The Good Catholic Life

Summary of today’s show: Our panel of Scot Landry, Susan Abbott, and Gregory Tracy consider the news headlines of the week, including Cardinal Seán’s well-received homily at the Vigil Mass before the March for Life; Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s message to the “ultrasound generation”; the appointment of a new director of pastoral outreach and support for the Archdiocese; and Pope Benedict’s assurance that a biblical view of God will help a crisis of fatherhood. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Susan Abbott Today’s guest(s): Gregory Tracy, managing editor of the Pilot, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston Links from today’s show: The Anchor The Pilot Some of the stories discussed on this show will be available on The Pilot’s and The Anchor’s websites on Friday morning. Please check those sites for the latest links. Today’s topics: March for Life wrap-up; New Boston appointment; God as Father 1st segment: Scot Landry welcomed everyone to the show. He said he’s coming to us from sunny Florida today. He and Susan discussed the windstorm last night and then Susan’s catechist convocation in Tewksbury yesterday, one of a series of regional meetings. Susan said she met Scot’s mother there and got lots of stories about Scot from her. Scot said he’s in Florida for the funeral of Cardinal Seán’s stepmother, Claire, who was 90 years old. She died a few weeks ago, but because of Cardinal Seán’s commitments to the March for Life, they had to postpone the funeral. In addition to Scot, there was a good turnout from Boston, including three of our auxiliary bishops and a number of pastors. Scot welcomed Gregory Tracy to the show and asked him about his experience traveling with Cardinal Seán to the March for Life. This year Cardinal Seán was the principal celebrant of the Vigil for Life Mass and his homily won rave reviews from far and wide. The Cardinal also celebrated Mass for a gathering of pro-life leaders earlier in the day. Greg was also on the main stage at the Rally before the March for Life and Scot asked him what his sense was of the numbers. Greg said he’s heard this was the biggest March ever. He said the crowd went back further along the Mall than he’s ever seen before. Scot noted that Cardinal Seán read from the main stage a tweet from the Holy Father that had just come out a few minutes before in which the Pope said he was in unity with those who were marching for life that day. Greg said there was a great response from the crowd. I join all those marching for life from afar, and pray that political leaders will protect the unborn and promote a culture of life. — Benedict XVI (@Pontifex) January 25, 2013 2nd segment: Scot said the kickoff of the March for Life is at the vigil Mass at the basilica is considered the state of the pro-life movement each year. Cardinal Seán’s homily at the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception before the March for Life Forty years ago when the Supreme Court handed down a second Dred Scott decision that renders unborn children, like people of African-American descent in the days of slavery, unprotected by the Constitution of the United States. Since 1973 there have been 55 million abortions – that is how many people there are in Italy, the United Kingdom or France. Scot said that number was a stark reminder and shocking. Greg said that’s what’s insidious about abortion. It starts as individual decisions, but it adds up over the years to this astonishing number. It’s hard to think of it as just as a personal choice when you consider a population the size of a nation has been put to death. We have been wandering in the desert for 40 years but we are getting closer to the Promised Land. Austen Ivereigh has put it very well: “The direction of Western cultural history indelibly marked by Christianity is toward the eventual revelation of the humanity of the victim. Just as the voices of the slave, the ostracized foreigner, the battered housewife, the disabled, and the child abuse victim, have all eventually been heard, so will eventually the voice of the literally voiceless – the unborn child.” … Too many Americans see abortion as a necessary evil. We need to educate the public on the damage done to women by abortion and show that abortion is not a necessary evil, but is simply evil. Susan said she loved that quote from Austen Ivereigh. She one hopes and prays for the moment when the voice of the voiceless is heard. The cardinal in his homily gave some frightening statistics about the choices a woman has before her and that abortion is presented as the most humane of the three choices before her: abortion, birth, and adoption. Scot said the cardinal said that there are 86 abortions for each adoption in this country and there are so many families looking for a child to adopt. The cardinal quoted from a study by the Vitae Caring Foundation with the intriguing name “The Least of Three Evils – Understanding the Psychological Dynamics of How Women Feel about Abortion.” The report shows that unplanned motherhood is seen as a greater evil than abortion. An unwanted pregnancy is perceived as equivalent to a “death of self,” a loss of control over one’s present and future. Given this perspective, the choice of abortion becomes a lesser evil, a choice of self preservation, a much more defensible position both to the woman and to those supporting her decision to abort.” Tragically, adoption is seen as the most evil of the three options, as it is perceived as a kind of double death. First, the death of self by carrying the baby to term. The second death perceived by the woman is the death of the child thru “abandonment.” A woman worries about her child being mistreated, abused, and neglected. She would perceive herself as a bad mother, one who gave her own child away to strangers. Basically the woman desperately wants a sense of resolution to her crisis, and in her mind adoption leaves the situation the most unresolved, with uncertainty and guilt for as far as she can see. As much as we might like to see the slogan “Adoption, not Abortion” embraced by woman facing an unwanted pregnancy, studies suggest that in pitting adoption against abortion, adoption will be the hands-down loser. In fact while abortion itself is seen as something evil, the woman who is making that choice is seen as courageous, making a difficult but necessary decision. The study goes on to show that abortion is considered the least of the three evils because it is perceived as offering the greatest hope to a woman to preserve her sense of self. This is why so many women deeply resent our pro-life movement which they perceive as uncaring and judgmental. We have consistently focused on the safety of the unborn child while the pro choice, pro abortion activists focus on the woman in crisis. With almost 100 abortions for every adoption, we have so much more work to do. The cardinal goes on to say how we have to change hearts and show that abortion is the greatest of three evils. Susan said she always thought that we were concerned with the woman and caring for her, that it wasn’t one or the other. It’s both-and. So this startled her. The Vitae Foundation has had amazing results with their television advertising that has increased pro-life sentiments among the general population in the areas where they appeared. We must never lose sight of the fact that we must work to change the laws, to overturn the Roe vs. Wade decision, but we must work even harder to change people’s hearts, to help Americans understand that abortion is evil and unnecessary. Spielberg’s film, Lincoln, shows the monumental struggle against slavery and Lincoln’s resolve to pass the Thirteenth Amendment, but the law was only part of the struggle. The evil of racism perdured for over a century and the civil rights legislation and sacrifices of so many are contemporary realities in an ongoing struggle to live the ideals of our country. Changing hearts is always the hardest part. The laws will change. Hearts are harder to change. We must never tire of clarifying misunderstanding and shedding light where there is myth and confusion, demonstrating empathy and compassion and a deeper vision. That is the method being presented by Catholic Voices. It is not just about the lucidity of our arguments; it is about the effect that our words have on others. Our task is to present the truth with civility, empathy and clarity. Being champions of the Gospel of Life is about building a civilization of love. Scot said the cardinal is motivating everyone, informing about the results of the study, and then challenging us as we carry out the work of the pro-life movement. Scot said too often the pro-life message is presented with the least charitable, least empathetic arguments. Greg said he does see that there is a huge spectrum of pro-lifers who run the gamut. In any kind of dialogue, those kind of extremes stick and that’s what people notice. There are obviously people on both sides who are very committed. But there are a lot of people in the middle who don’t think about it every day and in those circumstances what cuts through the background noise of life are the extremes. Cardinal Seán’s point is true: pro-abortion groups come across as pro-woman. Susan said the cardinal made it clear that the majority of people, when presented with rational facts and statistics, people respond in a pro-life way. Not when confronted with extreme language and graphic images. “Cardinal O’Malley calls pro-life movement to grow in faith”, CNA/EWTN News, 1/25/13 BostonCatholicPhotos.com BostonCatholicLive.com 3rd segment: This week’s benefactor card raffle winner is Lucia Prunier from Wayland, MA She wins an Audio Book CD “St. Bernadette of Lourdes”. If you would like to be eligible to win in an upcoming week, please visit WQOM.org. For a one-time $30 donation, you’ll receive the Station of the Cross benefactor card and key tag, making you eligible for WQOM’s weekly raffle of books, DVDs, CDs and religious items. We’ll be announcing the winner each Wednesday during “The Good Catholic Life” program. 4th segment: Scot said Cardinal Timothy Dolan has written one of the most provocative pieces on the future of the pro-life movement, “The Ultrasound Generation”, Cardinal Timothy Dolan Popular culture calls you the “Millennial Generation” because you came of age at the dawn of the Millennium. But I think of you as the “Ultrasound Generation.” You are different than any generation that came before you in that your very first baby pictures were taken not with you in your mother’s arms, but you alive in her womb. Your generation is defined by technology. You have come to expect almost annual revolutionary technological breakthroughs that change the way we live and work. You have seen staggering medical advances that have given doctors wonderful new tools in fighting disease and injury. And you have grown up with ultrasound technology that has opened a window into the womb, allowing us to glimpse preborn babies from the earliest weeks of gestation. You have seen your little brothers and sisters before they were born in these grainy videos and photographs pinned to the fridge. Your mom or your dad has shown you those first images of yourself. Some of you have even seen your own children for the first time with newer, clearer 3- and 4-dimensional ultrasound technology. You have gasped with wonder at the sight of little arms flailing and legs kicking, heads bobbing and hearts beating, mouths sucking thumbs. You have seen, and you believe. Let’s face it, you figured out a long time ago that your parents’ generation isn’t always right. So many have tried to convince you (as they have allowed themselves to be convinced) that an unborn baby is nothing more than a “clump of cells.” College professors, politicians, Hollywood glitterati, and media talking heads have hammered you with the message that the decision to abort has no more moral significance than having a wisdom tooth extracted. To be an enlightened adult, you will be told, you must support the “right to choose.” (They won’t tell you what, or who is being chosen.) You are rightly skeptical. They may believe what they say, but in this matter they are wrong. Think of your first baby picture, the one on the flimsy paper with the dark background and the unmistakable image of you. You know better. You have seen, and you believe. Scot said he hasn’t seen it written like this before, but he does know that the Knights of Columbus underwrite ultrasounds for crisis pregnancy centers to show mothers in crisis that their baby is a baby in their womb and to activate that maternal instinct to protect the children. Susan said the cardinal ended the column: “My faith in you is high. For I have seen, and I believe – in you.” She said she has been in so many homes where the ultrasound picture is on the refrigerator door, proclaiming the new member of the family. She said in decades past the science textbooks had beautiful imagery of unborn children in the womb and those images have disappeared. Cardinal Dolan said this generation doesn’t have enough to just see and believe, but to go out and do something. But here’s the tough part: It is not enough that you believe. It is not enough that you are sympathetic to the cause. Don’t get me wrong, I am thrilled to know that so many of you in the “Ultrasound Generation” are pro-life. But this can’t be a secret anymore. You need to proclaim it. It can’t come from me or from people my age; our time is rapidly passing. Now is your time. Sometimes, it falls to one generation to clean up another generation’s mess. And I’m afraid we have left you quite a mess. I am asking you, the “Ultrasound Generation,” to set the course right, to change hearts and minds, to change the law so that your children’s generation is given the legal protection that your generation so tragically was not. Ultimately, I am counting on you to change our culture. Scot asked Greg about his own teens hearing this and whether they are moved to take action. Greg said the cardinal made a clarion call to a new generation. An old way is passing and you, the next generation, are the new way. He said his kids have always been introduced to their new sibling through ultrasound. Greg said he became pro-life after seeing the ultrasound of his first child. He’d converted to Catholicism shortly before marriage and he’d been a secular person who didn’t give much thought to these matters. But at the moment he saw the first ultrasound, it clicked with him that this is a baby. “Director of Office of Pastoral Support and Outreach Named” Also in the Pilot this week is the appointment of Vivian Soper of the director of the Office of Pastoral Support and Outreach for the Archdiocese of Boston, who is succeeding Barbara Thorp. She is a resident of Weymouth and sister of Fr. Paul Soper, director of Pastoral Planning for the Archdiocese. Vivian formerly worked for Catholic Charities of Greater Boston. Scot said in Vatican news, the Holy Father is explaining different parts of the Nicene Creed throughout the Year of Faith. He recently addressed the term “Almighty Father”. “Pope says Biblical view of God can help fatherhood crisis”, CNA/EWTN News, 1/30/13 “Calling God ‘father’ is statement of trust in his love, pope says”, Catholic News Service, 1/30/13 “For those who have had the experience of an overly authoritarian and inflexible father, or an indifferent, uncaring, or even absent one, it is not easy to calmly think of God as a father or to confidently surrender themselves to him,” he told the crowd. Pope Benedict pointed out that “it isn’t always easy today to speak about fatherhood and, not having adequate role models, it even becomes problematic to imagine God as a father.” “But a Biblical revelation helps us to overcome these difficulties by telling us about a God who shows us what it truly means to be a father,” the pontiff said. According to the Pope, “it is the Gospel above all that reveals to us this face of God as a father who loves us even to the point of giving us the gift of His Son for the salvation of humanity.” “Jesus reveals God as a merciful father who never abandons his children and whose loving concern for us embraces even the cross,” he said. Scot said we talk about the words of the Holy Father because people may not hear them elsewhere and it’s his hope that someone listening can hear these words and find hope and healing. Susan recounted a story of a first grade religious education class in which a boy who heard the God is Father said that his father hits him and this puts the Pope’s words in perspective. Greg said he too knows people who have trouble embracing the Fatherhood of God because of their experience of their own fathers. He said in marriage preparation classes, he often talks to men about how they treat their future children will affect how they relate to God the Father. “Pope reassigns responsibility for seminaries, religious instruction”, Catholic News Service, 1/25/13 “Lack of faith can hurt marriage, may affect validity, pope says”, Catholic News Service, 1/28/13 “Pope focuses on best way to use social media”, CNA/EWTN News, 1/24/13 “Social Networks: portals of truth and faith; new spaces for evangelization”, Message of Pope Benedict XVI for the 47th World Communications Day

Summary of today’s show: Continuing Catholic Schools Week, Scot Landry and Fr. Matt Williams welcome Sr. Mary Murphy, Fred Gilfeather and Nicholas Fernari from Notre Dame Cristo Rey High School in Lawrence to talk about the unique Cristo Rey model and their success in Massachusetts’ poorest city. The students at the school spend four days per week in class and the fifth day at good jobs in corporate environments, earning money for tuition but also gaining valuable workplace experience well ahead of their peers. The model works as evidenced by a college retention rate that’s twice the national average. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Matt Williams Today’s guest(s): Sr. Mary Murphy, Fred Gilfeather, Nicholas Fernari Links from today’s show: Notre Dame Cristo Rey High School Today’s topics: Catholic Schools Week: Notre Dame Cristo Rey High School, Lawrence 1st segment: Scot Landry welcomed everyone to the show. He noted that this week is Catholic Schools Week. Today’s profile will be Notre Dame Cristo Rey High School in Lawrence which follows the Cristo Rey educational model. But first he welcomed Fr. Matt back to the show after he went to the March for Life last week. He said this March was the best they’ve ever done with over 500 middle schoolers, high schoolers, and young adults. Fr. Matt said he is a product of Catholic schools his entire life. He said his vocation is partly attributed to his Catholic schooling, especially the powerful witness of the priests and sisters he’s know along the way. 2nd segment: Scot welcomed Sr. Mary Murphy, the president of the school; Fred Gilfeather, director of corporate development; and Nicholas Fernari, a junior. Sr. Mary said the school is in Lawrence to serve the people of Lawrence and the model is that students work one day per week to earn tuition and at the same time to gain corporate work experience. It is keyed in on serving people with limited income. It originated in 1996 in Chicago. The Sisters of Notre Dame were invited to be part of the network in 2003. Since then the high school has graduated more than 190. While the majority of students come from Lawrence, they come from surrounding towns. They have 293 students and will cap population to 400. Nicholas said he chose Notre Dame because both his parents value education and grew up a Catholic. He said he many choices for high school, but he chose Notre Dame for the corporate work-study program. This was completely different from what other Catholic high schools offered. He said there’s something you can get from the workplace that you can’t get in the classroom and those skills are useful in the classroom. His freshman year he worked in a small consulting agency with engineers and scientists. He spent most of his time doing filing and other smaller tasks. For the past two years he’s been working at a paralegal firm. Nicholas said he’s leaning toward education. He knows he doesn’t want to be a lawyer after having experienced the profession. Fred said Nick is representative of the student population. He said he’s trying to get a well-rounded basis of what the students are passionate about so he can match them with the right corporate experience. They have medical technology, manufacturing, and the whole gamut of industries. His biggest challenge is to find every student the perfect job. When he knows what they’re passionate, he can try to put them in a job at which they’ll be successful. Scot asked what’s in it for the corporations? Fred said he often connects with someone in the company who believes in what they’re doing and they run it up the ladder. The companies get a good, reliable worker, while the school gets a funding source. The companies also get the satisfaction of helping low-income students from the city of Lawrence, not through a handout but through an opportunity. Scot asked about job-sharing. Sr. Mary said when they talk to companies, they ask them where their needs are. In most cases, it’s not job-sharing, but they do specific jobs. Nick said he’s learned how to be a team member and to realize that if you create a problem, you have to be part of the solution. That’s improved his ability to be part of the school. He’s also learned organizational skills, how to file, how to navigate a workplace. Scot asked Sr. Mary how they prepare the students for the professional poise and work habits. She said they have a training session in the summer for incoming freshman, to educate them about what a supervisor is, what is a performance review; how to respond to others. The students are always afraid on their first day, but universally they are accepted and treated as equals. The school monitors their performance in the workplace each day. Nick said his classmates are generally four years ahead of their peers in knowing what it’s like to be in the business world, which is very different from working in the fast food restaurant or supermarket. Fred said the biggest misconception to overcome is doubts about what a 14-year-old can do for their commpany and he will relate the list of big-name companies hiring these kids, which helps to convince. When the companies meet the kids and how focused they are because these kids know they need to do a good job to stay in school, they understand. The kids are not doing make-work jobs. They’re doing real important work. Fred talked about one company that saw such a return on their investment with students providing translation services that they’re adding even more translators from among students next year. Fr. Matt asked about the witness. Sr. Mary said they talk about the core values and try to live it. The students also evangelize their peers. Employers universally talk about how the students exemplify the best values. Sr. Mary said they’re not just trying to get the students into college. They follow them for six years to make sure they finish college. It’s education for life. their hope is that when times are tough, that the faith life they support becomes more important. She said Notre Dame Cristo Rey is making a difference in Lawrence and families often tell her that the school is their hope to get out of poverty. Sr. Mary said the Cristo Rey Network has partnered with colleges, helping students who can’t afford tuition. Most of their students tend to stay locally. Scot asked Nicholas how he would differentiate a Cristo Rey student from students at other schools. Nicholas said they all have a good sense of the language of business which contributes to their professionalism. Sr. Mary said the lives of students outside school can be chaotic, and the school offers them something to hold onto, something stable, something that helps with their resiliency. 3rd segment: Scot asked Fred what are the coolest jobs. Fred said he thinks the coolest is at New England BioLabs in Ipswich. the company has a rain forest inside the building that they use to purify all the water that the building uses. Another is NuPath which provides day services and residential options for adults in need. She said some students even go on their own time to volunteer. They also discussed the distances the students will have to travel for their jobs. Fred said they transport all their students to their jobs, which contributes to a very high attendance rate. Even for those who miss a day, they have to make it up during vacation or another day. Fr. Matt asked Nick about how they make up for the one day per week they spend at their jobs. He said their school day is longer and so is their school year. The school day is 8am to 3:30pm. He said they are in school from the end of August to the middle of June. Sr. Mary said the school has sports, but they’re not intent on being in the top tiers. They have basketball and cross-country and have had softball and baseball teams. But practice and game schedules have to be adapted to class and work schedules. She said the school is sponsored by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur and so they ensure the Sisters’ charism is carried through. They have a staff person who deals with the Catholic identity of the school, not just in religion classes, but throughout everything the school does. They have a strong religion program that is tied into the directives from the Cristo Rey Network. They have school Masses with the Augustinian friars serving the local parish, St. Mary of the Assumption. They have retreats through campus ministry. Seventy-three percent of students are Catholic and the parish is one of the largest Hispanic Catholic communities in the Archdiocese. For companies or organizations in the Merrimack Valley interested in partnering with Notre Dame Cristo Rey, Fred said he wants them to know that these students are very focused. If you need one student or four or 26, they can help with that. He tells them that the companies change people’s lives from day one. He encouraged companies to call him and come by for a tour. Fred said the national average retention rate through sophomore year for Latino students in college is 43 percentage. Notre Dame has an 86 percent retention rate.

Summary of today’s show: Continuing Catholic Schools Week, Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor talk with Martha McCook, principal of Immaculate Conception School in Marlborough, about their remarkable success as a small pre-school through eighth grade school, including dominating the rankings of a national mathematics scholarship program; using advanced technology in the curriculum; providing faith formation that helps students grow spiritually; being a light in the parish and community and an extended family for students and their families; and a place where children of diverse backgrounds and economic circumstances come together. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor Today’s guest(s): Martha McCook Links from today’s show: Immaculate Conception School, Marlborough Raytheon Math Moves U Today’s topics: Catholic Schools Week: Immaculate Conception School, Marlborough 1st segment: Scot Landry said it’s the second day of Catholic Schools Week. He welcomed Fr. Chris O’Connor to the show. He said he will be at Cheverus School in Malden on Friday to celebrate Mass with them and said he has an appreciation for Catholic education as a product of Catholic schools. Scot said we’ll be profiling specific schools this week, including Immaculate Conception School in Marlborough. Scot asked Fr. Chris about the seminarians who traveled to Washington, DC, last for the March for Life via the train. He said they told him it was a wonderful profound experience. He said the seminarians were able to serve at the Vigil Mass at the Shrine of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception because Cardinal Seán was the principal celebrant. He said the procession at the Mass alone takes a good 30 minutes. He said seminarians come from all over the country. Scot said it’s one of the biggest gatherings of the US Catholic Church each year. It shows how important and central the abortion issue is as the central moral issue today. 2nd segment: Scot and Fr. Chris welcomed Martha McCook of Immaculate Conception School in Marlborough to the show. Martha is the principal of the school. She’s been there for 26 years. She said the school has 225 students from diverse backgrounds. The school is in three separate buildings: The convent school is an early childhood center for pre-school through Grade 1; the lower school is for 2 through 5; and the middle school is grades 6 through 8. Each building is designed to address the unique needs of each group of learners. Many parents like that all their children can be in the same schedule and timeframe but in schools adapted for them. The schools are located on the same street in town. Martha said they live their faith everyday and they try to instill in their students that the kindness God instills in us needs to be extended to each and every person that they meet. And that we don’t need to be afraid to show out Catholic faith and what a gift that faith is. Scot asked how the school has changed over the years. She said the needs of the students have changed. Some of the three-year-olds are proficient with iPads for instance and so they have to adapt their teaching styles and technology. Every classroom has a SMART Board and state-of-the-art computers. Many parents want the school to keep up with technology. Nevertheless it’s their Catholic identity that remains the purpose for the school. Fr. Chris asked how the school is celebrating Catholic Schools Week. She said parents have come into their children’s classrooms with special presentations from their kids. On Wednesday, the middle school is having an academic bowl encompassing all subjects. She said they teach the children Spanish starting with the three-year-olds. Scot asked how the school was able to afford the technology. Martha said they set high standards and expect more because their calling is to get each to their potential. The middle school math program has been competing in Raytheon’s Math Moves curriculum which encourages students to prepare for careers in science, technology, engineering, and math. Their students win amazing awards, including $1,000 scholarships which come with a matching grant for the school and so far they’ve received $54,000 in scholarships. One student also has won a $20,000 college scholarship. Scot said he’s amazed to see how a small school in Marlborough is cleaning up nationally on all these math awards. He asked Martha to what she attributes their success. She said in addition to the Math excellence, they have a “writing across the curriculum” program that starts in pre-K. Communication is an essential skill, including the ability to write in many genre. They need to be able to write in non-fiction and fiction, correspondence and business plans. Scot noted that the Math Moves program includes an essay component. Martha said the students have written about how they like the different math-related challenges, including robotics, as well as science programs. They learn that they’re not just learning each subject in different silos, but see how they integrate with each other and into their lives. She said one thing they do is to teach children how to deal with cash and money because parents today generally tend to pay everything with debit cards. So they teach practical life skills related to math, like handling money or calculating home improvements and the like. Fr. Chris said the way we teach and educate are changing, but are the kids changing? Martha said the children haven’t changed in that they come eager to learn. But how you reach them and how you keep their attention has changed. You get to know the families and the sense of family and sense of community is a source of strength for Immaculate Conception School. She noted that after the Newtown shootings a little girl said to her on the first day back to school that she knew Fr. Michael would talk to the Marlborough students, they’d have Mass, and then everything would be okay. Scot said the academic bar is set so high at IC Marlborough, how do they benchmark themselves against? He can’t imagine there are many schools who are the level they are. Martha said it comes from faith. The staff feel they have been called by God to bring out all the gifts and talents of the children. They want to ensure that when the kids move on to secondary schools, they keep touch to see how they’re continuing to do so that the school can make adjustments to its programs. Martha talked about her decision to come to the school 26 years ago. They moved from Connecticut to Marlborough when husband moved from academia to business. She volunteered at the school where her children were attending. The school had no language program and no real library and because she had advanced degrees and experience in those areas, the pastor asked her come and establish a library and a foreign language program. She did that in the first year including teaching French in Grades 7 and 8. The next year, she became principal. Fr. Chris asked her to describe her staff and why they choose to teach there. Martha said many of them are drawn to the fact they can teach and don’t have to leave Jesus at the door and can impart their faith to the students. They like the community and family atmosphere. They like the high standards and realize they’re going to keep up with what’s going on in education. Seventy-percent have advanced degrees and those who do not are required to take a graduate course every other year in order to qualify for salary increases. They have to keep their credentials up to keep abreast of what’s new. But they all have callings and know they are called to nurture the faith of the students and develop them as whole children of God. Scot asked what they do to develop faith in the school outside of the regular academic classes. Martha said they have religion classes and prayer several times a day. They also have service outside the school. They learn very early on not only to count their blessings but then to share those blessings with the less fortunate. They have coat drives for children and food drives. They encourage parents to help the children earn money for their donations. They do things on both the large scale and small scale. All the fifth grade students have a first grade reading buddy. All the middle school students have Mass partners, so they are responsible during all-school Masses to help children from the lower grades with getting from their classrooms to Mass and staying with them. Martha said they have a middle school Mass every week in addition to the monthly all-school Mass. She said the parish priests celebrate a Mass geared toward middle school kids, who are in a critical phase of development. It gives them tools for dealing with the issues that come up in their lives and the kids come to love the Mass. They are asked to write journals at the end of the year and they often reflect on specific Gospels they hear and how they’ve relied on them to make the right choices. 3rd segment: Fr. Chris related a story of one parochial school and the parish priest who one girl called God. He said he’s not God, but he’s called to be God-like, especially in working with children, exhibiting God’s love and compassion. Martha said because the school is so faith-based, it’s natural for the students to gather in prayer. They learn to turn to God and they learn that prayer works. It also draws the families in. They have four sets of parents and three middle school students who are in RCIA in the parish this year. Martha said Marlborough is in the Metrowest at the intersection of Mass Pike and 495. It’s been a high-tech and banking region. It’s also home to diverse Spanish and Brazilian communities. They have worked hard to have the school represent the parish and community so they have asked Catholic Schools Foundation and others to provide scholarships for lower-income students. She said during Advent each classroom adopts families from a list provided by the social service agencies and the children provide clothing and gifts and Christmas dinners for adopted families. The children get to see the effect of their assistance. They see students who give away their birthday money or give their birthday presents to children who are less fortunate. They also have lots of socialization, such as school dances, movie nights, outdoor activities, field day, sports teams. At the end of Catholic Schools Week they have an adult trivia night for faculty, staff, parents, and priests. It’s a way for the parents to relax and enjoy. Scot said the school becomes an anchor in the parish and community’s life. Scot asked if there are many non-Catholic families. Martha said 12 percent are not Catholic, whether Protestant or having no religion. She said all the children go home wanting to pray and the parents say they are so impressed by the children’s spirituality that they want to be part of it. Scot asked about all the students learning Spanish. Martha said she speaks to the Spanish-language Masses in the parish a few times a year and they find that the students have come to recognize that some of their classmates speak another language and want to do so as well. Martha said the goal is both conversational Spanish, but also to help them place into advanced Spanish levels in high school. Martha talked about the financial health of the school. The archdiocese provides a metric for all schools and Immaculate Conception gets a perfect school. They’re always looking to expand opportunity for scholarships without raising tuition. they have zero-based budgeting and they don’t take any money from the parish. The school is sound and solid. Martha noted that most elementary schools now have advancement directors. They have found that you need to look beyond current families, but need to look to alumni, businesses, grandparents of students and others who might want to support the school and help them remain fiscally strong. Scot asked if it’s difficult to get financial help from alumni given all the demands on them. How do you get them from being a grateful alumni to one who helps to underwrite expenses. Martha said they reach out to them with a school magazine and show the school as active in the community. Fr. Chris noted that the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph used to be actively involved in the school and there are some sisters still connected to the school. There is a retirement convent for Sisters of St. Chretienne and some of them come in and provide tutoring help. Martha said these are the only religious sisters that some of the students will ever come in contact with. 4th segment: Scot said Immaculate Conception school was founded in 1910. He noted that Martha had said that the priests of the parish were key to the life of the school. Martha said they are blessed with the pastor, who is involved in he school, does the liturgies, comes to parent meetings, and is involved in all aspects of school life. They also have had a succession of parochial vicars, almost right out of seminary. Scot asked Martha if the school has a wishlist. Martha said they would love to look into funding for a foreign-language immersion program, which she doesn’t think any Catholic school in the region has. Fr. Chris asked about sacramental preparation. Martha talked about First Reconciliation and First Communion in the second grade as a wonderful focus. She sees the gift develop in the students of how important the Eucharist is for them. Martha talked about how people can contact the school through their website and how many families come from outside Marlborough.

Summary of today’s show: Catholic Schools Week begins today with Jorge Hernandez and Jim Walsh of the Catholic Schools Office sitting down with Scot Landry to talk about the state of Catholic education in the Archdiocese of Boston, the principles of excellence that encourage in schools, as well as some of the amazing success stories among local Catholic schools that have seen growth in enrollment and academic achievement. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry Today’s guest(s): Jorge Hernandez, Jim Walsh of Catholic Schools Office Links from today’s show: Catholic Schools Office on BostonCatholic.org Catholic Schools Office, Boston Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York, “The Catholic Schools We Need,” America magazine (Sept 13, 10) Today’s topics: Catholic Schools Week 1st segment: Scot welcomed everyone to the show. He said it’s Catholic Schools Week and he said the theme this year is “Catholic schools raise the standards.” He said across the Archdiocese of Boston, everyone in Catholic schools have been working hard to raise the standards of Catholic education. Today, we’ll look at Catholic education in Boston at a macro level and the rest of the week in specific schools. He welcomed Jorge Hernandez and Jim Walsh, area superintendents for the Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese. Jim said Catholic schools educate 2 million students across the US, 1.4 million in elementary schools. In the archdiocese, 41,000 in 121 Catholic schools, both run by parishes and independent and run by religious orders. Scot said 41,000 is at least as big as any public school district in the state. Jorge said in terms of the number of schools it is certainly one of the largest. Scot said Jorge is responsible for the North and Merrimac regions. He asked him what made him leave Merrimack College to come work as an area superintendent for the Archdiocese. He said it’s a wonderful team in the Catholic Schools Office. He’s been able to see another aspect of Catholic school education, having gone to Catholic schools from K through college, on both the West Coast and East Coast. His parents were Mexican immigrants to the US and they treasured Catholic education. He said Catholic schools are unique. They offer an opportunity to be engaged in faith and to be top academic leaders. Scot said Jim has worked for the Archdiocese of many years. Jim said he grew up at St. Gregory’s in Dorchester and his family had faith as a very important. He attended Catholic high school and college and his kids have gone to Catholic schools. He said Catholic schools educate the whole person, including faith in terms of who we are. Bringing faith to the heart of every child is a gift of life. Teachers are partners with parents in forming the children. Scot said Catholic education forms the heart and teaches them how to love. He said education and classroom work alone isn’t enough to form a good person. Jim said St. Catherine’s in Norwood has a simple motto of “See Christ in others. Be Christ to others.” The school uses that every day in morning prayer with the children. It helps the children to understand we are individually called to serve Christ and His Church. Jorge said Catholic Schools Week calls attention to all the different ways that Catholic schools benefit the students and community. Activities are individual to the school, such as Masses or open houses or alumni reunions. Jim said a lot of students from referrals from family, neighbors, and others who are in Catholic schools. Having a parish Mass dedicated to the school and then an open house allows them to show what the school stands for, the commitment to values, the teachers’ values. Jim said the Archdiocese formed a partnership with Boston College a few years ago to run St. Columbkille School, which has almost 400 students now. At a recent gathering, BC president Fr. Leahy talked about how the school has nurtured the faith of students over the years. Scot asked why St. Columbkille has grown so much in recent years. Jim said they were able to bring a bunch of resources, not just financial, but also pastorally, infrastructure, administration and in other ways. They’ve brought reassurance to the neighborhood that the school will be stable, after Presentation School closed nearby, so that people feel confident sending their children there. Stable enrollment allows the school to invest in curriculum, teacher ongoing formation, etc. Scot said when enrollment declines, it’s tougher for a school to invest in growth. But turning the tide also creates an upward spiral too, as people have confidence in a consistent level of instruction. Jorge said Notre Dame Cristo Rey in Lawrence is another wonderful school. It has a model of education where students also work part-time in jobs at local businesses that provide both work experience and an income that defrays tuition costs, in addition to the rigorous academics. They have almost 300 students, growing from 100 students in the past five years. Another great story is the formation of Lawrence Catholic Academy, which serves 500 students from pre-K to eighth grade. He said there are tremendous high schools throughout the archdiocese. Scot noted that the Xaverians Brothers have helped revitalize Lowell Catholic High School in recent years. Jim said it’s another unique partnership opportunity with the Xavierian Brothers and in 3 years have brought enrollment nearly to capacity. 2nd segment: Scot read from essays by Catholic school students submitted to an essay contest in the Diocese of Fall River’s The Anchor newspaper on what they love about Catholic school. Jim talked about how principals and teachers are wonderful role model and leaders. The three principles of excellence including: Actionable ways of living a vision of leadership Academic excellence with high standards and expectations of higher education Managerial excellence including strong financial management. The Schools Office offers workshops for principals, teachers, staff, and pastors on leadership and governance, fiscal sustainability, the need for boards, the role of the administration as a hub for information. As they work on challenging decisions, they realize the importance of involving laity in terms of boards. This puts a strain on the administration in terms of providing information. The goal is to start looking into the future for planning. Jorge said behind every successful Catholic schools is a successful Catholic school leader in spiritual, academic, and managerial leadership, whether pastor or principal. They discussed how tuitions have risen to provide greater resources for the higher excellence. Jorge said this is why the support of the community is so vital. Scot quoted Cardinal Timothy Dolan from an America magazine piece on the decline of Catholic education: The reasons for the decline are familiar: the steady drop in vocations to the religious teaching orders who were the greatest single work force in the church’s modern period; the drastic shift in demographics of the late-20th century that saw a dramatic drop-off in Catholic immigration from Europe; the rising cost of living since the late 1970s that forced nearly every American parent to become a wage-earner and put Catholic education beyond their budget; and the crumbling of an intact neighborhood-based Catholic culture that depended upon the parochial school as its foundation. The most crippling reason, however, may rest in an enormous shift in the thinking of many American Catholics, namely, that the responsibility for Catholic schools belongs only to the parents of the students who attend them, not to the entire church. Nowadays, Catholics often see a Catholic education as a consumer product, reserved to those who can afford it. The result is predictable: Catholics as a whole in the United States have for some time disowned their school system, excusing themselves as individuals, parishes or dioceses from any further involvement with a Catholic school simply because their own children are not enrolled there, or their parish does not have its own school. Scot said he used to think like that. He thought back to a previous era, when every Catholic sent their children to a Catholic school because the Church was persecuted. But later, at least in places where there were more Catholics, even in public schools there were so many Catholics that it was almost like a Catholic school. That has changed. Jim noted that up to the early 70s most schools were supported by parish offertory where they didn’t charge tuition. He said the Archdiocese needs to to take action so that the whole approach of evangelization to make Catholic schools an integral part of strengthening parish collaboratives. Scot said there could come a day in Massachusetts when the way to stand up to support Catholic schools will be to call legislators in support of legislation that would allow a tax break or school choice for parents who want Catholic education. Scot said he often hears from Catholic school alumni about their gratitude for their teachers. He said teachers today are very dedicated, especially when public school teachers have much better pay and benefits. Catholic school teachers have made a commitment to the Catholic school setting. Jorge said he points to the various religious orders who were responsible for his Catholic education. He thinks many Catholic school teachers in the archdiocese were themselves similarly inspired and touched by their own Catholic school teachers, especially in the religious orders that laid the foundation for Catholic education in Boston. They are often very passionate about the mission of the Catholic school, integrating faith, life, academics, social justice. They work everyday in the common mission of the betterment of society and that’s why the Catholic educators don’t see it as a job, but as a vocation. Jim said last year, there were 16 new principals or school presidents and about 40% came from public education. He said the CSO has also encouraged among educators some professional development so they can themselves step into those roles some day. He said there are two kinds of governance. The legally independent schools have independent boards, and parish schools have advisory boards. They are always looking for people with backgrounds in various disciples like human resources, finance, technology, marketing, facilities, and more. Everyone can be a part of the education. Jorge noted that there’s been an increase in enrollment in early education programs for ages 3 and 4. He said families want more than just day care, but to ensure that they’re receiving instruction in a values-based educational environment.

Summary of today’s show: Today is the 40th March for Life in Washington, DC, and Scot Landry in our Braintree studios connects with Fr. Matt Williams in DC and a series of guests from among the 500 pilgrims who have traveled there to give witness to life. From teens on their first march to veterans of decades, from students to priests, our guests talk about why they go to the March, what their witness provides, and how it will change their lives. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Matt Williams Today’s guest(s): Jane Richards, Jackie Nader, Larisa Bogolomov, Fr. Jason Worthley, Fr. Michael Sheehan FPO, Fr. John Currie, Fr. Michael Harrington, Tanya Skypeck, Victoria Spayda Links from today’s show: BostonCatholicPhotos.com BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s topics: The 40th annual March for Life 1st segment: Scot Landry is joined remotely by his co-host, Fr. Matt Williams, who is at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart in Washington, DC, ahead of the March for Life for this pre-recorded episode of the The Good Catholic Life. To see photos from the March, go to BostonCatholicPhotos.com and for live video from within the March go to BostonCatholicLive.com. Scot said one of the signature events of the March for Life is the Vigil Mass at the National Shrine of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, and this year Cardinal Seán was the principal celebrant and homilist. He delivered a wonderful homily, perhaps one of his best that Scot has heard. We played some clips from the homily. This year we are saddened that Nellie Gray is not with us, as she has been for 40 years. I call her the Joan of Arc of the Gospel of Life. As a young priest working here at the Spanish Catholic Center in Washington, I heard about Nellie, who had left her career as a lawyer, like the Apostles leaving their boats and nets, to embrace a special vocation to work on behalf of pre-born children. It was my privilege to help her organize those first marches, and I have come to every march since the beginning. Nellie Gray has been an inspiration to me and countless others. Surely she continues to pray for us from her place in eternity. … The Gospel of Life is an imperative for Christ’s disciples. Christ through His Church is urging us to be defenders of life in the midst of the culture of death. The term culture of death, coined by John Paul II, is an accurate description of the drift of Western culture. Just last week, January 16, 2013, the newspapers reported a case of euthanasia in Belgium. Twin brothers Marc and Eddie Verbessem, who were born deaf, were recently diagnosed with glaucoma which could eventually lead to blindness. Judging their future to be too burdensome, they presented themselves at the University Hospital of Bruxelles and the forty-five year old brothers were both given a lethal injection. We recently managed to defeat a ballot initiative in Massachusetts that would have legalized physician assisted suicide. The initial polls had us losing 70% to 30%, but thanks to much prayer, hard work and alliances with a broad collation of hospice, health care workers, faith groups, disabilities people, Catholic colleges, and the hard work of our Knights of Columbus councils and our priests and parishioners, along with aggressive advertising, we actually won. … There is no doubt however that the next major assault on the Gospel of Life will come from those pushing physician assisted suicide and euthanasia. A society that allows parents to kill their children will allow children to kill their parents. During the past forty years, pro-life Americans have felt the frustration of being disenfranchised by an activist Supreme Court which has denied us the right to vote about abortion policy. Nevertheless, pro-life activists have not ceased to wage a campaign of moral suasion on campuses, workplaces and neighborhoods. It is amazing to think of the tens of thousands of volunteers working in the some 3,000 pregnancy help centers that provide over 2.3 million women in difficult pregnancies with invaluable help; medical, material and spiritual. Forty years ago when the Supreme Court handed down a second Dred Scott decision that renders unborn children, like people of African-American descent in the days of slavery, unprotected by the Constitution of the United States. Since 1973 there have been 55 million abortions – that is how many people there are in Italy, the United Kingdom or France. That translates into abortions for a quarter of all pregnancies. However, a study in New York City from last year shows that the abortion rate in New York City is actually over 40% and over 60% of black children are aborted. The same study showed a solid consensus that voters were shocked by the number of abortions, opposed tax payers funding of abortion and favored parental consent laws, waiting periods and accurate information about the abortion procedure and options. The same poll also indicated that 70% of the New Yorkers favored conscience rights for health care workers. I believe that this poll reflects the pulse of the majority of Americans. Sadly, the government is not listening to the people. … [T]o change the public attitudes of support for “abortion as a necessary evil” will require educating Americans about abortion’s impact on women and changing attitudes toward adoption. Too many Americans see abortion as a necessary evil. We need to educate the public on the damage done to women by abortion and show that abortion is not a necessary evil, but is simply evil. 2nd segment: Scot welcomed to the show from Washington, DC, Jane Richard of Presentation of Mary Academy, Larisa Bogolomov, and Jackie Nader from Ursuline Academy. Fr. Matt said he took them away from a rally, but he hopes that they can provide a flavor of the pilgrimage. He asked Jackie why she wanted to come. She said she’s wanted to come since she was in seventh grade. She wanted to do something so much bigger than her and to come see the hope and to see how inspiring it all is. She’s been the basilica before, but not as full and maybe no one has ever seen it as full as it was yesterday. She said you could feel the Holy Spirit in the thousands of people united for a purpose. Larisa is a freshman at St. Mary in Lynn. She said she first started hearing about the March during the first week of classes and people have been talking about it ever since. As she learned more, she knew it was an issue she cared about and wanted to come and do something about it. Fr. Matt noted that Larisa also took part in a special event regarding physician-assisted suicide. He asked her about her impressions of the basilica. She said she’s never seen a church so full in her life, especially full of young people. Fr. Matt asked Larisa what she has found challenging about the pilgrimage. She said it’s been challenging to wake up so early each day and riding buses for so long. But they were prepared to offer it all up. Fr. Matt asked Jane about her Marches and she said it’s her fourth March. He asked what inspires her to come year after year. Jane said she’s always wanted to do this as a mom and she loves that it’s her job description. She loves to see the change in the students, how their faith goes from their heads to their hearts. Scot asked Jackie why the March brings her so much hope. She said seeing people from all over the US in one place is so inspiring, t hat they’re all here to pray for life, to bring dignity and respect to women and children. Scot asked Larisa how she would respond to people who say pro-woman is pro-abortion. Larisa said in the March, she’s making a small difference for women. Fr. Matt said Cardinal Seán said we’re called to change hearts, starting with ourselves. We need to help people come to know Jesus, which then helps them to see the dignity of human life. Jackie said she’s learned in school that to know someone you have to love them. By knowing and loving other people you realize the good in other people and you’re able to do good for others. Scot asked Jackie about the experience of the long bus ride. He said his trip to the March was almost 20 years ago and what stands out for him was how fun it was to take the long bus ride. Jackie said she was happy to share this experience with friends and it didn’t seem like eight hours. They also did icebreaker activities with girls from other Catholic schools. They also watched videos that helped them understand what they were doing. Scot said this is the first time that the founder of the March, Nellie Gray, isn’t there. Scot asked Jane how it’s different from others for her. She remembered being in high school when abortion became legal. Jane said to be here now is to see a whole generational turnaround. She’s amazed to see that so many students don’t even know what Roe v. Wade and don’t know anything about abortion beyond the termination of a pregnancy. It’s significant for her to be able pass on the truth. She also noted how the Cardinal is expanding the message to marriage, the gift of fertility. Fr. Matt asked them to give practical tips for how to encourage kids to get involved in the pro-life movement. Jackie said the girls on the bus got pins that show the babies’ feet at eleven weeks and they were amazed. She encouraged others to use the concrete visual reminders. Larisa said in her school they’ve watched videos and had speakers come in and the students even started to have conversations on their own at lunchtime. Scot said with Catholic Schools Week next week and the girls representing Catholic education so well, he asked what they would say to those who wonder if Catholic high school is worth the investment. Jackie said it’s definitely worth it. There’s so much love and joy among them and they can practice their faith freely. She said it helps you find your faith in an open environment where people share the faith with you. Jane said as a parent it’s well worth the sacrifice. she said Catholic school faculty go above and beyond in their teaching with an integrated approach of heart, mind and soul. Fr. Matt said these guests inspired him and the Holy Spirit must have led them to the show. 3rd segment: Scot now welcomed to the show Fr. Jason Worthley serving three parishes in Somerville, Fr. Michael Sheehan of the Franciscans of the Primitive Observance, and Fr. John Currie of St. Joseph, Holbrook. Scot said he was able to watch Fr. Currie praying the rosary with the pilgrims on the bus during on of the live video broadcasts. He asked Fr. John how many Marches for Life he’s been on. Fr. John said it’s his third in DC and he’s been to a number in Boston. He said being with the kids was awesome. The joy and hope of the 13 and 14 year older is contagious. They’re so open and their hearts and minds are receptive. The conversations lead them to deeply cherish the moments they have to be on pilgrimage. Scot asked Fr. Jason how often he has come on the March. He said it’s his first March and he felt a need to come and witness to life. It’s been a great source of joy and inspiration. Scot asked what he will bring back to Somerville. Fr. Jason said it will be the tremendous gift of the unity he’s seen. All those who’ve come have endured great sacrifice to be there. Fr. Matt said Fr. Jason was telling him how awesome the experience was to be at the Mass. Fr. Michael said this is his ninth or tenth March, but his first as a priest. He said it was a joy to concelebrate the Mass with Cardinal Seán especially to see how the crowd reacted to what Cardinal Seán said. As a priest, he finds himself even more pastorally sensitive to the pilgrims. Some of them don’t even know at first what abortion is, and then to guide them after they have decided to want to help people in this area. Scot asked what they have heard from the pilgrims last night being in an overwhelming crowd and hearing Cardinal Seán’s awesome homily. Fr. Jason said there are many inconveniences in a pilgrimage but among all the pilgrims he talked to none of the inconveniences bothered them. They have joy at serving a cause beyond themselves. Fr. Matt said on his bus he focused with his pilgrims that the Mass last night would involve sacrifice with the heat, crowds, and long lines. There must have been 20,000 people present. They teach them that when they offer up a sacrifice that they’re sharing in what Jesus did on the Cross and God can never be outdone in generosity. One pilgrim told him that she felt a sense of peace as she offered up her sacrifice. Scot said Fr. John said on his bus that a pilgrimage can change you. Fr. John said a vacationer uses a place, a city or town to benefit their own interests: hotel room, amusement park rides, etc. A pilgrim goes to be transformed by a place, the people, the history, and the prayer. He encouraged the kids to know they were being transformed by the pro-life movement and in their own way would leave a mark on our society and they would do it with sincerity. Fr. John said a number of kids asked him later to explain it once again. He said our world doesn’t understand that the face of the March for Life has changed over the years and how it has become so young. Young people are standing up for life. Scot asked Fr. Jason what he wants listeners to know and see for themselves. Fr. Jason said most of those there at the March were born after Roe v. Wade and they realize that at one point our government said they did not have a right to exist and to have life. It’s a matter of justice. Scot asked the same question of Fr. Michael. He said an 18-year-old girl and 13-year-old boy going to confession, having come on the March thinking it was going to be a vacation, but later realizing that this movement won’t just take my time, but will take my conversion. He hoped that everyone who hasn’t gone to the March yet will see that same need. Fr. Matt said it’s wonderful that the pro-life movement has become so young. He can’t help but think of the mutual giving of gifts between the young people and the priests. The priests give a gift of a witness to radical self-giving to a greater cause and he can’t imagine how many have a vocation to religious life born out of this. 4th segment: Scot welcomed Fr. Mike Harrington from the Office of Cultural Diversity, Tanya Skypeck from St. Clements Young Adult Ministry, and Victoria Spayda from Norwood, now attending St. Joseph College in Maine. Fr. Matt said they have three tracks on the pilgrimage: Middle School, High School, and Young Adults. Tanya and Victoria represent that young adult track. Tanya said it’s her second March. She does it because of the witness in the world in the cultural of death. It’s moving to her to explain to her co-workers about why she’s going for these two days. By being here and explaining to people why she’s going, she’s participating in a battle for souls. Fr. Matt said her witness here in DC is an open door to witness back home at work. Fr. Matt said Victoria is a freshman and went on her first March with Fontbonne Academy last year. She is the sole representative from St. Joseph and is missing two days of school. She said last year was a incredible experience to hear the witness talks from the women who regret their abortions and to be with thousands of people. Fr. Mike said he’s been coming for 20 years. Fr. Matt asked how he’s seen it change. Fr. Mike said the March has grown significantly and there are more and more young people. Every year there’s another rally and another vigil because so many are filling up.He said it’s like being at a World Youth Day with so many young people everywhere. Fr. Matt said the fact that Boston has its own rally now is because so many other rallies have been sold out in past years. Now the Shrine of the Sacred Heart seats 700 people and was standing room only and so their rally is filling up too. Scot asked Tanya what led her to say last year that she has to go back this year. She said last year it was a fun pilgrimage with great people and she enjoyed most the Boston rally and to be together with them, people from home in a completely different city. She wanted to be here also because of the significance of the 40th anniversary and as a young woman to say publicly that abortion is harmful to women. Scot said the schedule of the pilgrimage is pretty busy. He asked Victoria what’s the most moving aspect. She said most moving for her was hearing all the people at the Mass last night singing together and praying together. Scot asked Fr. Mike why it’s so important in his own witness, not just as a priest, but as a Catholic to be there every year. Fr. Mike said the issues they are walking for touch us all personally. He’s noticed on his bus that the prayer has been beautiful. The issues they’re talking about has affected everyone personally, that everyone knows someone who had to face tough decisions and struggles in life. The prayer intentions have been so personal and meaningful. He added that he’s proud of Cardinal Seán, watching him lead the celebration with power and witness and emotion. He was very moved by seeing him there. Scot said Tanya said something she enjoys is sharing her experience with her co-workers. He asks how she shares with people who might be hostile to her for it. Tanya said she forms herself through reading the Church’s teachings, going to Mass and being particularly attentive, and doing anything she can to engage her brain. She’s been taking classes at the Theological Institute for the New Evangelization, which have helped her to be able to respond to the mindless rhetoric people spout at her. Study helps her prepare ahead of time to recognize those things when she hears them and to know how to respond. It’s also been a gradual process to become more and more bold and be able to speak up. Fr. Matt asked Victoria how she’s kept her faith alive. Victoria said before she got to school she applied to work with campus ministry and that’s kept her very active there. The community she had in high school has built her up to prepare her faith to be strong as she ventures out. Scot asked Victoria what she hopes for her witness to fellow classmates that might lead them to come next year. She’s going to push hard to get a group to go. She’s going to work with the campus minister to get him enthusiastic about it.

Summary of today’s show: Our Thursday panel of Scot Landry, Susan Abbott, and Fr. Roger Landry consider the news headlines of the week, including an interview with Cardinal Seán reflecting on his pro-life efforts; Archbishop Samuel Aquila’s remembrance of his firsthand encounter with the result of abortion; the ordination of Boston seminarians to the transitional diaconate; the passing of three Boston priests; a local priest receiving a Vatican honor; the Pope’s new iPhone app; and the sanctity of the seal of the confessional. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Susan Abbott Today’s guest(s): Fr. Roger Landry, pastor of St. Bernadette Parish in Fall River Links from today’s show: The Anchor The Pilot Some of the stories discussed on this show will be available on The Pilot’s and The Anchor’s websites on Friday morning. Please check those sites for the latest links. Today’s topics: Cardinal Sean’s and Archbishop Aquila’s prolife reflections; diaconate ordination; new Canon of St. Peter’s; the Pope App; Seal of the Confessional 1st segment: Scot Landry welcomed Susan Abbot and Fr. Roger Landry to the show. Our other usual Thursday guest, Gregory Tracy, is traveling today to the March for Life alongside Cardinal Seán. Scot asked Fr. Roger what he’s been up to in the weeks since he’s been with us. Fr. Roger said he’s been getting an Alpha Program started in his parish. They also talked about Catholic Faith Essentials as another way to deepen understanding of our Catholic faith. Speaking of online video, our own George Martell is going with pilgrims from the Archdiocese of Boston to the March for Life and broadcasting live video from various events, including in the midst of the March. People can follow along at BostonCatholicLive.com and BostonCatholicPhotos.com. Scot said speaking of the March for Life, Cardinal Sean is much more involved in leadership of the event this year as chairman of the US bishops’ pro-life activities committee. Before Christmas, he gave a fascinating interview to Joan Frawley Desmond in the National Catholic Register. “Cardinal O’Malley Reflects on Life Efforts”, Joan Frawley Desmond, National Catholic Register, 1/22/13 She asked him how he first heard about Roe v. Wade. I was a young priest working with Hispanic immigrants in Washington, D.C. Later on, after the ruling, I heard that Nellie Gray wanted to start the March for Life, and I contacted her and worked with her. She was a real prophet: The Church was stunned, and people didn’t know how to react. But she knew immediately that we needed to mobilize and use the anniversary of that terrible decision as a way to rally people. I was determined to get people from my Hispanic parish to the first march [in 1974) and gave impassioned sermons on the pro-life issue, reminding them that the anniversary was coming soon, and they promised to come. The morning of the march, there was a line of rented buses at the church, but no people. In my naive youthfulness, I did not realize that “Si, padre” did not mean “Yes.” The following week, I told the people how disappointed I was. After Mass, they told me, “You know we are undocumented. And in our own countries, whenever there is a demonstration, the army comes out and arrests and shoots people. We are here to send money home to our families who live in Nicaragua and El Salvador, where civil wars are raging. We cannot afford to do this.” I told them that the army would not shoot at them and that the march would be a peaceful demonstration. That is what we do in a democracy where we need to witness to certain values. Susan was also at the first March for Life and talked about how she first heard about the Roe v. Wade decision. Desmond also asked Cardinal Seán about partisan attacks on pro-lifers. He said: Intimidation of pro-life efforts still happens. However, I am encouraged by what the Catholic Voices initiative is doing to help train Catholics to explain the Church’s thinking on difficult issues and break through the political correctness that often prevents productive conservations on life issues or the marriage debate. Intimidation works when people don’t have the tools to have a rational conversation. You object to “gay marriage” - and you are demonized as homophobic and intent on persecuting [people with same-sex attraction]. Catholic Voices is trying to prepare ordinary people to be spokespersons around these issues and to do it in such a way that you draw an audience. Fr. Roger said we need to note that these attacks do occur. Fr. Roger said in addition to being equipped to respond, but we also have to have the spine to stand up and acknowledge that certain people cannot be convinced and will hate us no matter what. When were are bullied, we need to take the conversation to the vast majority of people who are rational. Cardinal Seán also talked about his four goals for the Committee on Pro-Life Activities in 2013: The conscience issues that involve pro-life values are very important. There is so much religious illiteracy. We need to help people understand Church teaching and the difference between defending human life and imposing our religion on the rest of the country. Many Americans say that the Church must stay out of politics. We need to help our people to distinguish between our theological position and natural law (precepts] that redound to the common good and apply to everyone, regardless of whether they are religious or not. That is the educational challenge before us. We continue to look for opportunities to advance restrictions on abortion. Very few states ban gender selection as a reason for abortion. We need to work on that: Just as partial-birth abortion invites people to deal with the full reality of abortion, raising concerns about gender-selection abortions can help break through public denial. Susan said the whole abortion question has been such a bill of goods that some bright women have bought into. She said she keeps going back to a workshop she heard last spring in which they said in abortion, in addition to the baby, it’s the woman who is hurt by abortion. She said we have an obligation to be informed as Catholics. When people are being bullies, you don’t act in kind. You have the facts and the more people that can speak the truth in love, the better off we’ll be. Scot said on religious illiteracy, Cardinal Sean sees that we’re not strong enough in our pro-life advocacy because we’re not formed enough to do it well. Fr. Roger said in the past 50 years, as we’ve been battered by the mantra of the separation of church and state, has intimidated us to be ashamed of our faith and to avoid learning it. We’ve been subjected to a false civics that indoctrinate people to believe that faith and religion is to be kept out of the public square. “Archbishop says his college years awakened him to truth of abortion”, Catholic News Service, 1/23/13 Scot said Denver archbishop Samuel Aquila also wrote a pastoral letter recently, in which he talked about his encounter with the results of abortion as a college student working in a hospital. The event made him pro-life and eventually brought him back to his faith. After starting college in 1968, he also worked as a hospital orderly, and during a couple of work shifts, he “witnessed the results of two abortions and the memory haunts me,” he said. “I witnessed the death of two small people who never had the chance to take a breath. I can never forget that,” Archbishop Aquila wrote in a pastoral letter released Jan. 22, the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions legalizing abortion virtually on demand in the United States. “I have never been the same. My faith was weak at the time,” he said in the pastoral, noting that he wasn’t “even aware” some states “had approved abortion laws. But I knew by reason, and by what I saw, that a human life was destroyed,” he continued. “My conscience awakened to the truth of the dignity of the human being from the moment of conception. I became pro-life and eventually returned to my faith.” Susan said images have a power to affect us. A European photographer decades ago took groundbreaking photos of children developing in the womb. Life magazine published them, they were included on the Voyager 1 spacecraft, and were in every high school textbook. Today, they are not shown at all. Fr. Roger said he knows Archbishop Aquila and didn’t know the archbishop had studied pre-med in college. He said scientists among the episcopate are relatively rare. He wasn’t surprised that the archbishop wrote about life issues as the subject of his first pastoral letter. 2nd segment: Scot said last Saturday three seminarians became transitional deacons for the Archdiocese of Boston. John Casani, Gerald Souza, and Christopher Wallace were ordained to the diaconate, joining two other classmates who were already ordained. The are planning to be ordained to the priesthood, most likely in May. Cardinal Seán said in his homily: “The first seven deacons were chosen so that the apostles would have some help, and therefore have more time for prayer and to preach. The deacon also needs to have time for prayer and for reaching the faith. Your ministry - a ministry of charity and service to the poor, the widowed, and the orphans - your call to be bridge builders between people to forget God and a “spiritual anorexia” that serves the Church. “You men are being ordained to be an antidote and a cure for these modern maladies, for you are called to feed God’s people with the Word of God and the bread of life, needing them how much he really loves them,” he said. Scot noted that Deacon Wallace turned 30 on the day of his ordination. Scot asked Fr. Roger why the Church ordains men to the diaconate first. Fr. Roger said the training to be the servant, as deacons are, is setting the standard for the priesthood as one of service. He said once a deacon, you’re always a deacon. Fr. Roger said the norm is to be a deacon for at least six months because that service is the best preparation for the priesthood, service of God in the liturgy and service of God in the charitable work of the Church. Boston is one of the few that ordain them in less than six months. Most dioceses ordain them at the end of their third theology year. Boston is being cautious in wanting another semester to evaluate their call. The Ordination to the Transitional Diaconate recorded by CatholicTV Scot said we also lost three priests, Fr. Paul Cloughtery, Fr. Laurence Kelley, and Fr. Alexander Keenan, who all died in the past week. Also in the news, Msgr. Francis Kelly, who was rector of Blessed John XXIII National Seminary in Weston for 13 years and has been rector of the Casa Santa Maria in Rome, has been named a canon of St. Peter’s Basilica. Fr. Roger said there’ve been only three Americans who’ve held the post in the past century. It’s a rare honor and their principal duty is to pray the Liturgy of the Hours in St. Peter’s and help out in small ways. In European cathedrals, there have always been chapters of canons whose job was to be in charge when there wasn’t a bishop in office at the time and in many cases they chose the next bishop to be proposed to the Pope. Nowadays, the most prominent pastors in a diocese are members of the chapter. In the US, we have the college of consultors who do the same duty. The canons of St. Peter’s have the specific duty to pray for the intentions of the Holy Father and they do that several times per day. Fr. Roger remembered studying in Rome and participating with them in prayer. Cardinal Angelo Comastri is the dean of the chapter and leads them in prayer. Msgr. Kelly is being honored for the work he has done and being rewarded in his last official assignment. Msgr. Kelly will bring an American sensibility to the chapter and letting the Italians and others in the curia be exposed to an American approach to our faith. The Vatican also released a new smartphone app yesterday sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications called The Pope App. It lets people follow live broadcasts of papal events, see one of six Vatican live webcams, and more. The Pope App In this week’s Anchor, Fr. Roger wrote about the attacks on the seal of the confessional. Fr. Roger said there is an effort in Australia to require priests to break the seal if they learn of sexual abuse during a confession. These efforts have also been pursued in Great Britain and in three US states. Fr. Roger wanted to let people know that this is going on. He said in Australia the seal was called “medieval” but someone who regularly goes to confession knows that the sacraments aren’t medieval. There are two purposes for the seal: First, so we will have no fear that what we saw cannot come back and hurt us. Priests need to be willing to suffer even death to protect even what a first penitent says in confession about how often they disobey their parents. Any time you see a priest, recognize he’s willing to suffer death to protect confession. He hopes Catholics will be alert to these efforts and that people will recognize that one of the glories of the priesthood is the willingness to die to protect the sanctity of the confessional. Scot said he’s not sure most Catholics are aware of the lengths priests will be willing to go to protect the confessional. Susan said it’s tragic that there is not as great an understanding or appreciation of the sacrament as there ought to be. She asked Fr. Roger to write some of his columns as we lead into Lent about confession. Fr. Roger said he’d like to one-up Susan and say that he will write a book for Our Sunday Visitor on Confession.

Summary of today’s show: As we observe the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and the 40th annual March for Life this week, Scot Landry and Fr. Matt Williams sit down with Dr. David Franks and Jaymie Stuart Wolfe to talk about Massachusetts Citizens for Life’s annual Assembly for Life in Boston this Saturday, which will see former Planned Parenthood clinic director Abby Johnson talk about her conversion from pro-choice to pro-life. They also talked with Marianne Luthin of the ProLife Office about the important work of bringing healing to post-abortion women through Project Rachel and the Holy Hours for Life organized in 150-plus parishes with the help of the Office for Deacons. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Matt Williams Today’s guest(s): Jaymie Stuart Wolfe, Dr. David Franks, Marianne Luthin Links from today’s show: Massachusetts Citizens for Life Project Rachel Boston Holy Hours for Life Pregnancy Help Previous Episodes of The Good Catholic Life with Marianne Luthin “Voiceless”, Jaymie Stuart Wolfe, The Boston Pilot, 1/18/2013 Abby Johnson Unplanned: The Dramatic True Story of a Former Planned Parenthood Leader’s Eye-Opening Journey across the Life Line (Focus on the Family Books) Today’s topics: Assembly for Life, Project Rachel, and Holy Hours for Life 1st segment: Scot Landry welcomed everyone to the show. Fr. Matt Williams and Scot talked about the upcoming March for Life and pilgrimage including live photoblogging from George Martell at BostonCatholicPhotos.com and a live recording of The Good Catholic Life from Washington, DC. There’s also a plan to provide live video from the March itself at BostonCatholicLive.com. Fr. Matt said they have over 500 people going and each year the Catholic Media Secretariat has been able to provide more and more ways for those who stay behind to participate with the pilgrims. They discussed the logistics of bringing all the pilgrims to DC. Scot welcomed Dr. David Franks, who is the chairman of the Mass. Citizens for Life, and Jaymie Stuart Wolfe, who will be the emcee on Saturday for the Assembly for Life. Jaymie said she has laryngitis and will be struggling to talk. David said he is also taking three of his children along with the seminarians from St. John Seminary on Amtrak to Washington, DC. David said the seminary sends the seminarians as a crucial witness for life and to provide them with the exposure to the amazing experience. David said his young children, pre-teen and younger, are excited to be part of this massive witness to the most basic of freedoms. They have traveled to the March in the past as well. He said the children love the youthful energy from all the hundreds of thousands, especially where they don’t see it in their everyday life for such a countercultural cause. Scot asked David when and how he has the conversation about abortion with his children and why we need to have a witness for the protection of human life. David said it is pervasive throughout his household and the way they raise their kids. The witness is always there in how they live their lives. He said the children go to Mass and see the crucifix and the bleeding Corpus of Our Lord and Savior. Life is filled with death and sacrifice and the greatest act of love is intertwined with death and sacrifice. They are exposed to the terms and when they are at the development stage where they ask questions, then they give them the answers appropriate for their developmental stage. Jaymie talked about talking to her eight kids about abortion. She said she and her and husband have grown in their appreciation and understanding of the Church’s teachings on life and the children have grown with them in that. She explained how she phrased it in terms that the children can understand without being too graphic. Scot asked Fr. Matt what work is done to prepare the middle schoolers and high schoolers who go on the pilgrimage to understand abortion. Fr. Matt said they all know why they are going down to DC. They know that abortion was legalized 40 years ago and that we have a duty to be a witness for those who have no voice. He said they have three distinct tracks for middle school, high school, and young adults to help them process all that they will see and hear. They will hear multiple speakers and then experience the walk and they will flood their mind and senses. They will begin to process what it means to them. On Friday night, before the Blessed Sacrament, they will integrate everything for themselves. Scot asked about the 40th annual Assembly for Life at Fanueil Hall at 2pm on Sunday. David said that it’s important for pro-lifers to be organized. MCFL is the largest grassroots pro-life organization in the Commonwealth. He admitted that since the early 1990s there has been a massive drop-off in membership in all kinds of civic organizations. They’re not sure why that is, but think it maybe connected to a rise in consumerism and more online connectedness. He said we need to be actively engaged in civi life if we’re going to transform our culture. The Assembly is always held around January 22 at Fanueil Hall, which has been a cradle for freedom. We have a proud history in Massachusetts of civic ideals and principles of human rights and dignity. Jaymie said the event will be reflective because of the 40th anniversary. They will toll bells for deceased pro-lifers, say the Pledge of Allegiance, and then hear the story of Abby Johnson, a former director of a Planned Parenthood clinic who left are seeing the reality of what she was doing. She will tell her story, which shows how God reaches even into the pit of hell to save us. There will also be some musical performances. Dvid said Abby is a prayerful and thoughtful speaker with an insider’s view to the culture of death. That is powerful because conversion is powerful to see. When we see conversion, we see how Christ has saved us. Jaymie said it’s important to speak from the perspective of our eternal life. We’re created for something greater. Sin and death lead away from Christ and it’s important to hear the witness of someone who has turned away from the road and back toward Christ. She said Abby’s been spending her life since her conversion helping rescue people who are trying to leave the abortion business. They often feel trapped by their choices and unable to leave. David said they hope that Abby’s presence will draw in people who haven’t heard of the Assembly before. A speaker of this calibre doesn’t come along very often. He thinks she recognizes that if we can change Massachusetts, we can change America. With the defeat of Question 2, we have seen what the Holy Spirit can do. He encouraged listeners to join MCFL and come see what they can do to effect change. David said he focuses in his talk with people in favor of legalized abortion on the basic principles of human rights. The basic principle is I should be as free as I can be right to where I cause harm to another. In fact, abortion causes harm to the most powerless of human beings. Last week, Jaymie’s column in the Pilot compared her laryngitis to the voicelessness of the unborn. When we deny personhood to anyone in any state or at any stage, we deny humanity. A human person is the end. We do not dispose of human beings for another end. There’s something wrong with a law that degrades womanhood and turns a mother into a death chamber for her children. It’s dehumanizing to women to cast them aside as sexually available and with pregnancy easily solved with cash or credit. David said the goal of MCFL is to restore the right to life of those who are powerless under the law. They seek to speak for the voiceless. They do this in various ways, but the basic work is to foment a dialogue in the culture: Why is it we say social justice, solidarity, and preferential option for the poor and think it’s compatible with the slaughter of the most innocent human beings. 2nd segment: This week’s benefactor card raffle winner is Kevin and Allison Gingras from Raynham They win the book A Body in Prayer by Neil Combs. If you would like to be eligible to win in an upcoming week, please visit WQOM.org. For a one-time $30 donation, you’ll receive the Station of the Cross benefactor card and key tag, making you eligible for WQOM’s weekly raffle of books, DVDs, CDs and religious items. We’ll be announcing the winner each Wednesday during “The Good Catholic Life” program. 3rd segment: Scot welcomed Marianne Luthin of the ProLife Office of the Archdiocese of Boston to the show. He said the archdiocese provides both education on the issues, but also direct help to men and women who have been affected by abortion. Marianne said Project Rachel is an outreach to men and women who have had past abortions. She said as the anniversary rolls around, women who’ve had abortions often are confronted by their choice, up to 40 years ago. Marianne said so many people don’t know about Project Rachel and many of the women who reach out to them hear about it for the first time in the parish bulletin. She said the bulletin is their number one referral source. Even a pamphlet is hard to promote because they are afraid someone might see them take one. Marianne said they hold retreats throughout the year. Many of the women who go on the retreat say they’ve confessed their abortions, but find they can’t forgive themselves. On the retreats they hear the stories of other women who’ve gone through the same thing. Marianne said everything about the retreats is confidential, including the location of the retreats. She said the upcoming retreats are Feb 2, March 16, April 6. To contact them, their phone number is 508-651-3100. Or email them at [email protected]. She said the retreats are specifically for women who’ve undergone abortions themselves. She added that one of the reasons some men and women have left the Church has been due to participation in an abortion, and this is a way to bring people back to the Church, especially in this Year of Faith. Scot encouraged listeners to mention to their pastor that they’d like to see the bulletin announcement in their parish bulletin and that it should run as often as possible. Marianne said women have said women have told they needed to see it more than once to act on it. Scot said the ProLife Office is also working with the Office for Permanent Deacons to organize Holy Hours for Life in parishes. Marianne said they started five years ago. Part of the mission of deacons is to preach and this is a natural extension of that mission. The Holy Hours will take place in 150 parishes this year and has become a tradition throughout the archdiocese. Marianne commented on the 40th anniversary of the March for Life and how it has grown and become much younger in the age of participants. It has truly become a witness for life. Young people today are even more pro-life than their parents today. Marianne pointed out that technology has changed how we see abortion. When Roe v. Wade came down, they didn’t even have ultrasounds. Scot noted that many parishes are having baby showers for life. Marianne said over 100 parishes are participating. It started with one woman who couldn’t go to the March. Parishes collect goods for the use of women in crisis pregnancies.

Summary of today’s show: The short, beautiful and inspirational life and priesthood of Fr. Dan Kennedy ended suddenly on January 28, 2008, just 247 days after he was ordained to the priesthood. As we approach the fifth anniversary of his death, Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor talk to Dan Kennedy, Sr., and Fr. Bill Lohan about Fr. Dan’s journey to the priesthood and the legacy he leaves behind of working passionately to help others discern their own calls from God. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor Today’s guest(s): Dan Kennedy, Sr. and Fr. Bill Lohan Links from today’s show: Cardinal Sean’s Blog: “The reflections of a newly ordained priest”, July 6, 2007 “Obituary: Father Daniel Kennedy, one of archdiocese’s newest priests”, The Boston Pilot, February 8, 2008 “Fr. Dan Kennedy’s Life”, Serra Club of Boston, September 24, 2008 Today’s topics: Remembering Fr. Dan Kennedy 1st segment: Scot Landry said today is a significant anniversary in the life of our country, marking the 49th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion legal throughout the country. Later this week will be the 40th anniversary of the March for Life. But today we will be remembering a priest who served for 247 days in the Archdiocese of Boston, Fr. Dan Kennedy who died on January 27, 2008, less than a year after being ordained. Fr. Chris O’Connor said we will be reflecting on the gift of the priesthood, no matter how long they serve. Scot recalled Fr. Dan’s funeral and Cardinal Seán’s reflection at the end of the funeral Mass that his last words with Fr. Dan were Fr. Dan saying, “I love being a priest.” Fr. Chris said he helps out at Fr. Kennedy’s parish in Winthrop and remembered Fr. Dan’s last words to the parish, that priests come and go, but Christ remains constant. To this day, many young people still wear the black and white bracelets in remembrance of Fr. Dan. 2nd segment: Scot welcomed Dan Kennedy to the show. He said his son’s main ambition in life was to promote vocations to the priesthood. He talked about his continues that mission as his son had told him that this is our job, to identify and encourage young men for the vocation of the priesthood. Scot said Cardinal Seán appreciates Dan Sr.’s help with vocations because Cardinal Seán says vocations are everyone’s business. Scot welcomed Fr. Bill Lohan to the show and asked him how he met Fr. Dan. Fr. Bill said he was at a bar with some buddies in early 2002 while he was discerning the priesthood. At the other end of the bar was Dan Kennedy and they got together and talked about the discernment. They all ended up in St. John’s Seminary together where he met many men of all kinds who were called. Scot said Fr. Dan was born in 1964 and grew up in Needham. He was ordained to the diaconate on January 27, 2007 and to the priesthood May 26, 2007. Dan said Fr. Dan was the first boy after three sisters. He also had a younger brother, who was close in age and they were very competitive and fought constantly. In high school at Catholic Memorial, Dan became the school mascot and then did the same when he attended Providence College. Dan said his son loved the limelight and was always a leader who wanted to get involved in all kinds of activities. Dan said his son became the Silver Knight mascot for Catholic Memorial even though he was an athlete playing hockey and soccer because he didn’t play football. Dan told a story about Dan Jr.’s antics with their rivals the BC High Eagles. Scot said he’d heard many stories of Fr. Dan’s pranks and storytelling. Fr. Bill said he had a gift of humor but also of intensity. He said in 2002-03, the seminarians were a little older, but were participating in intramural softball against Boston College students. He said Fr. Dan was intense about playing those games. He was also intense about celebrating the Liturgy. He was a natural leader and the men in the seminary responded to that. Dan said Dan Jr. from an early age had signs of being headed to the priesthood. At various points in his life, different people suggested he was headed to a vocation despite Dan Jr’s best efforts to ignore them. So when he announced to his parents, they weren’t surprised, but his mother wondered if he would survive the seminary with his hot temper. They worried he wouldn’t make it through. But in his first three years at the seminary he was happy to be there. But in his fourth year he started to have misgivings about where God was calling him and stepped back for a leave of absence. Fr. Chris said it’s not uncommon for men to take a step back. Sometimes you have to leave to return. It’s a way to discover the beauty of what God is calling you to and to recognize that the priesthood is what God calling you to and you won’t be satisfied with anything else. Fr. Bill said when Fr. Dan left, it was difficult for his friends to see him go. His friends related to him in a way that they couldn’t relate to men outside the seminary, but they were open to God’s willing. Fr. Dan came back after six months, but even then he stayed involved. Fr. Dan was often asked by parishes and pastors to come and speak to young people about the priesthood. Fr. Bill said Fr. Dan had a great zeal and that may have been why. He truly believed and that made him so passionate and intense. Scot noted that Fr. Dan was ordained to the priesthood and assigned to St. John Parish in Winthrop. He was then re-assigned to South Boston and preached his last Mass at St. John’s on January 27 and went to Connecticut for a friend’s child’s baptism. On his way back on January 28, he died of a heart attack. Dan said in both Fr. Dan’s first homily on Jan 27, 2007 and his last homily on Jan 27, 2008, he spoke about the relevance of Christ in their lives. Dan said on that day, he’d gone to visit his granddaughter on the Cape. As he was driving home, he got a call from his daughter that she got in an accident that totaled her car and she almost died. Then later that night at 10pm, they got the call about Fr. Dan having a heart attack. As they were driving down, they got another call from their other son who was with Fr. Dan to tell them that he passed away. Dan said he and his wife on their hearts considered the time of his son’s death to be a blessing. They accepted that God had chosen him to be the first priest among all those ordained in 2008 to be with Him. Fr. Dan had just come back from two weeks as a US Navy chaplain on the USS Nimitz and had spoken of the amazing stars at sea. As Dan and his wife sat in a rest stop on the Mass. Pike, they looked up at the stars. He envisioned Fr. Dan walking across those stars to join the Father and the Son in heaven. He said no matter how much he misses Fr. Dan, he feels that his son is with the Lord and that brings them true happiness. Fr. Chris said it’s clear Fr. Dan got his faith from his parents. Dan said his faith comes from Christ and he was blessed to be born into the Catholic faith. He said his speaking at his son’s funeral was the work of the Holy Spirit. He would normally cry at the drop of the hat, but he was on a mission at his son’s funeral to tell people how his son had fully lived and was fully in love of the world and thus didn’t shed a tear during that Mass. In his eulogy, Dan asked people to pray every day for more vocations to the priesthood. Scot said he was present that day and was surprised how this man who had just lost his son and was focusing on the priesthood. Dan said that statement was directly from the Holy Spirit. Dan wanted people to know how important vocations were for his son. Dan shared a prayer composed by Cardinal Seán that was particularly apt. Holy Mother of the Good Shepherd, turn your motherly care to our Diocese. Intercede for us to the Lord of the Harvest to send more laborers to the harvest. Inspire vocations in our time. Let the word of your Son be made flesh anew in the lives of persons anxious to proclaim the Good News of everlasting life. Draw them near to the heart of your Son so that they can understand the beauty and the joy that awaits them to be His witnesses. Amen. Fr. Bill said for his class, which was the one just after Fr. Dan’s, was ordained the day after Fr. Dan’s funeral. He recalled that Bishop Arthur Kennedy, who was rector of the seminary, got all the men together to talk and pray. For them it was a reminder of the one priesthood of Christ, with no beginning and no end. They remember that their work is just part of God’s Work. Fr. Bill has no doubt that some of the young men who worked with Fr. Dan in his parishes will one day knock on the door of the seminary. In our human accounting it doesn’t make sense to take the finest among us away, but God’s accounting is not ours. Fr. Chris said the funeral was extraordinary. Priests are so different and diverse, yet priests who knew Fr. Dan and those who didn’t all felt the need to be there. It’s like the death of a firefighter or police officer, and the whole presbyterate felt the need to be there together that day. Scot said a priest affects a parish like no one else and while Fr. Dan was only at St. John’s in Winthrop for about six months, he had a strong impact. Fr. Chris said that impact is still felt. He said there’s a memorial bench on the parish grounds near a statue of Our Lady, which is appropriate. Scot said he’s heard several times that Fr. Dan would have made a great vocations director for the Archdiocese. Since his death, Dan Sr. has been going out and speaking for vocations all over, including for the Serra Club. Dan said at the end of the Mass each day, he thanks Christ for sending his son and calling home and to please send more vocations to the priesthood and religious life. He related a story of Fr. Dan visiting Paris one day before he entered seminary and during a Mass at Notre Dame where the cardinal-archbishop stopped during the recessional, leaned over to Dan, and told him when he got home to go see the rector of the seminary.

Summary of today’s show: The YouCat was a new specifically formulated for young people from the Catechism of the Catholic Church and first produced for World Youth Day Madrid in 2011, but it’s such an accessible and contemporary expression of the faith that all ages can use and appreciate it. Scot Landry, Fr. Mark O’Connell and Dom Bettinelli dip into the YouCat’s questions and answers on prayer to approach some basic understandings of how and why we pray and what the various phrases of a prayer like the Our Father really mean. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Mark O’Connell Today’s guest(s): Domenico Bettinelli Today’s topics:The YouCat on Prayer Notes: Our usual transcriptionist, Dom Bettinelli, was a guest on today’s show and thus we don’t have our usual show notes. Please find below a link to the purchase the YouCat through our Amazon.com affiliate store, which provides a small percentage back to support the ministry of The Good Catholic Life. We also have the text of this Sunday’s Mass readings, which were discussed today as well.* Youcat First Reading for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 20, 2013 (Isaiah 62:1-5) For Zion’s sake I will not be silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet, until her vindication shines forth like the dawn and her victory like a burning torch. Nations shall behold your vindication, and all the kings your glory; you shall be called by a new name pronounced by the mouth of the LORD. You shall be a glorious crown in the hand of the LORD, a royal diadem held by your God. No more shall people call you “Forsaken, “ or your land “Desolate, “ but you shall be called “My Delight, “ and your land “Espoused.” For the LORD delights in you and makes your land his spouse. As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you. Second Reading for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 20, 2013 (1 Corinthians 12:4-11) Brothers and sisters: There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom; to another, the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another, faith by the same Spirit; to another, gifts of healing by the one Spirit; to another, mighty deeds; to another, prophecy; to another, discernment of spirits; to another, varieties of tongues; to another, interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes. Gospel for the 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, January 20, 2013 (John 2:1-11) There was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. When the wine ran short, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servers, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washings, each holding twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus told the them, “Fill the jars with water.” So they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it. And when the headwaiter tasted the water that had become wine, without knowing where it came from — although the servers who had drawn the water knew —, the headwaiter called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves good wine first, and then when people have drunk freely, an inferior one; but you have kept the good wine until now.” Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs at Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him.

Summary of today’s show: Our Thursday panel of Scot Landry, Susan Abbott, and Gregory Tracy look at the news headlines of the week, including reaction to the launch of Phase 1 of the Disciples in Mission pastoral plan; George Weigel’s lecture this week on Evangelical Catholicism; the new and improved Pilot Catholic Directory; the new annual report for the Archdiocese; and the March for Life and Roe v. Wade anniversary Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Watch the show via live video streaming or a recording later: BostonCatholicLive.com Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Susan Abbott Today’s guest(s): Gregory Tracy, managing editor of the Pilot, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston Links from today’s show: The Anchor The Pilot Some of the stories discussed on this show will be available on The Pilot’s and The Anchor’s websites on Friday morning. Please check those sites for the latest links. Today’s topics: Disciples in Mission, George Weigel; Pilot Catholic Directory; Annual Report; March for Life 1st segment: Scot Landry welcomed everyone to the show and ask Susan Abbott about a gathering her office is organizing tonight. She said for the Year of Faith they’re going out into parishes for a series of events that attract catechists for inspiration and information. They have a talk on the Year of Faith and then break into groups to work on skills and methods for lower grades and high school grades. Scot welcomed back Greg Tracy who was away last week on vacation with his wife. He comes back very tanned. Disciples in Mission A top story in this week’s Pilot is some reaction to the announcement of the Phase 1 parishes for the Disciples in Mission pastoral plan. The story interviewed Fr. John Sheridan at St. James in Salem, where four parishes are in one collaborative. Greg Tracy said Fr. Sheridan said he’s looking forward to the pastoral planning process and is confident the parishes will work together well because they are already working closely together on some initiatives. He was happy that there is now a plan, which Greg said is not untypical of priests in the Archdiocese. Before the pastoral plan, the problem of allocating priests and resources was handled on an ad hoc basis. Scot noted that like all the pastor of the Phase 1 parishes, Fr. Sheridan had to submit his resignation. Pastors and parishes in Phase 1 chose a path of uncertainty for the good of the Church. Susan said Fr. Sheridan says it’s not a question of demotion, but that as a priest he has given his life for the good of the Church. Fr. Sheridan also speaks of parish identity. Susan said people here have a very deep sense of identity with the parish. Yet in the pastoral planning, Fr. Sheridan believes one parish identity will not dominate. He also spoke of the diversity of population and he said that music is a way to express that diversity. Scot said next week the show will cover in more depth the kickoff of Phase 1 training at the Pastoral Center, which will give the same training to Central Ministries’ staff that parishes will receive to help them understand and appreciate what they’ll go through. The employees are going through the training in two groups. Fr. Paul Soper, Director of Pastoral Planning, wrote on his blog about the first day: We started the day with Mass. Then the Chancellor, John Straub, gave us a witness talk. Drs. Angela and David Franks, from TINE and Saint John’s Seminary, followed that with a talk called “The Founding of the Church and the Beginning of Evangelization.” Bishop Kennedy came next, with “The History of Evangelization.” Then the Franks again, with “Holy Scripture: Testimony to Faith and Human Reason.” Then, after a lunch break, Michael Lavigne spoke on “Keeping Christ at the Center.” Finally, Mary Ann McLaughlin spoke on “Prayer, Sacraments, and Grace.” Scot encouraged listeners to follow this blog as it documents this very important process. they noted that 120 people is the workable capacity for a training like this at the Pastoral Center. Year of Faith, Boston Video of George Weigel’s lecture on January 14, 2013 Also in the Pilot is a summary of George Weigel’s address at a lecture at St. Columbkille Parish in Brighton, sponsored by St. John’s Seminary and the Year of Faith office. Susan said it’s an interesting talk and she was thrilled to see that the Pilot article summarized the talk for readers. Scot said he first thought that Evangelical Catholicism was going to be about a Protestant-Catholic connection, but instead the book and the talk were about the Church’s mission and how Vatican II outlined the reform of the Church so she could be more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ than she’s been. The Church has always been reforming herself to be more faithful and effective to the mission of evangelization. Susan said evangelical is a connection to the New Evangelization. One of Weigel’s points was a call to constant conversion and Susan said that echoes what Bishop Arthur Kennedy said in the first session of the Catholic Faith Essentials course on the continuum of conversion. Also in the Pilot this week is a story about the 2013 edition of the Pilot Catholic Directory and how it has reduced the number of pages while keeping the same amount of information. Greg also noted that they’ve managed to get the directory out earlier than usual. Sometimes it doesn’t get out until March. Scot said that’s partly because of the number of organizations that have to report and they’ve managed to streamline the reporting, replacing paper forms with online reporting. Greg added that Antonio Enrique, editor of the Pilot and the Directory, did an immense of work automating the collection and collating of data. Scot noted that the reduction in size came from changes in layout and examination of the best practices in such reporting across the country. The panel discussed the efficiency of using a printed directory over a website or searching Google. Greg said if you’re looking for a retreat center, you could Google “retreat center Boston” and get dozens of dubious results or you can look in the directory to get a listing for which you can be confident. Susan said the sacramental index for all parishes is enormously interesting to her. But she also uses it to look up quick information. Scot said there are all kinds of interesting Catholic data like dates for Easter and how to address a letter to various members of the Church’s hierarchy. To get your own copy, see your parish orcall Stephanie Rodricks at 617-779-3792. 2nd segment: Scot said an official notice was in this week’s Pilot announcing Fr. Dennis Dever of St. Clement Parish in Somerville is resigning and will take Senior Priest/Retirement status, effective February 2. He has served the parish for over 20 years. Archdiocese of Boston FY2012 Annual Report Also there is a notice in the Pilot this week that the Archdiocese is releasing it’s Fiscal Year 2012 annual financial report. This release has been part of Cardinal Seán’s initiative for transparency and accountability. Scot said the archdiocese releases more data than any other diocese in the country. Greg noted that while some of the data is esoteric and understandable mainly for experts, it’s still comforting that it’s there and available and open for anyone to examine. Scot noted that the report is being published many months earlier than it has in the past. In some years it was almost one year after the fiscal year closed, because they had to get all the data in from all the parishes, schools, and associated organizations. Now they are able to release it just about six months later, which is line with other large organizations. Scot noted that the financial reports of the individual parishes and organizations are on the website as well. Scot said also in this week’s Pilot is an obituary for Fr. Eugene P. Curtin, ordained in 1956. He was 81. The big story in the Church over the next week will be the 40th anniversary of the March for Life and the Roe v. Wade decision making abortion legal nationwide. Susan said she went to the first March for Life in Washington. She was the mother of three small children at the time. She left the kids with her husband and rode a bus contracted by Mass. Citizens for Life. They traveled overnight and marched during the day and then returned to Boston about 5 am. She hasn’t been able to go back since then. She noted that the March has grown amazingly, especially with young people. Greg said he’s been to six or seven marches over the years. Chris Pineo from the Pilot will travel with kids from the Archdiocese and Greg will travel with Cardinal Seán, who as chairman of the US bishops pro-life committee, will lead many of their events and gatherings, such as being the main celebrant at the Vigil Mass at the National Shrine of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. He will also speak from the podium during the March on the National Mall. ALso in the Pilot is a column by Jaymie Stuart Wolfe who will be the emcee for the Assembly for Life at Fanueil Hall on Sunday, January 27. The main speaker at the event will be Abby Johnson, the former director of a Planned Parenthood abortion clinic who left that job and had a conversion to both Catholicism and pro-life. Abby Johnson’s website Johnson now works to help abortion clinic workers to leave the profession. Greg said once you get past all the euphemisms and see the consequences for real people in real life, that changes hearts and minds. Greg noted that the news media used to refer to fetus when speaking of abortion and unborn baby for all other pregnancies, but when the inconsistency was highlighted, they all switched to referring only to fetuses. Susan said Johnson’s work is about helping clinic workers with the economic efforts of leaving their jobs and getting training and new jobs as well as the spiritual counseling and healing they will need. Scot mentioned that also locally most of the parishes in the Archdiocese of Boston will have Holy Hours for Life, cosponsored by the Office of Permanent Deacons and the Pro-Life Office. A list of local times is on the website of the Archdiocese of Boston. January 19 through 27, the US Bishops are asking for Nine Days of Prayer, Penance, and Pilgrimage marking the 40th anniversary of the March for Life and Roe v. Wade. Scot noted that this week is the National Vocation Awareness Week and he encouraged all listeners to seek out and encourage men and women who may have a religious vocation.