02 28 14

Diocese of Fall RiveR, Mass. fRiday, febRuaRy 28, 2014

NORTH DIGHTON — Marked with ashes in the sign of the cross on the forehead, people proclaim their Catholic faith for all to see on Ash Wednesday, living the evangelical message that Jesus preached in Galilee: “Turn away from sin and believe the Good News.”

A day of introspection observed by fasting, abstinence from meat and repen-tance, Ash Wednesday is the first day of the 40-day period of Lent, which lasts until Holy Thursday.

Throughout Lent area parishes will open their doors to penitents offering the distribution of ashes, missions, re-treats, Eucharistic Adoration, Stations of the Cross, and special Masses and obser-vances during Holy Week, culminating in the joyous celebration of the Savior’s resurrection at Easter.

“I look forward to Lent,” said Father Paul C. Fedak, pastor of St. Nicholas of Myra Parish in North Dighton. “During the season of Lent we draw closer to Je-sus. We make sacrifices and go without to remind us that we need Jesus to be part of our lives.”

A reminder of human mortality and repentance, ashes are imposed on the foreheads of faithful with the words:

Actor Diogo Morgado portrays Jesus during His arrival in Jerusalem in a scene from the new movie “Son of God” that opens this weekend in theaters throughout the diocese. The feature film about the life of Christ should be seen as “a love story” according to its executive producers, the husband-and-wife team of Mark Burnett and Roma Downey.

By Kenneth J. Souza

Anchor Staff

By Dave Jolivet

Anchor eDitor

By linDa anDraDe roDrigueS

Anchor CorreSponDent

MASHPEE — Kathy Laird, director of Faith Formation and youth minister at Christ the King Parish in Mashpee, remembers the closing scene in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1977 TV mini-series “Jesus of Nazareth” making an indelible impression on her.

“I tell my kids that during that very last scene — where Jesus is looking at His disciples, but He’s also looking right at the

Diocesan faithful eager to see ‘Son of God’ this weekend

camera — and He says ‘I’ll be with you until the end of time’ … I feel like He’s talking to me,” Laird told The Anchor.

So when she joins her Faith Formation students and youth group members at screenings of the new film “Son of God” this weekend, Laird hopes they’ll some-how have a similar reaction to seeing a depiction of Christ on the big screen.

“My experience with (‘Jesus of Naza-reth’) is that I know how much He loves

HCFM to airLenten series

Turn to page 18Turn to page 15

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EASTON — Continuing the tra-dition of its founder, Servant of God Father Patrick Peyton, C.S.C., of bringing the Good News to Catholics through modern social media, Holy Cross Family Ministries, headquar-tered in Easton, is offering area faith-ful a Lenten cable TV series parallel-ing the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, beginning on Ash Wednesday.

The half-hour program will run each Wednesday at 9 p.m. on Com-cast channel 9 and Verizon channel 22.

The family faith series, which is age-appropriate for middle-school children as well as adults, will be host-ed by HCFM president, Father John Phalen, C.S.C., author of the book,

FALL RIVER — While the Sacrament of Marriage is Sacred, the annulment process is often misunderstood, explained Father Jeffrey Cabral, judicial vicar of the Tribunal Office of the Fall River Diocese. The Church tribunal, better known as the Catholic Church court, declares that through an annulment process a Marriage thought to be valid according to Church law actually falls short of at least one of the crucial components re-quired for a binding union, thus declaring the Marriage invalid or null.

The misconception regarding exactly what an annul-ment is, and how the procedure unfolds, is often based on the fact that the Church tribunal tends to use the same terminology heard in civil law: “We use the words ‘trial’ or ‘case’ or ‘petitioner’ and [people] have that visual

Clarifying the annulment processBy BeCKy auBut

Anchor Staff

of being in the same room before a judge and it’s not that way,” said Father Cabral, adding that when it comes to annulments, no one has to come face-to-face in any of the proceedings. “Church canon law is more investiga-tory; never are the two parties in the same room or see each other. It’s more of an investigation; our investiga-tion is what we call the ‘trial.’”

There are several steps involved before declaring an annulment of the Marriage, and the first step is to work through the civil court before proceeding through the Church court. A divorce must be finalized before an an-nulment can even be filed, said Father Cabral, adding that part of the documentation required by those filing for an annulment includes the final divorce decree.

Last year more than 100 annulment cases made their way through the Fall River Tribunal Office, and each

Our Lenten Journey

This five-video series produced by Holy Cross Family Ministries, paralleling the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, will air on cable TV this Lent.

Lent: A time for healing the soul

Judicial vicar of the Fall River diocesan Tribunal Office, Father Jeffrey Cabral, often references the “Code of Canon Law” during annulment procedures. (Photo by Becky Aubut)

2 February 28, 2014News From the VaticaN

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Opening a two-day meeting of the world’s cardinals, Pope Fran-cis said the Church’s pastoral ap-proach to helping couples must be “intelligent, courageous and full of love” because the family today is “looked down upon and mistreated.”

“Our reflection must keep before us the beauty of the fam-ily and Marriage, the greatness of this human reality, which is so simple, yet so rich, made up of joys and hopes, of struggles and suffer-ings,” the pope told the cardinals February 20 as they began meet-ing in the Vatican synod hall.

Pope Francis arrived in the synod hall before many of the approximately 150 cardinals and cardinals-designate in attendance. He stood in the narrow entryway, greeting those who arrived after him, while the others renewed old friendships, met the new cardinals or sat quietly praying or reading.

After a prayer service, led by the Sistine Chapel choir, Pope Francis thanked the cardinals for coming and told them their two days of discussions would focus on the family, “which is the basic cell of human society. From the beginning, the Creator blessed man and woman so that they might be fruitful and multiply,” being a reflection of God, one and triune, in the world.

The cardinals should try to avoid “falling into casuistry,” the pope said, and instead attempt “to deepen the theology of the fam-ily and discern the pastoral prac-tices, which our present situation requires.”

Jesuit Father Federico Lom-bardi, Vatican spokesman, said his understanding of the pope’s warning about “casuistry” was that it was a plea to “avoid a fragmen-tation of the discussion by focus-ing on too many particular cases” and never getting to the point of discerning a general approach

Pope calls for ‘intelligent, courageous, loving’ approach to families

that should guide the Church’s pastoral activity. “I think he is saying that our discussion should not be too fragmented by listing specifically difficult situations or cases that have touched us.”

While many in the world to-day look down on and even mis-treat the family, Pope Francis said, the Church must help people recognize “how beautiful, true and good it is to start a family,” and must find better ways to help Catholic couples live God’s “mag-nificent plan for the family.”

The cardinals’ two-day dis-cussion with Pope Francis was introduced by retired German Cardinal Walter Kasper, a theolo-gian who has written a book Pope Francis admired on mercy as one of the most basic traits of God and as the key to living a Chris-tian life, individually and as the Church.

In the early 1990s, while he was a diocesan bishop, he and two other German bishops tried to institute a policy that in certain circumstances would allow di-vorced and civilly remarried cou-ples to return to the Sacraments even without an annulment. The Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith forced the bishops to drop the plan.

According to the Vatican spokesman, Cardinal Kasper ded-icated one section of his talk to the theme of divorced and civilly re-married Catholics, a topic Father Lombardi said obviously was on the minds of many participants.

The spokesman said Cardinal Kasper treated the topic “broadly,” insisting that the Church’s re-sponse had to show “fidelity to the words of Jesus” and an un-derstanding of the “mercy of God in the lives of people and, there-fore, in the pastoral work of the Church.”

The cardinal’s talk included “many references” to the words of Pope Benedict XVI on the topic,

Father Lombardi said, and en-couraged the cardinals to look for a path that was neither too strict nor too lenient, with a “penitential path and the Sacrament of Pen-ance” offering possible solutions for helping the divorced and civ-illy remarried return to the Sacra-ments.

The Vatican spokesman de-scribed Cardinal Kasper’s presen-tation, which he said the Vatican had no plans to publish, as a broad overview of the theology and real-ity of the family. It took the car-dinal about two hours to read the text, he said.

Father Lombardi said Cardi-nal Kasper’s talk was an attempt to be realistic about the family today, in the context of its place in God’s plan “for the good of all persons and humanity itself.”

The text also discussed prob-lems the Church faces in pastoral work, he said, “but it did not focus exclusively on these problems.”

“We must have a positive point of departure and rediscover and proclaim the Gospel of the family in all its beauty,” Cardinal Kasper said, according to Father Lombardi. “The truth convinces through its beauty, (and) we must contribute with words and ac-tions to making sure that people find happiness in the family and, in that way, they can witness their joy to others.”

Cardinal Kasper said it was es-sential for the Church to develop more fully its teaching that the family is the “domestic Church, making it the privileged pathway of the New Evangelization and of the renewal of the Church.”

The German cardinal also told his confreres that “in families, the Church encounters the reality of life; for this reason, families are the proving ground of our pas-toral work and an urgent point for the New Evangelization. The family is the future, including for the Church.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis said the worst thing about growing old is not becoming weaker or infirm, but the “abandonment, the exclu-sion, the deprivation of love” in today’s “throwaway culture.”

The pope’s remarks came in a written message sent to bioethi-cists, scientists, healthcare pro-fessionals, religious, theologians and other experts attending the Pontifical Academy for Life’s February 20-21 workshop on “Aging and Disability.”

The pope thanked the acade-my for its “often tiring work, be-cause it demands going against the tide” in a world facing the “tyrannical domination of an economic logic that excludes and sometimes kills.”

“We have created a ‘throw-away’ culture” that is no longer about exploitation or oppres-sion, but about treating people as “the outcasts, the ‘leftovers,’” he wrote, citing his apostolic ex-hortation, “Evangelii Gaudium” (“The Joy of the Gospel”).

The elderly are particularly affected by this trend of exclu-sion, especially if they are ill, disabled or vulnerable in other ways, he wrote.

People forget that human re-lationships “are always relation-ships of reciprocal dependence” in which the degree of depen-dence changes over the course of a person’s life, especially at its early and later stages and during periods of illness or suffering.

“The loss of health and hav-

ing a disability are never a good reason for exclusion or, worse, eliminating a person,” he wrote in the message.

The best place to learn the real value of human life and the duty of solidarity is the family, he wrote.

“In the family you can learn that the loss of health is not a reason to discriminate against some human lives; the family teaches not to succumb to indi-vidualism and to strike a balance between the ‘I’ and the ‘we.’”

It’s in the family that people learn that taking care of others is “a foundation of human ex-istence,” the pope wrote. How families treat and care for their elders “becomes critical in order to reconfirm before all of society the importance of older people” and the active role they should play in the community.

Though older people may seem to “take without anything to give,” he wrote, their experi-ence “warns us not to foolishly repeat our past mistakes.”

Pope Francis noted the acad-emy was celebrating 20 years since Blessed John Paul II es-tablished it to promote the dig-nity of life and study current challenges to life in the fields of medicine and law.

The academy’s work is meant to “let people of goodwill know that science and technology, when put at the service of the human person and his or her fundamental rights, contribute to the integral well-being of the person,” Pope Francis said.

Pope: By taking care of elders, families show world all life has value

Pope Francis blesses prisoners from Pisa and Pianosa jails during a private meeting at the Vatican re-cently. (CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano via Reuters)

3 February 28, 2014 the iNterNatioNal church

OXFORD, England (CNS) — Catholic leaders in the Cen-tral African Republic praised the courage of missionary priests and nuns who remained in the country during the cur-rent conflict, despite offers of evacuation.

“That most have remained here is the greatest act of wit-ness our Church has given,” said Bishop Nestor-Desire Nongo Aziagbia of Bossangoa, Central African Republic.

“Even when life is insecure, people still look to their priests and religious as a sign of hope and to Catholic missions as places of refuge. This makes their continued presence very important,” he told Catholic News Service in a recent tele-phone interview.

The bishop said most mis-sionaries and foreign religious order members had defied dan-gers and remained in the Cen-tral African Republic, where French and African forces are attempting to restore order af-ter more than a year of fighting.

Bishop Nongo said some members of his diocese’s reli-gious congregations had been forced to leave.

“One group of nuns called me in the morning to say their house had been under fire all

night,” the bishop told CNS. “But even then, though their lives were at stake and they clearly couldn’t stay, one of the nuns still decided to remain.”

The bishops’ conference pres-ident, Archbishop Dieudonne Nzapalainga of Bangui, told the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need that mission-aries provided “reference points and ramparts” for local people as a “manifestation of the pow-er of love.”

“In many places, the mission-aries have stayed and haven’t wanted to leave, although we placed no obligation on them and left them free to decide,” Archbishop Nzapalainga said.

“They should be given sup-port to remain as a light in the night. In every crisis, when the missionaries stay, their pres-ence has a mitigating effect,” he added.

Catholics make up around a third of the 4.4 million inhab-itants of the Central African Republic, one of the world’s poorest countries; Muslims are about 15 percent.

Missionary clergy and re-ligious order members, many from the U.S., France, Italy, Spain and Poland, as well as from other African countries, have helped circulate infor-

Catholic leaders praise missioners who stay in Central African Republic

mation and offered shelter to some of the estimated one mil-lion people displaced by the violence, which has continued despite the December deploy-ment of 1,600 French para-troopers under a U.N. mandate.

Capuchin Father Serge Mbremandji told the Italian publication La Stampa that, in January, members of the Is-lamist-dominated Seleka move-ment had gone “on a shooting spree” at a Catholic mission in Bocaranga, forcing its priests, nuns and catechists to flee.

Polish Capuchin Father Benedykt Paczek told his coun-try’s Radio Plus he had taken refuge at a school after his mis-sion at Ngaoundaye was raided and burned by rebels. He added that the 38 Polish missionar-ies working at nine separate locations had rejected offers of evacuation by their country’s foreign ministry.

In his ACN interview, Arch-bishop Nzapalainga said he believed the continuing vio-lence had made people “more fervent” in religious beliefs and practices.

He added that he also had rejected offers of asylum during a January visit to France, con-cluding “the devil scatters, but God brings together.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In a move reflecting his drive to reform the Vatican bureaucracy and his oft-stated desire to include lay people in the leadership of the Church, Pope Francis established a new panel to include almost as many lay members as cler-ics and to oversee the finances of the Holy See and Vatican City State.

Another new office, to be headed by Cardinal George Pell of Sydney, will implement the panel’s policies.

The Vatican announced the changes in a statement February 24, explaining they would “enable more formal involvement of senior and ex-perienced experts in financial administration, planning and reporting, and will ensure bet-ter use of resources,” particu-larly for “our works with the poor and marginalized.”

The Council for the Econ-omy will include “eight cardi-nals and bishops to reflect the universality of the Church” and “seven lay experts of dif-

Pope establishes panel, with lay members, to oversee Vatican finances ferent nationalities with strong professional financial experience,” the Vatican said. They will “meet on a regular basis and to consider policies and practices and to prepare and analyze reports on the economic-administrative ac-tivities of the Holy See.”

The lay members of the new council will exercise an unprecedented level of re-sponsibility for non-clerics in the Vatican, where the high-est offices have always been reserved for cardinals and bishops. The Vatican did not release any names of council members.

Reporting to the council will be the new Secretariat for the Economy, which will exercise “authority over all the econom-ic and administrative activities within the Holy See and the Vatican City State,” including budget making, financial plan-ning, hiring, procurement and the preparation of detailed fi-nancial statements.

“I have always recognized the need for the Church to

be guided by experts in this area and will be pleased to be working with the mem-bers of the new Council for the Economy as we approach these tasks,” Cardinal Pell said in a statement released by the Archdiocese of Sydney, which said he would take up his new position at the Vatican “by the end of March.”

Cardinal Pell is a “man who’s got financial things at his fingertips, and he’s a man who’s very decisive, and I think he’s a got a good un-derstanding of how Roman affairs work,” South African Cardinal Wilfred F. Napier of Durban, who sat on one of the advisory panels that reviewed the arrangements before the pope’s decision, told Catholic News Service.

Pope Francis established the council and the secretariat with an apostolic letter given “motu proprio” (on his own initiative), dated February 24, with the title “Fidelis dispen-sator et prudens” (“Faithful and prudent steward”), a quotation

from the Gospel according to St. Luke. The same letter pro-vides for the appointment of an auditor general, “who will be empowered to conduct au-dits of any agency of the Holy See and Vatican City State at any time.”

The motu proprio makes no mention of the Institute for the Works of Religion, commonly known as the Vatican bank.

The pope acted on recom-mendations from the Pontifi-cal Commission for Reference on the Economic-Adminis-trative Structure of the Holy See, which he established in July to review account-ing practices in Vatican of-fices and devise strategies for greater fiscal responsibility and transparency.

According to the Vatican, the commission “recommend-ed changes to simplify and consolidate existing manage-ment structures and improve coordination and oversight across” the Vatican bureau-cracy, and called for a “more formal commitment to adopt-ing accounting standards and generally accepted financial management and reporting practices as well as enhanced internal controls, transpar-ency and governance.”

The recommendations were “considered and endorsed” by the pope’s eight-member ad-visory Council of Cardinals, which met for its third ses-sion February 17-19, and the 15-member Council of Cardi-

nals for the Study of the Or-ganizational and Economic Problems of the Holy See, which met for the last time February 24, since it ceased to exist upon the establishment of the new council.

According to Cardinal Na-pier, a member of the defunct council, at least some of the prelates on the new panel will be drawn from the former 15-member body.

“Something really to be needed to be done,” Cardinal Napier said of the pope’s ac-tions. “For instance, there was no serious budgeting that you could call budgeting. It was quite clear that some of the procedures and processes that were in place were not ad-equate for today’s world.”

The conclave that elected Pope Francis in March 2013 took place amid controversy provoked by the previous year’s “VatiLeaks” of confi-dential correspondence sen-sationally documenting cor-ruption and incompetence in various parts of the Vatican bureaucracy.

Among other measures in his first year, Pope Francis established a special commis-sion to investigate the Vatican bank, expanded the scope and enforcement of Vatican City laws against money launder-ing and the financing of ter-rorism, and set in motion an overhaul of the Church’s cen-tral administration, the Ro-man Curia.

4 February 28, 2014the church iN the u.s.

DENVER (CNA/EWTN News) — The head of a ma-jor U.S. missionary apostolate says that evangelization — not simple catechesis — is needed to prepare Catholics for good Marriages by putting Jesus Christ at the center of their lives.

“We have got to recognize the difference between evange-lization and catechesis,” Curtis Martin, co-founder of the Fel-lowship of Catholic University Students, told CNA.

“There is an attempt, by some of the best Marriage preparation people in the country, to give all the cateche-sis about Marriage that they possibly can, and they haven’t evangelized on the importance of Christian Marriage.”

“You’re actually filling them with information but they don’t know why they need it.”

Catholics preparing for Marriage should have “actually

Catholic Marriage preparation needs to better ‘evangelize’encountered Christ and have chosen to make Him the cen-ter of their lives, so that this is the driving force in their life and the most important rela-tionship.”

“That is fundamental,” he said.

Martin and his wife Mi-chaelann began the Fellow-ship of Catholic University Students, known as FOCUS, in 1998. The student mission-ary organization now has more than 350 missionaries on 83 U.S. campuses.

Martin, a father of nine, has served as a consultor to the Pontifical Council on the New Evangelization since 2011. He said that changes are needed for Marriage preparation in the Catholic Church.

“Nobody wants to marry badly. But our Marriage prepa-ration is not engaging, it is not compelling, it is not effective, despite the fact that we’ve got

some of the most sincere, won-derful people trying to do it.”

Marriage preparation is of-ten perceived as “mostly oner-ous” and something that must be done in order to marry in the parish one’s parents want.

Martin suggested that Mar-riage preparation could be a winning moment to introduce people to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and explain “why the Catholic faith can make all the difference in the Marriage they’re hoping to enter into, and succeed in.”

While it is possible to have a lifelong Marriage without supernatural grace, Martin said, “to really be able to love one another with the love of God requires that you have ac-tually known and experienced the love of God.”

“The Church’s teachings about Marriage are actually impossible to live without God’s grace,” he said.

Martin stressed the im-portance of what he called “remote preparation” for Mar-riage, forming young people even before they are in rela-tionships.

“Once you’re in love, you’re not going to listen to princi-ples that are going to cause you to break up with that person.”

Rather, knowing these prin-ciples will help guide young people about who they fall in love with and help their chanc-es of marrying well, he said.

“Our issue here is that most people have not encountered Jesus Christ and been able to accept Him as the Lord of their life. That’s what the Church exists to do: to evan-gelize,” Martin said. “Only af-ter that are we going to learn how to follow Christ.

“We’re actually meant to live with God at the center of our lives,” he said. “Jesus comes and restores Marriage to its original state, which was meant to be lived in the state of grace.”

Martin also discussed the problems of divorce and re-marriage. He suggested that the high number of annul-ments in the Catholic Church in the U.S. is due to the fact that the Church is witnessing Marriages that are not valid.

At the same time, he not-ed that those who are validly married but in a sexual union with someone else, are living in “an objective state of adultery.”

This is “according to Je-

sus Christ, not the Catholic Church,” he added.

“The Church is not the final judge of Marriage. She is the arbiter. God has established the rules, we are not free to change them. We are free to live by them and implement them.”

Martin believes that Pope Francis is trying to address the “disaster” of “far too many bro-ken Marriages” through pasto-ral care.

“There’s an enormous num-ber of people, millions of mil-lions of people, who live in deep pain every day, because of the breakdown of family. They are loved by God, and we need to manifest that love.”

He said the Church is con-sidering how to be “much more sensitive” to those who are suf-fering and how to help repair the situation.

Martin said FOCUS has taught its students and staff-ers “how to be brothers and sisters, how to love people in a non-sexual way.”

“That’s radically important,” he said. “That’s why, as far as we can tell, we’ve watched over 100 staff Marriages,” he said. In 15 years and 100 Marriages, he said, there has been “not a single divorce.”

He said staffers “learned to love each other as brothers and sisters first, then romance came.” This meant they could receive the Sacrament of Mar-riage with “a certain kind of foundation.”

WASHINGTON (CNS) — In light of the proposed death penalty for 20-year-old Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, “Jesus weeps ... again” at the injustice, the Conference of Major Su-periors of Men said in a recent statement. “Christ calls us to love our enemies and travel the long, difficult, but humanizing and liberating road to Recon-ciliation,” the conference said.

The CMSM statement came in response to U.S. Attorney

‘Restorative justice,’ not death penalty, urged for TsarnaevGeneral Eric Holder announc-ing the federal government will seek the death penalty against Tsarnaev, currently being held in federal prison for his alleged role in the Boston Marathon attacks. The Catholic Church opposes the death penalty in nearly all cases, saying that “the cases in which the execution of the offender is an absolute ne-cessity are very rare, if not prac-tically nonexistent.”

For some, Tsarnaev’s case is

no exception. “The death pen-alty is sort of an illusion (that) we can protect life by taking it,” said Catherine Jarboe, di-rector for Catholic State Net-works and Organizations at the Catholic Mobilizing Network to End the Use of the Death Penalty. “We’re perpetuating the cycle of violence.” CMSM said it weeps for “all the harm done” at the bombings in April, including the harm Tsarnaev and his family felt.

5 February 28, 2014

WASHINGTON (CNS) — A Marriage amendment to the U.S. Constitution “would secure in law throughout the country the basic truth known to reason that Marriage is the union of one man and one woman,” said San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone.

In a February 19 letter, he urged the U.S. House of Repre-sentatives to pass the Marriage Protection Amendment, a joint resolution sponsored by Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., and intro-duced last August.

The archbishop, who is chair-man of the U.S. bishops’ Subcom-mittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, urged other House members to co-sponsor the measure.

To amend the U.S. Constitu-tion, it must be approved by two-thirds of the House and the U.S. Senate and then be ratified by three-fourths of the states.

“An amendment to the U.S. Constitution is the only remedy in law against this judicial activ-ism that may ultimately end with federal judges declaring that the U.S. Constitution requires states, and consequently the federal gov-ernment, to redefine Marriage,” the archbishop wrote in the letter, which was addressed to Huels-kamp.

Archbishop Cordileone was referring to recent federal court decisions striking down a number of state Marriage laws.

One of the most recent was a February 13 ruling by a federal judge that struck down Virginia’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional. U.S. District Court Judge Arenda Wright Allen stayed her ruling to allow an appeal to be filed, so same-sex marriage licenses will not be granted immediately.

In recent months, decisions similar to Wright Allen’s have been handed down by federal judges in Utah and Oklahoma. On February 12, a federal judge ruled that Kentucky must rec-ognize same-sex marriages per-formed in other states or other countries; a Kentucky couple sued the state to force the state to is-sue same-sex marriage licenses. Similar lawsuits have been filed in Alabama and Louisiana.

Catholic and other opponents

Amendment to U.S. Constitution urged to protect traditional Marriage

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Celebrating Mass with the new-est members of the College of the Cardinals one day after their elevation, Pope Francis urged them to regard their new role not as one of worldly honor but of humble service and sacrifice.

“A cardinal enters the Church of Rome, not a royal court,” the pope said in his homily Febru-ary 23, during morning Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. “May all of us avoid, and help others to avoid, habits and ways of acting typical of a court: intrigue, gossip, cliques, favoritism and preferences.”

“May our language be that of the Gospel: ‘yes when we mean yes; no when we mean no,’” he said. “May our attitudes be those of the Beatitudes and our way be that of holiness.”

Pope Francis celebrated the Mass with 18 of the 19 men he had raised to the rank of cardinal the previous day in the same ba-silica. Cardinal Loris Capovilla, who at age 98 is now the oldest

member of the college, was ab-sent on both occasions for rea-sons of health.

The 18 new cardinals, clad in the green vestments of the Litur-gical season of ordinary time, sat in a near semicircle around the main altar. More than a hundred of their fellow cardinals, also serv-ing as concelebrants, sat in rows at the front of the congregation.

Retired Pope Benedict, whose appearance at the previous day’s consistory had surprised prac-tically all the participants, did not return to the basilica for the Mass.

Pope Francis’ call for humility echoed a letter he had sent the new cardinals shortly after the announcement of their elevation in January, telling them that a red hat “does not signify a promotion, an honor or a decoration; it is simply a form of service that re-quires expanding your vision and enlarging your heart,” and that they should celebrate their new distinction only in an “evangeli-

cal spirit of austerity, sobriety and poverty.”

In his homily, the pope said that “Jesus did not come to teach us good manners, how to behave well at the table. To do that, He would not have had to come down from Heaven and die on the cross. Christ came to save us, to show us the way, the only way out of the quicksand of sin, and this is mercy.”

“To be saint is not a luxury,” he said. “It is necessary for the Salva-tion of the world.”

Quoting from the day’s read-ing from the Gospel according to St. Matthew, in which Jesus enjoins His disciples to love their enemies and pray for their perse-cutors, the pope said cardinals are called to live out that injunction with even “greater zeal and ardor” than other Christians.

“We love, therefore, those who are hostile to us; we bless those who speak ill of us; we greet with a smile those who may not de-serve it,” he said. “We do not aim

Pope tells cardinals they are servants, not courtiersto assert ourselves; we oppose ar-rogance with meekness; we forget the humiliations that we have en-dured.”

The pope’s words recalled his previous day’s talk to the cardinals — whose traditional scarlet garb is said to symbolize the blood of martyrs — when he called on them to pray for “all Christians suffering from discrimination and persecution” and “every man and woman suffering injustice on account of his or her religious convictions.”

Following the Mass, the pope

appeared at the window of his of-fice in the Apostolic Palace and addressed a crowd in St. Peter’s Square before praying the noon Angelus.

He said the weekend’s gather-ing of the world’s cardinals was a “precious occasion for experienc-ing the catholicity of the Church, well represented by the varied origins of the members of the College of Cardinals, gathered in close communion around the Successor of Peter. And may the Lord gives us the grace to work for the unity of the Church.”

of same-sex marriage point to the U.S. Supreme Court’s deci-sion in United States v. Windsor that found the federal Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional but also required the federal gov-ernment to respect the primacy of the states in defining Marriage.

Archbishop Cordileone wrote that “just as Roe v. Wade man-dated a constitutional right to abortion throughout the country, we now have the possibility of another bad decision mandating a constitutional change in the meaning of Marriage in order to promote (at least to begin with) ‘marriages’ between two people of the same sex throughout the country.”

He told Huelskamp the proposed Marriage Protection Amendment to the U.S. Consti-tution is “a needed remedy.”

As Dave Jolivet writes on page 11, we’re all looking for the sun (and even more so, for the Son) during these days. George Weigel reminds us at the end of his column on page eight that anything we are enduring for the faith in this country is nothing in comparison with the violent darkness so many of our brothers and sisters in the faith are enduring throughout the world. They look to the Son to be their light during these terrible days.

The violence and subsequent change of government (one hopes permanently) of the Ukrainian regime has attracted much attention over these weeks, especially convenient to the news media gathered in neighboring Sochi, Russia. There most of the people involved were at least nominally Christians, be they Orthodox or Catholic. Religion has not been a major factor in the civil strife in Kiev; rather the dispute has focused on abuses of pro-Moscow government against a pro-Western populace.

Meanwhile, the slaughters in Syria continue, with a variety of strains of Islam battling each other and Christians. During February there was a momentary return of the world’s attention to the atrocities going on in that country, while refugees complain about being ignored and neglected by most of the outside world.

In the Central African Republic (as you can read on page three) violence continues. It had commenced a few months ago, when Seleka rebels (almost all of whom are from the minority Moslem population) began terrorizing the majority Christian population. In response, secular France, alarmed at the bloodshed, intervened in the country, together with peacekeeping troops from other African countries. Unfortunately, the evil one then inspired many Christians to seek revenge on any Moslems they could get their hands on (and kill). At present the forces of Moslem-majority Chad are trying to protect the Mos-lems (some say that they are favoring them against the Christians), while France and the other countries try to restore calm.

Also in February the United Nations issued a report on the bloodthirsty cruelty of the North Korean Communist regime (which makes Ukraine look like Utopia). In his col-umn George Weigel mentioned some of the barbarities which the Kim regime has done to our Christian siblings.

South of us in Venezuela, mainly ignored due to the attention Eurasia gets in the news, the part of the populace is revolting under Hugo Chavez’ successor. A baker’s dozen of people have died there (at press time). The Church has offered to be a mediator between the protesters and the government. Bishop Mario del Valle Moronta Rodriguez of San Cristobal, Venezuela wrote, “In the name of the Lord Jesus, we call for an end to violence of all kinds — verbal, aggression, crackdowns — and we seek to show that we are ‘people of peace.’ We deplore the deaths that have occurred during protests in various places in the country, as well as the fact that many people have been injured. We ask that those who have caused these deaths and personal harm accept responsibility and be punished according to the law.”

Remembering our brothers and sisters

Anchor EditorialMeanwhile, violence continues unabated in Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt, Libya (where

Christians from Egypt were found brutally murdered this week), Nigeria, Somalia, Thai-land, Pakistan and South Sudan.

Bishop George W. Coleman asks us to keep all of these people in our prayers, remember-ing that they are our brothers and sisters. He made a point of sending to all of the priests of the diocese a copy of a speech given by Cardinal Timothy Dolan to the bishops at their annual meeting this past November and has reminded us of that talk on other occasions.

Cardinal Dolan began his November speech recalling his traveling to the Ukraine last summer (before the unrest began): “Just last August, I had the honor of concelebrating the Mass of Dedication for the Cathedral of the Resurrection in Kiev. A particularly moving moment came when Metropolitan Shevchuk asked the Lord’s protective hand upon believers suffering persecution for their faith anywhere in the world. That such a heartfelt plea came from a people who had themselves been oppressed for so long made it all the more poignant” (The cardinal was referring to the brutal oppression Ukrainian Christians had suffered during their decades as part of the Soviet Union, especially under Joseph Stalin).

The cardinal shared a shocking statistic about martyrdom: “We are living in what must be recognized as, in the words of Blessed John Paul II, ‘a new age of martyrs.’ One expert calculates that half of all Christian martyrs were killed in the 20th century alone. The 21st century has already seen in its first 13 years one million people killed around the world because of their belief in Jesus Christ — one million already in this still young century.” What a number! Where is our horror, our concern, our prayers!

Pope Francis prayed with the assembled cardinals in Rome last weekend for Christians suffering for the Gospel, that God would help them in their agonies and that God would help them forgive their persecutors, as Jesus did from the cross. They also prayed for non-Christians suffering in the above-mentioned countries.

Papal spokesman Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, said, “Unfortunately, we have noticed that many of the current conflicts are described as religious in nature, often surreptitiously pitting Christians and Muslims, while the roots of these conflicts are primarily ethnic, political or economic.”

Father Lombardi continued, “For its part, the Catholic Church, in condemning all violence perpetrated in the name of religious affiliation, will continue its commitment to peace and reconciliation, through interreligious dialogue and the many charities that provide aid and comfort daily the suffering anywhere in the world.”

As we prepare to enter Lent next week, may we remember these brothers and sisters of ours, offering prayers and sacrifices for them, seeing how our alms can assist them, and reminding our American political leaders to do what they can to help bring about peace. We are called by Christ to be light for this darkened world.

6 February 28, 2014

Dear brothers and sisters, hello!

In the second reading this Sunday, St. Paul says: “So let no one boast of men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future, all are yours; and you are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s” (1 Cor-inthians 3:23). Why does the Apostle say this? It is because he finds himself faced with divisions in the community at Corinth, where different groups had been formed that

each regarded some preacher as their leader. They said: “I am of Paul, I am of Apollo, I am of Cephas” (1 Cor 1:12). St. Paul explains that this way of thinking is mistaken because the community does not belong to the Apostles, rather the Apostles belong to the community. But the com-munity as a whole belongs to Christ!

This belonging to Christ means that in the Christian communities — dioceses, parishes, associations, move-ments — the differences can-

not contradict the fact that, through Baptism, we have the same dignity: all of us, in Jesus Christ, are children of God. And this is our dignity: in Jesus Christ we are chil-dren of God! Those who have received the office of leader-ship, of preaching, of admin-istering the Sacraments, must not think of themselves as owners of special powers, as masters, but put themselves at the service of the community, helping it to travel the path of holiness with joy.

Today the Church entrusts this way of pastoral life to the new cardinals, with whom I celebrated Mass this morn-ing. We can greet all the new cardinals with applause. Let us all greet them! Yesterday’s consistory and today’s Eu-charistic celebration offered us a precious occasion to ex-perience the catholicity, the universality of the Church, well-represented by the vari-ous origins of the members of the College of Cardinals, gathered in close communion around the Successor of Peter. And may the Lord give us the grace to work for the unity of

Pope Francis’ weekly Angelus address and prayerthe Church, to build this unity, because unity is more impor-tant than conflicts! The unity of the Church is from Christ; conflicts are problems that are not always from Christ.

The Liturgical moments of celebration that we have had the opportunity to ex-perience during the course of the last couple days, rein-force the faith in all of us and the love for Christ and for His Church! I invite you to support these shepherds and to assist them with prayer, so that they always lead with zeal the people entrusted to them, showing everyone the tenderness and love of the Lord. But a bishop, a cardi-nal, a pope have such a great need of prayer to help the people of God to go forward! I say “help,” that is, serve the people of God, because the vocation of a bishop, a car-dinal and a pope is precisely this: to be servants, to serve in the name of Christ. Pray for us to be good servants: good servants, not good bosses! All of us together, bishops, priests, consecrated persons and lay faithful must

offer the witness of a Church faithful to Christ, animated by the desire to serve our brothers and ready to meet with prophetic courage the spiritual expectations and needs of the men and women of our time. May Our Lady accompany us and protect us on this journey.

The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary, and she conceived by work of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary ...Behold the handmaid of the

Lord: Be it done unto me ac-cording to Thy Word.

Hail Mary ... And the Word was made

Flesh: And dwelt among us. Hail Mary ... Pray for us, O Holy Mother

of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray: Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Father Richard D. Wilson [email protected] David B. Jolivet [email protected] MANAGER Mary Chase [email protected] Wayne R. Powers [email protected] Kenneth J. Souza [email protected] Rebecca Aubut [email protected]

OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER

Published weekly except for two weeks in the summer and the week after Christmas by the Catholic Press of the Diocese of Fall River, 887 Highland Avenue, Fall River, MA 02720, Telephone 508-675-7151 — FAX 508-675-7048, email: [email protected]. Subscription price by mail, postpaid $20.00 per year, for U.S. addresses.

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Vol. 58, No. 8www.anchornews.org

Putting Intothe Deep

By Father Roger J. Landry

7 February 28, 2014 aNchor columNists

It is hard to believe that Lent will begin on March

5. While the date varies yearly, I am looking forward to it. One of the reasons for my anticipa-tion of this special season is not religious at all. I am anxious for warmer weather. Lent means that the spring season is ap-proaching.

In a sense, Lent is the spring-time of the Church. This 40-day celebration begins with ashes and ends with Easter flowers. We can have different reasons to look forward to Lent. Some, I fear, do not look forward to the celebration of Lent. Others do not even recognize its existence.

For the Christian, it is a time of renewal that is undertaken with the entire Church. It is an opportunity to focus on our relationship with God and each other. We should not look upon it only as a time of penance and “giving up” things. While that is part of it, it is not the goal of the Lenten season.

Each Christian needs to ask one question: “What can I do during these 40 sacred days that will bring me closer to God and what will help me to love others with the love of Christ?”

The pope issues an annual

letter for Lent in which he offers some suggestions for growing closer to the Lord. Although, usually simpler in his daily-Mass homily reflections, Pope Francis’ Lenten message needs study.

His main theme this year is that of poverty. He takes his initiative from the words of St. Paul who reminds us that, even though Christ was rich, for our sake He became poor, so that, by His poverty, we might become rich. Pope Francis then asks us to examine what these words mean for us today, what does the invitation to the evangelical life of poverty mean?

He suggests that it means that we be aware that God does not reveal Himself cloaked in power and wealth, but rather in weak-ness and poverty. The meaning of this poverty is God’s love; a love which is generous, a love that does not hesitate to offer it-self in sacrifice for another. Love, or charity, is sharing with the one we love in all things. Loving another makes us similar, creates equality, breaks down walls and eliminates distances.

The pope proposes our chal-

lenge is to confront the poverty of our brothers and sisters, to touch it, to make it our own and to take practical steps to alleviate it. He utilizes the word destitu-tion, which is not the same as poverty. He describes destitution as poverty without faith, with-out support, without hope. He

further divides destitution into three types of poverty: material, moral and spiritual.

Material poverty is to live in conditions opposed to human dignity. A person in this type of poverty lacks the basic rights and needs, such as food, water, work, clothing, etc.

Moral poverty is to be a slave of sin and vice. Here we would group those who are poor because of their addictions to alcohol, drugs, gambling and pornography.

Spiritual poverty is when someone turns away from God

and rejects His love. The antidote to this type of poverty is the Gospel. In the Gospel, we find that forgiveness of sins commit-ted is possible. We find the Good News in the Bible that God is greater than our sinfulness.

We are called to save others not through human resources.

Pope Francis reminds us: “In every time and place, God continues to save mankind and the world through the poverty of Christ, Who makes Himself poor in the Sac-raments, in His word and in His Church, which is a people of the poor.

God’s wealth passes not through our wealth, but invariably and exclusively through our personal and communal poverty, enliv-ened by the Spirit of Christ.”

Pope Francis concludes his reflections on Lent with a chal-lenge to each of us. He writes: “Dear brothers and sisters, may this Lenten season find the whole Church ready to bear witness to all those who live in material, moral and spiritual destitution, the Gospel message of the merciful love of God our Father, Who is ready to embrace everyone in Christ. We can do

this to the extent that we imitate Christ Who became poor and enriched us by His poverty. Lent is a fitting time for self-denial; we would do well to ask our-selves what we can give up in order to help and enrich others by our own poverty. Let us not forget that real poverty hurts: no self-denial is real without this dimension of penance. I distrust a charity that costs nothing and does not hurt.”

While prayer and fasting are among the three hallmarks of our Lenten springtime or renewal, this year we are asked, in a different way, to concentrate on almsgiving — self-denial; that is becoming poor in order to relieve the destitution of others. Our caring, our prayers, our sacri-fices to relieve the destitution of others can be one of our Lenten resolutions this year. Whether the poverty is material, moral or spiritual, may we make a differ-ence in our life and especially in the lives of others.

May God bless you. Anchor columnist Msgr.

Oliveira is pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in New Bedford and direc-tor of the diocesan Propagation of the Faith and Permanent Diacon-ate offices.

Make a difference in the lives of others

Livingthe

FaithBy Msgr.

John J. Oliveira

One year ago today Pope Benedict renounced the

papacy at 8 p.m. Rome time. After a year, I still haven’t found

the appropriate adjectives to de-scribe what I was feeling that day, an unnamed cocktail of emotions that are all coming back as I begin to write this column. I was too stunned to cry, but it felt like my innards were bleeding.

The 8 a.m. daily Mass that morning was the most challeng-ing Mass I’ve ever had to soldier through in 15 years as a priest. I offered a votive Mass for the Pope conscious that in six hours he would no longer be pope. In the Eucharistic Prayer, I slowed down to pronounce the words, “For Benedict our pope,” aware that I was saying them for the 2,874th and last time.

A few hours later, the world watched as he left the Apostolic Palace, his secretary, Archbishop Georg Ganswein full of tears at his side, and proceeded to the Vatican heliport for the most memorable helicopter ride in world history.

After he arrived at Castel Gan-dolfo, he came out on the loggia to greet those packed into the tiny plaza before the papal summer palace:

Pope Benedict’s resignation, one year later“You know this day is different

for me than the preceding ones,” he said. “I am no longer pope of the Catholic Church. I am simply a pilgrim beginning the last leg of his pilgrimage on earth. I would still with my heart, with my love, with my prayers, with my reflection and with all my inner strength, like to work for the common good and the good of the Church and of humanity.”

He finished by giving us his last blessing as pope, saying “good night” — which I thought was appropriate on multiple levels — and thank-ing us all.

Then the interregnum began for the first time in 598 years without a funeral.

A few days later I was in Rome preparing to help out with television commentary during the conclave and I discovered that I was far from the only one in a haze. Cab drivers, shop keepers, fellow talking heads from various countries, priests in the curia, and even some cardinal electors all told me that they were struggling to get their proper bearings.

A papal funeral normally has the effect of unifying everyone

in nine days of prayer. This time there was no requiem and there-fore no real permission for anyone publicly to go through the various stages of grief. In Rome one nev-ertheless saw all of the first four

of Kubler-Ross’ famous stages at play — denial, anger, negotiating toward unrealistic solutions, and depression — as people tried to come to grips with the wisdom of Pope Benedict’s decision. It added to the tension.

The fifth stage, acceptance, only appeared in the first days of Pope Francis’ papacy, when everyone began to see that the cardinal from Argentina would be a sturdy captain of Peter’s Barque.

It also helped that, 10 days af-ter his election when Pope Francis visited his predecessor at Castel Gandolfo, everyone was able to see in the video coverage just how quickly the pope emeritus’ physical condition had deteriorated. This

convinced those who questioned whether Benedict’s lack of strength was more psychological than physical — and whether his renunciation was more cowardly than courageous — that he was

much frailer than anyone had thought. The grounds for his decision were now obvious to all.

As we look back a year later, what are some of the larger ramifications of Pope Benedict’s decision?

First, it’s changed the way Catholics and others will approach the papacy.

Prior to last February, a papal resignation was only a theoretical possibility. The reigning attitude was stated by Blessed John Paul II: just as Christ never came down from the cross, he would never come down off of his. Now a papal resignation has become a real possibility. The fact that Pope Francis has had such an incredible first year may lead people naively to think that behind every papal Drew Bledsoe there will be a pontifical Tom Brady.

At a deeper level, now that it’s possible for a pope to resign, there will likely be pressure for him to do so when he becomes infirm, or there are scandals within his curia,

or his teaching is unpopular with the secular media and semi-pro-fessional protest movements.

Second, his resignation has changed the dynamics of papal elections.

Now it’s possible to elect a very old candidate, knowing that if he becomes infirm, he can resign. Likewise it’s possible to elect a very young candidate, because if it turns out he’s not totally up for the task or if he simply becomes exhausted after some time in the papacy, he can renounce the papacy and let someone else take over.

But I hope that the largest and longest-lasting significance will be what Pope Emeritus Benedict has taught us all about the importance of prayer.

Throughout his pontificate, Benedict stressed that prayer is the most important thing anyone does. He told priests in 2008 that time spent in prayer “is the most important time in a priest’s life, in which Divine grace acts with greater effectiveness, making his ministry fruitful. The first service to render to the community is prayer.”

By resigning the papacy in order to continue to serve the

Continued on page 14

Upcoming Daily Readings: Sat. Mar. 1, Jas 5:13-20; Ps 141:1-3,8; Mk 10:13-16. Sun. Mar. 2, Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Is 49:14-15; Ps 62:2-3,6-9; 1 Cor 4:1-5; Mt 6:24-34. Mon. Mar. 3, 1 Pt 1:3-9; Ps 111:1-2,5-6,9-10; Mk 10:17-27. Tues. Mar. 4, 1 Pt 1:10-16; Ps 98:1-4; Mk 10:28-31. Wed. Mar. 5, Ash Wednesday, Jl 2:12-18; Ps 51:3-6b,12-14,17; 2 Cor 5:20—6:2; Mt 6:1-6,16-18. Thurs. Mar. 6, Dt 30:15-20; Ps 1:1-4,6; Lk 9:22-25. Fri. Mar. 7, Is 58:1-9a; Ps 51:3-6a,18-19; Mt 9:14-15.

As often as we have heard the Gospel about

serving God or mammon, it still strikes a chord when we hear it. We must ask ourselves: Is God first in my life or am I enslaved to the things of this world? Is the accumulation of wealth, the desire to have power, and to be successful, second to God? Do we look for human respect? The desire for these things, without first putting our trust in God, creates apprehension, anxiety and fear.

Jesus teaches us to be free of worry and anxiety. He uses radical language. “No one can serve two masters. You will hate one and love the other,” (Mt 6:24). He tells us, “Take heart, it is I, have no fear,” (Mt 14:27). “Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be suf-ficient for the day” (Mt 6:34).

There are many things that challenge us. We have the ability to truly trust in God. Without a trusting relationship with God, our daily worries can overcome us and control our lives. It is easy to be led from our true Master and into

the realm of the master of doubt, anxiety and fear.

Jesus understands our anxiety. He tells His disciples to seek God first and all their needs will be taken care of. Prayer leads us to a deeper relation-ship with God. This friendship with God develops into a trust relationship.

He teaches us by giving us the example of the birds and the wild flowers. “Look at the birds in the sky, they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into the barns, yet your Heavenly Father feeds them” (Mt 6:26). “Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solo-mon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them” (Mt 6:28-29). As Blessed John Paul II said at the beginning of his papacy, “Be not afraid.”

Yesterday is over. The regrets of yesterday cannot change the past. We can however be grate-ful today for the joys of the past and we can be contrite for past mistakes and seek Penance

today for past sins. Today is all that we really have.

Tomorrow has not arrived. Future concerns can weigh us down. There is a tendency to worry about things that might

happen but may never actu-ally happen. God gives us the grace we need to help us deal with whatever comes our way. Trusting God empowers us to take care of all the factors in our life that causes us anxiety. He will always be at our side to help us. There is no need to waste our time today on wish-ful thinking and imaginings of what is to come.

It is prudent however to provide for the future with reli-ance on God and not on our own efforts alone. Worry and anxiety will not cancel out the very misfortunes that we fear.

The burdens that may come, will come, but with the grace of God, He will help us to carry them.

What really matters is today. It is given to us as a gift. Today

is the day to not waste a single chance to love, to grow in happiness and to do good. It is the day to give forgive-ness and to forgive.

Each day has its own difficulties and joys. God, our Father, watches over every day as a Father Who loves

us. In the words of the Prophet Isaiah 49:15, “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb?” Can a woman forget her child? Even if she forgets, God will never forget to care for us.

Living in the present is focusing on real things and giving attention to oth-ers. Procrastination until tomorrow or until a better opportunity presents itself is often a missed opportunity. Think of this. What would have become of the Apos-tles’ preaching, if they had

waited for a more suitable time or set of circumstances to begin their mission? What would have happened if the saints chose to wait and delay their response to our Lord?

Pope Francis said, “Christ is alive. May we let ourselves meet Him so that our lives might be transformed.”

Let us ask the Holy Family to grant us the grace to live in the present moment of each day with a heart full of love, as if it were the last possible offering of our life upon the earth.

Pope Francis tells us to say to Jesus, “Lord, may I feel the wonder of meeting You. Let me not entangle my life in questions about whether this or that will happen, or if I will or won’t be able to do some-thing. Instead, may I feel the happiness, the wonder, the joy and the amazement of know-ing You are living at my side, and may I know that this is not a piece of fiction.”

Deacon Baxter was ordained in October 2013 and currently minsters at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Hyannis.

By DeaconBruce Baxter

Homily of the WeekEighth Sunday

in Ordinary Time

8 February 28, 2014

Trust Me

TheCatholic

DifferenceBy George Weigel

The Catholic Church began compiling “mar-

tyrologies” — lists of saints, typically martyrs — during the first centuries after Constan-tine. In the pre-Vatican II bre-viary, a reading from the “Ro-man Martyrology,” or what we might call the “Catholic Book of Witnesses,” was an integral part of the Office of Prime, the “hour” recited after sunrise. The day’s date was given, followed by a reading of the names of the saints commemorated that day, with information about each saint’s origin and place of death — and, if the saint were a martyr, the name of the persecutor, a description of tor-tures endured, and the method of execution. It was a bracing way to begin the working day and a reminder of Tertullian’s maxim that the blood of mar-tyrs is the seed of the Church.

It is somewhat ironic that the loss of Prime from the Liturgy of the Hours — and thus the loss of a daily Litur-gical reading from the “Ro-man Martyrology” — coincid-ed with the greatest century

of persecution in the history of the Church. It’s a point well-established but little appreciated within American Catholicism: we have been living, and we’re living now, in the greatest era of persecution in Chris-tian history. More Christians died for the faith in the 20th century than in the previous 19 centuries of Christian his-tory combined. And while the character of the persecutors has changed, from the lethal heyday of the 20th-century totalitarianisms to the first de-cades of the 21st century, the assault on the Christian faith-ful today is ongoing, extensive, and heart-rending.

Solidarity with the perse-cuted Church is an obligation of Christian faith. Reflect-ing on how well each of us has lived that obligation is a worthy point on which to ex-amine one’s conscience during Lent. And that brings me to a suggestion: revive the ancient

tradition of daily readings from the “Roman Martyrology” this coming Lent by spending 10 minutes a day reading John Allen’s new book, “The Global War on Christians: Dispatches

from the Front Lines of Anti-Christian Persecution” (Image).

The longtime Vatican cor-respondent for the National Catholic Reporter and CNN’s senior Vatican analyst, Al-len has recently moved to the Boston Globe as associate editor, where he (and we) will see if talent and resources can com-bine to deepen a mainstream media outlet’s coverage of all things Catholic, both in print and on the web. Meanwhile, Allen will continue the Ro-man work that has made him

the best Anglophone Vatican reporter ever — work that has given him a unique perspec-tive on the world Church, and indeed on world Christianity. His extensive experience across

the globe, and his contacts with everyone who’s anyone in the field of international religious freedom issues, makes him an ideal witness to what he calls, without exag-geration, a global war on Christian believers.

That witness includes, in his book, a conti-nent-by-continent overview of anti-Christian persecution, a debunking of various myths about anti-Christian persecu-tion, and some counsel on what can be done to support those who are literally put-ting their lives at risk for love of the Lord and the Gospel. Most poignant for Lenten reading, of course, are those parts of Allen’s book that truly are a contemporary martyrol-ogy: his telling of the stories of such martyrs of our time as

Shabhaz Bhatti of Pakistan, Ashur Yakub Issa of Iraq, the Tibhirine monks of Algeria, and the pastors and Church elders who were crushed to death by a bulldozer in front of their North Korean place of worship.

In pondering these cases, and the hundreds more that Allen cites, one gets a new un-derstanding of “hatred of the faith,” that ancient odium fidei that identified the deaths of martyrs. Odium fidei expresses itself in many way, of course, not all of them lethal. Allen’s close focus on those who really are at risk of life and limb for the faith is a useful reminder that, whatever the contempt orthodox Christians are called to suffer today for fidelity to Biblical truth in the comfort-able, decadent, and increasingly intolerant West, others are being called to suffer far more. Their witness should strength-en ours.

George Weigel is a senior fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.

Rediscovering the martyrology

9 February 28, 2014 aNchor columNist

Editor’s note: This is the second of Father Tim’s two-part story on Father Francis X. Wal-lace.

When I reported here as pastor of St. Patrick

Church, whom did I find in residence at the rectory? It was my old friend Father Francis Wallace (FXW.) I was delight-ed. What goes around comes around. I hadn’t seen him in years, but I had occasionally received from him a note of en-couragement or a prayer card.

Living again in Falmouth, I quickly learned Father Wallace is well-known in these parts for his ministry to the sick. “I’ve never been assigned as a hospi-tal chaplain,” he insists. “I was assigned in 1977 as parochial vicar at St. Patrick Church.” He did, however, make daily hos-pital visits. “I visited everyone,” he says. “The availability of a priest to hospital patients is of enormous importance. Eventu-ally, you get to meet everyone in town. Besides, it only takes about an hour a day.” Sure enough, he now knows every-one in town — and everyone knows him. In fact, there’s a plaque on the wall of the hos-pital’s family counseling room. It dedicates the room to Father Wallace, the priest who never was a hospital chaplain.

After decades serving as pa-rochial vicar here, Father Wal-lace is now retired from parish work. You would never know it. He drives around town “on errands” every afternoon, often visiting the sick and home-bound. He has a system for visiting the local hospital. He prearranges for someone to meet him with a wheelchair at the door and wheel him down the long corridors to the patient he wishes to visit.

Father Wallace is no longer physically able to say pub-lic Masses but he celebrates daily Mass privately — on his grandmother’s table. Being hearing-impaired, Father Wal-lace no longer uses the tele-phone, but he does meet people in the rectory parlor upon occasion. People are constantly bringing him prayer inten-tions simply because he prays constantly.

At the rectory, Father Wal-lace has no computer, no radio, and no television; he’s never-theless very well-informed on current events. It would put any television news anchor to shame. Father still clips items of interest from the newspa-pers — especially from the Wall

Street Journal, but also from the Cape Cod Times and the Boston Globe and, yes, The Anchor. Once or twice a day, a clipping slips under my door. It’s marked “from FXW.”

Father Wallace not only reads three daily newspapers, but also books — lots of them. His current interests in-clude Pro-Life advoca-cy, diplomatic relations

between the Holy See and the United Nations, healthcare in the United States, and the dire situation of many churches in the Near East.

And after all these years, Father Wallace is still in charge of the dishwasher. “You can scrape and rinse the dishes, if you wish, reverend pastor, but,

please, under no circumstances load the dishwasher. It has to be stacked just right. Don’t take my job away from me.”

Father Wallace is the oldest priest in the Diocese of Fall River, although not the longest ordained. That would be Father Bill Shovelton (1946). But never ask Father Wallace his age. You may get two different answers. He sometimes adds nine months, taking gestation into account. “What’s the big

deal about my age, anyway?” Frank asks. “I just happen to be the last man standing. That doesn’t take any special talent.”

And here’s another fact about Father Wal-lace — he is playful. You just never know when a greeting card might arrive in the mail, addressed to the two resident greyhounds, Transit

and Justin. This year, there were two Valentine cards. Both showing a cute dog in a pirate’s hat, each reads “This

card is rated ‘ARRRGH’ for cuteness.” The cards were signed FXW. Not to be out-done, the greyhounds slipped over to the drugstore one night and purchased a Val-entine for Father Wallace. It featured a cat. “We were afraid you wouldn’t get a Valentine with a cute cat picture. Here it is.” It was signed, “Transit and Justin” (with two paw prints).

Sharing rectory life with Father Wallace enriches my priesthood and the priesthood of young Father Peter John Fournier. This is a multi-generational rectory. With our wide age-span, the three of us benefit from each other socially, emotionally, and spiritually. I thank God for the gift of Father Wallace.

Father Peter John and I were chatting over coffee one day. He casually mentioned that sometime in the future he would eventually be named a pastor, God willing, and that sometime in the not-to-distant future I would be reaching the age of retirement. “Now, here’s a thought,” he blurted out with youthful enthusiasm, “When I’m a pastor and you’re retired, why don’t you come live in my rectory?” Caught off guard, I answered with one of those handy responses my Irish grandmother so favored, “Well, we’ll see.” Could it be that what has already gone ’round once will be coming ’round again?

Anchor columnist Father Tim Goldrick is pastor of St. Patrick’s Parish in Falmouth.

FXW — The story continues

The Ship’s LogReflections of a

Parish PriestBy Father Tim

Goldrick

Nicole Medeiros, Geoff Ross and Maureen Ross wished Father Francis X. Wallace a happy 90th birthdayat a celebration for him on Nov. 27, 2011 at St. Patrick’s Parish in Falmouth.

10 February 28, 2014

11 February 28, 2014

By Dave Jolivet

My View From

the Stands

With recent attention placed on The Beatles’ 50th anniversary of coming to America, St. Mary’s Parish in Norton called to mind the “orignal Fab 4,” in a sign welcoming worshipers.

During our weekly Sunday jam session,

Emilie’s beau, Danny, and I decided to go “unplugged,” and play acoustic. One of the songs we worked on was The Beatles’ (see photo below) clas-sic by George Harrison, “Here Comes the Sun.”

It seemed an appropriate piece to play considering the nasty winter to which we’ll soon (hopefully) be waving goodbye.

“Little darling, it’s been a long, cold, lonely winter. Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here. Here comes the sun. Here comes the sun, and I say, it’s alright.”

It has indeed been a long, cold, lonely winter just rife with snowstorms — seemingly every other day, fender-benders, slips and falls, shoveling, scraping, salting, sanding, and stocking up on bread and milk. I’m not quite sure the bread and milk hoarding is required, but in New England, it’s a mandatory pre-storm routine.

But, here comes the sun (do, do, do, do)! Daylight Savings Time is just nine days away, and spring is just 20 more sleeps away.

The world champion (ah-hhh) Boston Red Sox are in full swing down in Fort Myers, Fla. preparing to defend the title.

The sun is slowly creep-ing higher and higher in the southern sky. And Igor romps in the grass instead of plodding through snow-covered sur-roundings. She has an arthritic knee and despite the fact that she loves the snow, it does a job

on her mobility. I can certainly relate to that.

But here comes the sun!As I’ve mentioned a plethora

of times in my columns, I’m not a fan of adages, there is one that I believe fits in this situ-ation: “Every dark cloud has a silver lining.” And no, that silver lining isn’t the reflection of snow-flakes waiting to fall.

The fact that we’ve had such a long, cold, lonely winter makes the coming spring season all the more appreci-

ated. Because of all the miseries we endured since last Decem-ber, the warmth of the coming sun and all that it brings will feel all the more welcome.

If we were never hungry, we would never know the pleasure of relieving that hunger. If we

‘And I say, it’s alright’were never thirsty, we would never experience the soothing qualities of a cold drink.

If we never experienced pain, we would never appreciate the times when we feel good.

If we never experienced Good Friday, we would never have Easter. The point I’m

trying to make is that human beings have a tendency to take things for granted. If nothing went wrong, how could we possibly appreciate right?

The silver lining of

all our dark clouds is the fact that there is a silver lining — the fact that the dark cloud will eventually disappear leaving ...?

Here comes the sun!Lent arrives a few weeks be-

fore spring, bringing with it its own self-imposed dark clouds. Midway through spring, when things truly begin to improve, comes Easter and a disbanding of those dark clouds, at which time we can all sing, “Here comes the Son,” and I say, it’s all right!

Dave Jolivet can be reached at [email protected].

Diocese of Fall River TV Masson WLNE Channel 6

Sunday, March 2, 11:00 a.m.

Celebrant is Father Leonard P. Hindsley, pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish in

Westport

12 February 28, 2014

Clarifying the annulment processcontinued from page one

cause they are not following the form of Marriage,” said Father Cabral.

The basic form is a man and woman married in a Catholic church by a Catholic priest or deacon; “A lot of people don’t realize as a Catholic, they are bound to getting married in a church. Many get married out-side of the church, which is fine, but once they’ve talked to their parish priest, filled out some pa-perwork, they can get permis-sion to get married outside of the Church,” said Father Cabral. “A lot of people want to get mar-ried on the beach, because they see it on TV or movies, however, in our diocese you’re never going to see that happening, the grant-ing of permission to get married outside on the beach.”

The third category for grounds of an annulment is defect of con-sent “because as a basic rule, con-sent makes a Marriage. Catholic theology says that the priest or the deacon is not the minister of the Marriage, it’s the hus-band and wife — it’s their vows and consent to one another that makes the Marriage. They’re the ministers of the Marriage,” said Father Cabral. “So we look at, was there anyway their consent was defective or coerced? There are a few grounds that are looked upon, like for example — and this is a technical term — a grave defect of discretion of judgment concerning their essential mat-rimonial rights and duties to be mutually given and accepted.”

There are additional grounds, said Father Cabral, but most fall under the umbrella of the third major grounds of annulment — the “defect of consent.”

Once a case has been officially accepted, the tribunal will con-tact the respondent (ex-spouse); under Church law, the respon-dent has 30 days to reply.

“They have a choice,” said Father Cabral, “either not come in at all and not participate in the annulment process, which a good number do not, or we give them a choice of answering the questions on paper or to come in for a personal interview. By Church law we have to contact the respondent to protect their rights because not only will this affect the petitioner, but also the canonical status of the respon-dent because if the Marriage is declared null, not only is the petitioner free to marry in the Church, so is the respondent.”

If the basic form of Mar-riage was not followed, the an-nulment can be filed as “lack of form” and doesn’t take as long due to it mainly being more of an administrative-type of annul-

ment process. The tribunal will search the chancery to see if the couple received permission to marry outside of a church and “if no permission or dispensations were granted to them, and the Marriage license clearly shows they got married outside of the Church, then we can declare that Marriage invalid due to lack of form,” said Father Cabral, who said the petitioner also has to provide two witnesses stating the couple was not married in a church. “If all the paperwork is in order, it can be done in a day.”

When the grounds for the an-nulment are found to be “defect of consent,” then the annulment process becomes somewhat lengthy, and more than half the cases coming through the Fall River Tribunal Office fall under this category.

The petitioner submits a list of witnesses along with written testimony, and if the respondent has decided to become involved, they also can submit written tes-timony and a list of witnesses. The witnesses are essential to the process, said Father Cabral; “Friends and family who know both parties, at least before the Marriage. It’s better to hear from family members, siblings and close friends; we’ll see if the there is corroboration. They might have some insights that the pe-titioner didn’t want to reveal, or a petitioner who only told their mother the story. The witnesses again have a choice — they can either write down their answers or come in for an interview.”

Everything is documented, and the process takes months. When all the interviews are fin-ished; “From there we say that the case is published, which means we received all the evi-dence and the petitioner and the respondent, at this point, have the right to review the testimo-ny. Witnesses can protect them-selves saying that they don’t wish for their testimony to be read,” said Father Cabral.

All reading of the testimony has to be done at the tribunal of-fice. Neither the petitioner or re-spondent can take notes or take pictures — they just can read it; “If they want, they can provide a response and more testimony,” said Father Cabral, “other than that, it stays here.”

The judge also has to have “moral certitude that this Mar-riage was indeed null from the beginning,” said Father Cabral. “If we don’t achieve that mor-al certitude, then Church law states that you have to declare the Marriage valid because every Marriage is considered valid un-til we can prove it invalid.”

From there the file goes to what is called, “the defender of the bond,” said Father Cabral, adding the title defines his posi-tion; “He’s suppose to defend the Marriage bond. He’s the devil’s advocate. The Church is con-cerned for Marriages and he’s supposed to defend the Sacra-ment of Marriage as best as he can.”

And if the defender of the bond can find no cause to stop the annulment, the tribunal judge writes the sentence declar-ing the Marriage null or invalid, and then the file is sent on to be confirmed by a “Court of Sec-ond Instance,” which for the Fall River Diocese is the Diocese of Springfield, that offers a second pair of eyes to looking at the file.

“It’s out of our hands at that point,” said Father Cabral. “No more interviews, no one has to drive to Springfield; they’ll ei-ther confirm it, or ask us for the whole case because they want to look into something deeper. Once they confirm it, then that’s when technically the annulment has been granted.”

And that’s when a letter is sent out to those involved, let-ting them know the annulment has been granted, and “because it involves canonical status,” said Father Cabral, “we will inform the churches of their Baptisms and church of Marriage.”

Most of those coming in pe-titioning for an annulment have found someone whom they wish to marry in the Church, and cannot do so unless they annul their first Marriage. Oth-ers may already be married but have been asked to be a godpar-ent or Confirmation sponsor, and one of the requirements for that role is a Marriage consid-ered valid in the Church, said Father Cabral.

Under the old law, children of annulled Marriages were affect-ed canonically and could not be-come a priest or nun, a miscon-ception that still persists today; “Children of annulled Marriages are considered illegitimate, when in fact they’re not,” said Father Cabral. “Their canonical sta-tus does not change. They were born of a legal Marriage in civil law and a putative Marriage in canon law, which means that ev-eryone thought at the time that the Marriage was valid. An an-nulment does not retroactively affect a child’s legitimacy. [The couple] had children and chil-dren are a gift from God.”

“The annulment only looks at whether the man and the wom-an, when they entered into the Marriage, was invalid from the beginning,” he said.

one started with a petitioner approaching his or her par-ish priest, who have the proper forms needed to be filled out and filed at the tribunal office. Ques-tions found on the forms include queries into family background, the ex-spouse’s family back-ground, the engagement period, the Marriage celebration and any other pertinent information.

What’s not mainly relevant is the length of the Marriage; regardless if the couple has been married for 40 years or 40 months; “We concentrate more on how it started and the back-ground more than the length of the Marriage,” said Father Ca-bral. “Sometimes the length of the Marriage will play into it, in the sense that if someone was married for less than a year, then something was wrong right from the beginning. When someone has been married for 30 years, it may have been invalid but why did they stay together for that long? Sometimes it’s gen-erational or in our area, it’s often cultural, especially among the Portuguese and, in a way, the Hispanics as well.”

The pastor will then submit paperwork to the tribunal, who will then evaluate whether it can actually hear the case. Father Ca-bral explained there are four ways the Fall River Tribunal Office can hear the case: if the couple was married within the diocese; if the respondent (ex-spouse) lives within diocese; if only the petitioner lives within diocese but the respondent does not,

then the tribunal will have to get permission from the judicial vicar of the diocese where the respon-dent lives; or the diocese with the most number of witnesses.

Once the case is accepted, the process can take between 12-18 months; there is no guaranteed timeline, said Father Cabral. Once a case has been filed at the tribunal office, a meeting with the petitioner will be set-up with a tribunal auditor.

“We’re just going to review the questions they’ve already filled out, and go into detail for some questions they haven’t answered well,” said Father Ca-bral. “This is also the time when the judge will think about what grounds to base the annulment on; technically the case hasn’t been accepted yet. Ninety-nine percent of the time it’s accept-ed; it doesn’t have to be proven at that point, it just needs some ground to go on.”

And those grounds usually fall under three types: the first, and hardly seen any more, is “im-pediments,” examples of which are under the age of consent, or a brother or sister wanting to get married. The second ground for an annulment is the canonical form to Marriage: “Church law states that every Catholic should get married in a Catholic church, so when you have a Catholic be-ing Married by a justice of the peace or getting Married in an-other religious house of worship, and don’t go through the paper-work of the Catholic Church, that is an invalid Marriage be-

13 February 28, 2014 aNchor columNists

Contemporary pundits speak with regularity

about a “war on women.” One dedicated website decries the threat to “the rights and freedoms of American women” that would result from any cut in govern-ment funding for abortion. The fact that Planned Parenthood in particular has recently been subject to increased scrutiny has abortion advocates frantic over a perceived “witch hunt” aimed at “one of the most important pro-viders of health care for Ameri-can women.” The claim is absurd on so many levels.

Planned Parenthood is a business that sells contracep-tion and abortion, with annual revenues exceeding a billion dollars. Among myriad other offenses, they have been cred-ibly accused of prescribing abortifacient drugs without a pharmacist on the premises, providing abortions to underage girls (hiding statutory rape), and

allowing unlicensed abortionists to operate in their clinics. Their initial rallying cry — that abor-tion should be “safe, legal, and rare” — is laughable, because the number of abortions they provide increases yearly while their clinics are not required to con-form to basic medical standards, which they claim would be burden-some.

All of this duplicity flows naturally from the lies that led to the legalization of abortion in the first place. Sev-eral well-placed individuals who were complicit in the scam have admitted to lying — from exag-gerating the number of deaths due to “back-alley abortions,” to the facts surrounding the test case for Roe vs. Wade. An industry founded on lies natu-rally lies to maintain its existence — and saying that decreasing government grants to the abor-

tion industry creates a “war on women” is only one more lie on top of all the rest.

So what is the truth? Is there a war on women? Of course

there is, but the real enemy is obfuscating the facts about who the aggressor is. The one who lies about women is the one who is truly waging the war — and the bulk of our popular culture is couched in lies about women.

This culture — a culture of death, according to Blessed John Paul II — is steeped in confu-sion over what constitutes femi-ninity, and the more authentic femininity is distorted or hidden,

the darker the effects. In “Mu-lieris Dignitatem,” John Paul II wrote, “Motherhood as a human fact and phenomenon, is fully explained on the basis of the

truth about the person. Motherhood is linked to the personal structure of the woman and to the personal dimension of the gift: ‘I have brought a man into being with the help of the Lord’ (Gen 4:1). The Creator grants the parents the gift of a

child. On the woman’s part, this fact is linked in a special way to ‘a sincere gift of self ’” (MD, 18). When the gift of a child is rejected, the woman’s essence is shredded as well. She remains a mother, but simply one who has denied the truth about who she is.

Original sin disrupted the relationship between man and woman, whereby her desire for him would be met with

abuse on various levels (cf. Gen 3:16). Every generation and culture has to deal with that disruption, but the Church insists that contraception and abortion only exacerbate the problem — allowing a man to use a woman and leave her to suffer the consequences. While well-meaning people may think that “reproductive health services” diminish her suffer-ing, they only lead to more death and abuse.

Catholics stand ready to take on those waging a “war against women,” but we see the aggressors as those who dis-guise poison as fruit and lies as compassion. Don’t be fooled by the deceptive maneuvers of the enemy — that’s the oldest trick in the book.

Anchor columnist Mrs. Kineke is the author of “The Authentic Catholic Woman.” She blogs at feminine-genius.typepad.com.

Confronting the lies: The war on women

Pope Benedict XVI famously said, “To me

art and the saints are the great-est apologetics for our faith.” In that regard, we have been particularly fortunate to have lived alongside and witnessed the powerful example of some modern saints and blesseds. I saw Blessed John Paul II on numerous occasions in the flesh, and indeed, because of his countless trips around the world, he was doubtless actu-ally seen by more people than anyone else in human history. Pope Francis is going to canon-ize him on April 27 in Rome, along with Pope John XXIII, the good pope who summoned the Second Vatican Coun-cil. Yes, there are and have been plenty of scoundrels and hypocrites in the Church, even among the hierarchy, but they are not a reason for embracing Catholicism. The saints are.

One such modern-day exemplar of Christian virtue is Bishop Alvaro del Portillo, who would’ve turned 100 this com-ing March 11, had he not died 20 years ago this coming March 23 (Pope John Paul II attended his wake that day). The first suc-cessor of St. Josemaria Escriva as the head of Opus Dei (from 1975 until 1994), he will be beatified in Madrid on September 27, by Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Sacred Congregation of the Causes of Saints (Ever since Pope Benedict XVI reverted to the earlier practice, popes since

John Paul II do not generally perform beatifications).

Don Alvaro, as he is af-fectionately called, had his heroic virtue decreed by Pope Benedict in 2012, and a miracle attributed to his intercession by Pope Francis in 2013. These are the two prerequisites for beatification of a non-martyr: exemplary virtue, which makes him a model for others in living the Christian life, and demonstrated inter-cessory power to work a cure which is humanly inexplicable, which means that you can pray to him, and not just for him, as you would do for any of the faithful (and not-so-faithful) departed.

One very striking quality of Don Alvaro was his fidelity to Christ, to the Church, to St. Josemaria, and to his vocation to Opus Dei (He was one of its first three priests, ordained in 1944 after some years working as an engineer). This rock-like dependability caused St. Jose-maria to give him the nickname Saxum, a Latin word meaning “rock or boulder.” Originally from Madrid, he was for many years St. Josemaria’s right-hand man and closest collaborator in building Opus Dei throughout the world from its headquarters in Rome.

He exuded peace and tran-quility. Nothing fazed him. He

exemplified faith and confi-dence in God at every turn. St. Marianne Cope, the last American to be canonized, a nun who spent the last decades

of her life serving lepers on Molokai in Hawaii, once wrote: “I think life is all too short to spend any part of it in worry and anxiety.” That was charac-teristic of Bishop Alvaro.

He made his first trip to Rome in 1943, at the height of World War II, on an Italian civilian passenger plane to seek papal approval for Opus Dei. On the way, the passengers found themselves in the midst of a battle between British bombers and an Axis naval flotilla. While other passengers panicked and shouted things like “Mamma mia!” Don Al-varo never lost his composure or his peace. His faith-filled thought was, “I am going to fulfill a mission which God wants, and so nothing can happen.”

After the death of St. Jose-maria in 1975, he oversaw the successful application of Opus Dei to become the Church’s

first personal prelature, a ju-risdictional structure akin to a diocese, which guarantees the secular character of the vocation to Opus Dei. In her recently

published “Prayer Journal,” the great southern writer Flan-nery O’Connor wrote in the 1940s, “I don’t want to fear to be out, I want to be in: I don’t want to believe in hell but in Heaven. Stating this does me no good. It is a matter of the gift

of grace. Help me to feel that I will give up every earthly thing for this. I do not mean becom-ing a nun.” While nuns and

religious Brothers and priests are great and holy vocations in the Church, most lay people are called to holiness in and through their ordinary lives and work and relations, rather than through taking evangelical vows as religious.

If St. Josemaria is the saint of ordinary life, as Pope John Paul II called him, Don Alvaro was wonderfully true to that calling and to the faith in the challeng-ing times in which we have the good fortune, by the grace of God, to live.

Anchor columnist Dwight Duncan is a professor at UMass School of Law Dartmouth. He holds degrees in civil and canon law.

Approaching the Church through the saints

TheFeminine

GeniusBy Genevieve Kineke

JudgeFor

YourselfBy Dwight G. Duncan

14 February 28, 2014

“Living the Rosary.”The five programs were produced by

Family Theater Productions, a member of the HCFM family.

“Our chaplain at the Father Peyton Center, Father Leo Polselli, C.S.C., has had it in the back of his mind for a while as a way to reach out to the local com-munity,” Father Phalen told The Anchor. “Recently, a few of us were gathered, in-cluding Ann DiSanto, whose son Sam, a high school student, is a volunteer in-tern with local cable access, so we asked her if she thought Sam would be inter-ested in working with us to approach the cable outlet. After some discussions, I met with Sam and he taped my intro-ductions and closing and now they’re ready for broadcast.”

Father Phalen will open each seg-ment with a greeting, and an introduc-tion to the program and the correlating Sorrowful Mystery. He’ll also address the audience at the conclusion.

Father Peyton, the “Rosary Priest,” whose sainthood cause is currently un-derway, was a pioneer in evangelizing through the electronic media. He is fa-mous for his adages, “The family that prays together stays together,” and “A world at prayer is a world at peace.”

“I felt airing our programs locally was a great way to share our ministry with

the community by making the programs readily accessible on the local outlet,” said Father Polselli. “We want to enrich the Lenten journey of the viewers, but also, this is a way for us to help the local community understand better what our ministry does around the world from right here in their ‘backyard’ on Route 138.”

Each of the five dramas addresses a modern situation that young people to-day can often face.

“Children and teens relate quickly to the characters in the video,” said Father Phalen. “Adults can gain an understand-ing of the issues teens, and their families, are facing as well as how to respond to these issues by modeling our lives after Jesus and His Mother Mary.”

Father Phalen said he encourages families to watch the programs to-gether. “All members of the family and extended family can benefit from the programs, especially by the conversation and discussions they may generate.”

Father Phalen said that the series is wonderful for families to watch togeth-er, and it works well in a Religious Edu-cation or Adult Formation setting. The programs are available on DVD.

“We are continually uplifted by the programs through all the positive feed-back we receive,” Father Phalen added.

“Families and catechists tell us that there are not many resources out there that are faith-based and ‘real life.’

“Families today are busier than ever and have so many demands on their time. We work to reach them in ways that are easy as well as meaningful, such as these broadcasts on cable. Our videos, apps, and many online resources are all right at their fingertips 24 hours a day — seven days a week.”

Father Phalen told The Anchor that videos for all of the mysteries of the Rosary are in the works and over the next few years, the hope is to have all 20 mysteries completed. “For this coming Advent, we have four of the five Joyful Mysteries completed, that would work well for the four weeks of Advent,” he added.

The schedule for the programs is as follows:

Ash Wednesday/First Week of Lent — “The Eggplant Lady — The Agony in the Garden.” Touching story tells how a 16-year-old girl and her grand-mother cope with major changes in their lives. It links their unhappiness with the suffering of Christ in the Gar-den of Gethsemane. Together they face their problems. A recipe for tears and laughter, faith and family, this program will inspire and touch everyone.

Second Week of Lent — “Secret of the Horse — The Scourging at the Pil-lar.” A teen-ager faces racial prejudice the first day at a new school and must resist fighting to ensure his family does not suffer because of his actions. As he finds it harder to resist fighting, his fa-ther reminds him of the true purpose of martial arts and the real meaning of

sacrificial love. Based on Christ’s Own endurance of suffering in the Scourging at the Pillar.

Third Week of Lent — “Haunted Heart — The Crowning with Thorns.” Contemporary story addressing the family issues resulting from a father’s alcoholism, the struggles the son faces and the teacher who helps him learn the unforgettable lesson of forgiveness. This powerful story is based on the suffering Christ endured in the Crowning with Thorns.

Fourth Week of Lent — “Carrying On — The Carrying of the Cross.” This is the story of Maria, a spoiled teen from Boston who reluctantly travels to her family’s homeland in the Phil-ippines to visit her grandmother. The grandmother’s money has been missing so Maria’s father sends her there to see why. It’s quite a culture shock for her but the biggest surprise comes when Maria figures out where the money is going! Maria learns to make sacrifices and experiences what it means to truly be “family” to others. “Carrying On” focuses on the issues of materialism and self-centeredness as it parallels the Carrying of the Cross.

Fifth Week of Lent — “The Hero — The Crucifixion.” A compelling drama about a high school football star’s strug-gle with drinking that leads to a drunk driving tragedy. Program is interwoven with Biblical footage of Jesus’ crucifix-ion and shares the story of the timeless bond of a mother’s love.

For more information go to www.FamilyRosary.org. To order copies of these videos or other faith products, go to www.HCFMstore.org.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In an unusual video message, recorded on an iPhone by a Pentecostal pastor Pope Francis knew in Argentina, the pope says all Christians share blame for their divisions, speaks of his “longing” for their unity and insists that God will bring the miracle of Christian unity to completion.

“Pray to the Lord that He will unite us all,” the pope tells a group of Pentecostals meeting in the United States. “Let’s move forward, we are brothers; let us give each other that spiritual embrace and allow the Lord to complete the work He has begun. Because this is a miracle; the miracle

of unity has begun.” In the video, posted on YouTube and

never released by the Vatican, the pope quotes a character from a novel by Ales-sandro Manzoni; the character says, “‘I have never found that the Lord began a miracle without finishing it well.’ He will finish well this miracle of unity,” the pope added.

The Vatican did not release any de-tails when it announced January 14 that Pope Francis had met with “An-thony Palmer, bishop and international ecumenical officer for the Communion of Evangelical Episcopal Churches,” a group that is not affiliated with the An-glican Communion.

In unusual video, pope speaks of his longing for Christian unity

HCFM to air Lenten cable TV seriescontinued from page one

Church through a life dedicated to prayer, Benedict has shown that he believes prayer is even more important than the day-to-day work of the papacy. And if that’s true, then it’s hard to argue that any other ministry in the Church — or any other human work — is more important than prayer either.

Like Moses on the mountain as Joshua was leading the Israelites against the Ama-lekites, Pope Emeritus Benedict is now

praying as Pope Francis leads the Church in the midst of the battlefield to care for the world’s wounded in the field hospital of the Church.

That’s the last leg of Benedict’s pilgrim-age on earth, something that he is doing with all his heart, love, and inner strength.

Anchor columnist Father Landry is pastor of St. Bernadette Parish in Fall River. [email protected].

Pope Benedict’s resignation, one year latercontinued from page seven

15 February 28, 2014

me; and that’s what I want them to get out of (‘Son of God’),” she said. “If nothing else, I want them to know how much they are loved by Jesus and that they want to have a relationship with Him.”

Laird is greatly anticipating the first feature film in theaters focusing on Jesus’ life since Mel Gibson’s powerful “The Passion of the Christ” in 2004. She’ll be attending screenings of “Son of God” tonight and tomorrow at the Cape Cod Mall with students and youth group members.

“We’re so fortunate that the film is playing right here at the Cape Cod Mall this time,” Laird said. “We usually have to travel quite a distance to see any of these movies. I know the closest they come sometimes is Rhode Island … so it makes things so much easier for us to have it play-ing (here).”

For the past two weeks, Laird has been busy promoting today’s release of “Son of God” via parish bulletin announcements, printed flyers and posters that she’s put up in the church and parish hall.

“Our focus has been primar-ily on Faith Formation families in grades one through nine,” she said. “They’re the ones who don’t often hear about (movies) like this. My youth group knows all about it, but we’re hoping to get the word out to the other fami-lies.”

Released by the makers of last year’s popular History Channel 10-hour mini-series “The Bible” and produced by the husband-and-wife team of Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, “Son of God” has already drawn advanced praise from several Catholic bish-ops and leaders.

“It is a joy to watch this film bring alive the pages of the Gos-pel and help us see what those who lived at the time of Jesus ex-perienced,” said Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C.

He said the movie helps indi-viduals and families “be inspired all over again with the story of God’s love for us.”

Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Colum-bus, said the movie “will speak to your heart and nourish your soul.”

“This is a film that does not simply tell you about Christ, but puts you in the midst of His life, allowing you to see firsthand His public ministry, His love for hu-manity, and the death He suffered that we might have life eternal,” he said.

“Son of God” tells the story of Jesus through the eyes of an el-derly St. John — the only Apostle who did not meet a martyr’s fate

— on the isle of Patmos. The film is an expansion of that portion of last year’s epic “The Bible” mini-series that recounted Christ’s life.

A year ago, on a tour to pro-mote “The Bible,” Downey said she wished they had 20 hours to tell Bible stories instead of the 10 that they were allotted. Now, with two-plus more hours, they were able to go into a bit more depth with Jesus’ story.

“This really is a love story,” said Downey, who not only co-pro-duced with her husband, but also stars as Mary. “The greatest love story ever told.”

“The story of the Son of God is one of the most-known stories in the history of the world,” add-ed Burnett. “And yet it never gets old. And the way we have told it is very connective, very young, very gritty and real. You really feel connected and can see yourself as these characters.”

Edwin Aldarondo, youth co-ordinator at St. Kilian’s Parish in New Bedford, will be busing a group of 50 to 60 youths and adults from his parish and nearby Our Lady of Guadalupe Par-ish at St. James Church to the 4 p.m. screening of the film Sunday at AMC Cinemas at the North Dartmouth Mall.

“We’ve announced it at our youth meetings and it’s been in the parish bulletins for a couple of weeks now,” Aldarondo said. “We’ve sent out group emails to everyone letting them know about the movie. We’ve used ev-ery bit of technology — from Facebook to Twitter — to spread the word.”

Like Laird, he’s excited about the prospect of seeing a major Hollywood movie on Jesus’ life in multiplexes this weekend.

“It’s been a decade since we’ve seen a movie about the life of Christ,” Aldarondo said. “This movie seems to be more family-oriented and it’s rated PG-13. I think ‘The Passion of the Christ’ was too bloody for younger audi-ences.”

“Honestly, I couldn’t watch ‘The Passion of the Christ,’” said Laird. “I lasted about 10 min-utes. I waited until I could watch it at home, and it was still diffi-cult. My favorite has always been ‘Jesus of Nazareth.’ ‘Son of God’ is probably in between the two, but definitely more accessible for families.”

Noting how many of her younger students are very “visual,” Laird said a major film like this is an important tool to help them to better understand Jesus.

“Our goal, in addition to get-ting out the theology of the Cath-olic Church, is to get the children into a relationship with Jesus Christ,” she said. “That’s where I think this type of experience will surpass what I can do with a textbook or just by sitting in a classroom. These kids are so used to having an audio-visual interac-tion this will do a world of good in getting them to make that per-sonal connection with Jesus. They need to see Him as more than just a historical figure like they do in school with Abraham Lincoln.”

“I think it helps kids to iden-tify with Jesus and His life,” Al-darondo agreed. “And you have the whole complete story — from His birth to the ascension.”

Having planned several ex-cursions to some of the smaller, independent religious-themed films released in theaters — most recently to see “Gimme Shelter” in Lincoln, R.I. — Aldarondo hopes “Son of God” will mark the beginning of a new trend in Hol-lywood.

“I know after ‘The Passion of the Christ’ there seemed to be a period of darkness for a while, because nothing new was com-ing out,” he said. “Movies like ‘Fireproof,’ ‘Courage’ and ‘Fac-ing the Giants’ came out and made so much money it sort of woke up the giant in Hollywood. Now ‘Noah’ is coming out (next month), and after that ‘Heaven is for Real.’”

“Hopefully we can get back

the tradition of releasing religious movies like ‘Jesus of Nazareth’ and ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told’ during Easter and Lent,” Al-darondo added. “I think it’s been missing and there’s so much hun-ger for spiritual growth. I remem-ber watching these movies myself and part of my faith is because I grew up watching these movies.”

In addition to actively pro-moting “Son of God” with flyers, posters and social media, Laird has also offered certain rewards to her Faith Formation students who attend the movie this week-end.

“I’ve put some incentives in place with grades seven and eight to encourage (them) to go see the movie, because there’s a cost in-volved,” she said. “It’s one thing if we showed (the film) in the par-ish, but to get kids to go on their own is a bit more of a challenge, especially at that age. So I told them if they bring me a ticket stub proving that they went to see the movie, they get a free pass to miss a class of their choosing without having to make up work, so they were pretty excited about that.

“With the ninth-graders, their incentive is if they bring me a ticket stub, I give them a couple of hours of community service. They are required to do eight hours of community service before Con-firmation. As I explained to them, they won’t be cleaning up any-thing afterwards and there’s no self-evident community service, however I feel once they see this movie (they’ll) be in a better posi-tion to do more community ser-vice.”

Tomorrow night Laird will also be joining the parish youth group for dinner at the mall be-fore they meet to take in an eve-ning showing of the film.

“We have a very active Face-book page for our youth group and we get the word out that way,” she said. “Our co-presidents are great at staying in touch and getting the word out through Facebook, Twitter and old-fash-ioned texting — so we anticipate a pretty good-sized group going

to (the film).”Aldarondo believes that the

use of social media, the Internet, TV and film are important tools in the New Evangelization — es-pecially when attempting to con-nect with younger Catholics.

“Our last three Holy Fathers have spoken about the New Evangelization … and ways to bring the Gospel to others,” he said. “To me, that means using Hollywood and the media and TV to spread the Word. These are great tools that can help bring others into a personal encounter with Christ.”

“For some children this might be the first time for them think-ing of Jesus as a personal figure in their lives and someone they can relate to because they’ve experi-enced this movie,” Laird added. “I want it to be alive for them and I’m hoping that’s what will occur for these families that attend the movie this weekend. Two hours can make a big impact if it’s done well.”

The National Conference for Catechetical Leadership has is-sued the following disclaimer: “Due to the intense and bloody portrayal of the crucifixion, the scourging and several sequences of violence in the movie ‘Son of God,’ some material may be inap-propriate for children under 13. The movie has a rating of PG-13 by the Motion Picture Assoc. of America. Rather than simply suggesting parental discretion, the PG-13 rating carries the warning: ‘Parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.’”

“Son of God” can be seen beginning today at AMC 12 Theaters, 140 North Dartmouth Mall at 12:55 p.m., 4 p.m., 7:05 p.m., 10:10 p.m.; Regal Swansea Stadium 12, 207 Swansea Mall Drive at 1:30 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 10:30 p.m.; and Regal Cape Cod Mall Stadium 12, Routes 28 and 132 in Hyannis at 1 p.m., 4 p.m., 7 p.m., 10 p.m.

For more information about “Son of God,” including additional theater locations and showtimes, visit www.sonofgodmovie.com.

Diocesan faithful eager to see ‘Son of God’ movie this weekendcontinued from page one

16 February 28, 2014youth Pages

The fifth-grade students at Holy Name School in Fall River recently interviewed David Reed, editor of Sailing World Magazine. They learned a great deal about writing articles — how to get ideas, choose a title, and how to get people interested in the stories.

The eighth-graders at St. John the Evangelist School in Attleboro recently took part in an aging simulation. This was in conjunction with the Catho-lic Social Teachings of the Respect of Human Beings curriculum. Shown are Nick Dafulas and Abby Quinn wearing yellow acetate over their eyes which was to learn what it feels like to have cataracts.

Students in grade three at St. James-St. John School in New Bedford recently used the Mimio board to practice multiplication.

The kindergarten students at Holy Family-Holy Name School in New Bedford enjoyed celebrating 100 days of school. There were many activities throughout the morning including making necklaces with 100 pieces of cereal; making a 100-piece jigsaw puzzle; pretending to spend 100 dollars; making a picture of what they would look like when they were 100 years old; and a scavenger hunt for 100 red hearts.

Last week’s snow day did not prevent kindergarten students at St. Mary’s School in Man-sfield from celebrating the 100th day of school. Students created individual vests made of 100 stickers. Before participating in the 100th day parade, each student walked 100 steps, marking their final step with a cut out footprint. The entire student body was able to enjoy following footsteps throughout the day.

Students from St. Michael School in Fall River recently enjoyed a bowling field trip.

17 youth PagesFebruary 28, 2014

Be NotAfraidBy AmandaTarantelli

The Anchor is always pleased to run news and photos about our diocesan youth. If schools, home-schooling groups, or parish Religious Ed-ucation programs have newsworthy stories and photos they would like to share with our readers, send them to: [email protected].

“I was seeking a real love, a real deal, and I have been seeking it for a lot of years. And in that seeking, I found that God’s love is real.” — Dyan Cannon

As you may have already read, the Diocese of

Fall River’s Office of Campus Ministry is running the Seeker’s retreat this weekend. The Seeker’s retreat is a weekend-long retreat for young adults where they are given the opportunity to spend some time discussing and praying about where they find God in their life. I am currently on the team for the retreat weekend. I must also tell you, I love the name of the retreat.

A seeker is defined as one of three things. Firstly, a seeker is defined as someone who searches for something. Sec-ondly, it is a device in a moving object that detects a target. And lastly, a seeker is a posi-tion on a Quidditch team in the wizarding world of Harry Potter. All three of these defi-nitions are helpful to us on our faith journeys.

I think that the name Seeker is a great name for a young adult retreat because it is dur-ing those years, more than any other, that we are trying to figure out for ourselves Who God is and how He is a part of our life. I believe, however, that we will always remain seekers. No matter how old or young we are, we are always seek-ing something more. We are always seeking a greater way to know God. St. Augustine says,

“Our heart is restless until it rests in You.” No matter what we get, we always want more. This is why we still ask for something new for Christmas and for our birthdays. The gifts we have received are great but then we want more. We can

never be completely satisfied with things of this world. We will only truly be filled when we are standing face-to-face with God. Every day we must seek Him more and more in this world until we can be with Him forever in the next world.

There is good news though! In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells us, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Mt 7:7). Jesus tells us that all we have to do is seek Him, and we will find Him! This is awesome! This connects to the second defini-tion of a seeker. A seeker is a device in a moving object that detects the target. We are the moving object and our heart detects the Target. The more we seek our Target, the more we desire to know God, the more we grow in faith and in holiness. It is in our prayer that we become the seeker, the device that detects the Target. Without prayer, we cannot possibly find the Target. With-out prayer, we will not even know what the Target is. Joyce Meyer said, “Prayer doesn’t just change things — it changes us. If we are diligent in seek-ing God, slowly and surely we become better people.” Prayer helps us reach our target of God and enables us to increase in holiness.

I want to clarify something before my last definition of seeker. I do not use Harry Pot-ter as a reference of faith de-velopment or even as a link to Christianity. I am simply using a role in a fiction novel to ad-dress my example. In the Harry Potter novels, there is a game called Quidditch that is similar to soccer on flying broom-sticks. The Seeker’s position in the game is to find the fast-est, smallest ball and catch it. Catching the snitch ball ends the game and gives the team

with the snitch 150 points. So in the game of Quidditch, the seeker is searching out the most desirable object of the game. This is how we are all seekers as well. We are seeking out what is most desirable in this world, our God.

I ask you to pray for all of those involved in this Seeker’s retreat, but I also ask you to pray that you and I never stop seeking as well. It is only in seeking God and His will for us can we truly find what our hearts desire.

“O Lord my God, I believe in you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Insofar as I can, Insofar as You have given me the power, I have sought You. I became weary and I laboured. O Lord my God, my sole hope, help me to believe and never to cease seeking You. Grant that I may always and ardently seek out Your countenance. Give me the strength to seek You, for You help me to find You and You have more and more given me the hope of finding You. Here I am before You with my firmness and my infirmity. Preserve the first and heal the second. Here I am before You with my strength and my ignorance. Where You have opened the door to me, welcome me at the entrance; where You have closed the door to me, Open to my cry; enable me to remember You, to understand You, and to love You. Amen.” — Prayer of St. Augustine of Hippo

Anchor columnist Amanda Tarantelli has been a campus minister at Bishop Stang High School in North Dartmouth since 2005. She is married, a die-hard sports fan, and resides in Cranston, R.I. She can be reached at [email protected].

Seekers unite!

Kindergartners at St. Francis Xavier School in Acushnet recently posed in their favorite team gear on “Souper” Bowl day. Even though the Patriots didn’t make it (maybe next year?), the school’s “Souper” Bowl challenge was a great success, collecting more than 500 cans on this day for the parish’s St. Vin-cent de Paul food pantry.

This year’s winners of the science fair at Holy Trinity School in Fall River display their awards.

Students at Bishop Stang High School in North Dartmouth re-cently took part in an exciting opportunity of a short performance and Q&A with internationally-renowned classical guitarist Jason Vieaux. The concert was held for the school’s band members, cho-ral students and others interested in music. Vieaux has earned a reputation for putting his expressive gifts and virtuosity at the service of a remarkably wide range of music, and his schedule of recital, concerto, chamber music, teaching and recording commit-ments is distinguished with return engagements throughout the U.S. and abroad.

18 February 28, 2014

“Remember that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.”

The practice of dusting one-self with ashes to express sorrow for sins harkens back to Biblical times. Answering the Lord, Job said, “I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

“Lent calls each of us to renew our ongoing commitment to the implications of the resurrection in our own lives, here and now,” said Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister in “The Liturgical Year: The Spi-raling Adventure of the Spiritual Life.” “But that demands both the healing of the soul, both penance and faith, both a purging of what is superfluous in our lives and the heightening, the intensifying, of what is meaningful.”

Youth in the Faith Formation Program at St. Mary’s Parish in Fairhaven abstain from eating candy during Lent and use that money to support poor families at the Congregation of the Sa-cred Hearts of Jesus and Mary missions in Texas, the Philippines and Africa.

“The kids sacrifice during Lent,” said Sister Eleanor Cyr, SS.CC., director of Religious Ed-ucation at the parish. “Instead of buying candy, they put money in a jar every week for the missions.”

Sandy Cabral, who adminis-ters the Faith Formation Office at St. Nicholas of Myra Parish, said that students will receive Recon-ciliation and observe the Stations of the Cross during Lent.

“Journey into Lent: Come Discover Wisdom’s Path” will be held March 5, at the La Salette Retreat and Conference Center in Attleboro. Led by Dorothy J. Levesque, the Ash Wednesday Day of Prayer will begin at 8:45 a.m. and include presentations, prayers and private reflections, concluding at 4 p.m. after the cel-ebration of Mass and distribution of ashes.

The center also will offer the “Spirituality for Everyday Living” series mini-retreat “Growing in Compassion” on March 18 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

“Life provides innumerable opportunities to apply either judg-ment or compassion,” said Peggy Patenaude, retreat facilitator. “It is often easier to criticize and judge than to try to understand and for-give. Lent reminds us to make the

choice to keep growing. It invites us to go inward and challenges us to become more like the all-lov-ing Christ.”

A native of Annunciation of the Lord Parish in Taunton, Christopher M.J. Peschel was ordained a transitional deacon by Bishop George W. Coleman in January. Currently, he is orga-nizing the St. Joseph’s Men’s Re-treat — which will include talks, a holy hour and time for fellowship with fellow Catholics — slated for March 15. The day will begin at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Attleboro at 10 a.m. and end at 4 p.m. with Mass.

Three parishes staffed by Sa-cred Heart Fathers — St. Mary’s and St. Joseph’s in Fairhaven, and Our Lady of the Assumption in New Bedford — will offer the Lenten Mission “Coming Home to the Joy of the Gospel.”

“We are reaching out to all our parishioners,” said Father Martin Gomes, SS.CC., pastor of St. Mary’s. “We sent out flyers, focusing on inactive parishioners who are here on occasion but very faithful in making sure their children attend religious forma-tion.”

The three-day Lenten Mission

will be held at St. Mary Church in Fairhaven from March 10, through March 12, beginning each evening at 7 p.m. Mission presenter will be Father Stan Kolasa, SS.CC., director of the Sacred Hearts Retreat and Spiri-tuality Center in Wareham.

Seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders of the parishes also will attend the Lenten Mission.

“Information about the mis-sion has been given to all our Confirmation students,” Sister Cyr said.

During Lent Catholics spend time with Jesus Who dwells in our midst in the consecrated host in the tabernacles of our churches. Eucharistic Adoration is offered throughout the diocese, including perpetual Eucharistic Adoration at Our Lady’s Chapel in down-town New Bedford.

“Lent is one of those ele-ments of Christian practice that binds the Christian community to one another and to its begin-nings,” said Sister Chittister. “We are not alone. We walk with the Church throughout the world on this journey to re-newal. We walk, too, with the One Who has gone before us to bring us home again.”

Lent: A time for healing the soulcontinued from page one

In Your Prayers Please pray for these priests

during the coming weeksMarch 1

Rev. James F. Masterson, Founder, St. Patrick, Somerset, 1906

Rev. Msgr. P L. Damase Robert, P.R., Pastor, Notre Dame, Fall River, 1948

Rev. John McCarthy, CSC, Stone-hill College, North Easton, 2003

Rev. William W. Norton, Retired Pastor, Our Lady of Lourdes Wellfleet, 2004

March 2Rev. Antoine Berube, Pastor, St.

Joseph, Attleboro, 1936Rev. James J. Brady, Retired Pastor,

St. Kilian, New Bedford, 1941Rev. Tarcisius Dreesen, SS.CC.,

Sacred Hearts Monastery, Fairhaven, 1952

Rev. Alphonse E. Gauthier, Pas-tor, Sacred Heart, New Bedford, 1962

Rev. J. Omer Lussier, Pastor, Sa-cred Heart, North Attleboro, 1970

March 3Rt. Rev. Msgr. Timothy P. Swee-

ney, LL.D., Pastor, Holy Name, New Bedford, 1960

March 5Rev. James McGuire. Pastor St.

Mary, New Bedford, 1850Permanent Deacon Manuel H.

Camara, 1995Rev. James A. McCarthy, Retired

Pastor, St. Mary, Falmouth, 2007

March 6Rev. Joseph F. McDonough,

Former Pastor, Sacred Heart, Taunton, 1906

Rev. John W. Quirk, Founder, St. Joseph, Taunton, 1932

Rev. Bernard P. Connolly, S.S., St. Charles College, Maryland, 1932

Rev. Antoine Lanoue, O.P., 1996Rev. Jerome Lawyer, CSC, 2006

March 7Rev. Arthur P.J. Gagnon, Pastor,

Holy Rosary, New Bedford, 1958

ACUSHneT — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Francis Xavier Parish on Monday and Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Thursday from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Evening prayer and Benediction is held Monday through Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

ATTLeBORO — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the St. Joseph Adoration Chapel at Holy Ghost Church, 71 Linden Street, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

ATTLeBORO — The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette holds Eucharistic Adora-tion in the Shrine Church every Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. through November 17.

BReWSTeR — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the La Salette Chapel in the lower level of Our Lady of the Cape Church, 468 Stony Brook Road, on First Fridays beginning at noon until 7:45 a.m. First Saturday, concluding with Benediction and concluding with Mass at 8 a.m.

BUzzARDS BAy — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Margaret Church, 141 Main Street, every first Friday after the 8 a.m. Mass and ending the following day before the 8 a.m. Mass.

eAST FReeTOWn — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. John Neumann Church every Monday (excluding legal holidays) 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Our Lady, Mother of All Na-tions Chapel. (The base of the bell tower).

eAST SAnDWiCH — The Corpus Christi Parish Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 324 Quaker Meeting House Road, East Sandwich. Use the Chapel entrance on the side of the church.

eAST TAUnTOn — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the chapel at Holy Family Par-ish Center, 438 Middleboro Avenue, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. On First Fridays, Eucharistic Adoration takes place at Holy Family Church, 370 Middleboro Avenue, from 8:30 a.m. until 7:45 p.m.

FAiRHAVen — St. Mary’s Church, Main St., has Eucharistic Adoration every Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to noon in the Chapel of Reconciliation, with Benediction at noon. Also, there is a First Friday Mass each month at 7 p.m., followed by a Holy Hour with Eucharistic Adoration. Refreshments follow.

FALL RiVeR — Espirito Santo Parish, 311 Alden Street, Fall River. Eucharistic Adoration on Mondays following the 8 a.m. Mass until Rosary and Benediction at 6:30 p.m.

FALL RiVeR — St. Bernadette’s Church, 529 Eastern Ave., has continuous Eucharistic Adoration from 8 a.m. on Thursday until 8 a.m. on Saturday.

FALL RiVeR — St. Anthony of the Desert Church, 300 North Eastern Avenue, has Eucha-ristic Adoration Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

FALL RiVeR — Holy Name Church, 709 Hanover Street, has Eucharistic Adoration Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Our Lady of Grace Chapel.

FALL RiVeR — Good Shepherd Parish has Eucharistic Adoration every Friday following the 8 a.m. Mass and concluding with 3 p.m. Benediction in the Daily Mass Chapel. A bilingual holy hour takes place from 2 to 3 p.m. Park behind the church and enter the back door of the connector between the church and the rectory.

FALMOUTH — St. Patrick’s Church has Eucharistic Adoration each First Friday, follow-ing the 9 a.m. Mass until Benediction at 4:30 p.m. The Rosary is recited Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.

MAnSFieLD — St. Mary’s Parish, 330 Pratt Street, has Eucharistic Adoration every First Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., with Benediction at 5:45 p.m.

MASHPee — Christ the King Parish, Route 151 and Job’s Fishing Road has 8:30 a.m. Mass every First Friday with special intentions for Respect Life, followed by 24 hours of Eu-charistic Adoration in the Chapel, concluding with Benediction Saturday morning followed immediately by an 8:30 Mass.

neW BeDFORD — Eucharistic Adoration takes place 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 233 County Street, with night prayer and Benediction at 8:45 p.m., and Confessions offered during the evening. Please use the side entrance.

neW BeDFORD — There is a daily holy hour from 5:15-6:15 p.m. Monday through Thursday at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 1359 Acushnet Avenue. It includes Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Liturgy of the Hours, recitation of the Rosary, and the opportunity for Confession.

neW BeDFORD — St. Lawrence Martyr Parish, 565 County Street, holds Eucharistic Adoration in the side chapel every Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

nORTH DARTMOUTH — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Julie Billiart Church, 494 Slocum Road, every Tuesday from 7 to 8 p.m., ending with Benediction. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is available at this time.

nORTH DiGHTOn — Eucharistic Adoration takes place every Wednesday following 8:00 a.m. Mass and concludes with Benediction at 5 p.m. Eucharistic Adoration also takes place every First Friday at St. Nicholas of Myra Church, 499 Spring Street following the 8 a.m. Mass, ending with Benediction at 6 p.m. The Rosary is recited Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 8 a.m.

OSTeRViLLe — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, 76 Wianno Avenue on First Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

SeeKOnK — Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish has perpetual Eucharistic Adoration seven days a week, 24 hours a day in the chapel at 984 Taunton Avenue. For information call 508-336-5549.

TAUnTOn — Eucharistic Adoration takes place every Tuesday at St. Anthony Church, 126 School Street, following the 8 a.m. Mass with prayers including the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for vocations, concluding at 6 p.m. with Chaplet of St. Anthony and Benediction. Recitation of the Rosary for peace is prayed Monday through Saturday at 7:30 a.m. prior to the 8 a.m. Mass.

TAUnTOn — Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament takes place every First Friday at Annunciation of the Lord, 31 First Street. Exposition begins following the 8 a.m. Mass. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed, and Adoration will continue throughout the day. Confessions are heard from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. Rosary and Benediction begin at 6:30 p.m.

WAReHAM — Eucharistic Adoration at St. Patrick’s Church begins each Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. and ends on Friday night at midnight. Adoration is held in our Adoration Chapel in the lower Parish Hall.

WeST HARWiCH — Our Lady of Life Perpetual Adoration Chapel at Holy Trinity Parish, 246 Main Street (Rte. 28), holds perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. We are a regional chapel serving all of the surrounding parishes. All from other parishes are invited to sign up to cover open hours. For open hours, or to sign up call 508-430-4716.

Eucharistic Adoration in the Diocese

19 February 28, 2014

WELLESLEY — Sister Irene Rheaume, 101, of Welles-ley, formerly of Fall River died February 16, at Elizabeth Seton Residence in Wellesley. She was a Religious of Jesus and Mary.

Born in Fall River on Feb. 28, 1912 she was the daugh-ter of Edmund Rheaume and Merilda (Bouchard) Rheaume.

After attending the for-mer Jesus Mary Academy in Fall River, and St. Clare High School in Woonsocket, R.I., she entered the Congregation of the Religious of Jesus and Mary on Aug. 15, 1933.

She received her bachelor’s degree from Manhattan Col-lege in New York, her mas-ter and doctoral degrees from Fordham University, also in New York. Sister Irene held various positions of leader-ship in the American Province during her lifetime serving as

Sister Irene Rheaume, RJM (Mother Massabeille)superior, principal, province representative at the General

Chapter in Rome as a delegate and as transla-tor, and as the Interna-tional Liai-son for Lay Volunteers.

In 1977 she was named

Province Archivist, a challenging, yet much-needed work. She served faithfully and with courage

whatever was asked of her.Sister Irene leaves her re-

ligious community, and four brothers and sisters, Alexan-der Rheaume, Lillian Raiche, Fernand Rheaume, and Con-stance Ouellette of Fall River. She was pre-deceased by seven brothers and sisters: Sister Jeannette Rheaume, a Sister of Providence, Roland, Roger, Ernest, Alice, Armand and Theresa.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at St. Berna-dette Church in Fall River on February 19.

The Fall River Area Men’s First Friday Club will meet on March 7 in the

chapel of St. Mary’s Cathedral, 327 Second Street in Fall River. Follow-ing the 6 p.m. Mass celebrated by Father Karl Bissinger, the group will have a hot meal catered by White’s of Westport in the school hall across the street with guest speaker Christopher Myron, princi-

pal of Bishop Connolly School. The Mass is open to the public. Guest men interested in joining the dinner should contact Norman Vali-

quette at 508-672-8174 with any questions.

An Attic Treasures Sale, sponsored by the St. John Neumann Parish Women’s Guild, will be held on March 8 in the parish hall, located at 157 Middleboro Road in East Freetown from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. A continental breakfast and hot homemade lunch will be served. The hall is wheelchair-accessible and admission is free. Take the Chace Road exit off Route 140.

A St. Joseph’s Men’s Retreat (for men 18 years and older) will be held on March 15 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Organized by Deacon Chris Peschel, the day will include lunch, talks, a holy hour and time for fellowship with like-minded Catholic men. A freewill donation will be accepted. The day begins at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Attleboro at 10 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. with Mass. Family members are encouraged to have their family attend Mass at the church. For more information or to make a reservation, contact Deacon Peschel ([email protected]) or Shawn Seybert ([email protected]).

Share an afternoon of reflection on St. Patrick and a few other Irish saints on March 16 at the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette in Attleboro. Registration will begin at 2 p.m. followed by a presentation on some saints of Ireland and Mass at 4 p.m. Then at 5 p.m., an Irish dinner will be served and the Noel Henry Irish Band with the Haley’s School of Irish Dancers will perform until 9:30 p.m. Please call 508-222-5410 or visit www.lasalette-shrine.org for more information about tickets and reservations.

A Healing Mass will be held on March 20 at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 1359 Acushnet Avenue in New Bedford. The Mass will begin at 6:30 p.m. and includes Benediction and healing prayers. At 5:15 p.m. there will also be a holy hour including the Rosary. For location or more information, call the rectory at 508-993-1691 or visit www.saintanthonyofnewbedford.com.

St. Anne’s Parish in Fall River will host a Lenten Day of Recollection with Father Pe-ter Stravinskas (author, educator, and editor of The Catholic Response magazine) on Laetare Sunday, March 30. The first presentation on the Sacrament of Reconcilia-tion begins at 3 p.m.; the second, a meditative guide to St. John’s Passion narrative, begins at 4:30 p.m., with a break between the two talks. Solemn vespers and Bene-diction will be at 5:45 p.m. followed by sung Mass (Ordinary Form) at 6:30 p.m. For directions or more information, visit www.StAnneShrine.com or call 508-674-5651.

The Stations of the Cross will be celebrated each Friday in Lent at 6 p.m. at St. Ber-nadette Parish (529 Eastern Avenue) in Fall River. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s elo-quent Way of the Cross meditations are used. Before and after the Stations of the Cross, the Msgr. Prevost Council of the Knights of Columbus are offering clamcakes and chowder in the parish hall to assist people in living their Lenten abstinence. All are welcome.

Around the Diocese

20 February 28, 2014

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