The Good Catholic Life

Summary of today’s show: Proponents of a ballot initiative to legalize physician assisted suicide in Massachusetts cloak their effort in misleading terms like “compassion” and “choice”. Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor expose the lies of the assisted suicide movement, which has been defeated in 124 of 127 places it’s been advanced, and give a thorough discussion of the Church’s teaching on assisted suicide by examining the US bishops’ recent letter “To Live Each Day with Dignity”. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor Links from today’s show: “To Live Each Day with Dignity: A Statement on Physician-Assisted Suicide Suicide Is Always a Tragedy Today’s topics: US Bishops’ statement on assisted suicide: To Live Each Day with Dignity 1st segment: Scot and Fr. Chris caught up on the past week and talked about how Fr. Chris and Fr. Wayne Belschner celebrated their 40th birthdays. The Italian families at their parish in East Boston invited them for an incredible Italian feast. They discussed the ending of the Seminary year, including preparing the 4th year seminarians for ordination. Fr. Chris said they also had Archbishop Henry Mansell of Hartford celebrate Mass at the seminary this past weekend for the candidacy of the men preparing for the priesthood at the end of their first year of theology, which would normally give them three more years to ordination. Fr. Chris said one of the men put it as “You’re now officially engaged” to the Church. He said this is the first step to ordination. Next year they would be made acolytes, which would allow them to serve in an official capacity at the altar. The third year, they would also be made lector, giving them an official capacity to proclaim God’s word. They then discussed how these ceremonies and titles are different from those who serve in parishes. Scot switched to today’s topic and said he’s been surprised by how many people in Massachusetts he meets who have no idea that this fall we could be voting on whether to legalize assisted suicide. They will be going through an important document on the topic today in depth. The document from the US Bishops Conference was released last June and is called “To Live Each Day with Dignity.” To live in a manner worthy of our human dignity, and to spend our final days on this earth in peace and comfort, surrounded by loved ones—that is the hope of each of us. In particular, Christian hope sees these final days as a time to prepare for our eternal destiny. Today, however, many people fear the dying process. They are afraid of being kept alive past life’s natural limits by burdensome medical technology. They fear experiencing intolerable pain and suffering, losing control over bodily functions, or lingering with severe dementia. They worry about being abandoned or becoming a burden on others. Our society can be judged by how we respond to these fears. A caring community devotes more attention, not less, to members facing the most vulnerable times in their lives. When people are tempted to see their own lives as diminished in value or meaning, they most need the love and assistance of others to assure them of their inherent worth. The healing art of medicine is an important part of this assistance. Even when a cure is not possible, medicine plays a critical role in providing “palliative care”—alleviating pain and other symptoms and meeting basic needs. Such care should combine medical skill with attention to the emotional as well as spiritual needs of those facing the end of life. Scot said it begins by comparing the hope we have was Christians with the fear of the end of life. Fr. Chris said there is fear of passing from this world to the next. God is with us at the beginning and the end of life and in a continuum from one to the next. Scot said we hope in our final days we will be surrounded by loved ones, that it will be without pain, we will not be a burden on others. We have fears that we will linger in pain or dementia or be a burden. We can respond to those hopes and fears in others with love or by telling them to end their lives abruptly. Fr. Chris said the gift of life is a gift that we’re not in charge, but it belongs to the Lord for us to cherish and value. He said on becoming a burden to others, we have to think of it as a moment to allow ourselves to be loved by and care for by others. Family members are naturally desirous to surround us and care for us. The bishops are reminding us we live in a culture that is concerned with the expedient. He said Archbishop Mansell talked about the reality that if you want to destroy a person, convince them that they’re useless. Scot said there’s nothing in Catholic teaching that says you can’t get the maximum pain relief for any physical pain, but those who choose suicide aren’t about physical pain, but mental and spiritual anguish. That’s what people at the end of life really need. Today there is a campaign to respond to these fears and needs in a radically different way. It uses terms like “death with dignity” to describe a self-inflicted death, generally using a drug overdose prescribed by a doctor for the purpose of suicide. This campaign to legalize doctor-prescribed suicide has been rejected by most policymakers in our society. Although Oregon passed a law in 1994 allowing physicians to prescribe deadly drugs for some patients, similar proposals were rejected by legislatures and voters in all other states for many years. The claim of a constitutional right to assisted suicide was firmly rejected in 1997 by the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld state laws against the practice as legitimate safeguards for innocent human life and the ethical integrity of medicine. But after fourteen years of defeats, the assisted suicide campaign advanced its agenda when Washington state passed a law like Oregon’s in 2008. The following year, Montana’s highest court suggested that physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients is not always against public policy. With expanded funding from wealthy donors, assisted suicide proponents have renewed their aggressive nationwide campaign through legislation, litigation, and public advertising, targeting states they see as most susceptible to their message. If they succeed, society will undergo a radical change. Jewish and Christian moral traditions have long rejected the idea of assisting in another’s suicide. Catholic teaching views suicide as a grave offense against love of self, one that also breaks the bonds of love and solidarity with family, friends, and God (Catechism of the Catholic Church [CCC], no. 2281). To assist another’s suicide is to take part in “an injustice which can never be excused, even if it is requested” (John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae, no. 66). Most people, regardless of religious affiliation, know that suicide is a terrible tragedy, one that a compassionate society should work to prevent. They realize that allowing doctors to prescribe the means for their patients to kill themselves is a corruption of the healing art. It even violates the Hippocratic Oath that has guided physicians for millennia: “I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan.” Proponents know these facts, so they avoid terms such as “assisting suicide” and instead use euphemisms such as “aid in dying.” The organization leading this campaign has even concealed its agenda by changing its name. The Hemlock Society, whose very name reminded people of the harsh reality of death by poison, has become “Compassion and Choices.” Plain speaking is needed to strip away this veneer and uncover what is at stake, for this agenda promotes neither free choice nor compassion. Scot said this segment was called “A Renewed Threat to Human Dignity”. Scot said his brother gave a talk at Harvard last week in which he said proponents have tried to advance assisted suicide in elections 127 times in the US and they’ve only succeeded 3 times. Sometimes the media makes it look this is inevitable, but we’re 124-3 in the win column. Just last week, a proposal was defeated in the Vermont Senate. Fr. Chris said legalization would affect the good moral order of the entire society, not just those directly involved. He said the Hemlock Society has co-opted good language, calling themselves compassionate. This is about taking a pill that ends your life. That’s not compassion. Scot said people who are primary caregivers will take on the role of executioners. It’s also a terrible tragedy every time someone decides to take their life. It’s always a tragedy. It’s also a corruption of the healing arts. Does the drive to legalize physician-assisted suicide really enhance choices or freedom for people with serious health conditions? No, it does not, for several reasons. First, medical professionals recognize that people who take their own lives commonly suffer from a mental illness, such as clinical depression. Suicidal desires may be triggered by very real setbacks and serious disappointments in life. However, suicidal persons become increasingly incapable of appreciating options for dealing with these problems, suffering from a kind of tunnel vision that sees relief only in death. They need help to be freed from their suicidal thoughts through counseling and support and, when necessary and helpful, medication. Because the illnesses that cause or aggravate suicidal desires are often overlooked or misdiagnosed, many civil laws provide for psychological evaluation and treatment for those who have attempted suicide. The Catholic Church, as well, recognizes that “grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture” can diminish the responsibility of people committing suicide; the Church encourages Catholics to pray for them, trusting in God’s mercy (CCC, no. 2282-3). These statements about psychological disturbance and diminished responsibility are also true of people who attempt suicide during serious illness. Yet this is often ignored in proposals authorizing assistance in these individuals’ suicides. Many such proposals permit—but do not require—an evaluation for mental illness or depression before lethal drugs are prescribed. In 3 practice such evaluations are rare, and even a finding of mental illness or depression does not necessarily prevent prescribing the drugs. No evaluation is done at the time the drugs are actually taken. In fact, such laws have generally taken great care to avoid real scrutiny of the process for doctor-prescribed death—or any inquiry into whose choice is served. In Oregon and Washington, for example, all reporting is done solely by the physician who prescribes lethal drugs. Once they are prescribed, the law requires no assessment of whether patients are acting freely, whether they are influenced by those who have financial or other motives for ensuring their death, or even whether others actually administer the drugs. Here the line between assisted suicide and homicide becomes blurred. People who request death are vulnerable. They need care and protection. To offer them lethal drugs is a victory not for freedom but for the worst form of neglect. Such abandonment is especially irresponsible when society is increasingly aware of elder abuse and other forms of mistreatment and exploitation of vulnerable persons. Second, even apparently free choices may be unduly influenced by the biases and wishes of others. Legalization proposals generally leave in place the laws against assisting most people to commit suicide, but they define a class of people whose suicides may be facilitated rather than prevented. That class typically includes people expected to live less than six months. Such predictions of a short life are notoriously unreliable. They also carry a built-in ambiguity, as some legal definitions of terminal illness include individuals who have a short time to live only if they do not receive life-supporting treatment. Thus many people with chronic illnesses or disabilities—who could live a long time if they receive basic care—may be swept up in such a definition. However wide or narrow the category may be, it defines a group of people whose death by lethal overdose is wrongly treated by the law as objectively good or acceptable, unlike the suicide of anyone else. By rescinding legal protection for the lives of one group of people, the government implicitly communicates the message—before anyone signs a form to accept this alleged benefit—that they may be better off dead. Thus the bias of too many able-bodied people against the value of life for someone with an illness or disability is embodied in official policy. This biased judgment is fueled by the excessively high premium our culture places on productivity and autonomy, which tends to discount the lives of those who have a disability or are dependent on others. If these persons say they want to die, others may be tempted to regard this not as a call for help but as the reasonable response to what they agree is a meaningless life. Those who choose to live may then be seen as selfish or irrational, as a needless burden on others, and even be encouraged to view themselves that way. In short, the assisted suicide agenda promotes a narrow and distorted notion of freedom, by creating an expectation that certain people, unlike others, will be served by being helped to choose death. Many people with illnesses and disabilities who struggle against great odds for their genuine rights—the right to adequate health care and housing, opportunities for work and mobility, and so on—are deservedly suspicious when the freedom society most eagerly offers them is the “freedom” to take their lives. Third, there is a more profound reason why the campaign for assisted suicide is a threat, not an aid, to authentic human freedom. The founders of our country declared that each human being has certain inalienable rights that government must protect. It is no accident that they named life before liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Life itself is a basic human good, the condition for enjoying all other goods on this earth. Therefore the right to life is the most basic human right. Other valued rights—the right to vote, to freedom of speech, or to equal protection under law—lose their foundation if life itself can be destroyed with impunity. As Christians we go even further: Life is our first gift from an infinitely loving Creator. It is the most fundamental element of our God-given human dignity. Moreover, by assuming and sharing our human nature, the Son of God has more fully revealed and enhanced the sacred character of each human life. Therefore one cannot uphold human freedom and dignity by devaluing human life. A choice to take one’s life is a supreme contradiction of freedom, a choice to eliminate all choices. And a society that devalues some people’s lives, by hastening and facilitating their deaths, will ultimately lose respect for their other rights and freedoms. Thus in countries that have used the idea of personal autonomy to justify voluntary assisted suicide and euthanasia, physicians have moved on to take the lives of adults who never asked to die, and newborn children who have no choice in the matter. They have developed their own concept of a “life not worth living” that has little to do with the choice of the patient. Leaders of the “aid in dying” movement in our country have also voiced support for ending the lives of people who never asked for death, whose lives they see as meaningless or as a costly burden on the community. Summarizing, the three reasons assisted suicide doesn’t really help people: People who take their own lives are often mentally ill; it devalues all human life; and apparently free choices may be influenced by the biases of others. Scot noted the New York Times recently reported that in the Netherlands there is a group that wants to do drive-in assisted suicide. Fr. Chris said the bishops are pointing out the threats that come with assisted suicide. How many of us have seen the images of a man not in his right mind on a window ledge and police and firemen risking their lives to protect the life of the man on the windowsill. We know as a society that we have to save and preserve those in similar situations. Scot asked listeners to imagine a firefighter showing up at a house fire and asking if it the life of the person left in the inferno was worth saving. That’s crazy. Firefighters and police officers train to be willing to risk their own lives to protect others. This is what is built into men as husbands and fathers. How can we look at a proposal to say we’re willing to let others die or even be coerced into death while we stand by? Fr. chris said lifers the first principle. From life flows all of our other rights. Scot said it came before liberty for a reason. Fr. Chris said there’s a hierarchy. You can’t have freedom or the pursuit of happiness without life. Scot said he learned in seminary that there is a difference between Catholic thinking and secular thinking. What makes us valuable is our being in the made and likeness of God, not what we do or how productive we are. This proposed law does make a dichotomy by saying some lives are more valuable than others. The idea that assisting a suicide shows compassion and eliminates suffering is equally misguided. It eliminates the person, and results in suffering for those left behind—grieving families and friends, and other vulnerable people who may be influenced by this event to see death as an escape. The sufferings caused by chronic or terminal illness are often severe. They cry out for our compassion, a word whose root meaning is to “suffer with” another person. True compassion alleviates suffering while maintaining solidarity with those who suffer. It does not put lethal drugs in their hands and abandon them to their suicidal impulses, or to the self-serving motives of others who may want them dead. It helps vulnerable people with their problems instead of treating them as the problem. Taking life in the name of compassion also invites a slippery slope toward ending the lives of people with non-terminal conditions. Dutch doctors, who once limited euthanasia to terminally ill patients, now provide lethal drugs to people with chronic illnesses and disabilities, mental illness, and even melancholy. Once they convinced themselves that ending a short life can be an act of compassion, it was morbidly logical to conclude that ending a longer life may show even more compassion. Psychologically, as well, the physician who has begun to offer death as a solution for some illnesses is tempted to view it as the answer for an ever-broader range of problems. This agenda actually risks adding to the suffering of seriously ill people. Their worst suffering is often not physical pain, which can be alleviated with competent medical care, but feelings of isolation and hopelessness. The realization that others—or society as a whole—may see their death as an acceptable or even desirable solution to their problems can only magnify this kind of suffering. Even health care providers’ ability and willingness to provide palliative care such as effective pain management can be undermined by authorizing assisted suicide. Studies indicate that untreated pain among terminally ill patients may increase and development of hospice care can stagnate after assisted suicide is legalized. Government programs and private insurers may even limit support for care that could extend life, while emphasizing the “cost-effective” solution of a doctor-prescribed death. The reason for such trends is easy to understand. Why would medical professionals spend a lifetime developing the empathy and skills needed for the difficult but important task of providing optimum care, once society has authorized a “solution” for suffering patients that requires no skill at all? Once some people have become candidates for the inexpensive treatment of assisted suicide, public and private payers for health coverage also find it easy to direct life-affirming resources elsewhere. Scot said the proposal of those in favor of the ballot initiative says that to eliminate suffering take a pill, but this only eliminates the sufferer, not the suffering. We say we should increase pain management and other techniques to reduce suffering. But if people are just going to commit suicide, some will ask why we need to waste time and resources on palliative care? Fr. Chris said he was struck by the discussion of cost effectiveness for health care providers. Scot said people say that no insurer ever denied coverage for someone who refuses to take the suicide pill. He said it only agrees with what we know already about human nature and track record of some bean counters and penny pushers. There is an infinitely better way to address the needs of people with serious illnesses. Our society should embrace what Pope John Paul II called “the way of love and true mercy”—a readiness to surround patients with love, support, and companionship, providing the assistance needed to ease their physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering. This approach must be anchored in unconditional respect for their human dignity, beginning with respect for the inherent value of their lives. Respect for life does not demand that we attempt to prolong life by using medical treatments that are ineffective or unduly burdensome. Nor does it mean we should deprive suffering patients of needed pain medications out of a misplaced or exaggerated fear that they might have the side effect of shortening life. The risk of such an effect is extremely low when pain medication is adjusted to a patient’s level of pain, with the laudable purpose of simply addressing that pain (CCC, no. 2279). In fact, severe pain can shorten life, while effective palliative care can enhance the length as well as the quality of a person’s life. It can even alleviate the fears and problems that lead some patients to the desperation of considering suicide. Effective palliative care also allows patients to devote their attention to the unfinished business of their lives, to arrive at a sense of peace with God, with loved ones, and with themselves. No one should dismiss this time as useless or meaningless. Learning how to face this last stage of our earthly lives is one of the most important and meaningful things each of us will do, and caregivers who help people through this process are also doing enormously important work. As Christians we believe that even suffering itself need not be meaningless—for as Pope John Paul II showed during his final illness, suffering accepted in love can bring us closer to the mystery of Christ’s sacrifice for the salvation of others. Catholics should be leaders in the effort to defend and uphold the principle that each of us has a right to live with dignity through every day of our lives. As disciples of one who is Lord of the living, we need to be messengers of the Gospel of Life. We should join with other concerned Americans, including disability rights advocates, charitable organizations, and members of the healing professions, to stand for the dignity of people with serious illnesses and disabilities and promote life-affirming solutions for their problems and hardships. We should ensure that the families of people with chronic or terminal illness will advocate for the rights of their loved ones, and will never feel they have been left alone in caring for their needs. The claim that the “quick fix” of an overdose of drugs can substitute for these efforts is an affront to patients, caregivers and the ideals of medicine. When we grow old or sick and we are tempted to lose heart, we should be surrounded by people who ask “How can we help?” We deserve to grow old in a society that views our cares and needs with a compassion grounded in respect, offering genuine support in our final days. The choices we make together now will decide whether this is the kind of caring society we will leave to future generations. We can help build a world in which love is stronger than death. Scot asked what kind of society we want to live in. That’s really what this comes down to and we have a chance to do with regard to this proposed ballot initiative. Fr. Chris said the quick fix of assisted suicide is an affront to the Gospel, where we are all called to love and mercy, especially when we hear about the corporal works of mercy. Scot said it’s important for us to choose a better way to deal with the hopes and fears of the end of life. We have to be able to trust health care providers will work to help us and save our lives, not to work to take them away. Fr. Chris said listeners have to get the word out that true compassion is being closed to our loved ones.

Summary of today’s show: Some of the mysteries of life can be better expressed in music than in words and God can speak to our hearts through that music. On May 6, Boston will host at Symphony Hall the world premiere of “The Suffering of the Innocents: A Symphony Homage and Prayer,” as a Christian work offered to the world. Scot Landry talks with Fr. Tony Medeiros and Antonio Enrique about the genesis of the work, the composer behind it, and how Cardinal Seán worked to bring it to Boston. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Today’s host(s): Scot Landry Today’s guest(s): Antonio Enrique and Fr. Tony Medeiros Links from today’s show: The Suffering of the Innocents: A Symphony Homage and Prayer Excerpts from the symphony: Today’s topics: “Suffering of the Innocents” Symphony 1st segment: Scot welcomed everyone to the show. He said today’s show is about a unique event on May 6 in Symphony Hall in Boston, a symphony composed by Kiko Arguello called “The suffering of the Innocents”. There will be about 200 musicians from Europe and America in the orchestra. It will be one of three public performances of the symphony in the US. Kiko Arguello is one of the founders of the NeoCatechumenal Way. Scot welcomed Fr. Tony Medeiros, rector of Redemptoris Mater Seminary in Boston, and Antonio Enrique, editor of the Pilot, to the show. Scot asked Fr. Tony how the symphony came about. Fr. Tony said the experience of suffering is something Kiko has wrestled with since he was a young person, understanding the suffering of people, whether it’s from their own actions or due to no fault of their own. Scot said you can sometimes see the cause of suffering, but so much of the suffering in the world seems unfair. The mystery of suffering and why God permits it is one of the big questions. This symphony seems to be a response to why God allows innocent people to suffering. Antonio said this is the focus of the symphony. The paradigm of suffering is the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the symphony addresses it from the perspective of Mary, who suffered in her own flesh next to the cross. Through her, our sufferings can make sense in the Cross of Christ. Scot asked Fr. Tony about Kiko’s background, who seems to be a renaissance man. He’s one of the best known artists and architects in Spain. Fr. Tony said Kijko was a disciple of Pablo Picasso as a young man and his early work was influenced by Cubism. At the age of 19 he won a national prize for fine arts in Spain. Then in no small measure due to suffering of people, who began to confront the purpose of his life. This happened in the years around the Second Vatican Council. Enlightened by words of Pope John XXIII calling for renewal of the Church through the poor, and inspired by the spirituality of Bl. Charles de Foucauld, who wanted to influence the world through adoration of the Eucharist. Kiko leaves his family, feeling called by God to live among the poor in the outskirts of Madrid for three years. This is where he developed the blueprint for the Neo-Catechumenal Way, in the questions of the people he lived among and which he tried to answer. Scot asked Antonio what it is about the experience f the poor that provides answers to the larger questions of life. Antonio said we are used to living in a way that presents a particular face to others, hiding our real feelings and thoughts. But the people in the shantytowns live in a different way. In that environment, the reality of the Gospel could be announced in a different way. The Gospel tells us that prostitutes will precede us in heaven, which helps them know that God loves them despite their sins. Without the buffer of polite society, you are able to enter into the reality of their lives more readily. The people Kiko encountered started to change. Thieves stopped stealing. Parents sent their children to school. So much else changed. Scot asked about Kiko’s musical background. Fr. Tony said some of Kiko’s songs are popularly known and sung around the world. He’s put music to most of the Psalms and some of the Scriptures. But before now, Kiko has never written a symphony. He’s never studied it or written it. But last year, Cardinal Ruoco of Madrid asked him to prepare music to inspire youth coming to World Youth Day in Madrid. So he brought together many musicians and from that came the seed of the symphony, along with the seed from his time in the shantytown. Giving expression to suffering isn’t easy. Fr. Tony said we are compartmentalized in our own lives about our sufferings. We carry wounds in us that we try to hide. Sometimes we don’t know how to express it. This music is a way of expressing it. The way the symphony was written is that Kiko would hum a tune and the musicians would adapt it for their instruments and play it together. He says now that he’s not a real composer like Mozart or Beethoven, but he said a priest told him never to not do something for fear of being criticized of being vain or prideful. Antonio said the first time a part of this symphony was played was before the Holy Father. After that, they went to Israel to perform at Domus Galilee before 250 bishops from around the world in January 2011. Cardinal Seán was there among 7 or 8 cardinals. Antonio said some rabbis happened to be present at the same time of the performance as well as some Israeli politicians. Then after the symphony, it resonated in them in ways that were very deep. They were very impressed and one of the rabbis, Rabbi David Rosen, gave a beautiful address to those gathered on how the symphony resonated with the suffering of the Jewish people. Through the music, they felt loved by this work. Taking into account historical Christian-Jewish relations before the Second Vatican Council in which some of the teachings of the Church were used to persecute Jews, they saw this work now as an expression of love. Fr. Tony said Rabbi Rosen’s remarks were not planned, but were a spontaneous response to the symphony. Scot said it doesn’t seem the Kiko narrowly defined the category of innocents, but used a broad definition that would include the Jews who died in the Holocaust. Fr. Tony said there a memoir of an SS guard at Auschwitz who witnessed thousands of Jews dying in gas chambers. He eventually heard a voice inside him telling him to help them. The voice told him he could help by removing his clothe and getting in the line with those going to their death. He wasn’t a Christian, but a pagan, and sought an explanation for this voice inside him. But Jesus really was the one who got in line with those lined up for the gas chamber to defeat death from inside itself. He is a pill of immortality that explodes from within through death to eternal life. Fr. Tony said for many this will be their first time in Symphony Hall and many may not even understand what Kiko will say, but in their hearts they will have a dialogue with the Holy Spirit. Scot said one of the reasons the event is almost sold out is because Kiko asked that it be offered free of charge. Antonio said Kiko felt the message being announced of a meaning for suffering is something that you can’t pay for. There is not enough money to pay for such a message. Especially in Boston, the focus is geared toward Catholics. Cardinal Seán felt strongly about having the symphony here. He asked every parish to receive free tickets so that the pastors can bring a handful of parishioners. Close to 90 parishes have responded so far. Antonio said in New York it will have a wider audience. Rabbi Rosen had asked it to be brought to New York in order for the Jewish community there to experience it. They have made an outreach to Jews of all the different Jewish groups to come and experience it. It’s given as a gift to our Jewish brothers and sisters. On May 14, the symphony will take place in Chicago. 2nd segment: Coming back from break, we heard a selection from the symphony. Scot can’t recall ever hearing about a gathering of 3,000 Catholics in Symphony Hall to hear a composition by a Catholic composer. He asked what Cardinal Seán’s involvement will be. Fr. Tony said Cardinal Seán will preside at the gathering in light of his experience in hearing it for the first time in Israel. Originally the symphony wasn’t coming to Boston, just New York, but the Cardinal asked for it come here. The Cardinal sees a means in a very sensitive way to introduce a way to articulate the pain we carry within us. The music is a means for people to find a vehicle of expression to see that God has not forgotten them,. but is with them always, looking for an opportunity to show us his grace. Fr. Tony said most oft he most beautiful music we hear in symphonies is inspired by Christ and Christian faith: Bach, Mozart, Beethoven. What inspires us is the mystery of Christ who becomes flesh, dies and rises as the first fruit of a new creation. I have kinship to Jesus Christ through music and word and sacrament. Scot said there are four parts of the evening: A greeting and prayer; introduction by Kiko, five movements of the symphony, and remarks by Cardinal Seán. Scot said there are 194 musicians and 90 voices in the choir. They discussed some of the more obscure instruments that will be in the performance. Scot asked how this is getting paid for if the tickets are free. Fr. Tony said they don’t know, but if it comes from God then they have faith it will be paid for. They followed the signs laid out before them. Maybe some benefactor will make a contribution, but they are convinced that God wants this to be done for the love of the people. To reserve one of the remaining tickets, email [email protected] or call 617-879-9814. If the tickets run out, your name will be put on a waiting list. Scot said Rabbi David Rosen is being honored by Redemptoris Mater Seminary on June 24 at at their gala dinner at the Four Points by Sheraton in Norwood. He said they’d invited Rabbi Rosen before the concert was coming to Boston. Scot said the honoree at last year’s dinner was the late-Archbishop Pietro Sambi, who was apostolic nuncio to the United States. Tickets for the dinner can be had by calling 617-879-8914 or email [email protected].

Summary of today’s show: The US bishops sounded a clarion call to Catholics on April 12, 2012 with their landmark statement on religious liberty, “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty”. Scot Landry, Fr. Chip Hines, and Domenico Bettinelli go over the document in detail, discussing what it means for Catholics, showing how unprecedented is this courageous stance form the bishops, and how dangerous is the current threat to religious liberty, not for just Catholics, but for all people of faith—and even no faith—everywhere. They also discuss concert steps you can take to join the fight to protect your religious liberty Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Chip Hines Today’s guest(s): Domenico Bettinelli Links from today’s show: US Conference of Catholic Bishops webpage on Conscience Protection “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty: A Statement on Religious Liberty”, USCCB Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty Today’s topics: The US bishops’ statement on religious liberty 1st segment: Our First, Most Cherished Liberty: A Statement on Religious Liberty United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty We are Catholics. We are Americans. We are proud to be both, grateful for the gift of faith which is ours as Christian disciples, and grateful for the gift of liberty which is ours as American citizens. To be Catholic and American should mean not having to choose one over the other. Our allegiances are distinct, but they need not be contradictory, and should instead be complementary. That is the teaching of our Catholic faith, which obliges us to work together with fellow citizens for the common good of all who live in this land. That is the vision of our founding and our Constitution, which guarantees citizens of all religious faiths the right to contribute to our common life together. Freedom is not only for Americans, but we think of it as something of our special inheritance, fought for at a great price, and a heritage to be guarded now. We are stewards of this gift, not only for ourselves but for all nations and peoples who yearn to be free. Catholics in America have discharged this duty of guarding freedom admirably for many generations. In 1887, when the archbishop of Baltimore, James Gibbons, was made the second American cardinal, he defended the American heritage of religious liberty during his visit to Rome to receive the red hat. Speaking of the great progress the Catholic Church had made in the United States, he attributed it to the “civil liberty we enjoy in our enlightened republic.” Indeed, he made a bolder claim, namely that “in the genial atmosphere of liberty [the Church] blossoms like a rose.”1 From well before Cardinal Gibbons, Catholics in America have been advocates for religious liberty, and the landmark teaching of the Second Vatican Council on religious liberty was influenced by the American experience. It is among the proudest boasts of the Church on these shores. We have been staunch defenders of religious liberty in the past. We have a solemn duty to discharge that duty today. We need, therefore, to speak frankly with each other when our freedoms are threatened. Now is such a time. As Catholic bishops and American citizens, we address an urgent summons to our fellow Catholics and fellow Americans to be on guard, for religious liberty is under attack, both at home and abroad. This has been noticed both near and far. Pope Benedict XVI recently spoke about his worry that religious liberty in the United States is being weakened. He called it the “most cherished of American freedoms”—and indeed it is. All the more reason to heed the warning of the Holy Father, a friend of America and an ally in the defense of freedom, in his recent address to American bishops: Of particular concern are certain attempts being made to limit that most cherished of American freedoms, the freedom of religion. Many of you have pointed out that concerted efforts have been made to deny the right of conscientious objection on the part of Catholic individuals and institutions with regard to cooperation in intrinsically evil practices. Others have spoken to me of a worrying tendency to reduce religious freedom to mere freedom of worship without guarantees of respect for freedom of conscience. Here once more we see the need for an engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity endowed with a strong critical sense vis-à-vis the dominant culture and with the courage to counter a reductive secularism which would delegitimize the Church’s participation in public debate about the issues which are determining the future of American society.2 Religious Liberty Under Attack—Concrete Examples Is our most cherished freedom truly under threat? Sadly, it is. This is not a theological or legal dispute without real world consequences. Consider the following: HHS mandate for contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs. The mandate of the Department of Health and Human Services has received wide attention and has been met with our vigorous and united opposition. In an unprecedented way, the federal government will both force religious institutions to facilitate and fund a product contrary to their own moral teaching and purport to define which religious institutions are “religious enough” to merit protection of their religious liberty. These features of the “preventive services” mandate amount to an unjust law. As Archbishop-designate William Lori of Baltimore, Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, testified to Congress: “This is not a matter of whether contraception may be prohibited by the government. This is not even a matter of whether contraception may be supported by the government. Instead, it is a matter of whether religious people and institutions may be forced by the government to provide coverage for contraception or sterilization, even if that violates their religious beliefs.”3 State immigration laws. Several states have recently passed laws that forbid what the government deems “harboring” of undocumented immigrants—and what the Church deems Christian charity and pastoral care to those immigrants. Perhaps the most egregious of these is in Alabama, where the Catholic bishops, in cooperation with the Episcopal and Methodist bishops of Alabama, filed suit against the law: It is with sadness that we brought this legal action but with a deep sense that we, as people of faith, have no choice but to defend the right to the free exercise of religion granted to us as citizens of Alabama… . The law makes illegal the exercise of our Christian religion which we, as citizens of Alabama, have a right to follow. The law prohibits almost everything which would assist an undocumented immigrant or encourage an undocumented immigrant to live in Alabama. This new Alabama law makes it illegal for a Catholic priest to baptize, hear the confession of, celebrate the anointing of the sick with, or preach the word of God to, an undocumented immigrant. Nor can we encourage them to attend Mass or give them a ride to Mass. It is illegal to allow them to attend adult scripture study groups, or attend CCD or Sunday school classes. It is illegal for the clergy to counsel them in times of difficulty or in preparation for marriage. It is illegal for them to come to Alcoholic Anonymous meetings or other recovery groups at our churches.4 Altering Church structure and governance. In 2009, the Judiciary Committee of the Connecticut Legislature proposed a bill that would have forced Catholic parishes to be restructured according to a congregational model, recalling the trusteeism controversy of the early nineteenth century, and prefiguring the federal government’s attempts to redefine for the Church “religious minister” and “religious employer” in the years since. Christian students on campus. In its over-100-year history, the University of California Hastings College of Law has denied student organization status to only one group, the Christian Legal Society, because it required its leaders to be Christian and to abstain from sexual activity outside of marriage. Catholic foster care and adoption services. Boston, San Francisco, the District of Columbia, and the state of Illinois have driven local Catholic Charities out of the business of providing adoption or foster care services—by revoking their licenses, by ending their government contracts, or both—because those Charities refused to place children with same-sex couples or unmarried opposite-sex couples who cohabit. Discrimination against small church congregations. New York City enacted a rule that barred the Bronx Household of Faith and sixty other churches from renting public schools on weekends for worship services even though non-religious groups could rent the same schools for scores of other uses. While this would not frequently affect Catholic parishes, which generally own their own buildings, it would be devastating to many smaller congregations. It is a simple case of discrimination against religious believers. Discrimination against Catholic humanitarian services. Notwithstanding years of excellent performance by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services in administering contract services for victims of human trafficking, the federal government changed its contract specifications to require us to provide or refer for contraceptive and abortion services in violation of Catholic teaching. Religious institutions should not be disqualified from a government contract based on religious belief, and they do not somehow lose their religious identity or liberty upon entering such contracts. And yet a federal court in Massachusetts, turning religious liberty on its head, has since declared that such a disqualification is required by the First Amendment—that the government somehow violates religious liberty by allowing Catholic organizations to participate in contracts in a manner consistent with their beliefs on contraception and abortion. Religious Liberty Is More Than Freedom of Worship Religious liberty is not only about our ability to go to Mass on Sunday or pray the Rosary at home. It is about whether we can make our contribution to the common good of all Americans. Can we do the good works our faith calls us to do, without having to compromise that very same faith? Without religious liberty properly understood, all Americans suffer, deprived of the essential contribution in education, health care, feeding the hungry, civil rights, and social services that religious Americans make every day, both here at home and overseas. What is at stake is whether America will continue to have a free, creative, and robust civil society—or whether the state alone will determine who gets to contribute to the common good, and how they get to do it. Religious believers are part of American civil society, which includes neighbors helping each other, community associations, fraternal service clubs, sports leagues, and youth groups. All these Americans make their contribution to our common life, and they do not need the permission of the government to do so. Restrictions on religious liberty are an attack on civil society and the American genius for voluntary associations. The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America issued a statement about the administration’s contraception and sterilization mandate that captured exactly the danger that we face: Most troubling, is the Administration’s underlying rationale for its decision, which appears to be a view that if a religious entity is not insular, but engaged with broader society, it loses its “religious” character and liberties. Many faiths firmly believe in being open to and engaged with broader society and fellow citizens of other faiths. The Administration’s ruling makes the price of such an outward approach the violation of an organization’s religious principles. This is deeply disappointing.5 This is not a Catholic issue. This is not a Jewish issue. This is not an Orthodox, Mormon, or Muslim issue. It is an American issue. The Most Cherished of American Freedoms In 1634, a mix of Catholic and Protestant settlers arrived at St. Clement’s Island in Southern Maryland from England aboard the Ark and the Dove. They had come at the invitation of the Catholic Lord Baltimore, who had been granted Maryland by the Protestant King Charles I of England. While Catholics and Protestants were killing each other in Europe, Lord Baltimore imagined Maryland as a society where people of different faiths could live together peacefully. This vision was soon codified in Maryland’s 1649 Act Concerning Religion (also called the “Toleration Act”), which was the first law in our nation’s history to protect an individual’s right to freedom of conscience. Maryland’s early history teaches us that, like any freedom, religious liberty requires constant vigilance and protection, or it will disappear. Maryland’s experiment in religious toleration ended within a few decades. The colony was placed under royal control, and the Church of England became the established religion. Discriminatory laws, including the loss of political rights, were enacted against those who refused to conform. Catholic chapels were closed, and Catholics were restricted to practicing their faith in their homes. The Catholic community lived under these conditions until the American Revolution. By the end of the 18th century, our nation’s founders embraced freedom of religion as an essential condition of a free and democratic society. James Madison, often called the Father of the Constitution, described conscience as “the most sacred of all property.”6 He wrote that “the Religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate.”7 George Washington wrote that “the establishment of Civil and Religious Liberty was the Motive that induced me to the field of battle.”8 Thomas Jefferson assured the Ursuline Sisters—who had been serving a mostly non-Catholic population by running a hospital, an orphanage, and schools in Louisiana since 1727—that the principles of the Constitution were a “sure guarantee” that their ministry would be free “to govern itself according to its own voluntary rules, without interference from the civil authority.”9 It is therefore fitting that when the Bill of Rights was ratified, religious freedom had the distinction of being the First Amendment. Religious liberty is indeed the first liberty. The First Amendment guarantees that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Recently, in a unanimous Supreme Court judgment affirming the importance of that first freedom, the Chief Justice of the United States explained that religious liberty is not just the first freedom for Americans; rather it is the first in the history of democratic freedom, tracing its origins back the first clauses of the Magna Carta of 1215 and beyond. In a telling example, Chief Justice Roberts illustrated our history of religious liberty in light of a Catholic issue decided upon by James Madison, who guided the Bill of Rights through Congress and is known as the architect of the First Amendment: [In 1806] John Carroll, the first Catholic bishop in the United States, solicited the Executive’s opinion on who should be appointed to direct the affairs of the Catholic Church in the territory newly acquired by the Louisiana Purchase. After consulting with President Jefferson, then-Secretary of State James Madison responded that the selection of church “functionaries” was an “entirely ecclesiastical” matter left to the Church’s own judgment. The “scrupulous policy of the Constitution in guarding against a political interference with religious affairs,” Madison explained, prevented the Government from rendering an opinion on the “selection of ecclesiastical individuals.”10 That is our American heritage, our most cherished freedom. It is the first freedom because if we are not free in our conscience and our practice of religion, all other freedoms are fragile. If citizens are not free in their own consciences, how can they be free in relation to others, or to the state? If our obligations and duties to God are impeded, or even worse, contradicted by the government, then we can no longer claim to be a land of the free, and a beacon of hope for the world. Our Christian Teaching During the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, Americans shone the light of the Gospel on a dark history of slavery, segregation, and racial bigotry. The civil rights movement was an essentially religious movement, a call to awaken consciences, not only an appeal to the Constitution for America to honor its heritage of liberty. In his famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail” in 1963, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. boldly said, “The goal of America is freedom.” As a Christian pastor, he argued that to call America to the full measure of that freedom was the specific contribution Christians are obliged to make. He rooted his legal and constitutional arguments about justice in the long Christian tradition: I would agree with Saint Augustine that “An unjust law is no law at all.” Now what is the difference between the two? How does one determine when a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of Saint Thomas Aquinas, an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.11 It is a sobering thing to contemplate our government enacting an unjust law. An unjust law cannot be obeyed. In the face of an unjust law, an accommodation is not to be sought, especially by resorting to equivocal words and deceptive practices. If we face today the prospect of unjust laws, then Catholics in America, in solidarity with our fellow citizens, must have the courage not to obey them. No American desires this. No Catholic welcomes it. But if it should fall upon us, we must discharge it as a duty of citizenship and an obligation of faith. It is essential to understand the distinction between conscientious objection and an unjust law. Conscientious objection permits some relief to those who object to a just law for reasons of conscience—conscription being the most well-known example. An unjust law is “no law at all.” It cannot be obeyed, and therefore one does not seek relief from it, but rather its repeal. The Christian church does not ask for special treatment, simply the rights of religious freedom for all citizens. Rev. King also explained that the church is neither the master nor the servant of the state, but its conscience, guide, and critic. As Catholics, we know that our history has shadows too in terms of religious liberty, when we did not extend to others the proper respect for this first freedom. But the teaching of the Church is absolutely clear about religious liberty: The human person has a right to religious freedom. This freedom means that all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that in matters religious no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs … whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits… . This right of the human person to religious freedom is to be recognized in the constitutional law whereby society is governed. Thus it is to become a civil right.12 As Catholics, we are obliged to defend the right to religious liberty for ourselves and for others. We are happily joined in this by our fellow Christians and believers of other faiths. A recent letter to President Obama from some sixty religious leaders, including Christians of many denominations and Jews, argued that “it is emphatically not only Catholics who deeply object to the requirement that health plans they purchase must provide coverage of contraceptives that include some that are abortifacients.”13 More comprehensively, a theologically rich and politically prudent declaration from Evangelicals and Catholics Together made a powerful case for greater vigilance in defense of religious freedom, precisely as a united witness animated by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.14 Their declaration makes it clear that as Christians of various traditions we object to a “naked public square,” stripped of religious arguments and religious believers. We do not seek a “sacred public square” either, which gives special privileges and benefits to religious citizens. Rather, we seek a civil public square, where all citizens can make their contribution to the common good. At our best, we might call this an American public square. The Lord Jesus came to liberate us from the dominion of sin. Political liberties are one part of that liberation, and religious liberty is the first of those liberties. Together with our fellow Christians, joined by our Jewish brethren, and in partnership with Americans of other religious traditions, we affirm that our faith requires us to defend the religious liberty granted us by God, and protected in our Constitution. Martyrs Around the World In this statement, as bishops of the United States, we are addressing ourselves to the situation we find here at home. At the same time, we are sadly aware that religious liberty in many other parts of the world is in much greater peril. Our obligation at home is to defend religious liberty robustly, but we cannot overlook the much graver plight that religious believers, most of them Christian, face around the world. The age of martyrdom has not passed. Assassinations, bombings of churches, torching of orphanages—these are only the most violent attacks Christians have suffered because of their faith in Jesus Christ. More systematic denials of basic human rights are found in the laws of several countries, and also in acts of persecution by adherents of other faiths. If religious liberty is eroded here at home, American defense of religious liberty abroad is less credible. And one common threat, spanning both the international and domestic arenas, is the tendency to reduce the freedom of religion to the mere freedom of worship. Therefore, it is our task to strengthen religious liberty at home, in this and other respects, so that we might defend it more vigorously abroad. To that end, American foreign policy, as well as the vast international network of Catholic agencies, should make the promotion of religious liberty an ongoing and urgent priority. “All the Energies the Catholic Community Can Muster” What we ask is nothing more than that our God-given right to religious liberty be respected. We ask nothing less than that the Constitution and laws of the United States, which recognize that right, be respected. In insisting that our liberties as Americans be respected, we know as bishops that what our Holy Father said is true. This work belongs to “an engaged, articulate and well-formed Catholic laity endowed with a strong critical sense vis-à-vis the dominant culture.” As bishops we seek to bring the light of the Gospel to our public life, but the work of politics is properly that of committed and courageous lay Catholics. We exhort them to be both engaged and articulate in insisting that as Catholics and as Americans we do not have to choose between the two. There is an urgent need for the lay faithful, in cooperation with Christians, Jews, and others, to impress upon our elected representatives the importance of continued protection of religious liberty in a free society. We address a particular word to those holding public office. It is your noble task to govern for the common good. It does not serve the common good to treat the good works of religious believers as a threat to our common life; to the contrary, they are essential to its proper functioning. It is also your task to protect and defend those fundamental liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. This ought not to be a partisan issue. The Constitution is not for Democrats or Republicans or Independents. It is for all of us, and a great nonpartisan effort should be led by our elected representatives to ensure that it remains so. We recognize that a special responsibility belongs to those Catholics who are responsible for our impressive array of hospitals, clinics, universities, colleges, schools, adoption agencies, overseas development projects, and social service agencies that provide assistance to the poor, the hungry, immigrants, and those faced with crisis pregnancies. You do the work that the Gospel mandates that we do. It is you who may be forced to choose between the good works we do by faith, and fidelity to that faith itself. We encourage you to hold firm, to stand fast, and to insist upon what belongs to you by right as Catholics and Americans. Our country deserves the best we have to offer, including our resistance to violations of our first freedom. To our priests, especially those who have responsibility for parishes, university chaplaincies, and high schools, we ask for a catechesis on religious liberty suited to the souls in your care. As bishops we can provide guidance to assist you, but the courage and zeal for this task cannot be obtained from another—it must be rooted in your own concern for your flock and nourished by the graces you received at your ordination. Catechesis on religious liberty is not the work of priests alone. The Catholic Church in America is blessed with an immense number of writers, producers, artists, publishers, filmmakers, and bloggers employing all the means of communications—both old and new media—to expound and teach the faith. They too have a critical role in this great struggle for religious liberty. We call upon them to use their skills and talents in defense of our first freedom. Finally to our brother bishops, let us exhort each other with fraternal charity to be bold, clear, and insistent in warning against threats to the rights of our people. Let us attempt to be the “conscience of the state,” to use Rev. King’s words. In the aftermath of the decision on contraceptive and sterilization mandates, many spoke out forcefully. As one example, the words of one of our most senior brothers, Cardinal Roger Mahony, thirty-five years a bishop and recently retired after twenty-five years as archbishop of Los Angeles, provide a model for us here: “I cannot imagine a more direct and frontal attack on freedom of conscience than this ruling today. This decision must be fought against with all the energies the Catholic community can muster.”15 A Fortnight for Freedom In particular, we recommend to our brother bishops that we focus “all the energies the Catholic community can muster” in a special way this coming summer. As pastors of the flock, our privileged task is to lead the Christian faithful in prayer. Both our civil year and liturgical year point us on various occasions to our heritage of freedom. This year, we propose a special “fortnight for freedom,” in which bishops in their own dioceses might arrange special events to highlight the importance of defending our first freedom. Our Catholic institutions also could be encouraged to do the same, especially in cooperation with other Christians, Jews, people of other faiths, and indeed, all who wish to defend our most cherished freedom. We suggest that the fourteen days from June 21—the vigil of the Feasts of St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More—to July 4, Independence Day, be dedicated to this “fortnight for freedom”—a great hymn of prayer for our country. Our liturgical calendar celebrates a series of great martyrs who remained faithful in the face of persecution by political power—St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More, St. John the Baptist, SS. Peter and Paul, and the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome. Culminating on Independence Day, this special period of prayer, study, catechesis, and public action would emphasize both our Christian and American heritage of liberty. Dioceses and parishes around the country could choose a date in that period for special events that would constitute a great national campaign of teaching and witness for religious liberty. In addition to this summer’s observance, we also urge that the Solemnity of Christ the King—a feast born out of resistance to totalitarian incursions against religious liberty—be a day specifically employed by bishops and priests to preach about religious liberty, both here and abroad. To all our fellow Catholics, we urge an intensification of your prayers and fasting for a new birth of freedom in our beloved country. We invite you to join us in an urgent prayer for religious liberty. Almighty God, Father of all nations, For freedom you have set us free in Christ Jesus (Gal 5:1). We praise and bless you for the gift of religious liberty, the foundation of human rights, justice, and the common good. Grant to our leaders the wisdom to protect and promote our liberties; By your grace may we have the courage to defend them, for ourselves and for all those who live in this blessed land. We ask this through the intercession of Mary Immaculate, our patroness, and in the name of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, with whom you live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. * Acknowledgements* Excerpts from The Documents of Vatican II, Walter M. Abbott, SJ, General Editor, copyright © 1966 by America Press, Inc. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved. Excerpt from Pope Benedict XVI, Ad limina address to bishops of the United States, January 19, 2012, copyright © 2012, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Vatican City. Used with permission. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2012, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, DC. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright holder. The document Our First, Most Cherished Liberty: A Statement on Religious Liberty, was developed by the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). It was approved by the Administrative Committee of the USCCB at its March 2012 meeting as a statement of the Committee and has been authorized for publication by the undersigned. Msgr. Ronny E. Jenkins, JCD General Secretary, USCCB Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty Chairman Most Rev. William E. Lori, Archbishop-designate of Baltimore Bishop Members Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington Most Rev. Charles J. Chaput, OFM Cap, Archbishop of Philadelphia Most Rev. Wilton D. Gregory, Archbishop of Atlanta Most Rev. John C. Nienstedt, Archbishop of St. Paul–Minneapolis Most Rev. Thomas J. Rodi, Archbishop of Mobile Most Rev. J. Peter Sartain, Archbishop of Seattle Most Rev. John O. Barres, Bishop of Allentown Most Rev. Daniel E. Flores, Bishop of Brownsville Most Rev. Thomas J. Olmsted, Bishop of Phoenix Most Rev. Thomas J. Paprocki, Bishop of Springfield, IL Bishop Consultants Most Rev. José H. Gomez, Archbishop of Los Angeles Most Rev. Stephen E. Blaire, Bishop of Stockton Most Rev. Joseph P. McFadden, Bishop of Harrisburg Most Rev. Richard E. Pates, Bishop of Des Moines Most Rev. Kevin C. Rhoades, Bishop of Fort Wayne–South Bend ENDNOTES Cardinal James Gibbons, Address upon taking possession of Santa Maria in Trastevere, March 25, 1887. Benedict XVI, Ad limina address to bishops of the United States, January 19, 2012. Most Rev. William E. Lori, Chairman, USCCB Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty, Oral Testimony Before the Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives, February 28, 2012. Most Rev. Thomas J. Rodi, Archbishop of Mobile, August 1, 2011. Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations, Statement, January 24, 2012. James Madison, “Property,” March 29, 1792, in The Founding Fathers, eds. Philip B. Kurland and Ralph Lerner (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1987), accessed March 27, 2012. http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch16s23.html James Madison, “Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessment,” June 20, 1785, in The Founding Fathers, accessed March 27, 2012. http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/amendI_religions43.html Michael Novak and Jana Novak, Washington’s God, 2006. Anson Phelps Stokes, Church and State in the United States (Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1950), 678. Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, 565 U.S. _, 132 S. Ct. 694, 703 (2012). Martin Luther King Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” April 16, 1963. Second Vatican Council, Declaration on Religious Liberty (Dignitatis Humanae), no. 2, in The Documents of Vatican II, ed. Walter M. Abbott (New York: Guild Press, 1966). Letter from Leith Anderson et al. to President Obama, December 21, 2011 (available at www.becketfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/To-President-NonCatholics-RelExemptionSigned.pdf). Evangelicals and Catholics Together, “In Defense of Religious Freedom,” First Things, March 2012. Cardinal Roger Mahony, “Federal Government Mandate for Contraceptive/Sterilization Coverage,” Cardinal Roger Mahony Blogs L.A. (blog), January 20, 2012, cardinalrogermahonyblogsla.blogspot.com/2012/01/federal-government-mandate-for.html

Summary of today’s show: Our regular panel reviews the headlines of the week, including Pope Benedict’s 7th anniversary as Pope and 85th birthday; the appointment of Fr. Kevin Sepe to the significant post of Secretary for Parish Life and Leadership in the Archdiocese; the Pilot’s extensive coverage of the NCEA convention last week; a profile of the Fall River diocese’s office of pastoral planning; the Vatican’s call for reform of a US religious women’s group; defeat of an assisted suicide bill in Vermont; and the US bishops’ statement on religious liberty. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Susan Abbott Today’s guest(s): Fr. Roger Landry, executive editor of The Anchor, the newspaper of the Fall River diocese; and Gregory Tracy, managing editor of The Pilot, the newspaper of the Boston archdiocese 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: Pope’s anniversary; Fr. Sepe’s new role; NCEA; religious liberty 1st segment: Scot welcomed everyone to the show and talked about his recent time he’s been able to spend with his family. Susan said tomorrow she’s looking forward to the Co-Workers in the Vineyard conference taking place tomorrow at t Our Lady Help of Christians Parish in Newton. Many different offices and ministries are participating and producing the conference together for parish staff, pastoral associates, and other parishioners. 2nd segment: Scot noted that today is the seventh anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI on April 19, 2005. Rick played a clip from CNN of the announcement of the pope’s election. Scot asked Susan for her recollection. She said she was in her office at the tribunal building in Brighton. They’d heard the announcement was coming and they all gathered in a small conference room with a TV along with people from some other offices to hear the announcement. Susan said her pastor, Msgr. Helmick, was in St. Peter’s Square that day. It’s exciting to see the tradition and the Holy Spirit at work. Greg said the Pilot was in Cray library at the old chancery and they gathered in a room with a TV there as well. He recalls the reactions of people after all the speculation on who would be elected. He said no one was upset although they might have been hoping for a Latin American or African. Fr. Roger said he was on a priests’ retreat in Pembroke when it was announced the white smoke from the Sistine Chapel had gone up. They decided to tell the priests before the conference that it was happening and interrupt. He recalls being certain it was going to be Ratzinger after just four votes. It made the rest of the retreat very memorable “As a man grows older: Papal milestones prompt celebration, speculation,” Catholic News Service, 4/12/12 Scot said this past Monday was also another significant date for the Holy Father as he celebrated his 85th birthday. He is the now the sixth oldest pope in recorded history. Pope Leo XIII was over 93 years old when he died. The others were Clement XII, Clement X, Pius IX, and Innocent XII. Some have asked how old a pope would be before resigning. Scot asked Fr. Roger. He said Cardinal Ratzinger had offered his advice to Pope John Paul II on this, but John Paul wrote in 2004 that he never looked at the papacy as a job, but as the vocation of a father., Fathers don’t resign from their fatherhood and he wouldn’t as long as he could continue. That was probably from the advice he got from Ratzinger at the time. Scot noted that the holy Father recently traveled to Mexico and Cuba and then celebrated the very rigorous Holy Week. Greg said his recollection in Cuba was that the Holy Father was very vigorous during his trip. He said John Paul II set a tone and expectation of being very energetic and making many trips, but Pope Benedict has set a different tone. Susan said it’s not important whether he can walk the length of St. Peter’s, but what is important is that he’s working on a new encyclical and a new volume in his trilogy of books on Jesus of Nazareth. His writings are far more important than that he does these other tasks. Fr. Roger said he expects the Holy Father will put most of his work into his homilies each week, his book on Jesus, and a continued renewal of the Church, especially the episcopacy, trying to choose the right men to be bishops. There have been rumors in Rome this week that a reconciliation with the Society of St. Pius X, the only schism since the Second Vatican Council. Signs are very hopeful that the schism will be brought to a conclusion, and this was a major part of the Holy Father’s work in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. 3rd segment: Scot said in the Pilot this week is the announcement of the appointment of Fr. Arthur Mackay to be pastor at Our Lady of the Assumption Parish in Marshfield. He was recently ordained from Bl. John XXIII Seminary, which is for late vocations. Another big appointment concerns Fr. Kevin Sepe who has been pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Braintree. He will succeed Fr. Tom Foley as Secretary for the Parish Life and Leadership. Fr. Foley will become an Air Force chaplain. Scot said he’s a wonderful builder of fraternity and well liked by his brother priests. St Francis of Assisi Parish, Braintree Secretariat for Parish Life and Leadership Greg said Fr. Foley said in the Pilot story that he felt a calling to the military chaplaincy. Greg said of Fr. Sepe that he has been known for his work with seminarians, senior priests, and other priests. Scot said some priests are known as builders of great community in their rectories. Susan said Fr. Sepe has high standards for his religious education program, and a few years ago the parish received an award from the town of Braintree for their work in religious education with special needs kids. He’s been at St. Francis since 1998. He was ordained in 1986. Scot said he hopes to have Fr. Foley on the show before he ends his tenure on July 1. Fr. Roger said military chaplaincy is very demanding and rewarding work among young men and women willing to lay down their lives for their country. Many of these young people will only see a priest once every few months in the theater of operations. There is a great demand for priests in military service. He said the military lately has been getting some of the finest priests available even where they don’t have many of them. Scot said the Pilot has extensive coverage of the NCEA convention in Boston last week. Greg said it’s the second time the convention has been here. They had expected 8,000 attendees and got over 10,000, which is a record. They were at the Hynes for workshops and talks and networking. A big part of the convention was the expo where vendors could show their wares. Greg said the nature of the vendors has changed a lot from 2004 when he saw it last. There’s now a lot about iPads and other technology in schools. NCEA Greg said the fact that the convention was in Boston allowed many schools to send their entire faculty to the convention. Some schools had each staff member attend a different workshop and then brief the rest on what they had learned. Susan said the liturgies were among her favorite part. They were reverently done, despite being in a giant auditorium seating 10,000 people. The music was wonderful with a different group each day. They had a number of school choirs providing the music. Susan said her first NCEA was in 1984 and then 1991 when they were in Boston before. She said this convention was the best because of the energy of the group. Scot said he was stunned by the number of exhibitors showing some kind of new technology for our local schools. Scot said in the Anchor this week is another profile of a Diocese of Fall River office, the Office of Pastoral Planning. Fr. Roger said they give a snapshot of the typical work in that office. Pastoral Planning is about more than closing or merging parishes, but advancing the mission of the diocese as a whole. One initiative is the formation of leaders in parishes to set up pastoral plans. Scot noted that in Boston, the associate director of the Office of Pastoral Planning has left for another job and the director has been reassigned by his religious order, so Fr. Paul Soper, pastor of St. Albert the Great in Weymouth, will be filling in part-time until a new director is appointed. 4th segment: Scot said a significant story in the Church broke yesterday regarding an action by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith with regard to the Leadership Council for Women Religious. Fr. Roger said there was an investigation begun a few years ago of this group because of the some of the teachings of the Church were not being supported and being disputed in some cases by the leadership or speakers at conferences. “Citing doctrinal problems, Vatican announces reforms of US nuns’ group”, Catholic News Service, 4/18/12 The Vatican has appointed Archbishop Peter Sartain of Seattle has been appointed to lead a reform of the group. Fr. Roger said women’s religious groups ought to be known for their fidelity to the Church’s teachings. He also noted that some of these religious orders have very few vocations, while those that are growing are the more orthodox orders that don’t belong to the LCWR. Fr. Roger hopes it’s an opportunity for real, genuine renewal. Scot said women religious have made many contributions to the Church over the years. The LCWR represents about 80 percent of the country’s women religious, although many of those communities aren’t growing quickly, which some say is because of straying from Catholic teaching. Greg said there was a meeting of women religious at Stonehill College a few years ago in which Cardinal Seán and Cardinal Rode spoke, and Cardinal Rode said some orders had moved outside the bounds of the Church. Susan said this report grew out of the apostolic visitation of women’s religious orders that began in December 2008 and was submitted to the Vatican this past December. Scot said they said yesterday that the revising of statutes and reviewing liturgical texts and affiliation with problematic organizations among other actions could take about 5 years. Fr. Roger said the timeline could depend on how much resistance there will be. He said some people are encouraging the LCWR to leave the Church and form a secular organization. This highlights the problems underlying the leadership of these groups. Scot said another local story reported in the Anchor was the defeat of an assisted suicide bill in Vermont. He said he hopes this has a positive ripple effect in Massachusetts. It also notes some recent polls in Massachusetts that indicate those opposed to assisted suicide have their work cut out for them. The poll showed 43% in Massachusetts were in favor of assisted suicide with 37% opposed. There’s also an age gap, with those who are older very opposed while those who are younger but in a caregiver age range are in favor. Fr. Roger said those who have been pushing this have been better at getting their message out. Even in Vermont, which is among the most liberal states in the country, people were opposed to assisted suicide. Suicide Is Always a Tragedy Fr. Roger’s editorial this week concerns the US bishops’ document on religious liberty. He said this is a very significant intervention by the bishops. He said their statement on not obeying unjust laws was very courageous. They also concretely addressed the various groups in the Church to assimilate these words and work to protect religious liberty. He encouraged everyone to read the document. “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty: A Statement on Religious Liberty”, USCCB Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, 4/12/12 “Catholics urged to resist unjust laws, join in ‘fortnight for freedom’”, Catholic News Service, 4/12/12 Greg said his experience is that we shouldn’t be surprised that people around need to hear about this issue from us, however much we think they’re well-informed.

Summary of today’s show: Hundreds of young Catholics gather in the North End each spring for the annual Eucharistic Congress for College Students and Young Adults, together in prayer, service, and public witness including a Eucharistic procession in the streets with Cardinal Seán. Scot Landry and Fr. Matt Williams previewed the Congress coming up on April 27 & 28 with seminarian Patrick Fiorillo and Fr. Dan Hennessey, including the topic of “Ordinary People, Extraordinary Life” and the speakers: Cardinal Seán, Sr. Helena Burns, fsp, Damon Owens, and Fr. Derek Borek. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Matt Williams Today’s guest(s): Patrick Florillo, Fr. Daniel Hennessey Links from today’s show: 5th Annual Eucharistic Congress for College Students and Young Adults Office for the New Evangelization of Youth and Young Adults Photos from previous Eucharistic Congresses Today’s topics: 2012 Eucharistic Congress Boston 1st segment: Scot and Fr. Matt talked about celebrating Divine Mercy Sunday this past week. He celebrated Mass at St. Joseph, Holbrook, and at the state prison in Norfolk. He said it was an amazing experience to celebrate Mass there because of what the Lord is doing through the ministry there, including Cursillo and the Dominican Third Order. He’s been doing prison ministry for four years now and when he goes there, he finds God alive in their eyes. They give him a warm welcome each time. To be able to proclaim God’s mercy in a prison is humbling. He said they may be more free in God’s spirit than many people walking around the streets of Boston. They discussed Fr. Matt’s latest video blog on how to face your fears. Fr. Matt said, “Fear is useless. Trust Jesus.” Fr. Matt said the Pope coincidentally spoke about the fear the apostles faced. Fr. Matt’s latest blog Fr. Matt also recalled how he preached this past Sunday on the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. In the midst of the tragedy, there was another vessel bringing great hope. It was the priest, Fr. Thomas Byles. On that evening, when the Titanic hit the iceberg, he was praying the Divine Office. He ultimately made his way to the deck and assisted people into the boats. At least twice, he refused to get into the boats. Instead, he heard confessions, prayed the Rosary, and helped people turned to the Lord. One of the last recollections of him was being surrounded by people of all faiths on their knees while he prayed for them. God’s mercy came to them as they prayed for their deaths. He was a vessel of God’s mercy. “Death sat upon the bow of the Titanic”, The Pilot, 4/13/12 2nd segment: Scot and Fr. Matt welcomed Patrick Fiorillo from St. John’s Seminary. He said he’s from St. Mary in Franklin, Mass. He studied music production at University of Hartford. He heard the call to the priesthood about halfway through college. With a bachelor’s degree, he will study philosophy for two years and theology for four. His favorite class right now is on the topic of the study of the soul. Patrick said he’s a drummer, playing jazz and rock, andy hat’s what got him into music school. He later fell into classical music and that became the focus of his recording engineer career. He took up singing as a hobby and that became part of the practice of his faith. He now sings sacred music and sings in the choir and cantoring. He said he was literally tone deaf before entering college so the fact he can hit the right pitches is miraculous to him. Patrick said he doesn’t play drums in a sacred context yet, but he does play timpani on certain sacred music occasions. There are about 15 men in the the 2nd year pre-theology class. They study Latin, Greek, SPanish, the Catechism, and two courses of philosophy each semester. At the Eucharistic Congress, he’s leading music. He’s planning some new hymns and some old ones, plus some chants from the new Roman Missal. He hinted at a secret selection that’s both centuries old and brand-new at the same time. 3rd segment: Scot welcomed Fr. Dan Hennesey to the show. Scot said the Congress is co-sponsored by the Office for Vocations, Office for Campus Ministry, and Office for the New Evangelization of Youth and Young Adults. Fr. Dan said they planned it five years ago to bring together college students and young adults. He said a lot of students and young adults they might not have opportunity to meet other Catholics their age to socialize and pray with. One of the inspirations for the Congress was Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati, a young man at the beginning of the 20th century in Italy. Man of the Beatitudes Fr. Dan said Bl. PG used to go to Mass every Saturday before going to visit the poor, bringing them gifts and doing chores around their homes, paying their bills, and so on. One day, his friends were going hiking and they wanted him to come instead of going to Mass and serving the poor. He said when he goes to Mass, the Lord visits him in his home, his soul, and in the afternoon, he returns the favor by visiting the Lord in his home, among the poor. So in this Congress, they visit the Lord in the Eucharist and among the poor. This year, the Congress is Friday evening, April 27, and Saturday, April 28, in the North End of Boston. Fr. Matt said the North End is a beautiful old Italian-American neighborhood. They’ve been doing the Congress for five years now and people have become used to them. The weather is usually cooperative and it’s an opportunity see the city and meet other people. Scot asked Patrick why all this comes together so well in the Congress. Patrick said the summit of the event is a public procession of the Eucharist in the evening through the streets. He said not everyone experiences Eucharistic adoration. So they get adoration, procession, Mass and service in a package you don’t get to experience any other time. Scot said Eucharistic processions are more uncommon today. Patrick said this was his first Eucharistic process last year. It was a powerful experience walking the streets among people just out and going about their business. The people see it and know right away that this is not just a typical cultural Catholic gathering. Fr. Dan said it’s amazing to behold the procession. One year it was so freezing cold and as they were walking they imagined it must be a witness to faith. He’s heard about stories of moments of conversion in the hearts of those observing. He said very often they will walk by a group of people and they offer a candle to them and ask them to join in. He notes that people are usually reverent and respectful, even if they don’t understand or don’t believe as we do. Fr. Matt said a nice addition to the Congress has been places where they stop, place the Eucharist on an altar, and everyone kneels down. There are at least three locations, including right outside St. Leonard’s. People can’t help but ask what is going on here. If you’re Catholic, it has to at least trigger the question of what you really believe. He said as they cross Hanover Street, which holds traffic for up to five minutes, and all the people come to the windows of the restaurants and even come outside. He recalls seeing people actually sobbing as they watched. Scot asked why they end with the procession. Fr. Dan said they are ending by sending people out as missionaries. The procession is the first step in the mission and the witness is part of that mission. Fr. Dan mentioned the story of one young woman who had been looking at graduate schools around the country, including Boston, so when she Googled “Boston” and “Catholic” and saw their website and all the pictures of the Eucharistic Congress and that convinced her to come to Boston. Scot said the bulk of Saturday is witnessing through service projects. Fr. Dan said each year, they have their mainstay service projects and they add some other ones. They send people to Boston Common and the public gardens with the Little Brothers of St. Francis to visit some of the homeless to bring food and clothing and be with them. Another project includes visiting the inform priests, doing cleanup around the neighborhoods or doing a spring cleaning at some of the parishes. Cardinal Sean is always involved in the Congresses. Fr. Matt said the cardinal has a great love for young people. He celebrates the Mass on Saturday evening and then joins them for the dinner after. He then joins the Eucharistic procession. 4th segment: This week’s benefactor card raffle winner is Robert Caissie from Wakefield, MA He wins Praying with Blessed Pope John Paul II (Companions for the Journey). 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. 5th segment: Scot said the theme for the Congress this year is “Ordinary People, Extraordinary Life”. Fr. Dan said it means that to live the Catholic live, it is an extraordinary life. Everyone wants a life with meaning. So they wanted to have someone speak on being drawn into the extraordinary life. There are three keynote speakers. Sr. Helena Burns, fsp, speaking on Bodies Are Not Optional: Living Catholic in the Digital Age, asking what it means to be human online. Our use of media technology is altering our bodies, influencing our minds, wills, and hearts. Our media use is changing us as human beings. But what does it mean to be human? How can we use media in a way that is truly human and never de-humanizing? Social media is a significant part of the lives of young adults and she speak to their experience. Scot said the Daughters of St. Paul have been pioneers in the Church with new media. Fr. Matt Sr. Helena is currently involved in working on a film about the life of their founder, Bl. Alberione, and has studied screenwriting. Scot asked Patrick how social media affects young adults. Patrick said it can have the tendency to dehumanize. Facebook friends can become substitutes for real friends. On the positive side, it can be used as a tool to evangelize. On Saturday, Fr. Derek Borek from St. John’s Seminary will speak on what it means to gather at the Eucharist every week or every day and what does it mean to give ourselves away in love outside of the Mass. We are called to imitate Jesus’ self-giving, being blessed and broken and given like the Eucharist. In the evening, Damon Owens of the Theology of the Body Institute, will speak on “Working out Salvation”. Fr. Matt said Damon is a nationally recognized speaker on marriage and theology of the body. He also has a background in Opus Dei, which contributes to his talk on connecting our worship and our work. We are to sanctify our work, sanctify ourselves in our work, and sanctify others through our work. Work, for the believer, should be a joyful occasion for us to “work out our salvation”. The seriousness and devotion by which we take our work can sanctify our work and sanctify us. Patrick said it’s important for us to get out and experience the universal Church outside our own parish groups or our experience of the Church will be limited. A big part of his conversion was experiencing the wider Church in all the different ways people are living out their faith and seeing how it all comes together in the Body of Christ. Fr. Matt said after Mass with Cardinal Seán, they will make their way across the street for dinner in the school cafeteria, which is catered by a number of the restaurants of the North End. Many restaurants donate food, enough to feed 650 people. The music in the evening program will also be provided by Jon Niven, who will do some praise and worship, followed by Damon’s talk, then adoration, then the Eucharistic procession. To register, go to the website link above.

Summary of today’s show: The National Catholic Educational Association 2012 convention gathered more than 10,000 educators in Boston last week to inspire, energize, and teach one another in how best to follow their ministries. Scot Landry went to the floor of the convention last week to speak with members of the Boston archdiocese’s Catholic Schools Office—Mary Grassa-O’Neill, Sheila Kukstiss, and Jorge Hernandez—about what it means to host the convention and share the good news of Catholic education in New England. Then Scot sat down with Fr. Ronald Rolheiser, the keynote speaker for the day, to discuss his topic, “Keeping a mellow heart in a bitter time.” Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Today’s host(s): Scot Landry Today’s guest(s): Dr. Mary Grassa-O’Neill, Fr. Ronald Rolheiser, Jorge Hernandez, Sheila Kukstiss Links from today’s show: National Catholic Educational Association Photos from the 2012 Convention in Boston Social Media website for NCEA 2012 Fr. Ron Rolheiser’s website Today’s topics: NCEA Convention 2012 in Boston 1st segment: Scot said last Wednesday, he and Rick Heil traveled to the Hynes Convention Center in Boston to tape a special show at the first day of the National Catholic Educational Association annual convention, which gathered 10,000 people in Boston to discuss Catholic education. Scot said it was a joy to be surrounded by so many people who had such a great spirit of hope for the future of Catholic education in this country. Rick said a lot of the workshops he poked his head into had a great energy and he noticed a great emphasis on the Catholicity of their education. 2nd segment: Scot welcomed listeners to the Hynes Convention Center and welcomed Mary Grassa O’Neill, Sheila Kukstiss, and Jorge Hernandez from the Catholic Schools Office of the Archdiocese of Boston, who were key to the organization of the NCEA convention in Boston. Mary said it’s brilliant that the NCEA is in Boston because it means all of our Catholic schools can participate and as Cardinal Seán said, we love showing off our city. It’s a once in a lifetime career opportunity for many to meet their colleagues from across the country. Sheila said there were two award recipients from Boston for honors from the NCEA. Sheila said the recipients were St. Patrick Parish in Lawrence and Cardinal Spellman High School in Brockton, honored for their Catholic identity. Sheils said it was a had choice to single them out among all the schools. She said what stood out at St. Patrick was the work with Cor Unum meal center. Cardinal Spellman does a great job with getting their students alive with Catholic identity through their liturgies and Catholic service teams. Scot asked Jorge about his initial experiences at NCEA. It was his first time at the convention. He said it’s great to have all these people in Boston over the course of three days, all invested in helping Catholic education thrive and grow. Jorge is Area Superintendent for the Merrimack Valley in the Schools Office. He said it wasn’t hard to convince educators in his area to attend the NCEA. Scot said Cardinal Seán celebrated the opening Mass. Mary said the cardinal was funny and profound and offered challenges and support for Catholic education. She said eight high school choirs performed during the opening Mass. She said about 35 bishops and priests concelebrated and about 10,000 people received Communion. They had many positive comments on the Mass. Scot asked who comes to the NCEA. Mary said seminarians, librarians, religious education teachers, pastors, colleges & universities, in addition to teachers and principals. Sheila said she keeps hearing from people who say they love coming to the convention when it’s in Boston because of the spirit they experience here. Sheila said people come from Argentina, Curacao, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and England among other countries. Scot said the convention is being co-hosted by the dioceses of New England. Jorge said he’s hoping to be able foster the relationships among dioceses in collaboration. Sheila said they had people from all the dioceses of New England working together preparing for the convention, even stuffing ten thousand bags the day prior and they all said how much fun it was to work together. Mary said it’s wonderful to come and make the connections, meeting superintendents from all over the world that she could be in contact with in the future. She said they showed a narrated video about Catholic education in New England that was co-produced with the Catholic Media Secretariat and they got rave reviews for it. Scot asked what led to the decision to have more than one diocese to co-host this convention, which is the first time it’s happened. Mary said all the superintendents and bishops agreed and all the staffs participated. Scot said it’s a blessing to work for a big dioceses because of the resources available and the partnerships that are possible. To involve the other dioceses who would never be able to host a convention is wonderful to be able to share it with them. Sheila said in her experience NCEA conventions have always been able bringing people together. But what has changed is the technology that they use to connect everyone. One example s that they have images from all the dioceses on monitors around the convention center. Jorge said they also had digital displays of students artwork available of all the artwork. Sheila said what doesn’t change is the energy that comes from being with people who share the same passion. Sheila said we’re keeping up with what’s going on in education nationally and internationally through the speakers in keynotes and workshops. Scot asked how many local leaders are involved in speaking in the various workshops. Mary said many of our principals and those on the Catholic Schools team are speaking. Jorge said it’s a tough choice to choose which workshops to participate in, so schools should bring many participants in order to later compare notes. It’s an opportunity to allow all of these people to be able to grow with one another and pick up best practices. Scot asked Sheila was she learned that surprised her. She said what energized her was bringing everyone together to organize this and the community that developed around it. Mary said they’re working to spread the good word of Catholic schools’ success and she’s pleased and honored to be part of this ministry. 3rd segment: Scot welcomed Fr. Ron Rolheiser to the show. He was the inaugural keynote speaker. Scot asked him he likes to speak to the convention. Fr. Ron said it’s one of the larger gathering of Catholic educators in the world, but also there’s a special energy. They are people deeply involved in Catholic education. They are passionate about their jobs and hungry for information on Catholic education. Fr. Ron said it’s the same for all careers, that you have a special energy when you meet with people who do what you do. Scot said Fr. Ron is currently the president of a Catholic college in San Antonio, Texas, the Oblate School of Theology. He’s know as a Catholic author and speaker. Fr. Ron said he tries to limit his speaking to twice a month because he has a full-time job. Scot said Fr. Ron covers many topics of Catholic spirituality. He asked Fr. Ron how defines himself as a Catholic speaker. He said he defines himself in terms of his Catholic spirituality. He said his Catholic education gave him a solid foundation and now he belongs to a missionary order and he sees himself as one who speaks to those who are away from the Church. Fr. Ron tries to write for doubters, questioners, and those struggling, and likes to work with those doing that kind of work. Scot said Fr. Ron is a member of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. He said he grew up knowing the OMI order and that’s why he joined them. They turned out to be a very good choice. The keynote’s title was “Keeping a mellow heart in a bitter time.” Fr. Ron said he picked the topic because it’s something all of society needs to reflect on. The world is in a time of polarization and misunderstandings at a global level that filters down. there’s anger and demonization and bitterness. His challenge was to talk about how to remain understanding and respectful in a time when virtually everything leads otherwise. Scot asked if it’s new that we let politics seep into how we think of our brothers and sisters in the Church. Fr. Ron said it’s always there, but not so intense. Throughout history we went through times of more or less bitterness and division. He cited how Vatican II occurred at a time when documents could be produced that saw no winners of losers. Sadly, today there wouldn’t be such consensus. The media is helping to inflame bitterness and division. Fr. Ron said we end up bracketing three of the most fundamental virtues there are: respect, charity, and graciousness. We do it under the title of cause or truth. He said Jesus was neither liberal or conservative. Instead he goes wherever truth and charity take him. Fr. Ron said the solution is in the Gospel. He pointed out Christ’s opening word: metanoia. We translate it to English as “repent”. The Greek word literally means to “put on a higher mind”. It rejects the fear and ideology of paranoia. Christ could be saying, “trust and believe there can be good news.” We either go to “metanoia” “the big mind” or “paranoia” “small mind”. Then he talked about Christ washing the feet of the apostles. On one level it’s Christ showing the apostles how to serve one another. On another level, it’s about crossing dividing lines. It’s not about saying truth is relative. It’s about how we talk and have a dialogue. entering a conversation with the intent to prove the other wrong is not a dialogue. Intending to understand is a dialogue. What happens is that the extreme positions take over the dialogue and the middle is marginalized. Even if we don’t agree, we owe each other respect and charity. There tends to be mean-spiritedness on both sides, but you don’t see it in Jesus. Scot asked how he address this to Catholic education. Fr. Ron said we have to form Catholic minds and Catholic hearts. The word catholic means universal. We need to form a huge heart, a big mind, a Catholic mind. He said the theme of all his work is to help people to face the mystery of God in their lives.

Summary of today’s show: Each spring, the Church in the US takes up the Black and Indian Mission Collection. Fr. Wayne Paysse and Lorna DesRoses join Scot Landry and Fr. Mark O’Connell to discuss the work of the Black and Indian Mission Office, which was started under the inspiration of St. Katharine Drexel in the late 1800s, and how the grants issued by the office each year provide necessary funding of catechetical and evangelical work in dioceses, parishes, and communities and on reservations, throughout the United States, including in our own Archdiocese of Boston. The Archdiocese is among the most generous to the collection each year and its continued generosity is urgently needed. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Mark O’Connell Today’s guest(s): Lorna DesRoses and Fr. Wayne Paysse Links from today’s show: Black and Indian Mission Office Today’s topics: Black and Indian Mission Office and Collection 1st segment: Scot welcomed Fr. Mark to the show and asked him how he celebrated Easter. Fr. Mark said he spent his time at St. Francis of Assisi in Braintree, where he lives. They also discussed Fr. Gerry Dorgan who is retiring from his parish. Fr. Mark lived in Fr. Dorgan’s parish for two years when he was first ordained and they have been friends ever since. 2nd segment: Scot welcomed Lorna and Fr. Paysse, who is a priest of the Archdiocese of New Orleans and is director of the Black and Indian Mission Office in Washington, DC. Scot asked for an overview of the office. Fr. Paysse said it consists of three organizations: The Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions, Black and Indian Mission Collection, and Catholic Negro-American Mission Board, all of which were founded in the 1800s by the US bishops. The collection was the first nationwide collection. It gives the bishops of the US the funding to evangelize black communities and native American communities. It helps them buy catechetical materials and Bible; provides stipends for clergy; pays for sisters to work on reservations or in black communities. Fr. Warne said every bishop in the US is encouraged to apply for grants every year and most do, but of course most of the native American ministry occurs in the West, SouthWest, and Northern parts of the US and funding for black Catholic communities occurs mainly in the South. Scot said when he heard of this collection, not knowing how far back it went, he wondered why these two missions went together. Fr. Wayne said St. Katharine Drexel was a key influence in this focus. She spoke to the bishops of this need and they were pleased to respond to Mother’s request. Prior to founding her community, she traveled by train across the country with her family and would often see the black and Indian communities and God spoke to her heart. It was part of God’s plan she would go onto be a Mother foundress, work with the bishops, and launch this ministry of evangelization. Fr. Wayne said there is a connection to where he lives as director of the office. They live in a house that the Drexel family had owned and which is now their national office and the director’s residence. St. Katharine sold the house to the Missions for the amount of $1. She knew that for the ministry to take off, they needed a place that would be in a strategic location like DC. Scot asked Lorna how this helps her ministry as director of the Office for Black Catholics in the Archdiocese. She said it helps with their youth leadership retreats, Black Catholic youth revival, and other prayer services and events. Scot asked if there are any outreaches to native Americans in our archdiocese. Lorna said we don’t now, but she’s hopeful that we will someday. Scot said the annual collection is on April 28 and 29. Lorna said the grant request serves not just her office but also a number of individual parishes that serve mainly black Catholics. Scot asked Fr. Wayne how much money is generally raised by this collection and how grant requests they get. Fr. Wayne said 150 or so dioceses applied and they raise anywhere between $6 and $14 million. Fr. Mark asked how the money is distributed. Fr. Wayne said the dioceses send the money to his office. He reviews the applications and prepares a report for their board, which consists of the bishops of New York, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. They then discuss the requests at their board meeting during the US bishops’ conference meeting in June and authorize grants. The grants are distributed in two lumps sums to dioceses and those are distributed at the discretion of the bishop according to the application. Scot said we take our parishes for granted in the northeast, but that Fr. Wayne travels across the country and sees a different picture. Fr. Wayne said he travels about half of each month and remembers in one diocese in Texas, a black parish applied for funding for purchasing hymnals. To this day, he is moved by recalling his arrival at the parish and seeing the people standing in front of the church holding the hymnals. They made a gift to him of a performance of their choir. That particular parish had some struggles, but they were able to assist them in bringing joy to the community. He also remembers going to an Indian parish in Superior, Wisconsin, and when he arrived the children of the parish ran to him and pulled off to a shrine of Bl. Kateri. The children said they painted the statue and planted flowers for his visit and they started to pray in English and in their native language. To see the children and the communities filled with joy, knowing the money from his office brought that joy, is a blessing to him. Fr. Mark asked about native Americans and their Catholic faith. Fr. Wayne said the most recent census shows about 5 million in the US total, and about 500,000- 800,000 are Catholic. There are perhaps even more who have embraced the faith. Fr. Wayne said they have been a blessing to the Church and wen red to continue to foster the faith among. About 60 percent have moved off the reservations and while we need to keep a presence there, we also need to reach out to them in our urban areas. This is one of Fr. Wayne’s goals that together as a team we need to continue the work of Christ among these communities. Scot asked how many dioceses or parishes or missions have native American populations. Fr. Wayne said some dioceses have what we used to call national parishes for native Americans. In the Southwest, we have a number of native Americans. We have some on the East coast if not as many in the West. He said they’re planning a national study looking at native American communities and dioceses. Scot said Archbishop Chaput and Cardinal Dolan are two of the most effective evangelists in our Church and Archbishop Chaput is native American himself. Scot said it’s sobering to realize that if the faith wasn’t passed on to his ancestors, we wouldn’t have him in our Church today. Fr. Wayne said his office was elated when Archbishop Chaput was appointed. He serves on the board by virtue of his office in Philadelphia. Fr. Wayne thanked the people of the Archdiocese of Boston for their support over the years and asked for continued prayers and monetary sacrifices. He said the Archdiocese is in the top 10 highest monies given across the nation, over $300,000. Without those funds, they wouldn’t be able to share with mission outreach to other parts of the country. Some dioceses are so poor that the funding from places like Boston is very important. Lorna said the Office for Black Catholics falls under the Office for Cultural Diversity. She said there is a large black Catholic community in the Archdiocese, including a Cape Verdean community that is the largest outside of Cape Verde, the third-largest Haitian community in the US, and largest Ugandan community in the US. They provide priests who celebrate Mass in Portuguese Creole and Haitian Creole, help them with religious education, and support what are mainly young communities. They pay to train youth ministers, to bring priests from Cape Verde and other expenses. They support 18 parishes that evangelize the black Catholic community. They work with many immigrant groups, but also a very large African American community. Fr. Mark related the impact of seeing a black priests on an inmate on a recent visit to a prison. Lorna said they hope to see an increase in vocations among these communities. Scot asked Fr. Wayne to situate this fund in the broader context of our call to be missionary. Fr. Wayne said by virtue of our baptism we are called to be missionaries. He recalled telling a group of young people how important it is for them to love God each day, to claim their baptismal gift by the grace of the Holy Spirit. He told them that Jesus was the first missionary sent from heaven and then he called the apostles to send them out and the Church has been sending us out as missionaries as well, whether in our homes or parishes or dioceses. We start in our own communities. You don’t have to cross the ocean to be a missionary. Pope Benedict XVI reminded us not long ago that mission is not part of the Church, but that the Church is mission. Scot said Cardinal Sean often says we as a Catholic community do a great job caring for the corporal or bodily needs of others, but the spiritual needs as much attention. This collection does help with those spiritual needs. He said the most holy duty of a bishop is to send a priest to serve the people. This fund enables them to send a priest or sister or catechist to people who could not pay for it themselves. Lorna said for many communities it is a great joy to have a priest to celebrate the Mass for them in their language and to serve them. Scot said he often hears of the of the mission diocese of Gallup, New Mexico. He asked how it is different from Boston. Fr. Wayne said it is a vast territory and very beautiful. In the diocese they have St. Michael’s Indian Mission, staffed by the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, and the funding from the office enables them to continue their work in the elementary and high schools. Bishop James Wall has really embraced the native Americans and shared his dreams for the community with Fr. Wayne. Diocese of Gallup, New Mexico Lorna thanked everyone listening for their generosity to this collection each year. Without it, there wouldn’t be as many parishes able to reach out to these communities. Historically speaking, we need to continue to reach out to these communities as we ever did when the office was founded. She said there are 3 million black Catholics in the USand through education they have brought many people in to the Church. She said she and Fr. Wayne have visited many parishes in the past few days and the pastors were uniformly grateful for the grants they received because it helps them reach out to the community. It helps them with the good work they do in their neighborhoods. 3rd segment: Now as we do each week at this time, we will consider the readings for this Sunday’s Gospel and reflect upon them. First Reading from the Second Sunday of Easter, April 15, 2012 (Acts 4:32-35) The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common. With great power the apostles bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great favor was accorded them all. There was no needy person among them, for those who owned property or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sale, and put them at the feet of the apostles, and they were distributed to each according to need. Gospel of the Second Sunday of Easter, April 15, 2012 (John 20:19-31) On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nailmarks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.” Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name. Scot said these readings come within the context of Divine Mercy Sunday. He said one of the main themes of Divine Mercy is that we have peace. One way to have peace is turning to God for his mercy. Fr. Wayne said as we look at the readings in light of Divine Mercy, the opening sentence of the reading from Acts, where the community is of one heart and mind, speaks of peace and unity. We too must be of one heart and mind. Jesus wants us to have peace and be merciful as he is merciful to us. Lorna said what stays with her is Christ saying Peace be with you three times. Also that Jesus came through the door that was locked out of fear and told them not to be afraid, but to go out to the place they feared. Also, Thomas wasn’t there, but Jesus came again so Thomas could experience and see him. Scot said we’ve all had our Thomas moments when we’ve tried to put conditions on our relationship with God. Fr. Mark said Thomas is a complex person. He’s the doubter, but he’s also the only time in the Gospel that Jesus is referred to as God. Earlier in the Gospel, Thomas is the one who calls the apostles to continue on the way to Bethany. Scot said the apostles are locked in the room because they’re in fear, but through the encounter with Jesus, they are given the Holy Spirit and sent out. Fr. Wayne said that message is for each one of us. We have to be honest with ourselves that from time to time we are fearful of many things, but when we are in the presence f Christ, Jesus brings his peace to strengthen and focus us to move forward as his disciple. Scot said Jesus says clearly that the apostles will forgive sins in his name. It shows how much love God has for us. Lorna said through the sacraments we have the opportunity to return to God for forgiveness. Confession such an important way to encounter God. Fr. Mark points out that in the first reading we see the generosity of the early Christians who don’t count their possessions as their own, and we see that fits with today’s topic of giving of what we have to support those who are in need. Fr. Wayne said this year Pope Benedict will canonize Blessed Kateri, the Mohawk maiden, in October. the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions will lead the official pilgrimage to Rome. The month prior to that, they will lead a pilgrimage to Chicago to promote the cause of Fr. Augustus Tolton, the first US black priest to have a cause for canonization opened. Fr. Augustus Tolton Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha

Summary of today’s show: Easter week continues as Scot Landry is joined by Antonio Enrique and Domenico Bettinelli to discuss the headlines of the week, including Pope Benedict’s Easter Sunday Urbi et Orbi message; the US bishops’ latest and forceful statement on religious liberty; Divine Mercy Sunday; 40 Days for Life; the rescinding of an invitation to Vicki Kennedy to a Catholic college commencement. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Today’s host(s): Scot Landry Today’s guest(s): Antonio Enrique, editor of The Pilot, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston, and Domenico Bettinelli, creative director of Pilot New Media 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: Pope Benedict’s Urbi et Orbi; US bishops statement on religious liberty; Divine Mercy Sunday; 40 Days for Life; Kennedy commencement address 1st segment: Scot Landry welcomed Antonio Enrique and Dom Bettinelli to the show. Scot asked how their Easters are going, noting that we celebrate Easter over eight days. Dom said his kids are continuing to sing the Easter hymns and prayers they hard at the Easter vigil. Antonio said his own parish has an Easter Vigil that lasts all night and his whole family attends. Scot said on Easter Sunday the Holy Father gives an address called Urbi et Obri, meaning “To the City and the World.” Scot read most of the pope’s message. Urbi Et Orbi Message of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, Easter 2012 “Christ’s resurrection changed the world, pope says at Easter”, Catholic News Service, 4/8/12 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Rome and throughout the world! “Surrexit Christus, spes mea” – “Christ, my hope, has risen” (Easter Sequence). May the jubilant voice of the Church reach all of you with the words which the ancient hymn puts on the lips of Mary Magdalene, the first to encounter the risen Jesus on Easter morning. She ran to the other disciples and breathlessly announced: “I have seen the Lord!” (Jn 20:18). We too, who have journeyed through the desert of Lent and the sorrowful days of the Passion, today raise the cry of victory: “He has risen! He has truly risen!” Every Christian relives the experience of Mary Magdalene. It involves an encounter which changes our lives: the encounter with a unique Man who lets us experience all God’s goodness and truth, who frees us from evil not in a superficial and fleeting way, but sets us free radically, heals us completely and restores our dignity. This is why Mary Magdalene calls Jesus “my hope”: he was the one who allowed her to be reborn, who gave her a new future, a life of goodness and freedom from evil. “Christ my hope” means that all my yearnings for goodness find in him a real possibility of fulfilment: with him I can hope for a life that is good, full and eternal, for God himself has drawn near to us, even sharing our humanity. But Mary Magdalene, like the other disciples, was to see Jesus rejected by the leaders of the people, arrested, scourged, condemned to death and crucified. It must have been unbearable to see Goodness in person subjected to human malice, truth derided by falsehood, mercy abused by vengeance. With Jesus’ death, the hope of all those who had put their trust in him seemed doomed. But that faith never completely failed: especially in the heart of the Virgin Mary, Jesus’ Mother, its flame burned even in the dark of night. In this world, hope can not avoid confronting the harshness of evil. It is not thwarted by the wall of death alone, but even more by the barbs of envy and pride, falsehood and violence. Jesus passed through this mortal mesh in order to open a path to the kingdom of life. For a moment Jesus seemed vanquished: darkness had invaded the land, the silence of God was complete, hope a seemingly empty word. And lo, on the dawn of the day after the Sabbath, the tomb is found empty. Jesus then shows himself to Mary Magdalene, to the other women, to his disciples. Faith is born anew, more alive and strong than ever, now invincible since it is based on a decisive experience: “Death with life contended: combat strangely ended! Life’s own champion, slain, now lives to reign”. The signs of the resurrection testify to the victory of life over death, love over hatred, mercy over vengeance: “The tomb the living did enclose, I saw Christ’s glory as he rose! The angels there attesting, shroud with grave-clothes resting”. Dear brothers and sisters! If Jesus is risen, then – and only then – has something truly new happened, something that changes the state of humanity and the world. Then he, Jesus, is someone in whom we can put absolute trust; we can put our trust not only in his message but in Jesus himself, for the Risen One does not belong to the past, but is present today, alive. Christ is hope and comfort in a particular way for those Christian communities suffering most for their faith on account of discrimination and persecution. And he is present as a force of hope through his Church, which is close to all human situations of suffering and injustice. May the risen Christ grant hope to the Middle East and enable all the ethnic, cultural and religious groups in that region to work together to advance the common good and respect for human rights. Particularly in Syria, may there be an end to bloodshed and an immediate commitment to the path of respect, dialogue and reconciliation, as called for by the international community. May the many refugees from that country who are in need of humanitarian assistance find the acceptance and solidarity capable of relieving their dreadful sufferings. May the paschal victory encourage the Iraqi people to spare no effort in pursuing the path of stability and development. In the Holy Land, may Israelis and Palestinians courageously take up anew the peace process. May the Lord, the victor over evil and death, sustain the Christian communities of the African continent; may he grant them hope in facing their difficulties, and make them peacemakers and agents of development in the societies to which they belong. May the risen Jesus comfort the suffering populations of the Horn of Africa and favour their reconciliation; may he help the Great Lakes Region, Sudan and South Sudan, and grant their inhabitants the power of forgiveness. In Mali, now experiencing delicate political developments, may the glorious Christ grant peace and stability. To Nigeria, which in recent times has experienced savage terrorist attacks, may the joy of Easter grant the strength needed to take up anew the building of a society which is peaceful and respectful of the religious freedom of all its citizens. Happy Easter to all! Scot said he notes how present the word ‘hope’ is in the messages of Pope Benedict. Dom said this is a time when so many are lacking in hope. He recalled Eric Genuis said on Monday’s show that he sees a lack of hope in the 100,000 youth per year he plays for and Pope Benedict is holding up Christ as the single point of hope. In a time of a lack of faith, we see a lack of hope. Pope Benedict is telling us that Christ is present to us today, He is alive today. Scot said the most important fact in the Christianity is that Christ is alive and rose from the dead. Antonio said as important is that he left us the Holy Spirit. The Resurrection is a fact that carries on in history and helps people to have change in their lives. Antonio recalled a Russian story during the Communist re-education of Orthodox Christians to convince them of atheism. “The Christians who upstaged their atheist Russian leader” The Risen Christ brought hope to them and it brings hope to us today. Antonio said Pope John Paul II said in Evangelium Vitae that no matter how hard things become, we know how the story ends: Christ is victorious. Scot said at Easter what stands out to him is the joy of Alleluia as part of the season and how quickly we can leave the spirit of Alleluia when we return to our normal daily lives. Easter is an octave to allow it to take root in our daily lives. Dom said the joy of Easter could be hard to sustain so what do we do to keep Easter alive in us. Easter is also a season of 50 days until Pentecost. We can pray the prayers of Easter, remembering to say Alleluia, to wish a happy Easter to others. Returning to hope, this hope is not a passive hope. “In this world, hope cannot avoid confronting evil.” Hope brings Christ to the world. It doesn’t simply wait for something good to us. That’s a way of keeping joy alive. Scot said the Octave concludes with Divine Mercy Sunday. always the second Sunday of Easter since 2000. Jesus died for reconciliation for all of us. There are several articles in the Pilot and Anchor on Divine Mercy, particularly on the may people who need to be reconciled to God and we need to reach out to them. Antonio said if your life is transformed in Christ, then you can have joy despite problems and bring that joy to others. Divine Mercy Sunday fits perfectly within Easter. Once we’ve experienced the joy of the Resurrection, then we can go out and share the joy of Easter with others and ask them to come back. Program #0270 for Monday, April 2, 2012: Divine Mercy Scot said a week ago last Monday, we had Fr. Kaz and Mary Kay Volpone from the Divine Mercy Shrine in Stockbridge on the program, giving a background on the message and Divine Mercy Sunday. It’s a message and devotion that most Catholics are still hearing about. It isn’t totally ingrained in the Church. It often happens with new devotions in the Church. Pope John Paul II put this devotion forward, he took his last breath on the vigil of Divine Mercy, and was beatified last year on Divine Mercy Sunday. Dom noted the beauty of the diversity of devotions within the Church. There seems to be something for everyone and every temperament to find a way to God through the Church. Dom noted in the Anchor article a quotation from Robert Allard of the Apostles of Divine Mercy: “If we are truly Apostles of Divine Mercy, then we need to get really serious about helping Jesus to save sinners and to ease the Lord’s sadness,” Allard said. “We need to stop focusing our energy on what can he viewed as ‘parties for devotees’ at 3 p.m. in the afternoon and focus more on saving poor sinners.” The devotion shouldn’t be just for the devotees, the same people in the parish showing up for the service and then going home. We’re not saying that the prayer services are bad, but if they’re not coupled with action, there won’t be fruit from it. Not that there isn’t a place for contemplative prayer life, but if you can we must couple prayer with bringing the message to people. God loves you, God forgives your sins, mercy is available. God isn’t just a judge sitting on a throne waiting to throw the book at you. He wants to jump off the throne and run to embrace you like the prodigal son. Scot said a central message of Divine Mercy is that the Church is meant to be a refuge for sinners, not a museum for saints. What is being said is that members of the Divine Mercy apostolate must focus outward ,not inward. We must look for the one sheep that isn’t part of the 99 or the 75 not joined to the 25. He suggested people learn more. Divine Mercy website 2nd segment: On page two of the Pilot this week, we see that Fr. Gerry Dorgan of St. Mary of the Annunciation Parish in Danvers has been granted Senior Priest/retirement status by Cardinal Sean effective June 5, 2012. Fr. Dorgan was on our program a few months ago. Program #0092 for Friday, July 15, 2011: Fr. Gerry Dorgan Fr. Dorgan was Fr. Mark O’Connell’s first pastor out of the seminary. Dom said he remembers from the show Fr. Dorgan’s devotion to art history and how he incorporated it in pastoral ministry. It’s impressive how he used his talents and interests in parish service. Scot said Fr. Dorgan’s been a priest for about 50 years and noted that many legendary priests will be retiring in the coming year. Scot then noted another article in the Anchor about the 40 Days for Life campaign in the Diocese of Fall River. He noted that the Archdiocese hasn’t embraced it officially because of the difficulty of the John Salvi murders an the complications it presents. Antonio said this campaign has been effective in changing hearts and minds since it started in 2004. That these warriors for life can bring attention to this issue is welcome. Antonio noted that the 40 Days for Life did take place in Lynn and Haverhill, even though officially sponsored by the Archdiocese. Scot said this apostolate started at a college campus ministry at College Station, Texas, at Texas A&M. Some young people wanted to take concert action. Dom said it’s inspiring to see how many young people take part in the pro-life movement. He recalled at Franciscan University of Steubenville about 20 years ago that some of his classmates organized a walk across America , stopping along the way to witness to life and it’s ongoing. It’s an opportunity for young people to put their faith into action. Dom explained that 40 Days for Life is that during Lent there is someone standing outside a clinic every day from morning to evening, praying for everyone there, talking to to those who would work. And there is great fruit from it: conversions of clinic workers, clinics that close, and women who decide to keep their babies. Also in the Anchor is that Ana Maria College near Worcester, Mass., rescinded an invitation to Vickie Kennedy to be commencement speaker. In the article, Bishop McManus of Worcester said: ‘“My difficulty is not primarily with Mrs. Kennedy:’ Bishop McManus told The Catholic Free Press, newspaper of the Worcester Diocese. “My difficulty is with the college choosing her to he honored by allowing her to be commencement speaker and giving her an honorary degree. “My concern basically was that to give this type of honor to Mrs. Kennedy would in fact undercut the Catholic identity and mission of the school.” he said. “And that in so far as that that happens, the ‘communio’ (communion) or the unity that exists between the local Church and the local Catholic college is strained and hurt.” Scot said McManus was concerned that it would give the impression that someone could hold positions contrary to the Church’s teachings and still be honored by a Catholic institution. Scot said McManus thought he was doing his job as bishop and wasn’t trying to be harsh toward Vickie Kennedy. Dom said this is right in line with the US bishops’ 2004 statement Faithful Citizenship, where they said people who hold views contrary to Catholic doctrine on impotent moral issues should not be given platforms or honors at Catholic institutions. The bishop doesn’t want to give the impression that it’s okay to oppose the Church’s moral teachings as a Catholic. We don’t want to tell these graduates that we don’t take our own teachings seriously. Bishop McManus wasn’t being strident. He only said he couldn’t attend the graduation and it was the school’s decision to rescind. Scot said as a Catholic college they said they value the bishops’ role. Scot compared it to what happened at Notre Dame where then-Bishop D’Arcy said he couldn’t attend a graduation where President Obama was going to receive an honorary doctorate. Notre Dame decided to go ahead anyway. Antonio said we’re going to find this more and more in the Church as society moves away from critical values. The Church has a prophetic role and the bishop has to be able to star we can’t condone an event like that. He describe a way of thought called proportionalism, in which people say they will believe differently in their personal lives. He said the Church needs to clarify that the Church teaches one thing and some issues are not negotiable. Scot said this issues can be controversial because not every bishop applies the standard in the same way in his own diocese, and interprets what positions go beyond the limits to say the person doesn’t deserve the honors or platform. Another local story is that the seniors at Fontbonne Academy had their annual social justice fair. The students take on projects related to the topic of social justice. Antonio said he was struck by the part of the story about Chinese exchange students talking about being survivors of China’s one-child policy, being given up by their mothers to relatives so they could live. Antonio was struck by the sadness in the girl who said her mother had to act like she hadn’t been born. He also said sometimes there is distinction made between social justice and pro-life issues as if they were different. He’s glad that wasn’t the case here. 3rd segment: This week’s benefactor card raffle winner is Therese Willette-Rudolph of Saugus, MA She wins Diary: Divine Mercy in My Soul by St. Faustina Kowalska. 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: The US Conference of Catholic Bishops today issued a major new statement on the topic of religious liberty. “Our First, Most Cherished Liberty: A Statement on Religious Liberty” “Catholics urged to resist unjust laws, join in ‘fortnight for freedom’” Catholic News Service, 4/12/12 It begins: We are Catholics. We are Americans. We are proud to be both, grateful for the gift of faith which is ours as Christian disciples, and grateful for the gift of liberty which is ours as American citizens. To be Catholic and American should mean not having to choose one over the other. Our allegiances are distinct, but they need not be contradictory, and should instead be complementary. That is the teaching of our Catholic faith, which obliges us to work together with fellow citizens for the common good of all who live in this land. That is the vision of our founding and our Constitution, which guarantees citizens of all religious faiths the right to contribute to our common life together. Freedom is not only for Americans, but we think of it as something of our special inheritance, fought for at a great price, and a heritage to be guarded now. We are stewards of this gift, not only for ourselves but for all nations and peoples who yearn to be free. Catholics in America have discharged this duty of guarding freedom admirably for many generations. In 1887, when the archbishop of Baltimore, James Gibbons, was made the second American cardinal, he defended the American heritage of religious liberty during his visit to Rome to receive the red hat. Speaking of the great progress the Catholic Church had made in the United States, he attributed it to the “civil liberty we enjoy in our enlightened republic.” Indeed, he made a bolder claim, namely that “in the genial atmosphere of liberty [the Church] blossoms like a rose.”1 From well before Cardinal Gibbons, Catholics in America have been advocates for religious liberty, and the landmark teaching of the Second Vatican Council on religious liberty was influenced by the American experience. It is among the proudest boasts of the Church on these shores. We have been staunch defenders of religious liberty in the past. We have a solemn duty to discharge that duty today. We need, therefore, to speak frankly with each other when our freedoms are threatened. Now is such a time. As Catholic bishops and American citizens, we address an urgent summons to our fellow Catholics and fellow Americans to be on guard, for religious liberty is under attack, both at home and abroad. Scot said the statement goes on to provide lots of concrete examples of where religious liberty is under attack in this country, like the HHS mandate. It then describes how religious liberty is more than just freedom of worship in our churches and homes, but freedom to live faith in public. It describes how religious liberty is the most cherished freedom in the eyes of our founding fathers and should continue to be. It describes our Christian teaching on religious liberty and how it is in jeopardy across the world. It then desrcibes all the actions the Catholic community can muster: What we ask is nothing more than that our God-given right to religious liberty be respected. We ask nothing less than that the Constitution and laws of the United States, which recognize that right, be respected. They then announced a “fortnight for freedom” that recommends we “that we focus “all the energies the Catholic community can muster” in a special way this coming summer. As pastors of the flock, our privileged task is to lead the Christian faithful in prayer.” It would be 14 days from June 21 to July 4 and they ask everyone to pray this prayer: Almighty God, Father of all nations, For freedom you have set us free in Christ Jesus (Gal 5:1). We praise and bless you for the gift of religious liberty, the foundation of human rights, justice, and the common good. Grant to our leaders the wisdom to protect and promote our liberties; By your grace may we have the courage to defend them, for ourselves and for all those who live in this blessed land. We ask this through the intercession of Mary Immaculate, our patroness, and in the name of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, with whom you live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Scot said this statement has been anticipated after the US bishops formed this committee last year for this purpose. This document creates the framework by which we will defend our rights. Dom said our liberties have been attack for many years. It should also concern those beyond our borders. The US has been a leader in the fight for freedom in the world, as a beacon of freedom and hope. If that freedom erodes here in this country, how will that light be extinguished elsewhere. And when we lose this freedom, what freedom will we lose next? What other rights will they decide we don’t need? Scot said the document’s objective seems to inform the broader community about what we stand for, what is the history of religious liberty in this country, and then the real call to action through prayer in the fortnight for freedom. Antonio said it’s not just the bishops who must act, but all of us. Jesus said we are the salt of the earth and we are obligated to influence others and to speak up. We have an obligation to follow the government, but not when it contradicts the will of God. He also noted that contrary to the French revolution which said rights came from the state, in the United States our Declaration of Independence declares our rights as inalienable and descending from God. We are going through a fundamental change in this country. In Europe, the government can decide how people can use or lose their rights. This is a key moment in how we understand our rights within our society. Scot said the bishops are clear that religious heritage in our country appreciates religious freedom for all, whatever their faith and that we should be able to live our belief systems in the public square and not have those beliefs be seen as contradictory to our American citizenship. the bishops are saying it’s un-american to say we can’t live our faith in the public square. Dom said he hopes that other faiths join in this fortnight for freedom because this applies to all of them. Scot said the bishops make that very point. This year, we propose a special “fortnight for freedom,” in which bishops in their own dioceses might arrange special events to highlight the importance of defending our first freedom. Our Catholic institutions also could be encouraged to do the same, especially in cooperation with other Christians, Jews, people of other faiths, and indeed, all who wish to defend our most cherished freedom.

Summary of today’s show: The Theology of the Body was the foundation of Pope John Paul II’s pontificate and an answer to the depersonalization and objectification of the human person in society in recent decades. Scot Landry and Fr. Matt Williams are joined by Damon Owens of the Theology of the Body Institute for an introduction to this teaching and discussion of a definition of love that moves beyond mere feelings to an act of the will and desire to make a complete self-gift of oneself. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Matt Williams Today’s guest(s): Damon Owens, executive director of the Theology of the Body Institute Links from today’s show: Theology of the Body Institute Joy Filled Marriage 5th Annual Eucharistic Congress for College Students & Young Adults “Man and Woman He Created Them: A Theology of the Body”, by Pope John Paul II Today’s topics: Theology of the Body 1st segment: Scot welcomed Fr. Matt to the show and wished him Happy Easter. They noted that Easter takes place over 8 days. Fr. Matt said on Holy Thursday he concelebrated Mass at St. Joseph in Holbrook and then on Good Friday he took part in the Hunger for Justice retreat in Nahant. He then concelebrated the Easter Vigil at St. Mary’s in Lynn with many of the teens from the Hunger for Justice retreat. On Sunday, he was back at St. Joseph and then celebrated Mass in the chapel at Bridgewater State College. Fr. Matt said the Hunger for Justice retreat was wonderful. He said the receptivity of the teens and reverence and respect were powerful. He said the retreat began on Short Beach in Nahant with a lesson that salvation is impossible on our own and that God comes to save us. They then walked in a procession with the Cross to St. Thomas Aquinas Church. He said lots of people were drawn to what the hundreds of teens were doing. He said their actions proclaimed Jesus. Scot said he saw many of the photos from the beach at http://www.flickr.com/photos/bostoncatholic/sets/72157629754287927/ Today’s topic is Theology of the Body. Fr. Matt said Pope John Paul II began to write and reflect upon the Theology of the Body at the beginning of the sexual revolution. He believes this is a profound gift from God to speak to the hearts of all people, especially the young, to help them realize our lives are intended to be a gift given to another, and that gift is inscribed in our bodies. It speaks to the hook-up culture many of our young people are saturated in today. 2nd segment: Scot welcomed Damon Owens to the show. Scot asked him how Pope John Paul developed the Theology of the Body. Damon said like many of the major teachings in the Church, this developed out of a crisis. He said it takes time to delve into it. It responds to some of the worst degradation of humanity in history during the 20th century and it tell us what it means to be a human being. Scot said Pope John Paul put these teachings forward in a series of 129 Wednesday general audiences over 5 years ending in 1984. He thought it was so central in our understanding of the human person and how we relate to each other. Damon said it is the culmination of his priesthood from his time as a pastor to theology professor to bishop and cardinal and then pope. It laid the foundation for the entire 25-year pontificate. Each encyclical shows how he unveils it and applies it to every facet of the world. Scot asked Damon to define what is Theology of the Body. Damon said it is a body of teaching that is the fruit and implementation of the Second Vatican Council. It doesn’t replace the body of faith, but makes it accessible. It’s not a new teaching, but draws from our teachings to help us understand who Christ is and learn what hit means to be made in the image and likeness of God. The first part of the 129 audiences ask and answer the question of who we are, what is our identity. It starts with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eve. Scot asked what are some misconceptions about what it means to be a human person debunked by John Paul. Damon said there is an overspiritualization and an overly materialistic view. John Paul said physical and spiritual are not working against each other, but they work together to bring us to the deepest truth about our identity. It’s a both/and not either/or. Damon said they always begin with morality. Everyone asks the fundamental questions of morality, who can they love, how do they know if it’s true love. What they don’t realize is that they’re asking questions of identity more than morality. Questions of the moral law build on top of our identity. If we know who we are, we will know how to act. Many have absorbed a false identity, but they offer the dignity of masculinity and felinity, which have no parallel in our culture. John Paul said love is an act of the will. We make of ourselves a self-gift, which Christ on the cross is the prime example. In marriage, we make a gift of ourselves as a state of life, where we literally learn how to love and become love by the acts we choose to make and pledge of our being to another. We need to be on our knees asking God how to love with his love. Fr. Matt said we’ve been called to live our lives as gift, which comes from John Paul’s philosophy of personalism. Damon warned that many of these ideas are deep and profound and hearing them the first time can be intimidating. But we have to recognize the full depth of what John Paul is calling. We are mde in the image and likeness of God, male and female. God created masculinity and femininity out of that image, when God is neither male nor female. God is a communion of divine persons and being made in the image and likeness of God, he has given us the capacity to love as he loves. The language of our bodies shows what we are called to as male and female is a call to communion. We are not meant for solitude. When we love like God, we become what we love like, we become God. Damon said John Paul said overcoming the dominance of sin, the temptation to concupiscence is the beginning of the accessibility of eternal life won by Jesus Christ. The challenge is to live purity of the heart. We have to dig deep to things that move our heart. We have to seek, will, and do the good. We have to have a singularity of learning how to love. Purity is not simply following rules or avoiding some things. It is the singularity of our posture toward God, serving him our of love, not out of a sense of obligation. Fr. Matt posed a hypothetical about what to say to someone we know who is having sex outside of marriage. Damon said there should be a necessary affirmation of the longing for love and desire that it shown in relationships, even these ones. What they’re seeking is good and true and beautiful. But there has to be an acknowledgment that they will never find it if they don’t follow the calling to the greater dignity of love. Scot said wherever you are in life is an opportunity to begin again with God. Damon said marriage is a major theme in the Theology of the Body because it conjures up the lived encounter. It’s a universal natural institution in every human community. As Christian,s we see God placed it there from the beginning. It gives us a spiritual truth about how we live our lives. Marriage is beautiful and gives us a union in which a full human person can come into being. Scot said statistics show that about half of all marriages end in divorce. Theology of the Body tells us that our vocation in life is lived out through our state in life and the truth is that the heart of marriage is self-gift, not selfishness. When he hears about divorce, it’s often a story of one or both of the spouses living selfishly. Damon said society says love s what we feel and it places us at the center of the universe as the measure of what’s good and worth fighting for inasmuch as it benefits me. But Theology of the Body speaks of willing, not wishing, the good of another. This describes all different aspects of self-giving love. Not just giving something of self, but giving totality of self. The beauty of an act is measured by the depth of self-giving. We cannot love if we don’t suffer. We don’t look for it, it comes to us anyway. But we see that suffering is not evil in itself. Love embraces suffering. Fr. Matt said when he meets with engaged couples, he asks them what they mean when they say, “I love you.” They usually respond with how the other makes them feel. But that won’t sustain them long term in marriage. He said young people are influenced by Hollywood’s vision of love. Damon said Titanic is a good example. On the one hand, he gave his life for her. On the other hand,we recognize that there isn’t a sexual maturity or mature sexual love. The sign of that is that it moves from how the other person makes me feel to who the other person is. It moves from affection to identity. That attraction and affection isn’t bad, but we are called to grow beyond that immature state. The second great vocation of living our masculinity and femininity is celibacy for the sake of the kingdom. John Paul says some who live the state in life isa fulfillment of masculinity and femininity. We have to see their supernatural origin. Loving as self-gift. Priest, religious, bishop have full possession of their masculinity and femininity that the signs of marriage are still there, but lived in a deeper reality. Priests are spiritual fathers, not as a Plan B. Spiritual fatherhood and motherhood is the Plan A for humanity, and some are also called to biological parenthood. They discussed the resources available of the Theology of the Body, which was formed to teach everyone this body of teaching. They have weeklong Head and Heart immersion courses with world-class faculty. On April 27 & 28, Damon will also be a speaker at the Eucharistic Congress for College Students & Young Adults.

Summary of today’s show: How does a stint in the Marines help with the life of a parish priest? Fr. Edward Doughty sits down with Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor to talk about his childhood in Woburn, which is the hotbed of priestly vocations in the Archdiocese of Boston; serving in the US Marine Corps’ drum and bugle corps; being ordained in one of the biggest ordination classes in the US in the past 20 years (18 men in 1995!); serving in parishes in Danvers, Manomet, Weymouth, and Randolph; working campus ministry at two state colleges; and returning to parish ministry as pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Medford. Be prepared for some laughs and listen for the plug for Fr. Robert Reed of CatholicTV. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor Today’s guest(s): Fr. Edward F. Doughty Links from today’s show: St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Medford Today’s topics: Pastor Profile: Fr. Edward F. Doughty 1st segment: Scot welcomed Fr. Chris to the show and they talked about Fr. Chris spent his Easter with his family and helping at a couple of parishes. He said the crowds seemed larger this year. Fr. Chris talked about how great it is to celebrate Easter for the eight days of the octave. Fr. Chris also talked about going to a Catholic school to be the mystery reader for the second grade. 2nd segment: Scot and Fr. Chris welcome Fr. Ed Doughty to the show. Fr. Ed talked about growing up in Woburn at St. Barbara parish. He attended all public schools throughout his schooling. They discussed other priests who came from St. Barbara’s, including Bishop Chris Coyne of Indianapolis. Fr. Ed graduated from Umass Lowell with a degree in music education, but wasn’t able to get a job as a music teacher. He went to the recruiting office to join the Navy, but the Navy recruiter had reached his goal for the month and wasn’t speaking to anyone. As he walked down the hall, the Marine recruiter stopped him in the hall to talk and before he knew it he was on a plane to boot camp at Parris Island. Scot said it seems that Marine boot camp is very scary as a form of physical exertion. Fr. Ed said you arrive in the dead of night off a bus and then the 13 weeks go by in the blink of an eye. You arrive thinking you’re not going to be able to do anything and leave thinking you can doing anything. Scot asked how his Marine formation helps him today as a priest. Fr. Ed said sometimes it’s a positive and sometimes a negative. He said Marines can have a swagger that makes you less passive than people expect from a priest. Sometimes he’s a little less likely to take direct complaints passively. On the other hand, he’s more disciplined, less likely to be late. Fr. Chris said Fr. Ed was in the drums and bugle corps. Fr. Ed said they traveled around the country most of the time to Marine and Navy installations, but they also performed for President Reagan. Fr. Ed said every Marine is a rifleman so they kept up their training in that area, but their primary job was to be a musician. Fr. Ed said he grew to appreciate his time in the Marines after he got out. When he was in the Marines, it was a bit of a grind being on the road all the time. He has maintained some great relationships from that time. He looks back only with fondness. Fr. Ed said his first hint of vocation came when he was 12 years old. Fr. Rodney Kopp was in his deacon assignment at St. Barbara’s at the time and was a role model. During his time in the Marines, he got away from the regular practice of his faith, but when he came home he became friends some newly ordained priests and they encouraged his vocation. Once he went on a retreat at the seminary, he felt like he belonged where before he thought he was just doing it to get his friends off his back. His attitude the whole time at the seminary was, “If they keep me, I’ll stay.” Before he knew it he was walking down the aisle for his ordination. Fr. Ed said he always prayed that he would end up where God wanted him to be. He said he also grew up in a family that had a great devotion to the Eucharist, which helped a lot. Scot said that it’s important to recognize that discernment of the priesthood is mutual between the seminarian and the seminary. Fr. Ed said he was 30 when he entered the seminary and there were men both older and younger than him, as well some guys he’d gone to high school with. Fr. Chris said in both the Marine Corps and the seminary you need a rule of life. Fr. Ed said Marines have a plan of the day posted each day that told you where you had to be each day. The seminary was similar with schedules for the liturgical and the academic. Fr. Ed said he’s a pretty scheduled person anyway. At the time of his ordination, his dad had been very sick and his biggest memory from that day was that his dad was unable to go, but his dad watched from home. At one point the Cardinal asked parents and godparents to stand up to be recognized and his sister said his dad stood up at home. His dad was able to attend his first Mass, but was hospitalized the next day and it was his dad’s last Mass. Fr. Ed said it’s the greatest blessing for him that his dad was the first to receive communion from him at the Mass. Fr. Ed said he preached his first Mass. He was going to have someone else do it. One of his childhood friends is Dr. Kevin Mooney, who told him that no one was going to the Mass to hear someone else preach so he did it himself. In the end, his dad got to hear him preach. Fr. Ed celebrated his father’s funeral Mass, but Msgr. John McLaughlin preached at the Mass. Fr. Ed said he teased Msgr. McLaughlin relentlessly when he was given the honor recently. He’s currently campus minister at Boston University and was previously the first vocation director for the Archdiocese of the Military Services. 3rd segment: Fr. Ed was ordained in 1995 in a class of 18 men. His first assignment was at St. Richard in Danvers, then St. Bonaventure in Manomet. He didn’t know where Manomet was. Fr. Ed said it was a fantastic parish with a lot of young families and an enormous religious ed program. Plus it was living at the beach. Fr. Ed said it was a booming parish then and it’s gotten larger. They’re building a new church in the parish. Fr. Ed was involved in youth ministry, that started with about 9 kids. He said they went to a completely prayer-based youth ministry program. Everything was based around some kind of prayer experience. It started to attract kids. They also did a targeted recruiting, calling 250 kids from someone in the program and sending invitations to those who responded positively. The first event had 125 kids and they gained momentum until there were 200 or 300 coming on a regular basis by the time he left. His success came from hounding the kids, being relentless in inviting them back to events. Fr. Ed said young people get it much more than we give them credit for a lot. One of his pet peeves for youth ministry is when parishes have an event and invite the kids only to be workers. But how often do we invite kids to be part of the group? Fr. Ed also made sure the people who invited made the kids feel like they were wanted at the event so badly that it would hurt badly if they didn’t go. After Manomet, he was sent to St. Jerome in Weymouth for a year before being sent to St. Bernadette in Randolph as pastor. Scot said he got to know Fr. Ed because of his implementing the Catholic Appeal as well as any pastor. Fr .Ed said there were 23 language groups in the parish, including Vietnamese, Nigerian, Filipino, and Haitian. Fr. Chris asked how they brought them together, but Fr. Ed said he’s not sure they ever got to where they wanted to be. Mostly he wanted them to have their own identity and accommodate them to be who they are. Fr. Ed said he particularly recalls Vietnamese New Year celebrations as an enormous celebration with food and joy. Fr. Ed said during his time in the parish, they torn down and built a new building that has become the daily Mass chapel. After St. Bernadette he became campus minister at Salem State and U Mass Boston. Fr. Ed said life doesn’t begin until noon on the campuses. He said it was interesting for him to talk about faith on a publicly funded college campus. People would tell him that he has to be a little less Catholic, but he’d reply that he’s Catholic and that’s what he’s going to say. He said the people he met were very friendly and mostly he was expected to show up at games and events and dining facilities. Fr. Chris said it sounds like the ministry of presence. Fr. Ed said UMass has an interfaith chapel where he’d say daily Mass a couple times per week. At Salem State he didn’t have an office or chapel so he’d just wander around the campus most of the time. He’d just try to make eye contact with students, faculty, or staff and say hello and try to have a conversation. Sometimes those brief encounters would lead to more. Fr. Ed said he would celebrate Sunday Mass at Salem State in a conference room on the campus. Scot asked how serving as a campus minister differed from serving in a parish. Fr. Ed said in seminary they warn you about being a lone ranger in the diocese where you operate by yourself. But on campus, you really are alone. You have to be willing to put yourself out there and hope that in your prayer you’re bringing an atmosphere of faith with you. Fr. Ed said a great day was if a kid honked your horn at you as you walked down the street. It was really the small victories. Once he was in a dean’s office and a staff member told him how she was hearing nice things about him and how he was making great connections with students. Later he told the dean he couldn’t remember remember the last time anyone spoke to him, but the dean said everyone notices him and see him in the same places all the time. His presence matters to kids wherever he is on campus. Fr. Ed said you can’t go in expecting students to fit in a particular mold. You have to take them where they’re at. Many of them come from families that don’t practice faith and the minister may be the first person they’ve spoken to in a faith context. 4th segment: Fr. Ed became pastor of St. Francis of Assisi in Medford on March 1. Scot noted that every single post on Facebook from Fr. Ed prior to March 1 was a joke so at first he thought the announcement was a joke. Scot asked Fr. Ed what a new pastor does when he comes to the parish. Fr. Ed said he starts with a prayer he doesn’t destroy the place. He said it’s almost a sensory overload, where you meet all new people, have an all-new schedule, and there’s all kinds of people you need to talk to and learn about all while trying to learn where the parish is, what needs to be done, and who’s involved in the parish ministries. He had to quickly learn who’s on the parish council even as he’s involved in pastoral planning activities. But there is a great rhythm in the parish. He starts the day with celebrating Mass and then go about with whatever is necessary, whether a funeral or a meeting or some administrative duties. Fr. Ed said everyone who’s been dissatisfied with something come to see the new pastor first. You try to respectfully give them time and you may or may not agree with what they want. He said he often doesn’t even know what they’re talking about. But he’s willing to listen to people who’ve lived there a long time because they can help him get a read on what they want to happen. He’s learned not to take things personally and that he doesn’t have to be in a hurry all the time. Fr. Chris said the wise advice is that the only thing the new pastor needs to change in the first year is change his socks. The new pastor is learning to lead and shepherd this particular community. Fr. Ed said it’s important for people to know that he asked to be sent to st. Francis when the opening became available. Fr. Ed said St. Francis is a middle class parish of hard-working people raising their families who love their parish. It’s a beautiful church with facilities that have the potential to do so much good for the community. They had temporary administrators for almost a year before he came which led to uncertainty. Now they can relax knowing that Fr. Ed is assigned there for six years. Scot said you can see the church from Route 93 and asked how many people come to daily Mass are just commuters on their way to work, but Fr. Ed said the Mass is at 9am so they don’t get a lot of them. Fr. Ed said his parents’ devotion to the Eucharist has led to him knowing that the high point of his day is celebrating Mass with his parishioners. Then being nourished by that, it allows him to go through the rest of the day with a sense of peace and purpose and urgency, not in the sen of having to change anything, but wanting to get at the daily routine. He said his favorite saints include St. John Vianney, even before knowing he was patron saint of parish priests because he was thought to be somewhat lacking in academics. HE shows a regular guy can have an effect and make a difference for people. Also St. Francis and St. Bonaventure have been particularly important to him as well. He loves that everything around the parish reminds him of St. Francis. Being back in a parish for Easter was great. Fr. Ed also gave a shout out to Fr. Bob Reed of CatholicTV.