Pope`s new book shares signiÀ cance of the Nativity

Pope`s new book shares signiÀ cance of the Nativity

DECEMBER 2012
T H E
V O L U M E 3 0, N U M B E R 11
O F F I C I A L
P U B L I C A T I O N
O F
T H E
D I O C E S E
O F
A U S T I N
Pope’s new book shares signicance of the Nativity
BY CAROL GLATZ AND
FRANCIS X. ROCCA
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
The Nativity story, like the
whole story of Christ, is not
merely an event in the past, but
has unfolding signicance for
people today, with implications
for such issues as the limits of
political power and the purpose
of human freedom, Pope Benedict writes in his third and nal
volume on the life and teachings
of Jesus.
“Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives” is only 132
Austin Diocese
6225 Hwy. 290 East
Austin, Texas 78723
Periodical
Postage Paid
at Austin, Texas
POPE BENEDICT XVI prays in front of the Nativity
scene in St. Peter’s Square after leading vespers in St.
Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. The pope’s book “Jesus
of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives” is being published
simultaneously around the world in 21 languages. (CNS
photo by Paul Haring)
pages long, yet it includes wideranging reections on such matters as the signicance of the
Virgin Birth and the distinctive
views of nature in ancient pagan
and Judeo-Christian cultures.
The book was formally presented at the Vatican Nov. 20,
and was scheduled for publication in English and eight other
languages in 50 countries.
In the book, Pope Benedict examines Jesus’ birth and
childhood as recounted in the
Gospels of Sts. Matthew and
Luke. His interpretation of the
biblical texts refers frequently to
the work of other scholars and
draws on a variety of academic
elds, including linguistics, political science, art history and the
history of science.
The book’s publication completes the three-volume “Jesus
of Nazareth” series, which also
includes “From the Baptism in
the Jordan to the Transguration” (2007) and “Holy Week:
From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection” (2011).
Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said
at the book launch that the
three books are the “fruit of
a long inner journey” by Joseph Ratzinger, whose personal
views they represent. While
much of what the pope says is
accepted Catholic dogma, the
texts themselves are not part of
the church’s Magisterium and
their arguments are free to be
disputed, Father Lombardi said.
In his new book, the pope
argues that Matthew and Luke,
in their Gospel accounts, set
out to “write history, real history that had actually happened,
admittedly interpreted and understood in the context of the
word of God.”
The pope calls the virgin
birth and the resurrection “cornerstones” of Christian faith,
since they show God acting
directly and decisively in the
material world.
“These two moments are a
scandal to the modern spirit,”
which expects and allows God to
act only in ideas, thoughts and the
spiritual world, not the material,
he writes. Yet it is not illogical or
irrational to suppose that God
possesses creative powers and
power over matter, otherwise
“then he is simply not God.”
The pope enriches the Gospel accounts with personal reections as well as questions and
challenges for his readers.
For example, considering
the angel’s appearance to the
shepherds, who then “went with
haste” to meet the child Savior,
the pope asked “How many
Christians make haste today,
where the things of God are
concerned?”
Pope Benedict examines the
political context of the time of
Jesus’ birth, which featured both
HELPING
HANDS
SANCTITY OF
MARRIAGE
Parishes partner with
CRS to help others near
and far.
Page 7
The church will not
back down on defending marriage.
Page 9
BISHOP’S
ESPAÑOL
INTERVIEW
Las Lecturas del
Evangelio de Adviento
nos preparan para
recibir a Cristo.
Página 23
Advent prepares us
for the coming
of Christ.
Pages 16-17
the so-called “Pax Romana” ––
the widespread peace brought
by the Roman ruler Caesar Augustus –– and King Herod’s
thirst for power, which led to
the slaughter of the innocents.
“Pax Christi is not necessarily opposed to Pax Augusti,” he
writes. “Yet the peace of Christ
surpasses the peace of Augustus
as heaven surpasses earth.”
A key topic in the book is
the role of human freedom in
God’s divine plan for humanity.
“The only way (God) can
redeem man, who was created
free, is by means of a free ‘yes’
to his will,” the pope writes.
It is precisely “the moment of
free, humble yet magnanimous
obedience,” such as Mary and
Joseph showed when listening
to God, “in which the loftiest
choice of human freedom is
made.”
Jesus’ birth, life, death and
resurrection is a story lled with
contradiction, paradox and mystery, the pope writes, and “remains a sign of contradiction
today.”
“What proves Jesus to be
the true sign of God is he takes
upon himself the contradiction
of God,” Pope Benedict writes,
“he draws it to himself all the
way to the contradiction of the
cross.”
“Jesus of Nazareth: The
Infancy Narratives” can be
ordered at www. Amazon.com.
2
THE MISSION OF THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT
As the ofcial newspaper for the Roman Catholic Diocese
of Austin, the CATHOLIC SPIRIT is dedicated to providing information, education and formation for the Catholic community
of Central Texas. This mission calls for the newspaper:
• to provide readers with an understanding of our Catholic
faith and traditions;
• to be a primary source of information on Catholic issues
relevant to the community;
• to be a unifying element for faith communities, both rural
and urban, throughout Central Texas;
• to show respect for and appreciation of all cultural groups
and traditions;
• to emphasize topics afrming the Catholic community and
life, while acknowledging the humanity of the community and
examining, with courage, topics that challenge and encourage
growth in the faith;
• to carry a commitment to social justice that will support
the renewal of the church in Central Texas.
VOICES
Evangelizing those ‘within the fold’
BY JOHN F. FINK
GUEST COLUMNIST
The Synod of Bishops’ meeting on the “new
evangelization” has been completed and the Year
of Faith is now under way. It began on Oct. 11 and
will continue until Nov. 24, 2013.
It’s hardly a secret why Pope Benedict XVI
called for both of these events. As he has pointed
out repeatedly, the world (especially in the West)
continues to become more secularized. Fewer
Catholics are practicing their faith. Secularism is
HOW TO SUBMIT INFORMATION
on the rise.
Deadline for submission of articles or information for the
Two days before the Synod of Bishops started,
CATHOLIC SPIRIT is the 10th of the month for publication in the
the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released
following month’s edition.
a study which showed that nearly 20 percent of
Deadline for the January issue is Dec. 10.
the American public are now unafliated with any
You can submit material in any of the following ways:
• E-mail to [email protected].
religion. Previous Pew studies have revealed that
• Mail to CATHOLIC SPIRIT, 6225 Hwy. 290 E., Austin, TX 78723. more than 30 million Americans now call themFor additional information, call (512) 949-2443 or e-mail selves former Catholics –– second in size only to
us at [email protected]. CATHOLIC SPIRIT has those who call themselves Catholics.
unrestricted editing rights.
However, it’s misleading to think of the Catholic Church as the largest denomination because
HOW TO SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
surveys show that only 17 percent of Catholics
Readers are encouraged to express their opinions on
articles published in CATHOLIC SPIRIT. Letters to the editor pro- attend Mass every weekend. Even those who do
attend Mass weekly often have only an elementary
vide a forum of discussion for the local Catholic community.
The views expressed in the letters do not necessarily repre- understanding of the teachings of the church.
sent those of the editor or the publisher of CATHOLIC SPIRIT.
In his talk to Catholic lawyers and judges at the
Letters to the editor should be limited to 250 words.
dinner following the Red Mass Oct. 9, Auxiliary
Name and full address of the writer must be provided,
Bishop Christopher J. Coyne, apostolic administrathough name will be withheld from publication on request.
tor of the Indianapolis Archdiocese, emphasized
We reserve the right to edit or withhold all letters. Please
that the new evangelization must target those fore-mail to [email protected] or mail to Edimer Catholics and Catholics who are not practicing
tor, Catholic Spirit, 6225 Hwy. 290 E., Austin, TX 78723.
their faith.
It’s common for Catholic teachings to be ridiHOW TO SUBSCRIBE
culed these days, especially by secularized young
Subscription rates are $12 for one year. To subscribe,
people. The number of weddings in the church
send check payable to Catholic Spirit to CATHOLIC SPIRIT,
has decreased alarmingly as couples cohabitate
6225 Hwy. 290 E., Austin, TX 78723. Members of a parish
in the Austin Diocese may receive the newspaper for a rebefore marriage.
duced rate. Contact your parish staff for more information.
Matthew Kelly, who heads the Dynamic Catholic Institute in Cincinnati, has written a new book
ADDRESS CHANGES OR DUPLICATE MAILINGS
titled “The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic.” He
Send all address changes to CATHOLIC SPIRIT, 6225 Hwy.
writes that research has shown that only 6.4 percent
290 E., Austin, TX 78723. Please include your parish’s
of registered parishioners contribute 80 percent of
name and city. If receiving duplicate copies of the
the volunteer hours in a parish, only 6.8 percent
CATHOLIC SPIRIT, call (512) 949-2443 or e-mail
of registered parishioners donate 80 percent of
[email protected].
nancial contributions, and there is an 84 percent
overlap between the two groups.
STAFF
He has rounded off the 6.4 percent and the
Publisher: Most Rev. Joe S. Vásquez, Bishop of Austin
6.8 percent to 7 percent, which he considers the
Editor: Shelley Metcalf; (512) 949-2400,
percentage of dynamic Catholics in the U.S.
[email protected]
Considering what the Catholic Church has
Assistant Editor: Christian R. González; (512) 949-2400,
been able to contribute with only 7 percent of
[email protected]
its members, Kelly writes, think of what it could
Advertising: Shelley Metcalf;
accomplish if 14 percent or more of its members
(512) 949-2400, [email protected]
could be considered dynamic Catholics.
Spanish translation: Beatriz Ferrer Welsh
If you’re wondering what the four signs of a
Columnists: Barbara Budde, Mary Lou Gibson and Rev.
dynamic Catholic are, they are prayer, study, genTadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D.
Correspondents: Cristina Lopez, Amy Moraczewski, Enedelia erosity and evangelization. Kelly’s book devotes a
Obregón, Michele Chan Santos and Mary P. Walker
Catholic Spirit subscribes to Catholic News Service
(CNS) and is a member of the Catholic Press Association.
Copyright 2012 by the Austin Diocese. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any editorial content, photograph,
art or design is prohibited without written permission of the
publisher CATHOLIC SPIRIT (ISSN 0896-2715) is published 11
times annually (monthly except one issue in July/August)
by the Austin Diocese. Bishop Joe S. Vásquez, publisher,
6225 Hwy. 290 E., Austin, TX 78723. Periodicals Postage
Paid at Austin, Texas.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Catholic Spirit,
6225 Hwy. 290 E., Austin, Texas 78723.
C ATHOLIC S PIRIT
chapter to each of those four signs.
The Pew Forum might tell us that Catholics
continue to comprise 22 percent of the American
population, but the number of active Catholics, to
say nothing of dynamic Catholics, is far lower. We
are actually a contracting church in this country.
And yet, we’re doing far better than the Catholic Church in Europe, where weekend Mass attendance in Italy is 11 percent, in France 4 percent
and in Germany 12 percent. England, of all places,
where the Catholic Church was persecuted for
centuries, is the only bright spot. For the rst time
since Henry VIII, it is now the dominant religion
there.
So it isn’t surprising that Pope Benedict has
decided that we must have a new evangelization.
We need something to re us up. As the pope told
the bishops at the beginning of the synod, “Being
tepid is the greatest danger for Christians. We pray
that faith becomes like a re in us and that it will
set alight others.”
In his homily at the Mass that opened the synod, the pope said “the church exists to evangelize”
by sharing the Gospel with people who have never
heard of Christ, strengthening the faith of those
who already have been baptized, and reaching out
to those who “have drifted away from the church.”
It’s those who have drifted away from the
church, either calling themselves former Catholics
or just failing to practice their faith that we must
make efforts to reclaim. We don’t do that, though,
by watering down the church’s teachings.
Rather, we must try to make them see that belief and adherence to the teachings of the church
are the best ways for people to nd happiness ––
eternal happiness in heaven, to be sure, but also
happiness here on earth.
John F. Fink is editor emeritus of The Criterion, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.
TO ALL OUR READERS from the Catholic Spirit Staff: May your Advent be lled
with hope, peace, joy and love! (CNS
graphic)
Father Peter Higgins died on Nov. 20
Father Peter Higgins died Nov. 20 in San Antonio at the age
of 83. He was born April 4, 1929, in Ireland, and was ordained
a priest at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Waterford, Ireland, for the
Archdiocese of San Antonio where he served from 1956 to 1982.
He then became a priest of the Victoria Diocese and retired in the
Austin Diocese. He served at St. Paul Parish in Horseshoe Bay
and Our Lady of the Lake in Sunrise Beach. He is survived by his
sister-in-law, Teresa Heekin, and numerous nieces, nephews and
cousins.
The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated by Bishop David E.
Fellhauer of Victoria on Nov. 26 at Holy Family Parish in Victoria,
and burial will take place in Ireland. Words of comfort may be shared
with the family at www.colonialfuneralhomevictoria.com.
December 2012
CENTRAL TEXAS
3
Speaker says new evangelization starts with us
BY ENEDELIA J. OBREGÓN
SENIOR CORRESPONDENT
The pope may have declared
a new evangelization, but it’s up
to the Catholics in the pews to
get the job done. That was the
message from Ralph Martin,
who was recently named a consultor to the Pontical Council
for the New Evangelization, and
spent two days at St. William
Parish in Round Rock in early
November addressing the topic.
Martin, president of Renewal Ministries, an organization
devoted to Catholic renewal and
evangelization, discussed “The
New Evangelization: What is
it and how can we partake in
it” and “We’re in a War: How
to protect ourselves and our
families and how to take the
offensive.”
Martin is also the author of
several books, the director of
graduate theology programs in
the new evangelization, and an
associate professor of theology
at Sacred Heart Major Seminary
in the Archdiocese of Detroit.
Martin came to St. William directly from Rome, where he
had participated as a presenter
at the Synod on the New Evangelization.
Father Dean Wilhelm, pastor at St. William, said he invited
Martin to Central Texas after
meeting him while on sabbatical
in Rome two years ago.
“I was really moved by his
idea of a new evangelization
moving from maintenance to
mission,” Father Wilhelm said.
“I am as convinced as Pope
John Paul II was and Pope
Benedict XVI is that the church
really is in need of a new evangelization to ght the effects of
secularism in the church.”
The major shift, Father Wilhelm noted, is the target and
the missionaries are one and the
same: every baptized Catholic.
“The liturgy is calling us to a
personal relationship with Christ
and sharing that with others. It’s
new territory for many Catholics
even though it’s been part of
our faith tradition from the beginning of the church,” Father
Wilhelm said.
Cindi Messner, who is “trying to learn everything” she can
about the Catholic faith and life,
said it is not the rst time she
had heard about evangelizing
others.
“I had thought, ‘Oh, I can’t
do that,’” she said. “But if you
have a joyful heart, you can do
it.”
Leticia Adams, who came
into the church three years ago
after going through the Rite of
Christian Initiation for Adults
process, said she’s ready to
evangelize.
“I had a big conversion,”
she said. “I talk about my faith
all the time. I can’t stop.”
For background, Martin explained that the need for the
new evangelization grew from
confusion about what was called
for in Vatican II decree on
Christian unity or ecumenism.
“It left many Catholics wondering if all denominations are
the same,” he said. “People
wondered, ‘If all roads lead to
God, then is it still important to
be Catholic?’”
However, in Chapter 1 of
the Decree of Ecumenism, it is
stated that “It is only through
Christ’s Catholic Church, which
is ‘the all-embracing means of
salvation,’ that they can benet
fully from the means of salvation. We believe that Our Lord
entrusted all the blessings of the
New Covenant to the apostolic
college alone, of which Peter is
the head, in order to establish
the one Body of Christ on earth
RALPH
MARTIN, center, attended
the Synod of
Bishops on the
New Evangelization in
October. Then
he spoke about
new evangelization at St.
William Parish
in Round Rock.
(CNS photo by
Paul Haring)
to which all should be fully incorporated who belong in any
way to the people of God.”
The changes brought about
by the Second Vatican Council
also coincided with social upheaval, Martin said.
“Then we had the ‘perfect
storm’ of the ‘60s with rebellion
and the overthrow of traditional
views of sexual morality,” he
said. Western Europe and the
U.S. were deeply affected by
this to the point that France is
losing its Catholic identity and
Muslims are the fastest-growing
religious group.
In 1983, Pope John Paul II
began to talk about the need for
a new evangelization, Martin
said. He was particularly concerned about the young church
in Africa and Asia.
“They were being sacramentalized but not evangelized,”
Martin said. “When they were
scared they would go to their
local witch doctor. They did not
have full condence in Christ.”
The focus of the new evangelization, Martin said, is not so
much church attendance.
“It’s not enough that you go
to church,” he said. “It’s impor-
tant to make a personal decision
to become a disciple.”
Being a disciple entails a
personal relationship with Christ
and as a result, becoming a follower of Christ and following
his example to do God’s will.
“Jesus was consumed with
zeal for his Father and doing
his will,” Martin said. “What
nourished and sustained him
was doing the Father’s will.”
Jesus wanted us to see his
love for the Father so we could
be faithful to the Father and
have a union of the hearts with
him.
“So … Who is this directed
to? Our fellow Catholics and
ourselves,” Martin said. “Evangelization has to start with us.”
He encouraged the faithful
to rediscover the meaning of
being baptized Catholics.
“Baptism was not just a
membership ceremony. It’s a
sacrament by which we live in
relationship with God living in
us … At the heart of it is the
spirit of Christ living in us and
uniting our hearts, spirit and
mind with his.”
This evangelization, Martin
said, cannot be “left to the spe-
cialists” such as priests but is the
responsibility of “all members of
the people of God.”
Vatican II began the “awakening” of the responsibilities
of lay people, he said. In the
Decree on the Apostolate of
the Lay People, Chapter II: 6, it
says, “… the Council earnestly
exhorts the laity to take a more
active part, each according to
his talents and knowledge and
in delity to the mind of the
Church, in explanation and defense of Christian principles
and in the correct application
of them to the problems of our
times.”
What we need now is a
“New Pentecost” under which
we can have the new evangelization, Martin said. That means
living the Gospel, sharing the
Gospel and doing so “in ardor,
method and expression.”
It is each individual’s responsibility to nd new and
creative ways of sharing that
love and relationship with Jesus Christ with others because
we are not only responsible
for our own salvation but
helping others with theirs, he
said.
Conference focuses on children with special needs
BY MICHELE CHAN SANTOS
CORRESPONDENT
“Made In God’s Image: A
Conference for Children with
Special Educational Needs”
focused on the importance of
effectively teaching all children,
no matter their learning differences. The conference was held
Oct. 26-27 at St. William Parish
in Round Rock and at Emmaus
Parish in Lakeway.
“We all have disabilities,
compared to the perfect ability
of God,” said Dr. Joseph White,
who conducted the keynote
presentation in English. White is
a child psychologist and a con-
sultant for Our Sunday Visitor;
he is also the former director
of the diocesan Ofce of Family Counseling and Family Life
Ofce.
“The whole community
benets from the presence of
persons with special needs,”
White said. “Wouldn’t Jesus, if
he were here today, be the leader
in welcoming children with special needs?”
The conference marked the
rst time the Diocese of Austin
has held an all-day conference
devoted to the topic of parish
religious education and children
with learning differences.
“You are all part of a very
special moment in our history,”
Charlene O’Connell, associate
director for preschool, elementary and middle school religious
education for the Diocese of
Austin, told the assembled audience.
White and O’Connell both
observed that in the past, many
families of children with special
needs would simply “stay in the
shadows” and not register for
religious education because they
believed their children would
not be accommodated.
“How sad if we as a church
are saying, ‘We don’t really have
anything for that,’” White said.
“We should initiate contact with
these families and welcome their
children.”
The conference was held in
English and Spanish both days.
The keynote speaker in Spanish
was Father Victor Mayorga of
St. John the Evangelist Parish
in San Marcos. Presenters for
the breakout sessions in Spanish were Rosalba Calleros and
Pat Alvarez; speakers for the
breakout sessions in English
were White, Debbie Solcher,
Dr. Ned Vanders and Judy Hall.
Approximately 135 people
attended the conference at St.
William, and about 75 people
attended at Emmaus Parish,
O’Connell said. Most participants were religious education
teachers or the directors of religious education at their parishes.
Topics in the breakout
sessions included “Effective
Catechesis for Children and
Youth with Autism/Asperger’s,
Down’s Syndrome and Other
Intellectual Differences,” “Behavior – Is it Running Your
Classroom?” and “Working with
Children with Attention Decit
Hyperactivity Disorder.”
The session “Successful Strategies for Teaching All
God’s Children,” led by Dr.
Ned Vanders and Judy Hall,
was an engaging, interactive
lesson. Vanders is the superintendent of Catholic Schools in
the Diocese of Austin. Hall is an
See NEEDS on Page 6
4
CENTRAL TEXAS
C ATHOLIC S PIRIT
Leti Bueno: Living the Gospel via example, service
Editor’s Note: The Year of
Faith began on Oct. 11 and will
run through November of next
year. Each month during the
Year of Faith, the Catholic Spirit
will feature lay men and women
who live their faith in a variety
of ways. To suggest a lay person
to feature, write catholic-spirit@
austindiocese.org.
BY MARY P. WALKER
SENIOR CORRESPONDENT
Leti Bueno has two passions: encouraging teens to see
the world through the eyes of
Christ and helping the poor, suffering and disenfranchised. As
youth minister of St. Catherine
of Siena Parish in Austin, she
does both, changing the lives
of teens as they discover the
joy, challenge and blessing of
Christian service.
“Leti is a wonderful role
model of a dedicated Catholic
woman living out her faith,” said
Father Pat Coakley, pastor of
St. Catherine Parish. He praised
her ability to connect with the
teens and motivate them to help
others. Engaging the teens in
volunteer efforts, Bueno echoes
the church’s teachings about
human dignity for those whom
society often ignores or discards.
Leading by example is the
foundation of Bueno’s life. A
cheerful and energetic volunteer, she serves on the boards
of Casa Marianella, which helps
refugees, immigrants and those
seeking asylum, and Mary House
Catholic Worker, a homeless
shelter for the dying and critically ill.
“Leti is fearless, much like
Christ, in her willingness to do
what is right, to be the hands
and feet of Christ, to help make
the kingdom of God a reality
in this life as well as the next,”
said colleague Pam Neumann,
the parish director of religious
education.
Bueno explained that she
never planned to be a youth
minister. Raised in San Antonio, her mother was a devout
Catholic, while her father grew
up in the Pentecostal tradition.
As a young adult, she went to
work in the ofce of her home
parish, and was later asked to
help “part-time” with youth
ministry. She gets animated as
she recounts this, because from
her point-of-view, there is no
such thing as “part-time” youth
ministry.
Encouraged by her pastor,
Bueno pursued training and
certication, and she expressed
appreciation for the formation
she received from the Oblate
School of Theology. She also
has experience in campus ministry at Our Lady of the Lake
University.
In 2005, Bueno moved to
Austin to become the youth
minister at St. Catherine. Although she faced many challenges in transitioning to a demographically different and very
large parish, she successfully met
those challenges and has earned
the respect of the teens, their
parents and her colleagues in
ministry.
“My approach to ministry
and life is that if we all respect
each other, we can get so much
done,” Bueno said. Through
this respect, the youth develop
leadership skills, and many of
the retreats and service projects
are led by the teens.
The Christian life
is impossible without
service to others, and
using positive encouragement, Bueno
motivates the youth
to share their talents
and gifts with those
who could benet.
Jennifer Long,
executive director
of Casa Marinaella,
got to know Bueno
when she brought
the youth to volunteer. Impressed by
her wisdom, intelligence and accessibility, Long believed
that Bueno would
LETI BUENO, the youth minister at St. Catherine of Siena Parish
help build bridges
in Austin, leads a discussion with teens during at youth night at the
between the refugees
parish. (Photo courtesy St. Catherine Parish)
and the Austin community. Three years
ago, she invited her to serve on Catholic life who were having an tive to empower youth to work
the board.
impact. Nominated by a person for peace, justice and solidarity.
“It can be easy to be heavy- familiar with her work, Bueno Impressed by what she saw in
handed and guilt-trip people was chosen from numerous El Salvador, Bueno said that the
into helping the poor, but Leti entries as one of the 12 Catho- church was helping in practical
brings a lightheartedness and lic women under the age of 40 ways to provide hope for the
excitement, so that serving the in the U.S. who are making a future, and that Catholics should
poor becomes fun and fulll- difference. Editor Dennis Co- be proud to support CRS.
“Catholic Relief Services
ing,” Long said.
day explained that the passion
Also dear to Bueno’s heart is expressed by the person who is definitely meeting people
Mary House Catholic Worker, a nominated Bueno and the way where they are, which is what
homeless shelter for the sick and she integrates charitable service the church is supposed to do,”
dying. Its founder, Lynn Good- into youth ministry made her Bueno said.
She hopes that the youth
man-Strauss, praised Bueno for stand out.
making sure the teen volunteers
Bueno was also chosen as under her care continue to do
were well prepared for the hard, one of nine youth ministers to the same long after they take on
sad work they would experience. participate in Catholic Relief the responsibilities of adulthood.
Those who know Bueno Service’s (CRS) Called to Wit- Through Bueno’s example and
have described her as “humble.” ness trip to El Salvador last their own experiences of service,
Ironically, her humble service May. This program gives youth they are equipped with leadership
has garnered national atten- ministers a personal encounter skills and compassion to serve
tion. The “National Catholic with the humanitarian work of their future parishes and volunReporter” solicited nominations the church in other parts of the teer endeavors, changing their
of women in the grassroots of world, and they gain a perspec- communities and even the world.
St. Albert produces its 10th annual Boar’s Head Pageant
ST. ALBERT THE GREAT PARISH IN AUSTIN will host the 10th
anniversary of The Boar’s Head Pageant Jan. 5 at 7 p.m. This parish tradition celebrates the Epiphany and the arrival of the Magi and
features period costumes, orchestra music by members of the Austin
Symphony, vocal performance by the parish choir and more than a
hundred costumed parishioners.
This year’s play will include various new costumes and will bring together more than 300 parishioners and their families for the celebration
of the Feast of the Epiphany with song, dance and humor.
The story line of this medieval pageant celebrates the triumph of good
over evil – with the king’s banquet representing good and victory over
the evil wild boar – the main dish. The Boar’s Head play has a long English tradition, with
the rst recorded presentation dating back to the Queen’s College in Oxford in 1340.
Reserved seats are available for $10 each and include an invitation to a “Royal Reception”
for light refreshments. General admission seats are free, and everyone is offered a cup of
hot wassail after the performance. Tickets can be purchased on-line at www.boarsheadaustin.com or directly from the producer by calling Andy Rainosek at (512) 837-4179.
December 2012
CENTRAL TEXAS
5
Priest/chef helps celebrate Catholic schools Begin 2013 with a Marriage Encounter
Father Leo Patalinghug will be the keynote speaker at the fth annual Celebrating Catholic Schools
Dinner and Awards Presentation Jan. 26 at 6:30 p.m.
at the Renaissance Hotel in Austin. The celebration
honors “unsung” heroes from each Catholic school
in the Diocese of Austin and raises funds that support tuition assistance initiatives in all schools. Father
Patalinghug is leading a movement of eating dinner
as a family and is sending that message out through
his web show, “Grace Before Meals.” He is also a
nationally recognized chef who defeated Food Network star Bobby Flay on the popular cooking show
“Throwdown.”
Father Patalinghug will host a cooking demonstration of his award-winning “Fusion Steak Fajitas” Jan.
25 at Mercury Hall in Austin. Tickets are limited for this intimate gathering and
proceeds will be added to funds raised at the Celebrating Catholic Schools event and
returned to schools in support of their tuition assistance program. For more information or to purchase tickets or for sponsorship information, visit www.csdatx.org.
St. William Parish in Round Rock will welcome Father Patalinghug on Jan. 27.
He will celebrate Mass at 9:30 a.m., and at 1 p.m. he will host a family picnic and
a cooking demonstration of his famous “Fusion Steak Fajitas.” For more information, visit www.saintwilliams.org.
Married couples who are looking for a getaway and time to reconnect with
one another are invited to a Worldwide Marriage Encounter Jan. 11-13 at the
Wingate Hotel in Round Rock. The weekend begins Friday at 7:30 p.m. and ends
Sunday around 4 p.m. This is an opportunity for husbands and wives to escape
the daily distractions of life and focus on each other. For more information or to
apply to attend, contact Anh and Greg Thomas at (512) 677-WWME (9963) or
[email protected].
Austin Area Catholic Schools Fair is Jan. 12
Catholic schools in the Austin area will host a Schools Fair Jan. 12 from 10
a.m. to 1 p.m. at St. Dominic Savio Catholic High School in Austin. The schools
participating include Cathedral School of St. Mary, Holy Family Catholic School, St.
Austin Catholic School, St. Dominic Savio Catholic High School, St. Gabriel Catholic
School, St. Helen Catholic School, St. Ignatius Catholic School, St. Michael’s Catholic
Academy, St. Theresa’s Catholic School, San Juan Diego Catholic High School and
Santa Cruz Catholic School. Each school will have information on admissions, tuition
rates, curriculum and more. For more information, visit www.csdatx.org.
Texas Catholic Pro-Life Day is Jan. 26
Texas Catholic Pro-Life Day is Jan. 26. The day will begin at 7 a.m. with a
Prayer Vigil that will meet at San José Parish in Austin. The rosary for life will
begin at 9:45 a.m. at San José Parish followed by the diocesan Pro-Life Mass at
10:30 a.m. The Texas Rally for Life will be at 1 p.m.; participants will meet at 15th
and Colorado streets and march to the Rally on the South Steps of the Capitol.
A Party for Life will conclude the day from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the University
Men interested in learning more about the formation process for the Perma- Catholic Center. Bishop Joe Vásquez will also celebrate Mass for Life Jan. 22 at
nent Diaconate are invited along with their wives to attend one of the upcoming 5:30 p.m. at St. Mary Catholic Center in College Station. For more information,
information sessions –– offered in both Spanish and English –– to be held Dec. visit www.CentralTexasProLife.org or call (512) 949-2486.
9 and Jan. 13 from 2 to 4 p.m. at the diocesan Pastoral Center, 6225 Hwy 290
East in Austin.
The 2013 Pro-Life Benet Gala will be Feb. 9 at the Renaissance Austin Hotel
Men interested in attending an information session are encouraged to pray –
with their wives – about their interest in serving the church, and must meet with and will feature Bishop Joe Vásquez and Most Reverend Joseph A. Fiorenza, Archand obtain their pastor’s approval. They should submit an interest form (available bishop Emeritus of Galveston-Houston. Dinner and a silent auction are included.
from their pastor) indicating which session they plan to attend. Forms are also Sponsorships and tickets are available now. Your ticket purchase or sponsorship
available from, and should be completed and returned to, the Ofce of Diaconal will help to build a Culture of Life and a Civilization of Love in Central Texas.
Formation, Catholic Diocese of Austin, 6225 Highway 290 East, Austin, TX For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.centraltexasprolife.org
or call (512) 949-2486.
78723-1025 or by e-mail [email protected].
Attention men considering the diaconate
Mark calendars now for the Pro-Life Gala
Texas Catholic Pro-Life Day
January 26, 2013 in Austin
7 a.m.
9:45
a.m.
9
10:30
a.m.
10
1–3
1 p.m.
3:30–5:30 p.m.
3:30–5
Austin
512-833-3300
Toll-free
1-800-580-3300
Prayer Vigil Meet at San José Parish and pray at
South Austin Planned Parenthood
Rosary for Life San José Parish
Diocesan Pro-Life Mass San José Parish
Texas Rally for Life Meet at 15th and Colorado
and march to the Rally on the South Steps of the Capitol
Party for Life University Catholic Center
More info: CentralTexasProLife.org 512.949.2486
Join today – rbfcu.org
Austin Catholic Diocese parishioners, employees and volunteers
are eligible for membership.
Rates and terms are subject to change. Credit cards are subject to credit approval. The 3.9% Annual Percentage Rate (APR) is a
promotional rate available on cash advances and balance transfers made between July 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012 to a new or
existing RBFCU MasterCard® credit card. Beginning January 2015 any remaining balance at the 3.9% APR will be repriced to a rate of
9.7% – 15.7% APR for Gold CashBack, 9.7% – 15.7% APR for Platinum Rewards and 5.7% – 14.7% APR for Platinum Preferred Rate. The
APR on all purchases during the promotional period and thereafter will be at 9.7% – 15.7% APR for Gold CashBack, 9.7% – 15.7% APR for
Platinum Rewards and 5.7% – 14.7% APR for Platinum Preferred Rate. Beginning April 1, 2012, purchases made with a Platinum Preferred
Credit Card acquired on or after April 1, 2012, will be at 7.7% - 14.7% APR. Contact the Consumer Lending Center for complete details.
Federally insured by NCUA.
COURAGE OF AUSTIN
Homosexuality and Hope
Call Fr. Becker: (512) 863-3041
(must dial area code from Austin)
[email protected]
[email protected]
www.couragerc.net
6
CENTRAL TEXAS
C ATHOLIC S PIRIT
Waco pastor loves faith, family, soccer
BY AMY MORACZEWSKI
CORRESPONDENT
After six years of teaching
and coaching in the Lockhart
Independent School District,
Father John Guzaldo decided
to try a new career path.
Something about his life as a
junior high school history teacher left him feeling unfullled. He
enjoyed coaching both football
and soccer. He had a girlfriend
of nearly two years. But looking
back, Father Guzaldo said it was
then that he felt most called to
the priesthood. The Chicago
native now calls Waco home,
where he serves as the pastor of
St. Louis Parish.
Although the Guzaldo family relocated to San Marcos when
he was 11 years old, his early
years in Chicago instilled two
passions that he would carry
throughout his life, the Catholic
faith and the game of soccer.
With the move came a transition
from Catholic school to public
school, a welcome change in the
eyes of a sixth grade boy.
“I thought it was great because you could wear whatever you wanted and you didn’t
have to wait for the bell to be
dismissed!” recalled Father Guzaldo.
While the Guzaldo children
enjoyed their newfound wardrobe freedom with the end of
formal Catholic school education, their parents ensured that
the foundations of the Catholic
faith were continually taught
and reinforced at home. In fact,
Father Guzaldo references his
parents as the most inuential
gures in his life.
“I learned all my theology
from watching and listening to
them,” he said.
Father Guzaldo resumed
his formal Catholic education
when he departed his teaching
and coaching career to embark
on his journey to the priesthood. Formation rst led him
to Irving for two years of philosophy studies at Holy Trinity
Seminary, followed by ve years
of theology studies at St. Mary’s
Seminary in Houston.
Father Guzaldo returned to
the high school hallways a few
years after ordination, serving
as chaplain at St. Dominic Savio
Catholic High School in Austin
following three years as associate pastor at St. Helen Parish in
Georgetown. He then headed
north, where he landed in Waco
as the pastor of St. Louis Parish,
along with St. Philip in China
Spring.
Father Guzaldo’s love for
soccer began with pickup games
among the kids in his Chicago
neighborhood and continued
throughout his junior high and
high school days in Texas. Eventually he transitioned from player
to coach but now he nds himself on the eld once again, playing soccer every Friday night of
the summer with the kids in the
St. Louis Parish youth group.
Though more comfortable
on the soccer eld than speaking
in front of a group of teenagers,
Father Guzaldo has learned to
conquer his nerves in order to deliver God’s message to the youth.
Prior to speaking to a group of
approximately 800 boys at the
Diocesan Catholic Youth Conference this past year, he recalled
his heart beating out of his chest
while he sweated out his fear.
“I did it anyway, and I pulled
it off,” said Father Guzaldo. “My
best quality is my worst quality. I
have a big mouth. Even though
I’m nervous about it, I do love
to preach.”
Either the nerves do not
manifest during his speaking or
the message is simply so strong
that they are but a minor undertone of the presentation. The
receptiveness to his words was
demonstrated most vividly in a
college application essay written
by a student, titled “A Father’s
Help.” When the student, who
was not Catholic and not even
Christian, received admittance to
the University of Alabama, she
presented her theology teacher
with a copy of the essay that now
hangs on the wall of his living
room.
Beyond his own parish and
classroom, Father Guzaldo had
the opportunity to connect with
young people from around the
globe at the 2008 World Youth
Day in Australia. Alongside a
million Catholics from more than
200 countries, he listened to Pope
Benedict XVI urge young people
troubled by the state of the world
to seek answers in faith. The
theme, “You will receive power
when the Holy Spirit has come
upon you; and you will be my
witnesses” (Acts 1:8), holds true
today and continues to inspire his
mission.
Father Guzaldo nds hope
and meaning in all of his priestly duties –– from the soccer
elds to the funerals. He said the
most profound experience of his
priesthood has been “to walk
with people who have been to
hell and back. To walk with peo-
FATHER JOHN GUZALDO is pastor of St. Louis Parish
in Waco and St. Philip in China Spring. He was a high
school teacher and coach before entering the priesthood.
(Photo by Amy Moraczewski)
ple who have just hit rock bottom and are now lled with joy,
and their faith has only grown
stronger because they hit rock
bottom.”
Without God’s grace, Father
Guzaldo may have struggled with
the challenge of consoling his
people in the midst of their suffering. He recalled, in particular,
the moment he rst ministered
to parents who had recently lost
a child.
“I’m not sure there’s anything
worse than that. I did not enjoy it,
but it was a privilege to be a part
of it, sharing in the suffering of
the parents,” he said.
In the midst of his parishioners is where Father Guzaldo
feels called. It is the reason he
is present at nearly every youth
night; the reason he conducts all
of his own marriage preparation
for engaged couples; the reason
he visits the nursing homes; the
reason that he frequents the
school. Forming bonds with
1,300 families may seem a daunting challenge, but he is eager to
connect with each and every one
of the families he shepherds.
Experts offer tips on working with all God’s children
NEEDS
Continued from Page 3
experienced teacher of special
needs children.
Vanders recommended a
strong relationship with parents. Calling each set of parents
at least once a semester to say
something positive about their
child can work wonders, he said.
Sending home a regular newsletter and setting up opportunities
for parents to participate or observe in the classroom are also
good ideas, he said.
Strong religious education
teachers give enthusiastic and
positive feedback, greet the children when they arrive in class,
listen well and avoid judgmental
responses, he said.
“All God’s children can
learn, but not in the same way,
and not on the same day,”
Vanders said. “Kids need predictability, warmth and concern.
How we respond to the most
challenging kid in the class is
how they learn to treat others.”
Hall emphasized the importance of “routines, rituals and
reinforcements.” If the children
are restless and loud when they
arrive for class, “have them sit in
a circle on the oor where you
have placed a book at each spot.
Have them sit cross-legged and
read for a few moments to calm
down,” she said.
At lunch, many of the participants spoke warmly of what
they had learned.
Rachel Vaughn, the director
of religious education at St. John
Neumann Parish in Austin, is
working with parents in her parish whose children have Down
syndrome.
The slideshow White presented about making rst Communion and rst reconciliation
more accessible was particularly
helpful, Vaughn said.
Mhel Galaviz, middle school
religious education teacher at
St. Vincent de Paul Parish in
Austin, said the sessions she
attended will help her be more
welcoming and understanding.
“Before I judge that child,
I need to put myself in their
shoes,” she said.
Tressi Breecher, the director of religious education at St.
Elizabeth of Hungary Parish in
Pugerville, said word of mouth
is encouraging more parents of
special needs children to enroll.
“After one parent has a positive experience, they tell their
friends,” Breecher said.
White encouraged the religious education teachers at the
conference to “keep your sense
of humor. Be exible. Things
will not always go the way you
plan. That’s the nature of working with real human beings.”
For more information
regarding religious education
for children with special needs,
contact the diocesan Ofce of
Religious Education at (512)
949-2469 or e-mail [email protected].
In the book “Catechists for All Children,” by Dr. Joseph White
and Ana Arista White and available through Our Sunday Visitor, the
authors recommend these steps for teaching religious education to
inattentive or impulsive children.
• Make classroom rules about paying attention and following
directions.
• Create a multi-sensory learning experience. The use of music,
movement and art, wherever possible, enhances learning by involving
other senses.
• Be enthusiastic and keep moving. Keep your voice and body
language upbeat.
• Provide positive reinforcement. When you see behaviors you
appreciate, be sure to point them out.
• Stay out of the power struggle. Remain calm even if you feel
very frustrated.
• Ask for support from parents. Identify positive attributes of the
child and ask parents what types of activities keep him or her engaged
at home.
• Recognize children with “Saint Awards” at the end of each term.
A child who loves animals could receive the “St. Francis” award. An
impulsive, enthusiastic child could receive the “St. Peter” award.
December 2012
CENTRAL TEXAS
7
Parishes work with CRS to lend ‘Helping Hands’
BY ENEDELIA J. OBREGÓN
SENIOR CORRESPONDENT
The assembly line began after
a prayer from a guest and training
from an expert on hunger. The
goal that Saturday morning at
St. Austin Parish in Austin was
to prepackage 10,000 meals for
Burkina Faso, a landlocked African nation of 15.7 million people
ranked by the United Nations as
the third poorest country in the
world.
Pat Ware from Stop Hunger
Now showed the volunteers in
the Helping Hands Project how
to package the different grains
that went into plastic bags, which
were then sealed and prepared
for transport overseas. Stop Hunger Now provided the food and
packaging supplies.
The event, which attracted 75
parishioners, was a project of the
parish social justice ministries in
cooperation with Catholic Relief
Services, which provided the human development educational
component.
Paulist Father Charles Kullmann, pastor of St. Austin Parish,
said the event was a result of the
Gospel call to serve others.
“This is an opportunity to
help the hungry people in the
world that we don’t see directly,”
he said. “It’s wonderful to see
families here helping.”
The Helping Hands event
was repeated a week later at St.
Catherine of Siena Parish in
Austin, which packaged 25,000
meals. Parishioners from St.
Catherine also cooked lunch for
Habitat for Humanity volunteers and Mary House Catholic
Worker residents and baked
2,000 cookies to be distributed by
Mobile Loaves and Fishes.
Aside from the meals, St.
Austin also had about 30 volunteers helping at various organizations including Casa Marianella,
Mary House Catholic Worker
and Green Gate Farms.
Ryla Simmons, regional director for Catholic Relief Services,
said the organization often partners with different organizations
such as Stop Hunger Now, as
well as with parishes, schools or
groups concerned about the issue
of hunger.
As the volunteers prepared to
work, Ware reminded them that
25,000 people in the world die
every day from hunger. Of the
approximately 7 billion people
in the world, about 1 million are
chronically hungry.
“One child dies every six seconds,” Ware said. “In the time we
spend here a number of people
will have died because they have
no food.”
One of those children who
survived starvation because of
CRS programs was Thomas
Awiapo, who helped package
meals alongside the volunteers at
St. Austin.
Awiapo is now the global
solidarity coordinator for CRS.
He was orphaned before the age
of 10 in his native Ghana and his
search for food brought him to a
school, which fed him physically
and educationally. He eventually earned scholarships to attend
college and received a master’s
degree from California State
University. He still lives in Ghana
with his wife and four children.
Awiapo acknowledged his
search for food not only saved
but also changed his life.
“I went to the school to survive,” he said. “I could nd a hot
lunch. The price was that I had to
sit in class. I didn’t like that.”
But for a child who had to
walk two miles to school for that
meal, the choice was an easy one.
Awiapo, who is not sure
how old he is or when his real
birthday is because there are no
records or elders to remember
his birth, gures he’s in his 40s.
When he needed a passport to
travel, he chose his birthday as
June 15 because it’s in the middle
of the year. He cast lots from the
PARISHIONERS FROM ST. AUSTIN PARISH IN AUSTIN prepackaged 10,000 meals
as well as volunteered at local organizations as part of the Helping Hands Project, which
is sponsored by Catholic Relief Services. (Photo by Enedelia J. Obregón)
mid- to late-60s to determine his
birth year and 1969 was the lucky
number.
He acknowledged how
blessed he is that hunger led him
to the CRS program, which has
allowed him to travel the world.
“The village was the whole
world. We didn’t know there was
a whole world out there. The
village was a place where school
was under a tree and 10 children
would share one textbook and
walk three or four miles to get
there,” he said.
Awiapo said that in the U.S.
“we are blessed so we can share
… We are called to help out
whether we are poor or rich,” he
said. “If this country were as poor
as my village, I never would have
received that snack.”
Poverty and homelessness
are also found near St. Austin in
downtown Austin.
Pat Macy, director of social
justice ministries at St. Austin,
said the Thursday Outreach program brings in 40 to 80 homeless
people every week seeking help.
“Parishioners know poverty
and homelessness exist because
they see it every time they come
here,” Macy said. “They can’t
keep their blinders on.”
Thursday Outreach, she said,
links the liturgy and the Eucharist
to the needs of the people and
is grounded in Catholic social
teaching.
“Social justice brings it all
together,” she said.
The volunteers at the Helping Hands event proved that
no one is too small to help.
Families surrounded the tables
set up as work stations. Little
hands scooped the grains to ll
the plastic bags and older children served as runners, carrying
bins lled with bags to the stations where the packages were
weighed and sealed before being
boxed for transport.
Ana McPherson was there
with husband, Jeff, and daughter,
Samantha, 11, a student at St.
Austin Catholic School.
“Serving others is an important part of being Catholic,” Ana
McPherson said. “We demonstrate that we can make a difference in the lives of people who
are much poorer than our poor.”
Julia Sennyey, 9, also a student at St. Austin, noted that a
child dies every six seconds from
starvation.
“That is so sad,” she said.
“We need to help out.”
Her mother, Catherine Sennyey, said the event was something the family could do together to help others.
“It’s better to do something
than to just feel bad,” she said.
To participate in a Catholic Relief Services Helping
Hands project or to make a donation, visit http://helpinghands.
crs.org/.
8
IN OUR WORLD
C ATHOLIC S PIRIT
Bishops agree on better preaching, more penance
BY CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
During their annual fall
general assembly in Baltimore
Nov. 12-15, the U.S. bishops
voted down a document on the
troubled U.S. economy, passed
documents on penance and
better preaching, approved a
reorganization of their Communications Department and
endorsed the sainthood cause
of Dorothy Day.
On the assembly’s opening
day, the bishops discussed the
nation’s troubled economy and
what their response to it should
be, but a day later their proposed document “The Hope of
the Gospel in Difcult Times:
A Pastoral Message on Work,
Poverty and the Economy” did
not gain the two-thirds vote
required for passage.
When it was introduced
Nov. 12, some bishops criticized
the document for being too long
to be practical and for failing to
include a variety of points and
historical references.
On the assembly’s second
day, the bishops approved their
rst new document in 30 years
on preaching. The document,
“Preaching the Mystery of Faith:
The Sunday Homily,” encourages preachers to connect the
Sunday homily with people’s
daily lives.
The document was prepared
by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on
Clergy, Consecrated Life and
Vocations, chaired by Archbishop Robert J. Carlson of St.
Louis.
When he introduced the
document Nov.12, the archbishop said preaching must be
done “more effectively in the
context of the new evangelization. ... Our people hunger for
better preaching, preaching that
would help them rediscover
their faith.”
The bishops also overwhelmingly approved an exhortation encouraging Catholics to
take advantage of the sacrament
of penance, or reconciliation.
The text was prepared by the
bishops’ Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis, chaired
by Bishop David L. Ricken of
Green Bay, Wis. The exhortation, to be made available in
pamphlet form, will aim to ease
the fears of Catholics who have
not gone to confession for some
time.
It will be made public in
time to allow for dioceses to
prepare for Lent 2013.
On a voice vote, the bishops
endorsed the sainthood cause
of Dorothy Day, co-founder of
the Catholic Worker movement.
New York Cardinal Timothy
M. Dolan, USCCB president,
is promoting Day’s cause; her
Catholic Worker ministry was
based in New York City. The
cause was rst undertaken by
one of Cardinal Dolan’s predecessors in New York, Cardinal
John O’Connor.
Cardinal Dolan and other
bishops who spoke Nov. 13,
including some who had met
Day, called her sainthood cause
an opportune moment in the life
of the U.S. church.
The bishops also approved
expanding the memorial for
Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos,
a German-born Redemptorist
priest who ministered throughout antebellum-era America for
more than 20 years. Archbishop
Thomas J. Rodi of Mobile, Ala.,
noted that Blessed Seelos ministered at a time when “immigrants were not welcomed well
in many circumstances,” which
he said has contemporary signicance.
A year after U.S. Catholics
began using a new translation
of the missal at Masses, the
bishops agreed to begin revising
the Liturgy of the Hours –– updating hymns, psalms, various
canticles, psalm prayers, some
antiphons, biblical readings and
other components of the liturgical prayers used at various parts
of the day.
Archbishop Gregory M.
Aymond of New Orleans,
chairman of the Committee
on Divine Worship, said the
work would probably take
three to ve years to complete
and the aim would be to more
accurately reect the original
Latin texts.
The bishops approved a
reorganization of their Communications Department that
would include hiring a director
of public affairs who would
work to unify messages on the
activities and stances of the USCCB –– not individual dioceses
or bishops –– and better carry
out church campaigns related to
new evangelization, according to
Cardinal Dolan.
Cardinal Dolan said the USCCB’s communications effort
must take advantage of new
communications technologies.
The cost of hiring a public affairs director and support staff
and other services is estimated at
$400,000 annually, according to
the supporting document.
The plan calls for a reorganization of the Communications
Department, which includes a
media relations ofce, customer
and client relations, creative services, which is responsible for
online and video messages, and
Catholic News Service.
The bishops were also urged
to broaden their support for
their national collections. In a
Nov. 13 report, they heard that a
decline in diocesan participation
in these collections since 2009
has been a loss of $8.7 million to
Catholic programs that benet
from the collection.
Bishop Kevin J. Farrell of
Dallas, chairman of the Committee on National Collections,
described the collections as “an
important mechanism for mobilizing collective action in the
church universal and a way for
all the faithful to participate in
solidarity with the rest of the
church.”
The bishops were initially
scheduled to consider a document titled “Contemporary
Challenges and Opportunities for the Exercise of the
Teaching Ministry of the Diocesan Bishop,” developed by
the Committee on Doctrine.
The document urged bishops to take advantage of new
technologies –– social media, blogging and cell phone
technology –– to respond and
explain church teaching when
it is portrayed inaccurately,
particularly by theologians.
Cardinal Donald W.
Wuerl of Washington, committee chairman, decided to
withdraw the document in
favor of a more comprehensive statement in line with
the bishops’ new communication plan and the ongoing
work throughout the USCCB
related to the new evangelization. The bishops agreed in a
voice vote to the appointment
of a working group –– made
up of the committee chairmen
for doctrine, evangelization
and catechesis, and canonical
affairs and church governance
–– to draft the document.
The bishops voted for a
strategic plan that will guide the
USCCB’s work for the next four
years, a “road map” to shape
conference programs and activities to strengthen the faith of
Catholics and help them actively
live out their faith.
During the rst year, the focus will be on faith and activities
closely tied to the Year of Faith.
In 2014 and 2015, initiatives
will strengthen parish life and
worship. The nal year calls for
Catholics to be witnesses to the
wider world.
The bishops also approved
a 2013 budget of $220.4 million
and agreed to add a national collection for the U.S. Archdiocese
for the Military Services. The
budget for 2013 represents a
1.3 percent increase from 2012.
The new collection for the
military archdiocese would be-
gin in 2013. Under the plan,
it would be taken voluntarily
in parishes every three years.
Bishop Michael J. Branseld of
Wheeling-Charleston, W.Va.,
USCCB treasurer, said the 2013
budget includes a surplus totaling more than $749,000. He also
told the bishops that there was
a projected surplus of $250,000
for 2014, meaning there was no
need to seek an increase in the
annual diocesan assessment for
USCCB operations.
In his presidential address
to open the assembly, Cardinal Dolan Nov. 12 told the
bishops they cannot engage
culture, dialogue with others
or confront challenges unless
they rst recognize their own
sins and experience the grace
of repentance.
The cardinal also said the
sacrament of penance was
something the USCCB planned
to stress for all Catholics yearround with reections on reembracing Friday as a day of
penance, including the possible
reinstitution of abstinence on
all Fridays.
The bishops’ assembly,
which opened nearly a week
after Election Day, included dis-
cussions about religious liberty,
marriage and immigration.
In a statement issued Nov.
13, Los Angeles Archbishop Jose H. Gomez, as chair
of the migration committee
chair, urged President Barack
Obama and congressional
leaders to work together on a
bipartisan immigration reform
bill. He also encouraged people to make their voices heard
in support of an immigration
system “which upholds the
rule of law, preserves family
unity and protects the human
rights and dignity of the person.”
Archbishop William E.
Lori of Baltimore, chairman
of the Ad Hoc Committee for
Religious Liberty, said Nov.
12 the work of defending religious liberty would continue
despite “setbacks or challenges.”
San Francisco Archbishop
Salvatore J. Cordileone, chairman of the Subcommittee for
the Promotion and Defense
of Marriage, said Election Day
was “a disappointing day for
marriage,” which points to
the need to “redouble our efforts.”
Meeting Highlights
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops 2012 Fall Assembly
r Approved a document on preaching, encouraging
preachers to connect the homily with people’s daily lives.
r Rejected a fast-tracked statement intended to offer support and hope to people who are suffering because of the
economic downturn.
r Approved an exhortation encouraging Catholics to take
advantage of the sacrament of penance.
r Endorsed the sainthood cause of Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement.
r Approved an expanded memorial for Blessed Francis
Xavier Seelos, a German-born Redemptorist priest who ministered in antebellum-era America
r
r
r
Agreed to begin a revision of the Liturgy of the Hours
Approved the hiring of a public affairs director.
Heard a request that they broaden support for national
collections, which have had a decline in diocesan participation.
r Adopted a strategic plan for the next four years to shape
conference programs and activities.
r Agreed to hold a national collection for the U.S. Archdiocese for Military Services.
r
r
Approved a 2013 budget of $220.4 million.
Took part in a workshop on using online and social media.
©2012 CNS
December 2012
IN OUR WORLD
9
Same-sex marriage laws pass in three states
BY PATRICIA ZAPOR
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Voters in Maine, Washington state and Maryland approved ballot measures legalizing same-sex marriage Nov. 6.
In Minnesota, voters rejected
a state constitutional amendment
to dene marriage as only a union
between a man and woman.
The Catholic bishops in
each state had urged voters to
uphold the traditional denition
of marriage between one man
and one woman and warned
that religious liberties could be
threatened by legalizing samesex marriage.
Maryland and Washington
voters upheld laws permitting
same-sex marriage that were
passed earlier in the year by their
legislatures and signed by their
governors, but challenged in the
referendum process.
Minnesota’s action does not
make same-sex marriage legal.
There is still a state law banning
it, but by rejecting the constitutional amendment, voters
cleared the way for the Legislature or courts to move to permit
such marriages.
Thirty other states have
passed laws prohibiting samesex marriages. Previously six
states and the District of Columbia had allowed same-sex
marriages through legislative
action and court rulings.
Voters in Maine approved a
referendum authorizing samesex marriage, a measure that
bypassed courts and the Legislature, and reversed a 2009 referendum banning such unions.
Archbishop Salvatore J.
Cordileone of San Francisco,
chairman of the U.S. bishops’
Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage,
called for renewed efforts to
strengthen and protect marriage
and family life and expressed
gratitude to marriage protection
supporters.
Election Day was a disappointing one for marriage, he
said.
“The meaning of marriage,
though, cannot be redefined
because it lies within our very
nature. No matter what policy,
law or judicial decision is put
into place, marriage is the only
institution that unites a man
and a woman to each other and
to any children born of their
union,” he said. “It is either this,
or it is nothing at all.”
“In a society marked by increasing poverty and family
fragmentation, marriage needs
to be strengthened, promoted,
and defended, not redened. I
hope and pray that political leaders, judges, and all people will
seek to honor this foundational
and common sense truth of
marriage,” the archbishop said.
In Maryland, Baltimore
Archbishop William E. Lori
was among the most vocal leaders of the campaign to defeat the
referendum, and he expressed
disappointment in the vote.
“I think that vote will prove
not to have been for the common good of our state,” he said
in a Nov. 7 interview with The
Catholic Review, Baltimore’s
archdiocesan newspaper.
The Maryland Catholic Conference, which advocates for
public policy on behalf of the
state’s bishops, joined the Maryland Marriage Alliance in efforts
to overturn the law. Archbishop
Lori praised the advocates’ work
over the past year.
“So much hard work went
into this, and I’m very, very
grateful to everyone who
worked so hard,” he said. “We
will continue to witness to the
values of marriage as understood as the union of one man
and one woman, as the most
sound, secure and loving way to
bring children into the world.”
The Catholic conference
said: “Regrettably, Marylanders
decided by the narrowest of
margins not to repeal the law
that redenes marriage.”
With 99.8 percent of the
Maryland vote tallied, 52 percent, or 1,258,952 voters, approved the same-sex marriage
measure, compared to 48 percent, or 1,156,570 voters, who
rejected it.
The language of the ballot measure “masked the fact
that this law does not simply
assign civil benets to gay and
lesbian couples, but drastically dismantles in our state law
the fundamental family unit of
mother, father and child,” the
conference said.
“The people of Maryland
were promised that this law
would protect religious institutions and individuals who
believe marriage is the union
of one man and one woman,
and we will remain vigilant in
ensuring that those promises are
upheld,” it added.
The Catholic Church not
only opposes the legalization
of same-sex marriage, it also
teaches that any sexual activity
outside of marriage is sinful.
Bishop Richard J Malone,
who is administrator of the
Diocese of Portland, Maine,
said in a statement he was deeply
disappointed in the outcome in
his state.
“I am deeply disappointed
that a majority of Maine voters
have redened marriage from
what we have understood it
to be for millennia by civilizations and religions around the
world,” said the bishop, who
in August was installed to head
the Diocese of Buffalo, N.Y. He
thanked “the Catholic faithful
who did not abandon Catholic
teachings on the nature of marriage.”
Maine’s voters agreed to
repeal the same-sex marriage
ban by a vote of 53 percent, or
369,319 votes, to 47 percent
against, or 333,024 votes.
In efforts to persuade voters
to oppose legalizing the marriages, the bishops of Washington
had issued video statements and
a pastoral statement opposing
the referendum.
Washington voters approved the referendum by 52
percent, or 1,104,025 votes, with
48 percent, or 1,020,812 votes,
against it.
In Minnesota, the result was
51.2 percent, or 1,506,048 votes,
against an amendment to dene marriage as only a union
between a man and woman,
compared to 47.6 percent, or
1,399,813 votes, who supported
the measure.
Archbishop John C. Nienstedt of St. Paul and Minneapolis
wrote in a column in the archdiocesan newspaper, The Catholic
Spirit, that the church’s “effort
to support God’s unchanging
plan for marriage is not a campaign against anyone but rather
a positive effort to promote
the truth about marriage as a
union between one man and
one woman.”
DESPITE PROTESTS from Catholic bishops and others across the country, voters in Maine,
Washington state and Maryland passed laws legalizing same-sex marriage in November.
The Catholic Church teaches that marriage is between one man and one woman. (CNS
photo by George P. Matysek Jr., Catholic Review)
Marriage must remain between man, woman only, pope says
BY CINDY WOODEN
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Catholics are called to serve
the common good of society, including by protecting traditional
marriage and defending human
life, Pope Benedict XVI told
bishops from France.
Being Catholic means being
faithful “to the moral teaching
of the church” and having “the
courage to demonstrate their
Christian convictions –– without arrogance, but with respect
–– in the various spheres in
which they work,” the pope
said Nov. 17 as he welcomed a
group of bishops making their
periodic “ad limina” visits to
the Vatican.
“With the bishops, they
must pay attention to proposals for civil laws that can undermine: the safeguarding of
marriage between a man and a
woman, the protection of human life from conception to
death, and the correct orientation of bioethics in faithfulness
to the documents of the magisterium,” the pope said.
In several French cities Nov.
17-18, thousands of Catholics
took to the streets to protest
government plans to legalize
same-sex marriage. President
Francois Hollande said he wanted to legalize gay unions by
mid-2013.
Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois
of Paris told the Vatican newspaper Nov. 17 that the church
has been expressing its opposition to the proposed law and
“we have warned about the dangers” such a change can bring.
In the interview with
L’Osservatore Romano, the
Vatican paper, he said the law,
which would include allowing
gay couples to adopt, “risks
producing devastating effects,”
particularly for children who
would grow up not having both
a male and female parent.
Early in November, Jesuit
Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, talked about
gay marriage proposals in Spain,
France and several U.S. states.
In an editorial comment for
Vatican Radio, Father Lombardi
said it is “clear that in Western
countries there is a widespread
tendency to modify the classic
vision of marriage between a
man and woman, or rather to try
to give it up, erasing its specic
and privileged legal recognition
compared to other forms of
union.”
“It is not, in fact, a question
of avoiding unfair discrimination for homosexuals, since this
must and can be guaranteed in
other ways,” he said.
The history and development of modern marriage between one man and one woman
was “an achievement of civilization,” he said. If it is not what
is best for individuals and for
society, “why not also contemplate freely chosen polygamy
and, of course, not to discriminate, polyandry,” which is when
a woman has more than one
husband.
The Catholic Church, he
said, will not stop urging society
to recognize the special place of
marriage between one man and
one woman.
10
IN OUR WORLD
C ATHOLIC S PIRIT
Vatican takes a different approach with Obama
BY FRANCIS X. ROCCA
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
The day after Barack
Obama won the presidency in
2008, the Vatican newspaper,
L’Osservatore Romano, hailed
his election as a “choice that
unites,” exemplifying America’s
ability to “overcome fractures
and divisions that until only
recently could seem incurable.”
Pope Benedict XVI sent the
president-elect a congratulatory
telegram the same day, noting
the “historic occasion” of his
election.
Four years later, the Vatican’s reaction to Obama’s reelection had a markedly different tone.
“If Obama truly wants to be
the president of all Americans,”
said L’Osservatore Nov. 7, “he
should nally acknowledge the
demands forcefully arising from
religious communities –– above
all the Catholic Church –– in favor of the natural family, life and
nally religious liberty itself.”
Speaking to reporters the
same day, the Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico
Lombardi, voiced hope that
Obama would use his second
term for the “promotion of the
culture of life and of religious
liberty.”
The statements alluded to
Obama policies favoring legalized abortion, same-sex marriage
and a plan to require nearly all
health insurance plans, including
those offered by most Catholic
universities and agencies, to cover
sterilizations and contraceptives, which are forbidden by the
church’s moral teaching.
The insurance mandate in
particular, which U.S. bishops
have strenuously protested for
the past year, has proven an
even greater source of division between the church and
the Obama administration than
their previous disagreements
and threatens to aggravate tensions between Washington and
the Vatican during the president’s second term.
From the beginning of
Obama’s presidency, his support for legalized abortion and
embryonic stem-cell research
inspired protests by the church
and controversy within it. Some
80 U.S. bishops publicly criticized the University of Notre
Dame for granting Obama an
honorary degree in 2009.
Yet the Vatican itself remained largely aloof from such
disputes, at least in public statements, and cooperated with the
Obama administration on such
common international goals
as assisting migrants, working
against human trafcking and
preventing mother-to-child
transmission of HIV/AIDS.
But seeing a threat to the
freedom of the church itself, the
Vatican changed its approach
and chose to address matters
more directly.
In January, Pope Benedict
told a group of visiting U.S.
bishops that he was concerned
about “certain attempts being
made to limit that most cherished of American freedoms, the
freedom of religion,” through
“concerted efforts ... to deny the
right of conscientious objection
on the part of Catholic individuals and institutions with regard
to cooperation in intrinsically
evil practices.”
Any hopes that the administration might change its policy to the satisfaction of the
church grew faint as the year
wore on and the election drew
nearer, to the increasingly vocal frustration of several U.S.
bishops.
Two days before Americans
went to the polls, the papal nuncio to the U.S. made it clear how
urgent a priority the nation’s
religious liberty had become at
the highest levels of the universal church.
Speaking at the University
of Notre Dame Nov. 4, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganó
devoted most of a speech
about “religious freedom, persecution of the church and
martyrdom” to the situation
of the U.S. today.
“The menace to religious
liberty is concrete on many
fronts,” Archbishop Viganó
said, noting the insurance mandate, anti-discrimination policies
that require Catholic adoption
agencies to place children with
same-sex couples, and mandatory public school curricula that
present same-sex marriage as
“natural and wholesome.”
Recalling persecution of
Catholics in fascist Italy and
Nazi Germany, the archbishop
said that the “problems identified ... over six decades ago
that deal with the heavy grip
of the state’s hand in authentic
religious liberty are still with us
today.”
A government need not be
a dictatorship in order to persecute the church, the nuncio said,
quoting the words of Blessed
John Paul II that a “democracy
without values easily turns into
openly or thinly disguised totalitarianism.”
If the mere timing of his
speech was not sufficient to
underscore its political implications, Archbishop Viganó
concluded by lamenting the support of Catholic politicians and
voters for laws and policies that
violate church teaching.
“We witness in an unprecedented way a platform being
assumed by a major political
party, having intrinsic evils
among its basic principles, and
Catholic faithful publicly supporting it,” he said. “There
is a divisive strategy at work
here, an intentional dividing of the church; through
this strategy, the body of the
church is weakened, and thus
the church can be more easily
persecuted.”
Jesuit Father Gerald P. Fogarty, a professor of history at
the University of Virginia and
an expert on U.S.-Vatican relations, said it is extremely rare for
a papal diplomat to comment
publicly on a host country’s politics in such a way. The closest
thing to a precedent in the U.S.,
Fogarty said, occurred nearly a
century ago, during the Vatican’s
efforts to persuade belligerent
nations to end World War I.
The archbishop’s speech
would seem to suggest that
the Holy See has made religious liberty in the U.S. an
issue in its diplomatic relations with Washington. Yet
Miguel H. Diaz, U.S. ambassador to the Vatican since 2009,
said that the disagreements
between the church and the
Obama administration over
the insurance mandate have
not interfered with his efforts
to cooperate with the Vatican
on areas of common concern.
Asked whether such compartmentalization would be possible during Obama’s second
term, Diaz, who stepped down
in mid-November, voiced hope
that current tensions, including
the dispute over the insurance
mandate, might be resolved
soon.
“Perhaps my successor will
not have the same kinds of issues” to contend with, he said,
“because that person will likely
have a whole set of different
challenges.”
Bible publisher wins temporary injunction against HHS mandate
BY CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
A Washington-based federal
judge granted a temporary injunction against enforcement of
a federal contraceptive mandate
in a suit brought by an Illinoisbased Christian publisher.
U.S. District Judge Reggie
Walton ruled Nov. 16 that Tyndale House Publishers, which
produces Bibles and various
Christian publications, did not
have to comply with the new
mandate while the group’s lawsuit against it moves forward.
The mandate “affirmatively
compels” the company to violate its religious beliefs, he said.
Matthew Bowman of Alliance Defending Freedom,
which is representing the Illinois
company, said in a statement
that the judge’s ruling was the
right one and that Bible publishers “should be free to do business according to the book that
they publish.”
Tyndale objects to the HHS
requirement that most religious
employers provide free coverage
of contraceptives, sterilization
and some abortion-inducing
drugs free, saying it violates the
company’s moral convictions.
In another lawsuit against
the mandate, a federal judge
in Oklahoma City denied a request for an injunction against
mandate by the Christianowned business Hobby Lobby, saying the arts-and-crafts
stores must cover emergency
contraceptives in their insurance policies even though the
company argued that some are
abortion-inducing drugs.
A day later lawyers for
Hobby Lobby appealed the
decision to the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the 10th Circuit,
asking for “emergency relief”
from fines of more than $1
million a day the company
says it will face if it doesn’t
comply with mandate.
The family owned company said in a statement it has
no moral objection to “the
use of preventive contraceptives” and will continue to
cover those for employees.
The HHS mandate has a
narrow exemption that applies only to those religious
institutions that seek to inculcate their religious values and
primarily employ and serve
people of their own faith. The
mandate does not include a
conscience clause for employers who object to such coverage on moral grounds.
Tyndale House, which has
260 employees, does not meet
the religious exemption even
though it publishes Bibles and
other Christian materials. It is
primarily owned by the nonprot Tyndale House Foundation, which provides grants
to help meet the physical
and spiritual needs of people
around the world.
In his ruling, Walton, of
the District Court for the
District of Columbia, wrote
that the contraceptive mandate “affirmatively compels
the plaintiffs to violate their
religious beliefs in order to
comply with the law and avoid
the sanctions that would be
imposed for their noncompliance.”
The judge acknowledged
that the government has
broad, compelling interests in
promoting public health and
ensuring that women have
equal access to health care,
but he said the question “is
whether the government has
shown that the application
of the contraceptive coverage mandate to the plaintiffs
furthers those compelling interests.”
He also ordered the parties
to appear at an undetermined
date for arguments on whether
to make the injunction permanent.
Alliance Defending Freedom, formerly the Alliance Defense Fund, is a Christian-based
organization based in Scottsdale,
Ariz., that provides legal defense
against attacks on religious freedom. The group represented
Hercules Industries in Colorado,
a Catholic-owned company that
provides heating, ventilation
and air-conditioning. In July,
Hercules Industries was granted
a temporary injunction from the
HHS contraceptive mandate by
a federal judge.
In the Hobby Lobby suit,
Judge Joe Heaton of the U.S.
District Court for the Western
District of Oklahoma, rejected
both First Amendment and
Religious Freedom Restoration
Act claims by the store owners,
saying that “secular, for-prot
corporations do not have free
exercise rights.”
Hobby Lobby, based in
Oklahoma City, has more than
500 retail stores in 41 states. Its
business practices include being
closed on Sundays and hiring
company chaplains to minister
to employees.
“We have always operated
our company in a manner consistent with biblical principles,
including integrity and service
to others,” said David Green,
an evangelical Christian who
is founder and CEO of Hobby Lobby. “We simply cannot
abandon our religious beliefs to
comply with this mandate.”
About 50 Catholic dioceses,
universities and church entities
throughout the U.S. have led
lawsuits against the mandate.
IN OUR WORLD
December 2012
11
Pope creates new cardinals, celebrates diversity
BY FRANCIS X. ROCCA
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Recalling that Christ’s mission transcends “all ethnic,
national and religious particularities,” Pope Benedict XVI
created six new cardinals from
four different continents, representing the Latin rite of the
Catholic Church as well as two
Eastern Catholic Churches.
The churchmen who joined
the College of Cardinals Nov.
24 were U.S. Archbishop James
M. Harvey, 63, former prefect of
the papal household; Lebanon’s
Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai,
72; Indian Archbishop Baselio
Cleemis Thottunkal, 53, head
of the Syro-Malankara Catholic
Church; Nigerian Archbishop
John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan , 68,
of Abuja; Colombian Archbishop
Ruben Salazar Gomez, 70, of Bogota; and Philippine Archbishop
Luis Tagle, 55, of Manila.
“I want to highlight in particular the fact that the church is
the church of all peoples, so she
speaks in the various cultures
of the different continents,” the
pope said during the hour-long
service in St. Peter’s Basilica.
“Amid the polyphony of the
various voices, she raises a single
harmonious song to the living
God.”
The six new cardinals later
stepped up to the pope, who
was seated before the basilica’s
POPE BENEDICT XVI arrives on a wheeled platform for a Mass with cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Nov. 25. The pope created six new cardinals the day before.
Among them was U.S. Cardinal James M. Harvey, a native of Milwaukee who has spent
30 years at the Vatican. (CNS photo by Paul Haring)
T hanks to everyone who made this event a success!
Table sponsors:
Cherubim
James and Meredith Olson
Archangels
4U"OUIPOZ$BUIPMJD$IVSDI#SZBO
3PZDF(FSOHSPTT
Good Samaritan Gabriel Project Life Center
a program of Catholic Charities of Central Texas
&UI4USFFUt#SZBO59t
main altar, to receive symbols
of their ofce: a ring, the “zucchetto” skull cap and the threecornered hat called a biretta. The
headwear was colored scarlet,
like the cardinals’ robes, to symbolize the blood they risk shedding in service to the church.
The new Eastern Catholic
cardinals received modied versions of the biretta, consistent
with the distinctive clerical garb
of their churches. Cardinal Rai
received the turban-like Maronite tabieh, and Cardinal Cleemis a head covering in a shape
reminiscent of an onion dome.
Pope Benedict also assigned
each of the new cardinals a “titular church” in Rome, making
them full members of the Rome
clergy and closer collaborators
of the pope in governing the
universal church.
Cardinal Harvey’s titular
church is the Church of Saint
Pius V a Villa Carpegna, a postwar church about a mile southwest of Vatican City. The pope
has also named Cardinal Harvey
to serve as archpriest of the Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the
Walls, one of Rome’s four major
papal basilicas.
The Nov. 24 ceremony
was a much quieter affair than
the last consistory in February,
when Pope Benedict created 22
cardinals, including three from
the U.S. and Canada. This time,
there was no overow crowd
in St. Peter’s Square, and only
99 of the 211 members of the
College of Cardinals were in
attendance.
Yet the congregation was
spirited, with pilgrims applauding enthusiastically as the new
cardinals’ names were called.
Cardinal Tagle seemed especially
moved as he knelt before the
pope, and afterwards was seen
wiping a tear from his eye.
At the end of the ceremony,
the College of Cardinals had 211
members, 120 of whom were
under the age of 80 and thus
eligible to vote in a conclave to
elect a new pope.
The new consistory raises the percentage of Asian
electors from 7 percent to 9
percent. Catholics in Asia account for just over 10 percent
of the worldwide Catholic
population.
At the same time, the percentage of European electors
dropped slightly, to just over
51 percent. But the continent
remains statistically overrepresented, since the Vatican reports
that fewer than 24 percent of the
world’s Catholics live in Europe.
IN OUR WORLD
12
C ATHOLIC S PIRIT
Pope tells young to welcome Christ’s embrace
BY CINDY WOODEN
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
When young Catholics
from around the world gather
in Rio de Janeiro in July, they
will be under the gaze of the
city’s famous statue of Christ
with outstretched arms, a reminder of his desire to embrace all people, Pope Benedict XVI said.
In his message for World
Youth Day 2013, the pope
asked young people to welcome Christ’s embrace and
share with others the joy of
being loved by him.
In preparation for the international youth gathering
July 23-28, Pope Benedict
asked young Catholics to “reread your personal history,”
looking at how the faith was
passed down to them from
previous generations.
The pope also asked them
not to wait to begin the task
of sharing their Christian faith
with others.
“We are links in a great
chain of men and women who
have transmitted the truth of
the faith and who depend on
us to pass it on to others,” he
said in the message released
Nov. 16 by the Vatican.
The theme of World
Youth Day 2013 is: “Go and
make disciples of all nations.”
“This mandate should
resound powerfully in your
hearts,” the pope told young
people.
In fact, he said, the heart
has a major role to play
they should use in approaching others.
“Many young people today
seriously question whether life
is something good and have a
hard time nding their way,”
the pope said.
Faith helps people see that
“every human life is priceless,
because each of us is the fruit
of God’s love,” he said. “God
loves everyone, even those
who have fallen away from
him or disregard him.”
P o p e
Benedict
a s k e d
young
in bringing them closer to
Christ, motivating them to
share his Gospel and determining the words and actions
Catholics to reach out with
love to their questioning or
doubting peers, helping them
find the hope and meaning
OUR LADY OF THE
ROSARY CEMETERY
& PRAYER GARDENS
Our Lady of the Rosary Cemetery serves Catholics from around
our Diocese. Read Msgr. Louis Pavlicek’s reflection.
“
A Catholic cemetery is Holy Ground. With reverence we have the opportunity to visit the sacred shrine where the body of our loved one has
been placed in the womb of the earth to await the final day of glory with the
resurrection. It is a place of silence, prayer and reflection. We read the name
and dates on the marker
stone and ponder in our
hearts the flame of love alive
within our hearts. Our Lady
of the Rosary Cemetery in
Georgetown offers this kind
of peaceful environment.
The beauty of creation that
surrounds the graves with
its trees, flowers, grass, birds
and many artistic markers
draws us into contemplation. We are affirmed in our
Catholic belief that life is
transformed into new life.
Some quiet time at Our
Lady of the Rosary enables us to make that spiritual connection with our
loved one recalling the times shared together and we carry that treasure in
our hearts as we continue to be faithful to our calling.
”
330 Berry Lane, Georgetown, Texas 78626
XXXPMPUSDPNt
faith brings.
As the Catholics most affected by globalization and
new technology, Pope Benedict said, young people need
a special awareness and have
special responsibilities in
those areas.
“We are passing through a
very particular period of history,” he told them. “Technical advances have given us unprecedented possibilities for
interaction between peoples
and nations. But the globalization of these relationships will
be positive and help the world
to grow in humanity only if it
together,” he said.
While asking the young to
bring their Christian values to
their social media networks and
other online activities, he also
cautioned them to use the media
wisely.
“Be aware of the hidden
dangers they contain, especially
the risk of addiction, of confusing the real world with the
virtual, and of replacing direct
and personal encounters and
dialogue with Internet contacts,”
he said.
Pope Benedict also told the
young people that the responsibility to share the faith ows
from their baptism into the
church, is sustained by prayer,
nourished by receiving the Eucharist, puried through confession and strengthened by
conrmation.
“If you are to remain rm
in professing the Christian faith
wherever you are sent, you need
the church,” he said. “No one
can bear witness to the Gospel
alone.”
The full text of the pope’s
message is available at http://
is founded on love rather than www.vatican.va/holy_faon materialism.”
ther/benedict_xvi/messages/
“Love is the only thing that youth/documents/hf_ben-xvi_
can ll hearts and bring people mes_20121018_youth_en.html.
IN OUR WORLD
Experts discuss bridging the gap between faith, science
December 2012
13
BY CAROL GLATZ
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Dialogue and cooperation
between faith and science are
urgently needed for building a
culture that respects people and
the planet, Pope Benedict XVI
told his own science academy.
Without faith and science
informing each other, “the great
questions of humanity leave the
domain of reason and truth, and
are abandoned to the irrational,
to myth, or to indifference, with
great damage to humanity itself,
to world peace and to our ultimate destiny,” he told members
of the Pontical Academy of
Sciences Nov. 8.
As people strive to “unlock
the mysteries of man and the
universe, I am convinced of
the urgent need for continued
dialogue and cooperation between the worlds of science and
of faith in building a culture of
respect for man, for human dignity and freedom, for the future
of our human family and for the
long-term sustainable development of our planet,” he said.
Members of the academy
were meeting at the Vatican
Nov. 5-10.
As science becomes ever
more complex and highly spe-
cialized, educational institutions
and the church have an important role to play in helping
scientists broaden their concerns
to include the ethical and social
consequences of their work, an
academy member told Catholic
News Service.
“We make scientists today
who are excellent specialists and
remarkable technicians, but they
have little culture in terms of the
history of science,” philosophy
and ethics, said Pierre Lena, a
French Catholic astrophysicist
who is working to revamp the
way science is taught in schools
and universities.
“These technically welltrained people make fantastic
discoveries, but they miss the
connection with the human
person” and often fail to take
into account the impact of
their discoveries on people
and the environment, he said.
The other problem, Lena
said, is that the general public
often glosses over the importance of science because it is
not taught or explained in a
way that shows clearly how
new knowledge affects their
lives or future.
Scientists usually present
their findings by sticking to
objective facts without realizing the general public tends to
base a lot of their decisions on
more subjective reasons like
culture, tradition, feelings and
religious beliefs, and not just
raw data, he said.
Also, people may feel they
can’t trust what scientists say
because their ndings are in
constant flux and development, he said.
Lena said scientists need
to show that their sense of
truth “is not the truth with a
capital ‘T,’” but is something
that evolves and has limits.
Yet, at the same time, a scientific discovery or hypothesis “is not a purely relative
opinion” either, but reflects
real experimental ndings or
is based on highly probably
statistical calculations, he said.
In his Nov. 8 speech to scientists, the pope said, “The universe is not chaos or the result
of chaos, rather, it appears ever
more clearly as an ordered complexity which allows us to rise
... from specialization toward a
more universalizing viewpoint
and vice versa.”
While science still has not
been able to completely understand the “unifying structure and ultimate unity” of
reality, the different scientic
disciplines are getting closer
to “the very foundations” un-
Save the date
derlying the physical world,
he said.
While the Vatican has
done much in terms of reaching out to the world of science
through its many conferences
and initiatives, more needs to
be done by the church on the
ground, especially in Catholic
schools, in teaching the nature
of scientic truth, Lena said.
“Except for the Jesuits,
Catholic education was and
I think still is cautious about
science that might destroy the
faith,” with some examples
being natural selection and
evolution, the possibility of
life on other planets and the
neurological basis for the
psyche, he said.
In general, Catholic education stresses the humanities
“because they speak about
man, and the good and the
bad,” but avoids the more
complex or poorly understood
modern discoveries and theories of science, he said.
The unfamiliar or quickly
evolving terrain of science is
one of the reasons why the
pope has a science academy
–– to monitor the latest advancements in different elds,
said Bishop Marcelo Sanchez
Sorondo, the academy’s chancellor.
ƒšǦ‡ˆ‡””‡†—‹–‹‡••‘ŽŽ‘˜‡”•
йΎ
‘‘—”‘‰Ǧ‡”
Wz
Ƭ‡–‹”‡‡–ƒ˜‹‰•
Ύ/ŶĐůƵĚĞƐƵƌƌĞŶƚzŝĞůĚн
Žƒ•–ƒ…’ǫ
ϭ͘ϬϬй&ŝƌƐƚzĞĂƌĚĚŝƟŽŶĂů/ŶƚĞƌĞƐƚ
z
PRO-LIFE BENEFIT GALA
supporting the Office of Pro-Life Activities and Chaste Living of the Diocese of Austin
RENAISSANCE AUSTIN HOTEL
9721
9
97
21 Arboretum Boulevard Austin,, exas 78759
59
He told CNS that it’s critical
for the new evangelization to
take into account current scientic opinions and positions.
Understanding scientific
truths is important “not for any
lack on the part of the Gospels
or the catechism, but because
the intellect is weak and is used
to operating from what it already knows,” the bishop said.
By understanding what secularized universities, students or
professional elds are thinking,
“it’s much easier to be able to
help them understand that the
truth of faith is not in contrast
to these other truths, rather in
many cases it strengthens them
and gives them new drive, new
incentive.”
Lena said scientists who
are religious and the church
as a whole need theologians
to hammer out the Christian
response to the many questions that arise in science today, from complex end of life
issues to the possibility of life
on other planets.
He said if theology could
keep pace in providing the
Catholic insight and interpretation to modern challenges
and discoveries, “then the gap
between the beliefs of people and the scientic world”
could close.
z
ϯ͘ϰϬ
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2013
featuring
Most Reverend Joseph A. Fiorenza
Archbishop Emeritus of Galveston-Houston
RESERVATIONS & INFORMATION
www.austindiocese.org/prolifegala
5:30 p.m. Registration Begins/Silent Auction Open
6 p.m. VIP Reception
7 p.m. Dinner & Program
individual seats $75 tables start at $600
Trips to Scotland, France, Ireland, Shrines of Europe and much more...
ranging from $3,599—$4,699 for 2013.
'ĞƌƌŝW͘DĂƌƟŶĞnj
ƵƐƟŶͬĂƐƚƌŽƉͬdĂLJůŽƌ
ϱϭϮͲϯϬϯͲϱϵϯϲ
WĂƚƐLJ͘tŝůĞLJ
,ŝůůŽƵŶƚƌLJ
ϯϮϱͲϯϴϴͲϰϲϵϴ
dŚŽŵĂƐ͘&ƌĞŝ
>ŽƩ
ϮϱϰͲϵϴϱͲϮϮϰϯ
>LJŶĚŽŶDŝĚĚůĞƚŽŶ
tĞƐƚ
ϮϱϰͲϴϮϮͲϭϵϯϯ
DŽŶŝĐĂDŝŬĞƐŬĂ
dĞŵƉůĞ
ϮϱϰͲϳϲϬͲϯϲϱϯ
ĂǀŝĚW͘ĐŬĞů
ƵƐƟŶ
ϱϭϮͲϮϭϯͲϰϵϰϬ
ĂƐĞ,ŽůůƵď
tĞŝŵĂƌ
ϵϳϵͲϳϮϱͲϭϭϭϭ
ƌŝĂŶƌŬĮƚnj
tĂĐŽ
ϮϱϰͲϳϳϮͲϭϯϯϭ
ϴϬϬͲϲϵϵͲϮϱϴϰ
ĚΘ&ƌĂŶĐŝƐ^ƵůĂ
&ĂLJĞƩĞǀŝůůĞ
ϵϳϵͲϯϳϴͲϮϯϴϭ
ůƵĐŬŚŽůƚ
tĞƐƚƉŚĂůŝĂ
ϮϱϰͲϴϱϰͲϭϭϰϳ
Prices are ALL-INCLUSIVE W/ Airfare from anywhere in the continental USA
Italy/Switzerland: Apr. 6-18, Apr. 13-25, Apr. 20-May 2, Apr. 27-May 9, May 4-16 …
Italy Regular: Apr. 6-14, Apr. 13-21, Apr. 20-28, Apr. 27-May 5, May 4-12, May 11-19...
Holy Land: Apr. 1-11, Apr. 8018, Apr. 15-25, Apr. 22-May 2, Apr. 29-May 9, May 6-16...
Holy Land/Italy: Apr. 1-14, Apr. 8-21, Apr. 15-28, Apr. 22-May 5, Apr. 29-May 12 …
Italy South: Apr. 27-May 9, May 4-16, May 11-23, May 18-30, Jun. 15-27 …
Italy/Lourdes/Fatima: Apr. 20-May 2, Apr. 27-May 9, May 4-16, May 11-23 …
www.proximotravel.com
email: [email protected]
855-842-8001
Carmela A. Dupuis | Executive Director
Ύ/ŶƚĞƌĞƐƚƌĂƚĞƐĂƌĞƐƵďũĞĐƚƚŽĐŚĂŶŐĞ͘
DŝŶŝŵƵŵŐƵĂƌĂŶƚĞĞĚƌĂƚĞŝƐϭ͘ϳϱй͘
,ŽŵĞKĸĐĞ͗^ĂŶŶƚŽŶŝŽ͕dĞdžĂƐ͘η^hϵ͘ϭϮ
14
IN OUR WORLD
C ATHOLIC S PIRIT
Catholics on Gaza border pray for hostilities to end
BY JUDITH SUDILOVSKY
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
As diplomatic efforts were
underway to reach a ceasere
agreement between Hamas
and Israel Nov. 20, Catholics
on both sides of the Gaza
border prayed for peace.
“When we pray for peace,
we pray for peace for everyone,” said Father Yoel Salvaterra, who serves the Hebrewspeaking Catholic community
in the southern Israeli city of
Beersheba, after a morning
in which more than 20 rockets landed in the city. “Our
prayers have no borders. We
know we are suffering here
and they are suffering there. It
is just suffering.”
Egypt was reported to
have been brokering a cease
fire agreement between
Hamas and the Israeli government late Nov. 20, according
to news reports.
The parish celebrated
Mass Nov. 18 in the church
bomb shelter, Father Salvaterra said, and only 15 people
came to pray, about half the
normal number. The community has about 150 members.
“People live in fear,” he
said. “Everybody is staying
home. Sometimes they call
me for assurance, sometimes
I call them. The situation has
not been easy as even before
the Israeli operation we suffered from rockets once or
twice a month. The uncertainty was difcult.”
Though several homes
in Beersheba took direct hits
from the rockets, no one from
the community has been injured, he said.
Going to Sunday Mass
is a way of supporting one
another and nding strength
through prayer, said Rafoul
Assy, 50, who hails from the
northern all-Melkite village
of Fassuta and has lived in
Beersheba for more than 20
years. Although Assy was unable to attend Mass because of
his work, he said his wife and
four children found comfort
in the familiar routine of the
prayers.
“The Mass itself took only
three-quarters of an hour but
they stayed there for over an
hour talking to the other people,” said Assy, whose four
children range from 4 to 14
years old. “It is difficult for
the children. They spend their
days in the bomb shelter. Every time there is a siren the
little one grabs the iPad and
runs to the shelter. They are
afraid.”
In Gaza, George Antone,
31, project manager for the
Pontical Mission for Palestine and father of a 6-month
old daughter, told Catholic
News Service Nov. 20 that
people are staying home because it is too risky to leave.
No one knows where Israel’s
bombs may land next, he said.
“It can be anywhere, between houses, in government
institutions, schools, universities, a football eld,” he said.
“The situation here is terrible.
Last night it was as if we were
living in hell. Every 15 minutes you could hear an explosion.”
One member of Holy
Family Parish in Gaza died of
a heart attack during a bombing and had just been buried
at the church cemetery, he
said. Otherwise, people leave
their homes only to get essen-
tials. Supplies such as fuel and
bread are running low because
our can’t be delivered to the
bakeries, he said.
“I don’t like the killing on
either side. I respect life,” Antone said. “This is not the
way in which we can find a
solution. Peace never comes
with blood. That is what we
say to the people in church.
This will lead to nothing only
a very bad scenario on both
sides and the people will pay
the price.”
He added that he sees
the conflict between Hamas
and the Israeli government
as not only political but also
one stemming from religious
fanaticism from both Muslims
and Jews.
“We Christians are not political, we call for peace and to
save lives,” Antone said. “This
conict will lead to nothing.
We pray a real truce will be
reached and then afterward
they have to start negotiating
for peace. That is the only way
to solve the problem. They
have to sit and speak and nd
a way where there will be no
war for our children and the
coming generations.”
One Catholic Gazan, who
asked not to be identied, said
he and his family had not left
their home for almost a week.
“The explosions are terrible for us,” he said. Although
the family’s pantry was wellstocked, he said family members have little appetite under
the dangerous circumstances.
Though some people may
disagree with Hamas’ tactics
“nobody can say anything
against Hamas,” he said.
“They are in control. You
have to say yes, whoever says
‘no’ will end up saying ‘yes’
later,” he said. “You have to
walk with your back very close
to the wall. You have to be
careful.”
In a Nov. 19 report Sami
El-Yousef, regional director
for the Catholic Near East
Welfare Association’s ofce in
Jerusalem, noted widespread
destruction in Gaza and said
almost all of the Christian institutions have sustained some
damage from the shelling in
the form of broken glass and
doors.
He said children and the
elderly are paying the heaviest
price and called for prayers
that the hostilities would end
as soon as possible.
SMOKE AND EXPLOSIONS are seen above Gaza City Nov. 21. Israeli air strikes shook
the Gaza Strip and Palestinian rockets struck across the border as Pope Benedict XVI
condemned escalating hostilities, saying hatred and violence are never an appropriate
solution to problems. (CNS photo by Ahmed Jadallah of Reuters)
Pope condemns escalating Gaza conict, calls for truce
BY CAROL GLATZ
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Pope Benedict XVI condemned escalating hostilities
between Israel and the Palestinians, saying hatred and violence
are never an appropriate solution to problems.
He also called for greater
efforts to promote a truce and
peace negotiations.
“I am following with great
concern the escalation of violence between Israelis and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip,”
the pope said at the end of his
general audience Nov. 21.
“Hatred and violence are
not the solution to problems,”
he said to applause from those
gathered in the Paul VI hall.
“I encourage the initiatives
and efforts of those who are
seeking to establish a cease-re
and to promote negotiations,”
he said.
He also called on leaders
on both sides of the conict
to make “courageous decisions in favor of peace and
put an end to a conict that
has negative repercussions
throughout the entire Middle
East region, which is already
troubled by too many conicts and is in need of peace
and reconciliation.”
The pope expressed his
closeness to victims and all those
suffering because of the violence.
His appeal came as both sides
in the conflict launched fresh
attacks.
Just hours before the pope
spoke, a bomb exploded on a bus
in Tel Aviv, wounding at least 10
people.
That attack followed a weeklong Israeli offensive in the
Gaza Strip aimed at stopping
rocket strikes by Palestinian
militants.
More than 140 Palestinians
and at least ve Israelis have been
killed since Israel launched its
offensive.
In the U.S., the chairman of
the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace urged
the U.S. to provide leadership to
end the violence and retaliation
unfolding in the region.
“An immediate cease-fire
must be negotiated as a precondition so that leaders on both sides
can give Israelis and Palestinians
hope for a different future free of
fear and full of promise,” Bishop
Richard E. Pates of Des Moines,
Iowa, said in a Nov. 20 letter to
National Security Adviser Thomas Donilon. The USCCB released
the text of the letter Nov. 21.
Bishop Pates wrote that Israel has a right to defend its
citizens following “morally unjustiable” rocket attacks from
Gaza that killed Israeli civilians,
but said its use of force must be
proportionate and discriminate.
He made note of the reported
Palestinian death toll and the
many who have been wounded.
The bishop also said the
director of Caritas Jerusalem has
been appealing for supplies to
help the hospitals in Gaza that are
“overwhelmed with casualties.”
He said the continuing violence has “serious implications
for the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conict and for regional
stability.”
The bishop urged the U.S.
government to work to end the
latest violence “before it spirals
further out of control.”
“Violence will not bring
peace to the region,” he said. “It
will only reinforce historic hurts
and deepen divisions, making
peace even more remote.”
IN OUR WORLD
December 2012
15
Catholics come together to transcend Sandy’s impact
BY RAYANNE BENNETT
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
In the weeks since Hurricane Sandy waged her relentless 48-hour assault along the
mid-Atlantic shoreline, carving a
swath of devastation throughout
and beyond the four-county Diocese of Trenton, the Catholic
community has answered back
in faith and solidarity.
“Priests and parishioners,
rst responders and volunteers,
community leaders and ordinary
citizens, old and young alike
have reached deep into their
hearts and souls to care about
and for one another,” Trenton
Bishop David M. O’Connell
said in a reflection published
in The Monitor, the diocesan
newspaper.
“I believe it is the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ alive and
at work in our diocese,” he said
about response to the need created by Sandy.
The Trenton Diocese’s two
shore counties –– Ocean and
Monmouth –– suffered some
of the worst devastation, mobilizing hundreds of thousands
of people into relief work on
behalf of the victims and bring
them together to proclaim their
unwavering belief that there is
always hope with God.
Even as their own power
was gone, communications crippled and staffs suffering staggering personal losses of homes
and property, dozens of shore
parishes opened their doors to
serve as shelters from the storm,
to share food and warmth where
New Jersey Oct. 29 and swept
through the Northeast, Bishop
O’Connell had established a
diocesan hurricane relief effort
by mid-afternoon Nov. 2.
He called for the establishment of diocesan distribution
centers in parishes and Catholic
social service installations to
A day earlier, speaking from
the bustling relief center at St.
Benedict Parish in Holmdel,
Bishop O’Connell encouraged
all who were struggling with
the effects of the storm’s devastation to remain calm and
pledged the ongoing support of
the Catholic community.
“Priests and parishioners, rst responders and volunteers,
community leaders and ordinary citizens, old and young
alike have reached deep into their hearts and souls to care
about and for one another.”
–– Trenton Bishop David M. O’Connell
it could be found, and to partner
with groups like the Red Cross
and local fire departments to
collect desperately needed items
for local residents.
On Nov. 15, the diocese’s
Department of Pastoral Care
announced it would host a “day
of consolation” Dec. 8 for those
in bereavement ministry and
for those affected by hurricane
Sandy.
Over the Nov. 17-18 weekend, at the direction of Bishop
O’Connell, a diocese-wide collection was taken at all Masses to
raise money for the relief effort.
After Sandy made landfall in
provide people most seriously
affected by the storm with the
resources they need to survive
in the short-term and begin to
explore what will be needed in
the long-term.
As recovery efforts began,
Bishop O’Connell visited as
many priests and churches in
area that had become known as
“ground zero” as he was permitted to during a tour escorted by
the New Jersey State Police. He
visited hurricane relief centers in
Monmouth County, celebrated
Mass Nov. 4 at St. Rose Parish
for the throngs who overowed
the darkened church that day.
“God bless you, we love you
and whatever we can do to help
you we will,” he said.
His recurring message to
his people was that when they
believe in God, no measure of
adversity can destroy them.
In his reflection in The
Monitor, the bishop observed:
“As Catholics, we humbly drop
to our knees as we have so often
done –– in good times and in
bad –– to summon courage, to
strengthen our resolve, to sustain our faith and to strive for
that one, unshakable hope that
God is with us and always will
be –– in good times and in bad.”
Through it all, Bishop
O’Connell has lauded the resilient spirit of the people he met.
He marveled at their willingness
to help one another, their determination to pick up the pieces
and rebuild, and most importantly, their devotion to God.
He recalled meeting Carol
DeBartolo, president of the St.
Rose Parish Conference of the
Society of St. Vincent De Paul,
and several other women who
were getting the relief effort
organized in that parish. he
women shared with the bishop a new saying in their little
town: “Everyone’s safe. Just no
power.”
Bishop O’Connell writes of
women like these in his reection, saying, “Difficult times
often bring out the very best
in people and that has clearly
been the case along coastal New
Jersey in the wake of this storm.
On Nov. 15, President
Barack Obama visited some
of the most devastated areas
of New York and New Jersey
where many storm victims
were still standing in lines for
supplies, food and other assistance.
He said the federal government would be there to
help “until the rebuilding is
complete.”
CSA Commitment Weekend
November 3-4, 2012
Your participation in the 2012–2013
Catholic Services Appeal helps
keep the Catholic Church in
Central Texas a welcoming place
for those in material and
spiritual need through:
Go and
Make Disciples
In Christ Jesus you are
all children of God
through faith.
– Gal 3:26
Vayan y
Hagan Discípulos
Support CSA!
¡Apoye CSA!
Clergy Formation
Education & Formation
Spirituality & Worship
Justice & Charity
Pastoral Ministries
2012–20133
Su participación en el Llamado para
los Servicios Católicos de 2012–2013
ayuda a la Iglesia Católica del Centro
de Texas a recibir a quienes tienen
necesidades materiales
y espirituales, por medio de:
Por su fe en Cristo Jesús
todos ustedes son
hijos de Dios.
– Gal 3,26
Scan this QR code with your smart phone or mobile
device to find out more about how you can support the Catholic Services Appeal or visit
www.austindiocese.org/csa
Lea este código QR con su smart phone (teléfono inteligente) o dispositivo móvil para obtener
más información sobre cómo puede apoyar el Llamado para los Servicios Católicos o visite
www.austindiocese.org/csa
6225 Highway 290 East
Austin, TX 78723-1025
Phone (512) 949-2400
Fax (512) 949-2520
www.austindiocese.org/csa
Formación del Clero
Educación y Formación
Culto Divino y Vida Espiritual
Justicia y Caridad
Ministerios Pastorales
GOOD NEWS
16
C ATHOLIC S PIRIT
The Sunday Gospel readings for Advent
Dec. 2
First Sunday of Advent
Dec. 16
Third Sunday of Advent
Lk 21:25-28, 34-36
Lk 3:10-18
Jesus said to his disciples: “There will be
signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars,
and on earth nations will be in dismay,
perplexed by the roaring of the sea and
the waves. People will die of fright in
anticipation of what is coming upon the
world, for the powers of the heavens will
be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power
and great glory. But when these signs begin to happen, stand erect and raise
your heads because your redemption is at hand.
“Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a
trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be
vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Primer Domingo de Adviento
En aquel tiempo, dijo Jesús a sus discípulos: “Habrá señales en el sol, la luna
y las estrellas, y por toda la tierra se angustiarán las naciones, asustadas
por el ruido del mar y de las olas. Los hombres morirán de espanto, con sólo
pensar en lo que le espera al mundo, porque las fuerzas del universo serán
conmovidas. Y en ese preciso momento verán al Hijo del Hombre viniendo
poderoso y glorioso en medio de la Nube. Por esto ustedes enderécense y
levanten sus cabezas cuando se presenten los primeros signos, pues habrá
llegado el día de su liberación.
“Estén alerta, no sea que se endurezcan sus corazones en los vicios, borracheras y preocupaciones de la vida. No sea que ese día caiga de repente
sobre ustedes y como la trampa que se cierra. Pues vendrá sobre todos los
habitantes de toda la tierra. Por eso, estén despiertos y orando en todo tiempo.
Así tendrán fuerzas para escapar de todo lo que debe suceder y podrán estar
de pie delante del Hijo del Hombre”.
Dec. 9
Second Sunday of Advent
Lk 3:1-6
In the fteenth year of the reign of Tiberius
Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of
Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch
of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis,
and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene,
during the high priesthood of Annas and
Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the desert.
John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of
repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words
of the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one crying out in the desert:
“Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. Every valley shall be
lled and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The winding roads shall
be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all esh shall see
the salvation of God.”
Segundo Domingo de Adviento
Era el año quince del reinado del emperador Tiberio. Poncio Pilato era gobernador
de la Judea , Herodes estaba a cargo de la provincia de Galilea, su hermano
Filipo a cargo de la Iturea y de la Traconítide, y Lisanias a cargo de Abilene.
Los jefes de los sacerdotes eran Anás y Caifás. Ese fue el momento en que
Dios dirigió su palabra a Juan, hijo de Zacarías, que estaba en el desierto.
Juan empezó a predicar su bautismo por toda la región del río Jordán, diciéndoles que cambiaran su manera de vivir para que se les perdonaran sus pecados. Así se cumplía lo que está escrito en el libro del profeta Isaías: “Una voz
grita en el desierto: Preparen el camino del Señor, enderecen sus caminos.
Rellénense todas las quebradas y aplánense todos los cerros. Los caminos
con curvas serán enderezados. Y los ásperos suavizados. Entonces llegará
la salvación de Dios y todo mortal la contemplará”.
The crowds asked John the Baptist,
“What should we do?” He said to them
in reply, “Whoever has two cloaks should
share with the person who has none. And
whoever has food should do likewise.”
Even tax collectors came to be baptized
and they said to him, “Teacher, what
should we do?”
He answered them, “Stop collecting more than what is prescribed.” Soldiers
also asked him, “And what is it that we should do?” He told them, “Do not practice extortion,do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satised with your wages.”
Now the people were lled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts
whether John might be the Christ. John answered them all, saying, “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen
the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and re. His
winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing oor and to gather the wheat
into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable re.” Exhorting them
in many other ways, he preached good news to the people.
Tercer Domingo de Adviento
En aquel tiempo, la gente preguntaba a Juan: “¿Qué debemos hacer?” El les
contestaba: “El que tenga dos capas dé una al que no tiene y quien tenga qué
comer haga lo mismo”.
Vinieron también los cobradores de impuestos para que los bautizara. Le
dijeron: “Maestro, ¿qué tenemos que hacer?” Respondió Juan: “No cobren
más de lo debido”. A su vez unos soldados le preguntaron: “Y nosotros, ¿qué
debemos hacer?” Les contesto: “No abusen de la gente, no hagan denuncias
falsas y conténtense con lo que les pagan”.
El pueblo estaba en la duda y todos se preguntaban interiormente si Juan
no sería el Cristo. Por lo que Juan hizo a todos esta declaración: “Yo bautizo
con agua, pero pronto va venir el que es más poderoso que yo, al que no soy
digno de soltarle los cordones de un zapato; él los bautizará en el Espíritu
Santo y en el fuego.
Tiene en la mano la pala para limpiar el trigo en su era y recogerlo después
en su granero. Pero la paja, la quemará en el fuego que no se apaga”. Y con
muchas otras palabras anunció la Buena Nueva al pueblo.
Dec. 23
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Lk 1:39-45
Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where
she entered the house of Zechariah and
greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard
Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her
womb, and Elizabeth, lled with the Holy
Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said,
“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And
how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in
my womb leaped for joy. Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken
to you by the Lord would be fullled.”
Cuarto Domingo de Adviento
Por esos días, María partió apresuradamente a una ciudad ubicada en los
cerros de Judá. Entró a la casa de Zacarías y saludó a Isabel. Al oír Isabel
su saludo, el niño dio saltos en su vientre. Isabel se llenó del Espíritu Santo
y exclamó en alta voz: “Bendita eres entre todas las mujeres y bendito es el
fruto de tu vientre. ¿Cómo he merecido yo que venga a mí la madre de mi
Señor? Apenas llegó tu saludo a mis oídos, el niño saltó de alegría en mis
entrañas. ¡Dichosa por haber creído que de cualquier manera se cumplirán
las promesas del Señor!”
December 2012
GOOD NEWS
17
Advent Gospel passages prepare us for Christ
BISHOP JOE S.
VÁSQUEZ is the fth
bishop of the Austin
Diocese. He shepherds more than
500,000 Catholics in 25 Central
Texas counties.
Editor: Bishop, I would like to
change things up a little and reect on the Advent Sunday Gospel
readings for this month. Are you
up for a little change? (See Gospel
passages on Page 16)
Bishop Vásquez: Yes, this is an
excellent way for us to approach the
Advent season since this is exactly how
the church envisions us reecting on
this special time. As Catholics we look
at the liturgical year and our lives as
moments of grace and opportunities to
experience the gift of salvation.
The Sunday Gospel we will be
reecting on this Advent is taken
from the Gospel of Luke. This Gospel is a favorite of mine and many
others. The Gospel of Luke has a
particular emphasis on compassion,
which attracts many people. Some of
our favorite Scripture passages are
found in this Gospel: the Annunciation, the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem,
the parable of the Good Samaritan,
the story of the Prodigal Son and the
encounter with Zacchaeus. In this
Gospel, we nd many instances of
Jesus sharing meals with sinners. One
of the overriding themes is that of
Jesus on a journey, which is leading him to Jerusalem where he will
experience his passion, death and
resurrection. There is also great attention given to women in this Gospel
as Jesus encounters various women,
such as Mary and Martha, and invites
them to become disciples. Therefore,
the Gospel of Luke appeals to us on
many levels.
Editor: In the Gospel of Luke
for the rst Sunday of Advent,
Christ is preparing us for when he
comes for the second time. Why is
this important?
Bishop Vásquez: The purpose
of the season of Advent is two-fold.
It is meant to prepare us to celebrate
the upcoming feast of Christmas and
the historical remembrance of Jesus’
birth, but it is also a time to prepare
for Jesus’ return at the end of time.
We look back in history and we
remember God’s ultimate act of salvation comes in the purpose of Jesus
Christ, particularly as he takes esh
and becomes incarnate. As we say in
the Creed, “For us men and for our
salvation he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate
of the Virgin Mary, and became
man.” Just before Advent began, the
church celebrated the solemnity of
Christ the King, which helps us focus
on Jesus as the center of history and
time.
On this rst Sunday of Advent,
Jesus describes how nature and
people will react when he comes
at the end of time. One of the key
points to realize in this passage is that
even creation yearns and anticipates
the coming of Christ.
Jesus says very clearly, “Beware
that your hearts do not become
drowsy.” This means we are not to
become lazy in anticipating the Lord’s
second coming. To become complacent in our faith is a danger for all of
us. Complacency leads to blindness,
which causes us to not recognize
Jesus’ presence in our lives on a daily
basis. We must recognize Jesus in our
midst every day in order to prepare
for his ultimate return at the end of
ages. The truth is the Lord is coming, and we should all be concentrating on his return and anticipating it!
Therefore, as Luke reminds us in this
passage, we should be vigilant at all
times and pray fervently.
This is exactly what the Year
of Faith is about as well. It’s about
renewing our faith and sharing our
faith and re-focusing our attention on
Christ. Through prayer, acts of charity and study of our faith, we come
closer to Christ and become more
aware of his presence in our lives.
Editor: In the second Sunday’s Gospel, we hear more about
preparing. Luke and Isaiah write
about valleys and roads. What do
they mean by this?
Bishop Vásquez: The valleys and
roads can be experiences or challenges in our lives that may prevent us
from coming closer to God. Perhaps
they are external challenges such as
disease, job loss, poverty or divorce
that keep us from God. Or they
could be internal challenges such as
our struggle with sin or a lack of patience, charity or mercy. In our lives,
there are often issues we have to
address and we have to be careful not
to allow the valleys or the mountains
to become impediments but rather
opportunities for us to seek the Lord.
This Gospel encourages us to be
mindful of what is going on in our
lives, which is another element that
is very important during this Year
of Faith. Our faith is not just about
what is going on with us spiritually,
but it is about what is going on in our
lives as a whole –– physically, mentally and spiritually. Advent is a good
time to examine our lives and our
priorities. What is going on in my life
right now? How am I growing closer
to the Lord? What are the challenges
that I am experiencing that prevent
me from getting closer to the Lord?
This Gospel passage encourages
us to nd the areas in our lives that
need changing –– areas where we
need conversion. The season of Advent is about us availing ourselves to
Christ’s gift of conversion. The roads
and valleys in our lives become av-
enues for Christ to bring about conversion. They are ways for us to grow
closer to Christ and to experience his
profound love and forgiveness.
Editor: In the third Sunday’s
Gospel, John the Baptist is preparing the way for Jesus and he challenges his listeners to be different.
Bishop Vásquez: The Gospels
portray John as an odd fellow. He
resides in the desert, wears strange
clothing made of camel hair and a
leather belt and eats bugs, but more
importantly, John the Baptist is the
last great prophet who prepares the
people for the coming of the Savior. John has been anticipating this
great moment and he desires that
the hearts of the people be ready to
recognize Jesus when he comes. He is
this ery person who is full of energy
and he is awakening the people and
shaking them out of their slumber.
He knows that in order to recognize
their Savior, the people must repent
of their sinful ways and begin to live
and act in accordance with God’s
will.
John the Baptist tells us of the
kind of practical faith that we need
to enter the Kingdom of God. He
says whoever has two cloaks should
share with a person who has none.
Tax collectors should stop collecting more than what is prescribed. He
tells people to not practice extortion,
to not falsely accuse anyone, and to
be satised with their wages. He is
encouraging people to practice justice
and mercy.
The season of Advent is a wonderful time for us to experience the
sacrament of reconciliation. Pope
Benedict XVI has said that if the
faithful have a real experience of
God’s mercy then they will become
credible witnesses of holiness, which
is the goal of the New Evangelization.
“First of all because the New
Evangelization draws its lifeblood
from the holiness of the children of
the Church, from the daily journey of
personal and community conversion
in order to be ever more closely conformed to Christ … there is a close
connection between holiness and the
Sacrament of Reconciliation … The
real conversion of our hearts, which
means opening ourselves to God’s
transforming and renewing action,
is the driving force of every reform
and is expressed in a real evangelizing effort. In confession, through
the freely bestowed action of divine
mercy, repentant sinners are justied,
pardoned and sanctied and abandon
their former selves to be re-clothed
in the new,” our Holy Father said last
April.
This is exactly what John the Baptist wants for the people in this Sunday’s Gospel –– he wants the hearts
of the people to be transformed so
that they burn with desire for God.
Editor: The fourth Sunday’s
Gospel focuses on Mary and Elizabeth. Tell us more about their
special relationship.
Bishop Vásquez: On the last
Sunday of Advent, the church concentrates on the person of Mary. She
opened her life totally and completely
to God. In this Gospel, Mary visits
her relative Elizabeth –– this is a very
powerful scene. God is doing great
things for both of these women.
They are both expectant mothers:
Elizabeth has conceived a child in her
advanced age and Mary, who is much
younger, has conceived through the
power of the Holy Spirit. They greet
each other and the child Elizabeth
carries in her womb jumps for joy at
the proximity of their embrace. Elizabeth recognizes that Mary is special
and says very clearly, “Blessed are
you among women, and blessed is the
fruit of your womb. And how does
this happen to me, that the mother of
my Lord should come to me?”
Elizabeth immediately realized
that God was doing something
very unique with Mary. Indeed it is
through Mary that Jesus receives his
humanity. She leads us to Christ both
in her example of discipleship and in
her love for her son. If we love Mary
and we seek her guidance, we will
come to love her Son just as much as
she did.
Mary teaches us how to rejoice
in God’s act of salvation in her
own life and in the lives of others.
She proclaimed the Good News
as she visited with Elizabeth. “My
soul proclaims the greatness of the
Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my
savior” (Lk 1: 46-47). During this
Year of Faith, Mary serves as an
example of how we can share God’s
salvation with others and how we
can give witness to his salvation in
our own lives.
Editor: What is your prayer for
us as we continue through this
Advent season and into Christmas?
Bishop Vásquez: First of all,
I want to encourage everyone to
pray with renewed vigor during this
Advent season. Let your soul proclaim the greatness of the Lord, just
as Mary’s did. I also encourage all
Catholics to take advantage of the
sacrament of reconciliation during the
season of Advent.
My prayer is that our eyes and
our hearts will be opened to receive
Christ, much like John the Baptist,
Elizabeth and Mary were. These great
men and women from the past longingly anticipated Christ’s coming. My
prayer is that during this holy Advent
season as well as throughout the Year
of Faith all of us in this diocese will
truly have this longing desire to nd
Christ, to look for him around us and
to anticipate his coming at the end of
time.
18
GOOD NEWS
C ATHOLIC S PIRIT
Making a difference after the election
BY BARBARA BUDDE
COLUMNIST
After the November election,
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, president of
the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, sent a letter to President Obama,
which is available on the USCCB website at www.usccb.org/news/2012/12183.cfm. Cardinal Dolan’s letter was
genuinely warm and open, but at the
same time it makes our Catholic values
clear. “In particular, we pray that you
will exercise your ofce to pursue the
common good, especially in care of the
most vulnerable among us, including
the unborn, the poor, and the immigrant,” the cardinal wrote.
As the president and other elected
ofcials settle into their next term,
there are three issues that are pressing
and that need our attention in terms of
advocacy and action: the so-called “scal cliff,” religious liberty and immigration reform.
All news outlets are buzzing about
the scal cliff –– the fact that Congress
needs to pass legislation that will avert
across the board cuts to all federal programs. The bishops acknowledge the
need for decit reduction, but they do
not want to balance the budget on the
backs of those who are most poor and
vulnerable. We can join the bishops
and others in asking the administration
and members of Congress to create
a “circle of protection” around those
who are poor and vulnerable, both
here and abroad. For more information on this coalition, visit www.
circleofprotection.us/index1.html and
write to your members of Congress.
We need to press President
Obama and his administration to
change the HHS mandate, which
denes Catholic hospitals, social
service agencies, universities and
some schools as not Catholic. The
bishops have been strong advocates
for health care reform for decades.
Like the president, they would like to
see greater access to health care for
all, but not health care that denes
some of our Catholic institutions as
not Catholic or not religious. We do
not need health care that violates
conscience protections or changes
the longstanding protections against
federal funding for abortions. Visit
www.FirstAmericanFreedom.com
and text “Freedom” to 377377 to
get regular updates on ways you can
advocate for religious freedom. Please
join the bishops in advocacy on this
important issue.
An area of concern for the bishops around religious liberty is how
some states are trying to criminalize
or restrict our ministry to immigrants.
The bishops have worked for just
and humane attitudes toward every
person, including immigrants. This
includes their long-standing support for comprehensive immigration
reform. Many believe that there is a
greater chance for both major parties
to work on immigration reform in the
next congressional session.
For more than 10 years, the
bishops have focused on comprehensive immigration reform that calls
for economic and political reform so
that people do not need to migrate in
order to live a peaceful and dignied
life. For those families who are here
in the U.S. and have been here for
many years, the bishops would support a path to citizenship that is not
amnesty, but would allow individuals
who have lived and worked here to
regularize their status so as to live,
work and contribute here without
fear or exploitation. The bishops are
keenly aware that the present immigration system can keep families
separated for a decade or longer.
This is an area of particular concern
for our church, which promotes
marriage and family life as a core
principle. For a complete look at the
bishops’ ideas regarding comprehensive immigration reform visit
www.justiceforimmigrants.org.
The voting is over, now the
work of advocacy begins. We have
an opportunity to make a difference
in these areas where there is great
need for action and where there is
political will to move forward. We
can’t afford not to act, let’s follow
the example of Cardinal Dolan in
congratulating the winners at all
levels. We can assure them of our
prayers and remind them that they
will continue to hear from us about
these and other issues of concern in
the years to come.
BARBARA BUDDE
is the diocesan
director of social
concerns. She
can be reached at
(512) 949-2471 or
barbara-budde@
austindiocese.org.
Christmas is a culmination of many traditions
BY MARY LOU GIBSON
COLUMNIST
“Joyeux Noèl” or “Mele Kalikimaka” or “Buon Natale” or “Feliz Navidad” or “God Jul” or “Chung Mung
Giang Sinh” or “Merry Christmas”
Whatever way you say it, it means
Merry Christmas. The world marks
Dec. 25 as the commemoration of the
birth of Jesus in the festival of Christmas. It is the oldest specically Christian feast. The date of Dec. 25 was the
Roman day of the winter solstice, a
popular and important pagan festival in
the second and third centuries. An account in the “Encyclopedia Britannica”
states that Christmas became increasingly entrenched in theology under
Roman inuence during the struggle
against Arianism in the fourth century.
So as early as 354 under Pope Liberius, the date of Dec. 25 was chosen
as the solemnity of the birth of Jesus.
It slowly replaced Epiphany, which
originally was celebrated in the East on
Jan. 6, as the birthday of Christ.
Some of the most popular Christmas traditions were begun by saints
from centuries past doing very ordinary things.
One of the earliest saints in church
history was St. Ephraem of Syria (30673). He is the author of the “Hymns
on the Nativity of the Flesh,” the earliest poetry on the nativity.
The giving of gifts is probably the
most obvious tradition that has come
down through the centuries. That
custom seems to have begun with the
fourth century bishop of Myra, St.
Nicholas. Paul Burns writes in “Butler’s Lives of the Saints” that Nicholas
heard of a man in his home town of
Patara who had lost all his money. The
man had three daughters who were
without dowries and thus could not
nd husbands.
The legend describes how Nicholas
threw a bag of gold into the man’s house
and the oldest daughter was able to be
married. Later, he threw another bag and
the second daughter was married and
then again, a third bag for the youngest daughter. In another version of this
legend, Nicholas is said to have tossed
some gold coins through a window and
they fell into the children’s stockings,
which were hanging by their beds.
Nicholas later became identied
with Father Christmas and Santa Claus.
Bernard Bangley credits the Germanborn American artist Thomas Nast
with popularizing the present day
icon of Santa Claus with his drawings.
Gift giving on Dec. 6, the feast of St.
Nicholas, is still a tradition in some
countries.
The Dutch called Nicholas “Sint
Niklaas” and that name went with
them to the New World where they
settled New Amsterdam (now New
York). That name became corrupted
over the years to “Santa Claus.”
St. Bridget of Sweden (1303-73) is
another saint who inspired artists of
the Middle Ages in how they depicted
the nativity scene. Sarah Gallick writes
in “The Big Book of Women Saints”
that Bridget had several visions and believed that the Blessed Mother allowed
her to witness the birth of Christ. She
described the Christ child lying naked
on the ground as his mother knelt
beside him before wrapping him in
swaddling clothes.
Bridget further stated that it was
revealed to her that Mary had given
birth standing in prayer, without pain
or effort. Her revelations, which were
printed in 1492, changed how the
nativity came to be portrayed.
And it is because of St. Francis
of Assisi’s devotion to Christ that the
crèche has a prominent place today
in Christmas decorations. Francis was
born in 1181, the son of a wealthy
merchant. As a young man, he took
advantage of his family’s wealth and
spent large sums on easy living, song,
drink and extravagance. He made a
complete change in his life after a vision at Spoleto.
Francis gave away all his possessions, angering his father who disinherited him. He then devoted himself
to a life of poverty and the care of the
sick and poor. He attracted followers
and began the order of Friars Minor,
known as the Franciscans. Gerry
Fowler writes in “The World Encyclopedia of Christmas” that Francis
staged the rst live re-enactment of the
nativity outside a church in Greccio,
Italy in 1223 as a memorial of Jesus’
humble birth. Since then the practice
has spread around the world with traditions such as the posada, the school
Christmas pageant, or more professionally staged events.
The legend of the Three Kings
from the East has its source in part
from the visions of Veronica of Binasco, an Augustinian lay sister who
collected alms for the poor in Milan,
Italy in the late 15th century. She
had many visions and some of them
inuenced how the Renaissance artists
portrayed the Three Kings. According
to Sarah Galick, Veronica described
one of her visions: “As the kings approached the Christ child, they began
to argue about who would adore him
rst. The youngest, and most impetuous one, approached rst and kissed
the infant’s feet. He then aged before
the eyes of the other two kings until he
was as old as them.”
Gallick cautions that the testaments
of saints like Bridget and Veronica are
considered “private revelations” and
not church dogma. However, they
have had a great inuence on how we
picture the nativity scene today.
MARY LOU GIBSON is
a member of St. Austin Parish in Austin.
She is a retired state
employee.
December 2012
GOOD NEWS
19
Preparing the way of the Lord with open hearts
BY DEACON GUADALUPE RODRIGUEZ
GUEST COLUMNIST
Two faithfully celebrated traditions of the Advent season come
together to help us prepare for the
coming of Jesus in the weeks before
Christmas.
The Spanish word “Posada”
means “lodging.” A posada reenacts
the journey Joseph and Mary took
2,000 years ago. “And Joseph too
went up from Galilee from the town
of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of
David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family
of David, to be enrolled with Mary,
his betrothed, who was with child”
(Lk 2: 4-5). It must have been a long
and arduous journey, especially for
a teenage girl who was nine months
pregnant.
After the journey, Joseph asked
for “posada” or “lodging” because
Mary was about to give birth, but
he found no room. After searching
all the inns, they were nally given
lodging in a stable where Jesus was
born. “She wrapped him in swaddling
clothes and laid him in a manger,
because there was no room for them
in the inn” (Lk 2:7). A manger is a
feeding trough where animals eat.
Thus fullling the prophet Isaiah’s
words, “The ox knows its owner, and
the donkey its master’s crib” (Is 1:3).
The origins of the posada come
through the Nativity scene or crèche:
the Nativity had been depicted in art
since the fourth century, but it was
St. Francis of Assisi who made the
scene famous. Pope Honorius III
gave St. Francis of Assisi his blessing
to exhibit a “live” Nativity. The friar
organized a simple Nativity scene in
1223 in Greccio, Italy, in an attempt
to encourage worship of Christ. He
lled a crib with hay, tied a live ox
and donkey near it and Mass was
celebrated in front of the display.
After the Mass a baby appeared
in the crib and St. Francis picked
up the child who suddenly awoke.
St. Francis called him, the “Babe of
Bethlehem.” Many miracles occurred
that day as sick persons and animals
were healed of various diseases. Later
a church was erected in honor of this
miraculous apparition.
The Nativity scene or crèche
transformed into a posada in the 16th
century. The idea of commemorating
the Holy Family’s journey to Bethlehem can be traced back to the founding Jesuit, St. Ignatius of Loyola. He
suggested a Christmas novena to
be said on nine successive days. In
1580, the Spanish Carmelite mystic
and doctor of the church, St. John of
the Cross created a religious pageant
out of the Nativity proceedings, and
seven years later the nine-day remembrance was introduced to the Aztecs
in Mexico by Spanish missionaries.
Today a posada may be celebrated
in various ways. Typically, families in
a neighborhood will schedule a night
for the posada to be held at their
home, starting on the Dec. 16 and
nishing on Christmas Eve. Each
home has a Nativity scene and the
hosts of the posada act as the innkeepers. The neighborhood children
and adults are the pilgrims (Los
Peregrinos), who request lodging by
going from house to house singing traditional Christmas songs. All
the pilgrims carry small lit candles,
and others carry statuettes of Joseph
leading a donkey, on which Mary is
riding.
In other posadas, children may
actually play the various parts of
Mary and Joseph with Mary riding a
real donkey, with attendants such as
angels and shepherds acquired along
the journey. The procession is usually
followed by a choir or group of singers, with the entire procession singing
Christmas songs. At the end of each
night’s journey, there are Christmas
carols, food and hot chocolate, and
the children break open star-shaped
piñatas to obtain candy. Seeing Mary
riding a donkey at the posada and the
treats are some of my fondest memories as a child in Sunday religious
education class in the early 1970s.
At St. Mary Cathedral in Austin,
a posada is held in the gym and only
Joseph and Mary move since we have
500 hundred of children and parents
from our religious education program
in attendance. In this case, Joseph
and Mary walk the perimeter of the
gym, knocking on six portable doors
held up by high school students. The
high school students are the inn keepers and each time Joseph and Mary
are turned away until the last door
when the inn keeper points them to
a stable full of live animals including
cows, goats, lambs and donkeys from
a local petting zoo.
Mary then places Jesus in the
manger while the members of the
Cathedral’s three choirs lead participants in singing Christmas carols. The
celebration ends with a blessing from
the rector of St. Mary Cathedral.
In these days before Christmas,
as we lay out our Nativity scenes and
participate in our neighborhood posadas, may our hearts be open to Jesus
just as the doors of the stable were
more than 2,000 years ago.
DEACON GUADALUPE RODRIGUEZ is
the director of religious education at
St. Mary Cathedral Parish in Austin.
THE CHILDREN of St.
Mary Cathedral
in Austin hold a
posada in the
school gym every year. (Photo
courtesy Arlen
Nydam)
Pastoral support for victims of sexual abuse
The Diocese of Austin is committed to providing condential and compassionate care to victims of sexual abuse, particularly if the abuse was
committed by clergy or a church representative. If you have experienced abuse by someone representing the Catholic Church, please contact
the diocesan coordinator of pastoral care at (512) 949-2400.
Apoyo pastoral a las víctimas de abuso sexual
La Diócesis de Austin se compromete a proporcionar ayuda condencial y compasiva a las víctimas de abuso sexual, especialmente si el
abuso fue cometido por el clero o un representante de la iglesia. Si usted ha sufrido abusos por parte de alguien que representa la Iglesia
Católica, por favor comuníquese con el coordinador diocesano del cuidado pastoral al (512) 949-2400.
How to report an incident of concern
The Diocese of Austin is committed to preventing harm from happening to any of our children or vulnerable adults. If you are aware of sexual
or physical abuse and/or neglect of a child or vulnerable adult, state law requires you to report that information to local law enforcement or
the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services at (800) 252-5400 or www.dfps.state.tx.us. Additionally, if the suspected abuse is by
clergy or an employee or volunteer of any diocesan parish, school or agency, a Notice of Concern should be submitted to the diocesan Ethics
and Integrity in Ministry Ofce at (512) 949-2400. The l Notice of Concern can be found at www.austindiocese.org (click on the link HOW TO
REPORT ABUSE). Reports may be made anonymously.
Cómo reportar un caso de abuso
La Diócesis de Austin está comprometida a la prevención del daño que se cause a cualquier niño o adulto vulnerable. Si usted está enterado
del abuso sexual o físico y/o abandono de un niño o adulto vulnerable, la ley estatal requiere que se reporte esa información a la policía local
o el Departamento de Servicios Familiares y de Protección del Estado de Texas al (800) 252-5400 o al sitio: www.dfps.state.tx.us y además,
si la sospecha de abuso es por parte del clero, empleado o voluntario de cualquier parroquia, escuela u organización de la diócesis, se debe
enviar un Reporte de Abuso y debe ser presentado a la Ocina de Ética e Integridad en el Ministerio de la diócesis al (512) 949-2400. El Reporte de Abuso se encuentra en nuestra página de Internet diocesana: www.austindiocese.org ( Haga click en la liga COMO REPORTAR UN
CASO DE ABUSO). Estos reportes pueden ser hechos de manera anónima.
20
GOOD NEWS
C ATHOLIC S PIRIT
Thinking clearly about consciousness, abortion
BY REV. TADEUSZ PACHOLCZYK, PH.D.
COLUMNIST
Imagine a deadly scenario like this:
a successful businessman is rendered
unconscious by medical professionals to help him heal after a serious car
accident, using powerful pharmaceutical agents to cause a medically-induced
coma. A few days later, a business
competitor, wanting him dead, enters
the hospital and kills the comatose patient. During his trial, when questioned
about the murder, the competitor tries
to argue, with an unnecessarily detailed
explanation, that, “the medicallyinduced coma rendered him quite
incapable of feeling any pain, because
those parts of his brain involved in
sensory processing and pain perception were clearly decoupled from
consciousness. So killing those who are
unconscious, at least on the grounds
that they might feel pain, should not
be seen as problematic nor should it be
restricted as a personal choice.”
Anyone would appreciate the
absurdity of such an argument, much
as they ought to recognize the unreasonableness of a similar conclusion
reached by neuroscientist Dr. Daniel
Bor in a recent piece in “The Dallas Morning News,” “The evidence
is clear that a fetus can respond to
sights, sounds and smells, and it can
even react to these by producing facial
expressions. The evidence is equally
clear, however, that these responses are
generated by the most primitive parts
of the brain, which are unconnected
to consciousness, and therefore these
actions don’t in any way imply that the
fetus is aware. Furthermore, the fetus
is deliberately sedated by a series of
chemicals produced by the placenta, so
even if it had the capacity for consciousness, there is almost no chance it
could ever be conscious in the womb.
Consequently, it can’t consciously feel
pain ... There are therefore no scientic
reasons for restricting abortion on the
grounds that the fetus will experience
pain, at least until very late in pregnancy. This evidence has heavily inuenced my views here, and consequently
I am very much pro-choice.”
As a neuroscientist and an ethicist myself, it’s clear how Dr. Bor’s
conclusion does not follow from his
premises. He seeks forcibly to crown
consciousness as king, turning it into
the highest good, elevating it above
life itself. Consequently, he misses the
deeper truth that human consciousness
(and particularly self-consciousness)
is a feature of certain kinds of beings, namely human beings, who are
valuable in and of themselves. Our
humanity precedes our consciousness,
and affords the necessary basis for it,
with our value and inviolability owing
not from what we might be capable of
doing (manifesting consciousness or
awareness) but from who we intrinsically are (human beings and members
of the human family).
Regardless of whether we might or
might not be able to manifest consciousness at a particular moment (as
when we are asleep, under anesthesia,
in a coma, or growing at early timepoints in utero), our humanity is still
present and deserving of unconditional
respect. Those who lack consciousness or awareness are still human, and
should be cherished and protected as
much as anyone else with limitations
or disabilities.
Some might reply that a sleeping
or comatose person’s consciousness is
merely dormant. If they wake up, they
will have memories, awareness, etc.
For a very early human embryo, on the
other hand, no consciousness exists
yet, since the brain has not developed,
or may not have developed sufciently.
Until that development occurs, the
argument continues, there is “nobody
home,” and therefore nothing important can be stripped away by abortion.
But it would be false to conclude
that “nobody is home.” As that
embryonic human continues to grow
up, she will develop a brain, as well as
memories, awareness, and consciousness. Such carefully choreographed and
remarkable embryonic development
will occur precisely in virtue of the
kind of being she already is, namely, a
very small human being. All of us, in
fact, are embryos who have grown up.
The human embryo is special because
of her humanity, not because of her
consciousness, which will invariably
arise as long as she is afforded even
the smallest chance at life. We actively
deny her the right to manifest her
future personality, her individuality, her
consciousness and her genius by selecting her for termination.
Hence, we should appreciate an
argument like Dr. Bor’s for what it
really is, namely, an attempt to carve
out a subclass of human beings (those
deemed weaker than the rest of us due
to their diminished personal consciousness) so that they can be singled out
for death by abortion. This move
constitutes an unjust form of discrimination against a voiceless class of
humans, cloaked in a specious intellectual construct that misconstrues both
the essential character of being human,
and the essential moral obligations we
have towards each other.
FATHER TADEUSZ PACHOLCZYK,
PH.D. is a priest
of the Diocese of
Fall River, Mass.,
and serves as the
Director of Education at The National
Catholic Bioethics
Center in Philadelphia. For more
information, visit www.ncbcenter.org.
Perfecting the practice of our faith
BY MATTHEW E. WEILERT
GUEST COLUMNIST
As the U.S. bishops expressed so
vibrantly during the Fortnight for Freedom, an active, informed laity is central
to the American church’s mission of
bringing faith and family back to their
proper role in the public square.
Any woman married to a man with
the sports bug has heard the explanation for long hours preparing for the
game: “Practice doesn’t make perfect,
perfect practice makes perfect.” Just as
we expect excellence in our businesses
and on the eld, so does our church
expect us to develop well-formed
consciences. Just like a single sour note
stands out in the midst of a chorale
setting of a dozen people, a Catholic
who cannot articulate his faith in the
public square, is not prepared to lovingly confront the aggressively secular
media with a compelling vision of a
better way as well as stand fast against
the denial of religious liberty.
In Benedict XVI’s address to U.S.
bishops last January, he spoke boldly
about the vital need for an engaged,
articulate and well-formed Catholic
laity endowed with the courage to
participate in public debate about the
issues that are determining the future
of American society.
We often hear from choir directors
seeking to encourage their parishioners: to sing is to pray twice. Author J.
Michael Thompson in a recent Relevant
Radio interview argued that the quote
is actually, “He who sings well prays
twice.” This matters for the same reason
that symphonies rehearse and football
teams scrimmage: it’s not enough that
we have the playbook to refer to, we
must know the playbook and execute
well, to have victory on the eld.
To be faithful citizens ourselves
and to raise good, faith-lled children,
we must understand why we believe
what we believe and we must be prepared to defend our beliefs.
We “work out our salvation in
fear and trembling” according to Phil
2:12 because our faith is worth the
work of researching and understanding on a deep level what we believe.
Most often fear is nothing more than
“false evidence appearing real” and
the sooner we learn this, the more and
more widely we can conquer the evils
that are present in our daily lives.
We, as Catholics, need to raise our
standard of play. We can discern the
difference between harboring dislike
for a person and working actively to
counter the evil that person may do.
God calls us, in fact commands us to
love, because love is a decision, not a
feeling. Our task is to set the standard
and lead by example.
The discipline of sacred music, especially the thousand year tradition of
sacred chant, allows us to give family,
friends and even strangers, the opportunity to witness “the sense of prayer,
dignity and beauty” that Blessed John
Paul II wrote about in “Chirograph for
the Centenary of the Motu Proprio,”
in which he recalled the importance of
sacred music in the liturgy. The goal of
sacred music is to surround and uplift
even the unbeliever to bring them
heart-to-heart with the Divine.
Heart speaks to heart before mind
is open to mind. We must be willing to
speak and people must be willing to hear
what we have to say to build the bridges
of on-going dialogue with us. These
bridges help us cross the canyons of misunderstanding to reach the fullness of
truth, which the church alone possesses.
Not just how to sing but knowing
why we sing hymns of praise and especially why we raise our voices in song,
delivers lasting lessons for us. Thus,
not just knowing our faith but why we
believe it and how we practice it are
essential to us as Catholics.
“When man comes into contact
with God, mere speech is not enough,”
wrote Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now
Pope Benedict XVI) in his book “The
Spirit of the Liturgy.” This echoes the
well-known phrase of St. Francis of
Assisi: preach the Gospel constantly,
when necessary use words. As we approach 2013, condent of God’s hand
on our lives, we pray that our vibrant
voices here in Central Texas will resonate with an ever wider circle of people
to change hearts and heal hurts.
Let us sing God’s praise strong in
both word and deed –– and on key
with our bishops, during this Christmas season.
MATTHEW WEILERT writes on behalf
of the Central Texas Fellowship of
Catholic Men (www.ctfcatholicmen.
org). He considers Ascension Parish
in Bastrop his home parish and currently is a member of St. Louis Parish
in Austin. He has one son.
December 2012
BULLETIN BOARD
NFP classes....................
21
For Your
Information
Catholic Scripture Study of Austin
meets on Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m. at St.
Louis Parish in Austin and Wednesdays at
6:30 p.m. and Thursdays at 9:30 a.m. at St.
Margaret Mary Parish in Cedar Park. The
weekly two-hour Bible study consists of
prayer and discussion, and is open to everyone. This year’s focus is on the book of
Genesis. Register online at www.cssaustin.
org or contact Rosemary Howard at (512)
345-3687.
Men interested in learning more
about the formation process for the
Permanent Diaconate are invited
along with their wives to attend one of
the upcoming information sessions –
offered in both Spanish and English
– to be held Dec. 9 and Jan. 13 from
2 to 4 p.m. at the diocesan Pastoral
Center in Austin. They should submit
an interest form (available from their
pastor) indicating which session they
plan to attend. Forms are also available
from, and should be completed and
returned to, the Ofce of Diaconal Formation, Catholic Diocese of Austin, 6225
Highway 290 East, Austin, TX 787231025 or by e-mail kathy-mccormick@
austindiocese.org.
A Discernment Dinner for single,
Catholic men (ages 18 and older) with an
openness to a priestly vocation and discernment will be held Dec. 12 from 7 to
8:30 p.m. at the Borromeo House in Austin. The evening includes dinner, prayer,
and a presentation. For more information, contact Father Brian McMaster at
(512) 949-2430 or fr-brian-mcmaster@
austindiocese.org.
Hispanic young adults are invited
to Mass (in Spanish) Dec. 14 at 9 p.m.
at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in
Austin. Participants will pray the rosary
beginning at 8:30 p.m. For more information, contact Juan Torres at (512) 4155908 or Lily Morales at (512) 363-3609 or
[email protected].
Pax Christi Austin will meet Dec.
16 at 7 p.m. at the Father John Payne
House at St. Ignatius, Martyr Parish in
Austin. Pax Christi Austin, which meets
the third Sunday of every month, is a
member of Pax Christi International and
Pax Christi USA, the Catholic peace and
justice movement that works and prays
to create a world that reects the peace
of Christ. For more information, contact
Bob Rankin at [email protected].
The Solemnity of Mary, the Holy
Mother of God, is Jan. 1. Diocesan ofces
will be closed.
Sarah’s Hope is a free spiritual support program for couples struggling to
conceive or with pregnancy loss. Monthly
women’s support groups are held on the
rst Wednesday of the month (rosary
at 6:45 p.m., discussion at 7 p.m.) at the
Vitae Clinic in Austin, located at 1600 W.
38th St., suite 115. The next meeting is
Jan. 2. E-mail SarahsHopeAustin@gmail.
com or call (512) 736-7334 for more in-
formation. Sarah’s Hope is not a ministry
of the Austin Diocese.
Catholic schools in the Austin
area will host a Schools Fair Jan. 12 from
10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at St. Dominic Savio
Catholic High School in Austin. The
schools participating include Cathedral
School of St. Mary, Holy Family Catholic
School, St. Austin Catholic School, St.
Dominic Savio Catholic High School,
St. Gabriel Catholic School, St. Helen
Catholic School, St. Ignatius Catholic
School, St. Michael’s Catholic Academy,
St. Theresa’s Catholic School, San Juan
Diego Catholic High School and Santa
Cruz Catholic School. Each school will
have information on admissions, tuition
rates, curriculum and more. For more
information, visit www.csdatx.org.
Training sessions for those who
would like to offer the diocesan marriage preparation program, Together in
God’s Love, in their parish or deanery
will be held Jan. 17 and 19 from 10 a.m.
to 3:30 p.m. at the diocesan Pastoral
Center in Austin. To register or for
more information contact Rick Bologna
at (512) 949-2495 or rick-bologna@
austindiocese.org.
The Diocesan Catholic Youth
Conference (DCYC) will be held Jan.
18-20 in Waco. This conference gathers
more than 2,000 youth, youth ministers and volunteers from all over our
diocese for fellowship, formation and
sacramental opportunities. For more
information, contact Adrian Sanchez
at (512) 949-2464 or adrian-sanchez@
austindiocese.org.
A Pro-Life Mass in College Station will be celebrated Jan. 22 at 5:30
p.m. at St. Mary Catholic Center. Bishop
Joe Vásquez will be the main celebrant.
All are invited to attend.
Texas Catholic Pro-Life Day is
Jan. 26. The day will begin at 7 a.m. with a
Prayer Vigil that will meet at San José Parish in Austin. The rosary for life will begin
at 9:45 a.m. at San José Parish followed by
the diocesan Pro-Life Mass at 10:30 a.m.
The Texas Rally for Life will be at 1 p.m.;
participants will meet at 15th and Colorado and march to the Rally on the South
Steps of the Capitol. A Party for Life will
conclude the day from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at
the University Catholic Center. For more
information, visit www.CentralTexasProLife.org or call (512) 949-2486.
The 2013 Celebrating Catholic
Schools Dinner and Awards Presentation will be held Jan. 26 at the
Renaissance Hotel in Austin. Father Leo
Patalinghug of “Grace Before Meals”
will be the guest speaker. Father Leo
will give a cooking demonstration of his
famous “Fusion Fajitas” on Jan. 25 for a
limited number of people. For tickets for
the gala or the cooking demonstration or
sponsorship information, contact Jean
Bondy at (512) 949-2439 or visit www.
csdatx.org.
A series of classes on the SymptoThermal Method of natural family
planning will be held beginning Dec. 11
at 7 p.m. at St. Mary Cathedral in Austin.
The classes are spaced about one month
apart and will help couples learn how
to identify the three common signs of
fertility and infertility. To register or for
more information, visit http://register.
ccli.org.
A series of classes on the SymptoThermal Method of natural family
planning will begin Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. at
St. John Neumann Parish in Austin. The
cost is $145 per person. To register, visit
www.ccli.org.
A series of classes on the Billings
Ovulation Method of natural family
planning will begin Jan. 10 at 7 p.m. at
St. William Parish in Round Rock. The
course consists of three classes over a
six-week period. For more information,
contact Amanda and Ryan Ransom at
[email protected].
An introductory class on the
Creighton Model of natural family planning will be held Jan. 14 from
6:30 to 9 p.m. at St. Mary Catholic
Center in College Station. Couples
will receive credit for pre-marriage
preparation. The cost to attend is $20.
Register online at www.aggiecatholic.
org/fccsm or contact (979) 846-5717
or [email protected].
Retreats.........................
The English speaking Cursillo of
the Diocese of Austin has scheduled
weekend retreats. If you have anyone
you would like to invite to these weekends or if you would like to get involved,
in the movement, contact Dominga
Anderson at andersondominga@yahoo.
com or (254) 338-3802.
“Heart of Jesus,” a discernment
retreat for men, will be held Dec. 14-16
at Cedarbrake Catholic Retreat Center in
Belton. For more information, contact
the Vocation Ofce at (512) 949-2430
or [email protected].
A Together Encounter Christ
(TEC) weekend will be held Jan. 4-6
at Eagle’s Wings Retreat Center in Burnet. TEC is a movement of spirituality
for young adults and is founded and
unfolds within the living traditions of
the Roman Catholic Church. For more
information, contact the Youth, Young
Adult and Campus Ministry Ofce at
(512) 949-2464 or adrian-sanchez@
austindiocese.org.
Married couples who are looking
for a getaway and time to reconnect with
one another are invited to a Worldwide
Marriage Encounter Jan. 11-13 at the
Wingate Hotel in Round Rock. The
weekend begins Friday at 7:30 p.m. and
ends Sunday around 4 p.m. This is an
opportunity for husbands and wives to
escape the daily distractions of life and
focus on each other. For more information or to apply to attend, contact Anh
and Greg Thomas at (512) 677-WWME
(9963) or [email protected].
An RCIA Day of Reflection for
candidates, sponsors and instructors will
be presented Jan. 19 from 9 a.m. to 2:30
p.m. at Cedarbrake Catholic Retreat Center in Belton. For more information or to
register, contact Cedarbrake at (254) 7802436 or [email protected].
A Silent Day of Reection will be
presented Jan. 28 from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
at Cedarbrake Catholic Retreat Center in
Belton. For more information or to register, contact Cedarbrake at (254) 780-2436
or [email protected].
Fireside Reection, a weekend
retreat, will be presented Feb. 8-10 at
Cedarbrake Catholic Retreat Center in
Belton. For more information or to register, contact Cedarbrake at (254) 7802436 or [email protected].
Burse
The Diocesan Council of Catholic
Women has completed a burse for
the Clerical Endowment Fund (CEF)
in memory of Father Bob Herald.
The totals for the burse as of Oct.
31, 2012, are listed below by council.
Austin Council
$621.00
Brazos Valley Council
$2,111.07
Central Council
$369.00
Eastern Council
$631.00
Northern Council
$1,052.00
Southern Council
$820.00
Temple Council
$379.00
Western Council
$530.26
Previous Balance
$1,873.48
Total
$8,386.81
The Clerical Endowment Fund provides low-cost loans to parishes. Interest
from the loans is used to educate diocesan
seminarians. For information, contact either Father Ed Karasek at (254) 826-3705
or Mary Ann Till at (512) 353-4943.
Send in your items!
CATHOLIC SPIRIT offers this page, “For Your
Information,” as a “community bulletin board.”
Items of general interest of upcoming parish and
diocesan events, including parish social events,
will be printed at no charge at the discretion of
the editor. The deadline for material is the 10th
of the month, with publication occurring the
rst week of the following month. Material may
be e-mailed to catholic-spirit@austindiocese.
org or faxed to (512) 949-2523.
BULLETIN BOARD
Parish and community events................................
22
C ATHOLIC S PIRIT
Dolores Parish in Austin will host
its annual Christmas Bazaar Dec. 8 and
9 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the parish
Family Center. More than 50 vendors
will have their hand-crafted items for
sale. Breakfast foods and lunch plates
will be sold both on both days.
The third annual Christmas Market Day will be held Dec. 8 from 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m. at St. John Neumann Parish in
Austin. The market, which is sponsored
by St. John Neumann Pre-School, will
feature more than 60 vendors. On-site
childcare will be available from 9 a.m. to
2 p.m. For more information, visit www.
sjnaustin.org.
The Puerto Rican Community
of St. Joseph Parish in Killeen will
host a celebration of La Concepcion
Imaculada. The Mass is Dec. 8 at 10
a.m., followed by a lunch in the Parish
Activity Center at noon. There will be
typical Puerto Rican food and also entertainment. The suggested donation is $10
for adults and $5 for children under 10.
St. Thomas More Parish in Austin
will host an Ecumenical Prayer Service
for deceased children on Dec. 9. The
evening will begin at 6 p.m. with appetizers and fellowship, and the prayer service
will begin at 7 p.m.
St. William Parish in Round
Rock will conclude its 2012 Sacred
Music Concert Series with a Christmas Concert Dec. 15 at 7:30 p.m. The
concert will include seasonal carols
by composers such as Rachmaninov,
Händel and Victoria performed by the
various St. William choirs and directed by Dr. Gerardo Ramos. For more
information, visit www.saintwilliams.
org or call (512) 600-8175.
A Celtic Christmas Concert will
be held Dec. 20 and 21 at St. Mary Cathedral in Austin. Both performances
begin at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are on
sale now. The concert sells out every
year and tickets are only $25 each until
Dec. 1, when the price will go up to $27.
Tickets may only be purchased online
at www.celticchristmasaustin.com. For
more information, call (512) 472-4540 or
e-mail [email protected]. No tickets
will be available at Ave Maria Gift Shop.
Bishop Joe Vásquez will dedicate
the new church at St. Vincent de Paul
Parish in Austin Dec. 29 at 10:30 a.m. A
luncheon will follow the dedication. For
more information, visit www.svdpparish.
org or call (512) 255-1389.
Emmaus Parish in Lakeway
will host the Bright Horizons Respite
Care Program beginning Jan. 7. The
goal of the program is to provide respite for caregivers and enrich the life
of their loved one through a stimulating, loving and safe environment.
Participants will meet on Mondays
from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, contact Pat Thompson at
[email protected]
or (512) 261-8500.
The Austin Council of Catholic
Women will present “Everything You
Ever Wanted to Know About DCCW
But Were Afraid to Ask” Jan. 19 at St.
Mary, Our Lady of the Lake Parish in
Lago Vista. Mass will be celebrated by
MEDICAL SERVICES
DIRECTORY
Father Don Loftin, the spiritual adviser
of ADCCW, at 9 a.m., followed by a
short business meeting and then the
presentation. Lunch will be provided.
Catholic Relief Service fair trade items
will be for sale after lunch. “Work of
Human Hands” is a consignment sale of
hand-crafted items, chocolates, and coffee from artisans and farmers in countries across the world. All ladies of the
diocese are invited to learn more about
this organization. For more information,
call Patsy Alvarez, Service Commission
Chair, at (512) 835-6256.
St. William Parish in Round Rock
welcomes Father Leo Patalinghug of
“Grace Before Meals” Jan. 27. He will
celebrate Mass at 9:30 a.m. and at 1 p.m.
he will host a cooking demonstration of
his famous “Fusion Steak Fajitas” and
family picnic. Father Leo believes that
the key to a healthy family is healthy
meals eaten together, and he’s sending
that message out through his web show,
“Grace Before Meals.” For more information, visit www.saintwilliams.org.
WEIGHT LOSS
Ideal Weight Loss
Medical Clinics
This will be your LAST Diet
ΠNo drugs Π100% natural ΠMedically monitored
ΠLose ONLY fat ΠPreserve lean muscle
Anthony Hicks, MD, MPH
4100 Duval Rd., Bldg IV, Ste 202, Austin
(512) 577-6187
12912 Hill Country Blvd, Bldg F, Ste 238, Austin
(512) 470-9470
To advertise in the Catholic Spirit Medical Services Directory, call (512) 949-2443,
or e-mail [email protected].
www.LastDietATX.com
OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY
OPTOMETRY
ORTHODONTICS
The Vitae Clinic
Oak Hill
Eye Care
Braces for Children and Adults
Jeremy Kalamarides, D.O.
The Jefferson Building
1600 W. 38th St, Ste 115
Austin, TX 78731
512-458-6060
The Vitae Clinic, Inc., provides wellness, prenatal, delivery and
postnatal care for women, expectant mothers and babies in accord
with the teachings of the Catholic Church in conformity with the
Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Healthcare services.
Examination & Treatment
of Eye Disease
Lasik Surgery
Contact Lenses & Optical
David W. Tybor, O.D.
Monday through Friday
8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
(512) 288-0444
6000 W. William Cannon
Bldg A, Suite 100, Austin
www.oakhilleyecare.com
Michael Dillingham, D.D.S.
2 convenient locations in Austin
Call (512) 836-7924 or (512) 447-5194 to
schedule a complimentary consultation
FAMILY PRACTICE
EAR, NOSE AND THROAT
FAMILY & INTERNAL MEDICINE
Joseph M. C. Leary, M.D.
William Stavinoha, M.D.
Diplomate, American Board of Otolaryngology
Pediatric and Adult
Including Ear Diseases Sinus Surgery
Thyroid and Neck Surgery
6811 Austin Center Blvd., Ste. 300
Austin, Texas 78731
(512) 346-8888
Dominion Family
Healthcare
Family Practice –– Board Certied
11671 Jollyville Road #102
Austin, TX
(512) 338-5088
www.stavinohamd.com
Board certied in Family
Medicine & Internal Medicine
(512) 834-9999
6301 Parmer Ln. W. Suite 102
Austin,TX 78729-6802
THYROID & ENDOCRINOLOGY
December 2012
ESPAÑOL
23
Las Lecturas del Evangelio de Adviento nos preparan
para recibir a Cristo
la solemnidad de Cristo Rey que nos
ayuda a enfocarnos en Jesús como el
centro de la historia y del tiempo.
obispo de la Diócesis
En este primer
de Austin. Es pastor
domingo de Advienpara casi 500,000
to, Jesús describe
católicos en 25
cómo la naturaleza y
condados en el
la gente van a reacCentro de Texas.
cionar cuando El
Editora: Señor Obispo, me gusllegue al nal de los
taría cambiar las cosas un poco y re- tiempos. Uno de los
exionar sobre las lecturas dominipuntos más imporcales del Evangelio de Adviento de
tantes a entender en
este mes. ¿Está preparado para un
este pasaje es que
pequeño cambio? (Vea los pasajes
incluso la creación
del Evangelio en la página 16)
anhela y espera la
Obispo Vásquez: Sí, esta es una
venida de Cristo.
excelente manera de acercarnos a la
Jesús dice muy claramente: “Tengan
estación de Adviento ya que así exacta- cuidado y no dejen que sus corazones
mente es como la Iglesia nos imagina
se hagan insensibles”. Esto signica
reexionando durante este tiempo tan
que no seamos perezosos en anticipar
especial. Como católicos, vemos el año la segunda venida del Señor. Hacerlitúrgico y nuestras vidas como monos complacientes en nuestra fe es un
mentos de gracia y oportunidades para peligro para todos nosotros. La comexperimentar el don de la salvación.
placencia conduce a la ceguera que nos
El Evangelio dominical en el que
lleva a no reconocer la presencia de
vamos a reexionar durante este AdJesús en nuestras vidas diarias. Debemos
viento está tomado del Evangelio de
reconocer a Jesús en nuestro medio
Lucas. Este Evangelio es mi favorito
todos los días con el n de prepararnos
y de muchos más. El Evangelio de
para su regreso denitivo al nal de los
Lucas tiene un énfasis especial en la
tiempos. La verdad es que el Señor viene
compasión, lo que atrae a mucha gente. y todos debemos estar concentrados en
Algunos de nuestros pasajes bíblicos
su regreso ¡anticipándolo! Por lo tanto,
preferidos se encuentran en este Evan- tal como Lucas nos recuerda en este
gelio: la Anunciación, el nacimiento
pasaje, debemos estar atentos en todo
de Jesús en Belén, la parábola del buen
momento y orar fervientemente.
samaritano, la parábola del hijo pródigo
Esto es exactamente a lo que se
y el encuentro con Zaqueo. En este
reere el Año de la fe. Se trata de la
Evangelio encontramos muchos ejemrenovación de nuestra fe y de complos de Jesús compartiendo comidas
partir nuestra fe y volver a centrar
con los pecadores. Uno de los temas
nuestra atención en Cristo. A través
primordiales es el del recorrido de Jesús, de la oración, los actos de caridad y el
que es lo que lo lleva a Jerusalén, donde estudio de nuestra fe, nos acercamos a
experimentará su pasión, muerte y resu- Cristo y a estar más conscientes de su
rrección. En este Evangelio hay también presencia en nuestras vidas.
una gran atención a la mujer. En él, Jesús
Editora: En el Evangelio del
se encuentra con varias mujeres, como
segundo domingo escuchamos más
María y Marta, y las invita a ser discípuacerca de la preparación. Lucas e
los. Por lo tanto, el Evangelio de Lucas
Isaías escriben sobre valles y caminos atrae en muchos niveles.
nos. ¿Qué quieren decir con esto?
Editora: En el Evangelio de
Obispo Vásquez: Los valles y
Lucas para el primer domingo de
los caminos pueden ser experiencias
Adviento, Cristo nos está preparando y desafíos en nuestras vidas que nos
para cuando EL venga por segunda
impiden poder acercarnos a Dios. Tal
vez. ¿Por qué es esto importante?
vez los desafíos son externos, como la
Obispo Vásquez: La estación de
enfermedad, la pérdida de empleo, la
Adviento tiene un doble propósito. Nos pobreza o un divorcio que nos alejan de
prepara para celebrar la próxima esta
Dios. O podrían ser los retos internos,
de Navidad y el recuerdo histórico del
tales como la lucha contra el pecado
nacimiento de Jesús, es también un
o la falta de paciencia, de caridad o de
tiempo de preparación para el regreso
piedad. En nuestras vidas, a menudo
de Jesús al nal de los tiempos. Damos
hay cuestiones que tenemos que enuna mirada a la historia y recordamos
frentar y tenemos que tener cuidado de
que el gran acto de salvación de Dios
no permitir que los valles o las montaviene en el propósito de Jesucristo,
ñas se conviertan en obstáculos sino en
particularmente al hacerse hombre y
oportunidades para buscar al Señor.
encarnarse. Como decimos en el Credo,
Este Evangelio nos alienta a estar
“por nosotros los hombres y por nuestra conscientes de lo que está pasando en
salvación bajó del cielo y por obra del
nuestras vidas, que es otro elemento
Espíritu Santo se encarnó de María la
muy importante durante este Año de
Virgen y se hizo hombre”. Justo antes de la fe. Nuestra fe no es sólo acerca de lo
comenzar el Adviento, la Iglesia celebra
que está pasando con nosotros espiriE L O BISPO J OE S.
VÁSQUEZ es el quinto
tualmente, pero lo que está pasando en
nuestras vidas en su totalidad — física,
mental y espiritualmente. El Adviento es un buen
momento para
examinar nuestras
vidas y nuestras
prioridades. ¿Qué
está pasando en mi
vida en este momento? ¿Cómo me
estoy acercando al
Señor? ¿Cuáles son
los retos que estoy
experimentando
que me impiden
acercarme a Dios?
Este pasaje del Evangelio nos anima
a encontrar las áreas en nuestras vidas
que necesitan cambiar — las áreas en
las que necesitamos conversión. El
tiempo de Adviento se trata de que
nosotros mismos tomemos el don de
Cristo de la conversión. Los caminos y
valles en nuestras vidas se convierten en
vías de Cristo para lograr la conversión.
Son formas para que podamos acercarnos más a Cristo y a experimentar su
profundo amor y su perdón.
Editora: En el tercer domingo
del Evangelio, Juan el Bautista
prepara el camino para Jesús y reta
a sus oyentes a ser diferentes.
Obispo Vásquez: Los Evangelios
describen a Juan como un hombre
extraño. Vive en el desierto, usa ropa
extraña hecha de pelo de camello y
un cinturón de cuero y se alimenta de
insectos, pero lo más importante, Juan
el Bautista es el último profeta que
prepara un gran pueblo para la venida
del Salvador. Juan ha estado esperando
este gran momento y él desea que los
corazones de la gente estén listos para
reconocer a Jesús cuando venga. El es
una persona vehemente que está llena de
energía y que está despertando a la gente
y sacudiendola de su letargo. Él sabe que
con el n de reconocer a su Salvador, el
pueblo debe arrepentirse de sus malos
caminos y comenzar a vivir y actuar de
acuerdo con la voluntad de Dios.
Juan el Bautista nos habla de la clase
de fe práctica que necesitamos para
entrar en el Reino de Dios. Dice que
quienquiera que tenga dos túnicas, debe
compartir con quien no tiene una. Los
recaudadores de impuestos deben dejar
de cobrar más de lo que se prescribe.
Él le dice a la gente que no practiquen
la extorsión, que no acusen falsamente
a nadie y que estén satisfechos con sus
salarios. Él está animando a la gente a
practicar la justicia y la misericordia.
El tiempo de Adviento es un tiempo
maravilloso para experimentar el sacramento de la reconciliación. El Papa
Benedicto XVI ha dicho que si los eles
tienen una experiencia real de la misericordia de Dios, entonces se convertirán
en testigos creíbles de la santidad, que es
el objetivo de la Nueva Evangelización.
“En primer lugar, porque la Nueva
Evangelización extrae su elemento vital
de la santidad de los hijos de la Iglesia, de la jornada diaria de conversión
personal y comunitaria con el n de
estar cada vez más estrechamente congurados con Cristo... hay una estrecha
relación entre la santidad y el Sacramento de la Reconciliación. La verdadera
conversión de nuestros corazones,
lo que signica abrirnos a la acción
transformadora y renovadora de Dios,
es la fuerza motriz de toda reforma y se
expresa en una acción evangelizadora
real. En la confesión, a través de la acción libremente dada de la misericordia
divina, los pecadores arrepentidos son
justicados, perdonados y santicados
y abandonan su antiguo yo para ser
re-vestidos de lo nuevo”, dijo el Santo
Padre en abril pasado.
Esto es exactamente lo que Juan
el Bautista quiere para la gente en el
Evangelio de este domingo quiere los
corazones de la gente que se transformen de manera que ardan con el deseo
de Dios.
Editora: El Evangelio del cuarto
domingo se centra en María e Isabel.
Cuéntenos más acerca de su relación
tan especial.
Obispo Vásquez: El último
domingo de Adviento, la Iglesia se
concentra en la persona de María. Ella
abrió su vida total y completamente a
Dios. En este Evangelio, María visita a
su pariente Isabel — esta es una escena
muy poderosa. Dios está haciendo
grandes cosas por estas dos mujeres. Las
dos son madres embarazadas: Isabel ha
concebido un hijo en su edad avanzada
y María, que es mucho más joven, ha
concebido por el poder del Espíritu
Santo. Se saludan entre ellos y el niño
que Isabel lleva en su vientre da saltos de
alegría ante la proximidad de su abrazo.
Isabel reconoce que María es especial y
dice muy claramente: “¡Bendita tú entre
las mujeres y bendito es el fruto de tu
vientre. ¿Quién soy yo, para que venga
a visitarme la madre de mi Señor?”
Isabel se dio cuenta inmediatamente
de que Dios estaba haciendo algo muy
especial con María. De hecho, es a través
de María que Jesús recibe su humanidad. Ella nos conduce a Cristo tanto en
su ejemplo de discipulado como en su
amor por su hijo. Si amamos a María y
buscamos su guía, vamos a llegar a amar
a su hijo tanto como ella lo hizo.
María nos enseña cómo regocijarnos en el acto de salvación de Dios
en su propia vida y en las vidas de
los demás. Ella proclamaba la Buena
Nueva al visitar a Elizabeth. “Mi alma
alaba la grandeza del Señor, mi espíritu
se alegra en Dios, mi salvador” (Lc
1, 46-47). Durante este Año de la fe,
María es un ejemplo de cómo podemos
compartir la salvación de Dios con
Ver OBISPO en la Página 24
ESPAÑOL
24
C ATHOLIC S PIRIT
Orador expresa que la nueva evangelización
comienza con nosotros
POR ENEDELIA J. OBREGÓN
CORRESPONSAL PRINCIPAL
El Papa ha declarado una
nueva evangelización, pero depende de los católicos en las
bancas conseguir esta labor.
Ese fue el mensaje de Ralph
Martin, quien recientemente fue
nombrado consultor del Consejo
Ponticio para la Nueva Evangelización y quien pasó dos días
en la parroquia de St. William
en Round Rock a principios de
noviembre tratando este tema.
Martin, presidente de los
Ministerios de Renovación,
una organización dedicada a la
renovación católica y la evangelización, discernió sobre “La
Nueva Evangelización: ¿Qué es
y cómo podemos participar en
ella?” y “Estamos en una guerra:
¿Cómo protegernos y proteger a
nuestras familias y cómo tomar
la ofensiva”.
Martin es autor de varios
libros, director de programas de
posgrado en teología de la Nueva
Evangelización, y profesor asociado de teología en el Seminario
Mayor del Sagrado Corazón en la
Arquidiócesis de Detroit. Martin
llegó a St. William directamente
de Roma, donde había participado como ponente en el Sínodo
sobre la Nueva Evangelización.
El Padre Dean Wilhelm, párroco de St. William, dijo que
invitó a Martin al centro de Texas
después de conocerlo, mientras que se encontraba en un
sabático en Roma hace dos años.
“Yo estaba realmente conmovi-
do por su idea sobre una Nueva
Evangelización, pasando de
mantenimiento a misión”, dijo
el padre Wilhelm. “Estoy tan
convencido como estuvo el Papa
Juan Pablo II y lo está el Papa
Benedicto XVI, de que la iglesia
realmente necesita de una nueva
evangelización para combatir
los efectos del materialismo en
la iglesia”.
El mayor cambio, el padre
Wilhelm señaló, es el objetivo
y que los misioneros son uno
y el mismo: todos los católicos
bautizados.
“La liturgia nos llama a una
relación personal con Cristo y a
compartirla con los demás. Es
un territorio nuevo para muchos
católicos a pesar de que ha sido
parte de nuestra tradición de fe
desde el principio de la iglesia”,
dijo el padre Wilhelm.
Cindi Messner, quien está
“tratando de aprender todo” lo que
puede sobre la fe y la vida católica,
dijo que no es la primera vez que
oye hablar de evangelizar a otros.
“Yo pensaba, ‘Oh, yo no
puedo hacer eso’”, dijo. “Pero si
usted tiene un corazón alegre, lo
puede hacer”.
Leticia Adams, que entró en
la iglesia, hace tres años después
de pasar por el proceso del Rito
de Iniciación Cristiana para Adultos, dijo que ella está lista para
evangelizar.
“Tuve una gran conversión”,
dijo. “Yo hablo de mi fe todo el
tiempo. No puedo parar”.
Como referencia, Martin
explicó que la necesidad de la
Nueva Evangelización creció
RALPH
MARTIN,
centro, habló
sobre la nueva
evangelización
en la parroquia
St. Williams en
Round Rock.
(Foto CNS por
Paul Haring)
de la confusión sobre lo que se
pide en el decreto del Vaticano
II sobre la unidad de los cristianos o ecumenismo. “Dejó a
muchos católicos preguntándose
si todas las denominaciones son
lo mismo”, dijo. “La gente se
preguntaba: Si todos los caminos
conducen a Dios, entonces es
importante ser católico?”
Sin embargo, en el Capítulo
1 del Decreto sobre el Ecumenismo, se arma que: “Solamente
por medio de la Iglesia católica de
Cristo, ‘que es auxilio general de
la salvación’, puede conseguirse
la plenitud total de los medios
salvícos. Creemos que el Señor
entregó todos los bienes de la
Nueva Alianza a un solo colegio
apostólico, a saber, el que preside
Pedro, para constituir un solo
Cuerpo de Cristo en la tierra, al
que tienen que incorporarse totalmente todos los que de alguna
Atención varones interesados en el diaconado permanente
Señores interesados en aprender más sobre el proceso de Formación Diaconal están invitados
a asistir a las siguientes sesiones en el Centro Pastoral de la Diócesis, 6225 Hwy East, Austin, TX
78723 de 2:00 a 4:00 pm.: Dic. 9 y Enero 13. Las esposas de los señores interesados en el Proceso de
Formación Diaconal son bienvenidas y recomendamos su asistencia. Estas sesiones de información
serán en inglés y español. Las Clases de Formación Diaconal de 2019 tendrán instrucciones también en
inglés y español. Antes de asistir a una sesión de información, los señores deberán llenar los siguientes
requisitos y obtener la aprobación de su pastor. Los aprobados deben completar el formulario Interés
en Asistir una Sesión de Información y enviarla a la Ocina de Formación Diaconal de la Diócesis.
Hasta el momento de asistir a la Sesión de Información, los señores interesados, junto con su esposa,
deben continuar rezando, sobre su vocación de servir a la Iglesia. Cualquier pregunta puede ser dirigida al Diácono Tom Johnson at (512) 949-2410 o [email protected] o al Diácono
Dan Lupo al (512) 949-2411 o [email protected] o Diácono Jessie Esquivel al dcn.jessie.
[email protected] o 1-806-773-5706.
OBISPO
Continúa de la Página 23
demás y cómo podemos dar testimonio de su salvación en nuestras propias vidas.
Editora: ¿Cuál es su oración por nosotros a medida que continuamos a través de este
tiempo de Adviento y hacia la Navidad?
Obispo Vásquez: Antes que nada, quiero alentar a todos a rezar con renovado vigor durante esta
estación de Adviento. Dejen que su alma proclame la grandeza del Señor, tal como lo hizo María. También
animo a todos los católicos a hacer uso del sacramento de la reconciliación durante el tiempo de Adviento.
Mi oración es que nuestros ojos y nuestros corazones se abran para recibir a Cristo, al igual que
Juan el Bautista, Isabel y María. Estos grandes hombres y mujeres del pasado con anhelo anticiparon la venida de Cristo. Mi oración durante esta estación sagrada de Adviento, así como en todo
el Año de la Fe, es que todos nosotros en esta diócesis verdaderamente tengamos us deseo vehemente de encontrar a Cristo, buscándolo en lo que nos rodea y anticipando su venida al n del
tiempo.
manera pertenecen ya al Pueblo
de Dios”.
Los cambios introducidos
por el Concilio Vaticano II también coincidieron con agitación
social, dijo Martin.
“Entonces tuvimos la ‘tormenta perfecta’ de los años 60,
con la rebelión y la derrota de las
visiones tradicionales de la moral
sexual”, dijo. Europa Occidental
y los Estado Unidos fueron profundamente afectados por ésta,
hasta el punto de que Francia está
perdiendo su identidad católica y
los musulmanes son el grupo de
más rápido crecimiento religioso.
En 1983, el Papa Juan Pablo
II comenzó a hablar de la necesidad de una nueva evangelización,
dijo Martin. Él estaba preocupado especialmente por la joven
Iglesia en África y Asia.
“Ellos estaban siendo sacramentalizados pero no evangelizados”, dijo Martin. “Cuando ellos
tenían miedo iban a su médico
brujo local. No tenían plena
conanza en Cristo”.
El enfoque de la Nueva
Evangelización, Martin dijo, no
es tanto ir a la iglesia.
“No es suciente ir a la iglesia”, dijo. “Es importante tomar
una decisión personal de convertirse en un discípulo”.
Ser un discípulo implica una
relación personal con Cristo y,
en consecuencia, convertirse en
un seguidor de Cristo y seguir su
ejemplo para hacer la voluntad
de Dios.
“Jesús fue consumido por el
ardor de su padre y por hacer su
voluntad”, dijo Martin. “Lo que
le nutría y sostenía era hacer la
voluntad del Padre”.
Jesús quería que viéramos
su amor por el Padre para que
pudiéramos ser eles al Padre y
tuviéramos una unión de corazones con él.
“Así que... ¿A quién está
esto dirigido? A nuestros hermanos católicos y a nosotros
mismos”, dijo Martin. “La evangelización tiene que comenzar
con nosotros mismos”.
Animó a los eles a redescubrir el sentido de ser católicos
bautizados.
“El bautismo no fue solamente una ceremonia de adhesión. Es un sacramento por
el cual vivimos en relación con
Dios que vive en nosotros. En
el corazón de esto está el espíritu
de Cristo que vive en nosotros y
une nuestro corazón, espíritu y
mente con los suyos”.
Esta evangelización, Martin
dijo, no se puede “dejar a los
especialistas”, como los sacerdotes, sino es responsabilidad de
“todos los miembros del pueblo
de Dios”.
El [Concilio] Vaticano II
comenzó el “despertar” de las
responsabilidades de los laicos, dijo. En el Decreto sobre
el Apostolado de los Laicos,
Capítulo II: 6, dice: “...este Sagrado Concilio exhorta cordialísimamente a los laicos, a
cada uno según las dotes de
su ingenio y según su saber,
a que suplan diligentemente
su cometido, conforme a la
mente de la Iglesia, aclarando
los principios cristianos, defendiéndolos y aplicándolos
convenientemente a los problemas actuales”.
Lo que necesitamos ahora
es un “nuevo Pentecostés” en
virtud del cual podamos tener
la Nueva Evangelización, dijo
Martin. Eso significa vivir el
Evangelio, compartiéndolo y
haciéndolo “en ardor, método y
expresión”.
Es responsabilidad de cada
individuo encontrar formas
nuevas y creativas de compartir
el amor y la relación con Jesucristo con los demás, ya que
no sólo somos responsables
de nuestra propia salvación,
sino de ayudar a otros con las
suyas, dijo.
December 2012
ESPAÑOL
25
Preparando el camino del Señor con el corazón abierto
POR DIÁCONO GUADALUPE RODRÍGUEZ
COLUMNISTA INVITADO
Dos tradiciones elmente celebradas de la temporada de Adviento se
unen para ayudar a prepararnos para
la venida de Jesús en las semanas antes
de Navidad.
La palabra “Posada” en español
signica “alojamiento”. Una posada
representa el viaje que José y María
hicieron hace 2,000 años. “Y también
José subió de Galilea, de la ciudad de
Nazaret, a Judea, a la ciudad de David
que se llama Belén, por ser él de la
casa y familia de David, para empadronarse con María, su esposa, que estaba
encinta” (Lc 2, 4-5). Debe de haber
sido un viaje largo y difícil, sobre todo
para una adolescente que tenía nueve
meses de embarazo.
Después del viaje, José pidió
“posada” o “alojamiento” porque
María estaba a punto de dar a luz,
pero no encontró ninguna habitación.
Después de buscar en todos los hoteles, nalmente se les dio alojamiento
en un establo donde nació Jesús. “Lo
envolvió en pañales y lo acostó en un
pesebre, porque no había lugar para
ellos en el mesón” (Lucas 2,7). Un
pesebre es un comedero en donde
comen los animales. Cumpliendo así
las palabras del profeta Isaías: “El
buey conoce a su dueño, y el asno el
pesebre de su amo” (Is 1:3).
Los orígenes de la posada vienen
a través de la escena de la natividad o
el pesebre: el nacimiento había sido
representado en el arte desde el siglo
IV, pero fue San Francisco de Asís,
quien hizo la famosa escena. El Papa
Honorio III dio a San Francisco de
Asís su bendición para exhibir “en
vivo” la natividad. El fraile organizó
un belén sencillo en 1223 en Greccio,
Italia, en un intento de fomentar la
adoración de Cristo. Llenó un pesebre
con heno, ató a un buey y a un burro
vivos cerca y la misa se celebró en
frente de la escena.
Después de la Misa un bebé apareció en la cuna y St. Francis cogió
el niño que de repente se despertó.
San Francisco le llamó, el “Niño de
Belén.” Muchos milagros ocurrieron
ese día ya que personas y animales
enfermos fueron sanados de diversas
enfermedades. Más tarde se construyó
una iglesia en honor de esta aparición
milagrosa.
El nacimiento o pesebre se transformó en una posada en el siglo 16.
La idea de conmemorar el viaje de la
Sagrada Familia a Belén se remonta al
fundador de los jesuitas, San Ignacio
de Loyola. El sugirió hacer una novena
de Navidad dicha en nueve días consecutivos. En 1580, el místico carmelita español y doctor de la Iglesia, San
Juan de la Cruz creó un espectáculo
religioso del evento de la natividad, y
siete años después, el evento de nueve
días fue presentado a los aztecas en
México por los misioneros españoles.
Hoy en día, una posada puede
celebrarse en varias formas. Por lo
general, las familias en una colonia se
turnan una noche de posada que se
celebra en su domicilio, cada noche a
partir del 16 de diciembre, terminando
el día de Nochebuena. Cada casa
tiene una escena de la natividad y los
antriones de la posada actúan como
los dueños del albergue. Los niños del
barrio y los adultos son los peregrinos, quienes piden posada yendo
de casa en casa cantando canciones
tradicionales de Navidad. Todos los
peregrinos llevan pequeñas velas
encendidas y otros llevan estatuillas
de José jalando a un burro en el que
monta María.
En otras posadas, los niños pueden desempeñar las partes de María y
LOS NIÑOS en la Iglesia
Catedral de St. Mary’s
en Austin celebran una
posada en el gimnasio
de la escuela cada año.
(Foto cortesía Arlen
Nydam)
José, con María montada en un burro
real, con los asistentes como ángeles
y pastores que se unen a lo largo de
la jornada. La procesión es seguida,
generalmente, por un coro o un
grupo de cantantes cantando canciones de Navidad. Al nal del viaje,
cada noche hay villancicos, comida y
chocolate caliente y los niños rompen
una piñata en forma de estrella para
obtener dulces. Ver a María montada en un asno en la posada y las
golosinas, son algunos de mis mejores recuerdos de niño en la clase de
educación religiosa del domingo a
principios de 1970.
En la Catedral de St. Mary en
Austin, se lleva a cabo una posada
en el gimnasio y sólo José y María se
mueven ya que tenemos 500 niños
y padres de nuestro programa de
educación religiosa en asistencia. En
este caso, José y María recorren el
perímetro del gimnasio, tocando seis
puertas portátiles sostenidas por estudiantes de secundaria. Los estudiantes
de secundaria son los encargados de la
posada y José y María son rechazados
hasta llegar a la última puerta de la
pasada, cuando el posadero les ofrece
a un establo lleno de animales vivos
tales como vacas, cabras, corderos y
burros traídos de un zoológico local
de mascotas.
María coloca a Jesús en el pesebre mientras los miembros de tres
coros de la catedral dirigen a los
participantes a cantar villancicos. La
celebración termina con una bendición del párroco de la Catedral de
St. Mary.
En estos días antes de Navidad, mientras arreglamos nuestros
Nacimientos y participamos en las
posadas con nuestros vecinos, que
nuestros corazones estén abiertos a
Jesús, como las puertas del establo
estuvieron hace más de 2,000 años.
El Diácono Guadalupe Rodriguez es el Director de Educación
Religiosa en la Parroquia de la Catedral
de St. Mary en Austin.
Haciendo la diferencia después de las elecciones
POR BARBARA BUDDE
COLUMNISTA
Después de las elecciones de
noviembre, el cardenal Timothy Dolan,
presidente de la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de Estados Unidos envió
una carta al presidente Obama, la cual
está disponible en el sitio web de la USCCB (siglas en inglés) en www.usccb.
org/news/2012/12-183.cfm. La Carta
del Cardenal Dolan es genuinamente
cálida y abierta, pero al mismo tiempo
aclara nuestros valores católicos. “En
particular, oramos para que ejerza su
cargo para perseguir el bien común,
sobre todo en el cuidado de los más
vulnerables entre nosotros, incluyendo
a los no nacidos, los pobres y los inmi-
grantes”, escribió el cardenal.
A medida que el presidente y otros
funcionarios electos se establecen en su
próximo mandato, hay tres temas que
son urgentes y que necesitan nuestra
atención en términos de promoción y
acción: el llamado “risco scal,” la libertad religiosa y la reforma migratoria.
Todas las agencias de noticias
están hablando sobre el “risco scal”
— el hecho de que el Congreso debe
aprobar una ley que evite cortes en
general a todos los programas federales.
Los obispos reconocen la necesidad
de reducir el décit, pero no quieren
equilibrar el presupuesto sobre las espaldas de los más pobres y vulnerables.
Podemos unirnos a los obispos y a
otros para pedir a la administración y a
los miembros del Congreso establecer
un “círculo de protección” alrededor
de los que son pobres y vulnerables,
tanto aquí como en el extranjero. Para
obtener más información acerca de esta
coalición, visite www.circleofprotection.
us/index1.html y escriba a sus miembros del Congreso.
Tenemos que presionar al presidente Obama y su administración para
cambiar el mandato del HHS, la cual
dene servicios católicos como hospitales, agencias de servicios sociales, universidades y algunas escuelas también
católicas como no católicas. Durante
décadas, los obispos han sido rmes
defensores de la reforma de salud. Al
igual que al presidente, les gustaría ver
un mayor acceso a la atención médica
para todos, pero no la atención médica
que dene algunas de nuestras institu-
ciones católicas como no católicas o no
religiosas. No necesitamos atención a la
salud que viole la objeción de conciencia o cambie las antiguas protecciones
contra el nanciamiento federal para
los abortos. Visite www.FirstAmericanFreedom.com y envíe un mensaje
de texto con la palabra “Libertad” a
377377 para recibir actualizaciones
periódicas sobre maneras de abogar por
la libertad religiosa. Por favor, únase a
los obispos en la defensa de este importante tema.
Un área de preocupación para los
obispos sobre la libertad religiosa es
la forma en que algunos estados están
tratando de criminalizar o restringir
nuestro ministerio a los inmigrantes.
Ver SOCIAL en la Página 26
26
ESPAÑOL
C ATHOLIC S PIRIT
Comparta, celebre y aprenda sobre su fe Católica en familia
POR EDGAR RAMIREZ
DIRECTOR DEL MINISTERIO HISPANO
El primer domingo de Adviento,
el 2 de Diciembre a las 2 p.m., celebramos la primera misa en español
en la parroquia Saint Albert the Great
que está ubicada en el 12041 Bittern
Hollow, Austin 78758. El tiempo de
Adviento es un tiempo de renovación,
de discernimiento, y de preparación
para celebrar el misterio de la Encarnación del Hijo de Dios como uno de
nosotros: Jesús.
En la Primera Carta de San Pablo
a los Tesalonicenses 3,12-4,1-2, que
es la lectura el primer domingo de
Adviento, escuchamos la bendición y
exhortación que San Pablo le da a esta
comunidad. “¡Que el Señor los haga
crecer y desbordar de amor de unos
a otros y a todos, tan grande como el
que nosotros sentimos por ustedes!
Por lo demás les rogamos y exhortamos en el nombre de Jesús, el Señor,
que de la misma manera que aprendieron de nosotros como conviene que
se comporten y agraden a Dios, cosa
que ya hacen, así lo sigan haciendo
para progresar todavía más. Conocen
las normas que les dimos de parte de
Jesús el Señor”.
Me pareció providencial que esta
lectura sea la lectura que leímos en la
primera misa en español en St. Albert
the Great. Con la llegada de la misa en
español, vendrán nuevos ministerios,
devociones, tradiciones que los hispanos gustosamente compartirán con
toda la comunidad de esta parroquia.
Y la comunidad hispana será expuesta
a las maravillosas dinámicas y expe-
riencias de fe de la comunidad de
Saint Albert the Great. Juntos construirán una comunidad que reeje
aun más la riqueza del Cuerpo de
Cristo presente en Saint Albert the
Great. Pero con esta transición también vendrán los retos y las oportunidades de crecimiento para toda la
comunidad. En esta nueva aventura,
es importante siempre celebrar el
amor que nos une y nuestra identidad Católica; que han sido los pilares
transmitidos por nuestros ancestros
en la fe, como San Pablo nos invita en
esta lectura de su carta a los Tesalonicenses.
Esta nueva realidad para la
comunidad de Saint Albert the
Great es una realidad que para
muchas comunidades de fe continúa siendo un reto: la presencia hispana. En este reconocer
los signos de los tiempos, la
Iglesia Católica en los Estados
Unidos no está sola; otras
iglesias no Católicas Romanas
están también abriendo sus
ojos a las bendiciones y
retos que nuestra comunidad hispana representa.
Y parece que todo el
país está en esta transición.
En las pasadas elecciones,
los hispanos
conrmamos nuestro poder electoral.
De acuerdo a diferentes fuentes, los
latinos fuimos el 13% del total de
votantes. Para las elecciones del 2016
los latinos representaremos más del
20% del total de votantes en los Estados Unidos. Con este creciente poder
SOCIAL
Continúa de la Página 25
Los obispos han trabajado para tener
las actitudes justas y humanas hacia
todas las personas, incluidos los inmigrantes. Esto incluye su apoyo permanente a la reforma migratoria integral.
Muchos creen que hay una gran posibilidad de que los dos grandes partidos
trabajen en la reforma de inmigración
en la siguiente sesión del Congreso.
Desde hace más de 10 años, los
obispos se han centrado en una reforma de inmigración que pida una reforma económica y política para que la
gente no tenga que emigrar para poder
vivir una vida pacíca y digna. Para
aquellas familias que están aquí en los
EE.UU. y han estado aquí por muchos
años, los obispos apoyarían un camino
a la ciudadanía que no sea una amnistía,
sino que permita a los individuos que
han vivido y trabajado aquí regularizar su situación para vivir, trabajar y
contribuir aquí sin miedo y sin explotación. Los obispos están conscientes
de que el sistema de inmigración actual
puede mantener a las familias separadas
por una década o más. Esta es un área
de especial interés para nuestra iglesia
que promueve el matrimonio y la vida
familiar como principio fundamental.
Para obtener una visión completa de
las ideas de los obispos respecto a la
reforma integral de inmigración, visite
www.justiceforimmigrants.org.
La votación ha terminado; ahora
el trabajo de la defensa comienza.
Tenemos la oportunidad de hacer una
diferencia en estas áreas donde hay una
gran necesidad para la acción y donde
hay una voluntad política de avanzar.
No podemos permitirnos no actuar,
vamos a seguir el ejemplo del Cardenal
Dolan para felicitar a los ganadores
en todos los niveles. Podemos asegurarles nuestras oraciones y recordarles
que van a continuar escuchando de
nosotros sobre estos y otros temas de
interés en los próximos años.
Barbara Budde es la Directora
Diocesana de Asuntos Sociales. Se le
puede contactar al (512) 949-2471 o
[email protected].
electoral, los hispanos somos bendecidos, al mismo tiempo que una gran
responsabilidad cae más y más sobre
nuestros hombros.
La presencia hispana en los Estados Unidos y en la Iglesia Católica
ha sido siempre una bendición. En
la fundación de este país y su historia los latinos hemos contribuido
enormemente desde siempre e incluso
mucho antes de que este país existiera
como nación. Y en la Iglesia Católica
nuestras contribuciones son inmensas
en sus ya más de dos mil años de ser
luz para el mundo. Hoy, la comunidad
hispana en la Iglesia Católica, como
en el país, es una oportunidad para
que todos seamos renovados. Las
dinámicas de comunidad y familia,
el sentido de celebración, la fe, el
deseo de superación, la riqueza
cultural e histórica, y la juventud
que la comunidad hispana comparten con todos nosotros, son
sólo algunas de las oportunidades
de renovación que esta comunidad nos ofrece. Para poder
mejor integrar estas bendiciones a la misión de la Iglesia,
y en el futuro del país, tanto
St. Albert the Great como
la Iglesia Católica, al
igual que el país entero,
deberán revisar sus
estructuras administrativas para discernir
qué cambios son necesarios para que
estas instituciones reejen más y más
la presencia hispana y sus valores.
Pero así como la presencia hispana
renueva St. Albert the Great, la Iglesia
Católica, y el país, así mis hermanos
y hermanas, usted y yo, los hispanos
debemos renovarnos.
Tesalónica es la capital de Macedonia, una ciudad portera muy importante para el imperio romano. La
comunidad Cristiana fundada ahí por
San Pablo, Silvano y Timoteo es mal
interpretada por la cultura dominante,
la romana. El ser Cristiano en medio de una sociedad como la de los
Tesalonicenses no fue cosa fácil, pues
sus valores, losofía y fe eran bombardeados con otras ideas, losofías y
estilos de vida contrarios a los que su
fe Cristiana los llamaban a vivir. San
Pablo entonces en su carta les propone no olvidar el amor que los une, y
el cual los hace comunidad; así como
también no olvidar su identidad, los
valores transmitidos por nuestros
padres en la fe.
Los Hispanos estamos perdiendo
nuestro sabor, nuestra hispanidad,
lo que nos hace latinos, únicos y una
bendición para este país y la Iglesia en
los Estados Unidos. En la transición
como inmigrantes parece que cada día
más la cultura dominante conquista
más terreno en nosotros, de tal manera que nuestra hispanidad, nuestro valores, nuestra identidad, se convierten
ó en una fuente de vergüenza ó en
una fuente de orgullo desmesurado
que divide. Estas respuestas son seguramente las respuestas obvias de un
pueblo que ha sido oprimido. De ser
víctimas, hay la tentación de convertirnos en victimarios; de ser oprimidos, hay la tentación de convertirnos
en opresores. Pero este año de la fe
nos invita a escuchar estas palabras de
San Pablo a los Tesalonicenses como
un llamado para no perder nuestro
sabor.
Hable con sus hijos, con los
jóvenes en su familia de cómo sus ancestros o ellos mismos llegaron a este
país. Que el haber cruzado la frontera,
el haber inmigrando en las condiciones en las que usted lo hizo no sea
más que una fuente de orgullo y no de
vergüenza.
En casa, hable con sus hijos en
español; no les permita que pierdan
la riqueza de ser bilingües. Los niños
y jóvenes bilingües tienen muchas
ventajas tanto de aprendizaje como en
su futuro profesional que aquellos que
no lo son.
Comparta, celebre y aprenda sobre
su fe Católica en familia. Sus hijos,
nuestros jóvenes, están buscando las
mismas respuestas que usted y yo buscamos; pero lo están haciendo sin una
herramienta super importante para
usted y para mí: nuestra fe. Imagínese
haber llegado hasta donde está usted
ahora sin su fe. Mi fe, nuestra fe, nos
ha acompañado al cruzar la frontera.
Ahí, como en los muchos momentos
difíciles y de felicidad, la fe ha sido
y será un pilar. Sus hijos, nuestros
jóvenes, están creciendo sin ese
valor, sin esa herramienta para poder
encontrar las respuestas a sus propias
preguntas y retos.
Ore en familia, continúe sus tradiciones: los altares en su casa, el rezo
del rosario, las novenas, las posadas o
las celebraciones y estas que usted de
niño celebró y tanto valoró. Es aquí
donde usted y yo necesitamos formar
comunidad pues el trabajo de educar
a los jóvenes es un trabajo comunitario como Jesús lo pensó desde un
principio un trabajo de comunidad,
del cuerpo de Cristo.
Pero también no pierda de vista que
esta hermosa tierra, los Estados Unidos,
nos abre las puertas a tantas bendiciones que nuestros países no pudieron
brindarnos. Una de estas bendiciones
es que usted y yo ahora pertenecemos
a una comunidad que reeja la riqueza
y diversidad de la Iglesia universal. Ya
no somos esclavos ni libres, ni mujeres
ni niños, ni judíos o gentiles, somos
la Iglesia Católica en Estados Unidos.
Y para ella, como para el país entero,
usted y yo, los latinos, somos una
bendición. Como los Cristianos lo eran
para Tesalónica.
Edgar Ramirez es el Director del Ministerio Hispano para la
Diócesis de Austin. Se le puede
llamar al (512) 949-2468 o por
correo electrónico a edgar-ramirez@
austindiocese.org.
SITINGS
December 2012
27
THE KNIGHTS
OF COLUMBUS
Council 8935 and
Catholic Life Insurance sponsored a
Community Blood
Drive at Holy Trinity Parish in Llano
on Oct. 25. The
Blood and Tissue
Center of Austin
collected 29 units
of blood. (Photo
courtesy Jimmy
Balsam)
THE THIRD GRADE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION STUDENTS at Ascension Parish in Bastrop celebrated All Saints Day by dressing as
saints. The parish also remembered the faithfully departed on
All Souls Day.
(Photos courtesy
Maria Barbato
and Ascension
Parish)
CATHEDRAL SCHOOL
OF ST. MARY Early
Childhood Center celebrated October birthdays with cupcakes and
goodie bags made by
parents and staff. (Photo
courtesy Mary Margaret
Stepleton-Hitt)
THE PTC SOCIAL at Sts.
Cyril and Methodius Catholic School in Granger was
held Nov. 4. The dinner
included turkey and dressing with all the trimmings
and games for the children.
(Photo courtesy Rebecca
Skrhak)
MIDDLE SCHOOLERS from Santa Cruz Parish in Buda
attended the Middle School Youth Rally. (Photo courtesy
Santa Cruz Parish)
BISHOP JOE VÁSQUEZ visited Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish
in Martindale on Oct. 30 for conrmations. (Photo courtesy Father
Antonio Perez)
FATHER ALOYSIUS NZEKWE
and several parishioners served
food at the Fall Festival at St.
Stephen Parish in Salado on
Oct. 21. (Photo courtesy Marissa Michalewicz)
THE VOLLEYBALL
TEAM at Holy Trinity
Catholic High School
in Temple ended the
season in late October. (Photo courtesy
Veronica Alonzo)
THE EAGLES 4 LIFE PRO-LIFE CLUB at St.
Dominic Savio High School in Austin organized a
collection for returning troops from Afghanistan,
the Mountain Warriors of Fort Carson. Students
donated personal care items and wrote thank
you notes to returning soldiers. (Photo courtesy
Celie Harden)
Send photos by the 10th of the month to [email protected].
SITINGS
28
C ATHOLIC S PIRIT
EMMAUS PARISH in Lakeway
kicked off the Year
of Faith with a Volunteer Appreciation
Dinner on Oct. 18.
Father Ed Koharchik (right) was one
of the guest speakers for the event.
(Photo courtesy
Sharon Perkins)
SCHOENSTATT FATHER HECTOR
VEGA led the blessing of the Wayside Shrine at Mercy of God Prayer
Center in Austin. (Photo courtesy Dale
Jarmush)
FATHER RYAN HIGDON
blessed the stuffed animals
and pets of the children at
St. Joseph Eagle’s Nest
in Bryan in celebration of
the Feast of St. Francis
of Assisi. (Photo courtesy
Jonathan Nguyen)
NEARLY 300 PEOPLE were in attendance as the Dominican Sisters
of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist celebrated the blessing of their
property on Oct. 6. The property will be the home of the sisters’ future
priory in Georgetown. Father Robert Becker, pastor of St. Helen Parish in Georgetown, blessed the 60 acres as attendees sang hymns
and prayed the rosary. (Photo courtesy Dominican Sisters)
THE FIFTH/SIXTH GRADE VOLLEYBALL team and the sixth grade ag
football team from St. Helen Catholic
School in Georgetown both ended the
season with perfect records. (Photos
courtesy Linda Holmstrom)
BISHOP JOE
VÁSQUEZ
was named an
“Honorary First
Grader” at St.
Mary’s Catholic
School in West
on Oct. 5. He
also celebrated
Mass at the
school. (Photo
courtesy Erica
Lopez)
ALUMNI from St.
Louis Catholic School
in Austin were inducted into the National
Honor Society at St.
Michael’s Catholic
Academy in Austin.
(Photo courtesy Renee Gately)
THE SIXTH GRADERS at Sacred Heart School in La Grange
made a mosaic banner to be hung at Brooke Army Medical
Center in San Antonio. (Photo courtesy Wendy Becka)
THE FIRST GRADERS
at St. Theresa’s Catholic
School in Austin celebrated All Saints Day by
dressing as their favorite
saint. (Photo courtesy
Suzanne Leggett)
Send photos by the 10th of the month to [email protected].