact with the theologians of Saint John’s School of eology and Seminary. Where are We Now? by Kristin Colberg, Ph.D. Kristin will explore the theology of Synodality, Pope Francis’ vision for the church, and what it means to more 9:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. In Search of Hope: Towards an Architecture of Peace by Kari-Shane Davis Zimmerman, Ph.D. Prepare for the season of Advent with Kari-Shane as she recalls our Christian commitment to peace, using two documents Thursday, September 15 - 6:30 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Find out. Emmaus Hall events are synchronous. Webinar events are live. Participation is FREE, but registration is required. Go online to CollegevilleMN.com/Theologyday or call 320-363-3560.
AUGUST 25, 2022 LOCAL THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 7
On the same weekend as the picnic, the couple will launch their podcast, “This Whole Life.” Recurring guests on the podcast will include Father Nathan Laliberte, pastor of Nativity of Mary in Bloomington, the Milleas said.
6 $6
By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit A playground, picnic shelter, food, door prizes and faith-filled music at Lebanon Hills Regional Park in Eagan Sept. 4 will launch a Catholic podcast and business addressing the intersection of faith and mental health.
The 3 p.m. picnic and entertainment, featuring St. Paul-based Catholic musician Luke Spehar, is designed for busy families and building community, said Kenna, a licensed marriage and family therapist in private practice. “We really do want to meet new people who are intrigued by this concept, want to get to know us better and grow in community with us,” she said. Many Catholics in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis were introduced to the Milleas and their seven children when they were featured in a video series in early 2021 called “Synod at Home: Tips and Tools for Growing in Faith” as part of the archdiocesan Synod process. The series was designed to help Catholics — as individuals or households — discern a practical plan that helps them live their faithKennaintentionally.workedin parish faith formation ministries for about 10 years before returning to graduate school to study marriage and family therapy. Pat worked in parish ministry for 15 years, is an experienced speaker, and will serve as director of formation and operations at the Martin Center. Assisting the Milleas with talks and presentations will be Andy Norton, a staff member of St. Paul-based NET Ministries, which offers retreats and other evangelization efforts for young people, and Ashley Cermak, a former youth minister at Holy Name of Jesus in Medina who is studying for a master’s degree in mental health counseling.InanAug. 5 episode of the “Practicing Catholic” radio show on Relevant Radio 1330 AM, Pat said that in his work as a youth minister — including, until last November, as director of senior high youth ministry at St. Joseph — he saw people directly impacted by mental health challenges.
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“It will be much more about addressing the daily things that pop up that can affect our mental health — the relationships, the stressors, the decisions to be made, how we’re really living out our values and making sure that our lives are oriented toward the good,” Kenna said about the podcast on the “Practicing Catholic” show. Mental health struggles can stem from people living a disjointed life, Kenna said. “And so, as Catholics, we have this already built into us, to constantly be considering, ‘Am I really attending to what God is calling me to do?’” she said. The podcast will include questions and reflection activities intended to help people move more deeply and listen more boldly and courageously to what God is calling them to do, Kenna said. — Catholic Spirit reporter Barb Umberger contributed to this report.
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The Synod at the Halfway Point: fully become a “listening church” on: Emmaus Hall, Saint John’s University written by Pope John XXIII and Pope Francis, and explore Saint Joseph the Worker, Maple GroveFriday, September 9 September 2022 Friday, September 23 - 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Emmaus Hall, Saint John’s University current “hard truths” we must confront on: $13 5
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On Labor Day weekend, people can gather to learn about the Martin Center for Integration, founded by Kenna and Pat Millea, parishioners of St. Joseph in West St. Paul. Named in honor of the family of Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin, including their daughters, St. Therese of Lisieux and Servant of God Sister Francois-Therese “Leonie” Martin, the center offers counseling, speakers and training sessions to parishes, youth groups, organizations and individuals with tools and resources for mental health and spiritual needs.
u As pope calls for dialogue, Nicaraguan police continue harassing Catholics.
uCrookston priest named USCCB specialist for eucharistic revival. Father Craig Vasek, a priest of the Diocese of Crookston, has been appointed as a specialist in the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat of Evangelization and Catechesis to help implement the multiyear National Eucharistic Revival. The USCCB announced his appointment Aug. 12. It is effective Jan. 1. In early May, the Minnesota priest was named one of 58 National Eucharistic Preachers as part of the National Eucharistic Revival, an initiative of the USCCB led by Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis. Ordained in 2010 for the Crookston Diocese, Father Vasek has spent the past four years serving at the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota, as the chaplain of athletics and program director of the Institute for Virtue in Sport.
uSurvivors of Uvalde mass shooting get tuition aid to attend Catholic school. Thanks to tuition help from Catholic Extension, children who were wounded in the Robb Elementary School mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, can transfer to a local Catholic school. The Chicago-based nonprofit announced Aug. 15 it has awarded 30 full scholarships to survivors who want to attend Sacred Heart Catholic School. Many families are seeking immediate psychological relief by transferring their children from Robb Elementary to the Catholic school. uIsrael creates water shortages for Palestinians, says Catholic group. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are facing a severe water shortage during the heat of the summer months because Israel will not develop the water infrastructure in certain areas, said the justice and peace commission of the Catholic ordinaries of the Holy Land. Israel has strict control over all water resources in Palestine — both in areas under their direct control and areas under the control of the Palestinian Authority — said an Aug. 19 statement from the commission. This, combined with natural water shortages caused by climate change, is causing “dire hardship,” the commission said. “This is not only causing drastic shortages, but also the degradation of the quality of water when it is available,” the commission said. “Water is a vital resource for human existence. The right to water is also a basic right.”
NATION+WORLD 8 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT AUGUST 25, 2022
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Staring down a future of uncertainty, religious life finds itself in need of a map, the outgoing president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious told the organization’s members. But creating an appropriately prophetic map must include a range of perspectives that can shed light on the various obstacles and possibilities women religious face, Sister Jane Herb said Aug. 10 in an address during LCWR’s annual general assembly.SisterHerb, a member of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, ended her one-year term as president when the assembly concluded Aug. 12 in St. Louis. She continues in the organization’s leadership as past president. She is succeeded by Sister Rebecca Ann Gemma, a member of the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Illinois. LCWR represents about 80% of Catholic sisters in the United States. As congregations confront their aging demographics — presenting questions about properties and buildings and remaining creative in continuing sponsored ministries — Sister Herb said she realized that “while we are true to our founding charisms, it seems we are leaning into the future of religious life, perhaps not simply the survival of our ownThecongregations.”novel“AMapmaker’s Dream” by James Cowan
Four nuns kidnapped en route to Mass in Nigeria. Four Catholic nuns were kidnapped in southeast Nigeria Aug. 21 while traveling to a Mass in a nearby state. Fides, information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies, identified the four as Sisters Johannes Nwodo, Christabel Echemazu, Liberata Mbamalu and Benita Agu, members of the Sisters of Jesus the Savior. Kidnappings for ransom have been common in northwestern Nigeria, but are starting to spread to other areas of the country. In May, Archbishop Matthew Ndagoso of Kaduna, vice president of the bishops’ conference, told an online forum: “Banditry has taken a new dimension in the last three to four years as bandits now use sophisticated weapons to massively destroy villages and their properties, kidnapping for ransom during the daytime and at night.”
Following the arrest of a bishop and 11 others, police continued harassing Nicaraguan Catholics, even as Pope Francis called for “open and sincere” dialogue in the Central American country. Photos posted to social media showed police and paramilitaries surrounding St. Michael the Archangel parish in Masaya, Nicaragua, Aug. 21 — the same day Pope Francis expressed “concern and sorrow” for the situation in Nicaragua, where the Catholic Church has suffered increasing persecution from the regime of President Daniel Ortega. Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa remains under house arrest in Managua after being seized in an Aug. 19 raid on diocesan offices. The other 11 priests and laity arrested alongside the bishop continue languishing in the notorious El Chipote political prison.
By Soli Salgado Catholic News Service
uU.S.-Mexico border expulsions on target to break record. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is set to break a record for border captures when its fiscal year ends Sept. 30. At the end of July, apprehensions had inched close to 2 million. “The large number of expulsions during the pandemic has contributed to a higher-than-usual number of migrants making multiple border crossing attempts, which means that total encounters somewhat overstate the number of unique individuals arriving at the border,“ said CBP in an Aug. 15 news release. Catholic organizations supporting migrants have protested at least two contributing U.S. policies: Remain in Mexico, or the Migrant Protection Protocols, which kept asylumseekers on the Mexico side until their cases could be heard, and Title 42 of the Public Health Safety Act, which has kept asylumseekers from entering the U.S. because of health concerns caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
LCWR president outlines ‘map-shaping’ concepts for future of religious life
uPope says not enough evidence to try cardinal for sexual assault. A preliminary Vatican investigation into allegations against Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Bishops, concluded there was not sufficient evidence to warrant opening up formal proceedings against the cardinal for sexual assault, a Vatican spokesman said. Pope Francis has been made aware of these findings and, after further consultation, has declared that “there are insufficient elements to open a canonical investigation for sexual assault by Cardinal Ouellet against person F,” Matteo Bruni, head of the Vatican press office, said in a written statement Aug. 18. However, the Jesuit who did the investigation was a long-time associate of the cardinal, which appears to violate Pope Francis’ 2019 motu proprio “Vos estis lux mundi,” norms regarding bishops accused of misconduct, which state that the investigator must be free of conflicts of interest. In a class action lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Quebec, Cardinal Oullett was accused of actions allegedly committed against a young laywoman, identified as “F,” who was employed as a pastoral worker in 2008, when the cardinal was archbishop of Quebec. Court documents filed Aug. 16 indicate the actions consisted in “nonconsensual touching of a sexual nature.”
The question before religious leaders is “who might be invited into ‘our cells’ as we shape the future of religious life,” she said, sharing four conversations“map-shaping”shehadearlier with others whom she had invited into her proverbial cell.
was a source of inspiration for Sister Herb. It tells the story of a cloistered monk who, while sitting in his monastery cell, created a map of the world based on the perspectives and experiences his visitors shared.
The remaining conversations Sister Herb held were with members of Giving Voice and the Leadership Collaborative.GivingVoice, an organization for younger sisters, shared a vision for a future of religious life that is intercultural, less institutional, a leadership that is circular and mutual. With Leadership Collaborative — an intercongregational group of sisters committed to fostering transformational leadership — Sister Herb said insights arose regarding the need for changing structures, particularly corporate structures, and broader involvement of lay colleagues in such discussions.
“To complete an exact map of the world, the monk realizes that he must learn to look at the problem from another perspective and to abandon the normal perceptions of the work to attain a deeper sensibility,” Sister Herb said. “I believe that is our journey also.”
— Catholic Service JANE HERB
“The image of seasons surfaced, and it seems that we are in the season of autumn, letting go and being open to what is to come,” she said of the conversation. While they tend to seeds of new life, hopeful for what emerges in the spring, she said, “I don’t believe that we can avoid a time of winter, where there is starkness, an emptiness.”
uFederal judge rules CRS must pay health benefits for spouses of gay employees. A U.S. District Court judge in Maryland has ruled that Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops’ overseas relief and development agency, must offer health care coverage to the spouses of gay employees as long as the employees’ jobs are nonreligious in nature. In its court filing, the Baltimorebased Catholic agency asked the judge to issue a summary judgment in its favor or dismiss the case altogether, saying religious exemptions provided in federal and state law “foreclose (the) plaintiff’s discrimination claims.” In her Aug. 3 decision, Judge Catherine Blake of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland rejected CRS’ arguments, overall ruling in favor of the plaintiff.
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The first conversation included four leaders who find themselves at different points on the map, their range of experiences emblematic of religious life’s current evolution.
It’s a season she imagines for the next three to fiveTheyears.second conversation, Sister Herb recalled, happened at the spring meeting of LCWR’s Contemporary Religious Life Committee, which emphasized the need to “simplify structures as new ministries are explored together”while religious communities shrink. Both conversations, she said, recognize the need to “widen our tent” when looking to the future, including the voices of younger and newer members, lay colleagues and advisers, and embracing interreligious dialogue.
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The message for LCWR members, she said, is to “look to the future with both our heads and our hearts,” and to shape the future of religious life while recognizing “the transformation that is happening within us as the changes are happening around us.”
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September 20 Andrew Dinner with Archbishop Hebda for men, age 16 and up September 23 – 25 Women’s Discernment Retreat for women, age 18 -28 October 28 – 30 Archbishop’sRetreatDiscernment for men, ages 17 – 24, who do not have a college degree October 29 Day of Discernment with Bishop Williams for men, who have a college degree November 17 – 19 Vianney Visit for men, High School Junior and Seniors More information and registration links
“That gap is largely due to COVID, as the pandemic caused a one-year delay; preparation for WYD — and likely WYD itself — will be much different in 2023 than it has been for the past four decades of international gatherings,” said Paul Jarzembowski, associate director for the laity in the Secretariat of Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth at the U.S. Conference of CatholicPreparationsBishops.for WYD have been moving forward, but at a much different pace than in past WYD events, he noted, adding there has been much greater caution in the planning and preparatory process this time around.“There will of course be safety measures taken, but the whole nature of pilgrimage, large gatherings, and what global solidarity means is shifting, especially as climate issues, cultural and racial reckoning, changing economics and intense polarization became amplified in recent years,” Jarzembowski said.
DISCERNMENTUPCOMINGEVENTS!
USCCB official sees enthusiasm building for WYD 2023 in Lisbon, Portugal By Tom Tracy Catholic News Service
At the closing Mass of the last international WYD, in Panama City in January 2019, Pope Francis announced the Portuguese capital would host the next global Catholic gathering of young people. WYD Lisbon was initially scheduled for August 2022, but the Vatican announced last April that it would be postponed to August 2023 due to the pandemic realities. That delay means that the next international WYD comes following a four-year stretch — the longest between the global celebrations in the history of the event. This means that for many dioceses and parishes, it will have been seven or 10 years since they have organized a WYD pilgrimage to the more well-attended international WYD celebrations in Brazil (2013) or in Poland (2016).
AUGUST 25, 2022 NATION+WORLD THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 9
Uniting our local Church through need-to-know news and stories of faith.
Much has changed in the world since the seminal World Youth Day 1993 event in Denver put the event firmly on the map among North American Catholics. Not the least of those transformations is a post-pandemic world still impacted by changed travel, public health and economic realities.Nevertheless, the 2023 edition of WYD — set for the first week of August next year in Lisbon, Portugal — is going forward with U.S. registration, opening in the next month or two for WYD pilgrims. It’s a slightly delayed registration kickoff but one expected to continue accepting registrants into next summer, according to a U.S. bishop’s point person on the event. Established by St. John Paul II in 1985, the international WYD events are weeklong gatherings usually attracting hundreds of thousands of young people.
On a practical level, uncertainties of the global pandemic and disruptions in the travel industry meant that domestic preparations for a WYD pilgrimage have beenTherehindered.maybe less time for what used to be a structured spiritual and practical preparation for parish youth and young adult groups attending the gathering in Lisbon, especially following a year’s postponement, Jarzembowski said. His early estimates are that some 15,000 U.S. Catholics will travel to Portugal for WYD.
By Joe Ruff The Catholic Spirit
Shawn Peterson, president of Catholic Education Partners, which works with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, state Catholic conferences and others to advance access to Catholic education, said he led an Aug. 9-12 gathering of leaders in Catholic conferences from around the county to discuss Carson v. Makin and a variety of other education issues.
Income and location should not limit parents from choosing what educational environment is best for their children, said Jason Adkins, MCC executive director and general counsel.
The U.S. Supreme that optionsAtfundedcannotEspinozasecularLutheran,SupremeTrinityJune:impactedLutheranCourtcannotintent.v.excludescholarshipsleast22statesassisted education dollars
10 • AUGUST 25, 2022
Public support grows
should follow students, not systems. Jason Adkins
“Unfortunately, here in Minnesota, for most children, their school is determined by their neighborhood and ZIP Code, and those parents really don’t get much of a choice,” Slattery said.
“There’s a ton of positive energy right now around school choice,” Peterson said. Carson v. Makin eliminates concern about religious schools being in the mix, he said, and “will tell lawmakers who were reluctant to put forward school choice in their state, that they can now feel comfortable in presenting this option.”Backers of broadening school choice programs to include private and religious schools believe parents should be given options aided by public dollars to choose whatever school setting is best for their children. That group includes Robbins and Sen. Roger Chamberlain of Lino Lakes, a Republican and lead sponsor of the ESA bill that passed the Minnesota Senate in 2021.
But even that decision — which relied on two other high court rulings over the last five years and involved a high school tuition aid program in Maine that had excluded religious schools — does not remove political hurdles to school choice in Minnesota and some other states, said several lawmakers, legal and education experts. Opposition remains strong in some states to allowing public education dollars to follow the student’s choice of a school, and not simply go toward public schools, they said.
In Minnesota, the statewide teachers’ union Education Minnesota, as well as Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat and former teacher seeking a second term in November, and many members of the Democratcontrolled House oppose extending school choice beyond public school open enrollment, charter and online schools, said Rep. Kristin Robbins, a Republican from Maple Grove who as a lawmaker and former leader of school choice nonprofits has sought to broaden school choice since the late 1990s.
A longstanding state tax deduction that does include private schools can be claimed for elementary and high school tuition and for school expenses such as books and other supplies, but the size of the deduction has not been adjusted since 2001, Robbins said. Efforts to include more families by offering a tax credit for private school tuition have also failed, she said.
“It’s not about directing anyone toward any faith tradition, but parents choosing the school that they think will meet their children’s needs,” Robbins said.
School choice advocates
The Minnesota Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the state’s Catholic bishops, is a longtime supporter of legislation that would allow public funding to help students attend any school, public or private, under a range of policies that fall under the umbrella of “school choice” or “parental choice” initiatives.
The November elections will include all seats in the House and Senate, and Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen is a school choice proponent.
The political contests are being held as public support for school choice has grown around the country and across a wide spectrum of partisanship and race, as indicated by a national Feb. 5-9 survey of more than 2,000 registered voters cited by Dallas-based American Federation for Children, which advocates for schoolConductedchoice.by RealClear Opinion Research, the survey found that 72% of those polled supported school choice, and only 18% opposed it. That marked an 8% increase in support since a similar poll, conducted in April 2020, found 64% support. Support for school choice among Democrats also was strong, and it grew by 9% in those two years, from 59% to 68%, while support among Republicans grew 7% percent, from 75% to 82%. School choice also found favor among independents, with the survey marking a 7% growth in approval since April 2020, from 60% to 67%.Inaddition, about 72% of whites surveyed in February supported school choice, 70% of Blacks, 77% of Hispanics and 66% of Asians.
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U.S. Supreme Court
private schools, but challenges remain iSTOCKPHOTO|JAMESMCQ24
“Children should not be limited (in having) quality educational options because of their ZIP Code or socioeconomic status, and parents should be empowered to select a school that meets their children’s unique needs and the family’s values,” Adkins said. “Public education dollars should follow students, not systems.”
A t least three decades of effort in Minnesota to broaden school choice to include religious and other private schools received a boost from a June U.S. Supreme Court decision, Carson v. Makin, when the high court clearly determined: “A state need not subsidize private education but once a state decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious.”
In Minnesota, the two years between those polls included the fall of 2020, when many public schools were slow to re-open to in-person learning, but Catholic school leaders in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis decided students learning together in the classroom could be accomplished with safety measures and was critically important for learning, social development and mental health.
“My driving force,” Chamberlain said, “is simply one thing: to provide the best educational opportunities for all kids no matter where they are from or thatmany—theirparticulartheydifficultdeaconchoicesgiventheretired1980s,DepartmenttablerelatedchoiceofconcernedinCatholicincludesaschoice,theprivatecountry,butschoolGovernmentwhochoicethusfarAdkinsschools“Whatoutset,”whichpossibleburdensomeschoolAdkinsthewaystudentsdebatetosothatMitchPearlstein,thenfromAmericanopportunitiespossibleHeisJewishindivorcehave“Formanydaddysometimesithelps,”opportunity.”
Jason Slattery, director of education in the archdiocese, said that with the boost provided by Carson v. Makin, Minnesota should adopt one of a multitude of avenues to broaden school choice, such as a tax credit to help offset tuition costs of attending a private school, or Arizona’s dollar-for-dollar tax credit for donations to scholarships that help qualifying students attend private schools.
Carson v. Makin Carson v. Makin, meanwhile, has made it clear that religious schools cannot be excluded when a general public benefit is provided for education, said Thomas Berg, a professor of law and public policy at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis. That fact removes an argument some lawmakers used as they opposed expanding school choice to private, religious schools, Berg said. “Legislators used to be able to say, ‘I’m against a private school choice program, and it would face these legal problems, so let’s not do it.’ Now, they can’t say the second part,” Berg said. Still, hurdles remain on policy grounds in Minnesota, Berg said. “There is strong sentiment and strong lobbying for funding only public schools,” he said.The Minnesota Catholic Conference has partnered and worked with other school choice groups as well, including the statewide advocacy group Opportunities for All Kids and the national, Stillwater-based Catholic Education Partners.
“But the question speaks to the reality of political parties and their role in our process, which is to develop a coalition of interests that can be used to gain and leverage political power,” Adkins said. Over the years, Minnesota has seen prominent Democrats support school choice, including the late Gov. Rudy Perpich of Hibbing, Adkins said. In the 1980s, Perpich pioneered and helped pass open enrollment laws in Minnesota that permit families to send their children to schools across school district lines.
“We’d need veto-proof margins” to pass into law ESAs or other school choice measures, Robbins said. “I think that’s a heavy lift in the House and Senate.”
Adkins said Minnesota used to be a leader in education innovation and choice. The state was an early adopter of charter schools, open enrollment, non-public student aid programs, as well as the K-12 tax deduction, he said. “But we now lag behind other states that have robust parental choice programs, and which allow parents to use education savings accounts, tuition tax credits, or vouchers to attend private schools,” Adkins said. “We need to move to a paradigm where public education dollars follow students and not systems.”
“These poll numbers are stunning,” said Tommy Schultz, CEO of AFC, in a statement. “The past two years have exposed to the world what many in the parental choice movement have known for decades: No single educational environment is right for every child.”
The April 2020 poll was conducted just before COVID-19 pandemic restrictions — including closing school campuses and later implementing mask mandates — began in March 2020. The second poll was conducted after restrictions had eased.
In another attempt to broaden school choice, the Republican-majority Minnesota Senate passed legislation last year that would have allowed parents to receive public education dollars and apply the money to private schools through what is called education savings accounts. But that measure failed to gain support in final budget negotiations.
Adkins said there is no inherent reason that any issue needs to be partisan.
School choice boost rulings open door to public funds for
“When you see something happen in 1877, you know it was part of that movement,” Berg said, although “there is a less of a record here than in some other states of explicit anti-Catholic language.”
And although Catholics have argued against Blaine amendments for decades, the Maine suit was pressed not by Catholics, but by a Protestant family who wanted to send their children to a private religious school of their choosing.
Adkins, executive director and general counsel at the Minnesota Catholic Conference, said that while Minnesota’s Blaine amendment has not been declared unconstitutional, its reach has been curtailed by federal courts and Minnesota courts.
Passed in 1877, two years after U.S. House Speaker James Blaine of Maine proposed a similar measure that failed to be added to the U.S. Constitution, the provision reflected some of the same anti-Catholic concerns that fueled the debate of that time, Berg said.
“A state Supreme Court would have to strike down a private school choice program on the ground it violated the state’s Blaine amendment” and the U.S. Supreme Court would have to take up the case before Blaine amendments could be declared unconstitutional, Adkins said.
Ruling on private school funding prompts new interest in Blaine amendments
Catholics did not want their children to submit to a Protestant curriculum, while their opponents, such as President Ulysses S. Grant, wanted no tax money to go to the support of “atheistic, pagan or sectarian teaching” — that is, Catholic schools.Likethe amendment offered by Blaine in 1875, the state amendments targeted Catholic schools, which were seen as rivals to publicly supported “common schools.” Anti-Catholic educators, like Horace Mann, thought that the goal of schools was to “‘Americanize’ the incoming Catholic immigrants,” AlitoAlitowrote.quoted Mann as saying that the common-school movement was “laboring to elevate mankind into the upper and purer regions of civilization, Christianity, and the worship of the true God; all those who are obstructing the progress of this cause are impelling the race backwards into barbarism and idolatry.”ButAlito said that “Catholic and Jewish schools sprang up because the common schools were not neutral on matters of religion.” Rather, they were “culturally Protestant and with curriculum(s) and textbooks that were, consequently, rife with material that Catholics and Jews found offensive.”
With its July 2020 decision, Espinoza v. Montana, and its decision in June in Carson v. Makin, the U.S. Supreme Court has effectively ruled that Blaine amendments are not a barrier to school choice programs, Berg said. “If a legislature, a city or a local government enacts such a program for private schools, it cannot exclude students in religious schools,” he Jasonsaid.
The Maine decision does not necessarily mean that any discrimination against religious schools is unconstitutional, according to Joshua Dunn, director of the Center for the Study of Government and the Individual at the University of Colorado. Chief Justice John Roberts has emphasized “that a state does not have to subsidize private education — but that once it does, it must do so on a religiously neutral basis,” Dunn said.Dunn argues that the next battleground in what he called the “slow-motion execution of Blaine amendments” may be charter schools run by religious organizations.
The Supreme Court by a 6-3 vote said that if Maine was willing to fund private education, “it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious.”
MINNESOTA’S
The amendment grew out of an increasingly divisive standoff between advocates of public education with a heavily Protestant-dominated curriculum — including the mandatory reading of the King James Bible — and a growing Catholic population that was distrusted as un-American.
The amendment was passed by the House but fell just short of the two-thirds approval in the U.S. Senate needed to send it to the states for ratification. This was not the end of the story, as more than 30 states — including Minnesota — adopted Blaine amendments of their own in the following decades.
Ironically, Maine did not have a Blaine Amendment. Maine’s restriction on the funding of private religious schools grew out of a 1982 law that allowed the funding of private schools but not private schools that were religious.
THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 11 who they are.” Government mandates that might be attached to a choice program could be a legitimate concern, far that has not been an issue around the Adkins said. If mandates were put in place, schools could decide not to participate, he said. mandates do is limit school participation at outset,” he said. “And that limits real parental which is why we try to keep them out as much possible and will oppose any choice legislation that burdensome mandates or would limit school cautionedparticipation.”againstletting such concerns get way of school choice progress. “No one concerned about Catholic education or the well-being students should sit on the sidelines of the school debate because they are hung up on issues mandates,” he said. “The key is to be at the that you are not on the menu.” Pearlstein, who worked in the U.S. Department of Education in Washington in the late then in 1990 founded and about two years ago from Golden Valley-based think tank Center of American Experiment, said parents should be opportunities to make the best educational possible for their families. Jewish and his wife, Diane McGowan, is a the Episcopal Church. She underwent a divorce while raising three teenage boys, and seen the difference a Catholic education in made in their children’s lives, Pearlstein said. many kids, who have holes in their heart where daddy should be, where their mommy should be sometimes both — need more nourishing, and for helps,” Pearlstein said. “I want kids to have opportunity.”
By Greg Erlandson Catholic News Service T he June 21 Supreme Court ruling in Carson v. Makin declaring that a Maine tuition aid program excluding religious schools was unconstitutional resurrected interest in what are known as Blaine amendments. Such amendments prohibited using public funds to support private religious schools. Understanding the legacy of these amendments is to explore a historic and long-lasting vestige of American anti-Catholicism.
The Minnesota Constitution has its own Blaine amendment: Article XIII, Section 2, “Prohibition as to aiding sectarian school,” said Thomas Berg, a professor of law and public policy at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis. The provision reads: “In no case shall any public money or property be appropriated or used for the support of schools wherein the distinctive doctrines, creeds or tenets of any particular Christian or other religious sect are promulgated or taught.”
The original Blaine Amendment was named after House Speaker James Blaine of Maine, who introduced the proposal in the House of Representatives in 1875. Blaine’s proposed amendment was intended to prohibit the use of public money for sectarian schools.
Justice Samuel Alito, writing in 2020 in the Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue decision, said that “the amendment was prompted by virulent prejudice against immigrants, particularly Catholic immigrants.”
Supreme Court ruled in two cases in the last five years impacted its Carson v. Makin school choice decision in Lutheran Church of Columbia Inc. v. Comer, June 2017: The Court ruled that religious organizations, such as Trinity cannot be excluded from state programs that have a intent.Montana, July 2020: The high court ruled Montana exclude religious schools from receiving tax creditscholarships under its school choice program.— Joe Ruff states provide parents with a variety of private school assisted by public dollars, including religious schools.
Meanwhile, “we think that, based on prior decisions of both state and federal courts, properly constructed private parental choice programs should survive constitutional scrutiny,” he said.
BLAINE AMENDMENT
— Joe Ruff SUPREME COURT AND SCHOOL CHOICE SCHOOL CHOICE STATES
— American Federation for Children
Q Tell me about your childhood.
PLEASE TURN TO HAMMER ON PAGE 19 The spirituality of the State Fair: ‘When you
By Christina Capecchi For The Catholic Spirit
Q Humility is tucked in there, too. You see yourself as a steward of the fair. You’re not prideful, not the owner.
A You can learn a lot leaning on a tree, just listening to people, just talking to them.
A That was really cool! Carmel Dyer, owner of the Australian Battered Potatoes, was starting set-up and said, “Things just don’t feel right. They’re off.”
A Yeah! If you feel this good, yeah.
A It becomes who you are. You can map out St. Paul, at least the western half, by the parish. You say St. Mark’s, Holy Spirit, St. Stan’s, Nativity — you know exactly what neighborhood. I don’t see that anywhere else. The St. Agnes church bells would ring every hour — if you’re going to bed at 10 or 11, if it’s midnight or 1 a.m. It was loud. It could wake you up from a deep sleep. My grandma had her rosary — that got her through the night — but she was perpetually tired. I don’t think anyone would’ve dreamed of talking to the church about turning the bells off.
humanity’ DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT More calendar events at www.TheCatholicSpirit.com
Q Last summer Archbishop Hebda blessed the fairgrounds.
A John Schumacher and the New Prague hotel used to serve real Czech food — dumplings, sweet kraut. It’s the only place I’ve ever had Czech food like my grandma made. A lot of the new food this year is international. It’s incredible. We have Korean barbecue and Middle Eastern delicacies. It’s all over the map.
Q Is there a spirituality to the fair?
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Q It sounds like your Catholic roots and your St. Paul roots are interchangeable.
Q You had been closed the previous summer due to COVID. A Right. And Carmel said, “We need a bishop to bless the fairgrounds.” I loved that idea, and Archbishop — being just a wonderful man, a gentleman — was all over it. Carmel was beaming. She was a foot off the ground. We all were. I gave him a tour of the fairgrounds, and we went by the grandstand security team — about 50, 60 people. The owner asked him to say a few words. It was the celebrate
Q Your grandma’s faith anchored her.
Jerry Hammer can’t remember life without the Minnesota State Fair, which this year runs Aug. 25 to Sept. 5. The 67-year-old grew up in St. Paul a block from the fairgrounds, started working in the greenhouse at 15 and has been general manager for 25 years. “The fair is saturated in generations of good memories,” he said. “It’s tangible.”
A Yes. We’re centered on agriculture but we go beyond that, including all aspects of society, including arts and education and entertainment to inspire people to improve their lives. You leave here feeling better about theWeworld.full-timers keep it low-key. Nobody rides a golf cart. We don’t have staff following behind taking notes. The vast majority of vendors don’t have a clue who I am. I’d much rather have it that way.
Q Nearly 500 foods are available at 300 concession stands. What’s your favorite?
A It required discipline, taking responsibility and doing the right thing. That’s the root of Christianity. Take care of each other, the greatest commandment.
A I grew up on Breda, which runs four blocks long between Hamline and Snelling, in the Holy Childhood parish. With Como Park on one side and the fairgrounds on the other, there was all kinds of stuff to do. Everybody knew everybody. We all ran together. You get into anything, the nuns found out about it — one way or another. I’m sure they had spies. We all had a primary mom, but then there was a battalion of other moms. Everybody’s moms. If they were Mom, it was your mom. They were always down at HC taking care of things. I think the only one left at this point is my mom. She’s 95.
A If that became part of the deal, the fair would diminish. It’s not about any one person. It’s a cast of thousands, tens of thousands. I don’t know that I’ve ever felt it was a job. It’s a lot bigger than that. It’s bigger than me.
Q It’s called “The Great Minnesota Get Together.” Do you ever imagine heaven might be like that, a joyful reunion?
Q It’s like that TV show “Undercover Boss.”
A She kept her rosary in the pocket of her housecoat. If she had a spare second, she pulled it out. She always remembered where she left off: “I’m halfway through the third decade.” Grandmas then — when you hit 40, you pulled your hair back in a bun and put on a housecoat and nun shoes, those black lace-up shoes.
A Yes. When you celebrate humanity, that’s the best thing you can do for people. We’re the antidote to what ails the world. What we do here is bring people together. I see people at the fair sharing a bench or maybe a basket of cookies who you know would never give each other the time of day anywhere else.
Q How does your Catholic upbringing influence you today?
Q Does the fair feel more needed than ever?
In this Sunday’s Gospel account from Luke, we are told that Jesus is having a meal at the house of a “leading Pharisee.” As he is there with them, Jesus takes advantage of the opportunity to speak to those around him, even as he watches these guests clamor over one another for the best seat in the house. He shares a parable of a wedding banquet that is taking place, where the guests who have been invited to share in the celebration are also finding for themselves the best seats in the house.
ASK FATHER MIKE
heaven,Anticipatinghumbly
AUGUST 25, 2022 THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 13
The desert fathers called acedia “the noon-day devil.” They called it this for a very simple reason: It struck at noon-day. Imagine you were living in a sparse hut out in the desert. From 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. the sun would seem like it was suspended in the sky, unmoving and inescapable. The freshness of morning has already passed, and the cool and calm of evening had not yet arrived. All one could do was sit in one’s hut and pray (or weave baskets or do whatever task to which the hermit had been committed). The profound feeling of discontent would begin beating on the door of the person’s mind, arguing that they ought to get up and do something else. It didn’t matter what: Sometimes it was the temptation to rejoin society and spread the Gospel or serve the poor, sometimes it was the temptation to visit another hermit for a spiritual conversation. Good things! Regardless of what the temptation was, it was the draw to “leave one’s hut” and do something else — anything else. We have all been there. We have said “yes” to our state in life (married life, religious life, priesthood or consecrated single life) and then we get to that moment when we want to just “leave our hut” and do anything other than what we are called to do at that moment. This is not the time to flee! This is the time to enter into the moment and the mission even more deeply. Is there a time to discern another way of life? Maybe (but not if we have made a permanent promise). But the time of temptation and desolation is not the time to make this move. The time to move is when we are moving toward, not when we are running away from, the call of God.
SUNDAY SCRIPTURES | FATHER PETER LY FOCUSONFAITH
Q I sometimes just wish that I could run away from the life that I am living. There is nothing terribly wrong with it, but I get this feeling that I should just leave this behind and try something new. Is this a sign that I should?
And unless the invitation explicitly tells you that you are a guest of honor or that a special seat has been reserved for you, most times you attend the event expecting that the host will show you where you are to be seated, lest you seat yourself in a place not intended for you and be embarrassed when moved to a lesser location.
“God in your goodness, you have made a home for the poor” (Ps 68:10). I am going to make a great presumption that everyone loves a good party. If I’m right about that, then you should know that Jesus does, too. I am confident in that statement as the Gospel of John shares that Jesus, with his mother, Mary, attended a wedding feast in Cana (cf. John 2), but he also uses images of wedding events to reinforce the message of joyful expectation.
Tuesday, Sept. 13 St. John Chrysostom, bishop and doctor of the Church 1 Cor 12:12-14, 27-31a Lk 7:11-17 Wednesday, Sept. 14 Exaltation of the Holy Cross Nm 21:4b-9 Phil 2:6-11 Jn 3:13-17 Thursday, Sept. 15 Our Lady of Sorrows 1 Cor 15:1-11 Jn 19:25-27 or Lk 2:33-35 Friday, Sept. 16 Sts. Cornelius, pope, and Cyprian, bishop, martyrs 1 Cor 15:12-20 Lk 8:1-3 Saturday, Sept. 17 1 Cor 15:35-37, 42-49 Lk 8:4-15 Sunday, Sept. 18 Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Am 8:4-7 1 Tm 2:1-8 Lk 16:1-13
The particular sin (or, more accurately, temptation) you described is called “acedia.” Most people know this temptation by another name, “sloth.” I prefer the first word, and I will say why in a moment.
In the early Church, there were a number of men and women who went to live in the desert to seek the Lord in silence and solitude, penance and prayer. While these hermits were living and praying in the desert, they had the clarity to notice the various temptations that assailed them while they were pursuing Jesus with everything they had. From this experience, a list of “deadly sins” was compiled. The sins on this list are pride, wrath, envy, gluttony, greed, lust and acedia. Now, if you were living out in the desert, you might not be confronted with every one of these temptations. For example, a person might be of the temperament to battle with greed but not with lust. Another person might wrestle with pride but be free from wrath. But the one temptation that these hermits said assailed everyone was acedia. When we translate “acedia” to the term “sloth,” a couple of things happen. First, we think we know what the word “sloth” means. Second, what we think “sloth” means is not, in fact, what it means here. Most people associate sloth/acedia with laziness, but true acedia is far more sneaky than simple avoidance of work. In fact, those who are tremendously busy can often suffer from acedia. There are workaholics who are guilty of acedia. Acedia is not the avoidance of work; it is the avoidance of the work that I am called to do at this moment.
A Thank you for writing with this great question. Before I offer something that I hope is helpful, I want to note that you stated nothing is wrong with your current situation. I highlight that because there are some people who are certainly in the wrong situation. They may be living with someone who is not their spouse, and their conscience is bothered by that. That is a good sign that things should change! A person might be in a situation where they are being victimized at home or at work. Those kinds of cases could involve a very different set of “next steps” that I will not be looking at here. Since you indicate that you are in a reasonable position, I will assume that those elements are not involved here. What you are describing is one of the seven deadly sins. That may be alarming, but let me clarify what a “deadly sin” is. A deadly sin is not always, in and of itself, grave matter. The deadly sins can also be those sins that lead a person into areas of deeper and darker sin. You might think of them as “gateway sins,” in the same sense as “gateway drugs”: On their own, they might not destroy one’s life, but they often lead to harder and harsher drug use.
Father Schmitz is director of youth and young adult ministry for the Diocese of Duluth and chaplain of the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
DAILY Scriptures Sunday, Aug. 28 Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time Sir 3:17-18, 20, 28-29 Heb 12:18-19, 22-24a Lk 14:1, 7-14 Monday, Aug. 29 Passion of St. John the Baptist 1 Cor 2:1-5 Mk 6:17-29 Tuesday, Aug. 30 1 Cor 2:10b-16 Lk 4:31-37 Wednesday, Aug. 31 1 Cor 3:1-9 Lk 4:38-44 Thursday, Sept. 1 1 Cor 3:18-23 Lk 5:1-11 Friday, Sept. 2 1 Cor 4:1-5 Lk 5:33-39 Saturday, Sept. 3 St. Gregory the Great, pope and doctor of the Church 1 Cor 4:6b-15 Lk 6:1-5 Sunday, Sept. 4 Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time Wis LkPhmn9:13-18b9-10,12-1714:25-33
The parable can ultimately be likened to an invitation to attend the eternal wedding banquet where the kingdom of God will truly be made manifest. Where God and his beloved, those who choose to follow him, will finally be together forever in complete union. Jesus is preparing the Party of all Parties, and he’s going to make sure that the celebration is out of this world. As God’s children, we have been invited to attend and be a part of this banquet of eternal life. If you plan to attend, be not like those mentioned in the parable who think that an invitation gives license to do as you wish, as if it is owed you, lest you are removed and placed in the “lowest place.” Rather, attend and let Jesus, the host of the heavenly banquet, lead you to the seat he has saved for you. Accept his invitation with the utmost humility, this beautiful virtue that helps serve to remind us that all things are a blessing from God, not owed to us but gifted to us out of that divine love, the covenant he made with us so long ago. Pray that we may take part in “the resurrection of the righteous,” to attend the eternal party in heaven.
Through the parable, he tells those listening that humility is important when attending an event as a guest.Ifyou’ve ever received an invitation to attend an event, hopefully you have felt a sense of honor through it for being remembered, and not become pompous or inflated as if you deserved the invitation.
Fighting the ‘noonday devil’ of acedia | FATHER MICHAEL SCHMITZ
Editor’s note: This column is reprinted from the February 2017 issue of The Northern Cross, newspaper of the Diocese of Duluth.
Father Ly is pastor of Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Maplewood.
Monday, Sept. 5 1 Cor 5:1-8 Lk 6:6-11 Tuesday, Sept. 6 1 Cor 6:1-11 Lk 6:12-19 Wednesday, Sept. 7 1 Cor 7:25-31 Lk 6:20-26 Thursday, Sept. 8 Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mi 5:1-4a or Rom 8:28-30 Mt 1:1-16, 18-23 Friday, Sept. 9 St. Peter Claver, priest 1 Cor 9:16-19, 22b-27 Lk 6:39-42 Saturday, Sept. 10 1 Cor 10:14-22 Lk 6:43-49 Sunday, Sept. 11 Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Ex 32:7-11, 13-14 1 Tim 1:12-17 Lk 15:1-32 Monday, Sept. 12 1 Cor 11:17-26, 33 Lk 7:1-10
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Pro-lifers know the solution to unwanted pregnancies is not to kill the innocent child but to provide support for those facing such pregnancies, and have worked just as hard to do that as they have to overturn Roe v. Wade. It is sad that so many Catholics seem to be unaware of this and have not helped promote these pregnancy resource centers.
14 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT AUGUST 25, 2022 A good beginning, lasting forever CATHOLIC WATCHMEN | DEACON GORDON BIRD COMMENTARY
I present the headline above as a real question, not a rhetorical one. If someone found your planner on the bus or a stranger glanced at your calendar on the wall or a hacker gained access to your phone’s events, would they see any sign you were a Catholic? Lest you think I’m the judgment patrol, this question came from flipping through my own family’s calendar. Kids’ activities — school, sports and music — all appear to be important to us, evidenced by how often they show up every week. Ditto for visits with friends and trips with family. Business travel for both parents is marked on our calendar; so are birthdays, anniversaries and holidays. But where does our faith show up? We’d tell you it’s central to our lives and family, but I started to wonder how our calendar bears any testimony to that truth. I went through and wrote “Mass” for every Sunday. Obvious (and overlooked), but it helped to remember how we start each week in worship. Then I added the dates whenever someone was serving as a lector or altar server. That helped, too, to see our service show up.But honestly? Standing in front of that jampacked calendar and realizing how little of our faith was revealed gave me a wake-up call. Because the deeper concern, of course, is not what someone else would say or whether there would be enough evidence to convict me of being Christian in a theoretical court. What matters most is what place God has in my life. Front and center or stuck on the sidelines? I stood in front of our calendar for a long time, chewing on the end of my pencil, wondering about what changes we might be called to as a family. Too often I’ve fallen into the trap of expecting a new school year to transform our lives into an idealized version of what our family should be. I don’t want to make that same mistake again this fall. But I do feel called (and convicted) to pray about what God might be revealing. Like everyone else, our family has limits on our time, money, energy, attention and abilities. Where are we investing our resources? How do our values show up on our calendar? When do we live out and learn about our faith in concrete ways each week?
“In the beginning” we are all children of God, created in his image and likeness, and perhaps that’s a good place to start teaching our children divine truth. Parents best determine the timeline of learning, as they have the privileged right and difficult responsibility to be the best teachers and spiritual leaders to their children.Theprivileged right stems from being pro- and co-creators of life — and thanking God. The difficult responsibility stems in part from living in a dynamic, highly secularized culture.
The psalmist sings this longing to God: “Teach us to count our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart” (Ps 90:12). Could this become our prayer, too — as we soak up the last days of summer, as we look ahead to autumn activities starting soon, as we shop for school supplies and brand-new planners to fill?
It is disappointing to read letters in your paper from those who have seemingly bought the secular media’s narrative that those of us who are pro-life and worked hard to overturn Roe v. Wade only care about “fetuses” and nothing for women experiencing difficult and/or unwanted pregnancies. The real fact is that pro-lifers support about 40 pregnancy resource centers in Minnesota that provide health, emotional, educational and financial support, for as long as is needed, for women and men facing these situations.
Deacon Bird ministers to St. Joseph in Rosemount and All Saints in Lakeville, and assists with the archdiocese’s Catholic Watchmen movement.
Where does God show up on your calendar? FAITH AT HOME | LAURA KELLY FANUCCI
Each time I pass our calendar on the wall now, I pause for a second. It’s a work in progress, an everevolving reality, a snapshot of life right now. But I feel its tug asking me where God shows up among school, work and every good plan we’ve made. Maybe we’re called to more Sabbath together, to guard our Sundays for worship and rest. Maybe we’re called to more service, to take time to offer ourselves to our Couldcommunity.wecelebrate an extra feast day each month at home, to enliven our faith as a family? Are we called to a retreat, a class or a group at our parish — something new to help us grow in faith? Whatever changes the fall may bring, I know the prayer I need to carry with me now, a psalm in my pocket: Teach us to number our days with You in the center. Give us the wisdom to give our time to You.
“Male and female he created them” — and as my Catholic Study Bible footnotes tell me, “God provided the plants with seeds and commanded the animals to be fertile and multiply, so God gives sexuality to human beings as their means to continue in existence” (cf. Gn 1:27). A divine truth is here in the way God shares his holiness with us — naturally and supernaturally. As baptized Christians, married couples can help make the world God created a holier place by being unitive, procreative and teachers of divine truth to their children. That’s how couples produce families so vital to society. And why we pray fervently for our children — small and big. Come September, as our youth begin a new school year, the Catholic Watchmen monthly prayer intentions are devoted to the young: that young people learn, believe, practice and live divine truth from experiences in their homes, parishes, schools and social networks. That in the spirit of the Church’s Eucharistic Revival, divine truth enkindles in our youth a living relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ — through his word and in the holy Eucharist. Divine truth is what helps dispense all truth — natural and transcending supernatural truths — throughout the world in which our youth will develop, grow and mold their lives. Being a parent myself, I often preach (in ferverino, or “pep talk” style) to parents during the rite of holy baptism, emphasizing, “they grow up fast, and what you say and what you demonstrate without saying anything is what they will likely remember.” As the newly baptized grow in wisdom and strength, may God be with the parents to help explain, sort out, verify and discuss the truths of life with their young, because it is no easy task with the competition, noise and nosiness of information technology and social media networks.AsWatchmen would quip, “being a present father” is a must in the midst of validating, teaching and speaking to what’s true, what’s partially true or what’s plain nonsense. Furthermore, being present to our youth for whom we’re responsible connects well with a Catholic Watchmen daily practice discipline: “Strive to be a spiritual father like St. Joseph.” The Blessed Mother’s spouse may not have dealt with topics regarding gender ideology, the definition of marriage or critical race theories, but he certainly was under attack by the enemy’s quest to annihilate the dignity of life. This “righteous man” (Mt 1:19) knew truth and is the epitome of spiritual fatherhood — the protector, provider and leader of the Holy Family — who provided security for “the way, the truth and the life” (Jn Spiritual14:6).leadership engages in truth and does not duck or deprive kids (or anyone for that matter) of it. Jesus speaks to us, teaches us and sanctifies us in both the Liturgy of the Word and the Eucharist. The Lord tells us in sacred Scripture “not to despise one of these little ones” because children’s “angels in heaven always look upon the face of (his) heavenly Father” (cf. Mt 18:10-11). Speak truth to these little ones — they were born to know. Bishop Robert Barron’s Word on Fire reflection said it well recently regarding kids and the truth: “They are what they are; they act in accordance with their deepest nature. ‘Kids say the darndest things’ because they don’t know how to hide the truth of their reactions.” Divine truth is a good beginning to help the young understand the salient truths that God meant them to learn, embrace and live. Encountering Jesus in sacred Scripture (another daily Catholic Watchmen discipline) can engrave truth in their hearts — truth that is forever lasting: “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciple, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (Jn 8:31-32).
Jim Kremer St. Ambrose, Woodbury Care expansion necessary
While reading the responses to the original letter to the editor of July 28 (“Roe overturned, now what?”), it occurred to me that some of the response writers didn’t take the original letter in the “spirit” in which it was written. I did not take it in the same way as the three responders did. They took it as she was saying that pro-lifers didn’t do anything to help women and children who end up in a difficult pregnancy situation. I believe that she was commenting more on the fact that we could be doing a lot more to help. Pregnancy help centers generally cut off direct help by the time the (almost aborted) child is about 12 months old, and that is not always enough. We also need to help support these women and families when they are in tough situations both before they get pregnant and after the first birthdays, when financial and social situations can be very challenging also.
A parishioner of St. Joseph the Worker in Maple Grove, Fanucci is a writer, speaker and author of several books, including “Everyday Sacrament: The Messy Grace of Parenting.” Her work can be found at laurakellyfanucci com
LETTERSPregnancy resource center help
Serena Hedman St. Raphael, Crystal Inspirational leadership
Not long ago, Pew Research polling revealed that only 39% of Catholics regularly attend Sunday Mass, only 17% receive the sacrament of penance more than once a year and most shockingly — only about 30% believe that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist! Something has clearly gone awry in the Church, and Catholics who have sought a restoration of the sacred and found it in the old Mass should be the very least of the Vatican’s concerns.
YOUR |
Inver Grove Heights, MN Saturday, September 17—Sunday, September 18 SATURDAY will include food trucks, silent auction, pull tabs, and bingo.
LIZ KELLY STANCHINA LETTERS CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE
SUNDAY begins at 11:30 a.m., after Mass, and will include food trucks, kids’ games, a bottle shoppe and much more. All activities on the parish grounds. 3535 72nd Street East, Inver Grove Heights www.churchofstpatrick.com
Taking our part in the Eucharistic Revival
Kelly Stanchina is the award-winning author of 10 books, including “Love Like A Saint: Cultivating Virtue with Holy Women.” Visit her website at lizk org
HEART, HIS HOME
Karen Karn Holy Name of Jesus, Wayzata Finding the sacred Pope Francis is alarmed that so many Catholics are embracing the preconciliar Tridentine Mass and rejecting the liturgical reforms of Vatican II. The group he speaks of constitutes about 1% of the total Catholic population of the U.S. but is purportedly growing.
Robert Sandquist St. Agnes, St. Paul Share your perspective by emailing TheCaTholiCSpiriT@arChSpm org. Please limit your letter to the editor to 150 words and include your parish and phone number. The Commentary pages do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Catholic Spirit.
The first time I ever walked into the Center for Catholic Studies here in Minnesota, I remember thinking, “I’d love to get a job here one day.” Two years later, after I’d finished my graduate degree, that’s exactly what happened. I served as an adjunct professor and the managing editor for “Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture” for nearly 14 years. Two floors below my desk at the center, the Blessed Sacrament was in repose in our chapel. The altar was basically under my desk, and what a metaphor — to place my work, as humble as it was, on the altar each day. In addition to daily Mass celebrated there, the students ran perpetual adoration on campus during the school year, and every Monday the center was its host. How highly favored I felt to walk downstairs to go to Mass or to adoration or to pray, to see so many students and colleagues there, on their knees, seeking the face of the Lord. It is a rare privilege, especially for a layperson, to work so close to the Blessed Sacrament. I did not want to give thatAlas,up.the time came when I was working so much on the weekends with retreats and speaking, it was no longer feasible to show up on Monday at my desk. I mourned leaving that office, that regular proximity to Jesus in the Eucharist. But something interesting started to happen about a year before I left. I held a weekly Holy Hour at my parish, St. Pius X, and one day, the woman who organized the adorers told me how they were hoping to refresh the adoration chapel; it had become rather worn and needed a makeover. “I just want to create something beautiful for Jesus,” she told me. I said, “I know just the man for that.” My husband, Vince, is an architect and has a particularly strong gift for reimagining spaces. A devout Catholic, he’d made a personal study of canon law on sacred architecture and had spent a lot of hours in that chapel already. He was the perfect man for the job. He went to work with the chapel committee, bringing a new beauty, order and simplicity to this sacred space. I was so excited at this prospect that, as he worked, I would lean over his shoulder on occasion and remind him, “Just think, you’re creating the most sacred space onFinally,earth!”last week, the archbishop came to bless this new adoration chapel, which is mostly complete. Now, I get to spend time with my Beloved, less than a mile from my home, in a space imagined by my other beloved. The Lord spoils me. It’s heartbreaking to me, unimaginable, that so many Catholics do not believe in the Real Presence. As we launch into our three-year Eucharistic Revival, please join me in adding Holy Hours to your schedule in atonement and intercession for those whose faith in the Real Presence has grown cold, indifferent or was never properly seeded to begin with. Let’s have the courage to make an earnest examination of conscience on this point: Where have we failed to make him known, loved and adored in the Holy Eucharist, and what is our role in doing so now? Lord, let us never take you for granted in the Blessed Sacrament. Teach us how to share this magnificent mystery with the world around us that knows you too little and needs you so much. Amen.
In the letter “Catholics in Confusion” (July 28), the author wrote that Pope Francis was discouraging him and displaying lack of leadership by not adhering to the teachings of the Church. He pointed out that the pope took time to talk with Nancy Pelosi as evidence. Since we don’t know all the details of what transpired there or the ultimate outcome of their encounter, I’m not sure how he’s judging that. I’m old enough to be suspicious of the opinions of folks who think they are holier than the pope. For my part, I find that Pope Francis’ leadership is inspirational and exciting. He is leading in the way of Jesus’ love! Perhaps “Confused Catholic” could find some clarity if, instead of watching sketchy internet sites, he were to read the New Testament and then think, “What would Jesus do?”
AUGUST 25, 2022 COMMENTARY THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 15
This includes supporting programs like food stamps, school lunches and other government programs to help the poor that many “conservative” people do not support, putting their own financial well-being ahead of helping others through taxes. Terry Hawkins St. Pascal Baylon, St. Paul Papal abortionrespect,concerns In answer to the letter “Catholics in confusion” (July 28), I would say that we should honor the pope because of his office as the Vicar of Christ. Our Lord has given the keys to the kingdom to St. Peter and his successors, and one man’s questionable decisions do not change that. We as Catholics ought to respect the office of pope, even if we have difficulty respecting the man currently holding that office. I am concerned by what the letter “Roe overturned, now what?” implies (also July 28). Although the author may not have meant this, it seemed to say that babies who are born in difficult circumstances would be better off being aborted. What is worse: to live in poverty, to be assaulted or to die? Should children be killed because they might have a difficult life? There perhaps is more that we could do to help, but any outcome is better than abortion.
As we launch into our three-year Eucharistic Revival, please join me in adding Holy Hours to your schedule in atonement and intercession for those whose faith in the Real Presence has grown cold, indifferent or was never properly seeded to begin with.
16 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT AUGUST 25, 2022LEFT PAGE PAID ADVERTISEMENT
“Mission Partners represent the foundation of our ministry,” he said. “Their commitment to helping the poor on a monthly basis gives us a steady, reliable way to serve. Without them, the missions we support in the developing world would be unable to commit to long-term projects, and it would be much more difficult for us to respond to disaster situations. When we can depend on the support of Mission Partners, we can move forward confidently and take on every challenge that’s put before us.”
“This war has shown us the face of human tragedy.”
Displaced Ukrainians line up for supplies provided by Catholic ministries.
Ukraine War Reveals Both the Tragedy of War and the Power of Catholic Compassion
In the Archdiocese of Przemyśl, Poland, two men set up cots for arriving refugees. Their parish has mobilized these volunteers to help set up shelters and distribute food, but the men are concerned the flow of incoming women and children could soon overwhelm them. Still, they work on, relying on God and the Church to make their mission of mercy successful.“Itispainful to see the fear and suffering in the eyes of the refugees fleeing Ukraine, but we should not shrink back from those images because they are a call to action — a call from God. He wants us to manifest His love for these families and to help them in their hour of need,” said Jim Cavnar, president of Cross Catholic Outreach, one of the respected Catholic ministries helping families displaced by the war. (See the related story on the opposite page.)
Th©eYomiuriShimbunviaAPImages
The same is true when it comes to charity, according to Jim Cavnar, president of Cross Catholic Outreach. That is why his ministry cherishes its Mission Partners — donors who have committed to monthly giving.
Jim Cavnar, Cross Catholic Outreach
The stories Cavnar relates about the needs in Ukraine and Eastern Europe are heartbreaking, but there are success stories too. These demonstrate the power of compassion and underscore why it is so important American Catholics remain involved in relief efforts.“Inone case, we were asked to help Caritas in Veritate, a global confederation of Catholic institutions, obtain an ambulance to do triage work in the crumbling cities. With contributions from our donors we were able to help, and soon after the ambulance was put into action, we heard it had saved the life of a young girl who had been injured in the conflict. Her father had no way to get her to a hospital — and most of those were either damaged or overcrowded anyway — but the ambulance was able to reach her, stop the bleeding and take care of her wounds,” Cavnar said. “That was an answer to prayer. That was Catholic compassion in action.” Even if the conflict in Ukraine ended today, Cavnar insists the Church and her people would need to remain engaged and ready to serve.
“For now, we are focused on helping with medical needs and providing food and other necessities to the refugees fleeing Ukraine, but we know that the destruction the war caused to homes and livelihoods will create hardships for these people even after the conflict ends,” he said. “The Church will need to be a source of hope then too. This war has shown us the face of human tragedy, but it has also revealed the power of Catholic compassion.”
Consistency and reliability have long been recognized as important character traits in our society, and most of us raise our children to uphold those values, especially in the workplace. We do that because we know consistency and reliability produce stability and help us weather the unexpected storms in life.
A mother stumbles down a road strewn with rubble, her two frightened children in tow. This time last year, she and her husband would have been planning a vacation for the family. Now, their lives have been turned upside down, and she wonders whether her son and daughter will ever even see their father again. More than a hundred miles away, another woman stands at a crowded checkpoint, hoping to cross into Poland before nightfall. Her children are grown, but she is heartsick because she was unable to confirm their whereabouts before fleeing from her home. She prays they are safe.
Dedicated Catholics Make Major Impact on Poverty by Serving as ‘Mission Partners’
Readers interested in supporting Cross Catholic’s outreaches to the poor can contribute through the ministry brochure inserted in this issue or send tax-deductible gifts to: Cross Catholic Outreach, Dept. AC02153, PO Box 97168, Washington, DC 20090-7168. The ministry has a special need for partners willing to make gifts on a monthly basis. Use the inserted brochure to become a Mission Partner or write “Monthly Mission Partner” on mailed checks to be contacted about setting up those arrangements.
Because monthly giving is so important to Cross Catholic Outreach’s work overseas, the ministry makes it as easy as possible for its donors to become Mission Partners. That option is included on appeals, on the charity’s website and in the brochures it distributes at Catholic parishes and in Catholic“Ultimately,newspapers.weask people to become Mission Partners because monthly giving has a huge impact on the priests, religious sisters and Catholic lay leaders working in the trenches, fighting to end hunger and alleviate poverty,” Cavnar said. “When they face an unexpected crisis or a natural disaster strikes, the missions know they can come to us for help because our Mission Partners have provided the resources needed to overcome those immediate challenges. We can make decisions in a matter of hours and send help within days — and the poor are blessed as a result.”
Missile and artillery damage has made homes in Ukraine unsafe, so families have had to flee to other areas or leave the country to find relief. Fortunately, the Catholic Church has been mobilized to provide urgently needed food and other resources.
“The needs of war refugees weighed heavily on our hearts and on the hearts of our donors, even though they are usually focused on the work we do in Haiti, Guatemala, Kenya and other nations plagued by extreme poverty,” he explained. “This mission also fit perfectly with our traditional strategy for providing help overseas. We have always worked through Catholic missions closest to the action, supplying them with the resources they need to serve more effectively,” Cavnar said. “Our expertise in identifying trusted Catholic partners and quickly mobilizing resources has been very useful to the ministries serving Ukrainian families in this great hour of Cavnarneed.”said that while he is proud of what Cross Catholic Outreach has achieved and is grateful to the many American Catholics who have helped fund the work being done, he hopes other troubled areas in the world will also remain on people’s hearts and minds in the months ahead.
How to Help To fund Cross Catholic Outreach’s effort to help the poor worldwide, use the postage-paid brochure inserted in this newspaper, or mail your gift to Cross Catholic Outreach, Dept. AC02153, PO Box 97168, Washington, DC 200907168. The brochure also includes instructions on becoming a Mission Partner and making a regular monthly donation to this cause. If you identify an aid project, 100% of the donation will be restricted to be used for that specific project. However, if more is raised for the project than needed, funds will be redirected to other urgent needs in the ministry.
The images flashing across our television screens shocked young and old. For many, they evoked memories of photographs taken during World War II and stories told by parents and grandparents about the cities destroyed by advancing German tanks and bombers. Younger people, who may have fewer connections to the previous war in Europe, also found the broadcasts disturbing. Most were stunned to see modern office buildings and factories collapse before their eyes as frightened survivors fled missile and artillery barrages.
While these efforts represented a shift in focus for Cross Catholic Outreach, which is best known for its ministry work in other parts of the world, Cavnar felt compelled to become involved.
“I think of Tigray, Ethiopia, where long-established Catholic missions are also trying to help war survivors and where food shortages are causing serious problems with malnutrition. Then there are remote villages in Africa that, due to a recent drought, face a serious water crisis,” he said. “Cross Catholic Outreach has been able to remain involved in all of those areas, but it is only because faithful American Catholics have been so generous in supporting our work. As problems in the world escalate — and the war in Ukraine is certainly one of the most challenging trials — we will need to be even more openhearted and openhanded.
AUGUST 25, 2022 THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 17 PAID ADVERTISEMENT
“All of us — young and old — were grieved by the destruction and suffering we saw, but importantly, our next reaction was compassion. We wanted to do something to help the people of Ukraine, especially the thousands of wounded and fearful families who were frantically seeking refuge from the violence,” explained Jim Cavnar, president of Cross Catholic Outreach. As an official Catholic charity with a long history of providing disaster relief, Cross Catholic Outreach was able to quickly develop a plan to help Ukrainian refugees by providing medical aid and other resources through three key partners close to the action — Cardinal Konrad Krajewski of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Service of Charity; Caritas in Veritate; and the Archdiocese of Przemyśl, Poland, which is located near the Ukrainian border.
The Church must remain a beacon of hope for families with no other place to turn for help, and we will all need to play our part in that mission of mercy.”
“Each of these partners is directly involved in relief efforts, either in Ukraine or in neighboring countries accepting refugees,” Cavnar explained. “Thanks to contributions we’ve received from our U.S. Catholic donors, we have been able to help in a variety of ways. For example, we helped Cardinal Krajewski secure ambulances so emergency medical services could be brought directly to areas with urgent needs. We also helped fund generators, clothing and food for families still in Ukraine and those who had fled the country.”Inthecase of Caritas in Veritate, Cross Catholic Outreach supported internally displaced children and families in the Ukrainian communities of Lutsk, Struga and Nowa Uszyca with much-needed food, water and spiritual support. Its work with the Archdiocese of Przemyśl focused on the care and resettlement of Ukrainian refugees, specifically helping with food, temporary shelters and trauma therapy.
U.S. Catholics Offer Meaningful Support to Refugees Fleeing Devastating War in Ukraine
RIGHT PAGE ImagesAPviaSipa©
By Emily Dalsky Why I am Catholic
I
n a certain sense, I didn’t become Catholic because I chose it; I was chosen. Jesus explains: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide” (Jn 15:16). I desired to embrace the Catholic faith in response to the Lord’s personal invitation. My being Catholic, then, is drawn up into the gratuity of God: “for without me you can do nothing” (JnThere15:5).is some anti-logic to this notion of gratuity, at least from a contemporary worldview. At a time when self-creation has become one of our greatest cultural values, the idea of receiving our existence and even destiny from anyone but ourselves can seem antithetical to flourishing. Yet, I could deeply — and finally — rest when I realized I did not have to create myself to garner my value or worth; I am a beloved daughter. Not only could I peacefully receive myself from the Father, I also did not have to figure everything out — another predominant lie that besets us today. I was born into a Catholic family but did not know Jesus personally. While I was respectful of the Church, I was not gung-ho. So, when my middle school catechist promoted a Catholic youth summer conference to my class, in retrospect, I wonder why I ever decided to attend — save for grace. But the Lord used my openness: That conference provided my first real encounter with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and life subsequently blossomed into living technicolor. The truth that God is personal — indeed, a community of persons in the Trinity — and died for love of me, and created me purposefully, set my heart ablaze. With this newfound vision, I knew things had to change. My tastes in music, clothing, pastimes and friendships shifted. And by grace and the support of many good Catholics, my faith deepened. As my relationship with the Lord grew, so did my desire to share the Gospel. I spent several summers on mission serving young people across the country. I began full-time ministry work in a parish setting. I see being Catholic synonymous with mission. If we do not go out and share the Good News, the Church will die, the Word will go silent. God is, in some mysterious way, dependent on us to share his salvific message to the world. I have felt this great commission deeply since befriending the Lord. Why do I remain Catholic? “To whom else shall we go?” (Jn 6:68). I’ve seen and tasted too much of the Lord’s goodness to go back. Jesus has chosen me — as he has chosen all of us — to bear fruit that will last. To find myself gratuitously part of this theo-drama fills me with a sense of duty and hope. I wish only to be faithful as he has been faithful to me.
18 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT AUGUST 25, 2022
Dalsky, 26, is originally from central Wisconsin. She is an active member of Holy Family in St. Louis Park. A graduate of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Dalsky serves at Nativity of Mary in Bloomington as director of evangelization and faith formation. She enjoys reading, hiking and listening to the Hillbilly Thomists.
“Why I am Catholic” is an ongoing series in The Catholic Spirit. Want to share why you are Catholic? Submit your story in 300-500 words to CatholiCSpirit@arChSpm org with “Why I am Catholic” in the subject line.
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DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
A It’s like you get another lap. When you’re doing it for the first time, you’re so preoccupied with the day-to-day you don’t get to appreciate it as much. Being a grandparent, you get a second look, and you have a better understanding and a much deeper appreciation. We have five grandkids — 13 down to 4 — and we’re within 10 minutes of each of them. We see them all the time. Every couple weeks we have them all sleep over.
A When you’re living it, you’re in the moment and you do what needs to be done. Ultimately, it shows who you really are. When an organization is in crisis — and being out of business is a crisis — there’s a real need to keep everyone connected, and the nature of the crisis prevented that. That was the most difficult. We worked hard to maintain all those relationships when everything was completely shut down.
Q What do you know for sure?
Confession, anointing, Mass, Holy Hour and prayer sessions. franC SCanretreatS net Silent Retreat (Men and Women) — Sept. 22-25 at Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center, 16385 St. Francis Lane, Prior Lake. Experience the theme “Hope Rising: Revisioning Our Dream.” Blend of scheduled and open time. Confession, anointing, Mass and prayer sessions in silence. franC SCanretreatS net CONFERENCES+WORKSHOPS
SPEAKERS Hidden Mercy with Michael J. O’Loughlin — Sept. 8: 7 p.m. at St. Thomas More, 1079 Summit Ave., St. Paul. Presentation by Michael J. O’Loughlin, author of “Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics, and the Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear.” Copies of book available at event. RSVP at moreCommunity org
Q What did you learn about leadership from responding to COVID?
CALENDAR DEADLINE: Noon Thursday, 14 days before the anticipated Thursday date of publication. We cannot guarantee a submitted event will appear in the calendar. Priority is given to events occurring before the next issue date. LISTINGS: Accepted are brief notices of upcoming events hosted by Catholic parishes and organizations. If the Catholic connection is not clear, please emphasize it in your submission. Included in our listings are local events submitted by public sources that could be of interest to the larger Catholic community. ITEMS MUST INCLUDE the following to be considered for publication: uTime and date of event uFull street address of event uDescription of event uContact information in case of questions TheCatholiCSpirit Com/CalendarSubmiSSionS CALENDAR submissions 952.934.1525 ChanhassenDT.com NOW PLAYING! Cut loose to the rockin’ rhythm of its super-charged Top 40 score! Proof of vaccination or negative test required. Mask use required. CathSpFL-C-2022.qxp_Layout 1 1/25/22 12:31 PM Pa DISPLAY651-291-4444ADVERTISING TO ADVERTISE IN THE classifiedads@archspm.orgCLASSIFIEDS Email: classifiedads@archspm.org • Phone: 651-251-7714 • Fax: 651-291-4460 Next issue: 9-15-22 • Deadline: 3 p.m. 9-7-22 • Rates: $8 per line (35-40 characters per line) • Add a photo/logo for $25 Marketplace • Message Center Classified Ads Ask aboutour 3 special!time ACCESSIBILITY SOLUTIONS STAIR LIFTS –WHEELCHAIRELEVATORSLIFTS FOR HOMES, CHURCHES & SCHOOLS Arrow Lift (763) 786-2780 ANTIQUES TOP CASH PAID For Older Furniture • Advertising Signs • Beer Items • Old Clothes • Misc. (651) 227-2469 CAR FOR SALE ’66 GTO $7000 txt vm 651-900-0480 CEILING MichaelsTEXTUREPainting Popcorn Removal & Knock Down Texture TextureCeilings.com (763) 757-3187 CEMETERY LOTS FOR SALE Resurrection Cemetery: (Dble Niche) DiscountedDIGU007@LIVE.COM$5,000.00 Resurrection: 1 crypt $15,195; 336-929-6853 Calvary Cemetery: Double-Depth Plot. Market $2900. Asking $2100. 651-210-8035 Resurrection Cemetery: Section 7; lots 1, 2, 3, & 5; $3379 each. 208-720-0919 EVENTS WHAT ARE SECULAR FRANCISCANS? The Secular Franciscan fraternity at the Prior Lake Retreat Center invites you to a “come and see” meal with fellowship and fun on Sunday, September 18 from 3 to 5:30 pm. It’s FREE and everyone is welcome, including children! Join us at 16385 Saint Francis Lane, Prior Lake, MN. For more information, call Mary, 952-240-1604. GREAT CATHOLIC SPEAKERS CD of the Month Club Lighthouse Catholic Media, Scott Hahn, Jeff Cavins and more! $5/month includes shipping. Subscribe online www.lighthousecatholicmedia.org/cdclubat Please Enter Code: 119 HANDYMAN WE DO 1,162 THINGS AROUND THE HOME! Catholic Owned Handyman Business: We will fix/ repair and remodel almost anything around the home. Serving entire Metro. Call today. Mention this ad and receive 10% off labor. ACE Handyman Services 952-946-0088. HARDWOOD FLOORS Sweeney’s Hardwood Floors Summer’s Here! Spruce up your home with new or refurbished hardwood floors. 15% off refinishing. Sweeney (651) PAINTING485-8187 For painting & all related services. View our website: PAINTINGBYJERRYWIND.COM or call (651) 699-6140. PAINTING Merriam Park Painting. Professional Int./ Ext. Painting. WP Hanging. Moderate Prices, Free Estimates. Call Ed (651) 224-3660. Michaels Painting. Texture and Repair. MichaelsPaintingllc coM. (763) 757-3187 PRAYERS NOTICE: Prayers must be submitted in advance. Payment of $8 per line must be received before publication. RELIGIOUS ITEMS FOR www.Holyart.comSALE Over 50k Religious Items & Church Goods. VACATION/FAMILY GETAWAY Knotty Pines Resort, Park Rapids, MN. 1, 2 & 3 bdrm cabins starting at $565/week. www.knottypinesresort.com (800) 392-2410. Mention this ad for a discount! AUGUST 25, 2022 THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT • 19
HAMMER CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12 nicest prayer. If you were a human being, it applies to you.
Q How do you pray?
PARISH
New building dedication weekend — Sept. 17-18 at Our Lady of Grace, 5071 Eden Ave., Edina. Celebrates a new two-story preschool, parish activity center with gym and performing arts stage, and classrooms for middle school students. Includes building tours, KidFest, painting with preschool and free food. Sept. 17 will include OLG’s Eden Avenue Marketplace (local arts and crafts fair), Pack a Snack Service Project and a 21+ Party on the Quad in the evening. Outdoor Mass and dedication ceremony 10 a.m. Sept. 18. olgpariSh org/dediCation weekend
Mary’s Meals Fundraiser Dinner — Sept. 22: 6–9 p.m. at St. Joseph of the Lakes, 171 Elm St., Lino Lakes. Pasta buffet dinner and silent auction hosted by KC and Ladies Auxiliary No. 9905 and Mary’s Meals MN Team. Buy a meal and feed a child. $21 adults, $10 children 4-11, free ages 3 and under. Purchase a table of eight for $150. Contact Deb Waldera 651-772-6935 or marySmealSmn@gmail Com with questions or for reservations.
PRAYER+RETREATS
A I never feel right asking for favors. It’s all about gratitude.
“Equipped for Life: A fresh approach to conversations about abortion” — Oct. 1: 9 a.m.–4 p.m. at Lumen Christi, 2055 Bohland Ave., St. Paul. Presenter: Emily Albrecht, national pro-life leader, of the Equal Rights Institute. Learn how to respond to the toughest pro-choice arguments with truth and love. Registration and details at ar C h S pm org / event S Sponsored by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Minnesota Catholic Conference.
“The Spiritual Exercises: Retreat in Daily Life” — September to May 2023 at St. Thomas More, 1079 Summit Ave., St. Paul. Experience St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises with a spiritual director over the course of nine months. Virtual and in-person options. moreCommunity org/Spiritual exerCiSeS retreat Fiat Ministries Discernment Retreat — Sept. 23-25 at Dunrovin Retreat Center, 15525 St. Croix Trail N., Marine on St. Croix. Single women age 18-28 who are seeking to do God’s will are invited to attend. Representatives from various religious orders will be in attendance. fiatminiStrieS org Men’s Silent Weekend Retreat, A Spiritual Potpourri — Sept. 23-25, Nov. 4-6 or Dec. 2-6 at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. The Preaching Team will present reflections from the Our Father, St. Paul’s favorite hymns, the Call to Bear Fruit and Pinocchio. kingShouSe Com Serenity (12-step) Retreat for Men and Women — Sept. 30-Oct. 2 at Christ the King Retreat Center, 621 First Ave. S., Buffalo. “Came to Believe” recovery presented by Father Salvador Gonzales, OMI. kingShouSe Com Women’s Weekend Retreat — Sept. 30-Oct. 2, Oct. 14-16 or Nov. 4-6 at Franciscan Retreats and Spirituality Center, 16385 St. Francis Lane, Prior Lake. Experience the theme “Belonging: Connections of the Heart.” Blend of scheduled and open time.
A All living things are connected by a higher power. I had a road to Damascus moment in a parking lot. That’s when it hit me that everybody everywhere has that in common, our shared humanity. We’re all people, and we can learn so much from each other. EVENTS
Q What do you enjoy about being a grandparent?
“Care For Creation Evening of Reflection: Mitakuye Oyasin — All My Relations” — Sept. 25: 6:30–8 p.m. at St. Timothy, 707 89th Ave. NE, Blaine. How does an American Indian spirituality inform the call of “Laudato Si’” to an integral ecological spirituality? Led by Shawn Phillips of Gichitwaa Kateri. ChurChofSttimothy Com “Ave Verum Corpus” — Oct. 14: 7 p.m. at St. Nicholas, 51 Church St., Elko New Market. The choir of St. Nicholas invites participants to experience Christ’s peaceful presence in a unique pairing of adoration with classical sacred music. Eucharistic adoration, classical sacred music, vespers and Benediction. Reconciliation available. StnCC net/ave verum CorpuS
he path from beauty queen to Catholic missionary might sound unlikely, but it makes perfect sense to Kathryn Kueppers. In fact, her time as Miss Minnesota prepared her well for her next role.
Kathryn Kueppers, a former Miss Minnesota, is spending the upcoming school year serving as a missionary at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students. It sounds weird to say doing pageants prepared me for mission, but it did.
Turning point As her May graduation neared and it came time to begin seeking a position teaching consumer science, Kueppers couldn’t quite picture it.
“It’s funny how God’s hand works in everything,” said Kueppers, 24, a 2016 graduate of St. Agnes School in St. Paul and a member of St. Joseph in West St. Paul. As the new school year begins, the Mendota Heights native is getting to work at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, evangelizing the students as a missionary with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students. The campus outreach partners with Newman Centers at colleges and universities across the country. After a summer of training and fundraising, Kueppers finally gets to begin. She expected to help students move in and serve them free coffee Aug. 22, their first day of school.Initially, Kueppers’ career plans centered on culinary aspirations — starting a bakery or working in a kitchen. Over time she shifted her focus to teaching culinary and life-skills, studying family and consumer science education at Minnesota State University, Mankato.
Good questions Over time she grew more comfortable meeting strangers. “Often you have to take that first step with good questions,” Kueppers said. “You never know what you’re going to find out about somebody.”Thoseexperiences reflected a core Catholic belief in the dignity and worth of each person. “Everybody has an individual, beautiful story,” sheDressedsaid. up and topped with a shiny, silver crown, the petite brunette amassed compliments for being beautiful. But Kueppers never made it about her. Her driving force was always to forge a genuine connection and let people share what was on their hearts. All the while, she was being prepared for her next chapter.
“It sounds weird to say doing pageants prepared me for mission, but it did,” Kueppers said. “There are a lot of parallels. A big part of Miss Minnesota is service and education. FOCUS is going where people are and supporting them in their challenges. In many ways, I might not have had the guts to go and interview for it if I hadn’t had this opportunity for Miss Minnesota.” Her former speech coach Stephanie Butler watched how the wide-ranging work at Miss Minnesota stretched Kueppers. “She stayed open, welcoming and accepting of new challenges, and I know she’ll take that same approach with her new adventure,” Butler said. When the decline of COVID allowed Kueppers to return to Mankato for college, she participated in a Bible study led by a FOCUS missionary at the Newman Center. She and the other students involved were profoundly touched by the experience. It compelled one student to become confirmed in the Catholic faith.
“God’s plan is always better if we can just humble ourselves to do it — to be open to hear it and willing to trust it,” she said. “Sometimes it looks like a scarier option. It was scary to think of fundraising my salary and moving who-knowswhere versus taking a nice cozy teaching position. But now that I’m here, it’s so clear it’s where I’m meant to be. I have an abiding peace.” Now she’s trying to find creative ways to reach out to students — snapping their picture with a Polaroid, inviting them to the weekly FOCUS meal, joining them in pick-up volleyball games. Once a connection is forged, she tells them about the FOCUS Bible studies and formation groups.
20 • THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT AUGUST 25, 2022
By Christina Capecchi For The Catholic Spirit
From Miss Minnesota to campus missionary
“I could either give men fish every day or I could teach men to fish,” she said. “I felt it would be more fulfilling to teach others these life skills — cooking, meal planning, budgeting.” Then she was crowned the 2019 Miss Minnesota, a position that would gradually redirect her career aspirations. As Miss Minnesota, Kueppers crisscrossed the state, visiting people at hospitals, nursing homes and town fairs. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Miss Minnesota organization took the unprecedented measure of extending her one-year tenure to two. In sum, she tallied some 300 appearances. Her approach — meeting strangers and striking up meaningful conversations — was not unlike the work of a missionary. “I found myself encountering people who really wanted to be known and loved,” she said. “I developed this love of getting to know people. And that’s part of the day-to-day of being a FOCUS missionary, taking the time to see, know and love each person as a child of God.”
Catching up with KueppersKathryn
“Something in my heart was giving,” she said. “Here was an opportunity to become grounded in my faith and to help others. It was a wonderful series of events over two years, the Lord slowly knocking on my heart: ‘I’m going to call you to something a little different than your five-year plan dictates.’”Shedecided to become a full-time FOCUS missionary after graduating. Soon she was training and fundraising, which will be the sole source of her salary. She mailed postcards, wrote emails and made phone calls, beginning with those in her circle.“Itgot easier as I started to realize yes, I’m asking people for money, but I’m really asking them to join me in mission,” she said. Ultimately, their generosity provided for a $2,500-a-month salary that will allow her to live on campus and cover expenses for the activities she’ll host. The new plan felt like a leap. Moving away from her family, friends and boyfriend requires sacrifice.
It’s a time of growing in her faith. “I’m a little homesick, and I’m counting the hours till I can go to daily Mass because it feels like home,” Kueppers said. “One of the only consistent things I have right now is my relationship with the Lord and being able to participate in the sacraments. All you can do is trust in the Lord’s providence and grace. Daily prayer has been the secret ingredient.”
“She already has so many people within the Miss Minnesota Organization who look up to her,” Butler said. “The students of Miami University are now also so lucky to have her as a mentor in their community. She’s one of the best listeners I know, which makes her fantastic at fostering relationships. I think she’ll be able to provide such a helpful perspective to these students.”
So far, the rewards outweigh the risks of this career pivot. “I can’t imagine doing anything more fulfilling,” she said. Her role is a two-year commitment — and then she’ll discern her next step. “I’m hoping to stay on as long as God calls me.”
THELASTWORD
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
Those who know her say she has a gift for relationship building. As Miss Minnesota, she took the initiative to connect the local title holders for regular check-ins.
“We talk about the method modeled by the master. What did Jesus do when he was with the Apostles? He called them one by one, and he lived with them and ate with them and prayed with them,” she said.
Kathryn Kueppers
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