Call to Action From South Texas to Washington
ACTION: Diocese of
Corpus Christi
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops offers the following clarifications regarding the Health and Human Services regulations on mandatory coverage of contraceptives, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs: 1. It does not exempt Catholic charities, schools, universities, or hospitals. HHS does not deem them “religious employers” because they do not “serve primarily persons who share their religious tenets.” HHS denies them religious freedom because their purpose is to serve the common good -a purpose government should encourage. 2. It forces these institutions and others to pay for things they consider immoral. Under the mandate, the government forces religious insurers, religious employers and schools and religious employees and students to write, provide and purchase insurance coverage that violates their beliefs. 3. It forces coverage of sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs as well as contraception. HHS’s mandate also forces employers to sponsor and subsidize coverage of sterilization. And by including all contraceptive drugs, the HHS mandate includes drugs that can induce abortion, such as “Ella,” a close cousin of the abortion pill RU-486. 4. Catholics of all political persuasions are unified in their opposition to the mandate. Catholics who have long supported this administration and its policies have publicly criticized HHS’s decision, including college presidents Father John Jenkins and Arturo Chavez; and Sister Carol Keehan, president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association. 5. Many other religious and secular groups have spoken out against HHS. Many recognize this as an assault on religious liberty, even if they disagree with the underlying moral question. Protestant and, Orthodox Christian and Orthodox Jewish groups -none of which oppose contraception - are against the HHS’s decision. The Washington Post, USA Today, N.Y Daily News and other secular outlets have editorialized against it. ‘ 6. The federal mandate is much stricter than existing state mandates. Even without an exemption, religious employers now can avoid contraceptive mandates in 28 states by self-insuring their drug coverage, dropping that coverage, or opting for regulation under a pre-emptive federal law. This mandate closes off these avenues of relief.
Make your voice heard | Contact your representatives President Barack Obama
Mail: 517 Hart Senate Office Bldg. Washington D.C. 20510 Phone: (972) 239-1310 or (202) 224-2934 Website: www.cornyn.senate.gov
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison
Rep. Blake Farenthold
Mail: 284 Russell Senate Office Bldg. Washington, D.C. 20510 Phone: (214) 361-3500 or (202) 224-5922 Website: www.hutchison.senate.gov
27th District: Nueces, Kleberg, Kenedy
Rep. Ron Paul
Rep. Ruben Hinojosa
14th District: Aransas
15th District: Bee, Brooks, Duval, Jim Wells, Live Oak, Refugio, San Patricio
Mail: 2203 Cannon House Office Bldg. Washington, DC 20515 Phone Number: (202) 225-2831 Website: www.paul.house.gov
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Sen. John Cornyn
Mail: The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20500 Phone: (202) 225-3484 Website: www.whitehouse.gov
Mail: 2110 Rayburn HOB Washington, DC 20515 Phone: (202) 225-7742 Website: www.farenthold.house.gov
Mail: 2262 Rayburn HOB Washington, DC 20515 Phone: (202) 225-2531 Website: www.hinojosa.house.gov
SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC | AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012
Contact your U.S. Representative by e-mail, phone, or FAX letter: • Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at: (202) 224-3121, or call your Members’ local offices. • Send an e-mail through NCHLA’s Grassroots Action Center at www.nchla.org • Additional contact info can be found on Members’ web sites at: house.gov and senate.gov.
MESSAGE: “Please co-sponsor the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act (H.R. 1179, s. 1467) and help enact it into law. The Obama administration’s decision to mandate coverage of sterilization and contraceptives, including drugs that can cause an abortion, makes passage of this measure especially urgent. Please ensure that the rights of conscience of all participants in our nation’s health care system are respected.”
WHEN: Now is the time to build co-sponsors and support. Please act today!
Our Lady of Guadalupe Patroness of the Americas
Pray for Us O God our Creator, from your provident hand we have received our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. You have called us as your people and given us the right and the duty to worship you, the only true God, and your Son, Jesus Christ. Th rough the power and working of your Holy Spirit, you call us to live out our faith in the midst of the world, bringing the light and the saving truth of the Gospel to every corner of society. We ask you to bless us in our vigilance for the gift of religious liberty. Give us the strength of mind and heart to readily defend our freedoms when they are threatened; give us courage in making our voices heard on behalf of the rights of your Church and the freedom of conscience of all people of faith. Grant, we pray, O heavenly Father, a clear and united voice to all your sons and daughters gathered in your Church in this decisive hour in the history of our nation, so that, with every trial withstood and every danger overcome— for the sake of our children, our grandchildren, and all who come after us— this great land will always be “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
ON THE
VOL. 47 NO. 8-9 Publisher Most Rev. Wm. Michael Mulvey, STL DD
COVER
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Our Lady of Sorrows at the Cathedral offered consolation to family members who lost loved ones in war.
Photo by Mary Cottingham, South Texas Catholic
Editor Alfredo E. Cárdenas ACardenas@diocesecc.org Theological Consultant Father Joseph Lopez JCL JLopez@diocesecc.org Associate Editor Mary E. Cottingham MCottingham@diocesecc.org Administrative Assistant Adel Rivera ARivera@diocesecc.org Correspondents Geraldine McGloin, Liz Riggle, Julissa Hernandez, Adrian Garcia, Timothy Hatch If you or someone you know would like to receive the South Texas Catholic call us at (361) 882-6191 Office Address: 620 Lipan Corpus Christi TX 78401-2434 E-MAIL: stc@diocesecc.org www.southtexascatholic.com FAX: (361) 693-6701
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Calendar Items Submit your announcements by using our online form, e-mail, fax, mail, or drop it off at the Chancery office. Only announcements for the month of publication will be included in the print edition, if space permits. All other calendar items will appear on the magazine or diocese Web sites.
Letters Welcome Letters to the editor are encouraged and welcome. In accordance with the Fair Practices Code of the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada. Letters to the Editor should express opinions that further the common good, build community, focus on issues and avoid attacks against people. All letters must be signed by the writer and include a telephone number for verification. Letters are subject to editing. Publication of letters does not imply endorsement by the South Texas Catholic. Send letters to: Letters to the Editor, South Texas Catholic, P.O. Box 2620, Corpus Christi, TX 78403-2620. E-mail to stc@diocesecc. org or fax letters to (361) 693-6701. The South Texas Catholic is not liable or in any way responsible for the content of any advertisement appearing within these pages. All claims, offers guarantees, statements, etc. made by advertisers are solely the responsibility of the advertiser. Deceptive or misleading advertising is never knowingly accepted. Complaints regarding advertising should be made directly to the advertiser or to the Better Business Bureau. (USPSN 540-860) Published monthly by the Diocese of Corpus Christi for $25 per year. Periodical postage paid in Corpus Christi Texas. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to South Texas Catholic 620 Lipan, Corpus Christi TX 78401-2434.
www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
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Father Roy Kalayil says Tony Melendez brings hope to parish and entire community of Aransas Pass
Padre Miguel Priest of supernatural joy
Carmelites Celebrate formations
Catholic medical guild Becoming a reality
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Pastoral Year
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‘Hearts on Fire’
Provides seminarians practical experience
Spiritual exercises that work
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Gift of Love
33
Aurora shooting
36
Syrian Catholics
42
Bishop Mulvey
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Embryo that grew up
Hospital honors organ donors
Denver bishops console survivors and victims’ families
Call for world to help
Conscience is God’s will written on our hearts
Not ‘just’ a pile of cells
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The 1940s a decade of change
Msgr. Michael Howell Contributor
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he 1940s were years marked by great achievements and great sacrifices for the Diocese of Corpus Christi.
Despite a world war, numerous new church structures were built to accommodate a growing population. St. Theresa’s in Woodsboro, Sacred Heart in Three Rivers, Sacred Heart in Sinton, Santa Rosa de Lima in Benavides, St. Elizabeth in Alice and the parishes of Sacred Heart, St. Theresa and Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Corpus Christi represented some of those building projects. The decade began with a major celebration—the dedication of a new cathedral. The Corpus Christi Cathedral was the first church in Texas built specifically to serve as a cathedral. Like all the dioceses of Texas before it, Corpus Christi had initially used a local parish church as the diocesan cathedral when the diocese was erected in 1912. The parish church of St. Patrick’s on the corner of Carancahua and Antelope Streets was designated to serve that purpose. A fire in November 1938 persuaded Bishop Emmanuel Ledvina to build a new cathedral rather than attempt to repair and enlarge the damaged church. On March 1, 1939 Bishop Ledvina broke ground for a new sanctuary on the corner of North Upper Broadway and Lipan. The local Knights of Columbus Council 1202 showed off the impressive structure as it neared completion when they hosted the state convention of the Knights in May 1940. Charles Lester Monnot Sr., who had completed what is now the Basilica of the National Shrine of St. Theresa in San Antonio, was chosen as the architect to design the cathedral. Both Bishop Ledvina and Coadjutor Bishop Mariano Garriga, who had been a priest of San Antonio when the minor basilica was built in 1931, were impressed with Monnot’s work and wanted a similar church for their cathedral. In fact, the plans for the two churches are very similar. The front entry doors of both churches are exactly alike.
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Monnot later built a church in his home in Oklahoma City using the same plans as the Corpus Christi Cathedral, simply scaled down. That parish church was named “Corpus Christi Church.” With a world war already ignited in Europe, money was tight and shipping was perilous as plans were made for the new cathedral and its furnishings. The formal dedication of the $350,000 structure took place on July 17, 1940. Bishop Garriga led a procession of priests to the new cathedral to bless it outside and inside while hundreds of Catholics congregated in the adjacent streets to await the ceremonies. Bishop Ledvina entered the Cathedral, leading distinguished visitors. Priests and sisters filled nine pews in the front on both sides and visiting monsignors, bishops and archbishops had places reserved in the sanctuary. Archbishop Joseph F. Rummel of New Orleans delivered the dedicatory sermon. “It has been appropriately converted to Corpus Christi Cathedral [and] stands as a monument to the faith of those who live here,” the archbishop said. Roy J. Hebert directed the Cathedral choir. He was a native of Canada who had studied for the priesthood at Oblate Seminary in San Antonio before coming to Corpus Christi where he married Rachel Bluntzer. The organist was Francis Blossman who had begun his career as the organist for St. Patrick’s Parish, the original cathedral, at the age of 13. On Easter Sunday 1904, the choirmaster of the parish discovered that the parish organist had left town. Young Francis, son of a leading grocer of Corpus Christi and a piano student under the tutelage of Sister Augustine at Incarnate Word Convent, was persuaded to play the old pipe organ for the first time on that Easter, even though his legs were still too short to reach the foot pedals. He played for Sunday Masses, funerals and weddings in both Catholic and non-Catholic churches for the next 49 years. At the time Liturgy celebrating the 1952 of his death, on New Year’s consecration of Corpus Eve 1953, he lacked only three Christi Cathedral. months of having served the Archived Photo parish 50 years. www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
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After the formal dedication, a luncheon was held at the Plaza Hotel Deck at Broadway and Leopard for dignitaries. That evening, the Cathedral Women’s League hosted a reception for the general public in the new cathedral’s auditorium. Sadly, within months of the dedication, one of the principal benefactors of the diocese and the new cathedral was dead; Marie Stella Kenedy died in early September 1940. She had donated the site of her home on the northwest corner of Broadway and Lipan for the cathedral, as well as the old house, which was originally moved across the street to the southwest corner for the use as a hall and kindergarten and was later moved and used to make Nuestra Señora de Pilar Church in the Molina District of Corpus Christi. (Editor’s note: In the July 2012 edition of the South Texas Catholic we incorrectly reported that the old St. Patrick’s Cathedral was used to make Nuestra Señora de Pilar when in reality it was the old Kenedy home that was used for that purpose. The old St. Patrick’s was used to build Our Lady Star of the Sea church.) The following year, grief touched the entire United States as another world war reached America and south Texas. On the morning of Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941 families were shocked to learn of a surprise attack by Japanese forces on the American naval port of Pearl Harbor.
Many mothers lamented the death of their beloved children during the years of conflict that followed. In the main entrance of the cathedral was placed the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows, most commonl y referred to as the “pieta.” This image of Our Lady and the Marie Stella Kenedy, one of the prinStations of the Sorcipal benefactors of the diocese and rowful Mother on the new cathedral. the walls of the caArchived Photo thedral were a focus of prayer for many mothers who sought consolation from the first sorrowful mother at the sacrifice made by her son. The Novena to the Sorrowful Mother was inaugurated in the cathedral on Jan. 24, 1941 with the church packed to hear Father Thomas A. Calkins, O.S.M. from the Shrine of Our Sorrowful Mother in Chicago who led the services in the presence of high ecclesiastics and laymen from the area. During the war, and for many years subsequently, the novena of Our Lady of Sorrows was a popular devotion attended by many throughout the diocese while a nation mourned its sons and daughters who had paid the ultimate price for our freedoms. Over the next years, grieving families and friends carried many loved one for a final commendation by their church family; many of which had previously been carried into the Cathedral and parish churches throughout the Diocese of Corpus Christi for their baptism. The end of the war precipitated an explosive growth for the community and Catholic Church in south Texas as young men returned to find jobs, marry and father the children who became known as the “baby boomers” because of their numbers. It also meant the growth in the parochial school system in south Texas. The end of the war also marked the end of Bishop Ledvina’s almost three decades of service as the Ordinary in Corpus Christi. The bishop announced his retirement on March 15, 1949. Our Lady of Sorrows, was focus of prayer for mothers that lost sons and daughters during World War II. It is located in the foyer of Corpus Christi Cathedral. Mary Cottingham, South Texas Catholic
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Catholic Charities helping people Shannette Hoelscher Contributor
For more than 45 years, Catholic Charities of Corpus Christi, Inc. has been providing help to the people most in need in the community. Their ultimate goal is to create positive lifechanging opportunities for those experiencing hardship. Last year Catholic Charities helped more than 100,000 through diverse programs including: • The Emergency Aid Department for food, rent and utilities; • The Payee Program for people unable to manage finances due to mental or physical limitations or family exploitation; • An accredited Immigration and Refugee Assistance Department designed to reunite families and foster stability through provision of high quality legal services and education, newly expanded to help trafficking victims; • The Office for Persons with a Disability, a ministry for all persons with special needs that provides educational and recreational experiences in their own language and level of understanding; • A licensed, professional counseling department for children, individuals, and families; • A housing department assisting with foreclosure prevention, homebuyer education and learning classes, financial literacy workshops, family self-sufficiency counseling, budget and money management, credit counseling, rental counseling and fair housing; • The First Call Program, a manned telephone and Web-based program linking those with unmet needs to goods and services provided by faith-based and other non-profit organizations; • The Mother Teresa Shelter, the area’s only day shelter for the homeless that provides breakfast, snacks, laundry and shower facilities, job counseling, mental health services, medication supervision, communication with family and friends, and outdoor, productive pastimes and therapeutic activities to more than 200 people daily; • The Mother Teresa Transitional Housing Facility, opened in 2012, provides comprehensive services to temporarily homeless men; • The Community CARE Program, a community-based health and wellness ministry providing education and advocacy with classes open to the public including nutrition and healthy cooking, exercise and preventative health and wellness with a focus on diabetes and obesity prevention and chronic disease management; and • A Christmas event, primarily sponsored by The John G. and Marie Stella Kenedy Memorial Foundation and H-E-B, that serves turkeys and provides food baskets to more than 17,000 people and provides toys to almost 8,000 area children. www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
Elisabeth von Trapp featured at 2012 “Dinner & Dialogue” event Shannette Hoelscher Contributor
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he 2012 “Dinner & Dialogue with Bishop Wm. Michael Mulvey” will be held Thursday, Oct. 18, at 7 p.m. at the Congressman Solomon P. Ortiz International Center. Held every other year, the 2012 dinner’s goal is to fund two years of operating expenses for the Catholic Charities of Corpus Christi and the Mother Teresa Shelter. Funds raised will assist people from all walks of, with all donations staying in the 12 counties of the Coastal Bend and 94 percent of the donations going directly to client services. “Guests will enjoy this special evening, but more importantly their support will go a long way in helping the poor and marginalized in our community,” Sammie Grunwald, board president for Catholic Charities, said. “I wish everyone could see the faces of the people whose lives they will touch. They would see humility, gratitude and love.” Bishop Mulvey and other members of the faith community will be entertained by Elisabeth von Trapp, the granddaughter of the legendary Baron and Maria von Trapp popularized in the movie “The Sound of Music.” Critics have called her voice “hauntingly clear,” “joyfully expressive” and “simply beautiful.” Elisabeth von Trapp has been performing professionally since childhood
Elisabeth von Trapp will perform at 2012 “Dinner & Dialogue” event. Contributed photo
and has enthralled audiences all over the world, including performances in European cathedrals and Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center. Growing up in Vermont, “the sounds of music” helped to shape her, but she carved out her own artistic style. She has released five self-produced albums and her concert repertoire ranges from Bach to Broadway and Schubert to Sting. Audiences of all ages are drawn by her famous name and are not disappointed. “Before the concert is over, she will have the crowd gasping with the sheer beauty of her voice,” the Boston Globe said. Sponsorships and special underwriting opportunities are available by calling (361) 442-2224, ext. 24 or by emailing shoelscher@diocesecc.org. For more information on Catholic Charities, visit their Web site at www.catholiccharities-cc.org.
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Padre Miguel: Priest of
supernatural joy Alfredo E. Cardenas South Texas Catholic
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Father Jordan during his work in the Philippines. Courtesy Photo, Ermina A. Wilder
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T
hen the king will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.’” (Mt: 34-37) Those who knew Father Michael Jordan, SOLT, know in their heart that he has already heard these words from the Lord Himself.
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Father Jordan died in a fatal automobile accident on Monday, July 9, on Interstate 37 in Atascosa County, south of San Antonio. Father Jordan’s passenger, Father Edward Roach, SOLT, was critically injured and was taken to a San Antonio hospital. Father Roach, assigned to the Society of the Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (SOLT) mission in Nuevo Laredo, will have a long road to full recovery from his injuries. “Father Jordan was a dedicated servant of our Lord and will be missed greatly,” Bishop Wm. Michael Mulvey of the Diocese of Corpus Christ said. “Over his nearly 30 years in priestly ministry, Father Jordan was esteemed for his dedication to the unborn and the incarcerated. His tireless commitments to the cause of life and to his brothers in prison are an example for all of us on how to live the Incarnate Word of God.” “Father Mike is an example to all of us of fidelity to a commitment he made years ago...to lay down his life in service of his brothers and sisters,” Father Dan Estes, SOLT said. “There is no one that has served this community like he has, he would go anywhere, he would do anything.” Father Jordan was born in South Bend, Indiana, on Dec. 19, 1946, to Cecil E. and Patricia A. Jordan, nee Bannon. The family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico where they attended Our Lady of Fatima Parish and Father Jordan graduated from St. Pius X High School in 1964. Father Jordan is survived by three brothers, Gerard and Pamela Jordan of Corcoran, California; Dr. Thomas and Janice Jordan of St. Louis, Missouri and Timothy Jordan of Colorado Springs, Colorado; and three sisters, Susan and Jay Richards of Colorado Springs; Joan and James McLaughlin of Kansas City and Patricia and Dr. John Purk of Roeland Park, Kansas; and numerous nieces and nephews. “Father Mike was a nice and kind man,” Father Peter Marsalek, SOLT, said in his homily at the congregation’s American Regional Assembly on July 11. Father Marsalek said Father Jordan must have grown up in a family where he must have “felt really loved from the first moment.” “When you have someone who is so kind and selfconfident in who they are, [it] is a sign of a person who understands who they are in their relationship to God, a person who really understands that they have been eternally loved,” Father Marsalek said. After graduation from high school, Father Jordan enrolled at the University of Notre Dame where he received a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1968. He spent six years working at the alumni office at Notre Dame. Father James Kelleher, SOLT who delivered the homily at Father Jordan’s funeral Mass at Corpus Christi Cathedral on Saturday, July 14, told a story about an outing Father Jordan and his friends took one day that changed his life forever. They went canoeing on the nearby St. Joseph River www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
and their canoe tipped over. The future priest went under water and was drowning; he was sure he was going to die. Suddenly, he found himself on land. “He knew it was a miracle. He was forever grateful because the Lord had plans for Father Michael Jordan,” Father Kelleher said. Shortly after this miracle, Father Jordan joined SOLT as a lay apostle in Kansas City. Three years later, he entered the seminary in Legaspi, Philippines and was ordained to the priesthood on July 16, 1983 at his home parish in Albuquerque. So many people saw him as a model for what it means to belong to the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity, Father Marsalek said. “He gave his body to the people he served; he gave his heart to the Church in the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity; and he have his soul to God,” Father Marsalek said. Father Jordan was a member of SOLT for his entire priesthood. He served many years in the congregation’s Philippine missions. For the last 15 years, Father Jordan served in the Diocese of Corpus Christi caring for infirm priests in a home at Holy Family Parish in Robstown; ministering to state prison inmates; and as passionate supporter of the pro-life cause. Those who knew him best commented that Father Jordan was often late. “You know why he was always late?” Father Estes asked. “Because he had time for everyone…he stopped for everyone, that’s what he was teaching us, Father Mike stopped for everyone…to meet every person…to serve everybody and he didn’t care where he had to be, he would stop for the littlest one.” “Father Michael Jordan was a great spiritual voice,” Father Kelleher said. He truly understood the Trinitarian relationship of the Our Lady as daughter of the Father, mother of the Son and spouse of the Holy Spirit. Father Kelleher said that Father Jordan’s first strength was his love for the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. His second strength was that he had a childlike devotion to Our Lady; he loved Our Lady so deeply; he loved to pray the rosary. “He radiated God’s love to each one of us,” Father Kelleher said. Father Jordan also understood well his congregation’s charism of ecclesial teams of priests, consecrated life and lay faithful who witness as Church. “He loved community, being with,” Father Kelleher said. “May the Lord accept Father Michael quickly into eternal life,” Bishop Mulvey said “This was a priest of supernatural joy. The padre always brought joy,” Father Kelleher said. “That was his trademark. He was simple, he was humble.” AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012 | SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC
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The JOY of religious life The Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus held a religious celebration for four of their own on July 1 and 2 at Mount Carmel Chapel in Corpus Christi. The celebrations included the Religious Profession of novice Sister M. Clare of St. Michael (left), an Entrance into Postulancy of twin sisters Susan Redlinger and Laura Redlinger and the Renewal of Vows of Sister M. Teresa Margaret of the Blessed Sacrament. Sister Mary Katherine Lastra, Carmel DCJ, for South Texas Catholic
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Call or e-mail Julie Wise, Amazing Irish Tours, LLC 361 442-9377 or julie@amazingirishtours.com
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Liturgical worship more noble when celebrated in song by parishioners Mary Cottingham South Texas Catholic
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iturgical music should be an integral part of Mass and all worshipers should take an active part in the music.
According to Musicam Sacram, Instruction on Music in the Liturgy issued by the Second Vatican Council, “Liturgical worship is given a more noble form when it is celebrated in song, with the ministers of each degree fulfilling their ministry and the people participating in it.” Lee Gwozdz, Diocesan Director of Music, will present three music workshops in August at different deaneries to assist parish choirs refresh their music liturgy. Each workshop will consist of three-hour sessions divided into two parts. Having deanery workshops will allow Gwozdz to work with parish musicians in smaller groups to target where they are and then to focus on what they need to enable them to assist their congregations in song. “Hopefully attending these workshops will ignite a renewed spirit in our diocese of the importance of music sung during the Mass. Worship is the heart of our Church—the summit and fount—music is the heartbeat. So in a sense this workshop will help with the cardio factor and reinvigorate the heart,” Gwozdz said. The person responsible for selecting and preparing the music for one or all of the Masses should attend the first two hours of the workshop session and all singers, or choir
members, should attend the last hour of each session. Lee Gwozdz Diocesan Director Ac c o r d i n g t o of Music Gwozdz the main challenge is to train musicians that can in turn help the parish community sing and join in song at each Mass. “I will offer tips on how to involve the assembly; to make sure the music being sung can actually be sung by the assembly,” Gwozdz said. In the first two hours of each deanery workshop Gwozdz will explain how to plan liturgical music for each Mass; the priority list of acclamations that should be sung at all Masses; the status of the new English translation in the parishes; the diocesan acclamations; how to teach the assembly song; the role of the cantor or song leader; the role of the choir; music resources for the assembly; copyrights; and music for diocesan confirmations. The last hour in each session is for singers. For Corpus Christi deaneries, the Summer Music Workshop will be available on Saturday, Aug. 4, at St. Pius X Parish. The session is from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. For the Beeville, Five Points and Refugio deaneries, the workshop will be available on Saturday, Aug. 11, at St. Peter, Prince of the Apostle Parish in Corpus Christi. The session is from 1–4 p.m. For the Kingsville and Alice deaneries, the workshop will be available on Saturday, Aug. 18, at St. Gertrude Parish in Kingsville. The session is from 9 a.m.–12 p.m. These three-hour sessions in the summer are the beginning, Gwozdz said. The goal is to have two of these deanery sessions a year. The next workshop will be in the spring.
Worship is the heart of our Church—the summit >>and fount—music is the heartbeat. So in a sense
this workshop will help with the cardio factor and reinvigorate the heart.
www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012 | SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC
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23rd Annual Celebration for Life Guest Speaker, Deacon Keith Fournier
CATHOLIC Alfredo E. Cardenas South Texas Catholic
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This year’s guest speaker, Deacon Keith Fournier is the Editor in Chief at Catholic Online, one of the largest integrated Catholic Media Networks on the World Wide Web. He is a widely recognized voice in the Catholic and broader Christian community. He is a constitutional lawyer who appeared as co-counsel in cases before the United States Supreme Court on Pro-Life, Religious Freedom and Pro-Family issues.
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or 15 years, Dr. Carlos Everett has wanted to organize a Catholic medical group in the Diocese of Corpus Christi. With the blessing and encouragement of Bishop Wm. Michael Mulvey his wishes are finally becoming a reality. Bishop Mulvey recently approved formation of a medical guild under the diocesan structure, Deacon Stephen Nolte, director of the Office of Life, Justice and Human Dignity said. The bishop will be an ex-officio member of guild’s board and will name a chaplain to provide them spiritual guidance. “I think the guild will be an outlet to help teach us, to remind us who we are as Catholics and that we don’t separate our faith and our practice, we need to integrate our faith and our practice,” Dr. Everett said. “We’re supposed to be witnesses.” Everett said the original idea for a medical guild came in 1997 when Bishop Roberto O. Gonzalez, OFM asked him to organize a Guild of the St. Luke’s Society, an organization for Catholic physicians. Everett’s search for a model yielded no results. Ten years later, his spiritual advisor also asked Everett to organize a local Catholic medical group. But again, he was unable to find information to help in this effort. With his appointment to the diocese’s Alliance for Life, Everett had the opportunity to meet Bishop Mulvey and asked the bishop for support with getting the group together. Bishop Mulvey agreed, and suggested that a White Mass for health care professionals be organized to get things going. Some 120 health care professionals attended the Mass on Oct. 18, 2011 on the Feast of St. Luke, the patron saint of physicians. The second annual White Mass in the diocese is scheduled www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
C MEDICAL GUILD becoming a reality
Dr. Carlos Everett practices in the city’s west side and his waiting room is adorned with Catholic art, including a large portrait of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Jesus the physician, shown above. Alfredo E. Cardenas, South Texas Catholic
for Oct. 20, which will be preceded with a talk by a medical ethicist at CHRISTUS Spohn Health System. The organization of the medical guild will take a formal nature after that Mass. The group will also seek membership in the Catholic Medical Association, a national group dedicated to “uphold the principles of the Catholic faith in the science and practice of medicine.” The guild will be an outlet to help health care professionals that want to know more about their faith and how they can apply their faith in their practice in dealing with patients, Everett said. “Physicians are often asked to prescribe contraception pills, tie tubes and perform sterilizations, and they do it. Many of us never had any formation; we lack formation in Church teaching on biomedical ethics. We received no training on www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
ethics,” Everett said. “Basically, bioethics is acknowledging the dignity of human life,” Everett said. Everett hopes the guild can help educate fellow physicians on the whys of Church teaching in areas such as contraception, sterilization, abortion, in vitro fertilization, stem cells, etc. “We need, as health professionals, to speak up for what the Church teaches,” Everett said. Doctors suffer from government mandates, much as the Church is confronted today with the Health and Human Services mandate requiring insurance providers to include contraceptives in their plans, even if they are contrary to the employer’s moral stance. Everett said that some training programs in obstetrics and gynecology, for example, require medical students to learn to do abortions or be expelled from the program if they refuse on conscience. Everett lost the business of a chain pharmacy because he refused to provide the morning after pill. He was told he would have to refer patients to someone else, but he refused that request also because that would be “cooperating with evil.” In addition to bioethics concerns, the guild will also assist healthcare professionals with the pastoral aspects of their practice. “We have to realize that sometimes we allow the business aspect to take over, we always have to extend Christ’s love to patients and treat them with dignity. We need to love our patients as brothers, as family,” Everett said. As professionals, doctors tend to disassociate their feelings from the patient. “You want Christ in that examination room; He is the ultimate physician. We are only his instruments. God gives us the wisdom necessary to treat the patient better,” Everett said. Everett hopes that one day doctors can overcome all the negative influences from the secular society to the point that someday the community can have Catholic healthcare clinics where there will not be any birth control provided, no abortions, no sterilizations and “bringing the love of Christ to the patient.” “We cannot force our faith on others but at the same time we cannot ignore it,” Everett said. AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012 | SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC
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SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC | AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012
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PARISH LIFE
Tony Melendez will headline concert
A man who brings hope Alfredo E. Cardenas South Texas Catholic
I
n March 2007, Father Roy Jacob Kalayil—newly arrived from India—saw Tony Melen-
dez perform at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi at the 3rd Annual New Springtime of Catholic Evangelization Lenten Family Conference and was overwhelmed by Melendez’s performance.
Composer and musician Tony Melendez, who was born with no hands, plays guitar with his feet and will perform at the Aransas Pass Shrimporee Fairgrounds Aug. 5 Don Blake, Catholic News Service
www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012 | SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC
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Melendez has that effect on people. A thalidomide baby born without hands, he played for Blessed John Paul II in September 1987, prompting the pope to rise to his feet, jump off the stage and kiss the performer on the forehead. “Tony, go on and do your music and give hope to all,” the Holy Father said to him. Fast-forward to 2012 and St. Mary Star of the Sea church in Aransas Pass. Father Kalayil was recounting his experience at seeing Melendez, wowing the crowd at the conference. “He is a man who brings hope,” Father Kalayil said that Sunday morning in his homily. In the congregation sat a friend of Melendez’s who communicated to the singer the priest’s admiration, and voilà Melendez is on his way to Aransas Pass for an Aug. 5 concert at the Aransas Pass Shrimporee grounds. Father Kalayil said the event has earned the support of the entire community and has brought together people of all faiths. “It is a great gift of Catholics to the city,” Father Kalayil said. Indeed, Catholics have been giving to the community since its earliest days. By 1899 there was a Catholic Church presence in Aransas Harbor with priests coming from Skidmore. With the development of the city of Aransas Pass as a railroad terminal in 1912, St. Mary Star of the Sea served as a mission to Sacred Heart in Rockport. St. Mary Star of the Sea carried forth the name of the then defunct Stella Maris Church in Lamar. The town itself, most likely, got its name from Our Lady of Aranzazu in the Basque region of Spain and a wellspring of the Franciscan missionaries that brought Christianity to Texas. In 1915, Father J. C. Dubourgel was celebrating Mass on the second Sunday of each month. By 1919, 25 communicants were attending church in the town and two years later a new sanctuary was built. Soon after, Bishop Emmanuel Ledvina approved for an extra Mass to be celebrated “during the height of the fishing season.” In 1923, Father Francis Gruber reported a cordial arrangement with the people although he was also dealing with threats from the Ku Klux Klan. It was not until 1948, however, that St. Mary Star of the Sea was elevated to a parish with Father Charles Ordner as the first resident pastor. The small wooden church built in 1921 was no longer suitable for the The CHRISTUS Spohn Health growing congregation System’s Mobile Clinic visits Aranand, after a fund raising sas Pass every Thursday ; clinic drive—spearheaded by personnel see patients at St. Mary the new pastor Father Star of the Sea parking lot. Damian Hayes—the Alfredo E. Cardenas South Texas current church and rectory were completed in Catholic
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SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC | AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012
Father Kalayil shepherds a parish with a long history of serving the community as community. The Tony Melendez concert is but one of the many ways St. Mary Star of the Sea ministers to their sisters and brothers in Aransas Pass. Alfredo E. Cardenas South Texas Catholic
www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
1950. The new church was dedicated March 25, 1953. Father James Hamilton, who became pastor in 1974, began the religious educational reforms of the Second Vatican Council. He also brought the Cursillo movement to St. Mary’s and organized a Spanish charismatic prayer group. In 1978, St. Mary added a Church Center, which combined a parish hall and classrooms. St. Mary’s continued a steady growth and today has some 500 registered families. The parish also continues to grow spiritually and in the participation in the more than two-dozen parish ministries. “All ministries are going very well,” Father Kalayil said. In the current hard economic times, the parish’s Angels of Mother Teresa Kathy Apodaca, left, helps client select food at the St. Mary Star of the Sea food bank. Apodaca and operate a food bank that her husband Joe; Jean and John Nichols; Dee Dee Weber; and Norma Martinez volunteer as “Angels distributes food every month to about 45 families. “The of Mother Teresa” to help those in need in their community. Angels of Mother Teresa help Alfredo E. Cardenas South Texas Catholic whoever needs help. Even The next step in the stewardship campaign is the stewthough we are in a very big ardship of treasure. The parish will begin its Legacy of debt, we help if the need is genuine,” Father Kalayil said. Faith ~ Future of Hope campaign in September, which it “These people are wonderful; they are ready to go on hopes will help with much needed repairs to the physical a moment’s notice. They deliver food to some homes. We plant. All buildings are in need of some form of maintewill give food at any time but we will not give money or nance. The annual parish festival scheduled for Oct. 14 will help with other expenses unless we know them and the also help meet the parish’s financial needs. need is genuine,” Father Kalayil said. The Melendez concert is a big part of this effort. Father The pastor credits the Diocese Office of Parish StewKalayil hopes that the concert will raise sufficient funds to ardship with the ongoing renewal in the parish. The retire the parish debt. Already some 2,500 tickets are out Stewardship Office first helped the parish implement a and the parish hopes to double that amount by the time stewardship of prayer. The people understood the focus gates open at 3 p.m. on Aug. 5. General admission tickets of stewardship and responded with enthusiasm, Father are $20 and can be purchased online at www.stmaryss. Kalayil said. There was an increase in Mass attendance org. Reserved seating is available for $50 but can only be and at the adoration chapel. purchased at the parish office. For more information on “People realized they have a greater duty and responthe concert, visit the parish Web site or call the parish sibility than just coming to Mass,” Father Kalayil said. office at (361) 758-2662. “Through the stewardship of talent, people are ready to do “All the city is excited,” Father Kalayil said, “not because any kind of work for the parish. I haven’t paid for plumbit’s a fund raising program; they see him as a man who ing, electrical work, painting or anything because people brings hope.” offer their talents.” www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012 | SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC
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Pastoral year provides semina Alfredo E. Cardenas South Texas Catholic
T
here is a lot of work involved in my priestly formation. The demands are quite extensive, but there is so much grace and joy in working toward the goal of priesthood and service within the Church,” said Michael Quesada, a seminarian for the Diocese of Corpus Christi who lived his pastoral year at Holy Family Parish this year.
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His year working at Holy Family provided a positive experience that will help him “in serving others as a Holy Priest,” Quesada said. The parish provided him an occasion for “tremendous growth” in his path to the priesthood. Born on March 17, 1966 in San Antonio, Quesada’s family moved to Corpus Christi and registered at St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles Parish where they attended Mass every Sunday and the children attended religious education classes through graduation from high school. Quesada, along with twin brother Patrick are the youngest of five children. There are two older brothers, Oscar and Manuel Jr., and his sister Gloria, the first-born. Quesada credits his parents, Manuel Quesada and Alicia Valdez Quesada, with providing him a firm spiritual upbringing. “My parents are responsible for placing the seed of faith within me in my early years,” Quesada said. “From the time I can remember we always attended Sunday Mass. I also attended weekly catechism classes all the way into twelfth grade. I have to say that my parents were the strongest advocates for my early formation. I have them to thank for my early formation.” Despite a solid foundation in the faith, his call to the priesthood came later in life. He graduated from Calallen
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SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC | AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012
Seminarian Michael Quesada, left, assists Father Patrick Donohoe during baptism at Holy Family Parish, as part of Quesada’s formation into the priesthood. Holy Family Parish
High School in 1984 and worked as an assistant controller at a condominium complex on Corpus Christi Beach. He worked in the accounting office doing much of their books, payables, receivables, hiring, etc. In 1998, while working at the condominium complex, he received his call to the priesthood. He was 33-years-old when he began to hear the calling; it was “so vibrant and strong that…I had no choice but to respond,” Quesada said. “My call was directly inspired by the Lord,” he said. When he first began to hear the calling, Quesada approached his pastor Msgr. Morgan Rowsome at St. Peter’s. “He was the first person I revealed it to and the first person to direct me on what to do,” Quesada said. His first spiritual director, Ray Saenz, also guided him when he first received the calling to the priestly vocation. Quesada is now enrolled at St. Mary’s Seminary in Houston after receiving a bachelor in philosophy from St. Joseph’s Seminary College in Covington, Louisiana. He will begin his third year of theological studies in the fall and will be ordained to the transitional diaconate, “God willing,” in June 2013 and the priesthood in 2014. An important part of priestly formation for a seminarian is spending a year at a parish to get real world experience. This is called the pastoral year, and it is usually done between the second and third years of theological studies. “The Pastoral Year is similar to an internship allowing the seminarian to further develop their pastoral skills by being intricately involved in a parish community while under the supervision of the parish priest,” said Father Joseph Lopez, JCL, Chancellor and Vocations Director for the Diocese of Corpus Christi. www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
CATHOLIC EDUCATION
arians
At this time in his formation, a seminarian has acquired sufficient theological training, and now needs practical experience on applied ministry. The year at a parish also affords the seminarian the opportunity to assess which area of theology he may want to pursue in his remaining years in the seminary. Bishop Wm. Michael Mulvey assigned Quesada to Holy Family Parish to do his pastoral year under the tutelage of pastor Father Patrick Donohoe. In addition to Quesada, David Bayardo and Freddie Villarreal are also completing their pastoral year. Bayardo is under the wing of Father Paul Hesse at St. Pius X Parish and Villarreal is working and learning under the supervision of Father Peter Martinez at St. Paul the Apostle Parish. “My pastoral year has helped to solidify the calling that God has initiated in me, helping me to realize that this is exactly where I need to be,” Quesada said. He said, working at a parish has allowed him to use the four pillars of formation—the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral—in his work, and in his own formation. “Each of them hinges on one another but they are directly related to the foundation of the human pillar. It is also a great cooperation with the grace that God gives me,” Quesada said. It is one thing, Quesada said, to learn about philosophy and theology in the classroom, but a completely different www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
thing to actually see it in motion within the setting of a hard-working parish. The support provided by Father Donohoe, the parish staff and parishioners has made Quesada’s experience very rewarding. “It has been an invaluable experience and I thank God for placing me with such a strong pastor and staff whose love and guidance have and continue to contribute to my future as a strong advocate for holy life and a life dedicated to God and His Church,” Quesada said. “Michael entered fully into the pastoral year process and used this time for personal spiritual growth and exercising real pastoral ministry,” Father Donohoe said. “Overall, Michael did very well. He had several bumps in his ministry at the beginning of his time at Holy Family, but he learned very quickly to adapt and to improve his pastoral skills in dealing with people.” Father Donohoe said that Quesada learned that “sometimes it is far more effective to accompany someone on the journey of faith than to just tell them the answer to a question.” That the call to be a better priest is not just knowing the answers, but to be willing to journey with the people of God. He also learned that to be a good priest you must balance your personal life and health with the duties and demands of parish life. “Michael is a great guy and it was a pleasure for me to be his mentor during his pastoral year. As I was teaching and reflecting things to him, I was finding my own life and priesthood being rejuvenated as well. It was a great experience for me as well. I look forward to the day that I can call him a ‘Brother Priest’,” Father Donohoe said. “I had a joyful year of working at La Sagrada Familia, Holy Family Parish, with Father Donohoe as my guiding pastor,” Quesada said. Quesada is currently working in Metairie, Louisiana at East Jefferson General Hospital completing his clinical pastoral education. The next step in his formation is for the bishop to accept him into candidacy for the diaconate and then the priesthood. “It is an exciting time where I am finally seeing a little light at the end of the tunnel. But I do realize that with ordination, there will be many more challenges ahead of me to face,” Quesada said. AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012 | SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC
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‘Hearts on Fire’
sheds light on
By Julissa Hernandez South Texas Catholic
how to pray, discern
Three Jesuits, from left, seminarian John O’Brien, Father Jay Hooks and seminarian Santiago Rodriguez play music at the Hearts on Fire retreat. The Jesuit Mission Band is comprised of the five retreat presenters.
S
Contributed photo
ome might have expected the “Hearts on Fire” retreat to deliver a spiritual “Aha!” moment, but the retreat approached spirituality with a patient resolve; attendants were told that if they came looking for answers, they must first search their hearts for a loving relationship with Jesus Christ. “We often tell young people ‘you should pray about that’ or ‘you should take time to discern that decision’ but we don’t often show them how to pray or how to discern,” Adam Koll, Director of Young Adult and Campus Ministry for the Diocese of Corpus Christi said. “That’s what this retreat is about.”
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SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC | AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012
The retreat, presented by the Apostleship of Prayer, introduced young adults, ages 18-35, to the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus, more commonly known as the Jesuits. Our Lady of Corpus Christi Retreat Center hosted the retreat on July 6-7. While the retreat was originally set to take place at the www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
Newman Catholic Center near the campus of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, organizers relocated the event to Our Lady of Corpus Christi Retreat Center after registrations were double of what was expected. Five young Jesuits led the presentations. Apostleship of Prayer Youth and Young Adult Director Father Phil Hurley, S.J. led the first and last talks. Seminarians Santiago Rodriguez, S.J. Sean Salai, S.J. and John Adam Koll says the Office of Young Adult O’Brien, S.J. led the and Campus Ministry of the diocese profour median talks. vides many spiritual growth opportunities to Father Jay Hooks, college students and young adults. S.J., who was ordained three weeks Contributed Photo before the event, led his first adoration as a priest on Friday evening and celebrated the closing Mass. Father Hurley said the spiritual exercises were written by Ignatius himself and his teachings are packaged into a course that helps students answer questions of the heart. “Like an exercise book…you could read it, but you won’t get the benefits of it until you do the exercises,” Father Hurley said. In his talk on “Ungrateful Hearts: The Consequences of Sin,” Rodriguez explored gratitude as the most important step in the spiritual journey. Ignatius taught that sin must be acknowledged, not just with our minds, but also with our hearts. The Jesuit Mission Band, comprised of the five retreat presenters, provided music for the event. They joked that they are primarily a “missionary band” in the Ignatian sense, and they are secondarily an actual band, with guitars and a keyboard. Rodriguez also led the third talk of the retreat, “The call of the King,” which called participants to share in the life of Christ. Rodriguez explained that just as God lives through us in the everyday events of our lives, we can also live through him. He described Jesus’s sacrificial love as wanting “to do everything for the greater glory of the Father.” “Jesus is the source of our love, our joys,” Rodriguez said. “Our hearts are on fire the way a candle can be lit, from a source of flame. The source for the fire in our hearts is the heart of Christ.” Salai led a guided contemplation called “Praying with the Heart.” Attendants received handouts with instructional meditations and were directed to find a quiet, comfortable place to spend an hour alone in prayer. For some, this was the most significant part of the retreat. “Being able to spend an hour in prayer, practicing the spiritual exercises, has helped me grow in my own prayer life,” a participant wrote in a retreat feedback form. “This is the step I needed to better my relationship with the Lord.” O’Brien and Salai led a talk on “Discernment of Spirits: www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
Paying Attention to Movements of the Heart.” Participants learned some of the many rules Ignatius had for discernment of spirits. According to Ignatius, not only do hearts respond poignantly to the Holy Spirit and “the enemy,” he also wrote that our feelings give us insight into God’s will. One exercise used to evaluate feelings asked participants to list the things they love. “It was the first time I ever thought about listing what I love,” Tammy Botello said. “I was surprised at my answers.” In his closing talk, “Sustaining Hearts on Fire,” Father Hurley described daily prayer methods for keeping hearts open to God. “The retreat gave us the tools,” Nellie Serna said, “but exploring the questions, meditations and rules is something we can all spend lots of time doing.” For Koll, “Hearts on Fire” delivered a message he wants to relate to young adults in his ministry. “We often intellectualize our faith, but St. Ignatius teaches us that having a relationship with God also means listening to His calling in our hearts,” Koll said. “Like any relationship it takes time to learn the language of love, and faith then is a loving response of the whole person to God. Faith is more than an intellectual assent to the truth; it is also a heart set on fire with the love of Christ.”
To see more Young Adult & Campus Ministry activities, visit:
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012 | SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC
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Colleges say YES to ALL IWA graduates, not just top 10 percent Dominique Damian Contributor
F
or years, the buzz for Texas students looking to attend a state college or university has been to make it into the top 10 percent of their class for automatic acceptance. The Incarnate Word Academy (IWA) 2012 graduating class has shown that the limitations of the top 10 percent rule are not an obstacle. Not only did 100 percent of IWA seniors graduate this past spring, but also 100 percent of those seniors were accepted into college. 2012 Incarnate Word Academy Valedictorian Matthew Matl and Salutatorian As families seek to ensure that their children Julia Baker were joined by every one of their classmates in earning acceptance are accepted into the college or university of to a four-year college. their choice, many consider the top 10 percent Nickie Stillman, Incarnate Word Academy rule an option. This sometimes results in shuffling a student from school to school and may Word and Concordia also accepted IWA graduates from add additional stress to a young high school student’s life. the class of 2012. The idea that only the top 10 percent of high school The same holds true for nationally recognized private graduates are guaranteed college acceptance is merely an universities, including Harvard, Princeton, Notre Dame, assumption, according to IWA President Charles ImberPepperdine, Cornell and Vanderbilt, as well as small, prigamo. vate universities such as Lewis and Clark, Sewanee and “In fact, it was not only the top 10 percent of IWA stuWashington and Lee. dents who were accepted into the colleges of their choice More than 32 percent of students were accepted to within the state of Texas, many others in the senior class Texas A&M, 21 percent were accepted to the University of were overwhelmingly accepted into sought-after state Texas and 13 percent were accepted to Baylor University. universities,” Imbergamo said. In addition to breaking free of the 10 percent rule, IWA IWA’s graduating class of 2012 achieved acceptance to students received $3.3 million in college scholarship offers, a wide range of schools including large state universities and this number continues to rise. such as the University of Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, “When students are provided an environment in which Texas State and the University of Texas at San Antonio. the individual gifts of every child are recognized and celIn-state private and religious universities, such as Trinebrated, their ability to achieve is limitless,” Imbergamo ity, Baylor, Texas Christian, University of the Incarnate said.
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SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC | AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012
www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
WHY CATHOLIC SCHOOL? • We excel in academics • Student/Teacher ratios are much lower than in public schools • A high percentage of us receive scholarships • A high percentage of our high school students pursue some form of higher education • Discipline and safe environment • Teachers go the extra mile to help us • Parents actively participate • Family and community environment • Daily prayer and weekly Mass
www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012 | SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC
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LOS RIESGOS QUE TOMAMOS
EN EFECTO: DURAS MEDIDAS CONTRA MANEJAR MIENTRAS INTOXICADO.
En estos días festivos de familia, hay que ser consciente que es posible que la celebración incluya bebidas alcohólicas. Ese brindis sobre la comida con parientes reunidos, te puede costar hasta $17,000 dolares en multas, costos de abogado y cuotas si manejas a casa tomado. Porque en Texas si tomas y manejas, vas a la cárcel.
CONOCE LAS LEYES. CONSIDERA LAS CONSECUENCIAS. CONSULTA Y PREVIENE. Antes de tomar y manejar, asegura a donde vas a llegar.
TOMA 24
MANEJA
Primera Ofensa • Multa de hasta $2,000 • Hasta 6 meses de cárcel • Licencia de conducir suspendida por hasta 1 año • $1,000 cada año por 3 años para retener la licencia de conducir
CÁRCEL
SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC | AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012
www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
VIDA CATÓLICA
Año pastoral ofrece seminaristas
experiencia práctica
Por Alfredo E. Cárdenas South Texas Catholic
H
ay una gran cantidad de trabajo necesario para mi formación sacerdotal. Las exigencias son bastante extensas, pero hay tanta gracia y alegría en trabajar para realizar la meta del sacerdocio y el servicio dentro de la Iglesia,” dijo Michael Quesada, un seminarista de la Diócesis de Corpus Christi que completó su año pastoral en la Parroquia Holy Family.
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Su año de trabajo en la Sagrada Familia fue una experiencia positiva que le ayudará “en el servicio a los demás como un santo sacerdote,” dijo Quesada. La parroquia le brindó la ocasión de “enorme crecimiento” en su camino hacia a el sacerdocio. Quesada nació el 17 de marzo de 1966 en San Antonio, y la familia Quesada se trasladó a Corpus Christi y se registraron en la iglesia St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles, donde asistían a la misa todos los domingos y los niños iban a clases de educación religiosa a través de la graduación de la escuela secundaria. Quesada, junto con su hermano gemelo Patrick son los más joven de cinco hijos. Tiene dos hermanos mayores, Oscar y Manuel Jr., y su hermana Gloria, el primogénito. Quesada da crédito a sus padres, Manuel Quesada y Alicia Valdez Quesada por proporciónale una educación espiritual firme. “Mis padres son responsables de la colocación de la semilla de la fe dentro de mí en mis primeros años,” dijo www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
Quesada. “Desde el momento en que puedo recordar, siempre asistí a la misa dominical y también asistía a las clases semanales de catequesis hasta el final en el duodécimo grado. Tengo que decir que mis padres eran los más firmes defensores de mi formación. Tengo que dar las gracias a ellos por mi formación.” A pesar de una fundamento sólida en la fe, su llamada al sacerdocio llegó más tarde en la vida. Se graduó de la escuela secundaria de Calallen en 1984 y trabajó como asistente de un controlador de un complejo de condominios en la playa de Corpus Christi. Trabajó en la oficina de contabilidad en sus libros financieros, cuentas por pagar, cuentas por cobrar, contratación, etc. En 1998, mientras trabajaba en el complejo de condominios, recibió su llamado al sacerdocio. Tenía 33 años de edad cuando comenzó a escuchar el llamado que era “tan vibrante y fuerte que ... yo no tenía más remedio que responder,” dijo Quesada. “Mi llamado fue inspirada directamente por el Señor,” dijo. Cuando por primera vez escucho el llamado, Quesada consultó con su Pastor Msgr. Morgan Rowsome. “Fue la primera persona a quien se lo revele a y la primera persona que me dirigió qué hacer,” dijo Quesada. Su primer director espiritual, Ray Sáenz, también lo guió cuando recibió la llamada a la vocación sacerdotal. Quesada está inscrito en el Seminario de St. Mary en Houston después de recibir una licenciatura en filosofía en el Seminario St. Joseph College en Covington, Louisiana. Él comenzará su tercer año de estudios teológicos en el otoño y será ordenado al diaconado transitorio, “si Dios quiere,” en mayo de 2013 y el sacerdocio en 2014. Una parte importante de la formación sacerdotal de un seminarista es pasar un año en una parroquia para obtener experiencia en el mundo real. Esto es conocido como el año pastoral, y se realiza entre el segundo y tercer año de estudios teológicos. AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012 | SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC
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“El año pastoral es similar a una oferta de prácticas que permite al seminarista desarrollar más sus habilidades pastorales estando muy involucrado en una comunidad parroquial bajo la supervisión del párroco,” dijo el padre Joseph López, JCL, Director de la canciller y Vocaciones de la Diócesis de Corpus Christi. En este momento de su formación, un seminarista ha adquirido una formación teológica suficiente, y ahora necesita experiencia práctica sobre como aplicar su ministerio. El año en una parroquia también ofrece el seminarista la oportunidad de evaluar en qué área de la teología que él desea perseguir en sus últimos años en el seminario. El obispo Wm. Michael Mulvey asigno a Quesada a la Parroquia Sagrada Familia para hacer su año pastoral, bajo la tutela del párroco Padre Patrick Donohoe. Además de Quesada, David Bayardo y Freddie Villarreal también están en su año pastoral. Bayardo se encuentra bajo el ala del Padre Paul Hesse en la Parroquia St. Pius X y Villarreal está trabajando y aprendiendo bajo la supervisión del Padre Pedro Martínez en St. Paul the Apostle. “Mi año pastoral me ha ayudado a consolidar la vocación que Dios ha puesto en marcha en mí, ayudándome a comprender que esto es exactamente donde debo estar,” dijo Quesada. Dijo, que trabaja en una parroquia que le ha permitido utilizar los cuatro pilares de la formación-la humana, espiritual, intelectual y pastoral-en su trabajo, y en su propia
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El Padre Patrick Donohoe, a la izquierda, fue mentor de el seminarista pastoral de la formación.
formación. “Cada uno de ellos gira en torno a un otro, pero se relacionan directamente con la base de la columna humana. También es una gran cooperación con la gracia que Dios me da,” dijo Quesada. Una cosa es, dijo Quesada, para aprender acerca de la filosofía y la teología en una clase, es una cosa completamente diferente a la realidad que vemos en movimiento dentro de la configuración de una parroquia muy trabajadora. El apoyo que le a dado el Padre Donohoe, el personal de la parroquia y los feligreses ha hecho la experiencia de Quesada muy gratificante. “Ha sido una experiencia inestimable y le doy gracias a Dios por ponerme con un pastor tan fuerte y el personal cuyo amor y la orientación tienen y seguirán contribuyendo a mi futuro como un firme defensor de la vida santa y de una vida dedicada a Dios y a su Iglesia,” dijo Quesada. “Michael entró en el año pastoral lleno de animo en el proceso y aprovechó este tiempo para el crecimiento espiritual personal y ejercer el ministerio pastoral real,” dijo el Padre Donohoe. “En general, Michael lo hizo muy bien. Tenía varios trompazos en su ministerio al comienzo de su tiempo en la Sagrada Familia, pero aprendió muy rápido a adaptar y mejorar sus habilidades pastorales en el trato con la gente.” Padre Donohoe dijo que Quesada se enteró de que “a veces es mucho más efectivo para acompañar a alguien en www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
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Miguel Quesada, en la Parroquia de la Sagrada Familia durante su año Holy Family Parish
La Diocesis de Corpus Christi ha seleccionado un tercer partido independiente, La Red, para proporcionarle a usted con una manera para reportar anonima y con¿dencialmente el abuso ¿nanciero e fraude. Los empleados, los parroquianos, los voluntarios, los vendedores, y otros partidos interesados estan impulsados para reportar las preocupaciones que tengan respeto a la conducta de paca etica ¿nanciera dentro de la Diocese de Corpus Christi. Todas las investigaciones seran trtadas inmediatamente y discretamente. Personas que llamen tienen el derecho de mantenerse anonimas.
Llamada 1-877-571-9748
el camino de fe que sólo darles la respuesta a una pregunta.” Que el llamado a ser sacerdote no es sólo conocer las mejor respuestas, pero estar dispuesto a caminar con el pueblo de Dios. También aprendió que para ser un buen sacerdote debe equilibrar su vida personal y la salud de los deberes y exigencias de la vida parroquial. “Michael es un gran tipo y ha sido un placer para mí ser su mentor durante su año pastoral. Cuando yo estaba enseñando y reflexionando las cosas con él, me estaba recordando mi propia vida como sacerdote y fui rejuvenecido también en mi sacerdocio. Fue una gran experiencia para mí. Espero el día en que puedo llamarlo ‘hermano sacerdote’,” dijo el Padre Donohoe. “Tuve un año feliz trabajando en la Sagrada Familia, Holy Family Parish, con el Padre Donohoe guiando me como mi pastor,” dijo Quesada. Quesada se encuentra trabajando en Metairie, Louisiana en el East Jefferson General Hospital completando su educación pastoral clínica. El siguiente paso en su formación es para el obispo que lo acepte para la candidatura de el diaconado y el sacerdocio. “Es un momento emocionante cuando estoy viendo un poco de luz a la salida del pasillo. Pero me doy cuenta de que con la ordenación, me enfrentare con muchos más retos por delante de mí que tendré que confrontar,” dijo Quesada. www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
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CHRISTUS Spohn Corpus Christi-Shoreline staff, from left, Dr. Morgan Campbell, Laura Garcia, Ammie Dominguez and Silvia Galvan cut ribbon for new Wall of Heroes outside of the third floor intensive care unit at the Pavilion. Paul Iverson, CHRISTUS Spohn Health Systems
Jesus’ offering of Himself is an inspiration for organ donation Alfredo E. Cardenas South Texas Catholic
C
HRISTUS Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi–Shoreline recently unveiled a “Wall of Heroes” on the third and fourth floors of its Heart Institute and Pavilion to honor the hospital’s patients who saved lives through organ donations.
The hospital is the latest in the CHRISTUS Spohn Health System to unveil a “Wall of Heroes” display. The exhibit is located outside the third and fourth floor ICU units and features photographs of donors surrounded by a special poem about organ donations written by Pennie Mathewson, a CHRISTUS Spohn registered nurse. In December 2011, CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi-Memorial unveiled its own “Wall of Heroes.” The first such commemorative hospital wall was dedicated in El Paso in 2008 after the mother of a donor presented the hospital with a picture of her 22 year-old
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daughter. Soon, there was a second photo on the wall. Then there was a third. Each of these patients’ relatives decided to donate their organs after their deaths. While most Catholic Church leaders are aware of the Church’s stand on the issue of organ and tissue donation, knowledge of the Church’s teaching on organ and tissue donation is often not fully familiar to the faithful in the pews, said Robert Grigsby, Chair, Commission on Certification, APC Director of Pastoral Care at Trinity Mother Frances Health System in Tyler, Texas. Father Frank Martinez, STL who manages the Spiritual www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
“It should be notCare office at CHRISed that adult stem TUS Spohn Hospital cell research would Corpus Christi-Shorefall into this catline said many people egory of ethically struggle with the idea legitimate,” Smith of giving up any body said parts, believing that The use of tissue the body must remain or organs from an intact. People do not infant may be perlike thinking about it. mitted after death “In the beatific vih a s b e e n d e te rsion, we will be changed mined and with the to how God wants us. informed consent We’ll be angelic,” Faof the parents or ther Martinez said. guardians, but under In his 1991 address Registered nurses Isaac Garcia, Beverly Howell and Silvia Galvan pin green ribno circumstances to participants of the bon on Susie Duncan, whose mother was an organ donor and had her picture on will the Church perFirst International the Wall of Heroes. The green ribbon has come to symbolize awareness regarding mit the use of huCongress of the Sociorgan and tissue donation. man tissue obtained ety for Organ Sharing, by direct abortions, Blessed John Paul II Paul Iverson, CHRISTUS Spohn Health Systems even for research said, “For Christians, and therapeutic procedures. That is why embryonic stem Jesus’ offering of himself is the essential point of reference cell research is not morally permissible, Smith said. and inspiration of the love underlying the willingness to Under Catholic teaching, the organs should not be donate an organ, which is a manifestation of generous soliremoved until it is medically determined the patient has darity, all the more eloquent in a society which has become died. In order to prevent any conflict of interest, the excessively utilitarian and less sensitive to unselfish giving.” physician who determines death should not be a member Once people hear about turning a tragedy into life, they of the transplant team. get a different perspective. The spiritual care team at the The Church permits the transplantation of organs from hospital does not get involved in the decision of a family living donors when such a donation does not sacrifice or to donate organs unless they are asked, Father Martinez seriously impair any essential bodily function and the ansaid, but “once they take the lead, we journey with them.” ticipated benefit to the recipient is proportionate to the The Church encourages the gift of life, he said. harm done to the donor, Smith said. “Catholic beliefs about donation are rooted in a deep One such example would be a person donating a kidney respect for the sanctity of the human life—all human life, to another individual. “The donor has two kidneys and the from conception to natural death. As one approaches the essential body function would continue with the proporend of life, an individual may clearly demonstrate respect tionate benefit for the recipient of the kidney outweighing of human life by choosing to donate organs or tissues for the potential harm to the donor,” Smith said. transplant or research,” Grigsby said. A spokesman for Southwest Transplant Alliance, the The “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic local organ donation agency, said that following the initial Health Care Services” of the United States Conference wall’s dedication in El Paso, every family in that hospital of Catholic Bishops directs Catholic health care instituin a position to donate a loved one’s organs did so. tions to encourage and provide the means for those who The photos on the “Wall of Heroes” comfort families wish to donate their organs and bodily tissue, for ethically in crisis, and also help them choose organ donation for legitimate purposes, so that they may be used for donation their loved ones, increasing donations and increasing the and research after death. number of organs available for transplant. The most common example would be patients who “Organ recipients have such hope and anticipation,” have been declared medically dead that had registered as Father Martinez said. a donor, or their family or surrogate decision-maker gives At times, however, they feel guilty that someone had permission for organ or tissue transplantation or ethical to die for them to receive an organ. “They shouldn’t feel research, said Brian Smith, Vice President of Mission Inguilty. It’s unnecessary. The donor family is usually happy tegration for CHRISTUS Spohn Health System. www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
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because they feel connected spiritually and physically with their loved one.” CHRISTUS Spohn hospitals and Southwest Transplant Alliance hope that the photos of local organ donors on the walls of hospitals will do the same for other families. More than 100,000 people in the United States and more than 10,000 people in Texas await life-saving organ transplants at any one time. While more than 30,000 people do receive needed transplants each year, an average of 18 people die each day before the organs they needed became available. One donor can impact up to 50 lives with donation of heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas, intestine, corneas, skin, bone, ligaments and tendons. Southwest Transplant Alliance and CHRISTUS
Spohn also hope that these walls of heroes will inspire Corpus Christi and area residents to register as organ donors. Texans can officially register their decision to donate online at www.donatelifetexas.org or when renewing a driver’s license through the Texas Department of Public Safety or car tags through the local department of motor vehicles. “In light of the Church’s overall teaching on organ and tissue donation by adults, the Church encourages individuals to reflect on the issue and make their wishes known so that at the time of death those wishes can be honored,” Smith said. An organ donation does not take away the pain and sorrow, but “everyone is looking for a miracle to come from a tragedy,” Father Martinez said.
A personal story of LOVE and LIFE… By Maggie Rangel Contributor
David and I are both Catholic and we were married via the Catholic Church in Gregory, Texas by Father Robert Dunn. I met my husband, David E. Rangel, on Memorial Day weekend in May 1991. We k n e w that day that we were soul mates. We were married i n Ja n u a r y 1995. David E. Rangel In the summer of 1996, David was diagnosed with kidney failure. He did not want to discuss dialysis. The physicians explained that dialysis would be the best option, it was going to make him feel better, and so he consented. Dialysis began on October 1996, and so the battle began. David was put on the organ transplant waiting-list a year later. The doctors had wanted to make sure he was going to cooperate with his health and diet to be a positive recipient. In January 1998, I began the test phase, and by Valentine’s Day—of all
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nor’s wife. days—we were notified that I was his I continue my husband’s legacy perfect match. Talk about being soul through my dedication of volunteering mates. On July 30, 1998, David received as often as I can, focusing not only on my kidney. David’s new kidney began our story of perseverance, but also on to work independently on August 11, educating the public about the need 1998, which meant no more dialysis to register as an organ, tissue and eye after almost two years. donor on the Texas Donor Registry In 2005, David became very ill and he suffered complications from an (www.donatelilfetexas.org). unrelated illness and on Nov. 14, 2005 I want to thank all of the doctors David passed away. My husband was and nurses who played a role in my husnow in a position to save other perband’s care, for continuing the gift the sons’ lives, and I knew that as a caring Lord gave them to save lives through and loving person, and a recipient of donation. such a precious gift, David would also want to give life to others. David now was going to sa ve another husband, father, son, grandson, child, grandmother, sister, brother, a perfect stranger Maggie Rangel first gave kidney to her soulmate and husband and and so he did. And so I then then he gave organs to extend lives of others. became a doPaul Iverson, CHRISTUS Spohn Health Systems
SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC | AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012
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AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012 | SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC
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Join us at the13th Annual
Assessment Center & Emergency Shelter for Youth
Gala
Thursday, Sept. 6 at 6 p.m. The Ortiz Center 402 Harbor Drive in Corpus Christi
The Ark: The nonprofit 501(c)(3) agency cares for children and youth who are removed from their homes by Child Protective Services (CPS) due to abuse or neglect by a parent or guardian. It’s the only licensed facility within an 80-mile radius that is contracted by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to provide assessment services and emergency shelter for 37 of these victims, ages 0 through 17.
Joe Gazin
The Ark Gala: Consists of silent and live auctions, a dinner and a program. KIII TV-3 News Anchor Joe Gazin will be the master of ceremonies. The keynote speaker will be Rachel Leal-Hudson, an attorney practicing family law in Houston. She is a former assistant county attorney who represented the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services in Harris County. Drawing on her professional and personal experiences, Leal-Hudson uses humor and heartfelt stories to describe the impact that family law has had in her life and the desire to effectively represent and help families and children affected by CPS. Her presentation is designed to motivate audiences.
“It does not matter where you come from. It only matters where you are going.” Rachel Leal-Hudson, The Ark Gala 2012 keynote speaker
Help our children through your sponsorship: Choose one of the following levels: The Ark ($15,000), Stork ($10,000), Dove ($5,000), Giraffe ($2,500) and Leopard ($1,000). All of them offer a table seating 10 with signage, as well as recognition during the gala. In order to assure recognition of your generous contribution in our printed program at the event, we need your commitment or payment by August 24. After the fund raiser, the sponsors will be thanked in a write-up on our Web site. Please write to us as soon as possible so that we can reserve your table. (Individual seats are $50 each.) If you can’t attend the gala, please mail a tax-deductible gift to The Ark. Any amount you send will be appreciated. Tax-deductible donations to the auctions are needed. Silent and live auction donors will receive signage at the auction. For more information, please call
(361) 241-6566 We look forward to hearing from you. God bless you and your family.
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www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
NATIONAL NEWS
Denver bishops offer consolation in wake of mass shooting in Aurora DENVER (CNS) -- Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver and his auxiliary, Bishop James D. Conley, offered prayers and support to the victims, survivors and the community after a gunman killed at least a dozen people and wounded dozens more during a July 20 midnight screening of the movie “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora. “For those who were killed, our hope is the tender mercy of our God,” the bishops said in a joint statement. “’Neither death nor life,’ reflected St. Paul, ‘can separate us from the love of God.’” “For those who were wounded—physically, emotionally and spiritually—our hope is in their recovery and renewal. To them we offer our prayers, our ears to listen, and our hearts to love. The road to recovery may be long, but in hope we are granted the gift of new life.” Archbishop Aquila and Bishop Conley also prayed for the shooter. “We hope also for the perpetrator of this terrible crime, and we pray for his conversion. Evil ruled his heart last night,” they said July 20. “Only Jesus Christ can overcome the darkness of such evil.” Pope Benedict XVI used the occasion of his weekly Angelus address at Castel Gandolfo July 22 to express his sadness over the latest tragedy saying he was “deeply shocked by the senseless violence.” “I share the distress of the families and friends of the victims and the injured, especially the children,” he said to pilgrims gathered at the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo. James Holmes, 24, who had been a doctoral student at the University of Colorado before he dropped out, was arrested in connection with the mass shooting. Police said Holmes was still wearing a bulletproof vest in the movie theater’s parking lot when he was apprehended. Law enforcement authorities put the number of wounded at 58. A woman prays at a memorial for victims behind the theater where a gunman opened fire on moviegoers in Aurora, Colo. Pope Benedict XVI expressed his sadness during his Angelus over the tragedy, saying he was “deeply shocked by the senseless violence.” A Mass for the victims was celebrated at Queen of Peace Catholic Church in Aurora. Shannon Stapleton, Catholic News Service www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012 | SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC
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Cardinal praises
conscience provi
in House appropriation tions bill is unknown at WASHINGTON (CNS) -this time, but agreement The chairman of the U.S. bishbetween the two houses ops’ Committee on Pro-Life of Congress is likely to be Activities praised lawmakers late fall or early winter at for including two conscience the earliest,” said a June 18 provisions in the House verstatement from Directors sion of the 2013 appropriations of Health Promotion and bill for the federal departments Education, a trade group. of Labor and Health and HuIn his July 17 letter, man Services. Cardinal DiNardo said “Our government has a long inclusion of the Aborhistory of respecting rights of tion Non-Discrimination conscience in health care, and Act “will provide urgently the time is long overdue to needed relief ” by codireaffirm this laudable tradition fying the Hyde-Weldon in the face of today’s growamendment, which has ing threats,” Cardinal Daniel been part of Labor-HHS N. DiNardo of GalvestonCardinal Daniel DiNardo, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee appropriations packages Houston said in a July 17 letsince 2004, and will enter to members of the House on Pro-Life Activities. hance “its enforceability” Subcommittee on Labor/HHS. Catholic News Service by closing loopholes and Cardinal DiNardo said the providing victims of discrimiprovision called the Abortion Nonreligious organizations to include nation with a “private right of action” Discrimination Act, which had 124 sterilizations and contraceptive coverto defend their rights in court. cosponsors from both parties, “will age—including those that could cause Currently, Hyde-Weldon “can only reaffirm the basic principle that no early abortions—in their employee be enforced by lodging a complaint health care entity should be forced by health care plans. with the Department of Health and government to perform, participate in The subcommittee was preparing Human Services, which in recent years or pay for abortions.” to mark up the appropriations bill has given a low priority to such claims The other provision is the Respect for eventual action by the House Apand sometimes has itself been the perfor Right of Conscience Act, which propriations Committee and then the petrator of discrimination,” Cardinal Cardinal DiNardo said would “counter full House. The Senate Appropriations DiNardo said. a policy that poses the most direct Committee had done its own markup, “Hyde-Weldon’s only stated penfederal threat to religious freedom first in subcommittee and then in full alty for violations is the denial of all in recent memory,” a reference to committee, June 12 and 14. Labor-HHS funds to a state or other the “HHS mandate” requiring most “The endgame for a final appropria-
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www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
sions
ns bill governmental entity, which has been criticized as both implausible and subject to legal challenge,” he added. “Some states implementing the Affordable Care Act have begun to claim that they can force all private health plans on their exchanges to cover elective abortion as an ‘essential health benefit.’” Cardinal DiNardo characterized the HHS mandate as “disregarding all moral and religious objections by the insurer, employer or other sponsor, female employee, or parent of minor children.” The Respect for Rights of Conscience Act has 224 House cosponsors. Cardinal DiNardo said that while nearly half the Senate supported it this spring in a preliminary vote, it failed to achieve a majority because of “’red herring’ arguments that it would reverse existing protections against discriminatory withholding of health coverage from pregnant women, racial minorities or people with disabilities.” “These arguments were demonstrably false, as the legislation leaves in place all existing protections in these areas,” he said. “In fact it maintains the current status quo, as its only effect is to allow an opt-out on moral or religious grounds from the new benefits mandates to be created for the first time by the Affordable Care Act itself.” www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
Judge dismisses Belmont Abbey suit against HHS mandate Patricia L. Guilfoyle Catholic News Service
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (CNS) -- A federal judge has dismissed Belmont Abbey College’s lawsuit against the national administration that had challenged the federal contraception mandate, but lawyers for the Benedictine college in Belmont say they will continue the fight. U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of the District of Columbia dismissed Belmont Abbey’s case July 18, saying that the college did not have standing to bring the case to court, nor could it demonstrate it had been harmed yet by the contraception mandate. The contraception mandate—issued in August 2011 by the federal Department of Health and Human Services as part of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act—requires nearly all employers to provide free artificial contraception, sterilization and abortion-causing drugs coverage in their insurance plans. There is a narrow exemption for employers who object to providing these services on religious grounds, namely if they serve or hire people primarily of their own faith. The contraceptive mandate takes effect for new health plans and those that undergo significant changes Aug. 1—unless the narrow religious exemption or a one-year “temporary enforcement safe harbor” applies. Following an outcry over the contraceptive mandate from Catholic institutions across the country and the U.S. bishops this past spring, the administration established the “safe harbor” period to allow those employers that do not provide contraceptives for religious reasons time to figure out how they will comply with the mandate. The “safe harbor” period expires Aug. 1, 2013. The mandate requiring individuals to get health insurance or face fines goes into effect Jan. 1, 2014. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a nonprofit law firm representing Belmont Abbey College in the lawsuit, argued that paying for contraceptive services for employees and students would force the Catholic college and Benedictine monastic community to violate Church teaching against artificial contraception. The firm argued that the mandate would mean an unconstitutional infringement of their First Amendment right to free exercise of religion and that Belmont Abbey College said it believed it would not be exempted from the mandate’s requirements. Boasberg agreed with the Department of Justice’s position that Belmont Abbey’s case was premature and that more time is needed to see AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012 | SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC
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if the government would modify the contraception mandate and further accommodate the concerns of religious employers, which federal officials have promised they would do. “The court holds that the challenged rule is not ‘sufficiently final,’” Boasberg said in his opinion. “The government has done nothing to suggest that it might abandon its efforts to modify the rule—indeed, it has steadily pursued that course—and it is entitled to a presumption that it acts in good faith.” The court did not consider the merits of Belmont Abbey’s case, and Belmont Abbey may re-file its lawsuit if and when it can demonstrate harm caused by the mandate. “At the end of the day, the court offers no opinion on the merits of the current contraception-coverage regulations or any proposed future ones. If plaintiff is displeased by the ultimate regulations, it may certainly renew its suit at that time. All the court holds here is that Belmont has no basis to proceed now,” Boasberg said in his 24-page opinion. Belmont Abbey College’s case was the first to be filed challenging the HHS mandate last November. Benedictine monks of Belmont Abbey have run the liberal arts college since 1876. The Becket Fund is representing clients—including other religious colleges, EWTN and Priests for Life—in some of the 22 other similar lawsuits filed in federal district courts around the U.S. Hannah Smith, senior counsel for the Becket Fund, said in a statement that the decision in Belmont Abbey College’s case “was on technical grounds: The judge thinks that the case should be delayed for a matter of months to give HHS time to fix the mandate.” “The decision says nothing about the merits of Belmont Abbey’s religious freedom claims, and has no effect on any of the 22 other cases currently pending in federal court,” she said. “It simply delays Belmont Abbey College’s ability to challenge the mandate for a few months, and the court made clear we have the right to re-file the case if HHS does not fix the problem.” Smith said the law firm was “reviewing the decision and considering our options, but one thing is clear: Belmont Abbey College and the Becket Fund will continue the fight for religious liberty, even if this case is delayed for a few months.” (Guilfoyle is editor of The Catholic News & Herald, newspaper of the Diocese of Charlotte.)
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SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC | AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012
Syrian Catho united effor By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As violence continued to shake Syria, the Vatican nuncio in Damascus called on the international community to unite in efforts to restore peace. “In Damascus, the last three days have been very difficult” as the fighting moved to the city, Archbishop Mario Zenari, the nuncio, said in a telephone interview from the capital July 17. “The situation compared to a month ago clearly is more tense,” he said. “The situation of the Christian community is the same as the situation for all Syrians. The Christians are not targeted, but they are under the same bombing and shelling the others face,” the archbishop said. An uprising against President Bashar Assad’s government began in March 2011. Thousands of civilians have died in the fighting since then, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced. The U.N. refugee agency said July 17 that the number of Syrians seeking refuge outside the country has risen sharply in the past three months, with some 112,000 Syrian refugees now registered in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Archbishop Zenari said, “The international A protester, flank community must speak with one voice; otherBenedict XVI join wise the parties involved in the conflict won’t 108 people dead listen.” The nuncio said he was not lobbying for any specific international intervention, but “too much time has already passed. There are many ways to reach a consensus.” Some Christian leaders in Syria have questioned the prodemocracy efforts to oust Assad, pointing out how religious liberty and the Christian communities have been protected under his leadership. “The future is difficult to foresee,” the archbishop said. “Until now, there has been a good level of freedom of religion in Syria and good relations between Christians and Muslims. www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
VATICAN
olic leaders call for rts by world community
For example, he said, the different Christian communities have struggled for years with the question of whether to celebrate Easter on the same day or follow their respective communities’ calendars. “But under the bombardments this year, they all agreed. Under the bombardments, they pray together. Christians and Muslims are helping one another,” he said. Also July 17, Melkite Patriarch Gregoire II Laham of Damascus issued a statement saying that, thanks to their experience of peaceful coexistence, Syrians should be able “to resolve this dangerous crisis, helping one another through love and forgiveness.” “The greatest dangers in Syria today are anarchy, the lack of security and the massive influx of weapons from many places,” he said in the statement sent to Fides, the Vatican’s missionary news agency. The patriarch said there was “interference from foreign elements—Arab and Western—who bring weapons, money and one-sided information” into the country, inflaming passions on all sides and “weakening the voice of moderation.” ked by Syrian and U.S. flags, demonstrates in Chicago in opposition to the Syrian regime. Pope The Melkite leader claimed a campaign ned the international community in condemning a massacre in Houla, Syria, which left about was being waged against Christian church , including 49 children and 34 women. leaders in the country, painting them as siding with the government. John Gress, Reuters, Catholic News Service “The church always has refused secIt could be difficult if that changed.” tarianism, avoided taking sides and highThe nuncio said Christians, who make up about 8 percent lighted ethical and Gospel values,” he said. of Syria’s population, “are respected. They are not fanatics. “All the Catholic churches in Syria have raised their voices They play a role of building bridges and live in peace with asking for reforms, freedom, democracy, an end to corrupMuslims and Druze in the villages.” tion, support for development and freedom of speech,” he While life is difficult for all Syrians, he said, the political said. “Today we ask for an end to the cycle of killing and tension and the fighting actually has drawn many communidestruction, especially against civilians of all faiths who are ties closer together. in difficulty and are the real victims.” www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012 | SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC
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What Catholics can learn during Islam’s holy month of Ramadan By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started July 20 in many countries, is a time of fasting, prayer and repentance, when Muslims distance themselves from worldly activities in an effort to align their lives more closely with God and his laws. According to the Vatican’s point man for dialogue with Islam, Ramadan is also an opportunity for Catholics to learn from Muslims’ example of obedience to the Almighty—and thereby strengthen their own Catholic faith. Msgr. Khaled Akasheh runs the section for relations with Muslims at the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, an office founded by Pope Paul VI in 1964, during the Second Vatican Council. One of the most important aspects of Vatican II, Msgr. Akasheh said, is that “the church accepted all that is right and beautiful in religions.” The council thus fostered a culture in which theological disagreement did not mean disrespect for what others hold sacred. Even half a century later, however, many Catholics perceive a tension between the need to respect other religious traditions and Christ’s call to bring his truth to all people. “Managing mission and dialogue is perhaps the major theological challenge” in communicating with other faiths, Msgr. Akasheh said. Catholic experts engaged in dialogue do not make any “explicit appeal to others to embrace our religion, but this doesn’t mean that we are not faithful to our faith and our mission, because in dialogue we say what we are,” he said. For Msgr. Akasheh, who was born in Jordan and has taught at the seminary of the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem, www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
A Palestinian woman prays at the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem’s Old City July 20, the first day of Ramadan. The Muslim holy month calls on believers to fast from dawn to sunset, to pray more and recite the Quran, and to distance themselves from worldly activities. Ammar Awad, Reuters, Catholic News Service
dialogue is a process of witnessing to one’s own beliefs, learning about others and sharing common concerns. Pope Benedict XVI’s famous 2006 speech in Regensburg, Germany, was part of that process, he said. The pope’s quotation in the speech of a 14th-century Byzantine emperor who had described the legacy of the prophet Mohammed as “evil and inhuman” provoked violent reactions in much of the Islamic world. But following that controversy, a whole new stage in dialogue was launched. The pope met personally with ambassadors of countries with a Muslim majority and with Italy’s Muslim leaders; 138 Muslim scholars from around the world wrote an open letter to Pope Benedict and other Christian leaders asking for a dialogue about shared values; and a new CatholicMuslim Forum for dialogue held its first meeting at the Vatican in 2008. Dialogue with Islam will be on the pope’s agenda again in September, when he is scheduled to meet with Muslim leaders during a three-day visit to Lebanon.
Msgr. Akasheh said interreligious dialogue at the theological level should be reserved for experts: people who know their own faith well; carry a mandate to speak officially in the name of their faith community; understand the beliefs, culture and language of their interlocutors; and who will never compromise on theology for the sake of agreement. This is not the kind of dialogue underpinning peace deals or settlements that are founded on compromise and concessions, he said. Therefore, talking theology with Muslims can present certain dangers for ordinary Catholics. “There is a danger when we are not sufficiently strong and rooted in our Christian identity,” or lack knowledge of the basic tenets of the other faith, or fail to understand what true interreligious dialogue entails, he said. Friendship between lay Catholics and Muslims is a good thing, Msgr. Akasheh said, but the best way for everyday Catholics to engage with their Muslim neighbors is by becoming “better Catholics, better believers.”
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012 | SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC
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Conscience formation for faithful citizens
Most Rev. Wm. Michael Mulvey Bishop of Corpus Christi
M
y brothers and sisters in Christ, the Health & Human Services (HHS) mandate requiring Catholics to accept the distribution of contraceptives and abortion inducing drugs is contrary to Catholic teaching and a clear violation of our First Amendment freedoms.
As the deadline for this regulation to go into full force is upon us, it is an opportune time to review what we will do if the regulation is not lifted. Our decision is quite clear. We will obey the law of God. The “Declaration on Religious Freedom, Dignitatis Humanae,” points out that man must “not be forced to act contrary to his conscience. Nor must he be prevented from acting according to his conscience, especially in religious matters.” (DH: 3) We do not make this decision without seriously considering all the ramifications, but our conscience prevents us from taking any other course. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in an irony one can only consider profound, describes a moral conscience in paragraph 1776 as “Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment...For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God...His conscience is man’s most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths.” God’s will is written on our hearts. There is no room for compromise. Conscience is not just a feeling or an opinion. It is not a notion, or whim of the moment. It is a judgment of practical reason about the moral quality of a human action. Conscience comes from Natural Law; it is God’s law. In the exercise of conscience we have to keep in mind where we are going; we are going to God. All our actions are oriented towards that final goal. Once our life is turned to God, our
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“inner voice” kicks in. We must find our authenticity; the conscience going to the “inner room” to be in touch with God. We must look for and find God’s Word in our hearts. To do that, we must be alone with God, in that “inner room,” and be heart to heart with God. The teachings of the Catholic Church are clear on what we must do. A well-formed conscience is “indispensable for human beings who are subjected to negative influences and tempted by sin to prefer their own judgment and to reject authoritative teachings.” (CCC#1783) Our conscience is not formed by popular culture or political debates. We do not form our conscience by the editorial page or the opinions of others. To do so would be to forfeit responsibility with our inner self, to lose the very core of our being. We, instead, should be influencing those debates with our conscience. Opinion must resonate with our conscience in order for it to make sense. Instead of relying on editorial opinion pages, test everything against the Gospels and the teachings of the Church. The word of God must light our path; we must assimilate it, spend time with it, pray over it, above else, practice it and play it out. We should never act against our conscience. We must always be obedient to it. Our conscience is an essential part of our humanity, of our dignity of being human. Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman said “in doing what is good, we grow in our humanity and our closeness to God.” The Church, Cardinal Newman explained, is the real gift of God in the valuing issues that have multiple views. In such instances we need the light of revelation. Where there is confusion it is because we are influenced by opinion and passions. The presence of a teaching unit such as the Church is a gift from God because it enables us to know what is good. The teachings of the Church provide us with the mercy of God, which lead us to our freedom and dignity as a person. People sometimes look at their behavior and write off bad www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
A distorted sense of >> conscience leads to a distorted understanding of freedom...
behavior by blaming it on their conscience. As Cardinal Newman tells us, conscience can be corrupted when responding to one’s passions that become the justification to avoid doing right and good. A distorted sense of conscience leads to a distorted understanding of freedom, which leads to a distorted understanding of truth, which leads to a distorted understanding of the human person. Conscience becomes a “choice,” but choice has to have a moral good to it. Our society, whether through legal action or mandates or our own personal culture, is eroding conscience, which erodes freedom, which then erodes truth, which erodes human existence as God intends. This is the seriousness of the whole matter involving the HHS mandate. People that are not guided by truth but by the most persuasive speaker, by those who pander, by what is popular, by their passions, by what is convenient allow these shallow influences to become the norm. We must not allow our conscience to be controlled by passions rather than our humanity, which gives us a sense of duty and of doing what is right and avoiding what is bad. When we take our conscience seriously, ultimately there is going to be conflict either with oneself or with outside forces. Conscience has to rule supreme in those moments. When issues that hit so close to the human person become legislation and are put into governmental spheres, they divide people and relegate conscience to second place. As a people, when we debate and legislate with conscience on the sidelines we are divided and make decisions by majority rule, instead of by the rule of God. In many ways our current situation is a defining moment. Freedom of religion is a true American idea, but now it seems as if governmental powers are being used to control or obviate our conscience. We value freedom but we need to examine what freedom is. Freedom has the absolute duty to protect and preserve righteousness. The freedom espoused by relativism does not help build up a society; it destroys it. Loyalty to conscience helps build up society. Ultimately, to follow ones conscience is to do good and to avoid evil; to do what is right and to refrain from doing what is wrong; and to “love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind…and to love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mt 22:37-39) As Catholic Christians our conscience is clear. www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
OUR FAITH
The Church on contraception Deacon Stephen Nolte Contributor
T
he furor surrounding the Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate affords us an opportunity to reexamine the Church’s teaching on contraception. The HHS mandate effectively forces nearly all private health plans to provide coverage for any FDA-approved prescription contraceptive drugs and devices, including surgical sterilization. These are euphemistically listed among “preventive services for women” that all health plans will have to cover without co-pays or cost sharing. There is a general misunderstanding regarding the mandate and the Church’s opposition to it, which has led many to erroneously claim that the disagreement is about contraception. This simply is not the case. The exemption provided for “religious employers” fails to cover most faith-based organizations, including Catholic hospitals, universities and service organizations like Catholic Charities that serve millions every year. This rule infringes upon our First Amendment right to freedom of religion, which guarantees “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” While the Church’s opposition arises because the mandate violates religious freedom guaranteed by the first amendment of the Constitution, the administration and the secular media have tried to make this about contraception. Even as the national conference of bishops are leading the fight to preserve our religious liberty with clarity and conviction, the attempts at misdirection by the administration and their supporters of contraception impel us to explain the Church’s teaching on this important issue. AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012 | SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC
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Unfortunately, many people of faith, including some Catholics, lack an understanding on the inherent evil of contraception. Contraception is defined as “against the beginning.” We must ask ourselves against the beginning of what? Honest seekers of truth will reach the conclusion that it is against the beginning of life because its only purpose is to prevent life from springing forth from the very act by which life is given, an act ordered by God “in the beginning.” This act is, of course, the conjugal act of marital intercourse, ordained by God when He created “them male and female, in His image.” “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.” (Gn 2:24) Being created male and female in God’s image offers us the first description of human identity as it represents the original inheritance of every person. God himself as the Trinity is a communion of persons. From the very beginning man and woman were created for a unity that joins them together as one. This oneness is a unity of sharing human nature and at the same time a unity of persons. It forms a communion of persons in God’s image. God’s image is known by its unitive and creative love that brings about life. Man expresses this image through his body most perfectly in the marital embrace. It is in this manner that man and woman exercise the gift of unitive and procreative love. The Church teaches that there is an unbreakable connection between the unitive and procreative meanings of the conjugal act. The unitive meaning is that man and woman are to image God by making of themselves a total self-gift to one another. Any barrier to the total gift of self renders the gift a lie. Any disruption of the unitive and procreative love
is a denial of God’s image. The procreative meaning of the act demands that every such act must be open to the possible transmission of life. This connection was established by God “in the beginning” and cannot be broken by man of his own volition without dire consequences. Contraception disrupts and distorts both meanings. In a contracepting society stigmatized with a divorce rate greater than 50 percent, out-ofwedlock births at a rate near equal to that of married couples, the phenomenal spread of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases and the 53 million plus abortions in the United States alone since 1973, it can hardly be argued that artificial contraception has fulfilled the promises of sexual equality and freedom touted by its early supporters. Given all of the various woes that have resulted as a direct response to the widespread use of contraceptives, it should be readily acknowledged that contraceptive practices serve only to separate men and women and place them in opposition to their very nature as fecund beings. It has further served only to allow men to treat women as objects for their own satisfaction. This objectification has led to new forms of sexual slavery in direct opposition to the freedom originally sought through contraception. For these reasons the Church teaches that contraception is an act against the very dignity of the human person created in God’s image and likeness. (Deacon Stephen Nolte is the director of the Office Life, Justice and Human Dignity for the Diocese of Corpus Christi.)
>> In a contracepting society
stigmatized with a divorce rate greater than 50 percent, out-of-wedlock births at a rate near equal to that of married couples, the spread of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases and the 53 million plus abortions in the United States alone...it can hardly be argued that artificial contraception has fulfilled the promises of sexual equality and freedom touted by its early supporters.
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www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word
An apostolic of spirituality Sister Kathleen McDonagh, IWBS
W
Contributor
e have reflected upon the Sisters of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament–a contemplative order of sisters, and the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament–a contemplative/apostolic order, both founded in France. We now come to consider the lives of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, an apostolic order founded in Lyons, France, but with emphasis on a calling to work among the people of Texas. In 1862, Father Claude Marie Dubuis was named the second bishop of the Diocese of Texas to replace Bishop Jean Marie Odin who had been transferred to New Orleans. Bishop Dubuis, a native of France, had been in Texas as a missionary since 1846 so he was familiar with the many needs of the Diocese of Texas. He saw a real need for religious women to care for the sick and the many orphaned children in the diocese. His efforts to get sisters from American communities failed so he wrote to communities in France, hoping to receive assistance of them. In his request for help in the missions of Texas, Bishop Dubuis’ wrote, “Our Lord Jesus Christ, suffering in the persons of a multitude of the sick and infirm of every kind, seeks relief at your hands…He begs you to accept the mission of corporal works of mercy by sending sisters to take charge of our hospitals and orphan asylums.” He then journeyed to France and—after deep prayer— approached Mother Angelique, superior of the cloistered order of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament in Lyons. Cloistered sisters went out only in case of great necessity, so Bishop Dubuis and Mother Angelique prayed and worked together to discover God’s will in regard to founding a new order – one that would be founded to work among the people even as the sisters maintained their own prayer life. Mother Angelique was moved by this request, and www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
accepted into her novitiate three young French women who had responded to the call of Bishop Dubuis and prayed for and worked at the effort to found a new apostolic community. As with all religious communities, they worked toward having a deeply prayerful life but also placed much emphasis on apostolic work. Since the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament helped their foundation, this new community took the title of Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word. After a very short time of preparation, the first Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, left for Texas. In Lyons, the founding community continued to receive succeeding groups of volunteers for the Texas mission. The members of these groups were carefully formed spiritually, especially in knowing and loving the Person of Jesus under the title of Incarnate Word. Their thrust as a community, however, was to help the People of God grow spiritually through active, apostolic work. The first community of Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word began their apostolic work in Galveston, Texas. In March 1869, Bishop Dubuis chose from the Galveston community three Sisters to go to San Antonio, Texas to open the first Catholic hospital in that area. The founding sisters of the hospital were Sister SainteMadeleine Choller (whom the Bishop named as first superior of the new community), Sister Saint-Pierre Cinquin and Sister Agnes Buisson. The following year, when three more women entered the sisters’ community in San Antonio, Bishop Dubuis declared the Galveston community and the San Antonio community independent of each other. Mother Sainte-Pierre Cinquin followed Mother St. Madeleine as superior in San Antonio. She remained in office until her death in 1891. Under her dynamic leadership, the congregation flourished and spread far beyond the confines of Texas. As the congregation grew in numbers so did the services of the sisters who staffed various hospitals, schools, orphanages and a home for the aged. In 1905, the congregation sought and obtained prelimiAUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012 | SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC
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nary papal approbation. Five years later, the congregation was established as a Congregation of Pontifical Right with the final approbation of its Constitution by the Holy See. When the first sisters left Lyons for Texas, Mother Angelique gave them a copy of the Constitution of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament to use as a guide until they could draw up their own Constitution, modified as needed by the circumstances of their missionary life in Texas. According to this modified Constitution, the purpose of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word is “to love and glorify the Incarnate Word in their lives and in the works of mercy entrusted to them. The spirit that should animate them in their daily living is a spirit of charity, dependence, and simplicity in imitation of Jesus.” The charism or special calling of the congregation, then as now, is to make the love of God as shown in the Incarna-
tion a real and tangible presence in the world today. The sisters recognized the mystery of the Incarnation as the foundation of their charism, lives and spirituality. The mission of the congregation is to actualize the saving and helping love of the Incar nate Word by promoting human dignity. Moved by the Holy Spirit, the sisters examine the reality of their world and discern the needs of the Church. Like Mary, they respond in faith to these needs. They follow the Incarnate Word, model of charity and obedience and proclaim the mission of Him who assumed a human existence, sharing in the life, sufferings, and hopes of His people. Throughout, they bring the love of the Incarnate Word to those for whom and with whom they minister.
>> The charism or special calling of
the congregation, then as now, is to make the love of God as shown in the Incarnation a real and tangible presence in the world today.
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Help Us Prevent Financial Abuse The Diocese of Corpus Christi at the recommendation of the Diocesan Financial Council and Presbyteral Council have furthered their commitment to good stewardship and ¿nancial accountability on behalf of generous donors by instituting a ¿nancial abuse hotline. The Diocese of Corpus Christi has selected an independent third party, The Network, to provide you with a new way to anonymously and con¿dently report ¿nancial abuse and fraud. Employees, parishioners, volunteers, vendors and other interested parties will be encouraged to report concerns they have regarding ¿nancial misconduct within the Diocese of Corpus Christi. All inquiries will be treated promptly and discreetly. Callers will have the right to remain anonymous. Call 1-877-571-9748 www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
AUG/SEPT LITURGICAL CALENDAR August 1 | Wed | Saint Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church | white | memorial | Jer 15:10, 16-21/Mt 13:44-46 (403) August 2 | Thu | Weekday | green/ white/white | Saint Eusebius of Vercelli, Bishop; Saint Peter Julian Eymard, Priest]l | Jer 18:1-6/Mt 13:47-53 (404) August 3 | Fri | Weekday | green | Jer 26:1-9/Mt 13:54-58 (405) August 4 | Sat | Saint John Vianney, Priest | white | memorial | Jer 26:1116, 24/Mt 14:1-12 (406) August 5 | SUN | EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME | green l | Ex 16:2-4, 12-15/Eph 4:17, 20-24/Jn 6:24-35 (113) Pss II August 6 | Mon | The Transfiguration of the Lord | white | feast | Dn 7:9-10, 13-14/2 Pt 1:16-19/Mk 9:2-10 (614) Pss Prop August 7 | Tue | Weekday | green/ red/white | [Saint Sixtus II, Pope, and Companions, Martyrs; Saint Cajetan, Priest]| Jer 30:1-2, 12-15, 18-22/Mt 14:22-36 or 15:1-2, 10-14 (408)
15:54b-57/Lk 11:27-28 (621)| Day: Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab/1 Cor 15:20-27/ Lk 1:39-56 (622) Pss Prop
September 1 | Sat | Weekday | green/ white | [BVM] | 1 Cor 1:26-31/Mt 25:1430 (430)
August 16 | Thu | Weekday | green/ white | [Saint Stephen of Hungary]| Ez 12:1-12/Mt 18:21—19:1 (416)
September 2 | SUN | TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME | green | Dt 4:1-2, 6-8/Jas 1:17-18, 21b-22, 27/Mk 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 (125) Pss II
August 17 | Fri | Weekday | green | Ez 16:1-15, 60, 63 or 16:59-63/Mt 19:3-12 (417) August 18 | Sat | Weekday | green/ white | [BVM]| Ez 18:1-10, 13b, 30-32/ Mt 19:13-15 (418) August 19 | SUN | TWENTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME | green | Prv 9:1-6/Eph 5:15-20/Jn 6:51-58 (119) Pss IV August 20 | Mon | Saint Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church | white | memorial | Ez 24:15-24/Mt 19:16-22 (419) August 21 | Tue | Saint Pius X, Pope | white | memorial | Ez 28:1-10/Mt 19:23-30 (420) August 22 | Wed | The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary | white | memorial | Ez 34:1-11/Mt 20:1-16 (421)
August 8 | Wed | Saint Dominic, Priest | white | memorial | Jer 31:1-7/ Mt 15:21-28 (409)
August 23 | Thu | Weekday | green/ white | [Saint Rose of Lima, Virgin]| Ez 36:23-28/Mt 22:1-14 (422)
August 9 | Thu | Weekday | green/red | [Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Virgin and Martyr]| Jer 31:31-34/Mt 16:13-23 (410)
August 24 | Fri | Saint Bartholomew, Apostle | red | feast | Rv 21:9b-14/Jn 1:45-51 (629) Pss Prop
August 10 | Fri | Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr | red | feast | 2 Cor 9:6-10/Jn 12:24-26 (618) Pss Prop
August 25 | Sat | Weekday | green/ white/white/white | [Saint Louis; Saint Joseph Calasanz, Priest; BVM]| Ez 43:1-7b/Mt 23:1-12 (424)
August 11 | Sat | Saint Clare, Virgin | white | memorial | Hb 1:12—2:4/Mt 17:14-20 (412)
August 26 | SUN | TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME | green | Jos 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b/Eph 5:21-32l | or 5:2a, 25-32/Jn 6:60-69 (122) Pss
August 12 | SUN | NINETEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME | green | 1 Kgs 19:4-8/Eph 4:30—5:2/Jn 6:4151 (116) Pss II
August 27 | Mon | Saint Monica | white | memorial | 2 Thes 1:1-5, 11-12/ Mt 23:13-22 (425)
August 13 | Mon | Weekday | green/ red | [Saints Pontian, Pope, and Hippolytus, Priest, Martyrs]| Ez 1:2-5, 24-28c/Mt 17:22-27 (413) August 14 | Tue | Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr | red | memorial | Ez 2:8—3:4/Mt 18:1-5, 10, 12-14 (414) August 15 | Wed | The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary | white | solemnity | [holy day of obligation]| Vigil: 1 Chr 15:3-4, 15-16; 16:1-2/1 Cor www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
August 28 | Tue | Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church | white | memorial | 2 Thes 2:1-3a, 1417/Mt 23:23-26 (426) August 29 | Wed | The Passion of Saint John the Baptist | red | memorial | 2 Thes 3:6-10, 16-18 (427)/Mk 6:17-29* (634) Pss Prop August 30 | Thu | Weekday | green | 1 Cor 1:1-9/Mt 24:42-51 (428) August 31 | Fri | Weekday | green | 1 Cor 1:17-25/Mt 25:1-13 (429)
September 3 | Mon | Saint Gregory the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church | white/white | [For pastoral advantage, the Mass “For the Blessing of Human Labor” may be used for Labor Day. Readings are of the day (no. 431), or may be taken from the Lectionary for Ritual Masses (vol. IV), nos. 907-911] | memorial | 1 Cor 2:1-5/ Lk 4:16-30 (431) September 4 | Tue | Weekday | green | 1 Cor 2:10b-16/Lk 4:31-37 (432) September 5 | Wed | Weekday | green | 1 Cor 3:1-9/Lk 4:38-44 (433) September 6 | Thu | Weekday | green | 1 Cor 3:18-23/Lk 5:1-11 (434) September 7 | Fri | Weekday | green | 1 Cor 4:1-5/Lk 5:33-39 (435) September 8 | Sat | The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary | white | feast | Mi 5:1-4a or Rom 8:28-30/Mt 1:1-16, 18-23 or 1:18-23 (636) Pss Prop September 9 | SUN | TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME | green | Is 35:4-7a/Jas 2:1-5/Mk 7:31-37 (128) Pss II September 10 | Mon | Weekday | green | 1 Cor 5:1-8/Lk 6:6-11 (437)|11 | Tue | Weekday | green | | 1 Cor 6:111/Lk 6:12-19 (438) September 12 | Wed | Weekday | green/white | [The Most Holy Name of Mary] | 1 Cor 7:25-31/Lk 6:20-26 (439) September 13 | Thu | Saint John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church | white | memorial | 1 Cor 8:1b-7, 11-13/Lk 6:27-38 (440) September 14 | Fri | The Exaltation of the Holy Cross | red | feast | Nm 21:4b-9/Phil 2:6-11/Jn 3:13-17 (638) Pss Prop September 15 | Sat | Our Lady of Sorrows | white | memorial | 1 Cor 10:14-22 (442)/Jn 19:25-27* or Lk 2:33-35* (639) Pss Prop
September 16 | SUN | TWENTYFOURTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME | green | Is 50:5-9a/Jas 2:14-18/ Mk 8:27-35 (131) Pss IV September 17 | Mon | Weekday | green/white | [Saint Robert Bellarmine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church] | 1 Cor 11:17-26, 33/Lk 7:1-10 (443) September 18 | Tue | Weekday | green | 1 Cor 12:12-14, 27-31a/Lk 7:11-17 (444) September 19 | Wed | Weekday | green/red | [Saint Januarius, Bishop and Martyr] | 1 Cor 12:31—13:13/Lk 7:31-35 (445) September 20 | Thu | Saints Andrew Kim Tae-g n, Priest, Paul Ch ng Ha-sang, | red | and Companions, Martyrs | memorial | 1 Cor 15:1-11/Lk 7:36-50 (446) 21 | Fri | Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist | red | feast | Eph 4:1-7, 11-13/Mt 9:9-13 (643) Pss Prop 22 | Sat | Weekday | green/white | [BVM] | 1 Cor 15:35-37, 42-49/Lk 8:4-15 (448) September 23 | SUN | TWENTYFIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME | green | Wis 2:12, 17-20/Jas 3:16—4:3/ Mk 9:30-37 (134) Pss I September 24 | Mon | Weekday | green | Prv 3:27-34/Lk 8:16-18 (449) September 25 | Tue | Weekday | green | Prv 21:1-6, 10-13/Lk 8:19-21 (450) September 26 | Wed | Weekday | green/red | [Saints Cosmas and Damian, Martyrs] | Prv 30:5-9/Lk 9:1-6 (451) September 27 | Thu | Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest | white | memorial | Eccl 1:2-11/Lk 9:7-9 (452) September 28 | Fri | Weekday | green/red/red | [Saint Wenceslaus, Martyr; Saint Lawrence Ruiz and Companions, Martyrs] | Eccl 3:1-11/Lk 9:18-22 (453) September 29 | Sat | Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels | white | feast | Dn 7:9-10, 13-14 or Rv 12:7-12a/Jn 1:47-51 (647) Pss Prop September 30 | SUN | TWENTYSIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME | green | Nm 11:25-29/Jas 5:1-6/Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48 (137) Pss II
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012 | SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC
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Peer Grief and Support Group The Peer Grief & Support Group is for widowed and divorced individuals seeking group therapy to assist them in dealing with their loss. A new 10 week session will begin on Monday, Sept. 10, 2012 at St. Patrick Church Parish Hall located behind the church at 3350 S. Alameda. Sessions will be held every Monday at 7 p.m. for 10 weeks. Please pre-register by calling John Moses at
813-5825 All faiths are welcome.
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I would like to order ____ copies of “Becoming the Body of Christ: A History of the Diocese of Corpus Christi.” Books are $20 each, shipping and handling ncluded. Enclosed is my check or money order for $ _____. Please send my order to:
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VIEWPOINTS
The embryo that GREW UP Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D.
T
National Bioethics Center
hose who seek to justify abortion often try to minimize or deny the humanity of the embryo. In a recent online forum, for example, one participant wrote, “I became a human being at the point that my senses functioned as those of a human being. Before that I was just a mass of cells.” Another followed up with, “A pile of cells in a woman’s uterus is not a human being. It lives off of and is part of that woman’s body.” The implication, of course, is that a woman ought to be able to do what she wants with her body, including the removal of any particular “pile of cells” that might pose a threat to her freedom. Yet those cells are not posing a threat in the same way that cancerous tumor cells might. Instead, the cells of the embryo will upset her lifestyle by demanding that several months hence, she focus her attention on a bubbly, gurgling baby, and then a few years later, on a young child who needs an education, and then on a boisterous and strong-willed adolescent transitioning into adulthood, and then, possibly, on grandchildren, and so on. The cells of the embryo are not “just” a pile of cells, but an orchestration of living humanity known as a www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
human being, marvelously complex, highly-ordered and structured, growing, expanding and developing in precise ways with each passing hour of intrauterine life. Embryos, of course, do not spontaneously transform into human beings at the moment that their senses start to function, any more than they spontaneously transform into human beings at the moment that their kidneys start to purify waste, or their intestines start to process nourishment, or their heart starts to beat, or their limbs start to move, or their brain begins to function, each of which occurs at different time points along the embryo’s normal path of growth and development. The embryo’s growth and development involves carefully choreographed biochemical steps and physiological changes that can be partially derailed by certain drugs. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, for example, the drug thalidomide was prescribed to pregnant women as a cure for morning sickness, but was quickly found to cause severe developmental defects and malformations in the newborn. Thalidomide’s devastating effects resulted in the drug’s being banned worldwide, after more than 10,000 children had been born with major thalidomide-related problems, including shortened or missing arms, hands extending from the shoulders, missing thumbs, and similar problems with the lower extremities, as well as abnormalities in the eyes, ears, heart, genitals,
Making Sense out of
BIOETHICS kidneys and other organ systems. Philosophers and politicians will sometimes argue that an embryo prior to eight weeks of gestation is not yet a human being, and suggest that early abortions, embryo experimentation, etc. should therefore be acceptable. The thalidomide drama of the late 1950s and early 1960s makes it clear that if women were not pregnant with a human being prior to eight weeks of age, then taking a teratogen (causing embryo malformations) like thalidomide would not raise any concerns, since no human being would be present to be harmed by the drug. If there was no being that was human during the first trimester, then no disabilities would have occurred. But it is well known that the most drug-susceptible time during a pregnancy is the first trimester, specifically between the fourth and seventh week
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012 | SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC
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>> If there was no being that was human during
the first trimester, then no disabilities would have occurred. of gestation. Most of the children born without limbs were exposed to thalidomide during this time, when abortion advocates like to dissimulate and pretend that no human being is actually present. Each human being arises at fertilization and exists as a biological continuum thereafter: at the joining of the sperm with the egg cell’s membrane, a measurable depolarization occurs across that membrane that sets in motion a cascade of biochemical events and changes that will continue in a
50
stepwise, uninterrupted fashion leading to the adult taxpayer. Meanwhile, the egg, if simply left to itself in the absence of sperm, will manage to live but for a few hours, and then die. Upon fusion with a sperm, however, the egg qua egg no longer exists, and an embryo, a human being at the earliest stage of his or her existence, genetically distinct from his or her mother, will be simultaneously engendered and launched onto the trajectory of “growing up,” representing a new entity that can live for more than a hundred years.
SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC | AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012
Such embryos are first nourished in the maternal womb, then at the maternal breast, then at the family dinner table and at fast food restaurants. Each of us is precisely such an embryo who has been allowed to grow up. (Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D. earned his doctorate in neuroscience from Yale and did post-doctoral work at Harvard. He is a priest of the diocese of Fall River, MA, and serves as the Director of Education at The National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia. See www.ncbcenter.org.)
www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
War on (little) women
and other insanities George Weigel Denver Catholic Register
T
he Supreme Court’s minor mistakes have few systemic consequences. But when the Supremes make a big mistake, the error tends to seep throughout the entire political process, poisoning everything in its path.
That was what happened with the Court’s 1857 Dred Scott decision, which intensified the passions and accelerated the dynamics that led to the Civil War—and to 600,000 Americans killing each other. That was what happened when the Court got it wrong again in Plessy v. Ferguson, the 1896 decision that declared segregated public facilities constitutional: three-and-a-half generations of American politics were distorted by a fierce struggle between segregationists and integrationists. And that is what happened with Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion on demand across the country. Ever since, the abortion issue has been the most bitterly contested in our public life, and Roe has distorted everything from free speech to religious freedom to health care legislation (dental insurers are being www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
queried by federal regulators as to whether their coverage includes abortion—dental insurers). Those distortions confirm that the Court got it fundamentally wrong in 1973. The forces that defend Roe v. Wade know the fragility of that “exercise in raw judicial power,” as Justice Byron White dissenting from the Roe majority put it. That is why they defend it with such fury and with arguments that are increasingly absurd. Those absurdities were on full display in late May when the U.S. House of Representatives took up the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA). This law’s purpose is to ban sexselection abortions in the United States—which almost always means aborting unborn girls for the simple reason that they are girls. This odious practice, a commonplace in Asia where there are estimates of some 160 million “missing” females, is not yet widespread in the United States. But one sex-selection abortion is one too many, and the attitude to this war on little women within the billion-dollar abortion industry is chilling. A Planned Parenthood representative told the Huffington Post, prior to the House vote on PRENDA, that “No Planned Parenthood clinic will deny a woman an abortion based on her reasons for wanting one, except in states that explicitly prohibit sexselection abortions.” As Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) put it in an op-ed piece in the Washington Post, “In
The Catholic Difference other words, Planned Parenthood is okay with exterminating a child in its huge network of clinics simply because she’s a girl.” The arguments against PRENDA in the House were ludicrous. The proponents of Roe’s unlimited abortion license, which they had long defended on the grounds that ready access to abortion is essential to women’s equality, argued that lethal discrimination against (little) women just because they are girls must be legally permissible. Radical feminism is now consuming its own future, literally. And why? To defend Roe v. Wade— and, ultimately, the sexual revolution for which Roe v. Wade was and is the ultimate technological buttress. Were PRENDA to become law, and were the Supreme Court to find that PRENDA passed constitutional muster, a thread would be pulled: and that thread might unravel the entire warped tapestry woven out of Roe v. Wade. The pro-Roe forces understand that. And if saving Roe—that alleged
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012 | SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC
51
U.S. House of Representatives took up the >>Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA).
This lawâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s purpose is to ban sex-selection abortions in the United Statesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;which almost always means aborting unborn girls for the simple reason that they are girls. foundation of gender equalityâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;requires the manifest absurdity of self-described feminists, female and male, defending lethal discrimination against the littlest of little girls, well, so be it. The same take-no-prisoners dynamic was at work earlier this year in Planned Parenthoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s assault on Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which
had dared to hold Planned Parenthood accountable for not oďŹ&#x20AC;ering the mammograms the Komen Foundationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s money was supposed to help provide. But rather than admitting its failure and promising to oďŹ&#x20AC;er genuine preventive health services to women, Planned Parenthood, and its cultural and political allies, crushed Komenâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; the cleanest of squeaky-clean chari-
tiesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;like a grape. And some wonder why these same forces are now arrayed against the Church for daring to defend religious freedom? (George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.)
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AUG/SEPT CALENDAR
AUGUST Camp Barnabas
at (361) 882-6191.
Wednesday, Aug. 1 - Monday, Aug. 6 at Deer Creek Camp. Camp provides Christian setting for life-changing opportunities to children with intellectual disabilities and/or autism. Camp also provides opportunities for caregivers. Visit www. campbarnabas.org/deercreek for more information.
Parish Banquet 2012
Women’s St. Ignatius Silent Retreats On Aug. 2-5 Experience the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius, guided by Father Dan Estes, SOLT and other members of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity. Learn more at www. deepprayer.org.
Pre Cana Seminar Aug. 4 from 8:45 a.m. - 5 p.m. Register online at www.diocesecc.org/precana or contact the Family Life Office at (361) 882-6191.
Music Workshop Sessions Saturday, Aug. 4 from 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. at St. Pius X Parish in Corpus Christi for Deaneries in Central, the south side and west side Corpus Christi.
St. George Barbecue Aug. 5 from 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. at St. George Parish in George West. Serving will begin at 11 a.m.- 2 p.m. Eat in or drive thru.
Gift of Hope Benefit Concert featuring Tony Melendez Aug. 5 at the Shrimporee Fairgrounds in Aransas Pass at 8:30 p.m. for St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church. Gates open at 3 p.m. Others groups playing are Steadfast in Faith, Jimmy Willden & the OutTakes, and Los Twenty Twelve. Tickets are available at St. Mary Star of the Sea Parish Office, and online at www.stmaryss.org. Tickets will also be available at the Aransas Chamber of Commerce and at Redfish Willie’s Waterfront Grill. Admission is $20. For more information, please call (361) 758-2662.
Novena for Blessed Mother’s Assumption Begins with Novena on Monday, Aug. 6 at the 5:30 p.m. Mass and concludes on Tuesday, Aug. 14 at the 5:30 p.m. vigil Mass for the Assumption at St. Patrick Parish, located at 3350 S. Alameda. Call the Rectory Office at (361) 855- 7391 for more information.
Camp Barnabas II On Sunday, Aug. 8 - Friday, Aug. 13 at Deer Creek Camp Visit www.campbarnabas.org/deercreek2 for more information.
Diocese Night Out with the Hooks Aug. 8 the Office of Youth Ministry invites any youth group or ministry to a night out with the Hooks. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the game starts at 7:05 p.m. For more information or to get your tickets contact Tina Villegas or Jaime Reyna www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
Aug. 10 at 6:30 p.m. Nuestra Senora de San Juan de los Lagos invites everyone to their Annual Banquet at the Mansion Royal located at 8001 SPID Drive. Night of entertainment, dinner, and dance with the Liricos of Teran and Show Ranchero. Car raffle and 9 more prizes. Banquet tickets are $40 per person and the car raffle tickets are $8. Please call our parish office for more information at (361) 852-0249.
Golf Tournament of St. Martin The Annual Golf Tournament of St. Martin Parish in Kingsville will be held on Aug. 11 at Alice Municipal Golf Course on Texas Blvd. in Alice, Texas. Tournament begins with Gunshot Start at 8 a.m. Registration Deadline is Aug. 10 at 5 p.m. Three men teams cost $180 to participate, which includes Green Fee, Cart, Lunch and Drinks. Cash prizes for First Place and Second Place Best Ball Competition. For more information, please call (361) 664-7033.
Free Homebuyer Education Class
to register. Aug. 20 from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. at Our Lady of Perpetual Help - Parish Hall. Please call (361) 991-7891 to register.
Catechesis of the Good Shepherd August 24-26 at St. Philip the Catholic Church: Level I, Part 2 formation course for adults who want to learn how to share the Catholic faith with children will be offered over 3 weekends (Friday night, Saturday and Sunday) during the school year. Based on Montessori principles of education. The Level I formation is the foundation course for all levels and provides the framework for all subsequent training.One may take part 2 before taking part 1. For more information, contact Cathy Harrel @ 960-5737 or JHARREL1@ stx.rr.com.
Cathedral Rummage Sale Aug. 24-26 from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. The rummage sale will be held in the Corpus Christi Cathedral Parish Hall located in the basement of the Cathedral located at 505 N. Upper Broadway. Contact Donald Harris at (361) 883-4213 ext. 27 for more information.
Free Financial Literacy Class
Aug. 11 at Catholic Charities of Corpus Christi, Inc. on 1322 Comanche. Dates may change, so please call to confirm. For more information call the Housing Counseling Department at (361) 884-0651.
Aug. 25 at Catholic Charities on 1322 Comanche. Dates may change, so please call to confirm. For more information call the Housing Counseling Department at (361) 884-0651.
Music Workshop Sessions
Federation of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Saturday, Aug. 11 from 1 - 4 p.m. at St. Peter, Prince of the Apostle Parish in Corpus Christi. for deaneries in of Beeville, Five Points and Refugio.
Classes at OLPH “A Covenant of Love with Mary” in Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish hall. On Monday, Aug. 15, Mass begins at 6:15 p.m., followed by a video and talk at 6:45 p.m. and a light dinner and celebration. Call OLPH office at (361) 991-7891 or Mrs. Maria Rodriguez at (361) 991-3356 for more information.
Engaged Encounter On Aug. 18-19 beginning at 8 a.m. at Our Lady of Corpus Christi Retreat Center. For more information contact Diocese of Corpus Christi Family Life Office at (361) 882-6191 or go to www. diocesecc.org/familylife or call Deacon Ron Martinez at (361) 765-1124 or go to www.deaconron@ olphcc.net for more information.
Music Workshop Sessions Saturday, Aug. 18 from 9 a.m. -12 p.m. at St. Gertrude Parish in Kingsville. For Kingsville and Alice Deaneries.
Schoenstatt Bus Pilgrimage The Bus Pilgrimage to the Schoenstatt Shrine in Lamar will leave St. Thomas More Church at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 18, and return at 3 p.m. For more information call Gloria Serna at (361) 853-3678.
Safe Environment Training - Classes Aug. 20 from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m. at Our Lady of Perpetual Help - Parish Hall. Please call (361) 991-7891
Meeting on Aug. 25 at Nuestra Senora de San Juan de Los Lagos, Madre de la Iglesia Church at 10 a.m. For more information, please contact Senora Casas, Hospitality Committee Chairperson, at (361) 855-3305 or buttonc5@yahoo.com.
SEPTEMBER Free Class on Catholicism Wednesday nights beginning Sept. 5 - Nov. 7 from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. Father Rodolfo D. Vasquez will present this class based on the Catholicism DVD Series by Father Robert Barron. Classes will be held at Saint John the Baptist Parish in Corpus Christi.
Song of Songs Marriage Retreat Marriage retreat with Father Dan Estes, SOLT, Dr. Joseph Biberstein and Matthew Moore. Call Sister Jessa at (361) 289-9095, ext. 302 for more information.
13th Annual Ark Gala Thursday, Sept. 6 at the Congressman Solomon P. Ortiz International Center in Corpus Christi at 6 p.m. The Gala consists of silent and live auctions, a dinner and a program. News Anchor Joe Gazin will be the master of ceremonies. The keynote speaker will be Rachel Leal-Hudson, an attorney practicing family law in Houston.
Free Homebuyer Education Class Sept. 8 at Catholic Charities on 1322 Comanche. (Dates may change) For more information call the Housing Counseling Department at (361) 884-0651.
AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012 | SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC
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Pre Cana Seminar
Centurion Football
Sept. 8 from 8:45 a.m.-5 p.m. It is designed for the engaged couples preparing for marriage and couples married civilly for less than a year. Registration is $50-$60. Register online at www. diocesecc.org/precana or contact the Family Life Office at (361) 882-6191.
Free game night for Catholic middle school on Sept. 14 at 7:30 p.m. Free Centurion Spirit T-shirts will be given away, as long as they last. Those planning to attend must RSVP one week before the game to Caroline Mcfarland at cmcfarland@ jpiihighschool.org.
St. James the Apostle Fall Festival
Shrines of France Pilgrimage
Sept. 9 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Refugio County Community Center. Bingo starts at 2:30 p.m. For more information contact the St. James the Apostle Parish Office at (361) 526-4454.
Join Msgr. Larry White on a once in a lifetime pilgrimage to Lourdes and other Catholic Shrines of France. The group leaves Corpus Christi on Sept. 17. For more information, please contact Freddie Perez at (361) 510-5474 or come by the parish office of Ss. Cyril & Methodius.
Classes at OLPH “A Covenant of Love with Mary” in OLPH parish hall on Monday, Sept. 10. Call OLPH office at (361) 991-7891 or Mrs. Maria Rodriguez at (361) 991-3356 for more information.
Study on ‘Jesus’ Women of the Word Ministry will be studying ‘Jesus’ From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration by Pope Benedict XVI beginning on Tuesdays Sept. 11 - Nov. 13 at Most Precious Blood Catholic Church. Ministry times are 9:15 a.m. and 6:45 p.m. For more information contact Susan Groves, groves.susana@gmail.com.
Men’s St. Ignatius Silent Retreats On Sept. 13-16 Experience the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius, guided by Father Dan Estes, SOLT and other members of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity. Learn more at www. deepprayer.org.
Catholic Women’s Conference Sept. 21-22 is a two-day “Spa for the Soul” with speakers addressing topics special to women and opportunities for women to draw closer to Christ. Visit www.cwcsanantonio.com for event details.
Woman’s Retreat Sept. 21-23 is a two-day “The Dignity of Woman: God’s Beautiful Beloved.” Sister Anne Marie Walsh, SOLT and Sister Miriam, SOLT will lead a woman’s retreat with the focus and theme on the writings of John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI; women and the culture today; and authentic beauty. Call Sister Jessa at (361) 289-9095 ext. 302 for more information.
more information call the Housing Counseling Department at (361) 884-0651.
Federation of Our Lady of Guadalupe On Sept. 22 the Federation of Our Lady of Guadalupe will be having a meeting at Immaculate Conception Parish in Taft. The meeting begins at 10 a.m. For more information, please contact Senona Casas, Hospitality Committee Chairperson, at (361) 855-3305 or buttonc5@yahoo.com.
Medjugorje Spiritual Journey Join Father Raynaldo Yrlas, pastor of Sacred Heart parish in Rockport on a spiritual journey to Medjugorje, Bosnia, from Sept. 25 - Oct. 5. For more details, please contact Ed or Barbara Morikawa at (361) 790-5171 or email at edmorik@hotmail.com.
St. Ignatius Silent Retreats On Sept. 27-30 experience the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius, guided by Father Dan Estes, SOLT and other members of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity. Learn more at www. deepprayer.org. To see more calendar events go to:
SouthTexasCatholic.com
Free Financial Literacy Class On Sept. 22 at Catholic Charities on 1322 Comanche. Dates may change, call to confirm. For
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The Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity wishes to thank the Triune God and Our Lady for the life of Fr. Michael Edward Jordan so well spent in service of the littlest, most vulnerable and marginalized of God’s people. Calendar of Events: Aug. 2-5, Sept. 27-30 and Nov. 8-11 Women’s St. Ignatius Silent Retreats (www.deepprayer.org)
Sept. 6-9 Song of Songs Marriage Retreat with Fr. Dan Estes, Dr. Joseph Biberstein and Matthew Moore. Call Sister Jessa at 289-9095 ext. 302 for more information.
Sept. 13-16, Oct. 11-14 and Dec. 13-16 Men’s St. Ignatius Silent Retreats (www.deepprayer.org)
Sept. 21-23
Our Lady of Corpus Christi Announces New Events Church History Thursdays beginning Aug. 23, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Song of Songs Marriage Retreat On Sept. 6-9
A Woman’s Retreat entitled: “The Dignity of Woman: God’s Beautiful Beloved.” On Sept. 21-23
Our Lady of Corpus Christi 1200 Lantana • Corpus Christi
(361) 289-9095 Bookstore: Ext. 309 Retreats: Ext. 301
Please visit www.deepprayer.org for more information
www.SouthTexasCatholic.com
A Woman’s Retreat entitled: “The Dignity of Woman: God’s Beautiful Beloved.” Sister Anne Marie Walsh, SOLT and Sister Miriam, SOLT will lead a woman’s retreat with the focus and theme on the writings of John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI; women and the culture today; and authentic beauty. Call Sister Jessa at 289-9095 ext. 302 for more information.
Nov. 15-18 Divine Mercy Retreat
Ongoing Events: Every Thursday beginning Aug. 23 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Church History taught by Deacon Bernie Vessa, SOLT
Every Tuesday from 7-8 p.m. Miraculous Medal Novena Holy Hour
Every 1st Sunday of the month at 4 p.m. St. Peregrine Healing Mass
“Come and See” Jesus in our beautiful Perpetual Adoration Chapel! All are welcome! In Memory of our Beloved Father Michael Jordon, SOLT AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012 | SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC
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August 2012 Issue SOUTH TEXAS CATHOLIC P.O. Box 2620 Corpus Christi, TX 78403 (361) 882-6191
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SOUTH TEX AS CATHOLIC | AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2012
www.SouthTexasCatholic.com