The Good Catholic Life

Summary of today’s show: The Good Catholic Life is one year old! Scot Landry, Fr. Matt Williams, Susan Abbott, Fr. Chip Hines, and Fr. Mark O’Connell talk about their favorite shows and guests and how the show has affected them and their ministries. Also stories of how the show has affected others they’ve talked to. Listen to the show: Subscribe for free in iTunes Today’s host(s): Scot Landry, Susan Abbott, Fr. Matt Williams, Fr. Chip Hines Links from today’s show: The Good Catholic Life Today’s topics: Our one-year anniversary 1st segment: Scot welcomed listeners to our one-year anniversary show. We’ll be looking back at some of our favorite shows with our co-hosts, Fr. Matt Williams, Susan Abbott, Fr. Chip Hines, and Fr. Mark O’Connell. Fr. Chris O’Connor is traveling right now. Susan said when Scot asked her to be a co-host, she thought she just wouldn’t have the time to take away from her work, but the Lord and her immediate supervisor, Janet Benestad, made it clear she should do it. She had been on CatholicTV a number of times and knew what that was like and had had no idea what it would be like to be on radio, but it turns out is been great fun. Fr. Matt Williams said he remembers discerning a year ago whether to do the show. For the first month, he was nervous before each show, but now it’s a normal part of his day. He’s developed his own style. Susan said Scot told her that Thursday would be the easiest show because it was just the news, but it turns out that the packets are up to 39 pages of articles from The Pilot and The Anchor. Scot said he gives them at least an hour to prepare for the show. Fr. Mark O’Connell is on the phone. He said his discernment didn’t take long. He knew his parents would love to hear their son the priest on the radio. He said they are the show’s biggest fans. He said his biggest surprise is that he hasn’t been fired from the show. He was apprehensive at first, but really enjoys it. He especially loves when they interview his brother priests and their weekly look at the Sunday readings. Scot said we have tried to invite a lot of our priests on the show and it seems they are most often available on Fridays. Scot said two of his favorite shows included the moving witness of Fr. John Sheridan in leading a parish through the abuse scandal and Reconfiguration. Then Msgr. Frank Strahan is a legend among the priests of the archdiocese. Fr. Mark said he also loved to see the amazing variety of ministries in the Archdiocese of Boston. It is astounding to see the variety here. Scot said Fr. Chip Hines had previous broadcast experience with CatholicTV’s Spotlight show. He said TV is uncomfortable because the camera captures everything. He does enjoy coming into help out. Scot said Fr. Chip has filled in quite often at the last minute. Fr. Chip said it’s fun to come up with something impromptu. They recalled a show when there were some technical difficulties and after reading a document, Scot turned to Fr. Mark and asked him what he thought. Fr. Mark fumbled for a second, and admitted he wasn’t paying attention. Scot said our Wednesday shows have taken place a few times in other locations, including Madrid and Washington, DC. Fr. Matt said it’s been fun to be on the road during times where he’s been working in youth and young adult ministry. He recalled the great interview from the March for Life with Cardinal Sean and Sister Olga. Most especially when you can get the young people on in their witness. Scot said one of his favorite shows was Cardinal Spellman High School in Brockton during Catholic Schools Week. He was almost speechless at their technology program and at their campus ministry, including an amazing Mass that has a waiting list of priests who want to celebrate it. Fr. Matt said the Mass is very lively and the Holy Spirit is strong there. Scot said unlike Fr. Matt, Susan sees the same group every Thursday pretty much to discuss the news, including Fr. Roger Landry and Gregory Tracy. Susan said of the shows she’s participated in, the favorite was the Holy Thursday show last year, looking at Holy Week and the Holy Father’s Stations of the Cross. She also loved being on the show with the Sisters of Notre Dame. Scot said one of the things he’s picked up on the Thursday shows was getting current on Catholic news every week, not just in the local Church, but nationally and internationally, including some of the documents in the news. Susan said as much work as it is, it really is an impetus to read. She can’t not read through her weekly packet. She did note how many wonderful positive stories, including local baker Andy LaVallee and last October’s series in the Pilot on Project Rachel. Certainly we need to be aware of what we need to act on, but also what’s happening that’s wonderful and lifts us up. Scot said it also has helped to appreciate the amount of content in our Catholic newspaper. He also said he’s also proud of being able to bring clarity to issues that have had erroneous information in the public or in the media. He recalled interviewing Msgr. William Fay on Pastoral Planning to clear up some misconceptions in the Boston Globe. He said recently he and Fr. Chip were able to talk about his practical experiences as a pastor leading two parishes to show the challenges he’s been facing. One of the best aspects of the show for Fr. Chip is being able to give that perspective. Fr. Chip talked about how pastoral planning has been such a positive experience. Scot said on Tuesdays and Wednesdays they often get to go in depth in some papal documents and he’s glad to be able to share that content with people in their daily lives. Fr. Matt said in the past couple of months they’ve been able to dive into a couple of the Holy Father’s letters and documents which are so rich. one of the most influential was the World Day of Communications message in which the Holy Father talked about Twitter that was the encouragement he needed to get going with it. 2nd segment: Scot said one of the first things he thinks of for our first year is the generosity of Jim and Joanne Wright who brought the Station of the Cross network into Boston and gave us this great time slot on WQOM. Rick talked about the great people in Buffalo that he works with regularly. Scot said there have been 276 guests on the 254 shows, 76 priests and bishops, 20 religious, 10 deacons, and 168 laypersons. We have profiled exactly 100 ministries, including 41 of the 50 or so ministries here in the Pastoral Center so it’s been a broad presentation of the Catholic faith. Fr. Chip said one of his favorite shows was when Lino Rulli was on and it was one of the funniest shows we’ve ever had. Scot said Lino is one of the funniest people in America. He’s a pioneer in Catholic radio. Fr. Chip said it was a giggle fest on the show. Scot said there’s so much good going on in the Archdiocese and we don’t have enough vehicles to get the good news on. Susan said religious education wasn’t one of the 100 so she would like to get them on soon. One of her favorite shows was when it was broadcast from Madrid. Scot asked her how often she gets to listen to the show and he favorite co-hosts. She said she listens to the recorded broadcast on her computer several times per week and of course, Fr. Chip and Fr. Matt are her favorites (who are the ones in the studio with her.) One of her favorite shows was the interview with Rocco Palmo, the blogger at Whispers in the Loggia, an expert on Church news. Scot asked Fr. Matt how The Good Catholic Life has affected his outreach to the events he organizes through his office, Office for the New Evangelization of Youth and Young Adults. Being able to excite the listeners about what’s happening: World Youth Day, March for Life, Hunger for Justice, and Eucharistic Congress, for example. It plants seeds and he hopes it inspires people. Fr. Matt noted that we’ve received emails from people who say the show has helped them come back to the Church. Scot said he often heard from people who said they were concerned about their grandkids’ generation, and these shows help people hear about the good things that this generation is doing. Susan and Fr. Matt talked about the Award Ceremony for the Office for the New Evangelization and all the great submissions they’ve received for awards. Scot said one of Rick’s favorite shows was our 100th show. Rick is the one who plans the shows and it was Joe Melendrez, the Rosary rapper. At first, they were unsure, but as soon as they heard it, they saw it was done in a respectful way and then they heard about his burrito ministry. He had won a burrito a day for one year and he eventually started inviting friends to come with him for lunch every day and he would talk about his life. Another of Rick’s favorites was Tom Craughwell, author of a book about some interesting and crazy stories in their lives. Of course, another of his favorites was episode #15, which had Rick’s mom, Maureen Heil, as a guest as well as Sr. Lisa, talking about the Pontifical Mission Societies and Sr. Lisa’s mission trips to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Sr. Lisa was funny, sarcastic, bombastic and a lot of fun to listen to. One of Scot’s favorites was his interview of Jim Stenson, who has done a lot of talking about being a Catholic dad and raising Catholic children. That was our Father’s Day show. It’s a joy to interview people we’ve been fans of for so long. Fr. Chip said he’d been interviewed by Lino Rulli before, but meeting him in person was special. Fr. Chip said he also especially enjoyed the two shows interviewing Artie Boyle, who works in the Pastoral Center, who had been healed of a terminal illness after visiting Medjugorje. Scot said it was originally supposed to be one hour, but it was so good that they spontaneously recorded a second hour. Fr. Matt said the story is well worth going into the archives to listen to again. Scot mentioned other guests from the youth ministry area, like Bob Rice. Fr. Matt said last year they had Bob Rice come speak at an event. He’s a professor of catechesis at Franciscan University of Steubenville, a gifted musician, and a speaker in demand all over. Susan said Bob was an amazing speaker and she often refers rot the notes she took that day. Fr. Matt said we’ve also had Randy Rause from Life Teen as well, and it’s wonderful to have these people you look up to come and share their stories. Scot said Susan’s cross is she has to put up with two Landrys on Thursdays. She said it’s lovely to see the interview, but she said (jokingly), that he can be very fresh to Scot. 3rd segment: Talking about how the show gets made and some of the technical details and statistics. after 253 shows and 278 shows we’re not rookies anymore.

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry 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: Fr. Roger in the Holy Land; Assisted suicide hearing on Beacon Hill; Catholic Charities in Brockton; updates on religious freedom fight Summary of today’s show: Fr. Roger Landry rejoins the Thursday panel, which included Scot Landry and Gregory Tracy this week, to discuss the headlines, including a hearing on Beacon Hill for a bill to legalize doctor-prescribed suicide, previewing the November ballot initiative; the great new Catholic Charities facility in Brockton; a new pastorship for former vicar general Fr. Rich Erikson; and updates on the fight to maintain religious freedom and how the current debate signals a new era of oppression of religious views. 1st segment: Scot noted that Susan Abbott was unable to be with us today because she had to attend a funeral in her family. Fr. Roger talked about going on his pilgrimage to the Holy Land over the past couple of weeks. He said his group was able to live the entire liturgical year, visiting the places related to Christ’s life, and they lived the meteorological year, experiencing all kinds of weather from 80 degrees and sunny to snow. It was an opportunity for a life changing encounter with Jesus. Scot said his wife and son both agreed on how the trip changed them and said they will never look at the Scriptures the same way again. Fr. Roger was able to celebrate Mass in the holiest of holy places in Christ’s tomb with Scot’s son, Christian, assisting at the altar. Fr. Roger said Pope Benedict calls the Holy Land the Fifth Gospel because the very stones cry out the Word of God. He talks about his experience on the Sea of Galilee and being able to understand how the apostles would have reacted during the Storm on the Sea. Susan’s nephew went on the pilgrimage with his family and they posted many of their photos online at FlahertysHolyLand.com. 2nd segment: This week the Mass. Catholic Conference testified at the State House on a bill proposed by a representative that would put into law what has been proposed by the assisted suicide ballot petition. “The Church reaches us that life itself is a gift from God. Life is to be cherished, nurtured, protected, and finally, cared for with the help of others unril the time of natural death - not self-administered death, not assisted death,” MCC executive director James Driscoll testified at the hearing. … “Terminally ill, dying patients should not be permitted to make or be encour-aged to make a choice that ends all choices. Terminally ill, dying patients do not need the so-called compassion that supports the idea that one is bener off dead,” Driscoll said. Greg said the testimony was a preview of the arguments about assisted suicide and was an opportunity to get those aired in public testimony. He said this bill had been advanced many times in the Legislature and never went anywhere, so proponents went ahead with the ballot initiative. While this hearing doesn’t affect the ballot initiative, it offers a chance for education on this issue. Greg noted new information that came out that the Legislature has options to put an alternative version of the bill on the ballot or can put a statement on the ballot that shows their disapproval. Scot said the Secretary of State will be the one writing up the description of the ballot referendum and that will be important. Scot quoted Peter McNulty, assistant policy director for the Mass. Catholic Conference, who noted one of the flaws in the bill is its vague language. The Anchor has a story about the Archdiocese’s efforts opposing this ballot initiative, including the website SuicideIsAlwaysATragedy.org. Because the Diocese of Fall River hasn’t yet started its educational initiative on this issue yet, Fr. Roger wanted to disseminate the information that people will be able to use to form their own hearts and minds and equip them with the arguments they will need to convince others. Scot said the next local story is the appointment of former vicar general Fr. Richard Erikson who has been appointed as pastor of Our Lady of Fatima in Sudbury, effective March 1. The parish has been without a pastor for about a month and at an event this past week, Fr. Rich was sharing his excitement at being appointed pastor for the first time. He had spent many years as an Air Force chaplain and currently serves as a brigadier general in the Air Force. Greg said Fr. Rich has often spoke of his desire to have a parish of his own to serve. Fr. Roger said he thinks it will be a tremendous joy for Fr. Rich to take what he has learned and all of his experience and focus to help sanctify the people of Sudbury. He expects it will be one of the most joyous times of Fr. Rich’s life. Scot said even after five-plus years as vicar general, he always lead with a pastor’s heart. Scot noted two other local stories, including the launch of the 2012 Catholic Appeal. The story in The Pilot includes reactions from parishioners in the parishes where Cardinal Seán and Msgr. Deeley launched the appeal in person. The other story concerns the launch of a new facility on the South Shore by Catholic Charities on Court Street in Brockton. For the first time, Catholic Charities will have a facility on the South Shore that is designed for their specific needs, as opposed to jerry-rigging a location. “Most importantly, today I want to thank our staff and volunteers here at Catholic Charities South who put their hearts and souls into the work we are called to do, each and every day each making a real difference in the lives of our neighbors in need,” she said, before inviting guests to tour the facility after the ceremony. “This space was designed to fit program needs, not the other way around. This is the first time we will be able to house all of our services under one roof,” Rambo said. … “Brockton in particular has a fairly large newcomer population, so there are a lot of folks who need to learn how to speak English, who are certainly very capable, and just need a little extra help to get jobs,” Rambo said. Scot outlined the many programs that are offered at the facility, including teaching parenting skills. According to the US Census, more than 28 percent of children in the city live below the poverty line. Scot noted that the food pantry here is unique in that they allow people to shop for themselves. Fr. Roger noted at this own food pantry helps give people some choices between, say, different kinds of juices or breads, which lends people some dignity and gives some people the very basic skill of food shopping for themselves. He told a story about helping a man who had just got out of jail after 15 years and was paralyzed at having to make choices because he hadn’t been able to make any choices for himself in all that time. Greg said giving people a choice in their food builds up their human dignity. Scot said supporting food pantries during Lent is a good way of practicing almsgiving. 3rd segment: Scot said there are many stories in the Pilot and Anchor this week updating the fight for religious freedom. We have talked about it a lot, but there are new developments and this is one of the biggest issues of faith we have encountered as a Catholic people in our lifetimes. For us to be effective, everybody who is a member of any church needs to stand up. Fr. Roger’s editorial this week says this is a new day and gives a chronology of the history of religious freedom. He said in the past the fight for religious freedom was primarily against ethnic prejudices. It’s a new day for the Catholic Church and for truly religious believers in general in the United States. While the Church in the U.S. experienced discrimination in the past most notably during the Know Nothing era of the mid-19th century for the most part, this discrimination, despite its occasional mockery of Catholic beliefs, was fundamentally ethnic and anti-immigrant in its motivation. Once this rabid xenophobia passed and Catholics had the chance to demonstrate that they were good Americans hardworking, family-oriented, community-building, patriotic, and self-sacrificial citizens even those who may have had theological issues with Catholic teaching couldn’t help but recognize how much Catholics and Catholic institutions contributed to the common good. From hospitals, to schools, to orphanages, to soup kitchens, to local St. Vincent de Paul chapters, to scores of other parochial, diocesan and national social work, Catholic individual and institutional charity justly won the respect and admiration of almost all Americans; proof-texting Protestants, hard-core hedonists, supercilious secularists and assiduous atheists alike all seemed to agree that the Church’s charity was a cause for the common good that should be praised, protected, participated in and promoted. Those who opposed the Church’s teachings generally agreed to disagree with the Church in those areas, while enthusiastically supporting all the Church does and continues to do for the poor through her institutional charity. The good the Church did far outweighed in their opinion the problems they had with Church doctrine. Fr. Roger thought back to the Clinton administration, which had many disagreements with the Church on several areas, but still recognized the good that the Church does and how important the Church’s work is to America, especially for the poor. The good the Church does, far outweighs the problems they had with the Church’s doctrine. That has all changed with the Obama administration. They are saying that they would rather shut down the Church’s agencies than tolerate Catholic beliefs. That happened in Massachusetts when Catholic Charities was forced to end adoption services because the Church didn’t want to place children with homosexual or lesbian couples. Likewise with the Church’s aid to trafficked persons, which the government required to include abortion and contraception services. Scot said the Church has been persecuted in terms of living our faith, but hadn’t seen the distinction between the old persecution due to being immigrants, fear of foreigners. Now the attacks come because of how we live our faith, not how we pray. Greg agreed that religion in the past was just an identity marker, but now it’s really aimed at what we believe and how we live. “Cardinal dismayed that White House rebuffs religious freedom concerns”, CNS, 3/5/12 “More ‘confusion than clarity’ about HHS mandate, Cardinal Dolan says”, CNS, 3/2/12 Scot noted that Cardinal Dolan and Cardinal George have warned that the Church will in fact call the Obama bluff and end important charitable services. Scot also recalled during the Republican presidential primary debates that George Stephanopolous had in fact laid the groundwork for using contraception as a wedge issue. He believes the Left has seen that they are failing to win hearts and minds on abortion, so they are turning to contraception to divide the Right. Fr. Roger said many people believed President Obama went he went to Notre Dame and said he would honor our religious consciences and sincerely held beliefs, but he has completely reversed himself on this. Cardinal Dolan said he went to the White House last November and was assured by the president that he wouldn’t do anything to impede the good work of the Church and it turns out he lied. To top it all off, the White House has accused the bishops of lying about being consulted about the “compromise” offered by the White House. Fr. Roger ended his editorial: The first thing that we’ve all been learning is that, unbidden, the Church is now in a fight not of its making against members of an administration intent on using the power of government, in open defiance of the First Amendment, to compel the Church to act contrary to her teaching with regard to abortion, sterilization and contraception. This fight, as one commentator recently said, is not about contraception any more than the Revolutionary War was about tea. Anybody who wants contraception in this country can go to Target and buy a month’s supply for $9. It’s not exactly expensive and some groups even give it away for free. So what’s going on here is that the Obama administration wants to stick it to the Church. It’s not that we want people to use contraception, but the point is that it’s obvious this is a power play. It’s not about contraception; it’s about religious freedom. Even if we agreed with the false statistics that 98% of Catholic women use birth control, this mandate could set a precedent for even more egregious impositions on religious freedom in the future. Scot said one of the things that make our country great is that the rights of the minority is protected. Separation of Church and state is supposed to prevent the government from telling us how to live our faith and practice our religion, not to prevent people from living their faith in the public square. There’s a high burden of proof to say that our religious beliefs trample on the rights of others. The real issue is forcing people to pay for something that is abhorrent to them, when they can just go get it themselves. Those who have tried to claim the rights of their conscience are trampling on the conscience of others. USSCB website on religious conscience and freedom

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Matt Williams Today’s guest(s): Joe McEnness, Executive Director of Parish Services & Risk Management for the Archdiocese of Boston Links from today’s show: RCAB Office of Risk Managements Today’s topics: Risk management for the Church Summary of today’s show: How does one put a price on a relic of the Holy Cross? As director of risk management for the Archdiocese of Boston, Joe McEnness is tasked with managing risks associated with accidents and catastrophes to help prevent them in the first place, to make sure the Church is able to cope with them when they come, and then deal with recovering from any such loss or disaster. Scot Landry and Fr. Matt Williams talk with Joe about recent examples of disasters in the Archdiocese as well as the types of questions he asks as part of his job? 1st segment: Scot welcomed Fr. Matt back to the show. Last week, he was at the Theology of the Body Institute in Pennsylvania. Also, he’s started something new for Lent, a daily inspirational video blog with a meditation on Lent. He uses it to encourage people to go deeper. It can be seen at their website, on his Twitter account (@FrMatt4Boston), and their Facebook page. He records it on his iPhone each day wherever he is. They discussed how amazing it is to use the iPhone for ministry and the amazing capabilities it is. Fr. Matt also talked about the conference he was at last week which was led by Christopher West who helped integrate Pope John Paul II’s teaching on the Theology of the Body into our lives. Scot reminded listeners that tonight The Light Is On For You for confession at every church and chapel in the Archdiocese. If you’re looking for a church, go to PilotParishFinder.com. 2nd segment: Scot and Fr. Matt welcomed Joe to the show. Scot asked Joe about his background. Joe commutes from Newport, Rhode Island, each day. It used to be even longer when his office was at the old chancery in Brighton. Before coming to the Archdiocese, Joe work in risk management for Budget Car Rental company and was based primarily out of Florida so he was traveling a lot. He was asked to come to the Archdiocese to help primarily with some of the litigation related to the abuse crisis. He thought it would be for 2 years, but it’s been 11 now. Joe said his origins were in the insurance industry and over the years risk management has evolved to include elements of insurance, but entails helping an organization to take the risks necessary to grow and prosper and sustain. Scot said Joe worked at Ford and Budget Rent-a-Car, but what are the greatest areas of risk in parishes and schools? Joe said you have to look at a couple of different areas. For example, there’s property risk. The Church has unique needs here because of the unique architecture and construction and there’s an extremely high value structure. It’s not a protected risk. So they look at the risks associated with owning and operating those properties. What’s most likely to happen and least likely to happen and the impact of them happening. Scot said if our oldest churches burned down, it would probably be difficult to rebuild them to their same magnificence today. Sacred Heart in Weymouth was the most recent church in the Archdiocese to burn down and be rebuilt. It was rebuilt to be similar to the old building for about $10 million. Are you ensuring the church in its totality? How do you put a value on, say, a stained glass window with history and artistic value? Joe said one of the things they bring to parishes through the collaborative efforts of the participants in the program is to gather the clout of a large insurance customer. It would be very difficult for a single parish to insure their own church, but the Archdiocese brings leverage when it wants to insure over 1,700 buildings. It’s not feasible to appraise value of the buildings every year so they have agreed upon values with the insurer every year that they adjust based on construction-related changes. One of the things he negotiates every year is a no-limit umbrella plan, which would cover, for example, a catastrophic earthquake. They look at all the factors and risks. They discussed last year’s tornado in western Massachusetts. Scot asked about the risks involved. Joe said the likelihood of a damaging earthquake is very low. He said the tornado was not surprising either because western Mass. has had tornados historically. He talked about the amount of devastation that a tornado can cause. Joe talked about the types of coverage churches would have. He said part of risk management is not just identifying the risk, but also the insurance you’re going to fund yourself and what you will have someone else fund. Another part is loss control, educating people, coming up with programs to identify the most likely problems and those with most impact and developing plans to mitigate them. One of the claims they see often is “slip and falls”. You have a large number of people going in and out of parish buildings, especially elderly and in the wintertime, which gives a high likelihood of slips and falls. Joe said their statistics show that they have a lower percentage of such claims than other similar-sized organizations, which he attributes both to good preparation and the caring nature of the people who work in parishes as well as parishioners themselves. People generally aren’t out for blood, but are just looking to be made whole, which is helped by the caring nature of the people at the parish who reach out to them. Joe answered a question from Fr. Matt by saying all programs are umbrella programs. They don’t insure individual locations separately. It gives coverage of exposure they retain and allows them to negotiate better terms and conditions. That lack of a limit on buildings is part of the value of that umbrella. He said 99% of insurance programs out there would have had lower caps. In Weymouth, without the “no-limit” policy the insurer wouldn’t have paid out the total to rebuild and the parish would have had a smaller church or had to pay a lot more out of pocket. Scot asked Joe about the flooding we had a couple years ago. Joe said it was a catastrophic year. There were three incidents that were classified as catastrophic. 180 locations had flood damage of varying degrees. There were about 106 parishes affected and the rest were institutions. The largest flood loss in one location that year was $700,000 in one location and the total that year was about $3 million. he said the Risk Managements website allows parishes and institutions to file claims online. The first step is to fix the immediate damage and pump water out and remove damaged furnishings. They have companies on retainer that they can deploy immediately. They then work with contractors and construction consultants to develop estimates. The Facilities office helps oversee reconstruction. They will help fund temporary locations to enable the parish to continue their mission. 3rd segment: It’s time to announce this week’s winner of the WQOM Benefactor Raffle. Our prize this week is the book, Praying for Our Priests a Guide to Praying For the Priesthood in Union with Mary, Queen of the Clergy, by Msgr. Peter Dunne and Vicki Herout; and the CD “Catholic Answers Live: Is Anything Deviant Anymore”, signed by Jerry Usher and Teresa Tomeo. This week’s benefactor card raffle winner is Michael Stewart from Boston, MA. Congratulations, Michael! 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: Fr. Matt asked about special insurance for the theft of the relic of the Holy Cross from the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. Joe said there are special property coverages that they will place on particularly valuable items. They look at certain high-value and unique items and have appraisals done. They do that to obtain an agreement with the insurer up front about the reimbursement value. Scot asked how something of spiritual value can be appraised. Joe said it’s difficult to come up with a value, but they look to what it would it cost to replace it with something as close to it as possible. The original item is priceless, but they would ask the Cardinal what the process would be to replace the relic and what the cost would be of going through the replacement process. Scot asked how parishes insure against crime. Some parishes are in tough neighborhoods. Parishes aren’t in the business of keeping people out of the churches, especially those who look seedy or troubled. We want our churches to be open to all. Joe said one of the unique elements of risk management in the Church is the fact that priests need to have their arms open and their churches open to all. He tries to tell people that his job is listening to what a pastor needs to do to accomplish their mission and help them feel comfortable with what they need to do to do it. They provide education and training with regard to best practices, help arrange for police patrols, making sure valuables are kept locked up and the like. Joe said the most common kind of theft is internal theft, from people working inside parishes and organizations. Joe talked about the crisis management and response teams that they can provide to organizations and parishes when something does go wrong. They also discussed how they deal with data breaches and computer data theft.

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry Today’s guest(s): Fr. Michael Harrington Links from today’s show: The Light Is On For You Today’s topics: The Light Is On For You Summary of today’s show: Lent is a time when we can hit the reset button on relationship with God, to start anew in the the spiritual life and confession is a perfect way to do that. During Lent, the Archdiocese offers the initiative The Light Is On For You in which every church and chapel will be open on Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30pm for confessions. Scot Landry and Fr. Michael Harrington discuss the beauty and joy of confession and look at some of the resources and reflectiosn available about the sacrament at TheLightIsOnForYou.org. 1st segment: Scot welcomed everyone to the show and reminded Massachusetts listeners that today is an election day. He said that each Advent and Lent the Archdiocese of Boston offers The LIght Is On For You. He compared Lent to baseball’s spring training as a time to return to the fundamentals. Every Wednesday evening this Lent, every church and chapel will be open for confession. Scot welcomed Fr. Michael Harrington back to the show. He said the best confessors are those who frequent the sacrament themselves. Fr. Mike said the sacrament is one of the gifts for him personally and to the whole Church. It is an expression of God’s merciful love. Scot began the show with the words of Bishop Robert Hennessey as he launched The Light Is On For You this Lent. Hello. I’m Bishop Robert Hennessey. Cardinal Sean O’Malley asked me to lead an important initiative to encourage Catholics to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This initiative is called “The Light is On For YOU.” Each Wednesday evening this Lent, from 6:30-8:00pm, the priests of the Archdiocese of Boston are going to be opening EVERY church and chapel to welcome back Catholics to the sacrament of confession. Jesus once said, “Heaven rejoices more for one repentant sinner, than for 99 that never needed to repent.” Every time someone returns to the sacrament of confession, heaven celebrates and that unbelievable experience of joy becomes ours when we’re forgiven. In Jesus’ great parable of the Prodigal Son, we see how much the father rejoices at his child’s return home. The father runs out to greet him, restores him to his full dignity as an heir, and exclaims, “My child was lost and has been found. He was dead, but has come back to life again.” This great story describes what happens in the sacrament of confession. The sacrament is God’s great lost and found department for his sons and daughters. We find ourselves enveloped in God’s love. We experience the full measure of Jesus’ resurrection. We who are dead to sin are brought back to life again. Scot said too often Catholics view confession as the judgmental face of God on our sins. Bishop Henessey tries to change that image by looking at God as the shepherd who rejoices in finding the lost sheep or the loving father who welcomes home the prodigal son.That’s how God rejoices in heaven when we return to his loving arms. Fr. Mike said he gave a talk a few years ago to parents of second graders about to receive the sacrament of first confession. A teacher approached him later and said that most of the parents had the image of the judgmental God and the priests would be harsh in the confessional. Fr. Mike told her that they were projecting an image that is no longer there. He doesn’t find that image in confession any more. There is great care taken today by priests to express the Father’s love and that’s what the children when encounter when they go to confession. Perhaps a lot of these parents hadn’t been to confession in a long time and were projecting a stereotype. Scot said going to confession, you could be preoccupied with many other things, but we should focus first on the loving face of God. Fr. Mike said if the priest acknowledges we are sinners, he is not being judgmental. We acknowledge our sinfulness in the Hail Mary. We do so in order to open ourselves to the love of the father. Now continuing with Bishop Hennessey’s address: One of the great joys of being a priest is being God’s instrument to reconcile one of His children to Him through the sacrament of confession. The priest sees the tremendous joy and relief that people experience in being freed from their sins. Confession is one of our greatest gifts from God. I go to confession frequently myself, not only to confess what I’ve done wrong, but also to receive the grace to become a better disciple, a better priest, a better bishop. I’m a sinner and I need God’s grace. Confession gives us a chance to start over, to hit the reset button of our lives. It shows how forgiving and kind our God is and it helps us grow in compassion and love for others. Come to confession to receive God’s mercy, for peace of mind, to deepen your friendship with Jesus, to receive spiritual healing, to increase your sense of joy, and to experience Christ’s saving grace. If you say it’s been too long, or God couldn’t possibly forgive me, you’re wrong. God’s love for you is greater than all the sins you’ve committed or could commit. Now is the time to come and have God take away the burdens of sin and guilt that can so often weigh us down. Scot said Bishop Hennessey says it’s one of the greatest joys in being a priest to see the joy of the penitent in being forgiven and experiencing God’s love. Fr. Mike agreed a lot of people think God wouldn’t forgive them. He’s heard confession in prisons and in juvenile delinquent homes. He often heard that God could never forgiven them for what they had done, especially young 16 and 17-year-olds. He said, of course, God could forgive them. When they said God couldn’t possibly forgive them, Fr. Mike challenged them that they are not greater than God. God’s mercy is greater than any sin you can commit. Scot said too often we project human reactions and expectations on God. Fr. Mike said God offers us a chance to begin again, to start over. Scot asked who wouldn’t want peace of mind, friendship with Jesus, healing, and joy? Fr. Mike said he’s heard many people who said the high point of their spiritual conversion was the moment of going to confession. Jesus came to the world to save each one of us. He loves you so much and wants to help you now with whatever issues you face. He wants to fill you with joy, love and freedom. Every priest in every Church and Chapel in the Archdiocese of Boston will be waiting to welcome you. Please see to it that we are busy – share this message with family and friends by inviting them to come with you on any Wednesday evening of Lent, from 6:30-8:00pm. If you’ve been waiting for a sign to return to the Church or to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, this is your chance to reestablish and strengthen a relationship with God that will last forever. Please visit TheLightIsOnForYou.org to learn more. Thank you and God bless you. Scot said Bishop Hennessey said Jesus came to save each of us individually. He loves us so much that he wants to help us with whatever issues we face. Fr. Mike said when Jesus said Father, forgive them for they know not what they do, he meant those words for each and every person. If you were the only person on earth, Jesus would have died for you. Fr. Mike says in talks in parishes that God knows you, loves you, and calls each of you by name. Scot said he hears stories about confessions on Wednesdays that are scheduled to end at 8:30 and go on until 10pm. Scot and Fr. Mike played a message from Father Robert Reed, president of the CatholicTV network, on confession. Scot said he was shocked when he first heard this message at how powerful this message was, saying that confession literally saved his life. He recommended everyone go to The Light Is On For you, click on the videos link, and recommend the video of Fr. Reed to friends and family to show them a priest who would hear their confessions not judgmentally. Scot introduced a humorous video from Matt Weber about going to confession. Scot said it’s a truly funny story about why he goes to confession face to face instead of behind the screen. Fr. Mike said those are the two types of people, but what’s important is that you go. But what’s true is you always feel so much better after confession. He talked about how he can usually guess how nervous the people coming into confession are and how much he wants to express God’s love for you. Scot quoted Matt: “It’s the best feeling in the world being liberated from sin.” Fr. Mike said the greatest experience is hearing confessions at World Youth Days or major youth events, hearing confessions of young people for four or five hours at a time. Given the opportunity and understanding of the sacrament, young people want to make use of it. Scot recounted the story of his daughter who went to first confession in January and will have her first communion on Saturday and how even she wants to avoid going to confess to a priest she knows. Scot recommended Pilot Parish Finder website and smartphone app to help you find a church to go to for confession, especially if you want to find one on your commute home. Also on The Light Is On For You website is a video that explains How to Go to Confession: Scot said it’s humorous and was aimed at a young adult audience. Fr. Mike pointed out that if you are unsure in the confessional, every priest will walk you through the examination of conscience or the exact ritual for confession. The priest is there to help you in your particular needs, making you feel comfortable. Scot said he often hears people ask what happens if they forget to confess a sin. Fr. Mike said we do the best we can. We try to bring forward everything we can remember, but if we forget it honestly then it is taken up by God. Scot said he ends his confessions by saying, “For those confessions and any I can’t remember…” Fr. Mike said the first step in the video is developing a good conscience. He said it is important for parents to help children develop a good conscience. Scot said some people don’t go to confession, don’t want to confess sexual sins. He said some priests say that it might be easier to say it in a less embarrassing way like “I’ve had impure thoughts” without going into detail about it exactly. On the Act of Contrition, Fr. Mike said the priest will help the penitent and the person can even just offer a personal heartfelt act of sorrow in their own words. He said the most beautiful acts of contrition have been that sort. The priest then says the prayer of absolution. Fr. Mike recited it and said it was one of the most beautiful prayers he prays: God the Father of mercies, through the death and resurrection of your son, has reconciled the world to himself and sent the Holy Spirit among us for the forgiveness of sins. Through the ministry of the church, may God grant you pardon and peace. And I absolve you of your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Last year during Lent we saw on TV the advertisements from the Catholics Come Home initiative, including this one: Scot said the message in this commercial goes back to the idea of hitting the reset button in Lent. God gives us a chance to get back in his loving embrace again today. Fr. Mike said one of the reasons he loves to administer the sacrament is how much he needs it himself. Scot said he loves that the commercial talks of life with God as an adventure.

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry Today’s guest(s): Kathleen Driscoll, Mary Doorley, and John Riley Links from today’s show: Boston Catholic Appeal Today’s topics: Boston Catholic Appeal Summary of today’s show: Scot Landry welcomes members of the Catholic Appeal team for the Archdiocese of Boston, Kathleen Driscoll, Mary Doorley, and John Riley, and they discuss the critical support provided by donors to the Appeal to the 50 ministries that support parishes, schools, and other Catholic organizations in the areas of strengthening families, enriching parish life, inspiring future generations, and supporting Catholic leadership by the Cardinal and vicar general. 1st segment: Scot said the Catholic Appeal is the annual effort by the Archdiocese of Boston to raise the funds necessary to run the important central ministries that support our parishes and schools and other ministries. This past weekend was the kickoff of the Catholic Appeal and included either an audio or video presentation by Cardinal Sean. Scot welcomed Kathleen Driscoll, secretary for institutional advancement; Mary Doorley, and John Riley, chair of the Catholic Appeal Committee. Kathleen said the appeal launch went very well. They got positive feedback and they are thankful to the pastors and the more than 100 parish appeal volunteers who helped out. Scot asked about the appeal coordinators. Mary said the coordinators help the parish fully implement the appeal and then also give the people at the Pastoral Center insight into what’s working and what can be improved. The coordinators also address the appeal for parishioners in the parish, giving a witness talk after Masses, for example. Scot said it’s one thing to hear the appeal homily from Cardinal Sean or one of the priests, but it makes a difference to hear a lay person in the parish. John said having the witness from someone informed about the appeal and is in the parish week after week with local credibility links the parish with the archdiocese. Mary added that anyone interested in being an appeal coordinator to contact them through BostonCatholicAppeal.org. Scot said Msgr. Deeley said on Friday that the Appeal provides the foundation for every ministry in the Archdiocese, whether it’s directly funded by the Appeal or not. Scot said the Appeal materials have a new look and feel. Kathleen said the goal was to put a face on the appeal and make it less institutional. It helps people meet those who benefit from the ministries funded by the appeal. The theme is the Good Samaritan, which is someone who helps someone he never knew before and will probably never see again. The materials have just four examples of the 50 ministries doing this work day in and day out. She said it was challenging to identify the 50 ministries funded by the Appeal within the four profiles of real people in the brochure. These are real people who are helped. Scot said the story of Georgia on the website with a video about her and a video with her pastor about the collaboration needed to make their parish accessible for people with disabilities. The video shows what a difference it’s made in the life of Georgia and her family to be able to attend Mass. Mary said there are so many aspects of parish life that can confound the pastor and the parish council. That’s where the central ministries can provide expert help. Scot said some people say they five to their parish so why do they need to give to the Appeal. John said many don’t realize the extent of the Archdiocese’s activities. The Archdiocese also links our local parish to the universal Church in addition to linking the local parishes together. We are all called to be missionaries and one of the ways we do that is through our support of the Appeal. Scot said Cardinal Sean has said that as he travels he hears about the reputation of the Archdiocese for generosity beyond our diocesan borders. Kathleen said she and Mary and John were able to go out last fall to thank lay volunteers in parishes. She said she has learned Marriage Ministries has offered pre-wedding counseling to hundreds of couple. Every year there are more than 4,000 weddings in parishes. The pro-life office has helped more than 400 women choose life for their babies. The religious education office oversees the formation of over 130,000 children. People in the parishes tell her they had no idea how big the ministries are. The appeal’s goals break down into four categories: strengthening families, inspiring future generations, enriching parish life, and supporting pastoral leadership. John said there is so much happening at the parish level and there are so many resources in the office of the Archdiocese that support that. Small schools have those resources, parishes have those resources, religious educators have them. It’s encouraging him as a parent to see the wonderful work happening in the parish and the dedication of the volunteers in those ministries and to know that there’s a large number of resources to support those works. It’s not just front-line ministries like religious ed, but also the real estate office and risk management and more. John said there are extraordinary people in the archdiocese who dedicate their careers to advancing the mission of the Church. They bring skills and their faith together to advance the work of the Church and his way to support them is by supporting the Catholic Appeal. Scot said about 250 people work in the Pastoral and about 2000 people work in the parishes, not including the schools, and about 30000 who volunteer. Scot spoke about the Marriage Ministry program, “Transformed in Love”. This is available to everyone in the Archdiocese because we have this central marriage ministry to coordinate. Kathleen said it’s almost a new day now where we’re looking ahead to ask how we can make our ministries the best. Scot said the Office for the New Evangelization of Youth and Young Adults is another office supported by the Appeal. Mary said there is also college campus ministry, which is on about 20 college campuses throughout the Archdiocese. The vocations office has also done so much to bring about many more vocations, which is due to prayer and the generosity of parishioners that make it possible. Scot recalled how Fr. Mark O’Connell reflected how he has benefited over that past 20 years from the generous donors to the Appeal. Kathleen also pointed to the many men who point to World Youth Day with the Office for the New Evangelization of Youth and Young Adults as the linchpin for their vocations. KAthleen said they’re thankful for anyone who’s made a gift and listeners are interested go to the website http://www.bostoncatholicappeal.org. 2nd segment: Scot asked Mary about the ministries within the area of enriching parish life. She said the Office for Spiritual Life offers archdiocesan-wide program like Arise and Why Catholic? Also, offices like Clergy Personnel and the Permanent Diaconate. There are also offices that help with the practical matters in parishes: finances, real estate, human resources, insurance, and more. Scot said these behind the scenes ministries enable parishes to invest those resources into other ministries on the parish side. John said it’s important to build up the business partnerships that will help you. It’s impossible for a parish to have all the resources they need, but they still need them. The archdiocese brings those resources together through the skills of the wonderful people who have those talents. Pastors and business managers can pick up the phone and have someone to call. Mary said the more efficient we can make parishes by helping them with risk management and avoiding other problems, then the more time the pastor has for ministry and the better use we’ll be making of the dollars people donate. Scot said one of this favorite ministries supported by the Appeal is the Office for Cultural Diversity and Outreach. Many reasons for the growth of Catholicism in the US is due to Catholic immigrants and this office provides the basic needs for them to practice their faith and integrate themselves into the local Church. John said new immigrants to Boston find a home here in the Catholic Church and the archdiocese is very welcoming with an outreach to all these different ethnic groups. Scot said Mass is celebrated in 22 different languages each Sunday in the Archdiocese: Scot said one of the major changes in the last six months in the Archdiocese has been learning the new prayers for the Mass and the Office for Divine Worship has been the major reason it’s been implemented well because of the training sessions for priests and liturgical ministers and music ministers as well as providing so many resources in use in parishes. One of the top priorities for Cardinal Sean in the next couple years is pastoral planning to prepare parishes for the future. John said we are a constantly changing society and we are the same in the archdiocese. There are resources dedicated to trying to identify the needs over the next fifty and 100 years and how do we plan for that as an archdiocese. We can’t do that as effectively on the parish level as we can on the archdiocesan level. For the last three months the archdiocesan Pastoral Planning commission has been out hearing from people in the parishes their opinions and feedback. Scot said the next broad area is advancing Church leadership, including the ministry of Cardinal Seán. The cardinal is the leader of the archdiocese, but he relies on the day to day basis on the assistance of the vicar general and moderator of the curia, Msgr. Robert Deeley. John added that the regional bishops also work with Cardinal Sean in carrying his vision out to the different regions of the Archdiocese. Mary pointed out that we are the fourth largest archdiocese in the country. Mary said the Catholic Appeal team is grateful for all the input of lay leaders, including those on the Catholic Appeal committee. There is also a pastors advisory committee, who give advice on everything from design of the materials to the resources that they will need. Anyone who wants to make a gift today can do so at BostonCatholicAppeal.org.

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Mark O’Connell Today’s guest(s): Msgr. Robert Deeley, Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia for the Archdiocese of Boston Links from today’s show: Boston Catholic Appeal Today’s topics: 2012 Catholic Appeal Summary of today’s show: This weekend marks the launch of the 2012 Catholic Appeal, the primary fundraising effort for the central ministries of the Archdiocese of Boston. Msgr. Robert Deeley joins Scot Landry and Fr. Mark O’Connell to discuss the importance of the Appeal to the work of the Church, not just for those that are directly funded by it, but for all Catholic parishes and apostolates that depend on the support of the central ministries, as well as the work of Cardinal Seán and the other bishops. Scot and Fr. Mark then consider Cardinal Seán’s homily for this coming Sunday in which he considers God’s call for us to be transfigured and how our response to that call can take shape. Fr. Mark also notes that his work on the Tribunal over the past 11 years has positively affected the lives of many people and supported the work of priests and pastoral associates. He said it would not have been possible without the generosity of donors to the Catholic Appeal. 1st segment: Scot and Fr. Mark discuss that this weekend is the kickoff for the 2012 Catholic Appeal. Fr. Mark said its important every year. Scot said it was moved from a May start to a March start a few years ago to coincide with Lent and give Cardinal Seán an opportunity to preach on Lent in a video or audio recorded homily throughout the Archdiocese. They will discuss the homily in detail in the third part of the show. Scot welcomed vicar general Msgr. Robert Deeley to the show and said it’s his first Catholic Appeal as vicar general. Scot said this is a big deal for every ministry in the Archdiocese whether it receives money directly or not because it undergirds the central ministries. Msgr. Deeley said its the most important effort to raise funds every year. The Catholic appeal is the foundation for all the work we do. It enriches our parishes because it is the instrument by which we help priests, deacons, and pastoral associates. We also work to strengthen families, inspire the next generation of Catholics, and aid our leadership here in the Church. Campus ministry is an important part of our ministry. He recently celebrated Mass at the chapel at MIT and it was standing-room only with students excited to be there. In the brochure for the Appeal is a picture of Stephen, a young man at MIT who has been served by campus ministry, and Msgr. Deeley was able to speak with him about how he has been helped by the ministry. Fr. Mark asked how money helps with evangelization of Catholics. Msgr. Deeley said the Cardinal has asked Bishop Kennedy to head a special initiative for evangelization over the next year. We hope that in our parishes there can be evangelization, which is supported by the ministries at the Archdiocese. Scot said the materials for the Catholic Appeal look great. The theme this year is “The Good Samaritan is You.” Msgr. Deeley said that is not only this year’s theme, but is also a new way to look at the Catholic Appeal. It reminds us that the work of the Church is about each of us individually. As Jesus speaks of the Good Samaritan, he teaches that when we serve one another we serve the Lord. The Good Samaritan is the perfect exemplar of what Jesus was calling us to be. Being Church is about each of us in our own way and able to afford, provide what we can for the needs of others. This is fundamental to what we are as Catholics. Scot said last year about 44,000 families contributed to the Catholic Appeal. How does he answer someone who asks why they shouldn’t just support the parish? Msgr. Deeley said the parish can’t exist without the Archdiocese. The Catholic Appeal is foundation of any other ministry happening. It is the offertory of the Archdiocese. Fr. Mark said some pastors hate asking for money, but if you believe in the good use it goes for, you should be able to stand up and ask for what you need. Msgr. Deeley said taking care of the Church and the poor the Church serves is part of our Christian responsibilities. It may not be comfortable to preach on, but it is a duty. Scot said pastors said having the Appeal launch in Lent ties in with the almsgiving of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Why is it important all Catholics in the Archdiocese to come together? Msgr. Deeley said the strength we have by the collective gifts we can use to further the mission of the Church makes it possible for other programs to exist. He offered the example of Catholic Charities, which has its own sources of fundraising, and turns to the Archdiocese for a lot of help. Scot said there’s a lot of information online which offers a transparency. Chancellor Jim McDonough concludes his service to the Archdiocese today. Msgr. Deeley said its hard to overstate what Jim has accomplished. He’s been a tremendous help to the Cardinal in moving the Church of Boston forward. Fr. Mark added his agreement. Jim McDonough gave both an outsider and insider perspective as both a former banker, but also a Catholic with a great love of the Church. Scot said both Msgr. and the cardinal will be on the road this weekend. Msgr. Deeley will be preaching at three parishes within about a 10 mile drive of the cathedral where he lives, while the cardinal will have about a 50-minute drive. Msgr. Deeley will be at St. Eulalia’s, Winchester; St. Brigid, Lexington; and Sacred Heart, Cambridge. Cardinal Sean will be at Holy Family, Amesbury, and Sacred Heart, Middleboro. Monsignor said the goal was to have them cover all five regions and the cardinal got first choice. Msgr. Deeley lived at St. Brigid’s for a number of years when he was working on the tribunal. Those Masses are intended for anyone who would like a live kickoff to the Appeal. Everyone else will hear a video or audio homily from Cardinal Seán. Msgr. Deeley would like everyone to think about we can never do anything alone. We are strengthened by our common bond in the Church. It helps us to speak and act in ways that no one of us can do alone. The Catholic Appeal is our way to be the Good Samaritan and to make the Church stronger. 2nd segment: Every Friday we discuss the readings for this coming Sunday. Because we want to preview Cardinal Seán’s homily for this Sunday, we want to read them now to give the context for what he says. 1st Reading for the Second Sunday of Lent (Genesis 22:1-2, 9a, 10-13, 15-18) God put Abraham to the test. He called to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am!” he replied. Then God said: “Take your son Isaac, your only one, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. There you shall offer him up as a holocaust on a height that I will point out to you.” When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. Then he reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the LORD’s messenger called to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!” “Here I am!” he answered. “Do not lay your hand on the boy,” said the messenger. “Do not do the least thing to him. I know now how devoted you are to God, since you did not withhold from me your own beloved son.” As Abraham looked about, he spied a ram caught by its horns in the thicket. So he went and took the ram and offered it up as a holocaust in place of his son. Again the LORD’s messenger called to Abraham from heaven and said: “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you acted as you did in not withholding from me your beloved son, I will bless you abundantly and make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore; your descendants shall take possession of the gates of their enemies, and in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing- all this because you obeyed my command.” Gospel for the Second Sunday of Lent (Mark 9:2-10) Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain apart by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no fuller on earth could bleach them. Then Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they were conversing with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus in reply, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He hardly knew what to say, they were so terrified. Then a cloud came, casting a shadow over them; from the cloud came a voice, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.” Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone but Jesus alone with them. As they were coming down from the mountain, he charged them not to relate what they had seen to anyone, except when the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what rising from the dead meant. Scot said we hear these readings every Lent on the second Sunday. The first reading prefigures the crucifixion of Christ and the transfiguration helps the apostles understand why God would send His only son in a bloody sacrifice on the cross. Fr. Mark said both readings have a returning, an unbelievable moment of God and then a return. The first reading is one of the most striking stories in the Bible. Abraham is never the same again. In the Gospel, Peter, James, and John are terrified. It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience of God and then a return to normal. Most of our life is lived in those moments of “return”. Scot said we are called to be listening and responding. We will now hear what Cardinal Seán said about this first reading about Abraham’s call: The History of Salvation began with a call. God Calls Abraham by name. He was an unlikely choice. God’s choices often surprise us. Abraham was too old, he was childless, hardly the right person to be the father of a great nation, but what Abraham lacked in human attributes, he compensated for by his great faith. A faith that allowed him to trust in God completely, to hope against hope, to obey even the hardest command ever imaginable: to sacrifice the son of the promise, Isaac who was born when Abraham was 80 years old. This was the son whose descendants would be as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore. Abraham’s faith in God is of such magnitude that he felt God would be able to resurrect the slain Isaac in order that His prophesy might be fulfilled. Such faith in God’s word and in His promise lead this Old Testament passage to be regarded as incredibly significant and exemplary one. Isaac carrying the wood for his own sacrifice prefigures Jesus carrying the Cross up the Mount of Calvary to be sacrificed. The ram or the male sheep that Abraham is to substitute for his son as the sacrifice, points to Christ the Lamb of God, a substitute for humanity. And Abraham’s willingness to give up his own son Isaac is seen as a foreshadowing of the willingness of God the Father to sacrifice his Son. This powerful passage has been an inspiration to Christians, Jews and Muslims who all claim to be spiritual descendants of Abraham. To us Catholics there is a powerful Eucharistic symbolism but the story also speaks to us about faith and sacrifice. We too are being called to be a part of God’s holy people, to journey towards a promised land and to fulfill a mission in this world. God is calling each of us by name. Scot said the Cardinal began and ended by saying the history of salvation began with a call to Abraham and to us. The response is to model Abraham and Jesus by responding with faith and a generosity that recognizes all our gifts come from God. Part of our duty is knowing we can return it in love to God. Fr. Mark said a call is not necessarily a call to something that’s fun or easy. The call of Abraham, Isaac, and Jesus was a call to something difficult and hard to understand. Yet we have to listen to that type of call too in our lives. So many people listening have been called to carry the wood of the cross through illness or financial burdens or needs of their families. We’re all called to carry the cross. We’re not always called to something to jump for joy about. Scot said there are many levels of call. The Latin word is vocare from which we get vocation. From all of time we were created with a purpose for own lives that will return us to heaven. Then there is a call which is a substantial path to heaven that we call our personal vocation: religious life, married life, priesthood, etc. Beyond all the other good things we can do, our main path in life is to be the best husband or priest or religious. Sometimes our job vocation and personal vocation conflict, the calling to be a good husband or priest or religious takes precedence. Then there are the daily calls, the competing demands and requests and the ways we can respond each day in prayer. This is the call Cardinal Seán is talking about this weekend: How much am I being asked to sacrifice financially for those in need here in the Archdiocese of Boston. For some it might not be a lot, even if it’s just the widow’s mite for someone who can’t afford much. Certainly we are all called to holiness. Fr. Mark said it takes everyone of us. He recalled a recent example in his own life of a man who stepped up to help Fr. Mark communicate with a deaf man. It took their combined gifts to reach this deaf man. Lent is a time for us to reaffirm our faith and our willingness to embrace the sacrifices a life of discipleship demands of us. Lent is about making time and space for God, going into the desert, climbing the mountain. We need to step back from the routine, the noise, the distractions that prevent us from seeing what is really important in life. Lent is a communal retreat that all Catholics are making together. Our Lenten sacrifices and prayers prepare us to renew our baptismal vows at Easter and to walk closer to Christ and our fellow disciples. The geography of lent begins with the first Sunday in the desert and now the second Sunday finds us on the mountain. I can never hear this gospel without recalling my own visit to Monte Tabor, the place of the Transfiguration. I was making retreat with a group of priests from Massachusetts. We were staying at a retreat house on the mount of the Beatitudes. In the mornings we had prayers and conference, and in the afternoon we visited the holy places. To get to Mount Tabor we went in buses to the foot of the mountain, but the mountain was so steep that the buses could not make the climb. They took us up in some old Mercedes taxicabs with kamikaze drivers. The hairpin turns and the sheer cliffs were terrifying. When we arrived at the top I felt like St. Peter. I wanted to kiss the ground and say: “how good it is to be here. Let’s build some tents and stay because I’m not getting in that cab again.” The views from the mountain are spectacular, but what the apostle saw in that secluded place is much more stunning that the view of the valley; for they glimpsed the glory of God. The apostles needed to know that Jesus is much more than a persuasive rabbi or a great miracle worker. They needed to be assured that the scandal they would soon find in the cross is not the end, that it is necessary, and that all will end in glory for the Lord and for themselves. The mystery of the Trinity is made visible. A bright cloud overshadowed them, it is the shechinah, the luminous cloud that covered the Israelites during the exodus. That represents the Holy Spirit, and the voice of the Father is heard: “This is my beloved Son, listen to him”. Our Lord is strengthened and confirmed as to his unique sonship, his necessary cross, and his glorious future beyond, and because of it. The lesson for us can hardly be different. Carrying our daily cross, in imitation of Jesus, is our own prelude to glory. Transfiguration also means there is another level to our Christian lives that is yet to be. And what blessed one it is! On Mount Tabor were present the three persons of the Trinity, the three apostles and the two prophets. Heaven and earth meet in this event. At our Sunday Eucharist God’s glory is hidden but present. The community helps us to climb the mountain and glimpse Christ’s loving presence among us. Here we find the strength and motivation to continue on our journey of faith and to fulfill the mission that Christ has entrusted to us. Scot said he loved that the transfiguration is for us a sign of how heaven and earth meet which is similar to how heaven and earth meet at every Mass in the Eucharist. The partaking in the Eucharist as a community strengthens and motivates us to continue in our faith with the mission entrusted to us. Fr. Mark said no one us will encounter Christ like the apostles did in the transfiguration, but all of us get glimpses of God. He said a new father showed him the photo of his newborn baby and God is part of the pulse of that miraculous child. Scot said his wife and son were on the Mount of the Transfiguration this past Tuesday in the Holy Land and she described what it was like to go up there on the very high mountain with a beautiful view. It’s not difficult to imagine that if God was going to give his voice from heaven on a cloud, it would be on top of this mountain, not just because of its beauty, but because it can be seen from miles away. As we look out from these mountains, we are often struck by the wonder of creation, which is a glimpse of God. We’re all called to be aware of how we will be transfigured if we respond to Jesus’ call to us. Just like the apostles didn’t really understand, we’re not going to understand exactly how heaven is until we’re there. Fr. Mark said he’s never been to the Holy Land, but everyone he knows who’s been, it’s been a lifechanging event. You never look at the Bible the same again. The lifechanging event is a transfiguration. But Cardinal Sean also points out that lifechanging events begin in the desert with quiet and solitude. The desert is a challenging place. But to truly be transfigured, we must start with prayer and penance and fasting. It is during this Lenten season that I come to remind all of the Catholics of the Archdiocese that our mission of evangelization, our works of mercy, and our service to the poor, the sick, the imprisoned, the formation of priests, deacons and lay leaders, our outreach in campus ministry, the youth, our apostolate to immigrants, and the countless services and activities of the faith community depend upon your participation, your generosity, and spirit of sacrifice. Each year we turn to our Catholic faithful to ask for your help to be able to carry on our mission. We ask for your prayers, your time, treasure and talent. We know that many grandmothers in nursing homes are our prayer warriors. They join us each day for Mass and rosary on Catholic Television. We have thousands of volunteers who carry on so many acts of community service, works of mercy, religious formation of our young people and so many other ministries . On my own behalf and on behalf of the wider community, I thank each of you sincerely. We are also profoundly grateful for the monetary support given through the Catholic Appeal from many Catholics throughout the diocese. I know that it is your faith that allows you to make this sacrifice as did the Good Samaritan who stopped to care for someone he didn’t even know. Let us continue to work together to carry on the mission joyfully and generously so that the Gospel will be known and loved. Each of us must do our part. We are not alone but surrounded by a cloud of witnesses who urge us on together through the forty days of spiritual renewal to the joy of Easter resurrection. Know that you are ever in my prayers. Scot said we each one must do our part so that the everyone can hear the Gospel. Fr. Mark said he’s been a priest for 21 years and worked in Central Ministries for over 11. He thinks what he’s done in the Tribunal for 11 years has helped heal a lot of people and helps priests and parishioners fulfill their vocations. This is possible through the Catholic Appeal. He knows without a doubt that God works through him and that dollar in the Appeal in part funds him and every other person in the building and throughout the Archdiocese who have a direct effect on the lives of people. He knows the effect and wants to say Thank You for allowing him to do what he does. Scot said the person who gave to the Appeal 30 years ago or 25 years ago, investing in everyone who worked for the Church, have left this legacy so Fr. Mark can minister to people today and for many more years. And those investments 25 years ago in him lead to his current and future service. Scot spoke of Bishop Kennedy’s upcoming new role starting in July as the vicar for the New Evangelization. We all know someone who isn’t practicing their faith anymore and we all know we can do a better job in proclaiming the faith and reaching out to them. We want the biggest family reunion in heaven ad that’s really the work of the Central Ministries of the Church. While The Good Catholic Life isn’t directly funded by theCatholic Appeal, it wouldn’t be possible without the Catholic Appeal. Every gift makes a difference. Scot said he spent his first 4 years at the Pastoral Center in the development office and he knows that the every gift matters, no matter how much. We are a much stronger family works together.

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Susan Abbott Today’s guest(s): 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: Rite of Election; Catholic Appeal; Mary Ann Glendon; 10 ways to grow in faith this Lent Summary of today’s show: Our Thursday news show had a more local flavor than recent weeks. Scot Landry, Susan Abbott, and Greg Tracy began by discussing the Rite of Election this past Sunday at Holy Cross Cathedral and then talked about the importance of the Catholic Appeal, not just to the central ministries, but to parish ministries as well. Mary Ann Glendon’s talk at the seminary on the vocation of politics called on Catholics to be engaged in the public square and Fr. Roger Landry’s editorial this week gave fodder for discussion with the top 10 ways to grow in faith during Lent. Also, a commemoration of an immigration raid in New Bedford five years ago and a suggestion to give up coffee for Lent to benefit the poor. 1st segment: Scot welcomed Susan and wished her a Happy March. Susan recommend listeners read Emily Dickinson’s poem about March. Dear March — Come in — How glad I am — I hoped for you before — Put down your Hat — You must have walked — How out of Breath you are — Dear March, Come right up the stairs with me — I have so much to tell — I got your Letter, and the Birds — The Maples never knew that you were coming — till I called I declare — how Red their Faces grew — But March, forgive me — and All those Hills you left for me to Hue — There was no Purple suitable — You took it all with you — Who knocks? That April. Lock the Door — I will not be pursued — He stayed away a Year to call When I am occupied — But trifles look so trivial As soon as you have come That Blame is just as dear as Praise And Praise as mere as Blame — They discussed their activities over the past week. Susan said she was in the Diocese of Providence for a day of prayer for diocesan employees. 2nd segment: Scot welcomed Greg to the show. Scot said that on the front page of the Pilot this week is a story about 500 people preparing to enter the Church on Easter gathering at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross on Sunday for the Rite of Election. “The fathers of the Church often see Noah’s Ark as a metaphor, or a sign, of the Church. We are tossed on rough seas. Some passengers are seasick, some of the crew have mutinied, some have fallen overboard, and yet we are one billion Catholics in all sizes, shapes and colors, and speaking every language imaginable,” he said. “Although it is sometimes a rough ride the Lord has promised that he will always be with us,” he continued. Susan clarified that there are two groups in the candidates. One consists of Christians who come from other faiths and Catholics who were baptized but didn’t receive any of the other sacraments of initiation. She said adult converts to the faith often bring a special zeal to the Church with them. She also spoke about how everyone in the Church is responsible for evangelization and bringing others to our faith. Scot said Greg was himself a convert to the faith. He noted that there are so many people entering the Church that they have to hold two different services for the Rite of Election. Scot said Fr. Jonathan Gaspar, director of the Office for Worship, is quoted as well: “They are already elect members of the Church, even though they haven’t been baptized. They gain a new status in the Church. The cardinal, the local bishop, is a reminder that for us as Catholics, it’s not just about belonging to a local parish, although that is very important. For many people their entrance into the Church is because of the outreach of local clergy and local Catholics. At this moment in their preparation they see with their own eyes and experience in the liturgy that they belong to a universal Church,” he said. “The bishop and the rite itself reminds all the fully initiated who are there present that it is our responsibility to support them with our prayers and by our example,” he said. “For us as Catholics it is a day of great joy, we anticipate it all year round, and to see new faces, to see new people being added to the family of God in the Church brings us tremendous joy,” Father Gaspar said. Susan recalled being a sponsor for a candidate at one time and asking them and other after the ceremony about their experience. Many spoke of the truth and beauty of the Catholic Church. Greg said it’s significant that the ceremony is held at the Mother Church of the Archdiocese and connects them to the universal Church. The rest of their preparation is in the parish so this gives them a connection beyond the parish and even personally to the cardinal. They spoke of the importance of the physicality of the cathedral and how the statues and windows and paintings of churches is a catechism lesson in images. Boston Catholic Appeal The 2012 Catholic Appeal launch is this weekend and most parishes in the Archdiocese will have a recorded homily for the parish. Cardinal Sean will be personally in Amesbury and Middleboro parishes. The theme this year is “The Good Samaritan is you.” Many of the central ministries of the archdiocese are funded through the appeal including Susan’s office for religious education. She said when she was working at her parish during Catholic Appeal time, her pastor would always tell people that if they like the programs in their parish, they should give because those ministries only do the work they can because they receive support from the central ministries. Greg said Msgr. Deeley, the vicar general, made a good summary, which is that the Appeal funds that which makes us a Church. While we may be very parish centered on a day to day basis, it is the ministry of the archbishop that makes us one Church. In the end, every ministry in the parish is affected by something funded by the Catholic Appeal. He said the Pilot is not funded by the Catholic Appeal, but they are located in the Pastoral Center which supports their ministry. Also in the Pilot is a story about Mary Ann Glendon, former US ambassador to the Vatican, giving an address at the seminary about the vocation of the politician. “Anticipating practically every excuse most of uS would think of, [Pope John Paul II] said that ‘Charges of careerism, idolatry of power, egoism, and corruption, as well as the common opinion that participating in politics is an absolute moral danger, do not in the least justify either skepticism or an absence on the part of Christians in public life,’” Glendon told The Pilot. “I think he was reminding us, based on his own personal experiences in Eastern Europe, that the work of politics - despite all its frustrations, disappointments, and grubbiness- is what determines whether other human activities like philosophy. art, literature, science, and commerce, all flourish or wither,” she added. She related her experience teaching at Harvard Law in which she saw idealistic students become disillusioned in their years of study about the state of politics. But where would we be if good people didn’t get involved in public service? Greg said she makes the compelling point that Catholics have an important mission not to retreat from the public square. Scot said the article ends with Fr. John Mulloy talking about the address and his admiration for Glendon. Scot said that describes how a lot of people feel about her. She is one of the most influential lay Catholic women in the Church worldwide. Susan said she has known Glendon for some time and she has a wonderful way of presenting the truth of the Church without stridency and with love. She is obviously brilliant. Susan cited Edmund Burke: “All that’s necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing.” Scot said there is also a story about an upcoming breakfast by Women Affirming Life on the topic of assisted suicide. The breakfast will take place on March 10 at Four Point Sheraton in Norwood. To register, call the Pro-Life Office at 508-651-1900. Scot also cited a couple of local stories in this week’s Anchor on a 5th anniversary service commemorating an immigration raid in New Bedford that detained 300 illegal immigrants and another on an initiative in Fall River asking people to give up their daily coffee from Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts and donate the money to the missions. Find out more at http://www.fallrivermissions.org 3rd segment: This week’s editorial in the Anchor cites ways to grow in faith during Lent. It includes 10 suggestions related to growing in faith. Lent is a time for growth in faith. It begins with our being marked with ashes and instructed to turn our backs on sin so that we may be faithfully the Gospel. There is for sure a need for us to grow in a personal, trusting adherence to God, something that happens as we seek to pray more and better, to discipline ourselves through fasting and other means, and to give of what we are and have in alms to others, confident that our Provident God will not only sustain but reward us. The first three suggestions are to study the Catechism of the Catholic and the documents of the Second Vatican Council; Go on a pilgrimage, even to a local shrine; and increase one’s devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Susan suggests for studying the Catechism that people pick up YouCat for youth and the Catholic Catechism for Adults from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, which is based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Of pilgrimage, she said we often just need the attitude of pilgrimage. Scot said pilgrimage could even just be going to a church you’ve never been to before. The next four are to grow in friendship with the saints as a holy, heroic witnesses to the faith; reading the writings of the Holy Father, who is one of the best teachers we’ve ever had as a pope; to attend missions and days of recollection; and attend conferences and study days. Greg said the idea of becoming more familiar with the saints can include getting to know the two new American saints who will be canonized in October, Blessed Kateri and Blessed Marianne Cope. Scot pointed out that there are calendars of events throughout the dioceses published in the newspapers and on their websites. The final four are celebrate the faith more intensely during Mass; examine your conscience on sins against the faith; give added attention to teaching the faith in Catholic school, religious educations programs and homes; and communicate your experience of faith to peers. Susan said the new translation of the Mass helps us to pay renewed attention to what is going at Mass and The Light Is On For You is a good opportunity for an examination of conscience and confession. Scot said there are two lengthy obituaries in the Pilot for priests who died this past week, including Fr. James Curtin and Fr. Edward O’Flaherty, SJ. There are also several articles in both newspapers about the Health and Human Services contraception mandate. Scot especially recommended an opinion column by John Garvey, president of Catholic University of America on the topic. Greg wrapped up by talking a special travel and pilgrimage section in the Pilot this week.

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry Today’s guest(s): Stephen Colella, Peter Williams, and Fr. Frank Silva Links from today’s show: CYO Athletics 2012 EMASS CYO Tournament Today’s topics: CYO Athletics Summary of today’s show: Say the letters CYO to a Catholic from Boston, and they will inevitably recall the glory days of CYO athletics when hundreds of parish and parochial school sports teams competed in several sports across the Archdiocese. Peter Williams, Stephen Colella, and Fr. Frank Silva join Scot Landry to say that those glory days aren’t just in the past. The annual CYO March Madness tournament is beginning and will bring 87 out of 368 teams in 11 different divisions together to be crowned the best in basketball in eastern Massachusetts. But it’s not just another recreational league. Catholic athletics teaches virtues and Catholic values in an environment that helps young people to grow in faith and integrity. 1st segment: Scot said CYO Athletics is not just about the final score… It’s about positive coaching, sportsmanship for children and their parents, learning to live together in a diverse community, maximizing talents, and fostering the physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual strength in each of us. The programs are representative of the Christian values of respect, love, compassion and support for each other. Through sports, competition and teamwork, CYO athletics provides healthy growth and development through games, practices and the life lessons that sports teach. Scot said the Archdiocese has a version of March Madness in the CYO basketball tournament. Pete Williams is the CYO athletics director and Fr. Frank is the chaplain for CYO athletics. Stephen Colella is the assistant director of Office for the New Evangelization of Youth and Young Adults, of which CYO is part. Peter said in 1963 he was appointed deanery athletic coordinator in Dorchester and since 1977 has been athletic director for CYO for the Archdiocese. Scot said CYO athletics was huge in Lowell in the early 80s when he was participating. Peter said in the 1950 and 1960s, every parish had a CYO program. Right now, there are still 350 teams in the Archdiocese. Peter said when he was a kid the parish was the hub of the community and most kids wanted to participate in the CYO. It was a time when young people were readily coming forth to be part of the Church. Fr. Frank said during his high school years CYO was known not just for athletics, but also social, spiritual and cultural programs. CYO was an opportunity for leadership development for young people. CYO councils were elected in parishes and on the deanery/vicariate level they had youth councils and then an Archdiocesan youth council. Fr. Frank served as an officer in his parish CYO and a deanery officer in the Lowell area and then served on the Archdiocesan council. He was an appointed member. Each council had committees for religious, social, athletic, and cultural activities. At the archdiocesan council level, he was appointed to the sports committee even though he’d never been involved in athletics. Peter said he was a classmate in the seminary with Fr. Frank along with Fr. Bill Schmidt, who was the chairman of the archdiocesan youth council that Fr. Frank served on. Fr. Frank said his decision to enter the seminary was affected by involvement in CYO. Those were the glory years of CYO, he said. National conventions for CYOs took place every other year and would draw five or six thousand young people from around the country. Stephen talked about growing up in Wayland and being involved in soccer and how that influenced his development as a person. He said CYO athletics ties together the natural virtues to the supernatural virtues. As you become a teammate you grow out of yourself. When you baptize sports, you realize what a powerful influence you can have on who young people can become. Scot said growing up CYO for him was just sports. Peter said the goal of CYO sports is to connect sports to the spiritual. Fr. Matt as director of Office for the New Evangelization of Youth and Young Adults has done more to connect those, by for example, having a Mass for the opening of the sports year at the cathedral. Fr. Silva said growing up in the 1960s, there were still many community connections in neighborhoods and during high school, having a youth organization that was parish based created multiple opportunities to draw young people in through a variety of activities. He recalled CYO sponsoring an oratorical contest where people were invited to give speeches that culminated an oratorical contest at Boston College for the whole archdiocese. He said the Archdiocese was one of the first in the country to accept Search retreat weekends for high schools, which had many great fruits. Teen Encounter Christ programs also had a link with Search and CYO. Whatever else parish CYO programs offered, they all seemed to have athletics: golf, swimming, tennis, basketball, baseball. As we entered the 1970s, it began to change because of the culture and as youth ministry became the new model. Scot asked Peter what changed. Peter said when Msgr. John Carroll wrote his memoirs, he wrote that over 1,300 young people entered religious life out of the Archdiocese of Boston CYO program. The CYO program evolved over time and the upheaval of the Sixties and Seventies led to much of the demise of youth programs. Fr. Frank pointed out it wasn’t just youth programs and it wasn’t just in the Church. Peter said the athletic program has remained fairly constant and in recent time has seen a rebirth and new growth in the Archdiocese. Scot asked if it’s just sports-crazy Boston or is it nationally that CYO has become athletics focused. Peter said every diocese in New England has a very vibrant CYO athletic program. Scot asked Stephen what stands out for CYO in its effectiveness. Stephen said the Catechism speaks of the value of CYO and encourages us to be involved. The anchor for CYO has always been an outreach program to bring young people into orbit around their parish. Its in our nature to want to be in these socialized settings. Even though the culture has offered substitutes, these programs remain strong. Though there may have been a heyday and a lull, we’re rediscovering the value of this socialization and how powerful it can be for a new evangelization. CYO has some Velcro hooks that other ministries are missing. 2nd segment: Scot asked Peter about the March Madness tournament and the different levels and brackets. Peter said there are 11 divisions: 5th and 6th grade boys and girls, school and parish divisions; 7th & 8th grade boys and girls; junior boys; senior boys; senior girls. The grammar school divisions are the largest and the South Shore Parochial School League is the biggest one of all. Of the parish leagues, the Norwood-Westwood area league is growing large as well. These are parishes that don’t have Catholic grammar schools have parish league teams, although some parishes offer both. Peter said Gate of Heaven in South Boston has been a large force in CYO over the years, both boys and girls. Our Lady’s in Lynnfield is another program, and St. Margaret Mary in Westwood. St. Mary’s in Franklin field 14 teams. Fr. Frank said for this age level, while they are receiving proper religious education and growing in other ways, they are also seeing how being involved in a church activity can be fun. Peter said the priests are key and he sees the kids flock to their priests and pastors. Scot asked if the parishes travel well, sending more than just parents of the teams. Peter said it’s mostly family related, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Scot asked how the Archdiocese celebrates the teams in the March Madness tournament. Stephen said they build on the socialization idea and avenues of growing virtue. It’s powerful to give witness that is implicit and explicit. The priest coming by to see the teams. The credibility of a teacher or priest goes through the roof when you enter their world. That opens the door to their receptivity to the Church. Once that avenue is primed, then you add prayer before the game and all the other elements. The teams that take advantage of that really begin to grow a huge ministry apart from sports. Scot said he presumes that the trash talking you see on playgrounds doesn’t take place on the CYO courts. Fr. Frank said it is different, but the kids are still kids. However, the adults take a stricter line on such activity with technical fouls and if it continues coaches and priests getting involved. Fr. Frank said there have been teams eliminated from tournaments because they didn’t live up to the values being promoted. Peter said the Archdiocese has participated an online course for Catholic coaches that all coaches must take. He said we are blessed by the men and women passing on these values and virtues. Stephen said national statistics shows that young people who get involved in athletics tend to avoid trouble and get themselves on a different path. Peter said during the season, to qualify for post-season play, that a team be successful in at least 70 percent of their games and from that about 30 percent of the teams end up participating. This year 87 teams are taking part out of 368 teams total. Peter said the tournament is single elimination. It is highly competitive with large crowds coming to the games. Stephen said Milton High School is where they traditionally hold the tournament. They have a very large facility. They used to hold the tournament at Catholic Memorial for about 25 years. Fr. Silva said the younger the competitors, the more inspiring and entertaining it is to watch. Stephen said as the tournament goes on the level of play becomes incredible. He also offered thanks to the volunteers who get involved, including referees and coaches. 3rd segment: It’s time to announce this week’s winner of the WQOM Benefactor Raffle. Our prize this week is the book, Made for More by Curtis Martin. This week’s benefactor card raffle winner is Fr. James DiPerri, from Waltham, MA. Congratulations, Fr. DiPerri! If you would like to be eligible to win in an upcoming week, please visit WQOM.org. For a one-time $30 donation, you’ll receive the Station of the Cross benefactor card and key tag, making you eligible for WQOM’s weekly raffle of books, DVDs, CDs and religious items. We’ll be announcing the winner each Wednesday during “The Good Catholic Life” program. 4th segment: Scot asked Peter how the brackets are formed. Peter said the brackets are seeded to ensure that no one who has already faced an opponent during the season meets them again in the initial rounds. They do try to weight it to ensure balance in the brackets. Peter said his son Stephen is the tournament director this year and is responsible for creating all the brackets. Scot asked for where people can get more information. (The link to their web site is above.) Fr. Frank said what has competed with the development of CYO teams in many parishes is the development of city and town youth leagues. He said the CYO name does continue in many places with teams not affiliated with the Church continuing to use CYO. People have identified some teams as a CYO team for so long they continue to use the name. CYO has become ingrained within the psyche. Stephen said that will help CYO in the future. When you view it as ministry, you start to see what Pope John Paul said about the potential for the Church of the intersection with the culture. This is an important piece of who we are. The towns have copied a lot of what we did well. Now we need to find what new things we can do (for example, ultimate frisbee) and what things we can re-infuse with more catechesis for the future. Boston has had a rich history that will carry us forward in the new evangelization. There are so many CYO alumni who are very successful people in business and society and professional sports. Peter said we as a Church have a very difference product to offer. We’re not just a recreational league. Otherwise the Church shouldn’t be involved in athletics. We have a distinctive spiritual component to our athletics. Stephen said Catholic athletics is the Theology of the Body lived out in the bosy-soul union.

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor Today’s guest(s): Fr. Tommy Lane, Associate Professor of Sacred Scripture at Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary Links from today’s show: Fr. Tommy’s website Today’s topics: Scripture for Catholics in Lent Summary of today’s show: Since Vatican II, Catholics as a whole have been gaining a deeper appreciation for Scripture, but there’s so much more to do. Scripture scholar Fr. Tommy Lane joins Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor to talk about the importance of reading, studying, and praying with Scripture, even to venerating Scripture as we venerate the Eucharist. Let this Lent be a time when the Word of God takes deeper root in your life and brings you closer to the Lord as you contemplate His “love letter” to all men and women. 1st segment: Scot and Fr. Chris talked about Fr. Chris’ visit to Norfolk state prison last night to celebrate Mass with the inmates. Fr. Chris noted that the congregation included a dog, because one of the inmates trains service dogs for the disabled. He told the men that Lent is a boot camp and we use this time to chip away at those things in our lives that aren’t Christ-like. Scot asked what changes happen in the season of Lent at St. John Seminary. Fr. Chris said throughout Lent they have a book or two that they read in the refectory during lunch, about 15-20 minutes of reading, instead of conversations. They are also served soup and bread on Wednesdays and Fridays as a Lenten fast. On Fridays, where the men usually go out for pizza or a movie the rest of the year, during Lent they spend the time in the Stations of the Cross. This year, they are reading a book on Blessed Charles Foucauld and the imitation of Christ. Fr. Tommy Lane is the guest. He’s on a sabbatical from Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary in Emmittsburg, Maryland, in Boston for study and spending time at St. John’s Seminary while he’s here. He is a Scripture scholar. 2nd segment: Scot welcomed Fr. Tommy to the show. He grew up on farm in County Cork, Ireland. He has one brother who is now looking after the dairy farm. He grew up in the country, which is a nice place to think about God and vocation. He was in second grade when he first began to think about. It was watching the priest celebrate Sunday Mass. Near the end of high school, he met the vocations director and then went to seminary where he studied Latin and Greek. He studied his theology at Maynooth near Dublin. He went on to Rome for graduate work in Scripture study where he earned degrees, including a Doctorate in Sacred Theology. Fr. Tommy said there was something about the priest in the sanctuary that attracted him to the idea of priesthood at such a young age. Scot asked when Fr. Tommy’s love of Scripture began. Fr. Tommy said about halfway through high school he began to read the Bible every evening before bed. One of the Sisters of Mercy in the high school teaching religion who made everyone in class buy a Bible and they would read it in class. Scot asked how seminary formation in Ireland is different. Fr. Tommy said back in the 80s, they didn’t have formation advisors at the time. Also every seminarian does pastoral work for a half-day every week. At the time, it was optional and there was much less emphasis on it. There is one seminary for Ireland, St. Patrick’s College in Maynooth. All the smaller diocesan seminaries have been closed and merged with Maynooth. After ordination, he continued with all his studies and after getting his doctorate, he served in various parishes. He also taught adult education in his diocese every week, several weeks. From there he taught in the seminary in Ireland and when the one he taught at closed, the bishop told him to apply to any seminary to teach Scripture. A priest friend in America told him of an opening at Mount Saint Mary’s in Maryland and he applied. Fr. Chris said one of the hardest degrees to earn in Rome is the Scripture degree Fr. Tommy earned. The hardest part for him was the Hebrew. He’d already studied Greek in undergraduate, but Hebrew is so completely different from any languages he’d known. Every word is formed with three consonants and the vocabulary is limited so you make words by adding prefixes and suffixes. But it’s great to read the Scriptures in the languages in which they were written. During exams, you would be allowed to bring Scriptures with you to quote from, but they only allowed the Greek and Hebrew Scriptures. Fr. Tommy said reading in Greek and Hebrew allows more precise understanding of what was being said than reading the translation in English. He cited the Annunciation, which in English usually just has Gabriel says “Rejoice, o highly favored daughter” or “Hail, full of grace”, but the Greek word used there carries a lot more meaning, such that the angel is saying to Mary that she is full of grace in such a way that she has always been full of grace, which infers the state of the Immaculate Conception. Scot asked how Scripture was developed and what languages was it written in? Fr. Tommy said the New Testament was written in Greek and the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and just a very small part in Aramaic. When he studies the New Testament, he studies it in Greek. It was translated later in all the various languages. He said biblical Hebrew and Greek are not the same as modern Greek and Hebrew, although he can sometimes understand many of the words he sees. The Hebrew he learned has vowel signs in it, while modern Hebrew does not, which makes it difficult for him to read, for example. 3rd segment: Scot said most Catholics don’t have a deep appreciation for Catholics and asked Fr. Tommy why that is. Fr. Tommy said there may be some historical reasons, but Catholics are reading Scripture much more now. However, Catholics have always meditated on Scripture in the Rosary and in the Mass and in other indirect ways. Scot guesses half of all Catholics have never read a book of the Bible from beginning to end. He said the Scriptures are a love letter from God to us, as Vatican II said. Fr. Tommy said when you have a conversation with someone there is some content. When you pray, you want to nourish your prayer life. Scripture does those. He tells people to read a passage of Scripture before you pray, to help you enter into a deeper prayer life. He suggests people pray for the Holy Spirit to open up the Scripture to them. Scot asked what central things he tries to teach Catholics who come for their first Scripture course. Fr. Tommy said he always starts with the inspiration and composition of the Scriptures. One common misunderstanding is that the Scriptures just sort of fell out of heaven. Of course, God is the Author of the Scriptures, but people don’t understand the human element involved in the composition of the Scriptures. At Mass we say “The holy Gospel according to Luke” because it is Luke who put it into writing and his character comes through. Scot said the human authors are not God’s robot, but he is inspired to write what God intends to be written. Fr. Tommy said they were real authors. Fr. Tommy spoke of the difference between teaching Scripture to seminarians and teaching it to lay adults in faith formation. He would tell laypeople that we can read Scripture, we can study it, we can pray it, and he wanted them to do all three. About halfway through each night, they would pause for a 15-minute guided meditation on Scripture, which turned out to be the most popular part of the programs. In seminary, he doesn’t need to do that because they already have spiritual directors and others teaching them to pray with the Scriptures, so he can dedicate his time to more academic study of the Scriptures. Seminarians must get an academic understanding of the Scriptures. Fr. Chris asked Fr. Tommy which one of the Gospels he would take with him to a desert island. Fr. Tommy said that would be Luke, who is sometimes called the Gentle Scribe. He likes his portrayal of the gentleness of Christ, who is always reaching out to others, especially those on the margins. Fr. Chris said he’s heard it as the Gospel of hospitality. Scot asked if Luke is more Marian than the other two synoptic Gospels, Mark and Matthew. Fr. Tommy said we could say that because the Christmas narratives come from Luke, with so much about Mary in the Annunciation and the Visitation and the Nativity. Fr. Chris asked Fr. Tommy to explain what are the synoptic Gospels. Fr. Tommy said synoptic is two Greeks words meaning “seeing together”. Those Gospels have avery similar presentation of the life of Christ. Those are MAtthew, Mark, and Luke. John has a different presentation, where he goes to the Passover in Jerusalem three times, instead of the one in the others, and he gives long speeches instead of the parables in the others. Scot said the synoptics are more about what Jesus did while John is more about who Jesus is and what he does for us. Fr. Tommy said the Last Supper Discourse in John is Jesus giving his instructions for the Church, which is why we read the Gospel of John in Easter season. Scot said during the season of Lent we encourage people to deepen their knowledge of God and grow in faith. What would we encourage moms and dads and their kids to do to grow in Scripture during Lent? Fr. Tommy said when praying with young children, use one paragraph, perhaps from one of the Gospels with Jesus in it, something that would appeal to the kids, to love Jesus and show Jesus’ love for them. For an adult studying for themselves for the first time, he suggests two ways: the Scripture readings from daily Mass or pick one Gospel and read it from beginning to end. You might want to pick up a commentary on the Gospel to help, for example, the Navarre Bible Commentary. In Lent the two readings for daily Mass are especially chosen because they connect with each other in some way. The rest of the year, they are not chosen to be linked in a particular way. 4th segment: Scot said on Fr. Tommy’s website, he saw something from one of the courses he teaches that he’s never seen before. He said that we should venerate the presence of God in the Scriptures as we would venerate the presence of God in the Eucharist. In our Catholic tradition we have been accustomed to giving devotion to the Eucharist a privileged position. Vatican II calls us to give equal reverence to the presence of God in his Word and in the Eucharist. Dei Verbum 21 states that the Church has always venerated the Scriptures as she venerated the Lord’s Body. This is repeated in CCC 103. This may be a new way of looking at the Scriptures for you. I cherish the following quotation from Origen, a third century preacher, “You receive the body of the Lord with special care and reverence lest the smallest crumb of the consecrated gift fall to the floor. You should receive the word of God with equal care and reverence lest the smallest word of it fall to the floor and be lost.” Scot said he doesn’t know many Catholics who venerate the Word of God with that same passion as they devote to Eucharistic adoration. Fr. Tommy said Cardinal Arinze has made that phrase famous. What Fr. Tommy does is that he has a special place in his rooms for Scriptures to give them a place of prominence in your home. Scot said it’s easy to have the Bible on a shelf among other books, but its better to put God’s love letter to us in a special place. Fr. Tommy said it’s different from all other books. Fr. Tommy said it’s appropriate to have the family Bible blessed by a priest. Fr. Chris said you often see the four evangelists represented by an ox (Luke), an eagle (John), an angel or man (Matthew), and a lion (Mark). Fr. Tommy said they are taken from the four creatures in the Book of Ezekiel and the Book of Revelations. The eagle is John because John has such lofty theology. Luke opens with the angel Gabriel appearing to Zechariah, the priest sacrificing in the temple, and oxen were sacrificed in the temple. Matthew is normally said to be a human, which refers to the gospel opening with the family tree of Jesus. And Mark is a lion because it opens with John the Baptist preaching int he wilderness, roaring like a lion. Fr. Chris asked Fr. Tommy what he does to prepare a homily as a Scripture scholar. Fr. Tommy begins preparing on Monday before Sunday’s Gospel. He uses it for prayer and meditation and focuses on what the Lord might be saying through the Scriptures to his people. As the week goes on, he reads Scripture commentaries and might look for answers on various questions that arise and tease out deeper meanings of the passage. Scot said Fr. Tommy publishes his homilies on his website and over time the same readings elicit different ways to approach them. Fr. Tommy said God is always speaking to us in a new way through Scriptures. He’s trying to link with the lives of the people he’s speaking to. There may be situations or questions that cause people to seek answers. He wants Scripture to meet people where they are in some way. Scot said at the end of Lent we read some of the most powerful Scripture passages starting with Palm Sunday and ending on Easter. Some say the Palm Sunday Passion reading so long that it’s tough to get everything out of them. Fr. Tommy said reading the Passion at home beforehand would be great. We should understand how the Passion narratives work: Last Supper, Gethsemane, Jesus arrest, the religious trial before the Sanhedrin, the civil trial before Pilate, the condemnation,. and Jesus carrying his cross. Seeing this structure in can help guide us through it. Fr. Tommy finds the way we read the Scriptures helpful, with the congregation saying the words of the crowd. We don’t like to think about it, but it’s because of our sins that Christ is crucified. Scot said when we in the pews say “Crucify him” we in some ways might not want to acknowledge it and it’s very difficult for him to say this because its by our sins that we are saying “Crucify him”.Every time we sin, we choose Barabbas instead of Christ. Fr. Chris said one of the men at Norfolk told him that we forget that Barabbas was the first man that Jesus saved. For people who want to deepen their lives in Scripture, they can read Fr. Tommy’s homilies on his website and there’s also a few excerpts of Scripture courses. He’s on sabbatical right now to write a book on priesthood and Scriptures. The first part is on priesthood and the Old Testament. The second is on Christ the high priest of the New Testament. The third section is Christ sharing his priesthood in two ways with his apostles and the lay faithful.

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry Today’s guest(s): Fr. Jack Graham, parochial vicar at St. Agnes Parish in Arlington Links from today’s show: St. Agnes Parish St. Agnes Music Ministry St. Agnes School Arlington Catholic High School Fidelity House Today’s topics: Priest Profile: Fr. Jack Graham Summary of today’s show: Today, we enjoyed another in our popular series of profiles of the priests of the Archdiocese of Boston, this time with Fr. Jack Graham, parochial vicar at St. Agnes Parish in Arlington. Scot and Fr. Jack talk about Fr. Jack’s beginnings in Quincy’s Germantown neighborhood through the first inklings of a vocation in college at UMass/Boston to seminary and then priestly assignments in some of the largest parishes in the Archdiocese with some of its most well-known priests. Fr. Jack and Scot also discuss what its like to celebrate so many funerals (St. Agnes has the most of any parish) to the parish’s culture that promotes frequent confession, as well as the parish’s unique status of having not one, but two parochial schools. 1st segment: Scot welcomed Fr. Jack Graham to show. Fr. Jack is parochial vicar at St. Agnes Parish in Arlington, which is Scot’s home parish. He asked him about his background. Fr. Jack grew up in Quincy, in Germantown, St. Boniface parish. He said it was the poorest neighborhood on the South Shore. They had exceptional priests. Fr. Jack said he grew up next door to the church. When he was a kid, Fr. Gerry Osterman was there with Msgr. George Carlson and he was altar boy for them for a number of years. They were followed by another great pair of priests. Fr. Jack has two brothers and two sisters. He’s the youngest. Fr. Jack said they used the church parking lot to play games, but they also were shanghaied the kids to work in the parish setting up for events. He said knowing these four priests as examples of the priesthood had a lot to do with his decision to enter the seminary. He went to public school because there wasn’t a Catholic school. He graduated Quincy High School in 1980. Scot said in the seminary now there are as many guys who didn’t go to Catholic school as there are. Fr. Jack said the college seminary, which was open at the time, was mostly Catholic school graduates, while many of the public school guys went to other colleges first. Fr. Jack said it was as he started to mature in high school and college he started to think about the priesthood. He worked his way through U. Mass Boston, working full time and going to school full time. His job was 3-11pm at an alcohol detox right next to Quincy Hospital. It was mainly for people living on the street or couldn’t otherwise afford it. He did that for five years, doing intake, helping people clean up, washing floors and the like. He found the people to have great compassion, to be very interesting, but just struggling with an addiction. He had a thought one day that no matter what else he did, how much money he made, he wouldn’t do anything more important. Scot asked if the priests he knew explicitly planted a seed. Fr. Jack said it was never explicit, but just the way they lived their priesthood. They were always supportive when he asked about it and they had kept in touch over the years. Scot and Fr. Jack talked about Msgr. frank kelly, who helped found the Pine Street Inn. Fr. Jack said the call to the priesthood was really a call. It wasn’t something he had particularly wanted. He had already planned to have a family someday and actively tried to push the call away. He decided to go to the seminary to put it behind him and he ended up getting ordained five years later. Seminary is a time for discernment. Fr. Jack said he saw many men discern they didn’t have the call. Scot said when he attended seminary, they told him half of the men would leave and that should not be seen as a failure. Fr. Jack said if you are truly called, it is a great life. If you’re not called, you can end up miserable. Scot asked Fr. Jack when he really knew God wanted him to be a priest. Fr. Jack said at one point he had left the seminary for the summer, thinking he wouldn’t go back. He worked at State Street Bank in Quincy and had a lot of prayer and discernment. He ended up going back to the seminary and that was when he had decided. Every year the faculty votes on the seminarians and decide whether they can stay. Scot said it’s common for him to hear religious or priests say they entered seminary or religious formation not sure whether they had a real call. God’s will is often revealed over a long time and a slow pace. Fr. Jack said he was ordained in 1990. He said it was a great class of priests, including our Friday co-host Fr. Mark O’Connell. 2nd segment: Fr. Jack’s first assignment was St. Richard’s in Danvers, which seemed like being on the other side of the planet for someone from Quincy. His first pastor was Fr. Paul Keyes, who is now retiring from St. Michael’s in Andover. He was wonderful as a first pastor. St. Richard’s had grown with a lot of young families under Fr. Keyes’ leadership. He is a very spiritual man who helped Fr. Jack with his prayer life. He enabled people in the parish to get involved and take ownership of things. It wasn’t just the paid staff running programs, but hundreds of people getting involved. Fr. Jack was there for five years. (His second pastor was Fr. Charlie Higgins, who is now in Kingston.) When he had first moved to St Richards, there was a retired priest there, but eventually it was just him and the pastor. From Danvers, he went to Sacred Heart in Roslindale with Msgr. frank kelly. The area was just becoming popular again. They had many Irish and Italians, but also a growing Spanish-speaking community. They also had a large West African community, and they had a priest from Africa there. Fr. Jack was there for seven years. During his time, they merged with St. Andrews parish in Forest Hills. He spent an extra year in the parish to stay after the merge. Fr. Jack said he loves city parishes. The parish is the hub of the neighborhood, even for those who aren’t Catholic. In Danvers, his first weekend he had people come up to him and say how lucky they were to have him. At Sacred Heart, a woman told him that he was lucky to be there. There is a real pride of parish. Scot and Fr. Jack discussed being assigned to a parish with a priest who’d been in his own parish before ordination. They’d had a mentor relationship before Fr. Jack entered seminary.In Roslindale, he learned about running a very large parish. From there, he spent two years at St. Anthony in Allston. This was during the heyday of the scandal and during the first part of the archdiocese trying to figure out what to do with reconfiguration. Originally he was covering the parish for a sick pastor, and ended up spending two years. After that he came to St. Agnes. Most of his priestly ministry has been in very large, urban parishes. Scot said they had the kickoff for the Catholic Appeal about four years ago at St. Agnes. He learned that St. Agnes is number two in the Archdiocese for the number of funerals. Scot listed the top 10 parishes in number of funerals. cot asked what it’s like to celebrate so many funeral Masses. Fr. Jack said they’re not all old people. He puts funerals, baptisms, and weddings together as an opportunity to evangelize people because there are a lot of people who haven’t been to church in a long time and you can teach what we believe about life and death and eternal life and apply it to our lives. It’s a great place for ministry because they often start ministering to the people weeks before they die when they get sick. The families are looking for something: Someone to comfort them or someone to be mad at. He said funerals are busy: There is a commitment to the wake, to the Mass, to the burial at the cemetery. He said the music at St. Agnes is exceptional, led by Michael Vaughn. Fr. Jack said he directs his homilies to all the different people by going to the fundamental beliefs we have. He often uses in funeral homilies St. Paul’s message to the Corinthians in Second Corinthians because he’s also addressing a varied community. He tells the community at Corinth that they must walk by their faith, not by their sight. So he says at funerals that we want to give people a sense that a good and loving God wants us to be happy here, but there’s more and we have a responsibility to pray for this person as well. Scot said it must be a logistical challenge to cover so much in the parish. Today, for instance, he couldn’t go to the cemetery in Malden for his funeral today so he asked another priest in that area to do that. Fr. Jack said the busier he is, the more fun it is. This is what he wants to be doing. 3rd segment: Scot what makes St. Agnes distinct is that it has two Catholic parish schools plus Fidelity House, a parish-based boys and girls club. Fr. Jack said it’s hard to describe what Fidelity House is. Scot said there are a lot of young families in the parish. Fr. Jack just following the sports team makes you busy. Two schools brings life to the parish. Sr. Barbara is the full-time chaplain at the high school and takes the lead there. Arlington Catholic has about 700 students. Fr. Jack takes more responsibility for the grammar school while Fr. Flatley takes the high school. When Scot first moved to Arlington, there were four parishes, and now there are two, so Fr. Jack said doing confessions in Lent and Advent for all the students takes longer than it used to. Scot said his experience is that a lot of men don’t go to confession. Many don’t go after first confession, but at St. Agnes is to make sure it’s a habit to go regularly. Fr. Jack said they want to make sure that they don’t become conditioned that confession is just a school or religious ed thing. Fr. Jack said just the regular parish confessions are packed. They have two times on Saturday and they have a constant line during those availabilities. Confession is a big deal there. They also have a lot of people who make appointments. The good thing about an appointment is that it gives them more time to talk than on Saturday. St. Agnes is a very large and faith-filled parish. Fr. Jack said someone on the early history of the parish, some priest must have made it seem like confession was to be a tradition of the parish. He said at St. Richard’s in Danvers, there was something similar about the culture being that everyone stay at the end of Mass to pray because a priest had said it was important decades ago. Fr. Jack said they just went through First Confessions for the kids. Most of the kids are nervous to talk to the priests. You get to teach them how to examine their conscience. If a kid says he has nothing o confess, then you can lead them through some potential problems. For second-graders, you just lead them through the relationships in their families. For adults who want to come back to confession, Fr. Jack said don’t worry about remembering how it goes. The priests will lead them through it. The idea is to just to get there. He remembered as a college student where hadn’t been to confession in four or five years. He got a notion to go to ST. Anthony’s Shrine on Arch Street in Boston. He sat in the pews for an hour and a half and ended up leaving because he was so nervous. He went back the next day, and finally went in. The priest was so kind and he left feeling like a million bucks. The sins that people confess that they think are heavy or dark are the ones that make the priest have admiration for the courage of the penitent. The best priest-confessors are those who go to confession a lot. The best way to help people get back to confession is to kill them with kindness and make it a very positive experience. Scot said the Archdiocese for the past couple of years has been doing The Light Is On For You, where every parish is open for confessions on Wednesdays in Lent from 6:30-8:30pm. Fr. Jack said he sees it builds momentum through Lent and by the last week, there is a very big crowd for confession. Scot said a lot of people tell him that confession on Wednesday night is a lot more convenient than Saturday. Fr. Jack said he agrees, but it’s hard with the number of priests we have now. Fr. Jack thinks The Light Is On For You will become a tradition in the archdiocese. Scot said there were more than 600 people at the Cathedral for the Rite of Election yesterday. He asked what it’s like working with people entering the Church. Fr. Jack said it’s a lot of joy. He learns something every year during the RCIA program. Everyone in the RCIA program wants to be there and are excited about it. This year they have two people, although they usually have more. They are always very different with interesting backgrounds. Scot said converts often know their faith better than most of the people they go to Mass with. Fr. Jack said they’ve learned how to use the Catechism and the Bible. Next year, they will be using Fr. Robert Barron’s “Catholicism” TV series and book. He said after RCIA ends, the people want to keep learning and he always maintains relationships with them that are uniquely like father and children. Fr. Jack said he loves the readings of Lent and it’s a great opportunity to teach people. He tells people we do things for a reason and explains them. They have a couple hundred extra people attending Mass on Sundays in Lent.