‘The Catholic Guy’ speaks to the ‘Sun’ after recording episode in Phoenix

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Dec 22, 2015

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@thecatholicsun was reporting live via Twitter when @catholicguyshow aired live from @CCArizona Dec. 10. Download the archived live Tweets.

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Sirius Radio’s Lino Rulli was in Phoenix Dec. 10 as part of his five-city tour of the U.S. promoting his daily two-hour program “The Catholic Guy.” Rulli, who also serves as personal media advisor to Cardinal Timothy Dolan, has hosted the light-hearted radio show for nine years. He has a bachelor’s degree in communication and a master’s in theology.

The Catholic Sun: How did you get started in radio?

Lino Rulli: TV was always my love and then I just was getting radio offers. The fact that this is what I do now either says God has a sense of humor or says that usually if God’s got the plan, it’s better to follow that than my own plan.

Sun: Cardinal Dolan has been in the headlines lately. What can you tell our readers about how you advise him these days?

Lino Rulli: My job is to give him that outside perspective. Here’s what it looks like, here’s what my buddies at the bar would say, here’s what my friends who are atheists are saying. So my job is to tell — and I think this is really healthy for people in the Church to have — in a way an outsider, which is what I am, the outsider, saying, “Hey, I’m not playing Church politics, I’m telling you this is how things are playing outside and here’s what I would suggest.”

Sun: You’re an outsider?

Lino Rulli: I’m totally an outsider. The reason the show is called “The Catholic Guy,” the reason I do what I do is not for people who are already inside. It’s for the rest of us. They have busy lives and you know your own parish priest, maybe you know that guy’s name, but maybe you haven’t belonged to the parish long or don’t belong to a parish. My job is how to make that connection.

Sun: A lot of Catholics don’t know they can have a personal relationship with Christ. Are you trying to evangelize them?

Lino Rulli: By taking the show on the road this week, the one thing that I heard more than anything, … “You’re just real. You’re very relatable.” So what that means is the show is me talking about my life, whether it be what I like for sports, I like gambling on football, I like going to the bar with my buddies, I like going to church on Sunday. They go, “Wait a second, so you can do all these things?” … My job isn’t to preach. My job is to say, “OK, here’s the thing. I go to confession. Now here’s my funny story or a story about how it’s benefitted my life.”

Sun: How do you prepare for your show?

Lino Rulli: The show is really about my life and the way I look at the world and so my show prep is looking at the world the way a stand-up comedian would and sort of examining it. What’s interesting about this? What’s funny about this? What could be the take-away, with a religious point of view on all of these things?

Sun: Do you ever examine serious topics or politics?

Lino Rulli: No, I’m the afternoon-drive guy. … I’m going to make you laugh. I’m going to say some stupid things but it will be in the context of Catholicism. It will also give you a little bit of something. You might learn, but that’s not necessarily my goal either. … It’s entertainment with a point of view that happens to be mine.

Sun: Tell us a little about your life.

Lino Rulli: I’m single and actually we just got engaged. … For the first three years we played “The Catholic Guy Dating Game” … when I turned 40 I thought, “OK, maybe I’m supposed to be doing something different” and we’d have different people in the diocese, different religious orders would call in and come on the air with me and try to persuade me to join their religious life. So it’s a way to promote what they’re doing but in a way that’s not boring.

Sun: Did you ask your fiancé to marry you on the air?

Lino Rulli: I didn’t but I definitely should have! We were in Rome about six weeks ago. We had a chance to speak with the pope.

We were mostly joking around. I said, “We’re getting married next year and I’m going to be a big cross in her life.” He looked at her and he’s like, “You’re going to prison, huh?” So, and then I was just like, “Since I’m going to be a big cross in her life, maybe we can pray together for her.” And he was laughing but he also did it. He’s like, “OK, let’s pray for her now.”

Stopping to smell the roses yields dual benefit

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The Catholic Sun

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Dec 22, 2015

One dozen Fleur Africa White Sweetheart roses are free from Arizona Flower Market in exchange for a new toy or five cans of food for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. All roses are Fairtrade and Rainforest Certified. (courtesy photo)

Making time to stop and smell the roses will have a a two-way benefit for Valley residents through Christmas Eve.

Visitors who stop by Arizona Flower Market, 16th Street south of Buckeye Road, by 6 p.m. Dec. 24, or while supplies last, can partake in a gift exchange inside the 35,000-square-foot floral warehouse. Whether making a special trip to the site or swinging by there on the way to pick up holiday company at the airport, visitors can donate a new, unwrapped toy or five cans of food and receive one dozen white sweetheart roses from Africa in return.

“Over 500,000 people in Kenya depend on the floriculture industry for their livelihood and we are proud to help sustain their efforts through our rose purchase,” Brad Denham, owner of Arizona Flower Market said in a press release.

The roses came through FleurAfrica, which provides opportunities for professional growth and development and resources for their associates such as an on-site clinic, schooling and daycare facilities and a central dining area.

Arizona Flower Market, a family-owned company, also wanted to partner with a local organization focused on helping others. That’s why its staff will ensure donated toys and food get to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. It’s not the first partnership between the two Arizona agencies.

“Arizona Flower Market is a long-time supporter of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. Most recently, they donated over 3,000 sunflowers for our dining hall families at Thanksgiving,” Danielle Ricketts, dining rooms assistant manager said, “Their generosity is much appreciated and we value our relationship with them.”

St. Vincent de Paul has a long history of helping the poor in Phoenix. Its network of staff and volunteers are dedicated to feeding, clothing, housing and healing individuals and families in the community who have nowhere else to turn for help.

Some of the Arizona Flower Market crew show the Christmas spirit they will spread with the community's help. Donors who drop off a new toy or five cans of food for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul can take home a dozen white roses for free. (courtesy photo) — Some of the Arizona Flower Market crew show the Christmas spirit they will spread with the community’s help. Donors who drop off a new toy or five cans of food for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul can take home a dozen white roses for free. (courtesy photo)

Seton alumna gives two ASU commencement addresses

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The Catholic Sun

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Dec 22, 2015

Screen Shot 2015-12-22 at 4.10.00 PM — (Catholic Sun file photo)

Kaitlyn Fitzgerald is used to speaking out. Generally it’s about social justice issues or teaching English to local refugees, but her audience multiplied when she gave two commencement addresses at Arizona State University Dec. 14.

Fitzgerald, a graduate of Seton Catholic Preparatory in Chandler, was the student speaker for Barrett, the Honors College, and spoke as an outstanding graduate from the W.P. Carey School of Business. A student profile as part of ASU’s commencement coverage explains why the university deemed Fitzgerald a worthy choice.

It was a reading of “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier” by Ishmael Beah about escaping a war in Sierra Leone during her high school years that set Fitzgerald on the path of social justice. She ultimately launched an effort that buys handmade bags from a Ghanaian entrepreneur and sells them to fund scholarships in that country, the article said.

Fitzgerald earned two degrees plus a certificate in Arabic.

Holy Doors opened in Sedona chapel as Year of Mercy pilgrimage site

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The Catholic Sun

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Dec 22, 2015

Unknown-4 — Auxiliary Bishop Eduardo A. Nevares blesses the faithful at the end of a Mass blessing and opening the doors to the Chapel of the Holy Cross in Sedona, one of two sets of doors in the Diocese of Phoenix designated as Holy Doors of Mercy for the Jubilee Year of Mercy. (Photo courtesy of Bob Simari)

Auxiliary Bishop Eduardo A. Nevares blesses the faithful at the end of a Mass blessing and opening the doors to the Chapel of the Holy Cross in Sedona, one of two sets of doors in the Diocese of Phoenix designated as Holy Doors of Mercy for the Jubilee Year of Mercy. (Photo courtesy of Bob Simari)

Chapel of the Holy Cross

Open: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sun.

Info:1 (888) 242-7359 or chaeloftheholycross.com

By Colleen Sikora
The Catholic Sun

SEDONA — One of the smallest chapels in the Diocese of Phoenix was transformed Dec. 13 as the Holy Doors of Mercy were opened at the Chapel of the Holy Cross in Sedona.

Pope Francis called for the designation and opening of Holy Doors in every diocese around the world as a part of the Jubilee Year of Mercy. With Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral in Phoenix being one, the Chapel of the Holy Cross is the diocese’s second Holy Door pilgrimage site. The Holy Father allowed for dioceses to designate a second set of Holy Doors for frequently-visited churches. Located in the mountains, the Chapel of the Holy Cross is a frequently-visited tourist stop.

“It’s amazing, a great blessing to the parish, really a gift to the whole northland to have a set of Jubilee Doors,” said Fr. Kieran Kleczewski, pastor for the Chapel of the Holy Cross, and director of the diocese’s Office of Worship and Liturgy.

With the opening of the Holy Doors, anyone who walks through the doors in a state of grace, receives confession, and says specific prayers for the Holy Father, receives a plenary indulgence, allowing the person to not only be forgiven of their sins, but the temporal punishment as well.

It’s blessing expected to touch many lives this year at the Chapel of the Holy Cross.

“People don’t realize it, but 2.5 million visitors come through these doors every year,” said Fr. Kleczewksi.

Bishop Nevares blesses the open doors to the Chapel of the Holy Cross, designating them as Holy Doors of Mercy. (Photo courtesy of Bob Simari)

Auxiliary Bishop Eduardo A. Nevares celebrated the opening Mass, just outside of the small chapel. Bishop Nevares reiterated the call of the Holy Father to live out mercy.

“We try not only to receive the mercy of God, but to be those instruments through which we can show the mercy of God to our brothers and sisters,” he said.

Bishop Nevares also suggested in his homily to not only live out mercy in practical ways through the spiritual and corporal works of mercy, but stressed the spiritual side of the jubilee year.

“In particular, … pray for our brothers and sisters, relatives, and friends who no longer practice the faith,” said Bishop Nevares.

Jack Nourse, who was visiting from Spokane, Washington, with his wife, took Bishop Nevares’ words to heart.

“Along with mercy comes forgiveness, it’s kind of one in the same,” said Nourse. “[You] just try to do more for others than yourself.”

Fr. Kleczewksi said new additions expected to be completed by local artists in the next six months would be coming to the Chapel of the Holy Cross. These additions include: an image of Our Lady of Mercy, four silk hangings and a corpus for the cross in the chapel.

Regardless of the façade changes to the chapel, the Holy Father’s call during this Year of Mercy is for a change in the hearts of the faithful.

“Let us go and share his love and mercy with all that we meet,” said Bishop Nevares.

— By Colleen Sikora, The Catholic Sun.

Christmas away from home [VIDEO]

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The Catholic Sun

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Dec 22, 2015

Christmas away from home is a norm for military personnel, inmates, refugees. The Church responds.

Displaced Christians in Irbil, Iraq, describe how the Catholic Church still gives them hope for normalcy during the holidays.

Advocates for migrants in Arizona, Sonora gather at border for ‘posada’

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Catholic News Service

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Dec 22, 2015

U.S.-MEXICO BORDER POSADA — Bishops Jose Leopoldo Gonzalez Gonzalez of Nogales, Mexico, and Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, Ariz., make their way with people along the international border fence during a "posada," the commemoration of Mary and Joseph's search for shelter, Dec. 20 in Nogales, Sonora. (CNS photo/Nancy Wiechec)

NOGALES, Mexico (CNS) — Kenia Salas, about to play the role of Mary in a Christmastime commemoration popular across Mexico, said she imagines Mary as a woman of strength.

“I think she was worried about her baby,” Salas, 17, said before participating in the “posada” along the U.S.-Mexico border. “I think she probably was a little scared because she was about to give birth and she was in pain. But I also think she was happy. She knew what she was doing was for God, and that made her strong.”

Advocates for migrants gathered for the traditional re-enactment of Mary and Joseph’s search for shelter before the birth of Christ. The roles of Mary, Joseph and an angel were played by Salas and other members of Kino Teens, who work with the Kino Border Initiative in its ministry to migrants.

Joining the procession along the border fence were Bishops Jose Leopoldo Gonzalez of Nogales and Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, Arizona. Their dioceses include the area of “ambos Nogales,” the separated American and Mexican cities of Nogales.

Catholic high school students Saul Gonzalez and Kenia Salas, dressed as Joseph and Mary, make their way to the DeConcini Port of Entry along the Arizona-Mexican border in Nogales, Arizona, Dec. 20. Students from Salpointe and Lourdes Catholic high schools in Arizona led a binational "posada" recalling Mary and Joseph's search for shelter before the birth of Christ. The annual event held by the Kino Border Initiative and Dioceses Without Borders reflected on the struggles of migrants and migrant families. (CNS photo/Nancy Wiechec) — Catholic high school students Saul Gonzalez and Kenia Salas, dressed as Joseph and Mary, make their way to the DeConcini Port of Entry along the Arizona-Mexican border in Nogales, Arizona, Dec. 20. Students from Salpointe and Lourdes Catholic high schools in Arizona led an annual binational “posada” recalling Mary and Joseph’s search for shelter before the birth of Christ. The Kino Border Initiative and Dioceses Without Borders reflected on the struggles of migrants and migrant families. (CNS photo/Nancy Wiechec)

The crowd included the Nolan family from Incarnation Parish in Palos Heights, Ill. Elizabeth Nolan, 17, had taken part in a Kino Teens border immersion program in the summer. She said she wanted the rest of her family to see firsthand the border city and be able talk with migrants and to hear their stories.

“Seeing the border and crossing over shows how close we are and yet how far apart we really are,” she said.

Along the “posada” procession route, the group heard recordings of migrants telling their accounts of separation and struggle.

In one recording, a woman weeps for her children as she tells of her Arizona workplace being raided by sheriff deputies. She was jailed and deported, separated from her husband and 11- and 18-year-old sons.

“They took away our spirit,” she said. “You feel like you can do nothing. It’s not easy being separated from your children and your family.”

Following the testimony, the “posada” group reflected on what it means to be family.

Someone read a quote from Pope Francis: “The family the Catholic Church defends is a reality wanted by God. It is a gift of God that brings to people, as well as to societies, joy, peace stability, happiness.”

The posada, which began near the DeConcini Port of Entry, ended at the “comedor,” the kitchen and dining hall of the Aid Center for Deported Migrants run by the Kino Border Initiative.

Deported men, women and children are fed hot meals there each night. This night was no exception.

Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson greets men at the "comedor," the kitchen and dining hall of the Aid Center for Deported Migrants in Nogales, Mexico, Dec. 20. Bishop Kicanas and Nogales Bishop Jose Leopoldo Gonzalez Gonzalez visited with migrants after taking part in a binational "posada," a commemoration of Mary and Joseph’s search for a place to give birth to Jesus. (CNS photo/Nancy Wiechec) — Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson greets men at the “comedor,” the kitchen and dining hall of the Aid Center for Deported Migrants in Nogales, Mexico, Dec. 20. Bishop Kicanas and Nogales Bishop Jose Leopoldo Gonzalez Gonzalez visited with migrants after taking part in a binational “posada,” a commemoration of Mary and Joseph’s search for a place to give birth to Jesus. (CNS photo/Nancy Wiechec)

After helping serve the meal, Bishop Kicanas reflected on what it means for people of faith to come together to support each other regardless of borders.

“This time of year is a beautiful time for families on both sides of our border to come together, to walk together, to share together, to pray together,” he said. “That’s what this ‘posada’ has been, an opportunity for us from Nogales, Sonora, the new diocese, and the Diocese of Tucson and the Diocese of Phoenix to walk together. That’s what the Lord is calling us to do and what this beautiful season reminds us about.”

Like so many migrants and refugees today, he said, Mary and Joseph were poor people, and they simply desired a place of comfort and safety for their child.

“The people who are seeking a better way of life remind us of ourselves. Every parent wants to care for their child, every parent wants to have opportunity for their child. That’s really the driving force of migration.

Kino Teens from Arizona act out the tragedies that can befall migrants as the students take part in a binational "posada" in Nogales, Mexico, Dec. 20. The "posada," recalling Mary and Joseph's search for shelter before the birth of Christ, reflected on the struggles of migrants and migrant families. (CNS photo/Nancy Wiechec) — Kino Teens from Arizona act out the tragedies that can befall migrants as the students take part in a binational “posada” in Nogales, Mexico, Dec. 20. The “posada,” recalling Mary and Joseph’s search for shelter before the birth of Christ, reflected on the struggles of migrants and migrant families. (CNS photo/Nancy Wiechec)

“It’s important for nations of the world to find ways to welcome the stranger, to welcome those who are fleeing violence, to welcome those who are trying to find a better way of life,” he said.

The bishop said a message of solidarity is one people can expect to hear from Pope Francis when he visits Mexico’s Cuidad Juarez along the U.S. border in February.

“I think he will surely remind us that in the church, in God’s family, there are no borders … we are one family in Christ,” he said.

—By Nancy Wiechec, Catholic News Service.

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Xavier students earn separate top computing, coding honors

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The Catholic Sun

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Dec 20, 2015

Screen Shot 2015-12-18 at 1.28.30 PM — Screenshot from award-wining entry in ___ competition.

Screenshot from award-wining entry in ___ competition. — Screenshot from award-wining entry in 2015 Faces of Computing video competition.

Fourteen students from Xavier College Preparatory captured top honors in two recent computer-related contests.

Kassidy McIntyre and Brittany Robinson, both juniors, won the Computer Science Teachers Association’s “2015 Faces of Computing” video contest in the high school division. This year’s theme was “Computing for the Common Good.’ Their video highlights how taking the time to teach a teenager with autism a few basics regarding computer programming. That young man then developed a passion for it and passed on his newfound knowledge.

Twelve Xavier peers, largely juniors, captured top honors at the Women in Computer Science Coding Competition at Arizona State University. Xavier alumna Nichola Lubold ’05 arranged the competition. A team of women Computer Science professors from ASU judged it.

Xavier juniors Nsomma Alilonu, Gabriela Garcia, Erin Sweeney, and Hannah Tribolet emerged the overall winners. Their application, Typing Tempo, was designed to teach students how to play the piano by scoring their keyboarding efforts with an accuracy percentage.

McIntyre, who was a co-winner of the “2015 Faces of Computing” video contest, joined Xavier seniors Ellie Fessler, Talia Khan and Kirielle Singarajah in placing second at the ASU competition. Their application, called Xrossing Xampus, enables campus visitors to map routes from one location to another.

Xavier seniors Andrea Kraetz, Claudia Lucca, Lisbet Maldonado, and junior Tatum Cork placed third with an application that matches volunteers with agencies in need of volunteer assistance.

Year of Consecrated Life continues

By

Ambria Hammel

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Dec 20, 2015

We’re amid several “year-long” observances. The school year is halfway done. The calendar year is almost full yet the Year of Mercy just began and there’s another six weeks or so of the Year of Consecrated Life.

Let’s look at recent headlines regarding the latter.

Personality profiles

We retired the “Wake up the World” Q-and-A series in English, but expect a personality profile of a local man or woman involved in religious life in the Spanish pages of The Catholic Sun print editions through at least January. Look for the headlines, “Despierten al mundo!”

This month, Leo Hernandez caught up with Sr. Rebeca José Mugo, a Missionary of Charity. Turn to page 25 of your printed edition.

And in case you missed it, here is a Year of Consecrated Life song:

Religious brothers

Women and men religious gather for a procession leading to the blessing of the Holy Doors for the Year of Mercy Dec. 13. (Ambria Hammel/CATHOLIC SUN)

There was a section for religious brothers and religious sisters to gather prior to the #DoorsofMercy opening procession at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral Dec. 13. Sometimes, that’s the most public view Catholics and the community have of them. Their work is often quiet, but effective.

And there are Catholic men discerning joining their efforts. Four of them recently spent time at the headquarters of the U.S. Province, which just so happens to be in Phoenix. Crosier Father Jude Verley wrote a reflection. Three of them are studying for the priesthood and the other is being formed as a Crosier brother.

A Dec. 19 Mass at Mount Claret Retreat Center commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Crosier Martyrs killed in Congo. It was celebrated in French.

The Vatican aimed to increase awareness on the identity and mission of religious brothers. It released a related document in five languages Dec. 14.

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Test yourself

Did you grow up around religious life? Did you spend time working around religious men and women at the parish/diocesan level? Think you can identify their habits? Test your knowledge!

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Religious sisters

The Poor Clare Sisters of Perpetual Adoration put a call out to young women discerning a possible call to religious life. A recent Tweet urges them to register for the Duc In Altum retreat. It’s a silent, directed discernment retreat and it’s not until February of 2016, but registration often fills up.

Mercy in the mall [VIDEO]

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Catholic News Service

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Dec 19, 2015

Priests in Ireland bring a Christmas message of mercy and hear confessions at a busy shopping center at the start of the Jubilee Year.

Creche is reminder God saves people with love, not force, pope says

By

Catholic News Service

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Dec 19, 2015

CHRISTMAS VATICAN — A Nativity scene and Christmas tree decorate the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican Dec. 14. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

The Christmas tree and Nativity scene decorate St. Peter's Square during a lighting ceremony at the Vatican Dec. 18. (CNS photo/Paul Haring) — The Christmas tree and Nativity scene decorate St. Peter’s Square during a lighting ceremony at the Vatican Dec. 18. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Seeing baby Jesus in the Nativity scene reminds people that Christ uses humility and love to save the world, not impressive force or a magic wand, Pope Francis said.

“God does not love powerful people’s imposing revolutions in history, and he doesn’t use a magic wand for changing the situation,” he said Dec. 18, meeting the people who donated the centerpieces of the Vatican Christmas decorations in St. Peter’s Square.

“Instead, he makes himself small, he becomes a baby, in order to draw us in with love, in order to touch our hearts with his humble goodness, in order to shake up those who race to accumulate the false treasure of this world,” he said.

The northern Italian province of Trent donated the life-sized Nativity scene, and three small towns in Germany’s Bavaria region donated the 82-foot spruce fir. The tree was lit and the scene officially unveiled during an early evening ceremony in the square Dec. 18.

The painted ceramic tree ornaments were made by child cancer patients from a number of Italian hospitals.

The pope thanked the “tiny artists” who created the decorations and congratulated them for being so young and yet already having their art work showcased in St. Peter’s Square.

“Keep going! That’s how Michelangelo got his start,” he said.

The birth of baby Jesus in Bethlehem shows that God didn’t “simply appear on earth” just to come and go, but that “he came to share in our life and embrace our desires.”

He came “because he wanted to and still wants to live here, together with us and for us,” the pope said. “Because of his great mercy, he came down to us in order to stay permanently with us.”

He asked the children always to remember that the Nativity scene also shows that God “does not impose with force.”

“In order to save us, he didn’t change history performing a grandiose miracle. Instead, he came with great simplicity, humility, meekness.”

—By Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service.

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The Catholic Sun

‘The Catholic Guy’ speaks to the ‘Sun’ after recording episode in Phoenix

Did you miss the live Tweets?

Stopping to smell the roses yields dual benefit

Seton alumna gives two ASU commencement addresses

Holy Doors opened in Sedona chapel as Year of Mercy pilgrimage site

Chapel of the Holy Cross

Open: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sun.

Info:1 (888) 242-7359 or chaeloftheholycross.com

Christmas away from home [VIDEO]

Advocates for migrants in Arizona, Sonora gather at border for ‘posada’

RELATED

Xavier students earn separate top computing, coding honors

Year of Consecrated Life continues

Personality profiles

Religious brothers

Test yourself

Religious sisters

Mercy in the mall [VIDEO]

Creche is reminder God saves people with love, not force, pope says