Timothy M. Dolan becomes the eighth cardinal-archbishop of New York.

Gregorio Borgia/Associated PressCardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan left Synod Hall on Friday after addressing Pope Benedict XVI and the College of Cardinals.

New York’s New Cardinal

Timothy M. Dolan becomes the eighth cardinal-archbishop of New York.

ROME — Cardinal-designate Timothy M. Dolan defended the virtues of his adopted hometown in an address before the pope and the College of Cardinals on Friday, calling New York a “very religious city,” not the threatening global capital of secularism that some in the Vatican might envision.

Speaking on the day before his elevation to cardinal, a day of reflection and prayer for Vatican leaders, Archbishop Dolan reminded the group that even a person dismissive of religion “has within an undeniable spark of interest in the beyond.”

He also said that, even amid the materialism and consumerism of New York, there was fertile ground for Catholic teaching.

“New York, without denying its dramatic evidence of graphic secularism, is also a very religious city,” he said.

“There one finds, even among groups usually identified as materialistic — the media, entertainment, business, politics, artists, writers — an undeniable openness to the divine,” he continued, according to an English translation of the speech, which he delivered in Italian at the closed-door gathering of the church’s top prelates.

The archbishop, who has been sweeping through Rome with hundreds of devoted pilgrims and well-wishers this week, had been asked by the Vatican’s secretary of state to deliver the address, on evangelism.

“It is another small but telling indication that he is a big deal,” said John L. Allen Jr., senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter. “If there is a perceived problem in the English-speaking world now, the Vatican’s first instinct is to pick up the phone and call Timothy Dolan.”

In his speech, Archbishop Dolan, who is also the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that when Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone invited him to address the cardinals, he perceived an implication that the Vatican saw New York as “the capital of a secular culture.” It was that view, Archbishop Dolan said, that he was seeking to correct with his remarks.

The evangelization of inactive Catholics — what the Vatican calls new evangelization, to contrast it with missionary work — is an issue of particular interest to Pope Benedict XVI and to Archbishop Dolan, who said earlier this week that it was the one issue he most wanted to be associated with as cardinal.

In his speech, delivered in a colloquial Italian unusual for such a formal setting and dotted with humor and personal anecdotes, Archbishop Dolan said that for the church to grow, its clergy had to have confidence in the Catholic message, focus on the personality of Jesus, maintain a joyous attitude and demonstrate love through actions.

His ideas were “hardly original,” Mr. Allen said, adding that similar notions had been articulated by the pope. But Archbishop Dolan’s tone, he said, was different: he has a folksy and upbeat style that is not always seen at the Vatican.

“That’s the Dolan effect,” Mr. Allen said. “It’s not so much that he is generating some bold new vision to the church. It’s more that he can bring that vision to the mass market.”

Archbishop Dolan said that the societal work of the church was a good tool for awakening faith, even in New York.

“In New York, the heart of the most hardened secularist softens when visiting one of our inner-city Catholic schools,” he told the cardinals. He told of how the work of one nun, Sister Michelle, had impressed a church benefactor who had previously described himself as agnostic.

He even mentioned the role of popular culture as a possible inspiration for faith, citing a contemporary Catholic-themed movie, “The Way,” staring Martin Sheen.

And, he said, acts of faith in lands of persecution could inspire belief, even in lands of peace.

“A young man in New York tells me he returned to the Catholic faith of his childhood, which he had jettisoned as a teenager, after reading ‘The Monks of Tibhirine,’ about Trappists martyred in Algeria 15 years ago,” he said.

He advised his fellow cardinals not to let the expectations of the outside world keep them from expressing joy in the Gospel and in life.

“The church is about a yes, not a no,” he said. “When I became archbishop of New York, a priest told me, ‘You better stop smiling when you walk the streets of Manhattan, or you’ll be arrested!’”

You’ve heard of evangelicals, but just who are they?

Evangelicals have been in the news a lot lately, from the Denver Broncos’ Tim Tebow and his take-a-knee prayers to the Texas pastor and his wife who spent 24 hours in bed preaching the virtues of sex in Christian marriages.

Mitt Romney is struggling to gain evangelical support for his presidential bid, and Rick Santorum — a Catholic — won the blessing of more than 100 evangelical pastors gathered at a Texas ranch.

So who are these Christians? What do they have in common and how are they different from other believers? Even famed preacher Billy Graham wasn’t sure of the answer.

“Actually, that’s a question, I’d like to ask somebody, too,” Graham told religion reporter Terry Mattingly in a 1987 interview. “The lines (have) become blurred. … You go all the way from the extreme fundamentalists to the extreme liberals and, somewhere in between, there are the evangelicals.”

So here’s a primer about these religious types, their history, faith and politics:

Who is an evangelical?

Technically, all Christians are, according to the Religion Newswriters Association’s Religion Stylebook. The word comes from the Greek “evangelion,” which means “good news” or “gospel.” And all who claim to follow Jesus Christ feel obligated to share his gospel.

But the term “evangelical” has come to refer mostly to a type of Protestant, explains Pastor Corey Hodges of New Pilgrim Baptist Church in Kearns, Utah: Evangelicals believe in the Trinity; that the Bible alone is the inerrant and infallible word of God; that salvation is by grace alone through faith and not accomplished by human effort or achievement; and that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh, and his death and resurrection were the payment for human sin.

Notre Dame historian Mark Noll, author of “Protestantism: A Very Short Introduction,” recommends a wider description, one penned by British historian David Bebbington. Bebbington identified an emphasis on the “new birth” as a life-changing experience of God and a concern for sharing the faith. The trouble, Noll notes, is that “these evangelical traits have never by themselves yielded cohesive, institutionally compact, or clearly demarcated groups of Christians, but (rather) … identify a large family of churches and religious enterprises.”

In other words, “evangelical” is not the name of a single church. Indeed, says John Morehead, director of the Western Institute for Intercultural Studies in Salt Lake City, “evangelicalism is a movement that encompasses a variety of denominations and independent traditions.”

Mattingly, director of the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, expands the definition further, saying “evangelicals have always been a cultural niche/commercial product kind of thing. No set doctrines.”

What sets evangelicals apart from fundamentalists?

Noll: The serious answer is the ‘eye of the beholder.’ I believe in the Virgin Birth of Christ, which makes me a fundamentalist in the eyes of some people, but I take an occasional glass of wine and don’t worry about evolution, which means that, for many people, I can’t be a fundamentalist.

Hodges: Fundamentalists generally believe that culture is evil and corrosive. Their views usually result in isolation from the culture and/or bigotry. Evangelicals believe the culture is redeemable and can and should be impacted by Christians.

Who came first, evangelicals or

fundamentalists?

The 1910 Presbyterian General Assembly declared that all ministerial candidates had to subscribe “to five fundamental doctrines,” according to a recent article in Christian History magazine, “the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible, the Virgin Birth of Christ, the substitutionary atonement of Christ, the bodily resurrection of Christ, and the historicity of the biblical miracles.”

For the next decades, the magazine said, a battle ensued in nearly every mainline Protestant body between fundamentalists and “those who wanted to remain ‘tolerant’ and ‘open-minded’ in response to modern learning.”

Fundamentalists lost.

Eventually, a new group emerged, calling themselves “the New Evangelicals,” the article said, hoping “to distance themselves from the anti-intellectual, militant, culture-shunning traits that had begun to characterize much of

fundamentalism.”

How are evangelicals different from Pentecostals?

Pentecostals are a particular subgroup of evangelicals, who believe in the same basic doctrines but emphasize “the work of the Holy Spirit,” including healing, speaking in tongues, and prophecy.

Hodges: They tend to focus more on existential and experiential faith. Pentecostal theology generally emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit, while other evangelicals focus more on the work of Christ.

Why don’t some evangelicals think Mormons are Christian?

It stems, mainly, from the Mormon view of God and Jesus and the Mormon belief in extra scriptures, which are essentially the same objections that Catholic, Orthodox and liberal Protestants have.

Evangelicals and traditional Christians believe in the Trinity — that God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one substance. Mormons believe God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are separate beings. Evangelicals also heed the Bible as the sole word of God, while Latter-day Saints believe in the Bible and other scriptures, including the faith’s signature Book of Mormon.

Noll: I’m not sure all evangelicals would say categorically that all Mormons are not Christians. But the prominence given to revelation through Joseph Smith (and not just the Bible), doctrines like the materiality of God, rites that seem strange and unbiblical (temple rites and early day polygamy), and (sociologically speaking) the separated nature of Mormon religious life are all issues for evangelicals.

Morehead: Mormons and evangelicals approach the definition of Christian very differently. Evangelicals, with their emphasis on correct doctrine as developed within the history of the church and its various creeds, see Mormonism as presenting something quite different, and at odds, with the historic creedal statements of Christendom.

Can Catholics be evangelicals?

Hodges: No. The Protestant and, ultimately, the evangelical movement arose from frustration with the Catholic Church’s theology. Some Catholic theology runs contrary to that of evangelicals. For instance, confession of sins to the priest runs contrary to the evangelical belief of the priesthood of all believers.

Mattingly: Using the word accurately, no. It is a Protestant term. Catholics can, of course, be evangelists.

Morehead: Typically Catholics are not evangelical in that they not only accept the authority of the Bible, but also give a prominent place to the authority of the church, the pope, and church tradition.

Noll: Yes, maybe. Fifty years ago, ‘evangelical Protestant’ and ‘Roman Catholic’ were mutually exclusive, but now there is considerably more overlap. Many traditional evangelicals would continue to insist that a Catholic simply cannot be an evangelical. But there are others, even quite conservative, who would say otherwise.

"Borgia Faith And Fear" Season One on DVD!

Before The Mafia, there were The Borgia. Packed with drama, intrigue and lawlessness, Lionsgate debuts Borgia Faith and Fear Season One on DVD and Digital Download this February. The international series, created and executive produced by three-time Emmy® winning drama veteran Tom Fontana*, stars John Doman (HBO’s “The Wire”) as Rodrigo Borgia, a Renaissance-era pope who is on the quest for ultimate power. The complete first season features all 12 gripping one-hour episodes as a three-disc set. Borgia Faith and Fear: Season One, including a “making of” featurette and the “Borgia Diaries” – cast and crew interviews, will be available on February 21st, for the suggested retail price of $39.98.

In the era of Da Vinci and Michelangelo, enlightened creativity and unparalleled intellectual achievement, rampant lawlessness and incessant war also reigned. A crime family emerged and would open the most infamous chapter in the history of the Catholic Church. In the center of the story is Rodrigo Borgia – pope and ruthless dictator, on a quest for power and the ultimate prize, the Chair of Saint Peter.

Enter to win!

Thanks for visiting EDGE!

Birth control coverage isn’t an attack on faith

So let’s take a step back from the opportunistic political
chatter about birth control and related health care support for
employees of Catholic-run institutions.

In Catholic hospitals, it is true that medical professionals are
not forced to perform practices that are not applicable to their
faith. It is true that many employees and family members are not
members of the Roman Catholic faith. It is true that there are
medical necessities that require intervention to save the life of
the mother in current and future births, which is protected by
canon law. And, our government is not requiring an individual to
make health care decisions that are against their faith!

Since most group health care programs are self-insured for a
large part of an individual claim, practicing Catholics won’t be
submitting a claim (unless unusual circumstances apply), which
means the church would not be paying anything! And future premiums
impacted by actual loss experience would be lowered by the lack of
participation by practicing Catholics!! Therefore, no cost to the
church if participants follow church guidelines!

So let’s cool down the political dialog on this. It is not an
attack on faith!

Pat McCann, Highland

A unique call to ministry: Chaplain serving at ACC

• Image
  

Anne Carlsen Center Chaplain Lindy Holt has an unusual ministry providing spiritual care for children and families at ACC.

“We also wanted our kids to know that they are beloved children of God … and that God’s always with them,” Holt said.

Unlike a conventional pastorate, Holt’s ministry is non-denominational, and her “congregation” has many faiths, ranging from Catholicism through the many Protestant denominations, but also Wicca and traditional Native American spirituality.

“What I feel binds us together is mission — doing the work of God,” Holt said.

Generally, she focuses on spirituality rather than religion.

“We obviously have a lot of diversity in our employees and our kids and our adults, and we need to be mindful of meeting the needs of everybody,” Holt said. “Part of my responsibility is to push for inclusion and independence.”

Heeding the call

Chaplaincy has always been a part of Holt’s call.

She graduated from Hartwick College in Oneonta, N.Y., and then attended Bangor Theological Seminary in Bangor, Maine. Holt has also done post-graduate work in spiritual direction and marriage and family counseling.

Before she became a minister, however, she was a life insurance agent and a financial planner. She also served as a classroom aide and center coordinator for a day care.

After graduating from seminary, Holt served two churches in the north Maine woods for four years, and then took some time off. She came to North Dakota when she received a call to a United Church of Christ congregation in Mayville.

Holt also worked in chaplaincy programs at nursing homes and in the Hospice of Red River Valley, and served as a chaplain in cardiac intensive care and kidney dialysis/transplant units, as well as in a boarding home for people who suffer mental illness.

She started at the ACC in June 2011, and works with children, families and her fellow employees.

“Most of our kids participate in all the chaplaincy events in the center,” Holt said.

Each Thursday afternoon, about 100 children and staff members participate in a chapel service in the gym. Holt wheels her portable altar in, and the group prays and sings songs together. Holt shares a Bible story, but she doesn’t usually preach.

“We have a diversity of abilities and challenges in our kids,” Holt said. “We use a lot of technology.”

Some of the children are autistic, and some are also nonverbal. One young man at the center finds the stimulation of the chapel service overwhelming, so Holt visits him individually for a sort of private mini-service every week.

Holt also coordinates the Sunday School-like Kid Sabbath twice a month, with arts and crafts.

The church at large

Part of her job is involving other churches from the community.

For example, the Jamestown Christian mimes are slated to visit the center on Maundy Thursday. Five Catholic students have just begun working on sacramental preparation classes. Once a month, the Rev. Joe Barrett of the St. James Basilica offers a Catholic Mass. A pastor from Victory Lutheran is working with a young man for his confirmation. Some medically fragile students attend church.

Holt tries to make the experiences positive for both the students and the local churches.

“When our kids leave here, where do they go next? Many of them are going into the community in some way — a group home or an apartment with staff,” Holt said.

The church is part of that community, and some parents especially want their children to have connections to the church.

Holt also represents the center in the community, including the faith community of Jamestown. She serves as secretary/treasurer for the local ministerial association.

Pastoral care is another important part of Holt’s job, and she spends much more of her time on that than on worship. She provides support to children and their families. She goes to many meetings just to make sure she knows what’s going on with the families she cares for.

If a child dies, Holt does a memorial service at the center.

“I’m available for staff and families to talk to,” Holt said.

Her work can be challenging, but Holt said she enjoys the blessings and gifts of each new day at the Anne Carlsen Center, and feels that every day is different.

“It’s really a pretty remarkable place,” Holt said. “I have a great deal of respect for people who try to make life better for children and families.”

Sun reporter Kari Lucin can be reached at 701-952-8453

or by email at klucin@jamestownsun.com

Tags:
life, religion

Hot Treats and a Valentine Heartbreaker: Feedback Friday

Story of the Week

I’m not going to pick a “Story of the Week” in every Feedback Friday, but this week there was a clear winner.

In “A 56-Year Valentine: Mokena Man Shares the Life of the Love of his Life,” a Mokena man wrote about the girl he first met in second grade and the life they shared together. First Communion, a Baby Ruth passed from one to the other in eighth grade, then marriage, children, retirement and a heartbreaking twist.

Read the story first, as the comments are going to reveal the ending.

Lora Brown Bless you and your wife on this Valentine’s Day and hope you have many, many more. What a beautiful story!!!

Janet Virva Although the story has a sad ending, I am reminded of the old “glass-is-half-full” adage: Do not cry for what it is now, thank God for what you’ve enjoyed all these years! I hope your wife’s chemotherapy will give her the added years to make both your lives fully complete, and I will pray that she makes a full recovery. You can still have that candlelight dinner!!

Kirsten Such a beautiful story, thank you for sharing. I hope your wife’s chemotherapy treatments are successful in fighting the evil that is cancer.

Overheard on Facebook

First of all, a big hello to all the new Facebook fans who joined this week. Hello. Let’s keep this train rolling by clicking “like” on the Mokena Patch Facebook page at facebook.com/mokena.patch.

I’m really personally pleased that the post that got the most “likes” this week was when I mentioned my cousin Kat had her baby. (They live in New Orleans and it’s really near Mardi Gras, so that kid is going to have some legendary birthday parties in his 20s.)

The biggest talker of the week was The Sweet Company’s chocolate-dipped jalapeño and serrano peppers. We did a story (complete with video of me and New Lenox Patch Editor Michael Sewall downing the hyper-hot treats) to celebrate WGN TV naming them one of Chicago’s Best.

Therese Murphy Dydo I’m not sure I’m that adventurous! However, I may get one for my hubby! I’ll let you know how that goes! lol

Darlene Kruse yes thank you. We stopped to get some after I saw your post also. (Since I missed it on tv) Figured my hubby would get a “kick” out of them!

Not all the posts were positive.

Laurie Reilly Cerle We were disappointed. Chicago’s Best showed the jalapeños were injected with peanut butter but they were not. They were coated in peanut butter, then chocolate. They were okay but I think they would have been better if they really were injected. Kind of a let down.

My favorite comment of the week came from fellow Meat Loaf fan Melissa Faith Evans-Madorma, who responded after I posted a couple videos of Mr. Loaf performing duets with Mokena native Karla DeVito, a back-up singer during the 1977 Bat Out of Hell tour. You can find the videos on the Facebook page.

Melissa Faith Evans-Madorma Serious Meat Loaf fan here. He is so under-rated in the states!

Meat Loaf rocks, Melissa. It’s time we let the world know.

Thanks everyone for your continued readership and support!

Friday is Last Day to Register Online for Republican Convention

Those interested in attending the California Republican Party spring convention later this month have until Feb. 17 to pre-register online.

GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich will the convention, and the current guest list also includes House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, the third-highest ranking Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Darrell Issa, a congressman from Southern California.

The convention includes two seperate town-hall events specifically for Asian and Latino republicans. A Catholic mass will also be held at 5 p.m. on Feb. 25. A full schedule is available here.

The convention runs from Feb. 24-26 at the  in Burlingame, and Gingrich will be the keynote speaker on Feb. 25 at 12 p.m.

For more news about Belmont and surrounding areas, including unincorporated San Mateo County,  follow us on Twitter  and  “like” us on Facebook.    Get Patched in daily by signing up for our newsletter.

Want to blog for us? Click here.

“Speaker Gingrich brings energy and vision to the Convention during a critical election year,” said Tom Del Beccaro, the state’s Republican Party chairman.

To learn more about the convention, visit: www.cagop.org/index.cfm/convention.htm

London funeral for shooting victim

The Irish Times – Saturday, February 18, 2012Melanie McCarthy-McNamara’s boyfriend Christopher Moran leads the mourners at St Dominic’s Priory, London, yesterday. Photograph: Joanne O’Brien

MARK HENNESSY, London Editor

ST DOMINIC’S Priory in Kentish Town in north London had loomed large in the life of Melanie McCarthy-McNamara, the 16-year-old shot dead recently in Tallaght.

Ten years ago, Melanie went to St Dominic’s Priory on Southampton Road in Kentish Town for her First Holy Communion.

She had intended to return there for her marriage within the next year.

Yesterday, however, hundreds returned to the same church for her funeral Mass, following her brutal killing in Tallaght on February 7th when she was shot twice in the head while sitting in the back of an SUV, along with her boyfriend, Christopher Moran.

Everything about the funeral was pink, Melanie’s favourite colour: most of the younger men and boys, some as young as three, in her wider family wore identical shirts in that colour which also featured on the coffin.

In his words, Fr Peter Harries OP acknowledged the inability of many in the congregation to put their thoughts into words following the killing: “It is difficult to know what to say, or what to do. Here, a few years ago, she made her First Communion.

“And here we gather now to pray for her and to offer prayers for those left behind,” he said, adding that “when someone’s life is cut short then our normal way of comforting people seems somehow less than adequate”.

According to some of those who attended the funeral, her remains had been laid out in a favourite pink tracksuit, along with white running shoes, and the engagement ring placed on her finger by her boyfriend after her death.

A friend, Sammy Jo, read the words of tribute from the dead girl’s father:

“The love I have for you is the greatest love of all. I was the proudest man on the Earth. Don’t worry about Mummy and the children. You’re in safe hands. I will never forget you. Love Shakey.”

Her coffin was carried from the church to the words of the Sarah McLaughlin song,
In The Arms of an Angel , while members of her family, including her grandmother, Frances – who had to leave briefly earlier in the ceremony because of illness – walked behind.

Outside the church, large numbers of bouquets, mostly in pink, were laid on a flat-bed truck, which carried an erect display which read, “Our Barbie Doll”, while another in the shape of a Blackberry mobile phone was laid alongside.

Her coffin was borne in a white carriage pulled by four white horses, each of which had pink feathers in their manes, adorned by several wreaths including ones that read “Angel” and “Melanie”.

Six Daimler cars, including one in pink, carried members of the family, who have lived for some years in the Queen’s Crescent district near by, to Highgate Cemetery for the burial, escorted by a police motorcycle outrider.

A photographer from the local
Camden Journal was asked by the family to take pictures of the coffin inside the church before the ceremony, but other members of the media received some verbal abuse from a few of those who attended the funeral.

Some expressed unhappiness at press coverage which suggested that the teenager had been the victim of a gangland killing that had gone wrong: “You’re all telling lies,” said one relative of the dead girl angrily.

Tempers are high among Travellers following the killing. In his sermon, Fr Harries acknowledged the sense of “loss, pain and bewilderment” that exists among the Traveller community, but he urged all to denounce violence, which is, he said, “not the Christian way”.

Gardaí were last night continuing to question two males in relation to Ms McCarthy-McNamara’s murder. A teenager and a man in his early 20s were detained in Athy, Co Kildare on Thursday following a raid on an apartment in the town.

They can be held at Tallaght Garda station, Dublin, for up to seven days.

A defanging of religion

Enabling Cookies in Internet Explorer 7, 8 9

1. Open the Internet Browser
2. Click Tools Internet OptionsPrivacyAdvanced
3. Check Override automatic cookie handling
4. For First-party Cookies and Third-party Cookies click Accept
5. Click OK and OK

Enabling Cookies in Firefox

1. Open the Firefox browser
2. Click ToolsOptionsPrivacyUse custom settings for history
3. Check Accept cookies from sites
4. Check Accept third party cookies
5. Select Keep until: they expire
6. Click OK

Enabling Cookies in Google Chrome

1. Open the Google Chrome browser
2. Click Tools iconOptionsUnder the HoodContent Settings
3. Check Allow local data to be set
4. Uncheck Block third-party cookies from being set
5. Uncheck Clear cookies
6. Close all

Suzette Martinez Standring: Are you ‘flunking sainthood’?

Ash Wednesday reminds me of the Lenten sacrifices of my childhood. I was pint-sized and pious. At the age of 6 I gave up watching TV for forty days. Hearing Huckleberry Hound cartoons play in a distant room brought exquisite pain. The next year, I was a 7-year-old at the 7 a.m. daily Mass for Lent. Where did all my spiritual discipline go? Now I battle with Fat Tuesday every day of the year.

Yet I’m drawn to sacred practices though I doubt my ability to follow through. For example, I have friends who draw spiritual strength from fasting. I listen awestruck, cheeseburger in hand. If I don’t eat something by noon, I doubt I’d live to tell the tale.  Yet fasting is on my spiritual bucket list.

So I loved the new book, “Flunking Sainthood: A Year of Breaking The Sabbath, Forgetting to Pray, and Still Loving My Neighbor” by Jana Riess (Paraclete Press, Nov. 2011, $16.99, 171 pages), a comical memoir of attempting religious rigor.

For one year Riess engages in monthlong practices to embrace the divine. Riess begins January by mapping out her project. February is for fasting. March is for mindfulness in small daily chores. April is spent in Lectio Divina, which is discernment through reading and prayer. In May she shuns materialism. June is about contemplative prayer. She tackles the Jewish observation of the Sabbath in July. Gratitude is on the menu for August, while September is spent in Benedictine-style hospitality. October features vegetarianism inspired by St. Francis and his compassionate mindset toward animals. In November, Riess is “praying the hours” at set times throughout the day. December is about “radical generosity.”

Riess grew up attending Saturday evening Catholic Mass and Sunday morning Protestant worship. She has been a Christian for 25 years but feels little romance for religion, and in her new book, she wrote, “These days Jesus and I are like old marrieds – sometimes I’m a nag, and sometimes he is emotionally distant. Maybe the extremes I’m contemplating with a year of bizarre faith practices are the spiritual equivalent of greeting Jesus at the door wrapped only in cellophane. I’m trying to pop a little zing in our relationship.”

When she begins, she is convinced the 12 months will be an angel cake of a walk. Then she is disappointed to find she is rarely holier than thou. I laughed often at her valiant and self-deprecatory efforts, yet each month did lead her to unexpected inner spaces. To “be still and hear God’s voice” is very difficult in modern life, with its demands, deadlines, and our Pavlovian conditioning to email. Yet turning off the world, even for a little while, offers a spiritual payoff – time with Jesus and surprises in self-awareness. One might even find a way to forgive the unforgivable.      

Here’s her deal. Connecting with God is in the trying, but for many, the trying can be fraught with frustration. Am I doing this right? Do I have what it takes? Is God talking to me yet? Stillness and simplicity amplify the divine voice, and Riess experiments with different ways to achieve this. Sometimes she succeeds, other times not. What I found refreshing is that “Flunking Sainthood” celebrates vulnerability and surrender, from which all sacred growth springs.

Contact Suzette Standring at suzmar@comcast.netor visit www.readsuzette.com. She teaches writing workshops nationally based on her award-winning book, “The Art of Column Writing.” She is syndicated with GateHouse News Service.