The Good Catholic Life

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor Today’s guest(s): Fr. David Cavanagh, a priest of Opus Dei and postulator for the cause of Servant of God Fr. Joseph Muzquiz Opus Dei “Canonization cause opened in Boston for Fr. Joseph Muzquiz” Today’s topics: Opus Dei and the cause for the canonization of Fr. Joseph Muzquiz Summary of today’s show: Fr. David Cavanagh reveals to Scot and Fr. Chris how he came to be a priest of Opus Dei as a hockey player at Harvard, a little more about what Opus Dei is about, and his work as postulator for the cause of canonization of Fr. Joseph Muzquiz, an Opus Dei priest who ministered and died in Boston. 1st segment: Fr. Chris had the St. John’s seminary alumni gathering this past weekend and over 100 priests were there along with Cardinal Seán and Bishops Kennedy and Uglietto. It’s good for the seminarians to see the men already in service and for the priests to be inspired by the young men coming to help them. They gathered at 5pm for a holy hour then a cocktail hour and dinner. One of the fourth-year men gives a presentation to welcome these men home. Two seminarians also provided musical entertainment on the flute and violin and Irish music. Last night, Fr. Chris visited Norfolk state prison and the inmates were excited to hear that today’s guests is a priest of Opus Dei. 2nd segment: Scot and Fr. Chris welcomed Fr. David Cavanagh who is based at the Elmbrook Center in Harvard Square. He is in the Pastoral Center today for Fr. Joseph Muzquiz’s cause for canonization, but first Scot asked him about growing up in the area. Fr. David and his brother Joe went to Harvard as hockey players, partying as hard as they studied. They met the priests at the Elmbrook Center at Harvard and they were attracted by the fact that they never were told that there was anything wrong with playing hockey. They were told to do it well, which meant that if you’re going to do it well, then do it all for the Lord. It was appealing because it wasn’t pulling them out of what they loved to do. Scot said Opus Dei calls us to holiness in our everyday life, whatever we do every day. There is a path to holiness in every secondary or particular vocations. Unless you find God in the every day, you’ll never find him, said St. Josemaria Escriva. God blesses and uses our everyday experiences to spread the Gospel. Fr. David said his brother later reflected that it was obvious the reason they were good at hockey was so they could end up where they did in life. Fr. David had been intending to be married and it was only at the end of law school that someone asked him if God was calling him to celibacy within the apostolate as a layman. Suddenly, so much became clear and he knew it was true. Later, some of the men living as a numerary, as a celibate within Opus Dei, are called to priesthood. Fr. Chris asked Fr. David about his primary work. Fr. David said he celebrates the sacraments first and everything flows from that. He makes himself available for that. He spends a lot of time hearing confessions, giving spiritual direction to everyone, whether or not they are Opus Dei. He also preaches on retreats. Scot said he thinks of other groups within the Church, like the Franciscans at Arch Street, he thinks of the particular gifts they provide to the Archdiocese. For Opus Dei, he thinks of the help they give to people through spiritual direction, taking their faith to the next level. He helps people to see God’s signs that He provides for them and helps them to see what they might have missed. Fr. Chris asked about St. Josemaria, the founder of Opus Dei. He was called to start Opus Dei by living it himself, not just writing down some principles. He came from an ordinary family who went through some hard times: siblings who died, impoverishment. He was later able to see that he was being brought through it to understand what he was later to teach. Fr. David recommended some new books on his life, including A Man Who Knew How to Forgive He had a strong temperament and he had to learn how to use it for the good. If all of his gifts were left undirected, he could have gone down a very different path. If we put it all at God’s service, he will direct it all to the good and show us how he wants us to use them for his glory. Scot noted how broad and diverse the members of Opus Dei are. It’s almost a response to the idea that faithful practice of Catholicism is only for priests and religious. The retreats offered by Opus Dei for men and women and young people at Arnold Hall in Pembroke are open to all, not just Opus Dei. They are open to college students and teens and priests as well. The website has much information about the retreats and programs. Arnold Hall 3rd segment: Fr. David is postulator of the cause of canonization for Fr. Joseph Muzquiz here in Boston. Fr. David knew Fr. Muzquiz who was sent to the US from Spain in 1949 as the first priests of Opus Dei in this country. They cam with nothing, not even knowledge of English. He went back to Rome in 1961, having solidly established it. He later returned to the US in 1976 to head up Opus Dei until 1980 and then did pastoral work in Boston until he died in 1983. Fr. David met him in 1976. He learned later that when Fr. Muzquiz came back to Boston he was the one who asked why no one had asked him if he’d considered celibacy. Fr. David went to Rome to study in 1982 and that was the last time he saw him. When you were in his presence, he was so absorbed in you, that’s what stood out. Scot said that seems to be held in common among many saints, including Mother Teresa and John Paul. They would be totally absorbed in the person they were with in the moment. It must be like the way the Heavenly Father would be with us, but on an infinitely smaller scale. What about Fr. Muzquiz showed he practiced heroic virtues in the everyday things of his life. Fr. David said his holiness isn’t because he was a priest or one of the first Opus Dei priests in this country. Holiness is the willingness one moment at a time to speak to God with my deeds and actions and where he’s put me to let him work through me. the saints help us to lead us through the moments of history to see the reality of the presence of God that is beneath everything. Fr. Chris said what Fr. David has learned that helped him personally in this process. Fr. David said seeing the humble struggle of Fr. Muzquiz helps you focus on the freedom we have to “let it be done unto us” as opposed to trying to have control of everything. Fr. Chris said in the Cathedral in Los Angeles he is struck by the tapestries that show the saints as real, living human beings and it recalls for us that each of us is called to be a saint. Seeing a contemporary of ours being considered for these honors recalls the richness of the spiritual and its call to holiness for ordinary men and women like us. Fr. David said we all have our own gifts and Fr. Muzquiz had a tremendous capacity for work, but the beautiful thing was that he never imposed that same driven sense of work on others. He was solicitous of the situation of others and never demanded others work like him. Scot said many saints had strong personalities. What were the strong elements of Fr. Muzquiz’s personality that makes you say he was a real guy and a real good priest and that’s what made him such an example. Fr. David said when you were with him, he would give simple advice. He wasn’t a gifted preacher, but what he said stuck with you afterwards. You would be tempted to say, “I know this” until you tried to live it and realized how hard it was. He was someone who knew the Lord very well and had immense trust in the Lord in even difficult situations. He spent a lot of time making himself available to priests without imposing, but being of service to them. Fr. Chris asked if there were points in Fr. Muzquiz life where he embraced the suffering of the cross. Fr. David said it wasn’t in big dramatic things, but like most of us in the martyrdom of one day at a time. It emerges like a mosaic of his life across the decades. He was reliable in all of these things because he operated of love, not because was particularly fastidious or punctual. 4th segment: Scot asked Fr. David about the different stages of canonization. Fr. Muzquiz is now a Servant of God. Fr. David said it begins with people approaching the local bishop to ask if this person’s life is worth investigating. Then the diocese has a preliminary look at whether the persona has reputation for sanctity and whether the person’s intercession was efficacious and whether holding them up for canonization would advance the mission of the Church. If so, they submit a petition for an official cause. Once that permission is received, the person is called a Servant of God. Now they take testimony of eyewitness, people who actually knew him. This all occurs as the diocesan phase. The Tribunal hears this testimony. Then the postulator writes a biography, annotated to the record prepared with thousands of pages of documentation and the person’s writings. This biography, called the positio, and all the evidence is sent to Rome to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. He would be declared Venerable if he’s determined to have lived a life of heroic virtue. To be beatified, there has to be a first-class miracle. This is God speaking, compared to all that is previous which is the voice of the people. To be a miracle, there is no human explanation possible for this. many doctors say that when they go to Rome to testify to a miracle, they have never faced a cross-examination like it. To be canonized, there must be a second first-class miracle. Scot said even if it’s a miraculous healing, but there could be a scientific explanation, that’s not enough. This is why people are encouraged to pray to those who are in the process. Fr. David said people should pray to Fr. Muzquiz because we can see his hand moving in the ordinary things of life. If God is willing to show Fr. Muzquiz as an example, then it’s a win-win. If people believe they have a miracle through Fr. Muzquiz’s intercession, they can email [email protected]. Fr. David also encouraged people to download Fr. Muzquiz’s prayer card from the home page of Opus Dei. The prayer for private devotion is: God, you helped your servant Joseph work with generosity and simplicity. He spread the message of sanctity in secular life to many people, teaching them to find joy and peace in their daily life. Help me to seek first the kingdom of God, by sanctifying my everyday work and dedicating myself generously to the salvation of souls. Glorify your servant Joseph, and through his intercession, grant me the favor I ask of you. Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory be to the Father.

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry Today’s guest(s): Greg Wayland, reporter for New England Cable News (NECN) Greg Wayland’s profile at NECN.com Today’s topics: Greg Wayland, local reporter and practicing Catholic Summary of today’s show: Greg Wayland joins Scot to talk about his two decades of experience as a print and broadcast journalism, including reporting at several local Boston news outlets, as well as how he brings his Catholic faith into his reporting as well as the newsroom, not to present a bias in favor of the Church, but to ensure accurate reporting. 1st segment: Scot said today we will hear from a Catholic who works in secular media. Greg Wayland will be familiar to our listeners, having worked in television news in New England for two decades. His work at NECN allows him to work on longer stories on diverse topics. 2nd segment: Scot welcomed Greg to the show. Greg said he’s been at New England Cable News (NECN) since May, 1998. He’s moved around a lot. Prior to that he was at 7, 4, and 12 in Providence. He’s also worked in Florida, starting in Fort Myers in 1979. There are a lot of Boston retirees in that area. At the time he arrived there it was among the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the country. The television market was small, but now it’s a large and glitzy market. Boston is still among the biggest local TV markets, ranked number 6. New York’s local TV market is a little more national in focus. People come to work in Boston TV to stay as a destination. He began his career at the Boston Globe in print journalism. He had been in the Army during the Korean War, and when he came out he was interested in journalism and could write, so he got a job running copy at 25 years old. That worked into the possibility of doing freelance stories and then he moved to the Dedham Daily Transcript as a reporter. Greg grew up in St. Anne’s in Dorchester and won an award for oratory throughout the archdiocese in high school. Meanwhile his brothers all worked in broadcast journalism, mostly in sales and behind the scenes, and when he was in his early 30’s he decided to take the jump. At the time it seemed a little more glamorous, but later found out it was just as challenging as print. Scot asked the difference between print journalism and TV journalism. Greg said although newspapers are facing tough times, they’re still the medium of record and set the direction of the news for the day. When a reporter covers an event, all he has is his notebook and sits through the event without worrying about images. He’s usually writing for a later edition. TV news has images and words to worry about with shorter deadlines. It’s also a different type of writing: fewer words, but using the pictures to tell the story. But now newspaper reporters are carrying photos and video cameras for the web, plus writing shorter versions of their long stories for web use too. And TV reporters are now writing for their websites too. It’s called convergence. Scot asked Greg how much of the final story is him shaping the final version of the story. Does he shape the visuals and words? How much are other people involved in the newsroom? Greg said it’s a collaborative effort. He does have a considerable amount of say in the visuals. The camera man can take direction, but they usually know what they need to get too. Greg may ask for a specific shot for something he will write about later. When they get back, some reporters have to shoot, write, and edit. Greg doesn’t have to do that; he sits with an editor, logs everything he hopes to put in the story, and they drop in the soundbites. They meld it together in collaboration under tight deadlines. Scot asked how much of his assignments come from the assignment desk versus generating the stories himself. Greg said every station has editorial meetings in the morning and afternoon. They are asked for their ideas, but there’s always a certain group of stories that need to be covered, from stuff that happened overnight or showed up in the Globe or Herald. Ninety percent is dictated by the exigencies of the daily news, but the reporter is always expected to give input, to say whether it will work or not, or to suggest stories. There’s also heavy emphasis on breaking news or spot news, which TV news covers faster than newspapers. It’s very competitive and can be things like fires or bank robberies. Scot has seen changes in emphases in local news, including more breaking news and more weather news. He’s see more entertainment news, which drives higher ratings. NECN is in a slightly different spot than the network affiliates in Boston. Greg said there’s always been a tension in news, including in newspapers, between the sensational and trendy versus the solid, institutional news. A newscast has to be a mix of both, because people demand both. Regarding weather, Greg said in the 24 hour news cycle, people do watch weather. The ratings always spike during the weather. Weather coverage is more sophisticated as well as are the people covering it. As for entertainment, we’ve grown into a celebrity culture where the foibles of celebrities are in demand. News directors think it’s what people want and there’s evidence it is what people want. However, Greg said NECN has remained a serious news source. They’ve undergone an ownership change but they remain solid. Greg said he has a light-hearted feature on Thursday nights, so he’s happy to get a chance to break from the news. Scot noted his wife who grew up in Mexico thinks New Englanders are wimpy when it comes to the weather because of the perception based on how sensational weather coverage is. Scot said it also tells him how news coverage shapes the culture. The way we think about life, what we value, what we think is important is often shaped in newsrooms that decide what is relevant in the news. 3rd segment: Scot asked Greg, as a Catholic journalist, how we hear the media is biased against Catholicism, what are his reflections on that idea. Greg said every reporter brings to the job his own values and principles. He said he’s often perceived in the broad media an anti-Catholic bias, but among his own colleagues he encounters a great curiosity about Catholicism as well as a benign ignorance. It often leaves him relying on his own formation in the faith to answer these questions. There’s a regrettable lack of understanding of the Church about what the Church is all about, even including his Catholic colleagues. Often they have negative impressions of their own faith because of their experiences. All through the sex abuse crisis in Boston, he wouldn’t have been anyplace else as a reporter. He wanted to make sure that his reporting was balanced and to influence others reporting. He was told that when his reporting was reviewed that they didn’t see any bias against or in favor of the Church. He did have one circumstance where he made a mistake in his reporting that led to one of the lawyers accusing him of bias. But it was the lack of true understanding of what the Church is about. People have lost an understanding of the Church as mystical body of Christ and have reduced the Church to an institution that serves the poor. Scot said it’s wonderful to have someone who understands this can have a voice in the newsroom, to make sure that the stories are right. Greg pointed out that bias can be conscious or unconscious, so you just strive for objectivity on the surface. He also strives to avoiding simple errors that lead to accusations of bias. Scot said in his own experience, giving interviews to the media, is a wonderful tool to get the word out to Catholics who might not be attending Mass. It’s a powerful tool to tell our story. Greg said he proposed a story once on the anniversary of Humanae Vitae, on human life, including birth control and abortion and other life issues. He had the time and leeway to make the Church’s position crystal clear, including things people would not necessarily know. He even brought in topics like natural family planning. Scot asked him about some his other favorite stories he’s covered. Greg said he likes stories about people. He once covered the US bishops’ conference in DC after the sex abuse scandal broke. He got a sit-down interview with Cardinal Law at the time, as well as Cardinal George of Chicago. After that he was sent to cover the Pope in 2008 in New York City. One of the greatest stories he covered was when Pope John Paul II was dying. He was sent at the last-minute to cover the death and funeral. As soon as they arrived, they got news that the Pope had died. They did live-shots through the night, going 17 hours straight. He covered 9/11, days after the event happened. It was both horrible and memorable, but also inspirational to see the people pulling together in New York. 4th segment: Scot asked Greg about the way people responded to John Paul’s death in Rome. People stood in a line more than a mile long to see the body of the Pope lying in state. He talked to many people in line, including people who’d come by bus and train from across Europe, sleeping in the streets, even whole families. When he came back, his colleagues told him that they understood better now. Of course, as life returns to normal, you still see those old biases and that’s where you have to continue to be a witness. Scot said when the archdiocese launched The Light Is On For You, the only local reporter to cover the opening Mass was Greg. He was able to explain the sacrament of reconciliation and its context in addition to interviewing Cardinal Sean. Scot said he has no doubt that story helped Catholics realize their need to go confession. Scot said we’re blessed to have someone who’s informed in the faith to tell that story. Greg said well before the crisis here in Boston, he wanted to cover the story of the decline in the Church, people not going to Mass, the teaching of the faith drying up. The most influential institution in the world losing its grip in the US. He never got a chance to do that story before the scandal broke, but in the end he was able to do the stories on John Paul’s death and the visit of Pope Benedict. One of the biggest crises in the Church is the low participation of Catholics in their faith and the decline of religion and faith generally. Scot asked Greg how he sees the diminishment and what prescription he might offer as something to think about. When he was working in Tampa, he and a Jewish colleague went into the morning meeting and the colleague suggested that covering the introduction of the new Catechism is an important story. It can seem consequential to cover the Church for people outside the Church. He said it’s important to sanctify your daily work and be a good example in your own life. By those means, you can turn people around one at a time. He had an acquaintance who was a lifelong Catholic ask him it was required to go to Mass every Sunday. There’s been a huge dropoff in knowledge of the faith since Vatican II. Scot said we haven’t done the job as the Church to explain what is expected of Catholics with regard to going to Mass. We haven’t shown the joy that comes from regular practice of the faith. Greg did a story on the revival of the Traditional Latin Mass in Boston and he found great interest in the story among his colleagues and viewers. He’s found that celebration of the Mass since Vatican II has not been as consistent in many places and it even drove him away for a time. Scot said as we pray, we believe and so how we celebrate the Mass is key to how we live our faith.

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Mark O’Connell Today’s guest(s): Brian Patrick of the Son Rise Morning Show and Maria Bain, general manager of WQOM WQOM Son Rise Morning Show Today’s topics: WQOM; Prepare the Way Conference; Brian Patrick Summary of today’s show: Maria Bain, general manager of WQOM, returns to the show to talk about the first anniversary of Boston’s Catholic radio station and to encourage listeners to attend the Prepare the Way Conference in Lowell on Dec. 10. Then Brian Patrick, host of the Son Rise Morning Show on WQOM, joins Scot and Fr. Mark to talk about the value of such conferences in Advent as a way to prepare for Christmas. Finally, Fr. Mark and Scot, as they do each week, discuss the Sunday readings with a particularly powerful Gospel this week. 1st segment: Scot asked Fr. Mark about attending the Canon Law Society of America meeting in Jacksonville, FLorida, last week. He said there was a tropical storm hanging over the city last week, but the convention was good. He said the theme was the rights of the faithful and the rights of the Church in canon law. He said more than 300 people attended. Scot said these conventions are great for ongoing learning and ensuring they are on top of their game. Scot said yesterday afternoon the Stanley Cup at the Pastoral Center on Thursday as part of the finish of the bet between Cardinal Sean and Archbishop Miller on the NHL championship series. Fr. Mark grew up in Canada and was a hockey-mad kid, so getting a photo with the cup with his brother was a big deal. He remarked on the humongous championship ring worn by one of the Bruins staff. Scot said George Martell took a neat photo of Cardinal Sean with his episcopal ring next to the Bruin ring and a Patriots Super Bowl ring worn by Frank Mendes of the Pastoral Center staff. 2nd segment: Scot and Fr. Mark welcomed Marian Bain to the show. He said she had an exciting week last week at the EWTN radio conference. She was able to meet many of the people from around the world working in Catholic radio. There are 15,000 AM/FM radio stations, 1,500 of which are Protestant and only 200 Catholics ones. Only 16 years ago, there 7 Catholic radio stations. Scot said the annual fund drive for the station is very important for keeping it on the air. This is coming up on November 5. The theme is “Go forth for the new evangelization.” Scot said he helped kick off a new Catholic radio station last month in Worcester. He said then it’s up to all us who benefit from the station to keep it going. Maria said the fund drive provides 75% of the operating costs. She thanked listeners for their continued generosity as well all the priest in the archdiocese who have allowed them to give parish presentations and get the word out about Catholic radio. Maria said the goal for this year’s fund drive is $300,000. She asked listeners for their prayers. On December 10 in the Lowell Memorai Auditorium, there will be a Catholic conference, called Prepare the Way, sponsored by the Stations of the Cross, which will feature Dr. Ray Guarendi, Brian Patrick, Fr. Mitch Pacwa, Sr. Olga Yaqob, and Cardinal Sean, who will celebrate Mass. There will be lots of opportunities during the day, including meeting all the speakers. Scot said he’s looking forward to thanking everyone who listens to the show in person. Tickets can be purchased on the website or by calling 877-888-6279. Those who receive the newsletter can also find an order form inside this month’s edition. Scot said their’s an early-bird discount for tickets ordered before October 31. Maria thanked all the listeners for all their letters and calls saying how WQOM has been changing their lives. 3rd segment: Scot and Fr. Mark welcomed Brian Patrick to the show. Scot said WQOM listeners wake up each day to learn about the Catholic faith listening to the Son Rise Morning Show, which originates out of Cincinnati. Scot asked Brian why it’s good for Catholics to come to a conference in Advent or Lent. Brian said on December 10 he will talk about Advent as a time for a new beginning. The season of Advent is the beginning of the Church year. Especially with the new Mass translation, it’s a new beginning even more this year. Fr. Mark asked how a conference can touch a persona individually. Brian said he starts by preparing his own soul for the coming of Christ and then sharing with others his passion for Christ. Brian said he was away from his faith for many years, but he came back to Christ on his knees and realized that the Lord loved him through all those years and gave him a new beginning. Now he gets to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with people all over the world every day. So he will share his own experience and those attending will share their stories with one another. When we can share what we’re going through, it prompts us along the journey. Scot said Brian said Advent is a great time to slow down, but the Christmas shopping frenzy can take us out of it. Scot said he likes an Advent retreat as a way t o step back and not get caught up in that to marvel at the Incarnation. This conference can help make Christmas more special. Brian said the culture wants us to buy in to the idea that we need to make sure the retailers have a good Christmas. But Christmas is focusing on Jesus who comes to us in the Nativity. He loves to give Christmas gifts, but he keeps them personal and simple and refuses to buy into the prevalent idea. Thank God for Catholic media that reminds us of the true reason for Advent and Christmas. Scot said the conference will be a chance to say thank you to The Good Catholic Life listeners. Brian said he loves meeting his listeners. Each morning he thinks of talking to one person because it’s a personal meeting. To see the faces and meet the personalities, he then begins to picture them personally. Brian said they are privileged to have a 24-hour adoration chapel in the building where Son Rise Morning Show is broadcast each day. Fr. Mark asked Brian if he could think of a time when a conference has truly borne fruit. Brian said with the Crossing the Goal team he has attended many men’s conferences and he has been moved by the fact that men and women are coming back to the reconciliation. He is moved to tears at men’s conference to see lines of men going to confession to dozens of priests giving up their days to give the sacrament. Eucharistic adoration is a big part of the conferences too and to see 1,000 men on their knees adoring Christ is moving. Brian said invitation is key. We are called as disciples to invite our brothers and sisters to come back to Church. And when we invite them, we have to be willing to hear yes or no. Inviting someone to a conference opens the door to inviting them back to the Church .He encouraged everyone to invite at least one other person to come. Brian said Dr. Ray Guarendi uses humor to get our attention for a powerful message. He and his wife have adopted 10 children, some special needs. He’s extremely funny and entertaining. There is a powerful message there. Fr. Mitch, too, is a brilliant teacher who speaks several language with a way of sharing the faith at a level that everyone can understand. EWTN first picked up the Son Rise Morning Show about 3 years ago. The show started 4 years ago and Sacred Heart Radio in Cincinnati started 10 years ago. He said getting on the Boston radio market last year was great and he’s very grateful. Brian said last time he was in Boston he had the best seafood meal ever at Anthony’s Pier 4. Fr. Mark asked Brian for his recommendation to the hosts of The Good Catholic Life to keep it fresh and always new. Brian said our faith is always fresh and new and there are so many wonderful people out there. He learns every day from the people he talks to on a regular basis, that he has on the show all the time. Always remember what’s old is new. We are a universal Church that includes the faithful of all time so he advises to tap into this immense treasure of faith and wisdom. Son Rise Morning Show is on the air every weekday from 6-8am on WQOM. 4th segment: Now as we do each week at this time, we will hear the Gospel reading for this coming Sunday’s Mass and then consider its meaning for us. First Reading for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Exodus 22:20-26) Thus says the LORD: “You shall not molest or oppress an alien, for you were once aliens yourselves in the land of Egypt. You shall not wrong any widow or orphan. If ever you wrong them and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry. My wrath will flare up, and I will kill you with the sword; then your own wives will be widows, and your children orphans. “If you lend money to one of your poor neighbors among my people, you shall not act like an extortioner toward him by demanding interest from him. If you take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, you shall return it to him before sunset; for this cloak of his is the only covering he has for his body. What else has he to sleep in? If he cries out to me, I will hear him; for I am compassionate.” Gospel for the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Matthew 22:4-40) When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” Scot said the Old Testament had 613 commands given by God, not just the 10 Commandments. Jesus then boiled it all down to the two commandments. One key element is that there’s an order and priority. It comes first that we love God. Fr. Mark said Jews would understand this as the Shema, especially every one of Jesus’ time: “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with your whole heart, and with your whole being, and with your whole strength. Take to heart these words which I command you today. Keep repeating them to your children. Recite them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up.Bind them on your arm as a sign* and let them be as a pendant on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9) And when Jesus added the second part about loving the neighbor, it would have stood out to everyone hearing it. Scot said sometimes we hear the second part of this command from Jesus as the priority. People serve others but don’t put the vertical relationship with God as number one. Maybe they don’t pray every day or attend Sunday Mass, even while they say that they’re a good person who is good to others. There’s a proper ordering of things and the proper order matters. Fr. Mark asked what does it really mean to love God with all your heart? With all your soul? With all your mind? Think of all the things you think about during the day. Are some of the ways we use our brain not loving God? Are some of the ways we use our heart not loving God? Scot said there are many times when he feels stressed in making a decision and he realizes he hasn’t involved God in that decision. God wants to help us in all the big issues and small issues too. Many Catholics come to church every Sunday, but they aren’t dedicating the 167 hours of the rest of the week to God as well. Fr. Mark said we are all responsible for leaving good fruit on this earth. He was reading a homily the other day by Fr. Francis Duffy at the funeral of Fr. Mychal Judge, the NYFD chaplain who died at 9/11. He said: “We come to bury Mike Judge’s body but not his spirit. We come to bury his mind but not his dreams. We come to bury his voice but not his message. We come to bury his hands but not his good works. We come to bury his heart but not his love. Never his love.” Fr. Mark said he hopes someone can say the same of him someday. Scot said in the second part, there were some people who thought they were being faithful just being fulfilling the law with respect to God. God wants us to love our neighbors because every neighbor is created in God’s image. Fr. Mark said Jesus shows us how to reflect God’s love by loving others without counting the cost. Love isn’t just a feeling, but it’s self-sacrifice.

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Susan Abbott Today’s guest(s): Antonio Enrique, editor of The Pilot, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston; and Fr. Roger Landry, executive editor of The Anchor, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Fall River 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: New nuncio for US; Year of Faith; human trafficking; IntegrityRestored.com Summary of today’s show: Antonio Enrique from The Pilot and Fr. Roger Landry from The Anchor join Scot and Susan to discuss the news of the week, including the appointment of a new papal nuncio to the US, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, known for management skills in the Vatican City-State; the announcement of a Year of Faith by Pope Benedict; the Mass. bishops asking the state Legislature to take action on a human trafficking bill; the Obama administration revoking a contract with the US bishops’ migrant services agency to provide care for trafficking victims because they won’t promote contraception and abortion; a new website that helps Catholic men who are addicted to pornography; and Cardinal Sean joining the circus… for a day. 1st segment: Scot welcomes Susan back the show. He asked her about the confirmation preparation training program, which has been taking place in many locations across the archdiocese. The focus of the workshops was revisiting the theology of confirmation and how do parish confirmation programs for teens align with it. It included a presentation by Fr. Jonathan Gaspar, co-director of the Office for Worship and Spiritual Life, on the theology of confirmation. Scot and Susan discussed their hope that confirmation will be more than just a graduation from religious education or graduation from going to church. Susan said she also met with members of the Brazilian community religious education community at the initiative of Fr. Michael Harrington of the Office for Cultural Diversity. They assessed the needs of the fast-growing community and discussed their future needs. Scot said he’s heard there are as many Portuguese-speaking Catholics in the Archdiocese as there are Spanish speakers. 2nd segment: Scot welcomed Antonio and Fr. Roger to the show. He asked Antonio about the appointment of Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano as the new nuncio to the US. “Pope names Archbishop Vigano new nuncio to the US”, CNS, 10/19/11 Antonio said Vigano was previously the secretary-general of the Vatican City Governorate. Scot asked his sense from his friends in Rome on he appointment. Fr. Roger said Americans will like his management style because he brought many American management best practices to the Vatican, which was controversial in Rome. It streamlined operations and saved 25% on the cost of running the Vatican without cutting any budgets, in part by cutting out “friend-of-a-friend” contracts and deals with vendors to the Vatican. Fr. Roger wondered what criteria Vigano will be favoring in his recommendations on new bishops for the US, whether it will be management ability or more pastoral sensibilities or more likely some combination of both. Scot and Susan discussed the role of the nuncio as the papal representative to both the Church in the US, but also to the government of the US. Scot and Antonio discussed that Vigano said he has big shoes to fill in replacing Archbishop Sambi who died in the middle of the summer. They agreed that in this case it is true as Sambi was much loved in the US. Antonio knew Sambi over many years, back to when Sambi was the Pope’s representative in the Holy Land, a very difficult role. He was very down to earth, very cordial, and had a strong sense of humor. “Pope announces ‘Year of Faith’ to help renew missionary energy”, CNS, 10/18/11 Scot said Pope Benedict declared a Year of Faith to begin October 11, 2012 through the Feast of Christ the King in November of the next year. Fr. Roger said the Pope chose the Year of Faith to begin during a Synod of Bishops in Rome next October on the topic of the New Evangelization. In order to pass on the faith, we need to know it and love and Pope Benedict knows most of us in the faith need a brush-up on our faith. October 11, 2012 is the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and the Feast of Christ the King is the end of the liturgical year, which focuses us on eternity. Scot said both Pope Benedict and Pope John Paul II have dedicated their papacies to the correct implementation of Vatican II. Susan said until there is another ecumenical council in the Church we will continue to revisit and focus on this council, the most recent. Susan asked Fr. Roger if he thinks that the apostolic letter Porta Fidei (“Gate of Faith”) is the third in the Pope’s series so far of the two encyclicals on Hope and Love. Fr. Roger said we can expect before the end of the year a teaching from the Pope that will help us prepare for this year of faith. Scot asked Antonio what it says that the Pope is basing some of his hopes for the Church on the work of the new evangelical and missionary lay movements in the Church. Antonio said the Church needs to adapt in every generation to the needs of the people. John Paul II saw in these new movements the role of being able to bring the Good News to this new world we live in that doesn’t take for granted the truths of the faith. When you have a Christian culture, you can assume that people understand the context of faith. But when the culture becomes post-Christian, people need a more fundamental experience of their faith and the new movements help people witness the faith and have a personal experience of the faith through the members of the movements. They can show how lives can change through the experience of the faith. Scot asked Fr. Roger about all the themed Years we’ve been seeing over the past decade or so: Year of the Rosary, Year for Priests, Year of St. Paul, etc. Fr. Roger said Pope John Paul brought this custom from his native Poland where the Church often focused on a particular topic. Pope Benedict continued that tradition. Fr. Roger wishes we had a special theme every year, even on the diocesan level. He said Pope Benedict is seeing across the world where people are taking for granted what they think they know about the faith based on a few teachings from the Catechism. But we need a deeper relationship with Christ to ground that faith and bring us deeper. 3rd segment: Scot said the Mass. bishops just urged the passage of antihuman trafficking legislation in Massachusetts. Antonio said both the Mass. House and Senate passed two separate bills on this issue. Trafficking is a tremendous problem for people who are often not free to make their own choices, including young people caught up in gangs, women in prostitutions, and illegal immigrants who end up as virtual slaves. The bills were passed in June and the bishops are urging that the work on the bills be completed in this session and not forgotten. Scot read from the bishops’ letter, including a request to make sure criminal penalties are imposed. Sen. Mark Montigny, chair of the committee that dealt with the bill, welcomed the bishops’ statement. Susan said the Sisters of St. Joseph in Boston have been working with this issue of human trafficking and have a lot of information on the topic on their website Scot suggested that people could call their state senator and state representative to have them push this bill forward. In related news out of Washington, DC, an agency of the US Catholic bishops was denied further federal grants to help trafficking victims because the Obama administration said they weren’t promoting abortion and contraception to the women they were helping. The Migrant and Refugee Services agency has been on the forefront of the work to help victims of trafficking, but now that contract has gone to companies that weren’t even qualified to engage in this work. Fr. Roger said this shows how the Obama administration militantly pushes abortion and contraception even when doing so hurts the people that are supposed to be helped. Scot said it shows how when a pro-abortion administration comes into office in the US that the abortion ideology becomes so fundamental to policy. He said this is bullying against pro-lifers. This administration doesn’t allow people of faith to do their service to society in ways that are compatible with their faith. Antonio said Catholics need to make their voices hear. Scot said this happened because of a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union in 2009 saying this failure to force Catholics to support abortion was a violation of the separation of church and state. Susan said this prejudice is outrageous, especially when we are working so well for the solution of the problem that is supposed to be addressed, the care of victims of trafficking. Anotnio noted that the US bishops have created an office to monitor the issue of religious freedom in the US. There seems to be an unwritten rule in the Obama administration: ABC, Anyone but Catholics. Scot said we talk about this now because it’s the infancy of an oppressive secularist attitude in this country. He recalled the haunting poem from Nazi Germany: First they came for the communists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me. Susan added the quote from Edmund Burke, “All it takes for evil to flourish is for good men to do nothing.” 4th segment: In the Anchor this week is an article on the website IntegrityRestored.com, which helps people who have porn addiction. Fr. Roger said porn addiction affects so many people, including men, women, and young people. It’s one of the most difficult addictions from which to be freed. Psychologists said it’s much more addictive than even what happens with cocaine. IntegrityRestored.com: Helping Catholic Men Break Free from Pornography Addiction Fr. Roger said it’s not often talked about in the Church. We need to talk about not just the harm it causes, but also the resources available to help people. He showed a video in his parish that showed how it causes harm to marriages and other relationships. He said this new websites is by Dr. Peter Kliponis, who was one of the US bishops’ experts on this topic for helping people with this addiction. Fr. Roger said when he found out about this website he wanted to promote it. The website has many eye-popping statistics on this website: There are 4.2 million pornographic websites There are 420 million pornographic web pages There are 68 million daily pornographic search engine requests – Google, 25% of all search engine requests There are 4.5 billion average daily pornographic emails There are 100,000 child porn websites worldwide Men admitting to accessing pornography at work: 20% U.S. adults who regularly visit Internet pornography websites: 40 million Christians who said pornography is a major problem in the home: 47% Adults admitting to Internet pornography addiction: 10% Scot said he’s also seen a statistic that 70% of male college students view pornography at least weekly. How does that affect how they view women on campus? What are colleges doing to stop it? This new website offers great tools for overcoming this addiction. Susan said she was shocked to see that the largest population of Internet pornography users are 12-17 year olds. How does this affect the formation of their view of women throughout the rest of their life? Scot said it makes him wonder how these boys will look at his own daughter. Antonio noted the perniciousness of Internet porn because you don’t have to go outside the home to find it. He said he teaches his own children about modesty and chastity and treating others with dignity. The only way to really solve this is person to person, one at a time, in families. He noted that porn destroys the ability to relate to another person. It is most prevalent in the years when young people are supposed to be learning how to relate to others, preparing for marriage and family life. In the Anchor article, Pope John Paul is quoted as saying that the opposite of love isn’t hate, but objectifying someone else, treating them as an object. Kliponis said there is hope for healing and recovery. It isn’t easy, but it happens. Scot ran quickly through local stories, including a $1.2 million gift from the Mosakowski Family Foundation to support Catholic schools on the North Shore. He also noted a Pilot story about Cardinal Sean visiting the Ringling Bros. circus in Boston. Susan said the photos on the website are fantastic. The national chaplain for circus folk is Fr. Gerry Hogan, a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston. There is also a continuation of the series from Project Rachel, and the appointment of a new pastor of St. Therese parish in Billerica. Fr. Roger pointed out in the Anchor an article about parishes preparing for the first Feast Day of Blessed John Paul II on Saturday. Antonio pointed out the ongoing series about the bishops of Boston, with its second installment this week.

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Matt Williams Today’s guest(s): Fr. Dan Hennessey, Director of Vocations for the Archdiocese of Boston Office for Vocations Serra Club of Boston Monthly Prayer for Priests Apostolate Today’s topics: Serra Club of Boston, the Adopt-a-Priest ministry, and Blessed John Paul’s Feast Day Summary of today’s show: Fr. Dan Hennessey, director of vocations, talks with Scot and Fr. Matt about one of the biggest events in boston this fall, the Mass in recognition of the Adopt-a-Priest Apostolate of the Serra Club on the Feast Day of Blessed John Paul II. They talk about the fruits of families that adopt a priest in prayer for a year for both the priest himself and the families as they create a culture of vocations in their home. Scot, Fr. Matt, and Fr. Dan also discuss Bl. John Paul’s radical discipleship that inspired many vocations to the priesthood, religious life, and marriage and look forward to papal biographer George Weigel’s talk on Saturday on Bl John Paul as a saint for our times. 1st segment: Scot asked Fr. Matt about the LIFT series that continued last night. The series is called “Get a Life”. And the God of This City tour is taking place Nov 28 through Dec 2. This past Sunday, he was at St. Patrick’s on Stoneham for a wedding of friends who both serve work in ministries with youth and in parishes. Fr. Matt was the key to them meeting each other when he asked them both to volunteer on a particular retreat. The wedding itself had seven priests to concelebrate and they were two very faith-filled young people who made it a particularly beautiful wedding ceremony. Their witness and faith were palpable. 2nd segment: Scot welcomed Fr. Dan to the show. Fr. Dan said the Vocations Office focuses primarily on the vocation to the diocesan priesthood and often sponsors gatherings to bring together young men who might consider the vocation of the priesthood. He said the Adopt-a-Priest apostolate is a ministry of the Serra CLub of Boston, which is part of the Serra Clubs internationally. It is named for Bl. Junipero Serra, a famed missionary who founded many of the California missions. The adopt-a-priest apostolate creates a booklet for each Boston diocesan priest with a photo, name, ordination date, and birthday, seals them up and distributes them to willing families which pledge to pray for the priests. Fr. Dan said priests tell him how the people are praying sometimes contact the priests and a relationship is sometimes formed. Every year, the assignments change. This Saturday’s Mass happens to fall on the feast day of Blessed John Paul II as declared by Pope Benedict earlier this year. This is the first celebration of this feast. Following the Mass at the Cathedral of the holy Cross on Saturday at 10am will be a talk by George Weigel, noted scholar and autobiographer of John Paul II. Fr. Dan pointed out that it doesn’t have to be families who adopt a priest. They are asked to pray on a daily basis, perhaps offer a Mass for the priest or say the rosary for them. Even make spiritual sacrifices. Scot said his family has participated in the adopt-a-priest apostolate. Two years ago, Scot’s family was assigned Msgr. Bob Deeley, who was serving in Rome. Scot sent him a letter saying that his family was praying for him. It’s a wonderful thing within a family with young kids to create a culture of vocations, to help them think about not only what they want to be when they grow, but what God wants them to be. One way to do so is to pray regularly for a priest. It helps create awareness of the beauty of the vocation to the priesthood and religious life. Fr. Matt said praying for priests helps strengthen the married couple to understand their own call to holiness as well as their own children. Fr. Dan said it helps the family put a context on their own vocation, to understand the give and take between and all vocation. He makes a point of saying in his preaching that all vocations are good. If you follow what God desires of you, it will bring you joy and fulfillment. Fr. Dan said he was on Boston Common in 1979 when Pope John Paul II visited Boston. He said John Paul’s talk is on YouTube in which he called people to follow Christ, which was the message of John Paul. When we follow Christ, Christ reveals Man to himself. John Paul was the inspiration for so many priests in their vocations, but also religious sisters and married couples. His Theology of the Body aided so many married couples to live their vocation of marriage more fully. Fr. Dan said he was so excited when he found out the Mass on Saturday would be on the same day as the Feast Day for Bl. John Paul II. Scot said on of the reasons we have 70+ seminarians in Boston is the work of the Serra Club. Fr. Dan said the club has Mass once per month, on the third Saturday morning, at St. Mary in Waltham. The club was brought back to Boston during the Year for Priests. It was a gift to Cardinal Sean from the many people who wanted to re-found the club. 3rd segment: This Mass on Saturday is for Bl. John Paul II and it is the first time it will be celebrated in the Archdiocese of Boston. It can be a wonderful gathering for anyone inspired by John Paul II. Fr. Dan said it’s significant because we can recognize the holiness in his life. Many people are hoping he will be canonized soon ad we’re all very happy when we look at his life and see his life of holiness, despite the struggles he faced. He’s a witness to hope, as George Weigel called him. He’s also a witness to the priesthood. There are many people in the world who may not know a priest very well, but there’s something about John Paul that even though he was often physically distant, people felt close to him. Scot said he was the most authentic human being and the most human person. Fr. Matt said he lived an authentic life. Young people saw that. They gathered in immense numbers for World Youth Day and they felt close to him. Even as he would drive by crowds of thousands, they felt he was looking at them. Fr. Matt said in his homily for the Mass of Beatification, Pope Benedict recalled that John Paul intoned in his first solemn Mass in St. Peter’s he called for us to open wide the doors to Christ. Scot asked what will be different about this Mass. Fr. Dan said the Archdiocesan Boy’s Choir will provide the music, one of the best boys’ choir schools in the country. Cardinal Sean will be the celebrant and homilist. Scot said the prayers are specific to the celebration of the Feast, including the opening prayer for the Mass. O God, who are rich in mercy and who willed that the Blessed John Paul II should preside as Pope over your universal Church, grant, we pray, that instructed by his teaching, we may open our hearts to the saving grace of Christ, the sole Redeemer of mankind. Who lives and reigns. It recalls in the words of opening our hearts John Paul’s call to open wide the doors to Christ. Fr. Dan said when someone is beatified, the Church creates the Mass texts, including the opening prayers and brings together Mass texts from particular Masses, including in this case, the Mass for Pastors and Popes. Fr. Dan said in the Office for Readings which priests pray there also particular texts for John Paul on October 22. Out of all the millions of words he composed, the Office of Readings chose his first words as Pope when he appeared on the balcony in the Apostolic Palace after being elected Pope in 1978. Fr. Dan said the Mass is for everyone, not just those in the adopt-a-priest apostolate. 4th segment: It’s time to announce the winner of the weekly WQOM Benefactor Raffle. This week’s benefactor card raffle winner is If you would like to be eligible to win in an upcoming week, please visit WQOM.org. For a one-time $30 donation, you’ll receive the Station of the Cross benefactor card and key tag, making you eligible for WQOM’s weekly raffle of books, DVDs, CDs and religious items. We’ll be announcing the winner each Wednesday during “The Good Catholic Life” program. 5th segment: Scot said one of the best books about Pope John Paul II is “Witness to Hope” by George Weigel. He was selected personally by Pope John Paul II. There is no greater authority in the United States on the life of the Holy Father. Fr. Dan said Weigel always gives an interesting talk and will answer questions and sign books after. Scot said Weigel says that John Paul was a radical Christian disciple, who takes his faith seriously, who was all in. You never felt like you were in the presence of a CEO or corporate leader, but he always felt like a pastor. Fr. Matt said when he met Pope John Paul in 1999, as a seminarian on pilgrimage to Rome, they were able to attend daily Mass with him. He’ll never forget coming into the chapel and seeing the Holy Father already kneeling in deep contemplative prayer and feeling that he was in the presence of a man who was closely united to God. Scot said one of the top moments of his life was taking his one-year-old son and wife to Rome and meeting Pope John Paul at an audience. As the Holy Father moved along through the crowd, the Holy Father took Scot’s son and gave him a kiss. You could see the Holy Father paused as he saw the baby, praying for the young person before him. Fr. Dan wondered how many people in the world have stories like that and knows many people do. He recalled during World Youth Day in Rome in 2000 being in the field of Tor Vergata and thinking how he felt like he was alone with the Holy Father and he was speaking right to him. One of the reasons he’s looking forward to the Mass on Saturday was John Paul’s love for Divine Mercy. He believes the message of Divine Mercy came just when we most needed it and it comes through the priesthood, especially through the confessional, but also through baptism and the Eucharist. It is through the priesthood that God gives us himself, not just abstractly, but through the instrumentality of the priesthood, which is an irrevocable and indispensable for the Church. Scot said George Weigel earlier this year tried to sum up the life of John Paul II in a 600-word article. One of the things he hoped that people would remember was John Paul’s love for the Divine Mercy devotion. The second thing I hope the Church holds onto, as it enrolls John Paul II among the blessed, is the significance of the date of his beatification: Divine Mercy Sunday. John Paul’s fondness for the Divine Mercy devotion, and his designation of the Octave of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday, struck some as a Polish imposition on a universal Church. Those who thought this were mistaken. John Paul II had an acute sense of the gaping holes that had been torn in the moral and spiritual fabric of humanity by the murderous cruelties of the 20th century. A century that began with a robust human confidence in the future had ended with a thick fog of cynicism hanging over the western world. As he wrote in his striking 2003 apostolic letter, “The Church in Europe,” Christianity’s historic heartland (and, by extension, the entire western world) was beset by guilt over what it had done in two world wars and the Cold War, at Auschwitz and in the Gulag, through the Ukrainian hunger famine and the communist persecution of the Church. But having abandoned the God of the Bible, it had nowhere to turn to confess this guilt, seek absolution, and find forgiveness. That, John Paul II was convinced, was why the face of the merciful Father had been turned toward the world now. The insight came from Poland; the need was universal. That was why he created “Divine Mercy Sunday.” That is why we should remember that he was beatified on that day. The show ended by restating that all are invited to the Mass for the Adopt-A-Priest Apostolate on the Feast Day of Bl. John Paul II at 10:00 on Saturday in the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, followed by a talk by George Weigel.

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Chris O’Connor Today’s guest(s): Kathy Greenlar Sexton and Fr. Peter Gori from St. Augustine Parish, Andover, Mass. St. Augustine Parish in Andover Today’s topics: Memorial Mass for Miscarried Children and their Families Summary of today’s show: Scot and Fr. Chris talk with Kathy Greenlar Sexton and Fr. Peter Gori about the difficult topic of miscarried and stillborn children; the anger and spiritual questions that many parents experience; and the unique ministry that St. Augustine Parish in Andover offers through an annual Memorial Mass for Miscarried Children and their Families. During the show, Kathy discusses her five miscarriages and the pain and anger she felt even when she didn’t know where to turn for spiritual consolation and when the healthcare professionals didn’t have any to offer. Fr. Peter also offers words of hope in what the Church truly teaches about the children who die during pregnancy and the healing offered to the grieving. 1st segment: Scot welcomed Fr. Chris back to the show. The sad news is that St. John’s Seminary’s softball team lost their game versus Blessed John XXIII National Seminary in Weston. They compared the loss to the collapse of the Boston Red Sox. Fr. Chris will have to report the loss to the alumni during their annual dinner on Friday night. It’s a wonderful night for the priests who serve throughout New England to come back to be examples for the seminarians and who leave encouraged by the future prospects for the Church. Scot said the seminary has been open since 1884. Fr. Chris estimated that there have been more than 900 priests who are currently alumni and they are expecting 100 to come to the dinner. Fr. Chris mentioned this evening that the Theological Institute for the New Evangelization at St. John Seminary is having an open house this evening at St. Gabriel Church across from St. Elizabeth’s hospital in Brighton. This is for anyone thinking of taking a degree program to learn and grow in their faith. Scot said today’s show topic is the Church’s response and our response for those who lose a child to miscarriage. One in 5 people experience this sad situation themselves. This year for the second time, St. Augustine Parish is offering a Memorial Mass for Miscarried Children and their Families on Saturday, November 5, 9:30am. 2nd segment: Scot and Fr. Chris welcomed Fr. Peter Gori, pastor of St. Augustine in Andover, and Kathy Greenlar Sexton, a parishioner, to the show. Scot said Fr. Peter was an associate pastor at St. Augustine in the 1980s. He was there from 1988 to 1993 after his doctoral studies in Rome. He also serves on the Metropolitan Tribunal as a canon lawyer. Kathy said she and her husband Sean grew up in the area. And after living in Chicago for a number of years they returned to the area, specifically the Merrimack Valley where many of their family live. Fr. Peter said it’s a big and busy parish, especially with the number of children. They have 1,200 children in religious education and 440 in the parochial school. Kathy started in broadcast television and worked with high-tech companies in marketing. She was part of the founding team of the Altavista search engine. She has worked with top websites since then to help them grow their businesses on the web. Kathy said it was a lot of fun working at the beginning of the Web. Kathy has suffered through five miscarriages. When she came to St. Augustine, she asked Fr. Peter to start a public remembrance. Scot asked her how she began this apostolate. She said when they moved to Chicago, she was pregnant, but they were devastated when they lost that child. They’ve had five pregnancies and five miscarriages. Their experience is not unlike others in the same situation with the extreme grieving process and issues of anger, resentment, and loss. With each miscarriage those feelings deepened along with the physical issues that went along with and the emotional issues of depression. It was difficult dealing with Mother’s Day and the question about whether she had children. Then there were the spiritual issues of where are her children and being angry at God. She researched these questions online and asked questions of her priest and found no consistent answers. She found a lot of pain and questions from other women like herself who didn’t know where to turn. She went to a healing service at St. Marie’s in Manchester, NH, and one woman praying over stopped mid-prayer and told her the Lord wanted her to name her children. That process was cathartic. It turned the child from something abstract into a human being. and then the last miscarriage, her parish priest invited them to come down on a Saturday morning and remember those children. Fr. Michael Hobson, then at St. Agnes in Middleton, had a Mass in remembrance of those five children for Kathy and her family and it was very cathartic. Once she went through the healing process, she could feel the healing and being lifted up. When they moved to St. Augustine parish, she asked how she could bring that healing experience to others. She also through that it was a great way to show people who we respect life from conception. So she figured out who is the woman in the parish who gets everything done. She reached out to her and they brought the idea to Fr. Peter. They had the first Mass last year and the conversations with people has convinced her to try to get the word out about this. People are challenged spiritually and emotionally by this experience and people could benefit from this healing. Scot said he sees how they were experiencing a lot of emotion, but not connected to the liturgical life of the Church. Losing a child five times without the liturgical rites of the Church to help us grieve along with the love of our community and family is a challenge. Scot said he is also struck by the question of “where is my baby” and the theological questions. The power of naming the baby is key to personalizing him. Scot asked Fr. Peter what is the Church’s teaching on where the child is after miscarriage. He said the Church teaches life begins at conception and everyone of these entities is a human being whatever the medical terms are applied to him or her at each stage of development. If they die prematurely through miscarriage or being stillborn, we believe that person is enveloped completely in God’s love. God welcomes each and everyone of these children into the fullness of his life in heaven. Scot said it’s appropriate to pray to the children, believing that they are present before God just like the saints. Fr. Peter said they collect cards during the Mass with the names of the children and bring them to a convent of Poor Clare nuns who pray for them during November. One woman said they should pray to the children, asking for their prayers. Scot asked about the Mass itself. Fr. Peter said they invite people in and give them a copy of the program and let them sit where they are comfortable. The lighting is subdued with gentle music in order to create a prayerful atmosphere. Fr. Peter then explains how the Mass will unfold. It will begin in the usual way. After the Liturgy of the Word and the homily, they invite those present to bring forward a card with the child’s name or to give the child a name if they haven’t done so yet. They bring it up during the Presentation of the Gifts and place it in the hands of one of the priests. The priests place it in a basket. Then the Mass continues as usual. Scot said since Roe v. Wade there’s been a devaluation of human life in the womb, creating euphemisms for the baby. He asked Kathy when she did the naming of the children and what advice she might have for moms and dads who lost children or even just found out they’re pregnant, the benefits of naming the child. Kathy said during the medical procedures, they refer to the baby as a fetus and they use very technical terms. She was rushed through the medical process and didn’t have time to think about the spiritual implications. She was still thinking about her child dying and didn’t have time to think about the spiritual questions. Only later did she start second0-guessing herself. The process of naming the children personalized each one of them and gave her someone to think about. The medical process de-personalizes and the naming process humanizes. It allowed her to envelop all the emotions at a human level. Scot said one of the comparisons is to losing a mom or dad in the hospital, but then you get a chaplain brought to you to help you deal with it. But with a miscarriage, there isn’t the same care to bring in the deeper connections of our relationship with God. Kathy said her first two miscarriages while she was working with an obstetrician who was very much into her emotional well-being, but the medical personnel weren’t believers and seemed cold. She asked for a priest, but was told no one was available and they said they would pray over the remains. The third and fourth miscarriage, she was seeing a specialist for high-rick pregnancy and felt there was more care for her. Yet even here, they were still very cold. She woke up in the middle of the procedure and saw everything. They didn’t bring her a priest despite her request and the child was going to the pathology lab whatever her wishes. The questions that haunt her about her decisions and actions are similar to those of other women who’ve experienced it. Another woman told her that she had a miscarriage 25 years ago and was so angry at God that she never went back to church. That motivated Kathy to help people and provide honor to the children and healing to the families. Fr. Chris asked Kathy about the dad’s experience in all this. She said that her husband Sean feels loss, but it’s different than her own. But he had the hopes and dreams of those children too. His arms are as empty and aching on Father’s Day as hers is on Mother’s Day. Dads suffer too. The Mass of Remembrance is for mothers and fathers and families. One man came to the Mass last year to honor a brother who died many years ago. Fr. Chris said in dealing with teens and working with youth groups, sometimes it comes up that they want to talk about a brother or sister, either stillborn or miscarriage. It’s often a teen who will relate a story of great sadness where you had no sense that this is a cross the whole family has been carrying. Kathy said she’s unusual in her desire to talk about this. Most people won’t talk about it. You’re expected to get on with your life. People have said it to her, but she has felt deep loss through the loss of a child. You can’t just forget. Scot said you can trick your body, we need to grieve physiologically. Society has a fear of talking about death. 3rd segment: Scot asked if its possible or appropriate to ask the healthcare provider to receive the remains to bury the child. Kathy said in hindsight it’s absolutely appropriate. She thinks they should bring in the pastor to help this process. There’s a lot of confusion and there’s a challenge in that the medical community is programmed to follow particular procedures and when we express our faith in particular not everyone will be supportive of that. It’s okay to get help from the pastor. You also don’t need to do something right away, but take time to figure out what’s best for you and your family. Fr. Peter said it is appropriate to ask for a funeral Mass for a miscarried or stillborn child. His experience is most people want a more private ceremony. Sometimes, the remains are not available due to the medical staff not taking steps to ensure they are. Fr. Peter said every pastor needs to want to be able to provide pastoral support in this area, but needs to do so with a lot of gentleness. As a celibate male, he can’t know exactly what this is like for the mother or father. He needs to reverence the whole experience and tread softly, whether it was recent or long ago. Scot asked if it’s appropriate to have the memorial Masses. Fr. Peter said it can be good for some, but the communal aspect of this Memorial Mass they’re planning does more by bringing people together. That experience of being understood is a big part of why it contributes to the healing of people. It is not shameful or secret or lonely. You need to bring the painfulness of this together to help people in the healing process. Fr. Chris said each couple is so unique and different. As newly ordained priest, he was present with a couple as they buried twin daughters. It was difficult to explain this sad mystery to them, but they anted and need the Church. The Church needs to be a part of this. This mother visited regularly the cemetery and asked the children to pray for her. Fr. Peter said in many Catholic cemeteries there is a specially designated place for the interment of children, especially the stillborn. The traditional arrangements of a funeral could be an added burden, so special accommodations are often made. Scot said too often it’s difficult to talk about this experience with people who have not experienced it. He asked Kathy what people who live too far from Andover to attend this Mass can do in their own parish. She said the most effort is to call the pastor and get on his schedule. She said Fr. Peter really thought through the liturgy and the service is very moving. Anyone who feels they want a similar service in their parish should call their own pastor. She’s sure their pastor will bring the same love and caring into a Mass of Remembrance for them. But if anyone can make the trek to Andover, they will be welcomed with open arms and they could perhaps take some of what they’re doing back to their own parish. Scot made clear that this Mass is open to everyone. Anyone who is at a point in their healing to attend a Mass in remembrance of the children should come. Fr. Chris made sure to note that no one would be put on the spot. They are coming to be consoled. Fr. Peter pointed out that presenting the names to the Poor Clares extends the prayerful support of the Catholic community so that it is ongoing. It shows how the Poor Clares continue to pray for all of us. Scot asked Kathy for advice to those who are angry at God. She said anger is a natural part of the healing process. It shows that you have a relationship with God; just don’t stay stuck there. Once she thought of it that way, she felt the healing that helped her move forward. Fr. Peter said for someone to admit they are angry with God is an important step. It’s good to know that no matter how big my anger, God’s love is bigger. Fr. Chris said saying “I’m angry” is 90% of the healing process and the other 10% is inviting the Lord in with his healing and consolation. The Blessed Mother is another person to turn to for her intercession. She saw her own Son suffer so terribly and stayed at the foot of the cross. She is a wonderful intercessor and advocate. Kathy said moms and dads need to forgive themselves for any decisions they made that they might regret even if it wasn’t a mistake in itself. The Lord will take care of us and our children. Pray for the healing and forgive yourself. Scot said one of the main objectives of the Mass is to honor and provide healing. Kathy also honors her children by hanging Christmas stockings for them, by remembering them on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. She said she still feels the loss and it’s natural to continue to feel loss and experience sadness. Kathy and Sean are now the proud parents of a 6-week-old adopted son, Declan Joseph.

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry Today’s guest(s): Sr. Olga Yaqob “Iraqi sister founding religious order to serve Boston’s spiritually poor”, Catholic News Agency, 6/23/11 “Sister Olga says farewell to BU after 10 years”, Daily Free Press, 4/13/11 “Iraqi Nun Finds Her Calling, Spreads Message of Peace”, Assyrian International News Agency, 10/25/2004 Today’s topics: Sr. Olga Yaqob, foundress of the Daughters of Mary of Nazareth order Summary of today’s show: Sr. Olga Yaqob joins Scot and shares with him her story of growing up in Iraq as an Assyrian Christian; her growing pull toward the Catholic Church; how she started a movement of love in response to war, including ministering to prisoners in the infamous Abu Ghraib prison; started the first order of religious women in the Assyrian Church in 700 years; came to Boston and eventually entered full communion with the Catholic Church; served as campus chaplain at Boston University; and was asked by Cardinal Sean to form the first new religious order of women in Boston in 45 years. 1st segment: Scot started by recalling that 33 years ago yesterday was the anniversary of the election of Pope John Paul II. Scot said joining us today on the show is Sr. Olga Yaqob, who is founding the first new religious order in Boston in five decades. Scot said Sr. Olga was living in Iraq in 1978 and was not part of the Roman Catholic Church, but was Assyrian Christian. She became a Roman Catholic much later. Sr. Olga said John Paul was part of her faith journey. She remembers the day he died. Earlier that year she’d started the full process of coming into full communion with the Church. He had inspired her desire to convert. She feels he’s with her even more now that he’s in heaven. Sister pointed out that Assyrian Christians are not in communion with Rome, while the Chaldean Catholics are. She grew up in northern Iraq, near Kirkuk, until she finished high school. Part of her ministry in Iraq was helping the victims of the first Persian Gulf War. Sr. Olga said her vocation was influenced by the suffering of her people. She was born in 1966 and has seen four wars: the war with Iran, first Gulf War, the 12 years of the embargo, and the second Gulf War. she was struck by the pain and despair of young people, who would say that it didn’t matter if they went to school because they would die anyway. She wanted to give them hope by bringing them out to the streets of Kirkuk and Baghdad to see the pain of others, to make a difference for them and help them see a hope for the future. Sr. Olga said the Assyrian church does not religious sisters, but it was the example of the Blessed Mother that called her to the religious life.She grew up desiring to be set aside for the Lord, just like the liturgical items in the church. Her neighbors in her town were Catholic and she asked them why they went to Mass every day and they said it was because they were Catholic. They then introduced her to the rosary, to religious sisters, and to the presence of the Eucharist in the church. She told her father she wanted to become a religious sister and live next to the “red light” of the tabernacle lamp. She moved to Baghdad at one point. In high school, she saw so many dying in the Iran-Iraq War, she wanted to serve. She knew that Assyrians had not had religious sisters in 700 years until she became the first in 1995. So before that she went to the Patriarch and asked him if she could start a lay movement of young people serving others, called “Love Your Neighbor”. She said it was amazing to see Muslim young men and women join the movement too. It included Catholics and Assyrians as well. One of the prisons where Sr. Olga ministered was the infamous Abu Ghraib prison. She served prisoners there for seven years, including both criminals and political prisoners. She even walked with prisoners who were being taken for execution. She noted that there was no official prison chaplaincy so it was a special grace for her to be able to do that. She said the fact that the movement was a lay movement of people from all religions providing food and medication for everyone equally was the reason they gave her permission to work there. Sister said she walked with the death row inmates nearly every week, too many, and it stays with her. She began to study Islam in order to talk with the prisoners on their own religious terms. 2nd segment: Scot asked Sr. Olga about Muslim beliefs of the afterlife. Sr. Olga said there is a lot of emphasis on doing good in this life to determine where you will end up. Many of the prisoners focused on their misdeeds and believed that they would definitely be punished. They did not believe in the possibility of mercy and forgiveness. One prisoner told her that he couldn’t understand why she cared for them when even their own families had cut them off. She told him that she did it for Christ because he loves them and wants to extend his mercy to them. Scot said Christians may take for granted how loving God is to us with all the sacraments to bring us into right relationship with God. He is infinitely loving and merciful to us. She said the example of their witness was a powerful example of the love of Christ to many in Baghdad. In 2000 she moved from Iraq to the United States. She said it was due to Pope John Paul II and his love for the people of Iraq. He had encouraged religious orders to go to Rome and so two Jesuits from Boston and two Salesians went to Iraq for 1999-2000 to teach at the seminary, and John Paul said that whoever reached summa cum laude would go to Rome with a full scholarship. Sister Olga was studying there, still not a Catholic, but she won. She was going to refuse it in favor of one of the seminarians, but the two Jesuits thought it was so big that a woman who was not Catholic and suffered so much for her education (four years of philosophy and tow years of theology), they asked the order to give her a full scholarship to Boston College. She arrived in 2001 without knowing English. She started learning English at Boston University, which a strong program for international students to learn English. Spent two years learning English. Then she entered the Masters program at BC in the fall of 2003. Even while she was still not proficient in English, she was asked to be a spiritual director by a young woman. She had to respond in her broken English that it would be better to find an American. She responded, “I didn’t choose you because you would understand my English, but that you understand my heart.” At the time she was living with the Sisters of Charity. While she couldn’t convert to Catholicism in Iraq, she did practice Catholic devotions, including consecration to the Sacred Heart, praying the rosary, attending Mass. Her parents did not approve and she was even beaten for it. In 2003, when the war started, she went back to see the religious order she started. She was told she had to go back to finish her schooling and was told that when she was done she had to come back either fully Assyrian or give up her order. She decided to approach Cardinal Sean and she had to join an Eastern-rite church in communion with Rome to continue as a religious sister. Finally, when she fully entered the Church as a Roman Catholic, she did so on the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Mother, September 8, 2005. 3rd segment: After entering the Church, Cardinal Seán asked her to serve as campus minister at Boston University. When she was studying at BC, she had to do a field education component and was allowed to volunteer there for 2 years and after being received into the Church began full-time ministry. She said it was a very special place for her. She had many nicknames, including “Blue Lightning” and “Flying Nun” and “Sister Hug”, but her favorite was that all the kids would call her “Mother”. Every Mother’s Day she would receive gifts from the students she ministered to. Her official title was Catholic chaplain at the Newman Center, but her ministry was to bring Christ to all the students. The highlight was being with the students every day. The Newman Center is at the center of the BU campus, which made her available to give a hug or talk with them or give them a smile. Walking around campus, being there on move-in day, attending weddings, being godmother for children of students and even for students who came into the Church. She’s also been there in times of tragedy, when students have died on campus, to console faculty and staff and students. She was overwhelmed by the generosity of the university and the student community when it was announced that she would be living. They gave her many beautiful farewells. Scot said some of his favorite photos were the service trips with students, going on spring break with them to help in various places, including one trip to Honduras. She recalled visiting Appalachia with students and experiencing the regional dialect. She heard women saying “Howdy” to one another and she expressed surprise at hearing so many women with the same name: “Howdy!” The students she was with got great laughs at hearing her confusion. But now she really loves the Southern accent. 4th segment: Scot said Sr. Olga will soon be Mother Olga of the Sacred Heart now that Cardinal Sean has asked her to start the new religious order Daughters of Mary of Nazareth. She has just moved into her new convent, St. Joseph Convent, in Newton. She said Cardinal Sean first invited her to consider this 3 years ago. She said it’s a big responsibility she doesn’t take lightly. The theme of annunciation continues to be part of her journey. She finds it difficult that she didn’t grow up in this culture and doesn’t understand their background so how could she be a mother to the young women who join her order? But she turns to St. Joseph who must have wondered how he, a simple carpenter, could be a father to the Son of God. She doesn’t want to just bring sisters to the Church, but holy sisters for the Church. To do so takes a lot of sacrifice. She said the new convent is rented and even the furniture has been donated as well as all the household goods. She is reliant on so much generosity. Parents and children, priests and seminarians have all been helping in so many ways. Scot said it has been a hope of Cardinal Sean to found a new order of religious order of women for years. Cardinal Sean said he hopes and prays that order will serve to promote the New Evangelization called for by Pope John Paul II. Sr. Olga said the main focus will be to live the life of Nazareth, to live in daily intimacy with Jesus just like Mary and Joseph and to bring his presence to others. Jesus lived in Nazareth for 28 years. The order will contemplative and apostolic at the same time. They will focus on the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Evangelization is to be the living witness, the living sanctuary and its a call for everyone today. It could be through Catholic media, through healthcare, through every day work. Scot said six to eight women are in discernment to enter the order when the rule of life gets accepted by Cardinal Seán. She had a retreat for discerning women in May for six women and another 10 are signed up for another retreat coming up. They are all very devout young women. Some of them have a lot of student loans so it will take some time for those to enter. Six are expected to entered right away and the others in the spring. They will take the usual vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, and she has asked Cardinal Sean for a fourth vow of a public consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Scot said if someone wanted to offer a donation to further her work, they can make out a check to the Convent of St. Joseph and send it to Sr. Olga Yaqob, Pastoral Center of the Archdiocese of Boston, 66 Brooks Drive, Braintree, MA 02184.

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Chip Hines Today’s guest(s): Sister Bridget Haase, OSU, spirituality coordinator of The Boston Home, and a former missionary to Appalachia The Boston Home Wisdom Wonder Spirit and Life radio program Generous Faith: Stories to Inspire Abundant Living, by Sister Bridget Haase Today’s topics: The amazing 50 years of ministry of Sr. Bridget Haase, OSU Summary of today’s show: Ursuline Sr. Bridget Haase sits down with Scot and Fr. Chip and, in her charming New Orleans accent, shows them why she’s known as a master storyteller, as she weaves stories of her 50 years in religious life, from Appalachia to the Sudan to Boston, where she now serves The Boston Home and is co-host of a weekly radio show with her brother, Fr. Albert. 1st segment: Scot welcomed Fr. Chip back to the show and noted that Fr. Chip has a new assignment as pastor of two parishes. He is still pastor of St. Mary in Wrentham and is now pastor of St. Martha in Plainville as well. He is grateful to the Cardinal for his confidence in him. Scot noted that Martha and Mary in Scripture had two personalities (the sisters, of course), and asked if they had two personalities as parishes. Fr. Chip admitted that St. Mary is named after Our Lady and the people probably wouldn’t like to re-dedicate the parish. 2nd segment: Scot welcomed Sr. Bridget to the show. She is celebrating 52 years of religious life as an Ursuline nun and in January she will celebrate 50 years after her final profession. Sister was born and raised in New Orleans, but she says people always think she has a Boston accent. She said when you love New Orleans, she’ll love you right back. Plus everybody is family. If you see a neighbor in the store, you’ll call them Aunt or Uncle and you’ll go up and give them a kiss. When she was 4 years old, she went to Ursuline Academy in junior kindergarten and she met her first nun. At first she was scared by the nun’s habit, but then she was so kind to her that she stayed at the academy throughout schooling and then entered the order after graduation. She first experienced the calling to the religious life during a mandatory retreat in her senior year. She remembers coming into a conference room where there was a huge crucifix and hearing a talk by a priest. He called the girls to attention and asked them what they’ve done for Jesus, what are they doing for him, and what will they do for him. The first two answers were “nothing” and on the third, her heart opened and heard a question in her heart asking her to be a nun. She agreed and she became an Ursuline. There was never any doubt in her after that point. She received a college degree at the College of New Rochelle and began teaching. She was assigned to first grade in Kirkwood, Missouri. There were 40 children and not even room for a desk. That was in 1965. It was an experience in which she saw the children as a gift from God. It was very hard, but it all worked out. Fr. Chip asked her if she misses it and she said she misses it terribly. Before she dies, she has a plan to go into first grade classes and be Sister Storyteller and tell stories of Catholic values. Scot asked Sr. Bridget was led her to serve in Appalachia in eastern Kentucky. She’s discovered that God comes in surprises and disguises and He always has something up the Divine Sleeve. She was watching a program with Charles Kuralt on Christmas in Appalachia. She had the same experience like with the Cross: “Would you go there?” So she went to her superiors. She did the research on where she would go and then for two summers she went to Bible camps. After that she asked to go full-time. Many people had never even seen a Catholic before, but they were welcoming. Sr. Bridget and another sister ended up living in a small shed heated by a coal stove with an outhouse. No electricity, no indoor plumbing. But everybody lived that way. They lived next door to a gentleman, Bird Bradley, who became a spiritual mentor. One day she came home from school and found he had lined the outhouse with squirrel skin fur from squirrels he’d trapped. He said it was to keep them warm in the outhouse on cold days. Another time, he was sitting under a tree and Sister asked him if he ever got lonely. He looked shocked and said, “When a man has a stout chair, a good chew of tobacco, and knows that he has God on his side, how can a man be lonely?” When we are in touch and focused on God, how can we be lonely. Years later, as she was preparing to go to another mission, she asked him what she would do if he died while she was gone. He said, “Don’t go crying. I’ll be setting purty up on top of the hill. But look here” and touched his arm “this is where I live now, but when I die I will be in a new house and there will always be room for you there.” Sr. Bridget in her five years in Appalachia came to know that we are all of us children of God. After Appalachia, Sister served in Sudan and Senegal and Mexico. Sister said she’s learned that God cares for us, but we absolutely have to care for one another. Sometimes we are God’s answer to someone else’s prayer. We have to do the little things with great loves. Nothing is inconsequential, everything matters. Everybody she meets reflects God, whether in Boston or Senegal or Sudan or Appalachia. You don’t have to go somewhere else to find God, He is all around us in everyone we meet. Fr. Chip asked her how she came to Boston. Sister said she had a dream in which she had a bus ticket and didn’t know where it was going to. She later realized that she wanted to be near her mother in her last years. Her mother was living in New Hampshire with her sister and so she asked her superior to live with the Ursuline community in Boston. They had a wonderful 4 years together until her mother began the long journey of Alzheimers. Scot noted the Ursuline sisters were among the first religious orders in Boston. The first convent was in Charlestown, and was burned down in anti-Catholic riots. They later opened a convent near Boston Common and then in Dedham. 3rd segment: Scot said Sr. Bridget has a weekly radio show with her brother, Albert, who is a Franciscan priest. It’s called “Spirit and Life” and it’s on the Relevant Radio network. Relevant Radio approached them as the first brother/sister priest/nun radio show. They’ve had about 96 shows so far. They take spiritual issues from our Catholic faith and ask what it means for the 21st century. They start each show with 5 minutes of chat they call “Bayou Banter”. They then talk 26 minutes with no commercials. It airs on Saturday and repeats throughout the weekend. The full schedule is on the Relevant Radio website and you can listen online. Scot said he first heard about Sister Bridget when he saw her book “Generous Faith: Stories to Inspire Abundant Living”, from which all the royalties go to the care of the elderly sisters of her order. She decided before she had 50 years of vows that she wanted to thank God for everything people have given her life because they way they lived inspired her. So she decided to tell their stories. She tells the stories of her mother’s Alzheimer’s and her father’s suicide. She told one of the stories from the book. She was feeling down and out one time and decided to make a retreat at the Genesis Retreat Center in Westfield, Mass. She had planned everything she wanted God to do for her on the retreat. She took the train and then buses to Springfield. She’s sitting on the bus and encountered a homeless man. She tried to look inconspicuous because she didn’t want an encounter with him. He got up and offered her a peppermint from his pocket. She refused nicely, but felt bad about it. As she was getting off the bus, she heard him yell at her, “Miss, you’re looking good, real good.” She got off the bus with a dance in her step and a song in her heart. That homeless man cared for her. It’s a witness that God never abandons us. The power of being noticed and receiving a word of encouragement. If we live in the moment, in divine care, and in the eyes of other people (the book’s three divisions), we have abundant living, knowing we are blessed by God. Jesus came that we might have life and have it in the full. Not material abundance necessarily. Fr. Chip asked who inspires her now. Sister Bridget said the Boston Home where she is spirituality coordinator. There are 96 residents, adults paralyzed with degenerative neurological disease, ages 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s. Some have only very little mobility, in motorized chairs, moving only by sipping and blowing into a straw or with a single-finger of mobility. She’s learned to live in the moment and in the day. All we have is this day and this moment and our attitude is everything. She doesn’t find it depressing there because she’s always learning about courage and the power of the human spirit. Sister said she remembers Karen, who has since died, who came to her every day for six years and always said the same thing. She was totally paralyzed, but she would always say with great difficulty, “God is so good.” She almost died with those words on her lips. Scot said so many of us can talk an encyclopedia about God, but this one simple sentence sums up everything: “God is so good.” Sister said we have it all in our heads, but it has gotten to our heart. But Karen’s disease took all that from her head and all she had was in her heart. One of the residents came to her and he had a terrible cold. He asked her to wipe his nose. When she finished, he said he was sorry to have to ask. She asked, “Would you have done it for me?” and he said, “In a heartbeat.” That’s the washing of the feet. 4th segment: Now as we do each week at this time, we will hear the Gospel reading for this coming Sunday’s Mass and then consider its meaning for us. Gospel for the 29th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Matthew 22:15-21) The Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap Jesus in speech. They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone’s opinion, for you do not regard a person’s status. Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?” Knowing their malice, Jesus said, “Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? Show me the coin that pays the census tax.” Then they handed him the Roman coin. He said to them, “Whose image is this and whose inscription?” They replied, “Caesar’s.” At that he said to them, “Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.” Scot said this is one of the more memorable images of Jesus, evading the verbal traps set by the Pharisees. If Jesus had answered yes or no, he would have offended some group, but he transcended the situation. Sister said people sometimes mix up the message, that if only we follow God we will be promised material abundance. Scot said Jesus was very blunt and direct, calling the Pharisees hypocrites and calling out their real motives. Fr. Chip said the genius of Jesus is being able to turn a yes or no question back on them. We could preach this one Gospel passage our whole lives. Scot said we have responsibilities to be a good neighbor and citizen, but we also have to be a good member of the Church. We need to do both, although our duty to God comes first. We need to understand what we need to return to God. If we’re a success, we need to remember that everything is a gift, a grace, and a blessing. Sister said we don’t do good, but that God does good through us. To God be the glory. give to God what belongs to God and that is everything you do and desire. Give your heart to God first. Scot said it’s not a fundraising pitch; it’s not about money. Give your heart, mind, soul and life back to God. Sister said sometimes we have to ask ourselves, to reflect on what belongs to God in our own lives. Scot noted that sometimes the word is render and now it is re-pay. Fr. Chip said we can’t really re-pay to Jesus what we owe him, so we try. How do we re-pay to God? Go to Mass. Jesus told us to celebrate the Mass in community. Then celebrate it with your all. Bring all your cares and worries and offer them to him, then give him praise and worship. Fr. Chip said we should give of ourselves to the parish, the people you’re in community with. We start with Mass and then are sent forward into the world to bring it to other people.

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Susan Abbott Today’s guest(s): Gregory Tracy, managing editor of The Pilot, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston 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: Death of the oldest pastor; retirement plans; $1 million for Catholic schools; Project Rachel; Episcopalian converts; assault on religion; the bishops of Boston Summary of today’s show: Greg Tracy joins Scot and Susan to discuss the news of the week in the Pilot and the Anchor newspapers, including a new retirement offering for archdiocesan employees; the death of the Archdiocese’s oldest pastor at 96; a $1 million gift for Catholic schools; another Project Rachel testimonial; Episcopalian converts coming into the Church en masse; the federal government’s assault on freedom of religion; interesting statistics on abortion rates; and A new series on the bishops of Boston. 1st segment: Scot asked Susan how her four-day week is going and she said a four-day week after a three-day weekend is just like having a six-day week to catch up. The religious education office has been having workshops all over the archdiocese to train parish leaders to do confirmation preparation. The goal is to ensure that parish confirmation preparation is uniformly high quality. Susan also shared the Joseph Anthony Abbott, her grandson, was born today to her son and daughter-in-law in Los Angeles. Another grandchild is due on February 4, which would make 8. Scot also wished his niece, Molly McDermott, a happy 5th birthday. 2nd segment: Scot said a big story in the Pilot this week is that 3,000 archdiocesan employees in the Pastoral Center and in parishes and schools will have a new 401(k) plan. While employees have a pension plan, younger employees will have a smaller payout at retirement and putting some away for themselves now is a good idea. Greg said a large readership of The Pilot are those who work for the Archdiocese and so it’s a significant story. The reality is that the Archdiocese began the switch from a traditional pension plan to a 401(k). Most organizations have made the switch because they have become very expensive as people are living longer and Social Security isn’t expect to cover everyone in the future. So the Archdiocese has selected a new model for retirement. There is currently a 403b plan, which is similar to a 401k, which was additional voluntary contributions, but did not include contributions from the employer and the 403b was spread over all kinds of vendors and plans. The 401k has all the benefits of the 403b but is much more portable and well-known. Scot noted the obituary in this week’s Pilot for Msgr. Stanislaus Sypek who died this week at age 96 and was still an active pastor, not retired. He was ordained in 1943. They reviewed his long career of service to the Church. Also, Fr. Clyde Leonard died this week at 84. He was ordained in 1964 at 37 years old. That was unusual at the time. Fr. John Connelly, pastor of Sacred Heart, Newton, is the oldest serving pastor at 89 years old. “Campaign for Catholic Schools awarded $1 million by State Street Foundation” The State Street Foundation made a large gift to the Campaign for Catholic Schools of $1 million for the benefit of Pope John Paul II Catholic Academy in Dorchester and Mattapan. Greg attended the press conference and noted that the kids from the school will remember their whole lives how the people in the State Street Bank building cared for them enough to support their education. The State Street CEO said it’s an investment in the community. A good educated workforce benefits the entire business community. Catholic education has an immense success rate and is a good place to invest. Scot noted how the former mayor of Los Angeles has begun a campaign to raise $100 million for Catholic schools there. Scot also noted the preparation for the Lenten launch of the “Why Catholic” program that follows up the Arise program. It is a 4-year journey through the Catechism, with 4 twelve-week sessions. It encourages small-group formation, which helps build community within parishes. 3rd segment: Scot said over the past few weeks the Pilot has published moving anonymous testimonials from women who’ve had abortions and received healing through the Project Rachel program. Susan said it’s beautiful testimony, not just to the love of God, but also to the work of our Pro-life Office. Scot said it hit him in the gut to hear how she said she felt unlovable and unforgivable by God. Scot noted that Bishop Hennessey says in the Light Is On For You videos that nothing you have ever done is too big for God to forgive. Greg said it was striking to see how the woman’s mother, who pressured her daughter to get an abortion, was herself reconciled to God as well. 4th segment: Scot said Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, DC, received an entire Episcopalian community into the Church, including their pastor who is beginning his formal studies toward ordination. This is seen as a precursor to the declaration of an Ordinariate in the US, which is somewhat equivalent to a diocese covering the whole country. “Washington Cardinal confirms members of former Episcopal community”, CNS, 10/12/11 In the past, Episcopalians who converted to Catholicism have had the pastoral provision that allowed them to use a particular Anglican-use liturgy that preserves the traditions of their faith while incorporating them into Catholic belief and practice. Greg said these incorporations have happened in bits and pieces, but in 2009, Pope Benedict formalized the process by which entire communities can enter the Church together. “Archbishop, chaplains’ group object to memo on same-sex weddings”, CNS 10/12/11 In the military services, there’s been a push to have chaplains officiate at same-sex marriages. Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Military Archdiocese said this won’t happen with Catholic chaplains or Catholic chapels, but other chaplains are concerned. The Archbishop said the federal Defense of Marriage Act should prevent such impositions on chaplains in federal service. Scot said Fr. Roger Landry wrote his editorial in the Anchor this week on Archbishop Timothy Dolan’s recent list of five ways that the federal government is mounting an assault on religious freedom, including mandates for insurance to pay for contraception, sterilization, and abortion; forcing the bishop Migration and Refugees Services to provide “reproductive services” in order to continue to receive government contracts; pressure on Catholic Relief Services in a similar vein internationally; the Justice Department attacking the Defense of Marriage Act as bigotry; the Obama administration taking a position against the “ministerial exception” before the Supreme Court; and a push to redefine marriage in the states with pressure from above. Scot said people often tell Catholics not to impose their faith on others, but that’s exactly what’s happening in the other direction. He said people need to be vocal in order to not give the impression that the majority agree with these impositions. Another article shows that married women are much less likely to have abortions. The abortion rate among cohabitating women was 59 percent, formerly married and not cohabitating was 31.8 percent, women who never married and not cohabitating was 28.1 percent, and wives was 7.7 percent. In cohabitation, the future of the couple is uncertain and this it’s hard to be able to welcome new life with generosity. Greg said there’s been a societal shift in that marriage is no longer about family, but it’s just about love and romance. They are part of it, but not the complete picture. ForYourMarriage.org Scot said there is a new series of articles on the bishops of Boston, starting with Bishop John Cheverus from his birth in France. Greg said the 100th anniversary of Cardinal O’Connell becoming Boston’s first cardinal comes up on November 11 and was the motivation for this series.

Today’s host(s): Scot Landry and Fr. Matt Williams Today’s guest(s): Jaymie Stuart Wolfe, Associate Editor of Children’s Books at Pauline Books and Media Pauline Books and Media Pauline Kids “The Mass Explained for Kids” Today’s topics: Jaymie Stuart Wolfe Summary of today’s show: Jaymie Stuart Wolfe talks with Scot and Fr. Matt about her years of ministry in the Church, including being a columnist for the Pilot and now working as an editor at Pauline Books and Media. They also discussed her new books that make the words of the Popes more accessible, especially to youth and young adults, and another that explains the Mass for children, including the new translation coming up in Advent. 1st segment: Scot said Fr. Matt is in Maine today on a retreat and is joining the show via the phone. He was in Chicago last weekend for the baptism of a friend’s daughter. He was able to play tourist in Chicago as well and to be part of his friend’s family’s life. On retreat, he’s been doing some spiritual reading by a Carmelite priest called “Under the Torrent of His Love,” about St. Therese of Lisieux. He explains the spiritual context of St. Therese from the French Revolution to Jansenism in France. At the time, there was a lot of focus on God’s justice without focusing on the mercy of God. Therese looks at it from the perspective of the childlike way and the love by which God sends his son Jesus. A child is completely open to allowing himself to be loved as God loves him. They are so open to receiving God’s love. For Therese, the Sacred Heart devotion was not once per month, but every day. She has four new books, one she edited, “The Mass Explained for Kids”, and co-edited three others, “Adoring Jesus with the Holy Father”, “Honoring Mary with the Holy Father”, “Praying with the Holy Father”. 2nd segment: Scot welcomed Jaymie Stuart Wolfe to the show. Scot asked about all the many ways she has served the Church. She came into the Church in her senior year of college. She said she read her way out of evangelical Protestantism. She hit the bottom of evangelical ecclesiology and discovered the Church. She got involved in work in the Church through having children (she has 8 and 5 grandchildren) and getting involved in the pro-life movement. She’s done spiritual concerts of music, writing, speaking, and many others. She also has a longtime column in the Pilot, starting in 1995. She had just had a baby in November, right after finishing her first book, and then a week later a priest connected to the Pilot asked her to write a column. Scot said that’s about 26 columns per year and hundreds of columns since then. She’s enjoyed writing how family life leads you deeper into faith. She’s enjoyed how her life changes because a child enters in. Her kids bring all of their variety and diversity of interests into her own life and enriched it. And then she sees how God’s call everyone differently. One of her daughter spent the summer working with the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta. She is now a student at the University of Dallas. Prior to her role at the Daughters of St. Paul, Jaymie was faith formation director and music minister at St. Maria Goretti parish in Lynnfield. She said most adult Catholics have faith at a level of 8 or 10 or 12 years old. They’ve progressed in all other aspects of their life, but their faith life hasn’t matured. Much of that comes from not understanding why we do the things we do. Also, that being Catholic is not about a few hours on a Sunday morning, but a call to life. Baptism is not an event but a calling to a life, an identity. For most people who graduate from CCD when they’re confirmed, they will never know everything about faith. Theology is not basketweaving. But the beauty of the faith is that once you’re in a relationship with Jesus, you have a reason to learn about him for the rest of your life. 3rd segment: Jaymie said for people wanting to learn more about their faith, they should start with the Bible, and specifically the Gospels. Start with the life of Jesus and listen to what he says and does and the integrity that what he says is what he does. What brought Jaymie into the Church was Lumen Gentium, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church from Vatican II. Scot recommended the book The Bible Compass: A Catholic’s Guide to Navigating the Scriptures by Edward Sri. Jaymie also told people to challenge God to prove himself to you, to talk to you in a way that you can hear his voice. He will speak to you in a language you will understand: art, music, liturgy, a conversation with a friend. Scot asked Fr. Matt what he tells to those who ask where to start. Fr. Matt concurred with starting with the Gospel of Matthew, to ask God to guide as you read. He also recommended the YouCat, the new catechism for youth commissioned by Pope Benedict XVI and distributed at World Youth Day. There are many online resources, including those from the Daughters of St. Paul at Pauline.org. Scot asked Jaymie about the “…with the Holy Father” books, which break the Holy Father’s words down into bite-sized bits on the same topics. Jaymie said there are lots of gems in the Pope’s words, but it can be difficult to wade through all of the theological language to get to the nuggets. Jaymie said she was inspired by wanting to have her kids be able to listen to the Holy Father and understand him. She took her family to New York in 2008 to see Pope Benedict at Yankee Stadium. Everyone was thrilled, but they couldn’t tell you what they heard and if they went to look at the writings online, all the brilliant words were somewhat inaccessible to the average person. So they approached the Vatican and asked if they could take the words of the Pope and bring them to a level that a 10 to 14-year-old could understand. The Daughters didn’t expect to get approval but they didn’t. Jaymie said the three books covered the writings of 19 different popes. She read everything from every pope on the Vatican website that was available in English. It took her about a month. Many of the encyclicals that are very heavy have beautiful prayers at the end of them or speeches at audiences or gatherings. She said she got a whole new appreciation for Pope Pius XII, who was pope during World War II. It was how he wrote about Mary and the Scriptures and how he approached his daunting task of leading the Church in a challenging time. Scot asked why they chose selections of about 100 words at a time. Jaymie said you don’t want to crowd prayer. That’s about the attention span of a reader. She read a sample of one of the selections. Fr. Matt said the books are listed as for young adults, but “young” can have a broad definition. Young can be a new Catholic or even just someone who doesn’t want to stumble over difficult words. 4th segment: It’s time to announce the winner of the weekly WQOM Benefactor Raffle. Our prize this week is The Battle for the Family DVD by Peter Herbeck and Girls’ Night Out: Having Fun with Your Daughter While Raising a Woman of God, by Michaelann Martin. This week’s benefactor card raffle winner is Carmela Tringali from Medford, MA. Congratulation, Carmela! If you would like to be eligible to win in an upcoming week, please visit WQOM.org. For a one-time $30 donation, you’ll receive the Station of the Cross benefactor card and key tag, making you eligible for WQOM’s weekly raffle of books, DVDs, CDs and religious items. We’ll be announcing the winner each Wednesday during “The Good Catholic Life” program. 5th segment: The Mass Explained for Kids has sold 10,000 copies already in just a few weeks. Scot said it’s not just about the new translation of the Mass, but it explains what we’re doing. Jaymie said it has the liturgical text on one page with color-coordinated explanations on the facing page. She said 75% of Catholics don’t know that the translation is changing on the first Sunday of Advent. It’s an unprecedented opportunity to learn about the Mass and understand what is happening in the Church on Sunday in the central prayer of our faith. Scot said imagine going to a football game and not knowing what’s going on. Jaymie gave an example of the beginning of the Mass where we will now respond to the priest: “And with your spirit.” It’s very inexpensive at $1.99 and they’re also creating a smartphone app version as well.