Dec. 5 gathering honors Our Lady of Guadalupe

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Nov 28, 2015

Honor_Your_Mother_Parade-9281 — Local parishioner Juan Pablo Morales is dressed as St. Juan Diego at the 2014 "Honor Your Mother" event in downtown Phoenix. (Billy Hardiman/CATHOLIC SUN file photo)

Local parishioner Juan Pablo Morales is dressed as St. Juan Diego at last year's "Honor Your Mother" event in downtown Phoenix. (Billy Hardiman/CATHOLIC SUN file photo) — Local parishioner Juan Pablo Morales is dressed as St. Juan Diego at last year’s “Honor Your Mother” event in downtown Phoenix. (Billy Hardiman/CATHOLIC SUN file photo)

Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared in Mexico 484 years ago to help spread the Gospel to the Americas. To commemorate this, the Diocese of Phoenix, the Missionaries of Mary and Mary’s Ministries invite the faithful from throughout the diocese to attend the ninth annual “Honor Your Mother” — a largescale public event to honor the Empress of the Americas — on Dec. 5.

“The purpose is to unite Catholics of different races and nationalities, just as the Virgin of Guadalupe united two cultures hundreds of years ago,” said Ignacio Rodriguez, director of the Office of Ethnic Ministries for the diocese.

Our Lady of Guadalupe is the only Church-approved Marian apparition in the Americas. She appeared to St. Juan Diego — a Native who’d converted to Christianity — in 1531, instructing him to build a church. When the local ordinary didn’t believe him, she told him to place roses in his tilma and bring them to the bishop. When Juan Diego met with the bishop, he opened his tilma, and all those present knelt in veneration of the image that was captured on the tilma.

The dark-skinned image of Our Lady of Guadalupe proclaimed to the indigenous peoples of the Americas “the Good News that all its inhabitants shared the dignity of children of God. No more would anyone be a servant, but we are all children of the same Father and brothers and sisters to each other,” said Pope Francis in his homily on her feast day of Dec. 12 last year.

Today, the image is venerated by several million pilgrims annually at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City, and is one of the most-visited pilgrimage sites in the world.

Thousands of faithful Catholics participated in last year's "Honor Your Mother" procession. (Billy Hardiman/CATHOLIC SUN file photo) — Thousands of faithful Catholics participated in last year’s “Honor Your Mother” procession. (Billy Hardiman/CATHOLIC SUN file photo)

Procession for Our Lady

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Honor Your Mother

Saturday, Dec. 5

8:30 a.m.: Pre Procession Activities

Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, 909 E. Washington St.

10 a.m.: Procession to Diocesan Pastoral Center, 400 E. Monroe

11 a.m.: Blessing from Bishop Olmsted – 12 p.m.: Mass

Map and event info in English and Español

Spanish commercial

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Enriqueta Sosa, a representative of the Missionaries of Mary and one of the coordinators of the event, told The Catholic Sun that, just as in earlier years, the event will be filled with color, but above all, with devotion and fervor.

Celebrations begin 8:30 a.m. at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish with hymns to Our Lady of Guadalupe, followed by a procession toward the Diocesan Pastoral Center. The procession will include 15 floats, 56 groups of matachines, dance and folk groups as well as 60 parish groups and religious organizations like the Guadalupanas and the Knights of Columbus.

Sosa stressed that during the procession the dances, matachines and folk groups will dance in honor of the Queen of Tepeyac; likewise, the Holy Rosary will be prayed in an atmosphere of respect, fervor and devotion.

After the march, Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted and Auxiliary Bishop Eduardo A. Nevares will receive the pilgrims. They will then preside over a public Mass, accompanied by priests of the diocese.

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted greets mariachis at the "Honor Your Mother" event last year. (Billy Hardiman/CATHOLIC SUN file photo) — Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted greets mariachis at the “Honor Your Mother” event last year. (Billy Hardiman/CATHOLIC SUN file photo)

Public expression of faith

This year, St. Gregory and St. Francis Xavier Parishes will be the sponsors of the “Honor Your Mother” event and each one has its respective float.

“It will be an occasion to … celebrate the faith, express our identity as Catholics in a public event in the streets of the city, and to express that we are pilgrims and that faith makes us be one family,” said Fr. Andres Arango, parochial administrator of St. Gregory.

He emphasized that at the “Honor Your Mother” event, participants confirm their Catholicism, their faith in Christ and their great devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe.

“I invite the faithful of St. Gregory and from the whole diocese to join us,” Fr. Arango said.

Dcn. Jose Angel Torres from St. Gregory added that the parish’s float will portray a representation of the first apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe and that at least 200 parishioners will be representing St. Gregory.

Armando Ruiz, founder of Mary’s Ministries and the Guadalupe Missionaries, is one of those who began the “Honor Your Mother” event on behalf of Bishop Olmsted.

“It is very important above all in these times in which some want to prevent public events like this because they say such things should be private,” he said, regarding the Dec. 5 event. “We want to tell them that faith cannot be separated from public life, and that’s why the Honor Your Mother event is a public expression of faith.”

— By Leo Hernández

Advent message

By

The Catholic Sun

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Nov 27, 2015

The National Catholic Educational Association created this Advent message meant for Catholics of any age. The truths of the Church are so deep that Catholics are lifelong learners.

If you missed it, be sure to check out our compilation of Advent resources.

Vatican stamps feature manuscript painting of Holy Family

By

Catholic News Service

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Nov 27, 2015

The Vatican's 2015 Christmas stamps feature a manuscript illumination of the Holy Family by an unknown artist from the 15th century. The image is from the Codices Urbinates Latini 239 (1477-1478) at the Vatican Library. (CNS photo/courtesy Vatican Philatelic and Numismatic Office) — The Vatican’s 2015 Christmas stamps feature a manuscript illumination of the Holy Family by an unknown artist from the 15th century. The image is from the Codices Urbinates Latini 239 (1477-1478) at the Vatican Library. (CNS photo/courtesy Vatican Philatelic and Numismatic Office)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — This year’s Vatican Christmas stamps feature a 15th-century manuscript illumination of the Holy Family.

Flanked by a lowing ox and a donkey, Mary and Joseph pray over baby Jesus as angels sing above and poor shepherds approach.

The image, painted by an unknown artist, is from the Codices Urbinates Latini 239 (1477-1478) from the Vatican Library.

The special edition stamps went on sale Nov. 19 in two denominations of 80 euro cents and 95 euro cents in sheets of 10. The Vatican post office and Philatelic and Numismatic Office also offer a collector’s booklet containing four 95 euro-cent stamps and commemorative cover for 3.80 euro.

All order requests should be made by email to: [email protected]. The Vatican stamp office will then send a proper order form and methods of payment.

— By Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service.

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Editor’s Note:

Special stamps celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Vatican Observatory in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, are also available. One design features Pope Francis. The other features Pope Pius XI, who provided the observatory’s current location.

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Advent Season is time of penance to anticipate Christ’s coming

By

The Catholic Sun

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Nov 27, 2015

ADVENT WREATH CANDLES — In this CNS file photo, a lit candle is seen on a wreath during Mass in the Crypt Church at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. The wreath, which holds four candles, is a main symbol of the Advent Season, with a new candle lit each Sunday before Christmas. (CNS photo/Lisa A. Johnston, St. Louis Review)

In this CNS file photo, a lit candle is seen on a wreath during Mass in the Crypt Church at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington. The wreath, which holds four candles, is a main symbol of the Advent Season, with a new candle lit each Sunday before Christmas. (CNS photo/Lisa A. Johnston, St. Louis Review)

Between the sounds of holiday classics playing on secular radio stations, red coffee cups and “Charlie Brown” specials, it’s easy for Catholics to forget that not only has the Christmas Season not started yet, nor has the season anticipating it, Advent, which begins Sunday, Nov. 29.

Advent, taken from the Latin “advenio,” meaning “to come” anticipates not only the coming of Jesus as a child, but is also to prepare Christians for the Second Coming of Christ. This anticipatory season is filled with its own symbols as well.

“Advent is a kind of schizophrenic season, if you will, because the first half of Advent is all about the end times — it’s all about the coming of Christ in glory, the second coming, final judgment,” said Fr. Kieran Kleczewski, director of the diocese’s Office of Worship. “But as you move through Advent, it becomes much more related to Christ coming” as a child.

One of the most common symbols used in Advent is a wreath, with four candles – three purple and one pink, or rose representing the four Sundays of Advent. The purple, or violet, color represents the penitential nature of Advent.

“Advent is also a season of penance — we don’t think of that, but that’s why the color is violet because it is a season of penacne and preparation,” said Fr. Kleczewski. “Advent is also a recognition of kind of our distance from God, still more a season of anticipation and rejoicing but there’s a penitential nature to it.”

While the emphasis is not as heavy as it is during Lent, Fr. Kleczewski noted that many parishes

The pink – or rose – candle that is lit on the Third Sunday of Advent, is for Gaudete Sunday, which means “rejoice,” because “the Lord is near,” Fr. Kleczewski said.

“We do the same thing at Lent. We go through three quarters of Lent and they do a rose vestment, because it’s meant to say, ‘take courage, it’s almost over,’ and so it’s kind of a joyful celebration,” he said.

To live out the penitential spirit of Advent, Fr. Kleczewski offered several tips. In addition to going to confession during the season, like they do during Lent, Catholics can give something up, take on extra prayer, or perform acts of charity, such as participating in a parish “Angel Tree” program where parishioners buy presents for a child in need.

“It doesn’t have to be to the degree that it is in Lent, but also the whole purpose of the fasting is to try and focus us on what is really important,” he said.

“I think for many of us today the difficulty is we spend so much time getting ready for Christmas doing what? Shopping, buying gifts, worried about the gifts we’re buying, decorating. … In a sense you can get caught up in all the endless Christmas parties and things before Christmas and not really spend much time in terms of personally getting ready to celebrate the Lord’s birth and what that means for us and what it’s meant for the world.”

Advent calendars are a great way to help families understand the season, Fr. Kleczewski said. Some calendars offer a little prize for children each day, while others include a daily meditation for the family.

“If people think about it, I think every family has Advent traditions [though] they may not realize they’re Advent traditions,” he said. “Part of preparing for Christ coming is getting the celebrations ready. I always remember with my mom doing Christmas cookies that were clearly getting made and put away. It was kind of a family thing that we did, but that was part of preparing for Christmas; we always understood it that way.”

Fr. Kleczewski compared the differences between Advent and Christmas like a child waiting for a parent to come home.

“We’re waiting, and we’re waiting, and we’re waiting for them to come home — we can’t wait for them to come home. Well that’s what Advent’s about — it’s about that waiting and building of the longing, again both for the coming kingdom, but also for the celebration of the birth of Christ,” he said.

“Well Christmas is about that kid — the sitting at the window looking outside and seeing his dad walk up the drive who he’d been waiting for for a month and charging into his embrace when he walks through the front door. That’s the Christmas season — it’s about that arrival, that having that joy knowing that Christ is here, we’ve been redeemed and His love is here for us.”

Refugees in Lebanon, facing new reality, get help at Catholic-run clinic

By

Catholic News Service

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Nov 25, 2015

LEBANON CLINIC SISTERS — Patients wait for their turn to be treated at St. Anthony's medical dispensary in Beirut. The clinic, run by the Good Shepherd Sisters, functions as a primary health care center, serving Iraqi and Syrian refugees, as well as Lebanon's poor. (CNS photo/Dalia Khamissy)

Patients arrive at Nov. 18 at St. Anthony's medical dispensary in Beirut. The clinic, run by the Good Shepherd Sisters, functions as a primary health care center, serving Iraqi and Syrian refugees, as well as Lebanon's poor. (CNS photo/Dalia Khamissy) — Patients arrive at Nov. 18 at St. Anthony’s medical dispensary in Beirut. The clinic, run by the Good Shepherd Sisters, functions as a primary health care center, serving Iraqi and Syrian refugees, as well as Lebanon’s poor. (CNS photo/Dalia Khamissy)

BEIRUT (CNS) — The three Iraqi retirees met up at St. Anthony’s medical dispensary to get medication for hypertension, an ailment exacerbated by the stress of life as a refugee.

As they waited their turn, they recalled their life in Qaraqosh, Iraq.

“We celebrated everything together,” 70-year-old Wissam told Catholic News Service. “We had the biggest celebrations in all of Iraq, especially in summer.”

That was before the Islamic State seized control of Qaraqosh in August 2014, driving out some 50,000 Christians. Many settled in Lebanon, hoping to emigrate to Europe, the Americas or Australia for a brighter future.

Wissam, Kassem and Youssef — identified by pseudonyms — were a school principal, a physics teacher and a self-employed businessman who simultaneously operated five enterprises.

In Beirut, they were seeking help as the poorest of the poor at a clinic run by the Good Shepherd Sisters.

The refugees’ adult children include a doctor and a pharmacist who, in Lebanon, had to settle for jobs in supermarkets.

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In the crowded waiting area Nov. 18, the three friends shook their heads in disbelief as they shared images on their phones received via social media of seven people from two families — fellow Syriac Catholics from Qaraqosh — who drowned the previous day in the Aegean Sea en route from Turkey to Greece.

“We cried all day,” Youssef said of his reaction when he heard about the deaths. “It is such a tragedy.”

“If we try to get to another country, it could be the same. Maybe we will arrive, or maybe we will perish too,” he added.

St. Anthony’s functions as a primary health care center, serving Iraqi and Syrian refugees, as well as Lebanon’s poor. It is accredited by Lebanon’s ministry of health, and its motto is displayed at the entrance: “Religion is for God and the dispensary is for everyone.” The Good Shepherd Sisters’ ministry of mercy and of seeing the face of God in each person they encounter permeates the atmosphere in the clinic, which is supported by international agencies such as the Catholic Near East Welfare Association and Aid to the Church in Need.

On average, 200 refugees are helped at the clinic each day. Last year, the center served 17,000 people. Recently, as part of a vaccination campaign, more than 2,000 children were vaccinated at the center in less than a week.

“These are people who are needy and who are seeking medical support,” Dr. Hadi Jaklh, a physician who supervises a rotating team of 40 doctors at the center, told Catholic News Service. “Unfortunately, what we see in the media does not reflect 100 percent the reality of things. We don’t see (them as) terrorists.”

“We provide them with the best service we can possibly give,” Jaklh said, adding that “we don’t get into religion or politics” with the patients.

“I really don’t have words to describe what they are living,” said Good Shepherd Sister Georgette Tannoury. “They are very traumatized. I cannot even repeat what they tell me.”

“For me as a religious, I try to live the mercy of God, I try be compassionate with them, to help them, but it is very, very limited,” said Sr. Tannoury. “I try to help, but it is nothing compared to what they are living as people. They are living an injustice.”

At the clinic, a visit with a general physician, pediatrician or gynecologist costs just under $4. To meet with a specialist such as a cardiologist, the fee is $8. For a month’s supply of medication for a chronic condition, the patients pay 75 cents.

Patients wait for their turn to be treated at St. Anthony's medical dispensary in Beirut. The clinic, run by the Good Shepherd Sisters, functions as a primary health care center, serving Iraqi and Syrian refugees, as well as Lebanon's poor. (CNS photo/Dalia Khamissy) — Patients wait for their turn to be treated at St. Anthony’s medical dispensary in Beirut. The clinic, run by the Good Shepherd Sisters, functions as a primary health care center, serving Iraqi and Syrian refugees, as well as Lebanon’s poor. (CNS photo/Dalia Khamissy)

The impeccably clean facility is constructed from four corrugated shipping containers joined together. Illustrated posters in Arabic decorate the walls, outlining nutritional guidelines; instructions for breast self-examinations; and procedures to prevent and treat outbreaks of lice and scabies.

In the seating area that faces the consultation rooms, a woman quietly retrieved her toddler son as he scurried ahead of her. As they waited, some of the visitors chatted with one another.

“It’s a bit difficult to see this big load of patients who had everything in their country and suddenly they had to leave everything and come here,” Jalkh said. Most of the Iraqis lived comfortably but came to Lebanon with nothing and cannot even afford a blood test, he added.

“It’s very painful for them and for the staff working here. We are dealing everyday with people not only with medical issues, but psychological issues and psychological difficulties,” the doctor said.

“We hope that the crisis will soon end so that they can either go back to their country or have the opportunity to go elsewhere and live in dignity,” Jalkh said.

The Good Shepherd Sisters say Lebanon, about two-thirds the size of Connecticut with an existing population of around 4 million, is housing 3 million refugees, of which more than 1.5 million are Syrian.

— By Doreen Abi Raad, Catholic News Service.

Reflecting on burying the dead

By

Ambria Hammel

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Nov 25, 2015

A view of St. Francis Cemetery in Phoenix prior to All Souls Day. (Ambria Hammel/CATHOLIC SUN)

When we visit a cemetery, there’s often substantially more buried there who we don’t know than who we do know.

As Catholics, we respect the lives of all buried there:

we walk around not over their grave
we take a moment to read the inscription as we pass by
we straighten out floral decorations
we draw possible conclusions about that person’s life, especially if it was a short one
and perhaps we pray for that person

This evening, André House staff and volunteers invite you to join them for a prayer service at the county cemetery in Litchfield Park. They trek out there from near downtown Phoenix each year to remember those who the world sometimes forgets. Buried there — thanks to chain gang inmates who lower their caskets — are those who died and couldn’t be identified or whose next of kin couldn’t be located.

Some buried at this cemetery were likely André House guests at one point in time.

RELATED

Bury the dead: a work of mercy through the centuries

As we begin to gather for Thanksgiving, Christmas and any other family holiday that lies in between, we’ll likely remember our loved ones who are no longer with us. Perhaps even more so if this is the first holiday without that person’s physical presence. Some families leave an empty chair at the table to better remember the life they shared together.

We don’t know if that’s the tradition of a Catholic family in Seligman, but the small community of St. Francis lost a revered member of the 25-family parish in October. Henriqueta Lopez Martinez, better known as “Henri,” “Auntie Queta” or just “Queta,” was six weeks shy of turning 100 when she died Oct. 6.

She was the oldest of seven children and raised by her grandparents until age 8 when she moved to Seligman to join her parents and younger siblings. At last year’s Seligman High School’s centennial commemoration, she was recognized as the oldest graduate in attendance.

Her family couldn’t afford an official obituary, but sent us this:

Henriqueta was married to Alex Martinez in 1935, until his death in 1962.
As a young woman, she was employed by the U. S. Postal Service for the next 30 years; first as clerk and then as the Post Master. She mentioned that the most exciting part of the Post Office was inside bathroom plumbing — it was just too cold outside.

It’s hard to believe, but some areas of the southwest still don’t have indoor plumbing. A local Catholic-based nonprofit conducts an annual Winter Warmth drive to buy wood for the Navajo Nation to heat their homes. Their restrooms are separate from the home. There’s not running water or electricity either.

The Catholic church soon closes out the month of November, the month of special remembrance of Holy Souls. Henriqueta was what the Catholic schools might call “an active Catholic” and was what the parishes might call a staple of many ministries. She was active in:

the Cursillo movement for over 58 years
Legion of Mary for 47 years
religious education, serving as a catechist for over 50 years. She was even recognized for it during a statewide Catechetical Congress in 1985. Hundreds of priests and clergy were there — many of who she had coordinated dinners for over the years — and saw her presented with red roses.

The family’s write-up continued:

She was always known for her spiritual generous, kind hearted nature and her many prayers, as well as always willing to help the elderly and parents and their children. There were countless meetings and dinners coordinated by her for the Clergy of the Diocese of Phoenix, where she directed and helped her fellow parishioners with the cooking and serving of their specialty, “Mexican food”.

Throughout her life she touched many priests and other clergy and they stopped to visit her during her lifetime, as well as during her recent illness.

Mrs. Martinez was also well known throughout the diocese and surrounding areas for her prayers and devotion to her beloved Jesus Christ and his blessed Mother.

Henriqueta was preceded in death by her husband, Alex and only child Patricia (Pearsall) Espinosa, also her great-grand son Justin Pearsall and three nephews of Seligman: Michael, Peter and James (Peanut) Montoya. She is survived by grandchildren Rosanne (Eddie) Skipper and Anthony Pearsall of Florida, and Vincent Pearsall of Indiana; also, nephew, Rocky Montoya and family of Seligman and three great-grand children.

“Auntie Queta” is revered by the whole community of Seligman as well as by her many friends. Her message to all is “Think of me now and again, at a time which is pleasant to recall and smile!”; “All for Jesus through Mary”.

We know she was showered with 100 roses by Jesus in heaven on her 100th birthday. You will not be forgotten — God Bless You!

Bury the dead: a work of mercy through the centuries

By

Catholic News Service

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Nov 25, 2015

ROME CONFRATERNITY BURIAL — Human bones decorate a wall in the crypt of the Church of St. Mary of the Oration and Death, the headquarters of a confraternity with a legacy of burying the dead, in Rome Nov. 18. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

A painting showing members of the Archconfraternity of St. Mary of the Oration participating in a funeral procession is seen at the Church of St. Mary of the Oration and Death in Rome Nov. 18. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

ROME (CNS) — If a pilgrim walking to Rome for a Holy Year fell mortally ill far from home or a poor tenant farmer died working in a field or an unidentifiable victim of murder was found, a group of courageous Christians buried these anonymous or forgotten dead with dignity.

Founded in 1538, the Archconfraternity of St. Mary of the Oration and Death in Rome spent nearly 500 years offering a Christian funeral and burial to those who would otherwise never have one.

Burying and praying for the dead are among the corporal and spiritual works of mercy Pope Francis has asked people to carry out during the upcoming Year of Mercy.

Many popes, over the past centuries, had supported the difficult and somber work of the archconfraternity, starting with Pope Paul III, who wanted to see the association formally established, said Alfonso Sapia, head of the archconfraternity.

During Advent in early December in 1538, a Capuchin priest gave such an impassioned homily about the tragedy of those abandoned at death and the immense spirit shown by those who risked danger and disease to bury them, he inspired a huge number of people in the pews to join the new lay association.

RELATED

Reflecting on burying the dead

Several decades later, Pope Paul V gave the confraternity’s chaplains special permission to celebrate Mass outside of a church, before sunrise and after sunset if necessary — “prerogatives that had been unthinkable” at the time, Sapia told Catholic News Service in mid-November.

Members often walked long distances at any time of day or night to get to an abandoned body. The special dispensation was granted because sometimes they couldn’t get the deceased to a cemetery quickly enough and the dangers of natural disasters, disease, wild animals or advanced decay necessitated immediate burial.

Recognizing the confraternity’s important work, St. Pope Pius V granted clemency every year to one prisoner on death row and entrusted the confraternity members and their families to take in the formerly condemned man and his family — teaching them skills, a trade and helping them back on their feet, Sapia said.

A coin box to collect money to bury the dead is seen at the Church of St. Mary of the Oration and Death, the headquarters of a confraternity with a legacy of burying the dead, in Rome Nov. 18. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

The pope also conceded to the confraternity the rare privilege of collecting money on the street and in taverns to pay for the burials of the poor. “It wasn’t legal to raise money without authorization from the pontiff,” he said.

Because taverns were still a hothouse of murder in the 16th century, “people would get drunk, and it would end up like in the Wild West: shooting pistols” and smashing things, he said. The owner always kept one of the confraternity’s black metal canisters on hand to collect spare change and donations to then pay for any eventual burials.

Located on the wide cobblestone road of Via Giulia, the Church of St. Mary of the Oration and Death — and the confraternity’s headquarters — are still surrounded by foreign embassies and ornate buildings once owned or inhabited by noble families and wealthy merchants.

Rome’s wealthiest and powerful families were almost always enthusiastic donors and even members of the confraternity, Sapia said.

“The more of a troublemaker they were, they more generous they were in donations, because that way the people would pray” for their souls and salvation from purgatory, Sapia said.

Large commemorative marble plaques with lengthy inscriptions and entreaties for people’s prayers decorate the walls behind a chapel of the church.

Another, more unexpected form of remembrance is seen in the lower portion of the church, where scores of skulls sit neatly in rows on wooden shelves set into the walls. The deceased’s name, and date and cause of death are chiseled onto the forehead.

Sapia said many confraternity members had wanted their skulls preserved in the church “as a testimony of affection” and as a way to say, “I love this confraternity and I will never leave it, not even after I die.”

Other skulls in the crypt belonged to the poor whose cause of death shows the difficult conditions just a few generations ago: almost all of the skulls belonging to women document them dying during childbirth, he said.

Human bones decorate a wall in the crypt of the Church of St. Mary of the Oration and Death, the headquarters of a confraternity with a legacy of burying the dead, in Rome Nov. 18. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

A holy water font is watched over by the upper torso of a skeleton, and the chandeliers lit overhead are an artistic composite of vertebrae and the triangular sacrum — “the sacred bone” — at the end of the spinal column. He said using bones serves as a reminder that from darkness and death there shall be light.

Sapia said such concrete reminders of death “seems awful and terrible” in today’s culture, but back then “people didn’t live past 50, and death was much more human,” with people being much more aware and accepting of dying.

“Besides praying for and burying the dead, the confraternity also taught people not to be hedonists,” living only for the present moment “and doing want we want right now,” he said.

“Instead what the confraternity told people was, ‘Yes, we have to live well, but most of all we have to die without being afraid of dying,'” which meant being ready for God’s judgment by trying to live a holy life.

With the group’s last burial in the 1950s, as a post-war Italian government began to provide basic human and social services, the archconfraternity’s mission had to change, he said.

Their work is now based “on the three C’s: Christ, charity and culture,” he said, as they promote sacred art and music.

Confraternities, Sapia said, have been essential in providing charitable care and preserving the spiritual life of the church, especially during the Reformation.

“When Martin Luther started the reform, people became much more distanced from the Catholic Church,” he said.

But while fewer people were attending Mass in Rome’s major basilicas, he said, the confraternity’s smaller churches stayed full, where “there wasn’t the arrogance of the cardinal” and people were simpler, more humble and more gracious.

This approach and attitude “helped the church in the Counter-Reformation,” he said, as the confraternities “were used to guide the church” toward successful reform.

Sapia said he sees a parallel with Pope Francis.

“The confraternity, as Francis says, smelled of sheep” and members didn’t wait for people to come to them for help, but bravely ventured off to bring the church to people in need, he said.

— By Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service.

‘The Good Dinosaur’

By

Catholic News Service

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Nov 25, 2015

NEW YORK (CNS) — “The Good Dinosaur” (Disney), the latest 3-D comedy-adventure from the animation wizards at Pixar, can be thought of as a warm and fuzzy cousin to the “Jurassic” films.

Having conquered the mysterious world of the tween mind in “Inside Out,” Pixar now turns back the clock 65 million years to explore the (purely imaginary) interaction between dinosaurs and man.

“The Flintstones” this is not. But despite a few intense action scenes, “The Good Dinosaur” is wholesome — and often hilarious — entertainment for the entire family.

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“The Good Dinosaur” (Disney)

The film contains a few scenes of peril.
Catholic News Service classification, A-I, general patronage
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Director and co-writer Peter Sohn gleefully reworks history by proposing that the asteroid which may have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs never happened. Instead, they evolved in an anthropomorphic fashion, talking and acting just like humans.

In this topsy-turvy world, plant-eating dinosaurs farm the land, while carnivores — such as the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex — are cattle ranchers. The real threat is not from fellow dinos or primitive man, but nature itself.

And so we meet an adorable Apatosaurus named Arlo (voice of Raymond Ochoa) and his extended family of farmers: Poppa Henry (voice of Jeffrey Wright), Momma Ida (voice of Frances McDormand) and Arlo’s rambunctious siblings, Buck (voice of Marcus Scribner) and Libby (voice of Maleah Padilla).

Henry inspires his progeny to make their mark through courage and strength. “Earn it by doing something big in life,” he intones.

That’s easier said than done for Arlo. Sensitive and fearful, he struggles to keep up and win his father’s respect.

Tragedy strikes (shades of “The Lion King”), and Arlo is separated from his family, alone in a strange world. His only companion is a feral Neanderthal boy (voice of Jack Bright), who walks on all fours and howls at the moon.

Arlo fittingly christens his new friend Spot.

And so, this dino “boy” and his “dog” wander the landscape, searching for the way home. Along their path they encounter an array of eccentric characters, including a grizzled T-rex cowboy named Butch (voice of Sam Elliott), who dispenses wisdom around the campfire.

“If you ain’t scared, you ain’t alive,” he says.

There’s a delight in watching “The Good Dinosaur” seamlessly transition from family tale to buddy movie to rip-roaring Western, and then back again. All these genre variations share spectacular backgrounds rendered in photo-realistic fashion.

The real world is scary at times, and the film has its share of intense moments which could give pause to the youngest. No worries for their elders, though: Plucky Arlo inspires as he finds his inner dino and rises to his challenges.

“The Good Dinosaur” is preceded by “Sanjay’s Super Team,” a short animated film that is startling (for Hollywood) in its embrace of organized religion. Director Sanjay Patel draws on childhood memories growing up in India in this dialogue-free tale of a boy who comes to respect his father’s devotion to Hinduism.

Jewish and Christian viewers with small ones in tow will appreciate the cartoon’s affirmation of faith via a child’s vivid imagination. But they may want to combat any potential confusion by giving an age-appropriate primer on the difference between human speculation about the divine — which may or may not have genuine wisdom underlying it — and the revealed truth about God and humanity.

This official trailer includes the character’s voices:

— By Joseph McAleer, Catholic News Service.

Thanksgiving and Advent help us see others’ needs

By

The Catholic Sun

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Nov 25, 2015

THANKSGIVING MASS NEW YORK — Holy Cross School fifth-graders Joseph Ashmead and Marguerite Kasinge join classmates in bringing Thanksgiving offerings to the altar during a Nov. 24 Thanksgiving Mass at Holy Cross Church in Rochester, N.Y. (CNS photo/Mike Crupi, Catholic Courier)

Holy Cross School fifth-graders Joseph Ashmead and Marguerite Kasinge join classmates in bringing Thanksgiving offerings to the altar during a Nov. 24 Thanksgiving Mass at Holy Cross Church in Rochester, N.Y. (CNS photo/Mike Crupi, Catholic Courier)

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Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.

— Luke 12:48

[/quote_right]With Thanksgiving around the corner, and Christmas not far behind, thoughts of gratitude, and giving, are close at heart.

For those of modest means, the holidays are also a time to be mindful of their money, to keep within a budget. But, let’s face it, the pressure to spend is sometimes overwhelming.

I mean, how far can you stretch a few hundred dollars?

While I was mulling over our holiday budget, a recent news story popped up on my Facebook page.

The image was of what seemed to be a child’s blackboard, covered with rows of circles, the kind you make when you are covering up a line of text on a page. That image was, in reality, a renowned work of art, at least among art afficiandos, by American abstract artist Cy Twombly, and it just brought in $70.5 million at a recent auction at Sotheby’s.

I was speechless … except for the “seriously??” that slipped out of my mouth.

Mary Morrell, writer, editor and consultant at Wellspring Communications, may be reached at mary.wellspring@yahoo.com or Twitter at @mreginam6. — Mary Morrell, writer, editor and consultant at Wellspring Communications, may be reached at [email protected] or Twitter at @mreginam6.

In reviewing the list of artwork that had sold at that auction, my incredulity grew. Forty-four pieces made sales of nearly $295 million, more than the gross domestic product of some small countries.

I realized I had no true sense of the wealth that some people have accumulated, people who think in millions the way most of us think in dollars and cents. I could not fathom having $70 million in pin money and certainly could never rationalize spending it on a piece of art … not when there was so much that could be done with so much money.

Imagine the communities that could be nurtured, the food pantries that could be filled to overflowing for years, the homes and lives that could be rebuilt following a hurricane or other natural disaster, the people who could be trained and employed so families could have a decent standard of living, the children who could be educated.

The Gospel of Luke is clear: Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.

It is easy for us to fall into the trap of expecting those who have so much, an obscene amount, my dad would say, to foot the bill for good deeds, for making the lives of others better. But our true task as Christians is to evaluate what it means to have much, and then reflect on what God is calling us to do.

I remember a YouTube video that showed people in a food court in a local mall. A young man went to some tables and told the customers he hadn’t eaten for a while and asked if he could have a bit of their food. Across the board, they said no.

The scene changed to some who were homeless and who had just been given a bag of food from a local restaurant. The recipients were generous in their gratitude, so much so that when a young man approached each of them, separately, and asked if they could give him something to eat because he was hungry, they all shared the little they had been given without hesitation.

It seems to me that Thanksgiving is the perfect holiday to celebrate before Christmas, because it can help us to focus on the blessings of God, and to enter Advent and Christmas from a place of gratitude for our God who gave us a priceless gift — His Son.

New book shows how Bible supports Church teaching on Eucharist

By

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Nov 24, 2015

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‘The Biblical Roots of the Mass’

Author: Thomas J. Nash

Publisher: Sophia Institute Press

Length: 256 pages

Release Date: May 19, 2015

ISBN: 978-1622822591

Order from: shop.sophiainstitute.com

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It’s one thing to be born and baptized into the Church or make up our own mind, for whatever reason to become Catholic, but it’s something altogether different to prove why being Catholic lies at the root of the Truth.

The difference between the Roman Catholic Church and other denominations is that we don’t make it up. It happened, it was written down in Scripture, and it is for that reason that we do what we do. Thomas J. Nash’s new book, The Biblical Roots of the Mass, helps us understand why we do what we do and why the Mass is the central focus of our religious expression.

Nash, like many writers in this contemporary era, packs the historical truth of the Mass and therefore the truth of the Church into neat and tidy chapters. Each begins with a list of the background readings, two to four pages of material, and then questions for reflection or group discussion that tie up the endings of each chapter neatly.

The central issue of the Mass is the sacrificial lamb, the paschal lamb, the image that so dominates the Old Testament Jewish worship of Yahweh. Of course, in the Eucharist, this lamb is Christ Jesus. The Mass is prefigured in the Old Covenant, especially in the Passover Meal.

Nash spends two-thirds of the book discussing and detailing this prefiguration. First by explaining the origins of the Eucharist and its relationship to the Passover. Then by telling us about the sacrifice and its relationship to bread and wine. We learn about the famous — though mysterious — Melchizedek and why we mention him: he was the first to offer bread and wine with the sacrifice; thus what we do is in the “order of Melchizedek.” Eating of the lamb at Passover is the prefiguration of the eating of the Flesh and drinking the Blood in the Eucharist, Nash writes.

Mr. Robert Curtis, a life-professed Lay Dominican, teaches composition at the University of Phoenix and creative writing at Rio Salado College.

Themes such as: the sealing of the Old Covenant in Exodus, the wilderness tabernacle, the twice-daily offering of lambs, and the Day of Atonement all point us toward the Christ and the central issue of the Mass. All of these things tie the entire Old Testament to the New and gives us background to overcome all our doubts about the origins of the Eucharist.

Part Three shares Christ himself. John 6:1-71 is insurmountable evidence — for Christians who accept the New Testament as truth — of what Christ intended when He said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst” (John 6:35).

We need to remember the circumstances at the time: the Passover was near and 5,000 people showed up, the great miracle took place and this all led into the Bread of Life Discourse. When Jesus stated that He was the Bread of Life, some of His disciples began to mutter among themselves, doubting that Jesus was who He said He was. For all those disciples, for our Protestant friends, and all those Catholics who no longer believe in the Real Presence, Jesus could have broken it off, put them all at ease and revealed the joke.

But He didn’t.

Jesus did not back down, saying: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me and I in him” (John 6:53-56).

Nash’s book tells the Truth and steeps us in the one thing that all Christians accept: the Bible. Now, all we have to do, after reading this book, is to bring it to all those others who don’t believe in what we do.

Great read.

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