STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The religious order of nuns that runs the St. Edward Food Pantry in Pleasant Plains has formed a ministry in the hopes of strengthening the Roman Catholic faith among young people.
The Franciscan Handmaids of the Most Pure Heart of Mary has formed a Catholic Youth for Radical Faith Ministry (CYRF) on Staten Island that operates out of the order’s convent in Pleasant Plains.
The worldwide CYRF ministry is a response to Pope Benedict’s call for youth to make a radical choice of faith within the “New Evangelization.” As part of their mission, the sisters have launched a fund-raising campaign in the hopes of sending 13 Staten Islanders to World Youth Day 2013, slated for July 23-28 of that year in Rio De Janeiro in Brazil.
The order already has earmarked $10,000 to cover the expenses of three attendees, and needs nearly $30,000 additional to sponsor all the candidates, said Sr. Gertrude Lilly Ihenacho, congregation minister. Â
/subONE OF THE CHOSENÂRRGabriella Reyes, 22, a parishioner of Holy Child R.C. Church who aspires to become a medical doctor, was thrilled to be chosen as one of the WYD attendees.
“I went to World Youth Day when I was 11 and it had a huge impact on me,” the Huguenot resident said. “It was amazing to see so many young Roman Catholics coming together at one place at one time.”
Unfortunately, the St. Joseph by the Sea High School graduate, does not see that enthusiasm matched on Staten Island.
“It’s hard to find Catholic youth who are excited about their faith,” Ms. Reyes said, noting that some don’t even want to admit to their religion.
“Sometimes it’s seen as nonsensical to be religious,” she observed, speculating that negative media accounts about the Roman Catholic Church have fueled those sentiments.
“I am happy and excited to be a Catholic,” said Ms. Reyes, who earned a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering at Stevens Institute and is studying for her master’s degree in biomedical science at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
The goals of the CYRF ministry are to generate youthful enthusiasm in and defense of their faith, to foster Gospel values and discipleship and to provide young people with the opportunity to interact with other Roman Catholics from throughout the world. The Franciscan Handmaids sponsors people to attend World Youth Day as a way of reaching these goals, according to the order’s literature. Â
/SUBA GLOBAL EXPERIENCEÂrR“World Youth Day is a global experience,” Sister Gertrude noted. “We want them to see knowledge and spirituality among Catholic Youth. We want the youth to really understand their faith, to be able to defend their faith.”
The ministry aims to give young people more information about their religion, especially with regard to issues of social justice.
“We want to empower the youth to make informed decisions,” Sister Gertrude said.The Staten Island ministry also provides ample opportunities to serve both on the Island and throughout the world, while trying to counterract powerful negative social forces, such as drugs and crime that are influencing today’s youth.
“You can’t get by stealing, by wanting somebody to bring it to you,” said Sister Gertrude, who was a public health physician prior to joining the order. “You can be anything you want to be as long as you identify what your skill is and go for it,” she said.
The CYRF ministry allows for real and web-based contact with other members throughout the world. The ministry is a global link to educational, financial, volunteer, internship, missionary and employment opportunities and resources with Catholic agencies, the United Nations and many other non-profit organizations.
Members of the ministry have opportunities to attend various conferences, retreats and pilgrimages. They have acces to Papal messages, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops newsletters and a wealth of educational information on the Roman Catholic faith and social justice issues.
Volunteers are needed to join a fund-raising committee. To make a donation or for additional information about the CYRF ministry, contact Anita Fein, administrator of the St. Edward Food Pantry, at 718-984-1625, or e-mail stedwardfoodpantry@hotmail.com.
Fifty years ago, at the beginning of the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church set itself a number of goals. Among those were opening up to the rest of the world and the unity of the church, indeed, of humankind.
The Council insisted that, far from being exclusive and sectarian, the church is only truly catholic when it embraces the living and lively diversity of everything that is genuinely human. As the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church put it quite unambiguously:
All are called to this catholic unity of the People of God…. And to it, in differentways, belong or are ordered: the Catholic faithful, others who believe in Christ, and finally all mankind, called by God’s grace to salvation (Lumen Gentium 13; emphasis added).
According to the Catechism: “The word ‘catholic’ means ‘universal,’ in the sense of ‘according to the totality’ or ‘in keeping with the whole’” (§830). It comes from the Greek words kata (according to) and holos (whole). In other words, “catholic” means inclusive, holistic, open to everyone.
Let’s be clear about what “catholicity” does not mean then: it is not a fancy word for the religious beliefs and practices that make Roman Catholics different from everyone else (so-called “Catholic cultural identity”). On the contrary, “catholicity” denotes what unites rather than what divides; it speaks of communion rather than difference; of unity-in-diversity.
By calling itself “catholic” the church asserts that which unites and opens it up to all people, beyond all differences. Paradoxically this openness is the distinguishing and specific mark of its “identity” and the heart of its “culture”.
So, far from being a “tribal cipher” that merely marks the church off as yet another of the world’s religions, catholicity is a deeply mysterious and paradoxical process. It is a way of saying that we are discovering ourselves becoming something unique precisely because we find our differences transformed in a universal communion where everyone is welcome just as they are.
We are “catholic”, then, to the extent that we are open. Open to what? Christ and the world. As the Catechism makes very clear, catholicity is first and foremost about Christ: “First, the Church is catholic because Christ is present in her. ‘Where there is Christ Jesus, there is the Catholic Church.’” (§831).
Only when we are absolutely clear about the centrality and primacy of Christ as the embodiment and giver of catholicity, can we speak of its specifically human dimension and scope: “Secondly, the Church is catholic because she has been sent out by Christ on a mission to the whole of the human race” (§831).
Our catholicity is a mark of “identity” as communion, not tribe or institution. Catholicity is the means of our healing, our restoration to the integrity and wholeness for which we are created. In and through the church as “catholic communion” all humanity is called to participate in realising its likeness to the Triune God who is a “communion of love”.
Catholicity is the ecclesial way of speaking about God’s transforming humanity into the image and likeness of God as communion of love; an image and likeness we see absolutely realized in Christ, the One who is at once one-with-God and one-with-us, so uniting us with God. As Pope Benedict XVI puts it:
The essence of original sin is the split into individuality, which knows only itself. The essence of redemption is the mending of the shattered image of God, the union of the human race through and in the One who stands for all and in whom, as Paul says (Gal 3:28), all are one: Jesus Christ… [T]o be a Christian means to be Catholic, means to be on one’s way to an all-encompassing unity. (Joseph Ratzinger, Principles of Catholic Theology, 49).
“Catholicity” is not a fancy word for Catholic tribalism, then, but a call “to an all-encompassing unity” that excludes no one since all are “children of God”, and equally so.
So, how catholic are we? The catholicity of our parishes, schools and other ecclesial communities has nothing to do with statues of Mary, pictures of the pope and “bums on seats”. It has everything to do with openness of mind, heart and embrace towards the world God loves and Christ renews by his life-giving Spirit.
Show me how wholeheartedly you accept the “other” in the “Wholly Other” become “One-with-us”, and I’ll show you how catholic you are.
Dr Drasko Dizdar is a member of the Emmaus monastic community, and a theologian with the Tasmanian Catholic Education Office.
Disclaimer: CathBlog is an extension of CathNews story feedback. It is intended to promote discussion and debate among the subscribers to CathNews and the readers of the website. The opinions expressed in CathBlog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the members of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference or of Church Resources.
“I don’t want to overemphasize my Catholicism here,” the governor, who grew up in a family of eight children and went to Jesuit-run Boston College, told me. “But I know my religion. I know religions in general. In the New Testament, the one place where Jesus talks about the death penalty, he says, ‘Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.’ When I’ve reflected on the death penalty, the reality is I frequently ponder that passage.”
Powerful, vocal Roman Catholics have been much in the news of late, mostly for their hard-line positions on abortion and birth control, and their self-serving rhetoric on the subject of religious rights in the health-care debate. But Catholic activists are playing another political role, too — under the radar — on an issue that hasn’t made the same sorts of headlines.
They are helping to turn the tide of public opinion in the United States against the death penalty. (According to a Pew poll earlier this year, about a third of Americans now oppose capital punishment, up from 18 percent in the mid-1990s.) And they are appealing to the consciences of Roman Catholic politicians to do it.
The sanctity of human life is central to Catholic theology, and for death penalty opponents, this sanctity extends as much to living men and women convicted of capital crimes as it does to embryos and fetuses. Malloy’s change of heart is reflected in the opinion of the Roman Catholic hierarchy, for 30 years ago, popes and bishops were not so clearly emphasizing their opposition to capital punishment.
Last November, a delegation of international death-penalty opponents was invited to a private audience with Pope Benedict XVI. There, the pope praised and encouraged “the political and legislative initiatives being promoted in a growing number of countries to eliminate the death penalty.”
In 2011, on Ash Wednesday, Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation that abolished the death penalty in Illinois. Quinn had attended Catholic schools as a child and went to Georgetown University but had long supported capital punishment.
After the bill passed in the Illinois legislature, he pondered his decision for months — for, as he puts it, “there are people of great conscience on both sides of this debate.” During that time, he received a visit from Sister Helen Prejean, the author of “Dead Man Walking,” and a call from the Catholic death-penalty opponent Martin Sheen. For guidance, he read Scripture, and on the morning he signed the bill, he read from the writings of the late Chicago Cardinal Joseph Bernardin.
Afterward, news reports said he “looked drained.” “I felt it was one of the most important things I’ve ever done in my life,” he says now. The archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Francis George, called to thank him, he says.
Since then, he has become part of the country’s informal network of prominent Catholic death penalty opponents. He phoned Malloy to offer his congratulations on the passage of Connecticut’s bill and has told California Gov. Jerry Brown — who had at one time considered becoming a priest — that he supports anti-death-penalty efforts in his state.
Before the vote in Connecticut, the Society of St. Egidio, an international group of lay Catholics based in Rome, sent letters to key Catholic members of the state Senate, appealing to their consciences. “I am sure that it will be possible,” the letter said, enticingly, “to create a special event at the Coliseum in Rome to tell the world that Connecticut has taken the lead to abolition. … The world will be able to love your state even more than now.” Mario Marazziti, St. Egidio’s spokesman, said the letter helped to swing undecided votes in support of abolition.
Malloy isn’t interested in such appeals to vanity or legacy. He wants to work on education reform. “Nobody remembers who the governor of Wisconsin was when Wisconsin outlawed the death penalty in 1853.” But on the morality of death as punishment for crimes, Malloy believes the Gospels contain something like the first word. “Jesus Christ — he laid out what the standard was.”
When voters step into the voting booth, many feel the pull of both politics and religion, even though most politicians and the news media seem to prefer ignoring the latter. Three important religion-in-politics issues come to my mind immediately.
The first is Christian nationalism. Most Christians accept that America is a secular nation in which religion is to be practiced without government interference. But there are a significant number of Christians who believe the United States was formed to be a Christian nation.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Roman Catholic archbishop of New York who has spearheaded challenges to health insurance plans with mandatory contraceptive coverage.
They believe it is their destiny and the will of God that Christians should rule over non-Christians. The aim of these Christian nationalists is control. They reject the principle of the separation of church and state. In that sense, they are not benign.
To achieve their goal of Christian nationalism, they promote sympathetic candidates and barter with votes. To win elections, many moderate candidates curry their favor. Thus, the reality of this Christian nationalism is a rightful topic in our political debate. Its fair to ask where politicians stand on this religious/political issue.
The second is the onslaught against the rights of homosexual, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons by religious organizations. The recent Proposition 8 controversy in California is a case in point.
The two largest donors to the campaign to defeat Proposition 8 were Roman Catholics (through the Knights of Columbus) and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormons). Neither broke any law in providing funding for the anti-Prop 8 campaign, but religion was a central factor in their motivation. Both religious bodies opposed the granting of marriage rights to gay people because of church doctrine.
Catholics and Mormons can believe whatever they like, but when they propose that their doctrinal beliefs be made the law of the land, their beliefs become proper subjects of discussion in the political arena.
The third issue has arisen in the very recent struggle over insurance coverage of contraceptives for women. While a number of religious groups have protested a federal requirement that insurance programs paid for by employers include coverage for contraceptives, the loudest voice of protest has come from the Roman Catholic Church.
Roman Catholics have long-held canon regarding human sexuality. According to Catholic teaching, sexual activity has only one purpose, procreation. Sexual intercourse without the intent of procreation is sinful. Sexual activity for simple enjoyment is not acceptable.
Thus, the use of any kind of contraceptive by either a male or a female is forbidden. Further, sex-related sin is a serious matter. It is a primary expression of lust, which is one of the Catholic Churchs seven deadly sins.
In Catholic thinking, contraceptives promote sexual activities that have no positive purpose. So, in the name of religious freedom, the Catholic hierachy argues against any participation in the distribution of contraceptives in any way. They are probably raising a valid constitutional issue (though one that is not as clear-cut as Church defenders insist, since religious institutions in the United States must operate under civil laws).
Yet, if we understand Catholic theology, we understand the Churchs stance: the Vatican instructs Roman Catholics that sexual activity is for procreation only; when that purpose is thwarted, the will of God has been violated.
One notable result of this teaching, whether intentional or not, is the large Catholic family, raising another issue where politics addressing the common good conflict with religious edicts fulfilling a theological purpose.
In the past, large families offered both social and economic benefits, but we live in a changing world where population is exploding. Six billion people on the Earth quickly become seven billion and eight billion, putting stress on the planets survivability.
We talk about pollution of air, land and water. We note the impact of burning of fossil fuels. However, we sidestep the number one problem of the world, the exploding human population which is often driven by religious conviction. In other words, the Roman Catholic Church is an important factor in the pollution of the planet through the promotion of population growth.
Roman Catholics are not alone. One of the marks of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the large family, which is promoted by church teachings. Thus, Mormons are the fastest growing religion in America, though with little growth beyond birthrate. In the world today, the birthrate in Muslim nations also is unsustainable.
In part because of these religious teachings, population growth in India, Africa and Central and South America is pushing life beyond the resources to sustain the people. Only China has shown any willingness to address the problem of unsustainable population growth.
Can religious practices that actively promote rapid population growth be ignored in the name of religious freedom? Religious beliefs and practices that threaten the earth as a place for human habitation cannot be left out of the political dialogue.
In the United States, there is no religious test for running for public office. The Bill of Rights keeps government out of the religion business, but it does not keep voters from taking into account religious considerations.
When people run for public office, the voting population has a right to know how the candidates religion will potentially affect public policy. In that sense, the Bill of Rights does not ban religion from the public square.
When a candidate enters the public square, his/her personal religion is not left behind. Voters have valid reasons to ask religious questions.
The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net .
A little over eight years ago, I came out as a gay man to my family and friends. Amid this revelation, I continued to practice my faith as a Roman Catholic. It was at this time in my life that I came to witness the overwhelming support that Catholics have for LGBT people. In my role as a religion teacher, a priest once informed me that a parent had expressed concern over having a gay man teach religious education. The priest called a meeting of the parish on a weeknight and asked that anyone who had concerns related to my teaching should speak up publicly. The night of the meeting, I entered a packed Church and slowly made my way to a pew where I sat next to my father. As the meeting began, one-by-one congregants rose and expressed their real concern: why this was even an issue. The reality is that my experience from nearly a decade ago is representative of the vast majority of Roman Catholics. We live in a Church that is called to welcome and affirm people’s humanity and identity without exception. It was in reflecting on this faith experience that I had such a difficult time reconciling Cardinal Dolan’s comments with the Catholic faith that I live and experience every day.
The past two weeks have been filled with an outpouring of support that I could never have expected when I resigned from the Junior Board of Catholic Charities. In writing a letter to the organization’s leadership, I sought to articulate my concerns regarding Cardinal Dolan’s positions on issues affecting the lives of LGBT people. I am particularly concerned by the hurtful language used by some of the Church’s hierarchy when speaking about the LGBT community. As a Catholic, I feel strongly that statements made by the Cardinal and some in the Church’s hierarchy regarding LGBT people are not only out of touch with the lived experience of many Catholics, gay and straight, but that they also violate Gospel values of inclusion. It further saddens me to think that the voices of some bishops are seen as representative of all Catholic people when in reality the vast majority of Catholics support their LGBT brothers and sisters, as evidenced by a growing number of studies. A recent study released by GLAAD showed more than 50 percent of Catholic voices presented in the media offer a negative view on LGBT issues when in reality a majority of American Catholics support LGBT equality.
Studies aside, the lived experiences of most Catholics serves as a testament to the stark disparity between some Catholics in positions of power and everyday Church-going Catholics on these issues. The notion that Cardinal Dolan would avoid responding to a plea for help for homeless LGBT youth is a deviation from Catholic social teaching. In 1997 the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) refused to be silent in the face of an injustice with their pastoral message “Always Our Children.” In this statement, they recognized the link between homelessness and LGBT youth, writing:
“A shocking number of homosexual youth end up on the streets because of rejection by their families. This, and other external pressures, can place young people at a greater risk for self-destructive behaviors like substance abuse and suicide.”
The fact that those in positions of power in the Catholic Church have ignored the document’s teaching is alarming and a reminder that Catholics in the pews and clergy who are allies must stand and be a voice for the most vulnerable among us. Last week, two Catholic parishes in Seattle, Wash., demonstrated great courage when they refused to allow their parishes participate in a signature drive being organized by the National Organization for Marriage, a leading anti-LGBT group. By this act, these two priests — along with many other pastors, deacons, sisters, brothers and many who work in the church — demonstrated that Catholic social teaching calls us to witness the beauty and diversity of God’s creation in a way that respects what makes each of us unique in the eyes of God as beautifully articulated in “Always Our Children”:
“God loves every person as a unique individual. Sexual identity helps to define the unique persons we are, and one component of our sexual identity is sexual orientation. Thus, our total personhood is more encompassing than sexual orientation. Human beings see the appearance, but the Lord looks into the heart” (cf. 1 Samuel 16:7).
As Catholics and others listen to the messages coming from those in positions of power in the Church, I hope they will realize that the heavy-handed approach to LGBT issues is not shared by all Catholics. Although those in the hierarchy may have the pulpit, there are far more pews than there will ever be pulpits. As Catholics speak out and call upon the Church to live out its call to be a beacon of social justice and love, those in the hierarchy will begin to see another way in which Christ has risen — he has risen from the silence and has cried out for equality. We can only hope that those in the Church leadership will turn and listen to our voices, so as to see that our prophetic witness is merely asking them to look into our hearts and see the people God has created us to be.
For this reason I have decided to launch a petition on Change.org to be presented to Cardinal Timothy Dolan to let him know that Catholics stand in solidarity with the homeless LGBT youth of the Ali Forney Center and all LGBT youth in need. Through this Change.org action, the voices of gay and straight Catholics will unite, will break through the silence, and will call upon those in positions of power in the Church to see that the people of God will not allow the cries for help of God’s children to go unheard and unanswered. So please join me in signing this petition, so that we might invite Cardinal Dolan into a dialogue about this important issue that faces us all.
Let your voice be heard, sign the petition and call the Church to live the Gospel message of inclusion.
Religion in politics is a touchy topic in the United States, but Americans have a legitimate right to know how a candidate’s religious views may affect public policy – on issues like population growth, anti-gay discrimination and Christian supremacy – says Rev. Howard Bess.
By the Rev. Howard Bess
When voters step into the voting booth, many feel the pull of both politics and religion, even though most politicians and the news media seem to prefer ignoring the latter. Three important religion-in-politics issues come to my mind immediately.
The first is Christian nationalism. Most Christians accept that America is a secular nation in which religion is to be practiced without government interference. But there are a significant number of Christians who believe the United States was formed to be a Christian nation.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Roman Catholic archbishop of New York who has spearheaded challenges to health insurance plans with mandatory contraceptive coverage ,
They believe it is their destiny and the will of God that Christians should rule over non-Christians. The aim of these Christian nationalists is control. They reject the principle of the separation of church and state. In that sense, they are not benign.
To achieve their goal of Christian nationalism, they promote sympathetic candidates and barter with votes. To win elections, many moderate candidates curry their favor. Thus, the reality of this Christian nationalism is a rightful topic in our political debate. It’s fair to ask where politicians stand on this religious/political issue.
The second is the onslaught against the rights of homosexual, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered persons by religious organizations. The recent Proposition 8 controversy in California is a case in point.
The two largest donors to the campaign to defeat Proposition 8 were Roman Catholics (through the Knights of Columbus) and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormons). Neither broke any law in providing funding for the anti-Prop 8 campaign, but religion was a central factor in their motivation. Both religious bodies opposed the granting of marriage rights to gay people because of church doctrine.
Catholics and Mormons can believe whatever they like, but when they propose that their doctrinal beliefs be made the law of the land, their beliefs become proper subjects of discussion in the political arena.
The third issue has arisen in the very recent struggle over insurance coverage of contraceptives for women. While a number of religious groups have protested a federal requirement that insurance programs paid for by employers include coverage for contraceptives, the loudest voice of protest has come from the Roman Catholic Church.
Roman Catholics have long-held canon regarding human sexuality. According to Catholic teaching, sexual activity has only one purpose, procreation. Sexual intercourse without the intent of procreation is sinful. Sexual activity for simple enjoyment is not acceptable.
Thus, the use of any kind of contraceptive by either a male or a female is forbidden. Further, sex-related sin is a serious matter. It is a primary expression of lust, which is one of the Catholic Church’s seven deadly sins.
In Catholic thinking, contraceptives promote sexual activities that have no positive purpose. So, in the name of religious freedom, the Catholic hierachy argues against any participation in the distribution of contraceptives in any way. They are probably raising a valid constitutional issue (though one that is not as clear-cut as Church defenders insist, since religious institutions in the United States must operate under civil laws).
Yet, if we understand Catholic theology, we understand the Church’s stance: the Vatican instructs Roman Catholics that sexual activity is for procreation only; when that purpose is thwarted, the will of God has been violated.
One notable result of this teaching, whether intentional or not, is the large Catholic family, raising another issue where politics addressing the common good conflict with religious edicts fulfilling a theological purpose.
In the past, large families offered both social and economic benefits, but we live in a changing world where population is exploding. Six billion people on the Earth quickly become seven billion and eight billion, putting stress on the planet’s survivability.
We talk about pollution of air, land and water. We note the impact of burning of fossil fuels. However, we sidestep the number one problem of the world, the exploding human population which is often driven by religious conviction. In other words, the Roman Catholic Church is an important factor in the pollution of the planet through the promotion of population growth.
Roman Catholics are not alone. One of the marks of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the large family, which is promoted by church teachings. Thus, Mormons are the fastest growing religion in America, though with little growth beyond birthrate. In the world today, the birthrate in Muslim nations also is unsustainable.
In part because of these religious teachings, population growth in India, Africa and Central and South America is pushing life beyond the resources to sustain the people. Only China has shown any willingness to address the problem of unsustainable population growth.
Can religious practices that actively promote rapid population growth be ignored in the name of religious freedom? Religious beliefs and practices that threaten the earth as a place for human habitation cannot be left out of the political dialogue.
In the United States, there is no religious test for running for public office. The Bill of Rights keeps government out of the religion business, but it does not keep voters from taking into account religious considerations.
When people run for public office, the voting population has a right to know how the candidate’s religion will potentially affect public policy. In that sense, the Bill of Rights does not ban religion from the public square.
When a candidate enters the public square, his/her personal religion is not left behind. Voters have valid reasons to ask religious questions.
The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net .
One wishes the stories were more nuanced. Smelling something by which one could strike a blow at the Church, writers are gloating over the failures of a small portion of the Catholic clergy, conveniently overlooking similar misdemeanors of a bigger number of non-Catholic ministers. Which did the writers have in mind — the Roman Catholic Church? Its teachings? The Roman Catholic faithful, laity, or clergy?
Some writers express surprise — and unconcealed supercilious snobbery — when some Roman Catholics behave in apparently “un-Catholic” ways. One should never forget human nature, which is prone to evil. And actually, without intending to, this is indirect praise of the Catholic Faith, which challenges all baptized believers to be better than their peers.
In theological terms, the baptized Catholic is “reborn” as God’s child and he “belongs” to Christ. He is part and member of the Church, the Ekklesia or assembly of free men gathered to offer corporate worship to God and continue Christ’s redemptive work. He is vitally bound to the risen Christ in much the same way, though not in the same degree, that the latter enjoys an intimate oneness with the God the Father and the Holy Spirit. In St. Paul’s words, he is the temple of God. Ideally, when people meet a baptized Catholic, they should also meet God and feel His presence.
This is mystical language, but not a figment of the mind at all. A baptized Catholic is a totally new person renewed in the deepest core of his being, cleansed of sin, and given a new heart and a new world-view. Nicodemus, a Jewish leader, visited the Lord at night and heard words of utmost importance, but which were far beyond his comprehension. Our Lord insisted, “I tell you most solemnly, unless a man is born from above, he cannot see God’s kingdom.”
This birth is neither physical, nor psychological, as Nicodemus mistakenly thought, but start of an entirely new life. The baptized Catholic is completely committed to Christ, a commitment that is more than marital union, for this union is broken when one of the spouses dies. Commitment to Christ is for eternity and lasts beyond death. This means conversion, our English translation of the Greek metanoia, or change of mind, a turning away from the merely human or material, especially the sinful, life — and continued loyalty to the Redeemer.
This calls for faith, which is more than mental reasoning or agreeing that Christ’s doctrine does make sense. In biblical language, “faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.” Or, as Blaise Pascal wrote, “it is the reasoning of the heart, which the mind knows not.” It is “fire… not of the philosophers and the learned, [but] certitude, feeling of joy, peace.” It is more than an unbreakable confidence that God takes care of us, that Christ will not let us down. Neither is it a vague religious sentiment that makes us feel good and strong within us when we avoid wrong and do good.
It is, thus, not enough to visit the shrine of Our Lady of Unceasing Help in Baclaran to obtain her favors, or jostle to get into position and help shoulder the image of the Black Nazarene of Quiapo. It is not enough to give substantial financial donations to charitable institutions. It is not enough to faithfully assist at the Sunday Holy Eucharistic Sacrifice. Rather, we must live differently.
This is impossible without divine grace given in baptism. But baptismal grace must be nurtured, its inspirations must be pursued. It requires our cooperation. St. Augustine wrote, “God who created you without you, cannot save you without you.”
One, therefore, should not blame the Church or its teachings for the shortcomings and misdeeds of some Catholics. This is precisely the weakness and the strength of Christ’s call. It is a call of love, which never forces, and awaits a free response, a free return of love. And one can always refuse Him. But once accepted, no force is stronger than love — consider the Christian martyrs.
Who is a Roman Catholic? One who loves to the point of dying for the beloved.
Rev. Geoffrey Angeles is the only Manitoban and lone priest among the three Canadians commissioned to set the new Catholic liturgy to music.
Every time Rev. Geoffrey Angeles leads his congregation at mass, they reply with melodies that were once floating around in his head.
That’s because the priest of Virden’s Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church composed a setting of the new English translation of the Catholic mass, unveiled in Canada last November.
“Right now when I hear my congregation singing my music, and they’re actually singing it, I feel a sense of relief and accomplishment,” says the bubbly Angeles, who composed the music for the new Roman Missal during his final year of seminary four years ago.
The 34-year-old Winnipeg native is the only Manitoban and lone priest among the three Canadians commissioned by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) to set the new liturgy to music. The new compositions help parishioners associate the changes in the liturgy with new melodies.
The other two settings were composed by John Dawson of Toronto, and Michel Guimont, the organist at the Roman Catholic cathedral in Ottawa. The trio each composed the acclamation parts of the mass, which the entire congregation sings as a response during the mass.
Angeles’ setting will be used by the Archdiocese of Winnipeg for the next year, as well as dioceses across Canada and in the United States.
“I would hazard a guess that his is the most used of the three,” says Rev. Bill Burke, director of the national liturgy office for the CCCB.
“People just respond to it and they like it.”
Last fall, Angeles travelled across Western Canada introducing the new mass settings to Roman Catholics, taking time away from his duties in his western Manitoba parish, which includes a mission church 45 minutes away from Virden in the tiny hamlet of Grand Clairiere.
“What I’ve been doing is not promoting my own mass settings, but all the settings,” says Angeles, director of sacred music for the Archdiocese of Winnipeg and a member of the National Council for Liturgical Music.
“For at least one year, the diocese should learn just one setting so everyone can learn the new words.”
His initial fears that the new music might be too difficult for smaller churches to sing have been put to rest, as the choirs from large and small parishes have adapted the music to their contexts.
“The melodies are very singable. The complexities come in the harmonies and the obligato,” says Angeles, a graduate of Kelvin High School, who sings tenor in a community choir in nearby Oak Lake.
Angeles set out to reflect the words in the new liturgy and bring out aspects of the text. His composition, set in the key of C, employs an ascending scale to move the people toward God.
“C is the home key for everyone. It’s the sense of being and home and we’re being lifted out and we can see God in our liturgy,” says Angeles, now halfway through a master’s degree in liturgy at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Ind.
Although Angeles is humble about his accomplishments as a first-time published composer, others aren’t shy about singing his praises.
“It’s a magnificent piece of music because it musically expresses theology in the various use of sounds,” says Rev. Darren Gurr of St. Gianna’s Roman Catholic Church, and director for liturgy of the Archdiocese of Winnipeg.
“It’s truly wonderful for Winnipeg to have this person doing this for the church.” Although this might be his first published composition, it likely won’t be his last, says Burke, who was mesmerized by Angeles’ talent at the piano when he happened to hear the Winnipegger while visiting the seminary years ago.
“I just sat there and listened and thought his soul was in his fingers,” says Burke, who recommended to the CCCB that Angeles compose a mass setting.
“I think you’re going to hear Geoffrey called upon by a good number of Catholic liturgical publishers.”
After only a few months, the choral responses in Angeles’ settings have become familiar to the choir and people of St. Gianna’s, says music director Richard Konrad.
“It’s very singable and it’s an excellent (vocal) range. It’s very approachable,” says Konrad, who for a brief stint was Angeles’ piano teacher when the priest was an undergraduate student at Concord College in Winnipeg, now part of Canadian Mennonite University.
That’s exactly the response Angeles was hoping for. Although he loves singing and playing piano, he takes seriously his call to the ministry and wants his music to reflect his understanding of liturgy.
“I’d like to say I bring the pastoral side to it,” he says.
“From the pastoral side, I know the needs of the people. Music is a good experience, so they’re caught up in God’s transcendence.”
brenda@suderman.com
Listen to the mass
Hear Rev. Geoffrey Angeles and the choir of St. Thomas More Roman Catholic church in Edmonton sings the Angeles’ mass at www.archwinnipeg.ca
New Roman Missal
The English translation of the Roman Missal (or Catholic mass) was adopted by Roman Catholic churches in 11 English speaking countries in November, 2011. A French translation is due out in about three years.
This is the third English translation of the Latin mass since the Second Vatican Council called for the use of the language of the people in worship.
This translation from Latin to English is more literal than previous translations, and results in changes to some familiar responses, such as replying “And with your Spirit” when the priest says “The Lord be with you.” Previously, the congregation replied: “And also with you.”
Three Canadian composers were commissioned to write new musical settings for the new translation to help parishioners learn the new mass.
NEWARK — A busload of high school students from Blessed Sacrament and St. Francis Catholic parishes will travel to Washington, D.C., this weekend to attend the 39th annual March for Life.
Along with an estimated 300,000 people, they will attend rallies and talks and participate in the march on the National Mall to the Supreme Court building on Capitol Hill.
This will be the ninth year for Father Jonathan Wilson, of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, to take part in the event.
“It is a very powerful experience for high school students, who, maybe for the first time, will publicly witness to the sanctity of life in a public rally,” Wilson said. “They will see the church responding to the threats against innocent human lives.”
After they arrive in the nation’s capital Saturday, they will do some sightseeing before they meet with a busload of teens from St. Catharine Catholic Church, which is in Columbus.
Together, the group of 110 will make a banner that they will carry in the march.
Bob Moraine is the local organizer and youth minister at St. Francis and St. Catharine. Moraine sees the March for Life as a youth movement to peacefully, prayerfully and joyfully take a stand publicly on the behalf of the unborn. He said 90 percent of march participants are age 25 or younger.
“For us as Roman Catholics, our respect for life from conception to natural death is of utmost importance in our belief in the sanctity of all human life,” Moraine said.
Moraine has had no trouble filling the seats on the bus. In fact, he has a waiting list.
“It is very interesting that young men are standing up for the right to life,” Moraine said. “It is not exclusively a woman’s issue.”
Kate Stickle, of Blessed Sacrament, is one of the chaperones for the trip. This will be her fourth year participating.
“This is a grassroots effort and a very peaceful way to protest against abortion,” Stickle said. “I believe it is an opportunity for these young people to see that we are part of something greater when we join thousands of youths in Washington, D.C., to encourage the pro-life movement in our nation. It is a very important step we need to be part of to make change happen.”
In addition to the Monday march itself, the group also will attend the vigil Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on Sunday. Pilgrims from all over the nation will pray for an end to abortion. It is the largest Catholic Mass celebrated in the U.S. each year.
The number of seminarians, deacons, priests, bishops and cardinals participating is so great that the processional entering the basilica took 45 minutes to complete in 2011, Moraine said.
After the Mass, the local group will walk to the Catholic University of America and sleep on the gym floor. The next morning, the group will travel by bus back to the basilica for a Mass with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. They then will leave for a rally on the National Mall before the march starts at 1 p.m.
“No matter what the weather, we will be there along with a mass of humanity,” Moraine said. “I’ve marched in 5 degrees and a downpour of rain.”
When people ask about the articles of faith Roman Catholics profess, where is a person to begin? After all, Catholic doctrine covers a great deal of ground — there are Catholic beliefs about the Virgin Mary, articles of Roman Catholic faith on Purgatory, Catholic doctrines on Papal Infallibility as well as dogmas about the sacraments. But what are the most basic beliefs of Roman Catholicism? This video clip will give you an introduction – www.crossroadsinitiative.com
